Manulife Investment Management has unveiled its first actively managed ETFs with the launch of five income-focused funds on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Bernard Letendre, Head of Wealth and Asset Management for Manulife.

The funds comprise three Canadian fixed income strategies and two equity strategies targeting Canadian and US-listed stocks with sustainable dividends.

Each ETF is designed to serve as a core portfolio holding.

Bernard Letendre, Manulife’s Head of Wealth and Asset Management, commented: “Manulife Investment Management’s new ETFs have an attractive price point within their respective categories, which offer a good balance between price and the potential to outperform.

“Adding these new Manulife ETFs are part of our commitment to investors to provide them with the most amount of value.”

Fixed income

The Manulife Smart Short-Term Bond ETF (TERM CN) invests in investment-grade securities issued by Canadian corporate issuers. Eligible securities must have a remaining time to maturity between one and three years. The fund comes with a management fee of 0.20%.

The Manulife Smart Corporate Bond ETF (CBND CN) also invests in investment-grade Canadian corporate securities but covers bonds with any maturity greater than one year. The fund’s management fee is 0.24%.

The Manulife Smart Core Bond ETF (BSKT CN) offers aggregate bond exposure by covering securities from federal, provincial, municipal, and corporate issuers. Eligible securities must be rated investment-grade and have a remaining maturity greater than one year. The fund costs 0.22%.

Each ETF is managed by Manulife’s Quantitative Management Team and seeks to earn the highest level of income consistent with the preservation of capital. The team combines quantitative models and active credit research in a bid to deliver a better yield experience than broad bond markets while matching similar risk metrics.

Equity income

The two equity funds are the Manulife Smart Dividend ETF (CDIV CN), which comes with a management fee of 0.25%, and the Manulife Smart US Dividend ETF (UDIV CN), which costs 0.28%.

These ETFs are managed by Manulife’s Beta Management Team and seek to balance high sustainable income with long-term capital growth. The strategies screen for growing and stable dividend-payers and optimize the portfolio based on a multi-factor approach.