Manulife Mutual Funds Wins Two Canadian Lipper 2012 Fund Awards

TORONTO, Feb. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Manulife Mutual Funds won two individual awards at the 2012 Canadian Lipper Fund Awards ceremony, held in Toronto last night.

For the second year in a row, the Manulife Structured Bond Class Advisor Series was recognized within the Canadian Fixed Income Balanced category for providing consistent strong risk-adjusted performance relative to its peers over a five-year period.

In the International Equity category, the Manulife International Dividend Income Fund Advisor Series won for excellence over a one-year time period.

"Continued recognition by Lipper is a source of pride for all of us at Manulife Mutual Funds, and we again congratulate our portfolio managers for their consistent performance, leadership and vision," said Paul Lorentz, President of Manulife Investments. "Our investment managers share our goal and commitment to delivering strong and consistent risk-adjusted returns for our clients."

The Manulife Structured Bond Class is managed by Terry Carr, CFA, of Manulife Asset Management, the asset management arm of Manulife Financial. Primarily invested in Canadian corporate and government bonds with additional exposure to equities, the Fund was launched in October of 2003.

The Manulife International Dividend Income Fund is managed by Duncan Anderson, Chris Hensen, Prakash Chaudhari and Alan Wicks, also of Manulife Asset Management. Launched in November 1993, the fund seeks long-term capital growth by investing in strong dividend-paying companies operating in world markets with head offices outside North America.

"We are continually focused on our commitment to producing excellent long-term investment value for our clients," said J-F Courville, President and CEO of Manulife Asset Management. "It is gratifying to once again accept these awards, which reflect the success of our efforts."

The Canadian Lipper Fund Awards are awarded annually to celebrate exceptional performance throughout the professional investment community. In calculating the awards, Lipper considered all funds domiciled in Canada. Awards were given to funds with a 1, 3, 5, and 10 year history at the end of October 2011 in equity, bond and balanced Canadian Investment Funds Standards Committee (CIFSC) classifications with at least 10 distinct portfolios. Both group and fund awards were calculated using Lipper's Consistent Return score. A more detailed Funds Awards Methodology may be found at: http://excellence.thomsonreuters.com/awards/lipper.

About Manulife Mutual Funds
Manulife Mutual Funds, a division of Manulife Asset Management Limited, builds on 125 years of Manulife Financial's wealth and investment management expertise in managing approximately $17.7 billion as at December 31, 2011 for Canadian investors, through a diverse portfolio of forward-thinking mutual fund products.  Our experienced Portfolio Managers offer access to markets in Canada, the United States and around the world, in a range of investment styles to help meet individual needs.  Manulife Mutual Funds is part of Manulife Investments, which offers personal wealth management products and services, such as mutual funds, segregated fund contracts, annuities and guaranteed interest contracts.  For more information, please visit manulifemutualfunds.ca.

About Manulife Asset Management
Manulife Asset Management™ is the global asset management arm of Manulife Financial. Manulife Asset Management provides comprehensive asset management solutions for institutional investors and investment funds in key markets around the world.  Manulife Asset Management also provides investment management services to affiliates' retail clients through product offerings of Manulife and John Hancock. This investment expertise extends across a full 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. John Hancock Asset Management, Hancock Natural Resource Group and Declaration Management and Research are units of Manulife Asset Management. As at December 31, 2011 total assets under management were C$211 billion (US$208 billion). Additional information about Manulife Asset Management can be found at ManulifeAM.com.

About Manulife Financial
Manulife Financial is a leading Canada-based financial services group with principal operations in Asia, Canada and the United States. In 2012, we celebrate 125 years of providing clients 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 Financial and its subsidiaries were C$500 billion (US$491 billion) as at December 31, 2011. 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 manulife.com.

SOURCE Manulife Mutual Funds