Manulife to merge equity funds

Manulife Investments, a division of Toronto-based Manulife Asset Management Ltd., will implement a fund merger and change to one of its funds, the investment manager announced Monday.

The company intends to merge Manulife International Value Equity Fund into Manulife EAFE Equity Fund (formerly Manulife International Focused Fund) to streamline its product platform. Both funds are currently sub-advised by Pictet Asset Management.

Manulife Investments is also proposing a change to the investment objective of Manulife EAFE Equity Fund. The purpose of the change is to better align the objective with the sub-advisor’s typical objective and strategy for similar mandates.

The merger is subject to regulatory approval, and would be executed on a taxable basis. Both the merger and objective change are subject to unitholder approval. If approved, Manulife Investments is proposing to merge the funds on or about April 5, at which time Manulife EAFE Equity Fund will also see a management fee reduction of 0.08% on Series F and Series FT.

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