John Hancock Mutual Funds Honored at 2011 Lipper Fund Awards

BOSTON, March 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- John Hancock Mutual Funds won multiple awards at the 2011 Lipper Fund Awards event last night in New York City.  A total of six different funds received awards for three- and five-year results across multiple fund categories.

"We are pleased to receive this important recognition from Lipper," said Keith F. Hartstein, President & CEO of John Hancock Funds. "Since Manulife's acquisition of John Hancock in 2004, we have made significant progress in improving the depth, breadth and performance of our fund offerings.  These funds' relative and absolute performance across a variety of investment peer groups is a testament to our efforts to deliver strong results for shareholders.  I would like to congratulate the portfolio management teams at John Hancock Asset Management, Dimensional Fund Advisors and Western Asset Management for their contributions to our success."  

Earlier this year, John Hancock Funds launched a new advertising campaign designed to increase awareness of its mutual fund family among investors and financial advisors. The "Who Knew" campaign leverages the strength of the iconic John Hancock brand, one of the best-known and trusted names in life insurance. "We want to get the word out to advisors and investors that not only do we have mutual funds, we believe we have some very good mutual funds, and the new Lipper awards underscore this point," said Carey Foran Hoch, Senior Vice President and head of marketing for John Hancock Funds. The ad campaign encourages advisors and investors to visit the John Hancock Funds web site for detailed information about the fund lineup, along with investment commentary, calculators and other financial planning tools.

Honored by Lipper with a trophy for three-year performance were:  

• John Hancock Bond Fund, I, in the category of Corporate Debt A-Rated Funds
• John Hancock Emerging Markets Value Fund, NAV, in the category of Emerging Markets Funds
• John Hancock Strategic Income Fund, Institutional Class I, in the category of Multi-Sector Income Funds

The John Hancock Bond Fund is managed by Howard Greene, CFA, Barry Evans, CFA, and Jeff Given, CFA, of John Hancock Asset Management, a division of Manulife Asset Management.

The John Hancock Emerging Markets Value Fund, NAV, is managed by sub-advisor Dimensional Fund Advisors.

The John Hancock Strategic Income Fund, Institutional Class, I, is managed by Daniel S. Janis III, John F. Iles, Thomas Goggins, and Barry Evans, of John Hancock Asset Management.

In the General Bond Fund category, the John Hancock Active Bond Fund, NAV, was honored for three- and five- year results. The Fund is managed by Declaration Management & Research, LLC, a unit of Manulife Asset Management, and by John Hancock Asset Management.

In the category of Corporate Debt A-Rated Funds, the John Hancock Bond Fund, I, received a certificate for its five-year performance, in addition to the trophy for its three-year track record.

In the category of Global Multi-Cap Growth Funds, the John Hancock Global Opportunities Fund, I, was recognized for its five-year performance results. The John Hancock Global Opportunities Fund, NAV, also won a certificate for its three-year performance. Both are managed by Christopher Arbuthnot, CFA, Timothy Malloy and Roger Hamilton, of John Hancock Asset Management.

In the category of Loan Participation Funds, the John Hancock II Floating Rate Income Fund, NAV, won for the three-year period. The Fund is managed by Western Asset Management Company.

About John Hancock Funds

The Boston-based mutual fund business unit of John Hancock Financial, John Hancock Funds manages more than $65.9 billion in open-end funds, closed-end funds, private accounts, retirement plans and related party assets for individual and institutional investors as at December 31, 2010.  

About Manulife Asset Management and John Hancock Asset Management
Manulife Asset Management™ is the global asset management arm of Manulife Financial. 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. As at December 31, 2010, assets under management for institutional clients were Cdn$209 billion (US$210 billion).

John Hancock Asset Management is a division of Manulife Asset Management. 

About John Hancock Financial and Manulife Financial Corporation

John Hancock Financial is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 22 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and in most of Asia, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States, Manulife Financial Corporation offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners. For more than 120 years, clients have looked to Manulife for strong, reliable, trustworthy and forward-thinking solutions for their most significant financial decisions. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$475 billion (US$478 billion) as at December 31, 2010.  

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

The John Hancock unit, through its insurance companies, comprises one of the largest life insurers in the United States. John Hancock offers a broad range of financial products and services, including life insurance, fixed and variable annuities, fixed products, mutual funds, 401(k) plans, long-term care insurance, college savings, and other forms of business insurance. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at www.johnhancock.com.

SOURCE John Hancock Mutual Funds