Manulife Mutual Funds has rebranded and relaunched the Value Leaders Portfolios as the Manulife Leaders Portfolios, Manulife Financial Corp. said Monday.

The portfolios will include leading mutual funds from the Manulife family of mutual funds and a more active approach to asset allocation, the company says.

“With the integration of AIC Funds in September of 2009, we saw the opportunity to take a strong product and make it even better”, says Jeff Ray, assistant vice president, mutual fund products.



“By integrating some of Manulife’s most popular and award-winning mandates into an already strong line up of funds, and by applying an active approach to asset allocation, we believe the new Manulife Leaders Portfolios provide advisors and their clients with a highly competitive managed solution and a strong foundation for many investors’ financial plans,” Ray adds.

Portfolios will be available in three different mandates: Manulife Leaders Balanced Income Portfolio, Manulife Leaders Balanced Growth Portfolio and the Manulife Leaders Opportunities Portfolio.

Each portfolio will contain what Manulife has identified as its leading funds, and will be managed by a team of asset allocation specialists including Mark Schmeer, chief investment officer, asset allocation and Don Rich, head of tactical asset allocation at MFC Global Investment Management. The asset allocation team intends to take an active, hands-on approach to allocating the assets within each portfolio, Manulife says.

“Asset allocation portfolios and other managed product solutions are becoming increasingly popular with advisors and their investors across Canada. The Manulife Leaders Portfolios provides real value for advisors through a highly experienced team of asset allocation specialists and a competitive suite of mutual funds,” Ray concludes.

IE