John Hancock Funds has completed the adoption of Fiduciary Management Associates' FMA Small Company Portfolio and has launched it as the John Hancock Small Company Fund.

The reorganisation was effective on 11 December. The fund is now available for sale to retail investors through their financial advisers.

"We are pleased to launch our new Small Company Fund, marking our tenth fund adoption in the past seven years," says Keith F. Hartstein (pictured), president and chief executive of John Hancock Funds. "Adoptions continue to be a key element in our strategy as we've expanded our product line at John Hancock in recent years, and will continue to be important for us going forward. The new Small Company Fund is more value-oriented than our other small cap offerings and so presents a good complement to our lineup."

The fund seeks maximum, long-term total return, consistent with reasonable risk to principal, by investing in common stocks of smaller companies in terms of revenues and/or market capitalisation. The fund's strategy emphasises a relative value approach, seeking to identify investment opportunities that are trading at attractive valuations and have opportunities to expand their earnings and cash flow prospects.

"In today's market environment, we believe the investment characteristics of the Small Company Fund will be increasingly attractive to investors," says Kathryn A. Vorisek, senior managing director and chief investment officer, Fiduciary Management Associates. "We are pleased to partner with John Hancock in expanding our distribution capabilities in the retail market, beyond our predominantly institutional client base."

The fund's portfolio will be managed on a day-to-day basis by Fiduciary Management Associates. Vorisek and Leo Harmon are co-portfolio managers. Vorisek has served as the small cap team leader at FMA since 1998, while Harmon serves as associate team leader and research analyst for small cap products.

John Hancock Funds embarked on its fund adoption strategy in 2002. Its most recent transaction was the adoption of the four-star Robeco Boston Partners Large Cap Value Fund, which was re-launched as the John Hancock Disciplined Value Fund in January 2009.