Asia fixed income appointments underscore Manulife Investment Management’s commitment to the China market

Duo hire strengthens the firm’s emerging markets bond research and investment capability

HONG KONG, SINGAPORE, LONDON (November 8, 2021) — Manulife Investment Management today announced the appointment of Isaac Meng, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager, Fixed Income, and Judy Kwok, Head of Greater China Fixed Income Research, to its strong Asia fixed income team. The new hires are part of the firm’s ongoing efforts in strengthening its fixed income research and investment capability and commitment to growing its reach in China. 

Based in Hong Kong, Isaac is responsible for managing Manulife Investment Management’s China bond strategies. He also works closely with the Asian fixed income team across the region, supplying them with his insights into the China market. Isaac reports to Paula Chan, Senior Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager, Asia Fixed Income.

Also based in Hong Kong, Judy leads the firm’s Greater China fixed income research efforts and plays an important role in cementing Manulife Investment Management Asia credit team’s leadership in the Asia region. Judy is responsible for managing the credit teams in Greater China, as well as overseeing fixed income research activities in Greater China and North Asia. She also leads the firm’s ongoing efforts to drive further collaboration and integration with Manulife-TEDA and to help deliver its growth aspirations across Greater China. Judy reports to Fiona Cheung, Head of Global Emerging Markets Fixed Income Research.

“The addition of Isaac and Judy to our Asia fixed income team is a testament to our commitment to driving growth in the China market. Our team currently manages US$5.7 billion as of 30 June 2021 in dedicated China bond assets. Isaac and Judy will play critical roles in growing our China bond assets, leveraging the on-the-ground team of China fixed income professionals across our WFOE in Shanghai, Manulife-TEDA in Beijing, and team in Hong Kong, to reinforce our in-market expertise in China fixed income,” said Endre Pedersen, CIO, Global Emerging Markets Fixed Income and Deputy CIO, Global Fixed Income, Manulife Investment Management. 

An industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience, Isaac was previously at PIMCO Asia as Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Macro Strategist and led the firm’s China fixed income strategy and macro analysis function as well as interacting with China’s regulators and monetary policymakers. Prior to that he was at BNP Paribas Securities Asia as Senior Economist, and before that held various fixed income-related roles at Bank of Montreal and Bank of China.

With more than 20 years of credit experience, Judy has extensive knowledge in credit markets in Asia Pacific. She was previously at Bank of Singapore as Director of fixed income research, and before that she served in senior research positions at Fidelity International and First State Investments in Hong Kong. She began her career as an analyst with the Australia Prudential Regulatory Authority and Standard & Poor’s in Australia and Hong Kong.

Manulife Investment Management

Manulife Investment Management is the global brand for the global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial Corporation. We draw on more than a century of financial stewardship and the full resources of our parent company to serve individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. Headquartered in Toronto, our leading capabilities in public and private markets are strengthened by an investment footprint that spans 18 geographies. We complement these capabilities by providing access to a network of unaffiliated asset managers from around the world. We’re committed to investing responsibly across our businesses. We develop innovative global frameworks for sustainable investing, collaboratively engage with companies in our securities portfolios, and maintain a high standard of stewardship where we own and operate assets, and we believe in supporting financial well-being through our workplace retirement plans. Today, plan sponsors around the world rely on our retirement plan administration and investment expertise to help their employees plan for, save for, and live a better retirement.

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About Manulife 

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we operate as Manulife across our offices in Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. We provide financial advice, insurance, and our global wealth and asset management segment, Manulife Investment Management, serves individuals, institutions and retirement plan members worldwide. At the end of 2020, we had more than 37,000 employees, over 118,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 30 million customers. As of September 30, 2021, we had $1.4 trillion (US$1.1 trillion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made $31.6 billion in payments to our customers. Our principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United States where we have served customers for more than 155 years. We trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong.

This material has not been reviewed by the Securities and Futures Commission.  Issued by Manulife Investment Management (Hong Kong) Limited.

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Carl Wong

Carl_KK_Wong@manulifeam.com