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Job Description

The Opportunity

Managing Director, Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Agriculture is responsible for assisting the CIO in the overall management of the Manulife Agriculture program. This leadership role oversees Economic Research, Portfolio Management & Client Service, Strategy and Water Resources teams. Specific areas of focus include the analysis and implementation of asset allocation policies, oversight of the investment strategy, corporate governance, and risk management in a socially responsible manner for funds, separate accounts, and insurance company client segments. The position will have P&L accountability for the investment P&L.

DCIO needs to be a truly authentic, principled and a visible leader. They will motivate and lead a collaborative, cohesive, efficient team and attract, develop, and retain key leadership talent. The DCIO also provides mentorship to enhance the strength and capability of the teams to successfully deliver the company’s business and investment objectives.

As a face of Manulife Agriculture, the individual will need to be equally comfortable engaging with clients, prospects, Manulife executives, and operating teams, while maintaining consistency of communication and building trust!

How will you create Impact

The MD, Deputy Chief Investment Officer reports to the Global Head of Agriculture and is a member of the Natural Resource Investment Committee

The MD, DCIO provides management for the internal and external investment strategy, oversight of portfolio management group, economic research, water resources, risk management, implementation of investment policies and the investment management plan. The MD, DCIO advises the CIO on a variety of sophisticated investment portfolio management and governance strategies and acts on behalf of the CIO in their absence.

This role collaborates deeply with the CIO and AST in development of the team’s presentation to the market, client relationships, investment strategies, and portfolio management.

Stakeholder Interface

• Experience dealing with a complex matrix of investors, prospects, and internal relationships, with an ability to establish, build and maintain productive and trusting relationships.
• A clear sense of responsibility and an ability to listen, to empathize with, and understand various partner and shareholder sensitivities; able to balance the interests of the investors, business, and other partners.
• Committed to providing best in class service to Manulife IM Ag clients, working collaboratively with the CIO, PMCS, ER and Water teams. Always seeking to exceed customer expectations in the pursuit of ensuring long-term commercial partnerships.
• Willing to establish, build, sustain and share strong professional relationships with the broader industry wide customer group.
• Influences at the most senior levels and can gain the support of Senior Management (including Manulife) regarding critical decisions and can build coalitions around key issues.

Leadership Capabilities

• A strong leader with the skills to ‘lead from the front’ in collaboration with the AST and develop/build an outstanding Investment leadership team.
• Able to create a cohesive and strong investment leadership team who individually and collectively provide leadership to the business and its people.
• Able to foster a culture of collaboration and proactivity in the delivery of strategic objectives.
• Able to drive continued cultural change within the organization with an increased focus on performance, risk management, and socially responsible investing.
• Able to upgrade the capabilities of the team as required by the demands of the business, and to mentor and develop people to improve performance. Proactively plans for succession across the group.
• Defines an inspiring vision that is linked to the top of Manulife IM Agriculture, consistently communicated throughout the organization internally and to external partners as appropriate.

Shape Strategy

• Continuously assesses opportunities for improving profitability or growth and reducing risk at the client and business level.
• Demonstrates intellectual horsepower and networks to anticipate emerging trends, threats, and opportunities, gain insights and develop/assess strategic options.
• Challenges assumptions and adapts business strategy considering industry changes, seizing opportunities for continuous improvement and value maximization.
• Able to align organizational capability within ER, PMCS, Strategy, and Water Resources to meet immediate and long- term strategic goals in order to deliver the required financial, risk, and client outcomes.
• Able to unite the ER, PMCS, Strategy, Water Resources and AST behind a shared and coherent vision that reflects Manulife Agriculture’s intention and is based upon considered business strategy and thorough analysis designed to deliver clearly superior risk-adjusted returns.
• Ensures team participates in industry opportunities, develops strategic alliances when necessary, and positions itself in such a way to create market differentiation and sustainable long-term value and profits.

Operate with Excellence

• Demonstrates a commitment to safety, continuous improvement, and operational and financial excellence.
• Defines ambitious goals and establishes priorities with clear responsibilities to ensure results; leads projects, activities, and resources effectively to deliver outcomes.
• Well-developed commercial perspectives and general business experience.
• Ability to identify underlying problems or opportunities and influence strong intuition and insightfulness to drive business performance and decision making.
• Instills and embeds strong and mature governance frameworks, and continually assesses risk such as macro, financial, demand, safety, environmental, reputational etc.

Cultural Fit & Impact

• A mature professional possessing judgement, a focused approach, strong professional standards and above all, a focus on driving efficiencies and delivering results.
• Driven, enthusiastic and has the hunger and energy to ensure the business succeeds in delivering outstanding results.
• Engages and connects authentically across all levels of MIMTA to engender a culture of trust and commercial excellence.
• Exceptional interpersonal and presentation skills that engender the ability to communicate with purpose, clarity, and conviction.
• Unquestionable integrity and business ethics; a strong character with a high level of personal credibility and an adherence to superior moral and ethical standards.
• Has the resilience and fortitude to lead change and make difficult (and sometimes unpopular) decisions when required to do so.

