Manulife Asset Management Bolsters Global Product Development Team

TORONTO, Feb. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Manulife Asset Management has further strengthened its global product development teams with the creation of two new positions in North America. The appointments are effective immediately.

Patricia Carrington, Director Of Product Development, United States

Patricia Carrington has been named Director of Product Development in the United States. Based in Boston, she is responsible for the firm's U.S. institutional and sub-advisory product development efforts.  

Before joining Manulife Asset Management, Ms. Carrington, who has nearly 20 years of industry experience, worked at Deutsche Asset Management in New York, where she managed product development and management for both the open and closed end funds businesses.  She also has worked at First Albany Corporation in High Yield Sales and prior to that at Alex Brown & Sons.  

She graduated from the University of Delaware with a B.S. in Business Administration and is currently completing a Master of Liberal Arts at Harvard.  

Mark Bankay, Director Of Product Development, Canada.

Mark Bankay has been named Director of Product Development in Canada. Based in Toronto, he is responsible for the firm's Canadian institutional and sub-advisory product development efforts.

Before joining Manulife Asset Management, Mr. Bankay, who has more than 17 years of industry experience, worked at Hartford Investments Canada, where he was responsible for product development, management and investment analytics.  He also worked at AGF Management in Institutional Account Services and held positions at Fidelity Investments Canada, Russell Investments and Canada Trust.

Mr. Bankay graduated from McMaster University with a B.Sc. (Honours) degree.

About Manulife 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.

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

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 December 31, 2010, assets under management were Cdn$209 billion (US$210 billion). Additional information about Manulife Asset Management can be found at ManulifeAM.com. Prior to December 15, 2010, Manulife Asset Management was known as MFC Global Investment Management.

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 $475 billion (US$478 billion) as at December 31, 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 Manulife Asset Management