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Jeffrey O. Duckworth (1)

About John Hancock Investment Management

John Hancock Investment Management is a premier asset manager representing one of America's most trusted brands, with a heritage of financial stewardship dating back to 1862. What sets the firm apart is its multi-manager approach: John Hancock offers a range of solutions managed by a diverse set of specialized asset managers, many of whom have spent their careers refining a single winning strategy. 

Jeff Duckworth serves as President of Intermediary Distribution, leading the firm's 59-person wholesaler team that services broker-dealers nationwide. Matt Blandford, Senior Vice President and Divisional Sales Manager, is responsible for driving the success of 11 wholesalers throughout the Midwest.

"I really see YCharts as a tool that can sync up many different parts of our organization. From our distribution team to our capital markets team, I see it making a big impact on our collaboration as a whole."

Summary

John Hancock did not need more data. It needed data its wholesalers could use in the room, in the moment, with an advisor whose time is scarce.

The firm takes a capital markets-centric, consultative approach to advisor meetings. That approach only works if wholesalers can compare funds, analyze risk, and show the potential value of a portfolio change on the spot, without stalling the conversation or promising a follow-up.
Rather than build an analytics tool in-house, John Hancock outfitted its distribution team with YCharts. Wholesalers now screen and compare funds, weave firm-built client fund lists into conversations, and generate branded visuals comparing hypothetical strategies against an advisor's current approach.

Today YCharts is part of the majority of John Hancock's advisor meetings when a specific fund opportunity is on the table.

The Challenge

An advisor's time is scarce, so every wholesaler meeting has to deliver as much value as possible with as little friction as possible. For an asset manager whose distribution runs through broker-dealers nationwide, the quality of those meetings directly shapes asset growth.

John Hancock's wholesalers take a consultative approach, assessing each advisor's current strategy before recommending a change. That approach depends on real-time access to information about funds, the current market environment, and model strategies. Without it, wholesalers risk stalling the conversation or ending a meeting with a promised follow-up instead of a decision.

As a forward-looking team, John Hancock was constantly looking for ways to help wholesalers have data-enabled conversations with advisors about the risks in their investment strategies. Jeff saw a gap in the distribution team's engagement strategy: wholesalers needed a platform they could use on the go, with real-time data and visuals that fit naturally into a live meeting.

Building that capability internally would have been costly and slow, and it would have pulled resources away from the firm's core focus. John Hancock needed a platform analytical enough for its capital markets team, simple enough for wholesalers to use mid-meeting, and flexible enough to support collaboration across its entire distribution organization.
“With YCharts, we're able to better put our investment solutions in the context of the markets in a way that works for people on the go. It's an incredibly analytical tool and saved us from having to build one in-house."

The Solution

After learning about YCharts through the recommendation of an industry peer, John Hancock outfitted its distribution team with the platform. The goal was to keep wholesalers current on market and fund flow movements, visualize economic trends, deliver timely research, highlight model portfolio solutions, and objectively address challenges that come up during meetings.

Bringing Fund Analysis Into the Meeting
John Hancock's wholesalers start every meeting by assessing the advisor's needs and current strategy. With YCharts Fund Screener and Comp Tables, they can compare funds by category and analyze performance and risk metrics on the spot, surfacing the funds that stand out as strong opportunities while the conversation is still live.

Building Fund Lists Once, Sharing Them Across the Team
The distribution team builds its own client fund lists directly in YCharts. Wholesalers leverage those lists for on-the-fly analytics and weave them into sales conversations. When one of Matt's wholesalers built a set of client fund lists and Fund Screens to prepare for a meeting, the presentation was so well received that every member of his team adopted the workflow, shared with a single click.

Putting Model Strategies in Context
Using Model Portfolios, wholesalers can quickly create visuals showing the hypothetical performance of a potential strategy against the advisor's current one, delivered in clean, branded reports. That turns a product pitch into an objective, data-backed conversation about the advisor's portfolio.

Staying Current on Flows
Jeff and Matt make sure their wholesalers use the YCharts Fund Flows Report to stay current on the prior month's fund flows, historical flows, and performance data for mutual funds and ETFs, so every conversation reflects where money is actually moving.

Connecting Internal and External Teams
John Hancock's internal team stress tests the model portfolios advisors are using and makes recommendations for adjustments. YCharts puts that analysis directly in the external wholesaler's hands before the meeting, so both sides of the territory work from the same view.

 

"A big part of a territory's success is the internal/external partnership. YCharts helps those teams stay on the same page. The internals stress test the model portfolios that advisors are using and make recommendations for adjustments. When we take all that portfolio analysis that's done internally and put it into the wholesaler's fingertips, they're more prepared for meetings and feel more informed."

The Results

John Hancock's wholesalers began seeing results across the distribution team shortly after rollout, and the impact extends beyond individual meetings.

  • YCharts in the bulk of fund-focused meetings, with business consultants using the platform whenever a specific fund opportunity is discussed

  • One wholesaler's workflow adopted across his entire team, after a meeting built on shared fund lists and Fund Screens was so well received it became the standard

  • An in-house build avoided, with YCharts delivering the analytical depth the team needed without internal development

  • Internal and external teams aligned, working from the same portfolio analysis and stress tests before every meeting

  • Easier adoption than legacy tools, with Matt noting how accessible YCharts is compared with the clunky, antiquated solutions it replaced

 

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Discover What YCharts Can Do for Your Firm 

Join leading asset managers like John Hancock Investment Management in equipping their wholesalers with the data, visuals, and analysis to win more advisor conversations. From fund screening and comparisons to model portfolio analysis, fund flows, and branded reporting, YCharts helps distribution teams prepare faster, collaborate better, and show advisors the value of a change with clarity and confidence.

Value Delivered:
  1. Live fund analysis in the meeting that lets wholesalers compare funds and address advisor objections in real time
  2. Shared fund lists and screens that turn one wholesaler's best workflow into the whole team's standard with a single click
  3. Branded model portfolio comparisons that show advisors the potential value of changing their strategy, backed by data