Manulife Investments adds five new global mandates to its mutual fund lineup

TORONTO, April 24 2007 – Manulife Mutual Funds, a division of Elliott & Page Limited, announced a number of enhancements, including the addition of five new mandates to its lineup of mutual funds today, subject to regulatory approval.

“We continuously review our products to ensure they provide the best possible access to opportunities as they arise in the marketplace, and offer global diversity with best-in-class investment opportunities for Canadians,” said Doug Conick, Vice President of Investment Funds for Manulife Investments. “With the addition of these new mandates, we believe we have come closer to our goal.”

New mutual funds that will be added to Manulife Mutual Funds’ lineup include:

  • Elliott & Page Global Monthly Income Fund. Managed by Alan Wicks and Danny Tomka of MFC Global Investment Management (Canada), the Fund’s investments in dividend paying global equities, bonds and the securities of real estate companies represent a great complement to a Canada-concentrated portfolio. Alan Wicks currently leads MFC Global’s Value Equity Team. Alan has successfully applied his bottom-up value approach to investing to manage one of the most successful Canadian income balanced funds in Canada today – the Elliott & Page Monthly High Income Fund. Danny Tomka is also a member of the Value Equity Team, and is the lead manager for the Elliott & Page Global Dividend Fund.
  • Elliott & Page Global Real Estate Fund. Managed by Tim Keefe and Joseph Marguy of MFC Global Investment Management (U.S.) LLC, this Fund is designed to provide medium to long term capital growth by focusing on global real estate investment trusts (REITs), which hold real estate and mortgages, to create a concentrated portfolio of 40-65 global companies.
  • MIX Global Opportunities Class. Also managed by Tim Keefe, of MFC Global Investment Management (U.S.) LLC, the Fund invests in companies that are mis-priced by the market and trading at a discount to what the managers believe to be their true value. In order to seek out the very best opportunities from around the globe, the Fund is free from sector and geographic constraints, giving the managers freedom to invest in companies where they have the highest level of conviction.
  • Elliott & Page U.S. Value Fund. Managed by MFC Global Investment Management (Canada), the addition of this Fund will add a proven U.S. large cap value equity mandate to Manulife Mutual Funds’ current lineup of U.S. equity funds. Fund manager Harpreet Singh has been managing a similar mandate in the U.S. since 2001 with great success. That mandate has outperformed its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, and its peers over every time period.
  • Elliott & Page Canadian Bond Plus Fund. Managed by AllianceBernstein Canada Inc., the Fund offers investors the enhanced return potential of global bonds within a core Canadian bond holding. With AllianceBernstein, investors are provided with access to one of the deepest research platforms in the industry. AllianceBernstein’s fixed income research team is truly global, with analysts located in New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Melbourne, all of whom operate on an integrated global platform. The team includes 65 dedicated fixed income research analysts with over 12 years of experience on average.

In addition to these new mutual funds being added to its current lineup, Manulife Mutual Funds also announced a trailer fee increase for new sales of its back-end load mutual funds beginning June 1, 2007.

About Manulife Investments

Manulife Investments is the brand name describing certain Canadian subsidiaries and operating divisions of Manulife Financial Corporation that offer personal wealth management products and services in Canada. As one of Canada’s leading integrated financial services providers, Manulife Investments offers a variety of products and services including segregated funds, mutual funds, annuities and guaranteed investment contracts.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 19 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia, and primarily through John Hancock in the United States, the Company 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$414 billion (US$355 billion) as at December 31, 2006.

Manulife Financial Corporation trades as ‘MFC’ on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under ‘0945’ on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com

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