An arm of Manulife Financial Corp. has closed on about $2 billion in capital commitments, in U.S. dollars, to the John Hancock Infrastructure Fund.
The arrangement will give investors the ability to invest, via Manulife’s general account, in direct private equity investments and co-investments in the infrastructure sector in the United States.
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The fund’s offering was oversubscribed, according to Kevin Adolphe, president of the Manulife Asset Management Private Markets unit.
About 45% of the institutional investors participating in the fund are from North America, 40% from Europe and 15% from Asia.
About half of the capital commitments came from pension funds and insurance companies.
The other commitments came primarily from global asset managers, including some sovereign wealth funds.
John Anderson, Manulife’s head of corporate finance, and Recep Kendircioglu, senior managing director, power and infrastructure, are leading the fund.
The fund was partially seeded by the company.
The company has agreed to maintain a 40% ownership of certain of the assets and 50% ownership of the other assets. In addition, the company will match the fund’s new primary investments on a dollar-for-dollar basis.