Bill Peressini Named President Of Hancock Natural Resource Group

BOSTON, Feb. 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Bill Peressini has been named President of the Hancock Natural Resource Group (HNRG), Chief Executive Officer Dan Christensen said today.

Mr. Peressini, HNRG's Chief Financial Officer, assumes the role of president, previously held by Mr. Christensen, who will remain as CEO. He and Mr. Peressini will jointly lead HNRG moving forward. The appointment is effective immediately. Mr. Peressini will also continue as CFO until September 30, 2015.

"Bill has been an invaluable member of the Hancock Natural Resource Group since joining us in 2011," said Mr. Christensen. "As CFO, he has, of course, been involved in all aspects of our business, but he played a vital role in the development our renewable energy business and in the development of our integrated farmland investment management platform through our acquisition of Farmland Management Services, our agricultural property management organization. I look forward to working closely with him as we build on our current success and set the stage for future growth."

Before joining HNRG in 2011, Mr. Peressini held senior management positions at Stimson Lumber Company, a privately-held integrated forest products company, and PacifiCorp, an energy and telecommunications company. Both companies are based in Oregon.

Mr. Peressini's appointment is one of several senior management promotions within HNRG.

Wilfred Steiner has been appointed as Managing Director and CFO of HNRG, effective Oct. 1, 2015. Mr. Steiner is currently Managing Director Australasia (HNRGA) and Director of International Finance. Since joining the organization in 2004, he has held a number of roles and worked on major timberland transactions in Australia, New Zealand and Chile. He will be relocating from Sydney, Australia to Boston. Before joining HNRG in 2004, Mr. Steiner was the CFO of Hoyts Cinemas Limited. He also had worked at Arthur Andersen.

• Donna Frankel has been named Managing Director, General Counsel, of HNRG. Ms. Frankel is responsible for all Legal & Compliance functions across all of the HNRG businesses. Before joining HNRG in 2010, Ms. Frankel worked as Senior Counsel at John Hancock Life Insurance Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Manulife Financial Corporation. Previously, she worked in private practice.
• Barry Engel has been named Managing Director, Corporate Resources, of HNRG. Mr. Engel is responsible for Human Resources and Information Technology functions across all of the HNRG businesses globally. Before joining HNRG in 2008, Mr. Engel was as an executive in corporate affairs at BCE Emergis Corp. and at MultiPlan Inc.in New York.

About the Hancock Natural Resource Group
The Hancock Natural Resource Group, Inc. is a unit of Manulife Asset Management Private Markets. Based in Boston, it consists of three businesses: The Hancock Timber Resource Group, Hancock Agricultural Investment Group, and Hancock Renewable Energy Group. HNRG manages timberland, agricultural and renewable energy investments on behalf of institutional investors globally. As of September 30, 2014, the organization had $13.8 billion in assets under management and manages investments in the United States, Brazil, Chile, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

About Manulife Asset Management Private Markets
Manulife Asset Management Private Markets has investment expertise in several private asset classes, including commercial real estate, timberland and farmland, renewable energy, oil and gas, private equity and mezzanine debt. Manulife Asset Management Private Markets also partners with Manulife's specialized private asset investment teams to invest in private placement debt and commercial mortgages. Hancock Natural Resources Group, Manulife Real Estate, John Hancock Real Estate, NAL Resources, Regional Power, Manulife Capital, and Hancock Capital Management are units of Manulife Asset Management Private Markets. As at September 30, 2014, Manulife's assets under management in private asset classes were C$79 billion (US$70 billion), including assets managed by and for Manulife's general fund and external clients. Additional information may be found at ManulifeAM.com/PrivateMarkets.

About Manulife Asset Management
Manulife Asset Management is the global asset management arm of Manulife, providing 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 public and private asset classes, as well as asset allocation solutions. As at September 30, 2014, assets under management for Manulife Asset Management were approximately C$309 billion (US$276 billion). Additional information about Manulife Asset Management may be found at ManulifeAM.com.

About Manulife
Manulife 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 and its subsidiaries were approximately C$663 billion (US$591 billion) as at September 30, 2014. We operate as John Hancock in the U.S. and as Manulife in other parts of the world.

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

SOURCE Hancock Natural Resource Group