The global asset manager will use RiskFirst’s risk analytics platform to help pension plan clients better understand  their asset, liability and risk profiles, helping to enable more efficient LDI and de-risking solutions

Manulife Asset Management, the global asset management arm of Canada-based financial services group Manulife, has adopted RiskFirst’s risk analytics and reporting platform, PFaroe.  PFaroe’s risk analytics will complement Manulife Asset Management’s current Liability-Driven Investment (LDI) offering, enabling the asset manager to stress-test clients’ pension plans against economic and demographic assumptions and explore the impact of alternative portfolio allocations in order to drive more effective solutions. Manulife Asset Management runs approximately C$16 billion (around US$12 billion) in customised LDI strategies for North American pension plans.

Eric Menzer, Global Head of Pension & Risk Management Solutions, Manulife Asset Management, comments:

“We have a strong 17-year track-record of implementing LDI solutions in North America. PFaroe is a flexible system that will complement our existing capabilities, allowing us to stress-test the impact of certain capital markets and economic assumptions across both assets and liabilities, run scenarios and look at value-at-risk in a more holistic manner. It also allows us to use this information to test alternative portfolio recommendations and understand their risk and return impact in the asset-liability space.”

Menzer adds:

“By helping clients to have a better understanding of the interaction between assets and liabilities we can then implement even more effective solutions. This is a critical step in helping plan sponsors reduce funded status volatility, risks associated with large unexpected contributions and, ultimately, get to fully funded status. PFaroe is an easy-to-use tool that fits well alongside our already robust proprietary LDI modelling and investment management capabilities, giving us the flexibility to incorporate our own proprietary capital market outlooks and assumptions into the LDI investment decision making process.”

Matthew Seymour, Managing Director, RiskFirst, comments:

“Manulife is one of the world’s leading financial institutions, so it is with great pleasure that we welcome their asset management business as a client. Manulife Asset Management has a very strong and sophisticated LDI team, strengthened even further recently, through the January addition of Standard Life Canada’s asset management business. They are thought leaders within the field of LDI, as evidenced by their patented system for pension de-risking. Having PFaroe chosen by a team of this calibre is a huge endorsement of PFaroe and our on-going efforts to improve pension risk management. We are confident that PFaroe’s detailed and granular analytics will further enhance their customised services to clients.”

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 June 30, 2015, assets under management for Manulife Asset Management were approximately C$390 billion (US$313 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 and Declaration Management and Research are units 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 providing forward-thinking solutions to help people with their big financial decisions. We operate as John Hancock in the United States, and Manulife elsewhere. We provide financial advice, insurance and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2014, we had 28,000 employees, 58,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving 20 million customers. At the end of June 2015, we had $883 billion (US$708 billion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made more than $22 billion in benefits, interest and other 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.  Follow Manulife on Twitter @ManulifeNews or visit www.manulife.comor www.johnhancock.com.