Manulife Investment Management Announces Three Smart ETF Segregated Funds

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TORONTO, Sept. 13, 2021 /CNW/ - Manulife Investment Management is introducing new offerings on the segregated fund platform today. Now available are three new Manulife Smart Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) segregated funds. The one fixed income and two dividend funds build on the popularity of Manulife Investment Management's Smart ETFs launched last November and can offer investors access to key asset classes via innovative, active strategies, with competitive fees.

Manulife Investment Management is the first Canadian financial institution to offer single asset category ETFs in a segregated fund. These new segregated funds are available in the Manulife Private Investment Pools—MPIP Segregated Pools and Manulife GIF Select InvestmentPlus contracts. Manulife Smart Corporate Bond ETF segregated fund aims to help investors earn income while preserving capital. Manulife Smart Dividend ETF and Manulife Smart U.S. Dividend ETF segregated funds are tailored for investors looking to generate steady income with dividends that have potential for consistency and growth.

"We're excited to bring these new Manulife Smart ETFs to the segregated fund platform as innovative solutions for investors and to make active ETFs available to a wider range of Canadians," says Marie Gauthier, Head of Pricing & Guaranteed Investment Products. "The new Manulife Smart ETF segregated funds bring together the quality of management of our ETF platform, while embracing the easy-to-access and flexible nature of our segregated fund contracts."

Contract	Fund name
GIF Select InvestmentPlus	Manulife Smart Corporate Bond ETF GIF Select
	Manulife Smart Dividend ETF GIF Select
	Manulife Smart U.S. Dividend ETF GIF Select
MPIP Segregated Pools	Manulife Smart Corporate Bond ETF Private Segregated Pool
	Manulife Smart Dividend ETF Private Segregated Pool
	Manulife Smart U.S. Dividend ETF Private Segregated Pool

The offerings deliver an efficient and effective way to combine actively managed ETFs with segregated fund contract estate planning advantages:

• These funds benefit from Manulife Investment Management's expertise, as each underlying ETF is actively managed by seasoned investment teams.
• Advisors can use these single asset category funds as building blocks to construct diversified portfolios tailored to each investor's unique needs.
• Competitive pricing and benefits available with segregated fund contracts, like potential creditor protection and estate planning advantages.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company is the issuer of insurance contracts containing Manulife segregated funds and the guarantor of any guarantee provisions therein. Any amount that is allocated to a segregated fund is invested at the risk of the contract holder and may increase or decrease in value. Manulife Investment Management is a trade name of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company.

About Manulife Investment Management 
Manulife Investment Management is the global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial Corporation. We draw on more than a century of financial stewardship and the full resources of our parent company to serve individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. Headquartered in Toronto, our leading capabilities in public and private markets are strengthened by an investment footprint that spans 18 geographies. We complement these capabilities by providing access to a network of unaffiliated asset managers from around the world. We're committed to investing responsibly across our businesses. We develop innovative global frameworks for sustainable investing, collaboratively engage with companies in our securities portfolios, and maintain a high standard of stewardship where we own and operate assets, and we believe in supporting financial well-being through our workplace retirement plans. Today, plan sponsors around the world rely on our retirement plan administration and investment expertise to help their employees plan for, save for, and live a better retirement.

As of June 30, 2021, Manulife Investment Management's assets under management and administration, including assets managed for Manulife's other segments, totaled CAD $1.0 trillion (US $834 billion). Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulifeim.com.

About Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we operate as Manulife across our offices in Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. We provide financial advice, insurance, and our global wealth and asset management segment, Manulife Investment Management, serves individuals, institutions and retirement plan members worldwide. At the end of 2020, we had more than 37,000 employees, over 118,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 30 million customers. As of June 30, 2021, we had CAD$1.3 trillion (US$1.1 trillion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made $31.3 billion in payments to our customers. Our principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United States where we have served customers for more than 155 years. We trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong.

SOURCE Manulife Investment Management

Media contact: Sajni Khera, Manulife, 647-226-9049, [email protected]