Manulife Asset Management gains approval for UCITS in Chile; forges distribution partnership with Banchile Administradora General de Fondos (AGF)

TORONTO and BOSTON, Oct. 4, 2017 /CNW/ -- Eight sub-funds of Manulife's Luxembourg UCITS (Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) fund range, Manulife Global Fund, recently were approved by the Chilean regulator, Comision Clasificadora de Riesgo, for distribution to institutional investors in that country. Manulife Asset Management is the investment manager of these sub-funds.

Consequently, the firm has begun marketing the funds through a distribution partnership forged earlier this year with Banchile Administradora General de Fondos (AGF), one of the largest financial industry leaders in the country. 

The approved sub-funds of Manulife Global Fund are: American Growth Fund, Asian Equity Fund, Asian Small Cap Equity Fund, Dragon Growth Fund, Global Equity Fund, Healthcare Fund, India Equity Fund, and U.S. Bond Fund.

"We are pleased to have obtained approval from Chilean regulators and are moving ahead to provide investment solutions through our UCITS fund platform," said Frank Saeli, head of distribution, U.S. & Latin America.

"Manulife Asset Management has made a strong commitment to serving institutional clients in Chile, and we look forward to a long and productive partnership with Banchile AGF, one of the country's leading financial institutions," he added. 

Pablo Valero, Chief Investment Officer at Banchile AGF, said: "With Manulife Asset Management, we share many attributes, including reputational strength in the institutional marketplace, and a consistent focus on solutions to meet our clients' needs, and we also are confident that we will share success in this new initiative."

Manulife Asset Management last year appointed Diana Stockwell to a new position as head of Latin American sales and relationship management, as part of the expansion of its global business footprint. Ms. Stockwell has spent more than a decade working with clients in Latin America and more than 17 years in the asset management industry. 

"Our UCITS initiative in Chile represents an important milestone in our overall engagement strategy for Manulife Asset Management in Latin America, whereby we will seek out key distribution partners and also will market our investment capabilities directly with institutional investors," Ms. Stockwell noted.

About Manulife Asset Management
Manulife Asset Management is the global asset management arm of Manulife, providing comprehensive asset management solutions for investors. This investment expertise extends across a broad range of public and private asset classes, as well as asset allocation solutions. As at June 30, 2017, assets under management for Manulife Asset Management were approximately C$480 billion (US$370 billion, GBP£285 billion, EUR€324 billion). Manulife Asset Management's public markets units have investment expertise across a broad range of asset classes including public equity and fixed income, and asset allocation strategies. Offices with full investment capabilities are located in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines. In addition, Manulife Asset Management has a joint venture asset management business in China, Manulife TEDA. The public markets units of Manulife Asset Management also provide investment management services to affiliates' retail clients through product offerings of Manulife and John Hancock. John Hancock Asset Management is a division of Manulife Asset Management. Additional information about Manulife Asset Management may be found at ManulifeAM.com.

About Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people achieve their dreams and aspirations by putting customers' needs first and providing the right advice and solutions. We operate primarily as John Hancock in the United States and Manulife elsewhere. We provide financial advice, insurance, as well as wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2016, we had approximately 35,000 employees, 70,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving more than 22 million customers. As of June 30, 2017, we had over $1 trillion (US$780 billion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made $26.7 billion in payments to our customers. Our principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United States where we have served customers for more than 100 years. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong.

SOURCE Manulife Asset Management

Beth McGoldrick, 617-663-4751, [email protected], Brian Carmichael, 617-663-4748, [email protected]