Manulife Mutual Funds announces a risk rating change to the Manulife Strategic Balanced Yield Fund and the Manulife Strategic Balanced Yield Class; and its intention to close purchases of the Manulife Global Small Cap Fund and Manulife Global Small Cap Balanced Fund

C$ unless otherwise stated

TSX/NYSE/PSE: MFC  
SEHK:945 

TORONTO, Aug. 1, 2013 /CNW/ - Manulife Mutual Funds (MMF) today announced a decrease to the risk rating associated with Manulife Strategic Balanced Yield Fund and Manulife Strategic Balanced Yield Class. This change will be reflected in the Manulife Mutual Funds Simplified Prospectus, which will be filed on or about August 1, 2013.

The Investment Funds Institute of Canada established guidelines for determining risk ratings based primarily upon the variability of returns for a mutual fund. Based on these guidelines, MMF determined it was appropriate to change the risk rating for Manulife Strategic Balanced Yield Fund and Manulife Strategic Balanced Yield Class from "Medium" to "Low to Medium". No changes have been made to the investment objectives, strategies or management of these mutual funds.

Manulife Mutual Funds also announced today its intention to close the Manulife Global Small Cap Fund and Manulife Global Small Cap Balanced Fund to new purchases, other than purchases made under existing pre-authorized chequing and dollar cost averaging plans, on or before December 31, 2013. All series of these funds, including those series used in segregated fund contracts, will be closed to new purchases.

For more information, please contact Manulife customer Services at 1 888 588 7999

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 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 its affiliates' retail clients through product offerings of Manulife and John Hancock. This investment expertise extends across a full 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 March 31, 2013, assets under management were CDN$252 billion (US$248 billion). Additional information about Manulife Asset Management can be found at www.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$555 billion (US$547 billion) as at March 31, 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 contact: 
Brooke Tucker-Reid
Manulife Financial
416-434-0635
[email protected]