Coming and Going: Fraise and Marchand Renew John Hancock Ties
This isn’t the first contact with the fund for either man. According to a John Hancock announcement, both Marchand and Fraise were members of Yeager Wood’s three-person investment policy committee while Yeager Wood was sub-advisor of the fund.
Hancock dumped Yeager Wood after Fraise left (See Hancock Boots Global Leaders Growth Fund Subadvisor) earlier this summer. Fraise was co-portfolio manager of the Global Leaders Growth Fund with George Yeager, who had run the fund since its inception in 1995.
Under the arrangement announced Wednesday, Fraise and Marchand initially will be employees of John Hancock Advisers and portfolio managers of the fund while also continuing to serve as principals of their recently formed Sustainable Growth Advisers.
Maureen Ford, chairman and chief executive officer of John Hancock Funds, explained that the dual employee status will be short-term. Sustainable Growth Advisers was formed in mid-July and is in the process of adding staff, including key positions such as a senior portfolio manager and an equity analyst, she said.
“Once George and Gordon add the appropriate skills and depth to their staff, we anticipate seeking the approval of our Board of Trustees and the fund’s shareholders to formally hire their firm to be the sub-adviser of the John Hancock US Global Leaders Growth Fund,” she said. “This process may take a couple of months, but in the meantime, as employees of John Hancock Advisers, they will be able to tap the skills and talents of our staff as they manage the fund.”
Ford added that John Hancock Advisers expects to make the Global Leaders investment strategy available to its institutional and private account clients.
Investing Veterans
According to the announcement, Marchand has nearly 25 years in investment management and consulting experience. He was with Yeager Wood & Marshall, Inc. from 1984 to 2003 and served as the firm’s Chief Financial and Operating Officer. Before that, he had been a manager with the Management Consulting Services Group of Price Waterhouse.
Fraise has more than 15 years of investment management experience. In addition to his three-years at Yeager Wood, he had been a portfolio manager for Scudder Kemper Investments. Before that, he held senior analyst positions with Smith Barney and Chancellor Capital Management. Fraise began his career in 1987 as an equity analyst with Drexel Burnham Lambert.
The John Hancock US Global Leaders Growth Fund, which had $586 million in assets under management as of July 31, 2003, is a non-diversified open-end fund that seeks long-term growth of capital by investing in stocks of sustainable growth companies that have a global reach.