Manulife Asset Management Names Toms Lokmanis, CFA, CAIA, to Institutional Sales Team

TORONTO, April 26, 2013 /CNW/ - Manulife Asset Management today announced that Toms Lokmanis, CFA, CAIA, has joined the firm as Managing Director on the institutional sales team. Based in Toronto, Mr. Lokmanis reports to Adam Neal, Senior Managing Director and Head of Canadian Sales and Relationship Management. Mr. Lokmanis will be responsible for covering the Canadian small to mid-sized institutional plan market. With Mr. Lokmanis' hire, the Canadian sales team now includes four members.

"Toms brings to our team more than eight years' of industry experience, together with a deep understanding of the small to mid-sized plan market in Canada, and we are very pleased to welcome him to Manulife Asset Management," said Mr. Neal. "Manulife Asset Management's unique breadth of product offerings in domestic and international, public and private, and active and passive strategies enables us to bring a unique solution set to these smaller plans under Toms' leadership, and we are confident of success in this area of the market."

Mr. Lokmanis most recently served as an Investment Specialist with Industrial Alliance of Toronto, promoting investment solutions to corporate pension plans, consultants and brokers. Prior to that, he was an investment management sales specialist with Thomson Reuters, responsible for sales to global banks, pension funds, asset management firms, and hedge funds.

He is a CFA charterholder, and is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA). Mr. Lokmanis holds a BA in Economics, Honours, from McMaster University.

Within the past month, Manulife Asset Management expanded its investment capabilities with the addition of global equity and small cap portfolio management teams.

About Manulife Asset Management
Manulife Asset Management is the global asset management arm of Manulife Financial. Manulife Asset Management provides comprehensive asset management solutions for institutional investors and investment funds in key markets around the world. Manulife Asset Management also provides investment management services to affiliates' retail clients through product offerings of Manulife and John Hancock. This investment expertise extends across a broad range of asset classes including equity, fixed income and alternative investments such as real estate, timber, farmland, as well as asset allocation strategies.

Manulife Asset Management has offices with full investment capabilities in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines. In addition, it has a joint venture asset management business in China, Manulife TEDA. It also has operations in Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and Uruguay. John Hancock Asset Management, Hancock Natural Resource Group and Declaration Management and Research are units of Manulife Asset Management. As at December 31, 2012, assets under management were C$237.6 billion. Additional information about Manulife Asset Management may be found at ManulifeAM.com.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial is a leading Canada-based financial services group with principal operations in Asia, Canada and the United States. Clients look to Manulife for strong, reliable, trustworthy and forward-thinking solutions for their most significant financial decisions. Our international network of employees, agents and distribution partners offers financial protection and wealth management products and services to millions of clients. We also provide asset management services to institutional customers. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were C$532 billion (US$535 billion) as at December 31, 2012. The Company operates as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia and primarily as John Hancock in the United States.

Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial may be found on the Internet at manulife.com.

SOURCE: Manulife Asset Management

Beth McGoldrick, 617-663-4751, [email protected]

http://www.manulife.com