Key responsibilities:

• Lead the ER, PMCS, Strategy, and Water Resources teams to align key investment inputs (Client, Macro Economic and Water) throughout the portfolio construction and management function to satisfy investor objectives for Manulife IM Ag clients. P&L accountability for investment revenues and expenses.
• Provide technical assistance to the Global Head of Agriculture, CIO on investment policies, and developing/supporting and implementing Manulife Agriculture’s growth strategies both short and long term.
• Participate as a full voting member at the Manulife IM Ag IC and NRIC, ensuring that we execute on investments consistent with investor guidelines at an appropriate risk adjusted return.
• Supervise the Investment Strategy Committee (ISC) for Agriculture, working across the platform on investment strategy development, new initiatives, and new idea development. Need to balance new ideas with servicing the existing platform.
• Work with Global Head of Agriculture on client, investment entity governance, and platform companies
• Collaborate with the DCIO of Manulife Timberland on the oversight of ER and other business matters as they arise
• Actively support Client, Business Development and new product development activities across Real Assets and Manulife Private Markets
• Actively support and lead efforts in coordination with Business Development to establish strong relationships with consultants
• Contribute to development of Manulife sustainability initiatives and impact strategies for the benefit of the clients and platform.
• Recognize, handle, and seek to avoid serious investment risks. Further build and maintain methodologies for identifying, measuring, and mitigating risk exposures related to Manulife Ag’s investment process, products, and client investments
• Proactively support, promote and communicate Manulife IM Ag’s market view of agriculture to external markets (ie GAI, II conferences, webinars, etc).
• Develop, maintain coordinate, and oversee administration for farm performance reporting of the NCREIF, GIPS and Global Composites returns. Develop framework and performance reporting for new initiatives and continuous improvement.
• Help drive AST view and activities around composite performance and opportunities for improvement.
• Identify and develop opportunities to better position track record against NCREIF (ie. developments, redevelopments, partial redevelopments, and crop types, etc.)

What are we looking for

• Minimum twenty years of relevant investment management experience in agriculture and/or the investment classes involving the agricultural sectors
• Proven experience in leading program to deliver risk adjusted returns in a socially responsible manner.
• Experience in leading multi-disciplined teams in a corporate setting, with a well-articulated framework for developing teams and individual team members
• Skilled in working with institutional investors ranging from insurance companies to private and public pension plans to endowments and foundations to investment consultants, with a deep network of contacts.
• In-depth knowledge of agriculture issues (e.g. value chains, agriculture trade, sustainable agriculture, agriculture and climate change integration, etc.) and a good network, general knowledge of alternative asset classes and the investment industry a plus
• Strong experience developing/evaluating investment strategies, risk management frameworks and valuation models to serve key partners (clients and Manulife)
• The highest standards of personal and professional ethics and integrity,
• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or Masters Degrees in relevant industries preferred. Strong command of accounting and finance preferred.
• Travel may be required (25-50% at times), including international travel.

What can we offer you?

• A competitive salary and benefits packages.
• A growth trajectory that extends upward and outward, encouraging you to follow your passions and learn new skills.
• A focus on growing your career path with us.
• Flexible work policies and strong work-life balance.
• Professional development and leadership opportunities.
  

Our commitment to you

• Values-first culture
  We lead with our Values every day and bring them to life together.
• Boundless opportunity
  We create opportunities to learn and grow at every stage of your career.
• Continuous innovation
  We invite you to help redefine the future of financial services.
• Delivering the promise of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  We foster an inclusive workplace where everyone thrives.
• Championing Corporate Citizenship
  We build a business that benefits all stakeholders and has a positive social and environmental impact.

#LI-JH-MIMTA

Every career at Manulife/John Hancock provides the opportunity to learn new skills and move your career forward. Ready to make an impact somewhere? What are you waiting for? Apply today.

About John Hancock and Manulife

John Hancock is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. We operate primarily as John Hancock in the United States, and Manulife globally, including Canada, Asia and Europe. We provide financial advice, insurance and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. Assets under management and administration by Manulife and its subsidiaries were CAD$1.3 trillion (US$1.1 trillion) as of June 30, 2021. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as MFC on the TSX, NYSE, and PSE, and under 945 on the SEHK. Manulife can be found at manulife.com .

One of the largest life insurers in the United States, John Hancock supports more than 10 million Americans with a broad range of financial products, including life insurance , annuities , investments , 401(k) plans , and education savings plans . Additional information about John Hancock may be found at johnhancock.com .

Manulife is an Equal Opportunity Employer

At Manulife /John Hancock , we embrace our diversity. We strive to attract, develop and retain a workforce that is as diverse as the customers we serve and to foster an inclusive work environment that embraces the strength of cultures and individuals. We are committed to fair recruitment, retention, advancement and compensation, and we administer all of our practices and programs without discrimination on the basis of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour , ethnic origin, citizenship, religion or religious beliefs, creed, sex (including pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions), sexual orientation, genetic characteristics, veteran status, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status, disability, or any other ground protected by applicable law.

It is our priority to remove barriers to provide equal access to employment. A Human Resources representative will work with applicants who request a reasonable accommodation during the application process . All information shared during the accommodation request process will be stored and used in a manner that is consistent with applicable laws and Manulife/John Hancock policies . To request a reasonable accommodation in the application process, contact recruitment@manulife.com .

The annual base salary for this role is listed below.

Primary Location

Salary range is expected to be between

If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact recruitment@manulife.com for the salary range for your location. The actual salary will vary depending on local market conditions, geography and relevant job-related factors such as knowledge, skills, qualifications, experience, and education/training. Employees also have the opportunity to participate in incentive programs and earn incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance.

Manulife/John Hancock offers eligible employees a wide array of customizable benefits, including health, dental, mental health, vision, short- and long-term disability, life and AD&D insurance coverage, adoption/surrogacy and wellness benefits, and employee/family assistance plans. We also offer eligible employees various retirement savings plans (including pension/401(k) savings plans and a global share ownership plan with employer matching contributions) and financial education and counseling resources. Our generous paid time off program in the U.S. includes up to 11 paid holidays, 3 personal days, 150 hours of vacation, and 40 hours of sick time (or more where required by law) each year, and we offer the full range of statutory leaves of absence.

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