John Hancock has claimed that the Optimized Value Fund incorporates a large cap value strategy that combines quantitative modeling with qualitative fundamental research. The new fund provides retail investors access for the first time to a large cap value strategy that has been offered since 2004 within John Hancock’s Lifestyle Portfolios to participants in 401(k) plans and variable annuity contracts administered by John Hancock. The fund is available to retail investors through their financial advisors and also through John Hancock’s separately managed account network.
Harpreet Singh, vice president and head of US equities, leads the six-person portfolio management team. Proprietary screens measure valuation, earnings predictability, timeliness, price momentum, and risk profile characteristics. The team blends this quantitative research with fundamental analysis.
Keith Hartstein, president and CEO of John Hancock Funds, said: We are pleased to leverage the core capabilities of our sister subsidiary, MFC Global Investment Management, by launching this large cap value strategy managed by Harpreet and his team into our separately managed account network. The same approach has been utilized in an open-end mutual fund within our Lifestyle portfolios and has performed quite well.
