Declaration Management & Research LLC Launches Commercial Real Estate Debt Fund

MCLEAN, Va. and NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Declaration Management & Research LLC (Declaration) announced today the launch and funding of DMR CRE Debt Fund I. The Fund focuses on special situation recapitalizations of U.S. commercial real estate (CRE) of all types.

Through opportunistic distressed debt acquisitions, discounted pay-offs and new senior and mezzanine financing, the Fund targets an all-in yield in the low to mid-teens. Declaration expects the Fund (which is closed to new investors) to be the first in a series of CRE-related funds that it will launch over the coming years.

Manulife Financial Corporation and its U.S. division, John Hancock Financial, will provide co-investment capital. Declaration is an operating company of Manulife Asset Management, Manulife's global investment management arm.

Declaration's commercial real estate operations will be centered in a new office recently opened in midtown Manhattan. The team is lead by Michael Kelley, a 25-year industry veteran who built Merrill Lynch's opportunistic global real estate principal investment businesses and managed commercial mortgage-backed securities before leaving in 2004. He is joined by Peter Jolicoeur, who worked with Mr. Kelley as the Head of Credit Underwriting for Merrill Lynch's real estate principal investment team in North America and Jin Lee, former Principal at Royalton Capital and Chief Investment Officer at Manchester Real Estate & Construction. Both have more than 20 years of commercial real estate experience.

"The addition of an experienced opportunistic CRE investment team with a fundamental credit focus and a disciplined risk/reward philosophy complements Declaration's real estate-related and other fixed income securities management strategies," Declaration President William Callan said. "This also fits in well with John Hancock's and Manulife's other real estate operations across North America."

About Declaration Management & Research LLC

Declaration is a SEC-registered investment advisor with more than $10 billion in assets under management. It is an operating company of Manulife Asset Management™ , the global asset management arm of Manulife Financial Corporation. Manulife Asset Management and its affiliates provide comprehensive asset management solutions for institutional investors and investment funds in key markets around the world. 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. As at September 30, 2010, assets under management for institutional clients were Cdn$121 billion (US$118 billion). Additional information about Manulife Asset Management can be found at ManulifeAM.com.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group operating in 22 countries and territories worldwide. For more than 120 years, clients worldwide have looked 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 around the world. We provide asset management services to institutional customers worldwide as well as reinsurance solutions, specializing in life and property and casualty retrocession. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were $474 billion (US$460 billion) as at September 30, 2010. 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 www.manulife.com.

SOURCE Declaration Management & Research LLC