John Hancock Strategic Income Opportunities Fund (JIPAX) Named Top Global Bond Fund in Annual Bloomberg Markets Magazine Ranking

BOSTON, Sept. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The John Hancock Strategic Income Opportunities Fund (JIPAX) won the #1 spot among global bond funds as determined by Bloomberg Markets Magazine and published in the October issue. With a 15.5 percent total return for the year ending June 30, 2011, 13.0 percent for three years, and a 9.8 percent five-year total return, the John Hancock Strategic Income Opportunities Fund posted the top score of 93.3 among all global bond funds in the annual Bloomberg rankings.

The John Hancock Strategic Income Opportunities Fund is managed by Daniel S. Janis III, Thomas C. Goggins, and John F. Iles of John Hancock Asset Management, a division of Manulife Asset Management.

In addition, the John Hancock Strategic Income Fund (JHFIX), placed third among the top global bond funds in the Bloomberg rankings. The Fund posted a one-year total return of 15.1 percent, 10.7 percent for three years, and 8.1 percent for five years. The John Hancock Strategic Income Fund is managed by Daniel S. Janis III, Thomas C. Goggins, John F. Iles, and Barry H. Evans, of John Hancock Asset Management.

In the rankings for top global equities funds, the John Hancock Global Opportunities Fund (JGPAX) took sixth place, according to Bloomberg. Managing that fund is the John Hancock Asset Management team of Christopher H. Arbuthnot, CFA, Timothy M. Malloy, and Roger C. Hamilton. The John Hancock Global Opportunities Fund posted a one-year total return of 24.4 percent, a three-year return of 7.3 percent, and a five year return of 10.2 percent.

Both the John Hancock Strategic Income Fund and the John Hancock Global Opportunities Fund placed among the top ten funds in their respective categories in Bloomberg's 2010 fund rankings. Last year, John Hancock Global Opportunities led the global equities rankings, while John Hancock Strategic Income placed sixth in global bonds.

"We're pleased with Bloomberg's recognition of outstanding performance by these three members of the John Hancock family of funds," said Keith F. Hartstein, President & CEO. "The Bloomberg rankings reflect the overall excellence of our equity and fixed income funds today. Through our partnership with John Hancock Asset Management and 12 other world-class sub-advisors, John Hancock Funds is committed to providing access to premier institutional investment strategies which will help shareholders meet their investment goals and objectives."

"The Bloomberg rankings highlight the focus of our investment management teams on producing long-term value for our partners and clients," said J-F Courville, President and CEO of Manulife Asset Management. "We congratulate our teams for their continued commitment and success."

Bloomberg's mutual fund rankings take into consideration funds' one-, three-, and five-year total returns as well as their three- and five-year Sharpe ratios. Ranking includes open-end retail funds domiciled in the U.S. with total assets of more than $250 million and at least one-third of their assets invested outside the U.S. Three- and five-year returns are annualized.

About John Hancock Funds

The Boston-based mutual fund business unit of John Hancock Financial, John Hancock Funds manages more than $71.5 billion in open-end funds, closed-end funds, private accounts, retirement plans and related party assets for individual and institutional investors as at June 30, 2011.  

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.

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 June 30, 2011, assets under management for institutional clients were Cdn$209 billion (US$217 billion). Additional information about Manulife Asset Management can be found at ManulifeAM.com.  

John Hancock Asset Management is a division of Manulife Asset Management that provides investment management services related to John Hancock products sold in the United States. 

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 21 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$481 billion (US$498 billion) as at June 30, 2011. 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 Funds