Hancock Capital Management Adds Leveraged Senior Credit Leadership Team In Chicago

BOSTON, Feb. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hancock Capital Management (HCM) has expanded its private-market capital solutions platform with the addition of a Leveraged Senior Credit leadership team in Chicago.

Devon Russell, Joe Romic and Mike King have joined HCM and will originate, underwrite and manage the entire spectrum of senior secured credit from the Chicago office.

"We are very pleased to expand HCM's capabilities with the addition of this highly experienced team of investment professionals," said Steve Blewitt, Senior Managing Director, Hancock Capital Management. "As the markets continue to evolve, we see significant opportunity in the senior secured credit space."

HCM, which also has offices in Boston and New York, provides private-market solutions consisting of equity co-investments, senior and junior debt financing in sponsored and unsponsored transactions, and primary and secondary private equity fund investments. The firm manages these investments on a coordinated basis and with a common focus on the U.S. middle market. HCM is part of Manulife Asset Management's private equity & mezzanine platform.

Before joining HCM, Devon Russell spent more than 12 years at Madison Capital Funding LLC where he served as a leader and member of the Executive and Investment Committees and was responsible for strategic and capital market activities including loan syndications, third-party asset management, and joint ventures for the firm's mezzanine and unitranche credit products.  He also worked at Banc of America Securities, LLC where he served as a senior structurer in the Sponsor Leveraged Finance Group and a loan syndications structurer supporting the Middle Market Group and the Media/Telecommunications Group.

Joe Romic spent more than 25 years originating, underwriting, and managing senior debt, subordinated debt and minority equity investments to support private equity sponsors in their acquisitions of middle market companies prior to joining HCM. Most recently, he was with American Capital, Ltd. where he served as a Managing Director and a leader in the Sponsor Finance Group.  Before American Capital, he worked at Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Group, GE Capital and Heller Financial.

Mike King was Head of the Loan Products Group at BMO Global Asset Management where he was primarily involved in credit selection, portfolio management and fund raising for middle market leveraged loan portfolios.  Previously he worked at leading middle market debt providers, including Pangaea Asset Management (founder), GE Antares, Antares Capital, PPM America and First National Bank of Chicago.

About Hancock Capital Management LLC
Hancock Capital Management (HCM) was formed in 2000 to manage the private markets solutions businesses on behalf of John Hancock and Manulife and their third-party clients, which include insurance companies, pension funds, endowments, and family offices. Additional information on HCM can be found at http://www.hancockcapitalllc.com. Hancock Capital Management, LLC is not authorized to provide, and does not provide investment advice or investment advisory services. Additionally, the provided information is not intended nor should be construed as an offer to buy or sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any security or to participate in an investment strategy.

About Manulife Asset Management
Manulife Asset Management is the global asset management arm of Manulife, providing comprehensive asset management solutions for investors. This investment expertise extends across a broad range of public and private asset classes, as well as asset allocation solutions. As at December 31, 2016, assets under management for Manulife Asset Management were approximately C$461 billion (US$343 billion, GBP£278 billion, EUR€325 billion).

Manulife Asset Management's public markets units have investment expertise across a broad range of asset classes including public equity and fixed income, and asset allocation strategies. Offices with full investment capabilities are located in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines. In addition, Manulife Asset Management has a joint venture asset management business in China, Manulife TEDA. The public markets units of Manulife Asset Management also provide investment management services to affiliates' retail clients through product offerings of Manulife and John Hancock. John Hancock Asset Management is a division of Manulife Asset Management.

Additional information about Manulife Asset Management may be found at ManulifeAM.com.

About Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people achieve their dreams and aspirations by putting customers' needs first and providing the right advice and solutions. We operate as John Hancock in the United States and Manulife elsewhere. We provide financial advice, insurance, as well as wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2016, we had approximately 35,000 employees, 70,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving more than 22 million customers. At the end of 2016, we had $977 billion (US$728 billion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made almost $26 billion in payments to our customers. Our principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United States where we have served customers for more than 100 years. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong.

SOURCE Manulife Asset Management

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