John Hancock Investment Management reports fee reductions to its U.S. and international equity ETFs

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BOSTON, March 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - John Hancock Investment Management, a company of Manulife Investment Management, recently announced fee reductions to five John Hancock Multifactor ETFs. The fee reductions are a combination of reductions in contractual operating expense caps and restructuring of advisory fee schedules. The reductions will result in approximately $1.5 million total savings for current shareholders over the next 12 months.¹

The funds affected are John Hancock Multifactor Large Cap ETF (JHML), John Hancock Multifactor Developed International ETF (JHMD), John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF (JHMM), John Hancock Multifactor Small Cap ETF (JHSC), and John Hancock Multifactor Emerging Markets ETF (JHEM). All funds are subadvised by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (Dimensional). The announced changes are expected to be effective on March 30, 2020.

"We are pleased to implement these reductions as interest and adoption from investors in multifactor strategies continue to rise," said Steve Deroian, Head of Asset Allocation Models and ETF Product, John Hancock Investment Management. "According to SimFund, net flows into smart beta ETFs hit an industry high in 2019 with over $48 billion flowing into these strategies, and we believe the demand for these ETFs will continue to increase as investors search for ways to potentially outperform the market, rather than just match its returns."

John Hancock Investment Management has worked with Dimensional and its portfolio management teams for more than a decade, and launched ETFs built around Dimensional strategies in late 2015. The firm's ETF offering has since expanded to 15 funds including the U.S. and international equity portfolios affected by these reductions and a range of sector-specific products.

"When we introduced the John Hancock Multifactor ETF suite more than four years ago, we were excited to offer advisors and their clients the expertise of Dimensional in an ETF wrapper," said Andrew G. Arnott, CEO, John Hancock Investment Management and Head of Wealth and Asset Management, Manulife Investment Management, U.S. and Europe. "These fee reductions allow even more access to these products as advisors work tirelessly to find value and return for investors."

Additional information on these fee reductions can be found in the funds' latest prospectuses.

To find more information about John Hancock Investment Management, and to compare these funds with others in their categories, please click here.

Clients should carefully consider a fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. To request a prospectus or summary prospectus with this and other important information, call us at 800-225-6020, or visit us at jhinvestments.com/etf. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Investing involves risks, including the potential loss of principal.

John Hancock ETFs are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC in the United States, and are subadvised by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP in all markets. Foreside is not affiliated with John Hancock Investment Management Distributors LLC or Dimensional.

ETF shares are bought and sold through exchange trading at market price (not NAV), and are not individually redeemed from the fund. Shares may trade at a premium or discount to their NAV in the secondary market. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns.

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined by U.S. securities laws. You should exercise caution in interpreting and relying on forward-looking statements because they are subject to uncertainties and other factors that are, in some cases, beyond the fund's control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

JHAN-20200318-0647

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. John Hancock Investment Management, a company of Manulife Investment Management, serves 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.

About Manulife Investment Management
Manulife Investment Management is the global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial Corporation. We draw on more than 150 years of financial stewardship to partner with clients across our institutional, retail, and retirement businesses globally. Our specialist approach to money management includes the highly differentiated strategies of our fixed-income, specialized equity, multi-asset solutions, and private markets teams—along with access to specialized, unaffiliated asset managers from around the world through our multimanager model. Our personalized, data-driven approach to retirement is focused on delivering financial wellness in retirement plans of all sizes to help plan participants and members retire with dignity.

Headquartered in Toronto, we operate as Manulife Investment Management throughout the world, with the exception of the United States, where the retail and retirement businesses operate as John Hancock Investment Management and John Hancock, respectively; and in Asia and Canada, where the retirement business operates as Manulife. Manulife Investment Management had CAD$879 billion (US$677 billion) in assets under management and administration.^* Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit our website at manulifeinvestmentmgt.com.

* Manulife Financial Corporation financials. Global Wealth and Asset Management AUMA as of December 31, 2019, was CAD$879 billion and includes CAD$198 billion of assets managed on behalf of other segments and CAD$145 billion of assets under administration.

SOURCE John Hancock Investment Management