Integrates new AI Research Assistant platform to support investment analysis

TORONTO - Manulife Wealth & Asset Management is harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance investment analysis for its public markets investment research teams.

Across Manulife Wealth & Asset Management, teams are leveraging the powerful capabilities of AI to help contribute to better outcomes for clients and partners. The firm’s recently implemented AI Research Assistant platform was created to complement the public markets investment research team’s experience and expedite data analysis, enabling them to make better-informed investment decisions. 

 “Artificial intelligence is ushering in a new era for investment management. One defined by accelerated insight, enhanced precision, and scalable decision-making,” said Paul Lorentz, President and CEO, Manulife Wealth & Asset Management. “Its ability to distill vast and complex data into actionable intelligence is reshaping how we assess risk, uncover opportunity, and construct portfolios. We view AI not as a substitute for human judgment, but as a strategic partner, amplifying the capabilities of our investment professionals while preserving the rigor and accountability that define active management.”

The AI Research Assistant streamlines the investment research process for public markets by synthesizing internal and external data sources – company financials, sell-side commentary, internal notes, earnings transcripts, and news stories – into cohesive, actionable insights. It leverages the efficiency of AI to reduce the time spent mining through lengthy documents by 70-80%.

"This is a really exciting development that we believe is an advancement and competitive edge for investment research,” said Colin Purdie, Global Chief Investment Officer, Public Markets, Manulife Investment Management. "By integrating this tool into our processes, we’re accelerating insight generation and empowering our investment professionals to focus on high-impact, strategic investment decisions that drive value for our clients.”

Integrating AI with Investment Expertise

The development of AI Research Assistant is a collaborative endeavor with Manulife’s technology, AI and public markets investment research teams to ensure the tool fits seamlessly into the daily workflows. Manulife AI specialists were embedded with the investment research teams to create a tool that enhances efficiency without compromising the depth of analysis and with full consideration of the investment process – while keeping investment decisions with the portfolio management team. Having only recently launched, already an impressive 65% of public markets investment team members have incorporated the AI Research Assistant Platform into their work processes.¹

"We set out to build a solution that supports our investment teams by simplifying workflows and unlocking the potential of AI for faster and deeper insights," said Robi Krempus, Head of AI, Manulife Wealth & Asset Management. "The AI Research Assistant is not a replacement but a strategic complement to our teams’ existing experience, helping them stay ahead in a competitive market to continue to deliver the best investment outcomes to clients."

Central to the development of the platform was a commitment to a human-centered approach tied to Manulife’s Responsible AI Principles built on these core pillars: Responsible AI Development, Investment-led Solutions, and Integrated Risk and Compliance Oversight. It was developed with a bottom-up, user-oriented process, ensuring that AI solutioning is not done in isolation.

Manulife Wealth & Asset Management’s parent company, Manulife Financial Corporation, has invested in AI technology for nearly a decade, with a focus on integrating these tools across its global operations to help deliver practical, value-driven solutions. Manulife was recently recognized as the #1 life insurance company in the inaugural Evident AI Index for Insurance. More than 75% of Manulife’s global workforce is engaged with GenAI tools, including its proprietary ChatMFC. The firm’s generative AI roadmap focuses on enhancing insights, improving personalization for clients and advisors, and investing in scalable solutions to deliver the best possible outcomes for clients.

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1 As of August 31, 2025.

About Manulife Wealth & Asset Management 

As part of Manulife Financial Corporation, Manulife Wealth & Asset Management provides global investment, financial advice, and retirement plan services to 19 million individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. Our mission is to make decisions easier and lives better by empowering people today to invest for a better tomorrow. As a committed partner to our clients and as a responsible steward of investor capital, we offer a heritage of risk management, deep expertise across public and private markets, and comprehensive retirement plan services. We seek to provide better investment and impact outcomes and to help people confidently save and invest for a more secure financial future. Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulifeim.com.

Caution regarding forward-looking statements

This document contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbour" provisions of Canadian provincial securities laws and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to Manulife’s use of its digital capabilities, including AI-enabled tools, and the expected benefits it expects to realize with such tools, including with respect to outcomes for clients and partners. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Certain material factors or assumptions are applied in making forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include but are not limited to general business and economic conditions; changes in laws and regulations with respect to the use of AI-enabled tools; our ability to execute our digital plans and to deploy future digital use cases; our ability to adapt products and services to the changing market; our ability to attract and retain key employees; and our ability to protect our intellectual property and exposure to claims of infringement from others. Additional information about material risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations may be found in our most recent annual and interim reports and elsewhere in our filings with Canadian and U.S. securities regulators.

The forward-looking statements in this document are, unless otherwise indicated, stated as of the date hereof. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Media Contact:

Elizabeth Bartlett
Elizabeth_Bartlett@Manulife.com