John Hancock Investment Management Launches New Active International Equity ETF Subadvised by Boston Partners

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Dec 20, 2023, 09:15 ET

BOSTON, Dec. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - John Hancock Investment Management, a company of Manulife Investment Management, today will launch John Hancock Disciplined Value International Select ETF (NYSE Arca: JDVI).

The new fund seeks long-term capital growth and is managed by a veteran team at subadvisor Boston Partners Global Investors, Inc. Portfolio Managers Joshua M. Jones, CFA, and Christopher K. Hart, CFA have more than 50 years of combined experience and are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the fund's portfolio.* The firm focuses on a stock selection process, which targets securities with attractive relative valuations, strong fundamentals, and positive business momentum.

"We are excited to launch a new active international equity ETF with one of our long-term subadvisors who is familiar to our financial professionals and their clients," said Kristie Feinberg, Head of U.S. and Europe, Manulife Investment Management, and President and Chief Executive Officer, John Hancock Investment Management. "Boston Partners is known for its investment philosophy and ability to find value opportunities that we believe investors will find compelling as a potential core holding in their portfolios."

"We believe that we're likely to see a rotation back toward ex-U.S. markets and the value equity style in particular, owing to attractive opportunities in four equity sectors that are traditionally considered value oriented: energy, materials, industrials, and financials," said Josh Jones, Boston Partners Portfolio Manager. "Higher inflation and interest rates have opened up opportunities in ex U.S. investments that present attractive alternatives to those found in the U.S. market."

Steve Deroian, Co-Head of Retail Product, John Hancock Investment Management, added, "As we are still evaluating how growth will be impacted in the U.S. and abroad as a result of the macro environment, strategies that stay focused on long-term objectives through exposure to international value stocks may provide some stability through the current economic cycle."

John Hancock Investment Management's ETF suite now totals 13 funds with over $5 billion in assets under management as of 9/30/2023, including preferred income, mortgage-back securities, corporate bond, municipal bond, U.S. and international equity portfolios.

*Effective as of January 1, 2024, Soyoun Song will also serve as portfolio manager for the fund.

John Hancock Disciplined Value International Select ETF
Investing involves risks, including the potential loss of principal. There is no guarantee that a fund's investment strategy will be successful. Foreign investing, especially in emerging and frontier markets, has additional risks, such as currency and market volatility and political and social instability. Value stocks may decline in price. The use of hedging and derivatives could produce disproportionate gains or losses and may increase costs. It is possible that an active trading market for fund shares will not develop, which may hurt your ability to buy or sell fund shares, particularly in times of market stress. Trading securities actively can increase transaction costs, therefore lowering performance and taxable distributions. Large company stocks could fall out of favor, and illiquid securities may be difficult to sell at a price approximating their value. The stock prices of small and midsize companies can change more frequently and dramatically than those of large companies. The fund may invest its assets in a small number of issuers. Performance could suffer significantly from adverse events affecting these issuers. Liquidity—the extent to which a security may be sold or a derivative position closed without negatively affecting its market value, if at all—may be impaired by reduced trading volume, heightened volatility, rising interest rates, and other market conditions. Shares may trade at a premium or discount to their NAV in the secondary market. These variations may be greater when markets are volatile or subject to unusual conditions. There can be no assurance that active trading markets for the shares will develop or be maintained by market makers or authorized participants. Please see the fund's prospectus for additional risks.

A fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses should be considered carefully before investing. The prospectus and summary prospectus contains this and other important information about the fund. To obtain a prospectus or summary prospectus, contact your financial professional, call us at 800-225-5291, or visit our website at jhinvestments.com/etf. Please read the prospectus and summary prospectus carefully before investing.

This press release is not an offer to sell these securities and is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

John Hancock ETFs are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC in the United States, and are subadvised by Boston Partners, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP or our affiliate Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC. Foreside is not affiliated with John Hancock Investment Management Distributors LLC, Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC, Boston Partners, or Dimensional Fund Advisors LP.

Shares of the ETF are not redeemable with the ETF other than in creation unit aggregations. Instead, investors must buy or sell the ETF shares in the secondary market at market price (not NAV) through a broker-dealer. In doing so, the investor may incur brokerage commissions and may pay more than net asset value when buying and may receive less than net asset value when selling.

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined by the United States securities laws. You should exercise caution in interpreting and relying on forward-looking statements because they are subject to uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the ETF's control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

NOT FDIC INSURED. MAY LOSE VALUE. NO BANK GUARANTEE. NOT INSURED BY ANY GOVERNMENT AGENCY.

About John Hancock Investment Management

A company of Manulife Investment Management, we serve investors through a unique multimanager approach, complementing our extensive in-house capabilities with an unrivaled network of specialized asset managers, backed by some of the most rigorous investment oversight in the industry. The result is a diverse lineup of time-tested investments from a premier asset manager with a heritage of financial stewardship.

About Manulife Investment Management

Manulife Investment Management is the brand for the global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial Corporation. Our mission is to make decisions easier and lives better by empowering investors for a better tomorrow. Serving more than 17 million individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members, we believe our global reach, complementary businesses, and the strength of our parent company position us to help investors capitalize on today's emerging global trends. We provide our clients access to public and private investment solutions across equities, fixed income, multi-asset, alternative, and sustainability-linked strategies, such as natural capital, to help them make more informed financial decisions and achieve their investment objectives. Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulifeim.com.

About Boston Partners

Boston Partners provides value equity strategies across the capital spectrum for US, non-US and global mandates. These strategies are managed in both long-only and long-short structures, and are offered through a variety of vehicles, including separate accounts, commingled funds and mutual funds.

The Firm is guided by a sensible set of investment tenets that are executed through a disciplined repeatable process, integrating considerations that position portfolios to outperform passively managed indexes over time. Boston Partners serves clients across multiple segments and geographies including global institutions, financial intermediaries, investment consultants and sub-advisory platforms.

JHR-470582-2023-12-15 12/23

SOURCE John Hancock Investment Management