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TORONTO, March 29, 2019 /CNW/ - Manulife Investments today announced changes to the Manulife Asset Management Value Equity Team.  The changes are being implemented in such a way to ensure a smooth transition. The team will continue executing on their investment approach and seeking to deliver strong results for investors. The changes are as follows:

• Duncan Anderson, member of the Value Equity Team and lead portfolio manager of Manulife Dividend Income Plus Fund, Manulife Dividend Income Plus Class, Manulife Value Balanced Fund and Manulife Value Balanced Class, has decided to leave Manulife Asset Management Limited ("MAML") effective September 30^th, 2019
• Prakash Chaudhari, currently co-lead Portfolio Manager of Manulife Dividend Income Plus Fund and Manulife Dividend Income Plus Class, will continue as lead Portfolio Manager
• Alan Wicks, Head of the Value Equity Team, will assume lead Portfolio Manager duties of Manulife Value Balanced Fund and Manulife Value Balanced Class

Over the coming months, Mr. Anderson will continue to work with the team to ensure a seamless transition and provide continuity for clients.

Prakash Chaudhari has been with MAML since 2000 and is a managing director and senior portfolio manager for Manulife Asset Management's Value Equity Team. He is a seasoned member of the team having worked closely with Duncan Anderson and Alan Wicks for over 12 years deploying the investment process used by the team across their various institutional and retail strategies.  He has also been instrumental in building out the team's global capabilities. Prakash holds an MBA from York University and is a CFA charterholder.

Alan Wicks has been with MAML since 1996 and is a senior managing director, senior portfolio manager and team Lead for Manulife Asset Management's Value Equity Team. Alan is the lead manager for all the team's Balanced Strategies. After joining Manulife Asset Management in 1996, Alan held positions of progressive responsibility in equity investment analysis and management before assuming leadership of the Value Equity Team. Alan is a CFA charterholder.

The Value Equity Team employs a team-based investment approach when managing portfolios. Portfolio managers and analysts work together in researching investment ideas. The investment team has consistently and universally applied the same philosophy and process established by Alan Wicks, Head of the Value Equity Team, since 1996.

About Manulife Investments
Manulife Investments, a division of Manulife Asset Management Limited, builds on 125 years of Manulife's wealth and investment management expertise in managing assets for Canadian investors. As one of Canada's leading integrated financial services providers, Manulife Investments and its affiliates offer a variety of products and services including exchange traded funds, segregated fund contracts, mutual funds and guaranteed interest contracts.

About Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. We operate primarily as John Hancock in the United States and Manulife elsewhere. We provide financial advice, insurance, as well as wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2018, we had more than 34,000 employees, over 82,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving almost 28 million customers. As of December 31, 2018, we had $1.1 trillion (US$794 billion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made $29.0 billion in payments to our customers. Our principal operations in Asia, Canada and the United States are where we have served customers for more than 100 years. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong.

SOURCE Manulife Financial Corporation

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