John Hancock Investments has launched John Hancock Worldwide Investors, a Dublin-domiciled UCITS platform designed to extend the reach of the firm's signature manager-of-managers approach.
The firm has made available four of its highly rated investment strategies targeted at non-US residents and UCITS model programs of our US distribution partners.
As part of its commitment to this strategic market, John Hancock Investments has hired industry veteran Angela Billick to lead the UCITS product platform. Billick will leverage her nearly 20 years of international business development experience in UCITS to serve the needs of investors.
"We are pleased to be able to provide our industry-leading manager selection and oversight capabilities to a new market," says Andrew G Arnott, President and CEO. "Our new UCITS platform is a natural continuation of the rapid growth we have experienced in the United States and a reflection of the strong demand we have received from our US broker/dealer partner firms for offshore funds that mirror some of our most popular US mutual funds."
John Hancock Worldwide Investors, PLC is making available four of the firm's most sought-after strategies in a choice of five UCITS share classes. These initial strategies are managed by portfolio teams at Manulife Asset Management and GMO Europe LLC:
• John Hancock Strategic Income Opportunities Fund
• John Hancock High Yield Fund
• John Hancock U.S. Large Cap Equity Fund
• John Hancock Global Equity (Ex-US) Fund
"We believe these four strategies help address today's investor need for new sources of income, along with proven equity strategies with a measure of downside protection," says Leo M Zerilli, CIMA, head of investments at John Hancock Investments. "These are not simply challenges for US investors; these are global challenges."
