John Hancock Funds Launches New Strategic Income Opportunities Fund
23 February 2010 - 2:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
BOSTON, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- John Hancock Funds said
today that its new John Hancock Strategic Income Opportunities Fund
(JIPAX) is now available for sale to retail investors through their
financial advisers. "The new fund is an 'unconstrained' version of
our popular Strategic Income Fund," said Keith F. Hartstein,
President & CEO. "We already had a very strong fixed income
product line - more than 80 percent of our fixed income funds have
outperformed their Lipper peers over the 3-, 5- and 10-year periods
ended 12/31/2009. With this addition, we're leveraging the
capabilities of MFC Global Investment Management to offer investors
an intriguing option to help diversify the fixed income portion of
their portfolios." The John Hancock Strategic Income Opportunities
Fund seeks a high level of current income by investing at least 80
percent of its total assets in the following types of securities
which may be denominated in U.S. dollars or non-U.S. currencies:
foreign government and corporate debt securities from developed and
emerging markets, U.S. government and agency securities, domestic
high-yield bonds and investment grade corporate bonds, and currency
instruments. The fund may also invest in preferred stock and other
types of debt securities. Compared with the John Hancock Strategic
Income fund (JHFIX), the new Strategic Income Opportunities fund
has the ability to take on greater exposure to foreign currencies,
including non-G-7 currencies. It also is expected to have an
increased exposure to foreign bonds (sovereign, supranational,
other government, and corporate) to take further advantage of
opportunities in those sectors. The new fund is managed by a team
of portfolio managers at MFC Global Investment Management (U.S.),
LLC, the Fund's subadviser, under the supervision of John Hancock
Advisers, LLC. The Fund's management team includes Daniel Janis
III; John Iles; Barry Evans, CFA; and Thomas C. Goggins. "We
believe strong, consistent returns can be generated by investing in
a portfolio of domestic, foreign government and corporate bonds and
currencies, including emerging markets and high yield securities.
By expanding the investment universe to include multiple sectors,
we believe we increase our potential to add value while
diversifying risk," said Daniel Janis III, lead portfolio manager.
About John Hancock Funds The Boston-based mutual fund business unit
of John Hancock Financial, John Hancock Funds manages more than $53
billion in open-end funds, closed-end funds, private accounts,
retirement plans and related party assets for individual and
institutional investors as at December 31, 2009. About John Hancock
Financial and Manulife Financial Corporation John Hancock Financial
is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading
Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of
customers in 22 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as
Manulife Financial in Canada and in most of Asia, and primarily as
John Hancock in the United States, Manulife Financial Corporation
offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and
wealth management services through its extensive network of
employees, agents and distribution partners. Funds under management
by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$440 billion
(US$420 billion) at December 31, 2009. 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 http://www.manulife.com/. The John Hancock unit, through its
insurance companies, comprises one of the largest life insurers in
the United States. John Hancock offers a broad range of financial
products and services, including life insurance, fixed and variable
annuities, fixed products, mutual funds, 401(k) plans, long-term
care insurance, college savings, and other forms of business
insurance. Additional information about John Hancock may be found
at http://www.johnhancock.com/. DATASOURCE: John Hancock Funds
CONTACT: Beth Mcgoldrick of John Hancock, +1-617-663-4751, Web
Site: http://www.johnhancock.com/
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