Manulife Corporate Bond Fund reaches 10 Year Anniversary

• 10 year milestone achieved by less than 10 per cent of funds in its peer category
• Managed by Terry Carr, since inception and co-managed by Richard Kos since 2009

C$ unless otherwise stated

TSX/NYSE/PSE: MFC
SEHK:945

TORONTO, Sept. 23, 2013 /CNW/ - Manulife Mutual Funds today announced that its Manulife Corporate Bond Fund (the "Fund") reached its 10 year anniversary, a milestone achieved by less than 10 per cent of the funds in the High Yield Fixed Income category.¹ The Fund, launched on August 26, 2003 has been managed since inception by Terry Carr and his team, and provides investors with a diversified fixed income solution comprised of both U.S. and Canadian investment grade corporate and high yield bonds.

"The longevity of Manulife Corporate Bond Fund is a testament to the design of the strategy, and the execution by the lead portfolio manager, Terry Carr," said Derek Saliba, Assistant Vice President, Manulife Mutual Funds. "This Fund was designed to give investors the opportunity to participate in the upside of high yield bonds while protecting on the downside with investment grade corporate bonds for better risk adjusted returns. This strategy has proven to be popular with investors and has delivered consistent returns, particularly during a cycle that included a global recession."

Throughout the last 10 years, the Fund's investment strategy has provided investors with an attractive alternative to the traditional Canadian bond strategies - GICs, Real Return Bonds and Fixed Income ETFs. The Fund has had proven returns throughout many market cycles over the past 10 years - 1yr 4.8%, 3yr 6.0%, 5yr 7.5% and 10yr 5.5%.² The total net asset value (NAV) of Manulife Corporate Bond Fund is approximately C$1.1 billion.

"We believe the Fund is an ideal core holding for the fixed income portion of an investor's portfolio," said Terry Carr, Portfolio Manager of the Manulife Corporate Bond Fund. "The Fund has gone through a decade of market cycles and has performed consistently, affirming our core strategy's approach that we intend to continue with for the next 10 years."

¹Source: Morningstar Direct.
²Source: Morningstar. As at August 31, 2013.

About Manulife Mutual Funds

Manulife Mutual Funds, a division of Manulife Asset Management Limited, builds on 125 years of Manulife Financial's wealth and investment management expertise in managing assets for Canadian investors, through a diverse portfolio of forward-thinking mutual fund products. Our experienced Portfolio Managers offer access to markets in Canada, the United States and around the world, in a range of investment styles to help meet individual needs. Manulife Mutual Funds is part of Manulife Investments, which offers personal wealth management products and services, such as mutual funds, segregated fund contracts, annuities and guaranteed interest contracts. For more information, please visit manulifemutualfunds.ca.

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$567 billion (US$539 billion) as at June 30, 2013. 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 can be found on the Internet at manulife.com.

SOURCE: Manulife Financial Corporation

Media inquiries:
Bev MacLean
Manulife Financial
416-852-8501
[email protected]