Systematic equity beta
Based in Toronto, ON, the team works closely with one another while they leverage the vast resources that the Manulife Investment Management global organization has to offer. This includes quantitative research, actuarial science, and environmental, social, and governance reports.
Experience and capabilities
Deep experience meets ETFs
For over 20 years, our professionals have built a reputation by delivering custom index-based solutions with a focus on research, discipline and efficient execution. This focus has led to over $52.7 billion in retail and institutional assets under management for clients across Canada, the U.S. and Asia.1
A focused perspective
Research and a rigorous process that drive core functions which lead to client-focused investment solutions.
- Quantitative research
- Equity market research
- Dividend screening
- Factor optimization
- Efficient trading
Investment management team
Operating efficiently, and maintaining a disciplined and repeatable process, is at the core of what the team does. Here are the investment professionals behind the process.
Serge Lapierre, FSA, FCIA
Head of Liability-Driven Investments, Financial Engineering, and Quantitative Research, Sr. Portfolio Manager, Multi-Asset Solutions Team
Began career: 1994
Geoff Kelley, CFA
Senior Portfolio Manager, Head of Strategic Asset Allocation and Systematic Equity Beta
Began career: 1994
Ashikhusein Shahpurwala, CFA, PRM
Senior Portfolio Manager
Began career: 1999
Research and client portfolio management
Investment processes
Manulife Smart Dividend ETF investment process
The quality dividend screen is at the foundation of the Manulife Smart Dividend ETFs. The criteria and metrics that are applied to each investment decision ensures that the ETFs maintain a consistent focus—to invest in companies with stable and growing dividends.
Posed as questions, below is the quality dividend screen the team uses when making buy, sell, or hold decisions within each ETF. The result is an efficient and scalable ETF.
- Is the stock liquid?
- Is the dividend amount sustainable, based on business performance?
- Compared to earnings, is the dividend payout sustainable?
- Can the dividend grow over time?
- Is the dividend yield attractive compared to competitors?
To determine the allocation of the stocks in the ETF, the team considers four factors they believe drive better risk-adjusted returns.
The four factors are:
- Quality
- Momentum
- Value
- Yield
Based on the outcome of their proprietary model, a weight is assigned to each stock in the ETF.
The finishing touches
Keys to efficient portfolio management:
- Keep trading costs low when buying and selling, e.g., bulk trading,
- Reduce turnover, when possible, e.g., avoid unnecessary trading,
- Put cash to use, e.g., when new money flows into the fund, put it to use,
- and a tracking error monitoring system with targets well-inside of each ETFs performance threshold.
Manulife Smart Defensive Equity ETF investment process
As with the dividend ETFs, a screening process is at the core of the Manulife Smart Defensive Equity ETFs.
The MSCI U.S.A Index is screened for:
- Stocks with a 2-year beta of less than 1.05
- Stocks with low volatility of earnings per share
- Stocks with low volatility of price change
With a new, smaller universe of low beta, high-quality stocks, the portfolio managers rank and then select securities that exhibit characteristics of two important factors – beta and quality. Once the portfolio is constructed it is monitored daily and rebalanced quarterly.
Active investment process
For illustration purposes only.
ETFs
Hedged ticker |
Unhedged ticker |
Fund name |
Morningstar category |
Management fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
- |
Manulife Smart Dividend ETF |
Canadian dividend and income equity | 0.25% | |
Manulife Smart U.S. Dividend ETF |
U.S. equity | 0.33% / 0.28% | ||
- |
Manulife Smart U.S. Dividend ETF (USD units) |
International equity |
0.28% |
|
- |
Manulife Smart International Dividend ETF |
International equity |
0.35% |
|
- |
Manulife Smart Defensive Equity ETF |
Canadian equity |
0.25%** |
|
Manulife Smart U.S. Defensive Equity ETF |
U.S. equity |
0.36%** / 0.31%** |
||
- |
Manulife Smart U.S. Defensive Equity ETF (USD units) |
International equity |
0.28% |
|
- |
Manulife Smart International Defensive Equity ETF |
International equity |
0.28% |
The Manulife Smart Balanced Dividend ETF bundle, Manulife Smart Dividend ETF, and Manulife Smart U.S. Dividend ETF are now available in the GIF Select InvestmentPlus and Manulife Private Investment Pools —MPIP Segregated Pools contracts. The Manulife Smart Balanced Dividend ETF bundle is also available on the mutual fund platform.
Important disclosure
**Management fee.
1 Source: Manulife Investment Management as of June 30, 2022.
Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the fund facts as well as the prospectus of the mutual funds before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Manulife Funds (including the Trust Pools) are managed by Manulife Investment Management Limited (formerly named Manulife Asset Management Limited). Manulife Investment Management is a trade name of Manulife Investment Management Limited. Manulife, Stylized M Design, and Manulife Investment Management & Design are trademarks of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company and are used by it, and its affiliates under license.