Jean-Francois Tessier Named Managing Director, Institutional Sales, At Manulife Asset Management

TORONTO, Sept. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Jean-Francois Tessier has joined Manulife Asset Management as Managing Director, Institutional Sales, J-F Courville, CEO and President, announced today.

Mr. Tessier, whose appointment is effective immediately, will be responsible for institutional sales and relationship management in Quebec, Ottawa and Eastern Canada. He will be based in Manulife Asset Management's Montreal office.

"We are delighted to welcome Jean-Francois to Manulife Asset Management," Mr. Courville said. "He brings a wealth of experience and will be an excellent complement to our growing team as we continue to further expand our institutional sales presence across Canada."

Mr. Tessier joins Manulife Asset Management from Natcan Investment Management where he had been vice president for institutional services for the past six years. He also worked at TAL Global Asset Management (now CIBC Asset Management). He was volunteer chairman of the investment committee of Gestion Ferique, the financial planning arm of the Quebec order of engineers. He also worked at pharmaceutical multinational GlaxoSmithKline.

He earned a Bachelor of Applied Sciences from Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal and later earned an MBA from Concordia University. He is CFA Charterholder.

About Manulife Asset Management
Manulife Asset Management™ is the global asset management arm of Manulife Financial. Manulife Asset Management and its affiliates provide comprehensive asset management solutions for institutional investors and investment funds in key markets around the world. This investment expertise extends across a broad range of asset classes including equity, fixed income and alternative investments such as real estate, timber, farmland, as well as asset allocation strategies.

Manulife Asset Management has offices with full investment capabilities in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines. In addition, it has a joint venture asset management business in China, Manulife TEDA. It also has operations in Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and Uruguay. As at June 30, 2011 assets under management were Cdn$209 billion (US$217 billion). Additional information about Manulife Asset Management can be found at ManulifeAM.com. Prior to December 15, 2010, Manulife Asset Management was known as MFC Global Investment Management.

About Manulife Financial
Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group operating in 21 countries and territories worldwide. For more than 120 years, clients have looked to Manulife for strong, reliable, trustworthy and forward-thinking solutions for their most significant financial decisions. Our international network of employees, agents and distribution partners offers financial protection and wealth management products and services to millions of clients. We provide asset management services to institutional customers worldwide as well as reinsurance solutions, specializing in property and casualty retrocession. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$481billion (US$498 billion) as at June 30, 2011. The Company operates as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia and primarily as John Hancock in the United States.

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 www.manulife.com.

SOURCE Manulife Asset Management