Morningstar reconfirms a positive parent pillar rating for John Hancock Investment Management

BOSTON, MA (April 11, 2019)—Morningstar, Inc. retained John Hancock Investment Management’ positive parent pillar rating in its latest assessment of the firm, citing the asset manager’s culture of investment excellence and its growing prominence within Manulife Financial Corp., John Hancock Investments’ parent company.

The rating, updated on March 26, 2019, reflects Morningstar’s assessment of Hancock’s strength as parent of the John Hancock funds. The parent pillar is one of five pillars—along with process, performance, people, and price—that Morningstar’s manager research group uses in as signing Morningstar Analyst Ratings to funds. Morningstar Analyst Ratings are meant to be forward-looking evaluations of how funds are likely to perform relative to a benchmark or peer group on a risk-adjusted basis.

“John Hancock’s influence is growing within its parent Manulife Financial Corp. ,”Morningstar said in describing its positive parent pillar rating for John Hancock Investment Management. “ In 2017, Manulife united its disparate regional investment and wealth-management groups into a single, global segment. The promotion of key individuals from John Hancock Investment Management, including its CEO Andrew Arnott and its former CIO Leo Zerilli, to this new segment’s leadership team is a meaningful step toward bolstering investment oversight worldwide. A culture of investing excellence is key to Hancock’s growing prominence within Manulife.”

Morningstar added: “Lower fees have meaningfully improved the firm’s investment offerings, now numbering more than 100. John Hancock has instituted complex wide fee breakpoints, which help pass economies of scale on to shareholders of both large and small funds through lower expenses. John Hancock, and Manulife, maintain their Positive Parent ratings.”

“We’re pleased to be recognized by Morningstar in this way,” said Andrew G. Arnott, president and CEO of John Hancock Investment Management and head of wealth and asset management, United States and Europe. “It’s especially gratifying that they noted the fee reductions we’ve implemented in recent years—one of the many steps we’ve taken to continually enhance the value we provide our shareholders.”

John Hancock Investment Management employs a unique multimanager approach, overseeing a network of 28 asset managers, with 73 portfolio teams managing 111 investment strategies. The unaffiliated managers in this global network complement Manulife's robust internal asset management capabilities—particularly in global fixed income, specialized equity, multi-asset solutions, and private market strategies. In addition to identifying top managers for its network, Hancock applies robust investment oversight to ensure that all its managers continue to serve the best interests of fund shareholders.

About John Hancock and Manulife

John Hancock is a division of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. We operate primarily as John Hancock in the United States, and Manulife elsewhere. We provide financial advice, insurance and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups, and institutions. Assets under management and administration by Manulife and its subsidiaries were over CAD$1.1 trillion (US$794 billion) as of December 31, 2018. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as MFC on the TSX, NYSE, and PSE, and under 945 on the SEHK. Manulife can be found at manulife.com. 

One of the largest life insurers in the United States, John Hancock supports more than 10 million Americans with a broad range of financial products, including life insurance , annuities, investments, 401(k) plans, and education savings plans. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at johnhancock.com.

About John Hancock Investment Management

John Hancock has helped individuals and institutions build and protect wealth since 1862. Today, we’re one of the strongest and most-recognized financial brands. We serve investors globally through a unique multimanager approach: We search the world to find proven portfolio teams with specialized expertise for every strategy we offer, then we apply robust investment oversight to ensure they continue to meet our uncompromising standards and serve the best interests of our shareholders. Our approach to asset management has led to a diverse set of investments deeply rooted in investor needs, along with strong risk-adjusted returns across asset classes.