John Hancock Investment Management, a company of Manulife Investment Management, expanded availability for its alternative investment product offering. Having launched its first alternative allocation fund in 2009, the firm continues to see increased interest in its alternative and private markets solutions and has implemented additional solutions to meet the demand of advisors, their clients, and qualified investors through multiple distribution platforms.

Nathan W. Thooft, CIO, Multi-Asset Solutions, Manulife Investment Management, said, "We are currently experiencing an economic and market environment with high uncertainties, notable volatility, and the prospect for weaker growth. With this in mind, our goal is to provide investors the opportunity to consider an increased allocation to alternatives, adding differentiated exposures to their portfolios."

Diversified Macro Fund surpasses $1 billion in AUM

Underscoring the firm's longstanding experience in bringing liquid alternatives to investor portfolios, John Hancock Diversified Macro Fund, subadvised by Graham Capital Management, has surpassed $1 billion in assets under management (AUM) this year.1 John Hancock Diversified Macro Fund pursues diversified sources of returns through algorithmic long and short positions in carry, fundamental, trend, and value strategies. As of 4/30/2023, the John Hancock Diversified Macro Fund I shares received a 4-star overall rating out of 68 funds in the Morningstar Macro Trading category. The fund was rated 4 stars out of 68 funds for the 3-year period.*

The John Hancock Diversified Macro Fund delivered a positive return of 12.29% in 2022.

"We are extremely pleased to see the growth of John Hancock Diversified Macro Fund and believe it is a testament to our strong partnership and the value of macro strategies in a broader portfolio," said Brian Douglas, CEO of Graham Capital management. "In a time of many market uncertainties and questions around the resilience of a traditional 60/40 portfolio, we believe a strategic, long-term allocation to diversifying strategies like macro is very important."

John Hancock Investment Management's legacy in alternatives helped to launch John Hancock Alternative Asset Allocation Fund in 2009 as a one-stop alternative allocation solution. The fund is subadvised by Manulife Investment Management US and was the firm's first fund to bring alternative asset class strategies to retail investors looking for core alternative holdings in their portfolios to provide diversification. As of 4/30/2023, the John Hancock Alternative Asset Allocation Fund I shares received a 4-star overall rating out of 131 funds in the Morningstar Multi-strategy category. The fund was rated 3 stars out of 131 funds in the 3-year period and 4 stars out of 115 and 50 funds for the 5- and 10-year periods, respectively.*

Broader availability
To continue to meet the diversification needs of investors, John Hancock Investment Management expanded its registered alternative offerings to include semi-liquid tender offer funds that provide mass affluent eligible investors access to private securities with the launch of the John Hancock Asset-Based Lending Fund in July 2022. The fund, which seeks to provide investors high current income and to a lesser extent, capital appreciation in various private asset-based lending investments ranging from transportation finance to healthcare royalties, is managed by New York-based public and private credit specialist Marathon Asset Management. The fund is now available on all three RIA custody platforms – Fidelity, Pershing and Schwab and is available for electronic transactions on the +SUBSCRIBE platform and the iCapital Marketplace.

"John Hancock Investment Management has seen growing interest in the Asset-Based Lending Fund as investors look for differentiated investments that bring diversification to traditional assets in their portfolios," said York Lo, head of alternative product, John Hancock Investment Management. "For investors who believe we are in a recession or pre-recessionary climate, the opportunity to increase diversification through alternative asset classes could add ballast to a portfolio into the next cycle, and we look forward to providing investors with expanded offerings to make the appropriate allocations."