John Hancock Investments has hired Wellington Management to manage the John Hancock International Growth Fund (GOIGX).
The manager appointment was approved by the fund's board of trustees in June, and was effective at the close of business on 15 July.
The John Hancock International Growth Fund is maintaining its principal investment objective of seeking high total return primarily through capital appreciation by investing in a diversified portfolio of equity investments from outside the US.
"We are pleased to announce Wellington as manager of the John Hancock International Growth Fund," says Andrew G Arnott, president and CEO of John Hancock Investments. "This appointment is another example of our commitment to make institutional-calibre asset managers available to our individual investors. We are confident that this appointment will help ensure that the Fund continues to serve the best interest of its shareholders."
A team led by Wellington partner John Boselli is managing the fund. Boselli has 28 years of industry experience, including the last 12 with Wellington where he was responsible for building out the firm's investment capabilities in London. Boselli has been managing an international growth strategy since 2009, which has generated positive absolute, risk-adjusted and benchmark relative returns. The investment process is bottom-up and fundamentally driven, employing a "quality growth" equity investment approach focused on companies with high revenue growth, superior business models, improving fundamentals, strong free cash flow, and a commitment to return capital to shareholders.
"After conducting a comprehensive analysis of Wellington's team, philosophy and process, we determined that their expertise in managing international growth equity strategies is the best fit to enable the fund to meet its long-term potential," says Leo Zerilli, head of the investment division at John Hancock Investments.
As of 30 June 2014, Wellington managed 17 portfolios for John Hancock with approximately USD10.5 billion in assets.
