John Hancock Launches New Small Company Fund
December 14 2009 - 10:08AM
PR Newswire (US)
Firm completes latest fund adoption, rounds out product line by
adding FMA Small Company Portfolio BOSTON, Dec. 14
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- John Hancock Funds has completed the
adoption of Fiduciary Management Associates' FMA Small Company
Portfolio, and has launched it as the new John Hancock Small
Company Fund (JCSAX). The reorganization was effective on December
11. The fund is now available for sale to retail investors through
their financial advisers. "We are pleased to launch our new Small
Company Fund, marking our tenth fund adoption in the past seven
years," said Keith F. Hartstein, President & CEO of John
Hancock Funds. "Adoptions continue to be a key element in our
strategy as we've expanded our product line at John Hancock in
recent years, and will continue to be important for us going
forward. The new Small Company Fund is more value-oriented than our
other small cap offerings and so presents a good complement to our
lineup." Andrew Arnott, Chief Operating Officer of John Hancock
Funds, said: "With the new fund, our shareholders and their
advisers have more choices in the small cap space, and we continue
to offer them access to top-tier institutional managers, with the
addition of Fiduciary Management Associates to our group of
sub-advisers." The John Hancock Small Company Fund seeks maximum,
long-term total return, consistent with reasonable risk to
principal, by investing in common stocks of smaller companies in
terms of revenues and/or market capitalization. The fund's strategy
emphasizes a relative value approach, seeking to identify
investment opportunities that are trading at attractive valuations
and have opportunities to expand their earnings and cash flow
prospects. The fund managers seek to achieve attractive
risk-adjusted returns, consistent outperformance over a market
cycle and participation in rising markets while protecting capital
in down markets. "In today's market environment, we believe the
investment characteristics of the Small Company Fund will be
increasingly attractive to investors," said Kathryn A. Vorisek,
Senior Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer, Fiduciary
Management Associates. "We are pleased to partner with John Hancock
in expanding our distribution capabilities in the retail market,
beyond our predominantly institutional client base." The Fund's
portfolio will be managed on a day-to-day basis by Fiduciary
Management Associates LLC. Ms. Vorisek and Leo Harmon, CFA, are
co-portfolio managers. Ms. Vorisek has served as the small cap team
leader at FMA since 1998, while Mr. Harmon serves as associate team
leader and research analyst for small cap products. John Hancock
Funds embarked on its fund adoption strategy in 2002. Its most
recent transaction was the adoption of the four-star Robeco Boston
Partners Large Cap Value Fund, which was relaunched as the John
Hancock Disciplined Value Fund (JVLAX) in January of 2009. About
Fiduciary Management Associates Fiduciary Management Associates is
an employee-owned independent investment manager founded in 1980.
FMA manages both equity and fixed income strategies for a
diversified institutional client base including public,
Taft-Hartley and corporate pension plans. For more information,
please visit http://www.fmausa.com/. About John Hancock Funds The
Boston-based mutual fund business unit of John Hancock Financial,
John Hancock Funds manages more than $50.5 billion in open-end
funds, closed-end funds, private accounts, retirement plans and
related party assets for individual and institutional investors at
September 30, 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$437 billion (US$407 billion) at September 30, 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, +1-617-663-4751, Web Site:
http://www.johnhancock.com/
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