Manulife Asset Management has expanded its global equity capabilities with the creation of a new U.S. Small Cap equity team that moved to the firm from UBS Global Asset Management.

Bill Talbot, senior managing director and senior portfolio manager, leads the team, which also includes Joseph Nowinski, managing director and portfolio manager; Travis Schaftenaar, director and senior investment analyst; and Vikram Kaura, director and senior investment analyst.

The team reports to Christopher Conkey, global chief investment officer of Manulife Asset Management, and is based in Chicago.

“Bill and the new team bring to Manulife Asset Management an established track record of outperformance in the small cap equity space,” said Conkey. “Adding their considerable investment management strengths represents a significant step forward in expanding our U.S. small cap equity capabilities.”

The new small cap team employs a disciplined bottom-up fundamental research approach, based on the belief that investing in small cap stocks with cash flow and earnings growth visibility, attractive valuations and manageable risk over the long-term will result in outperformance.

Talbot, a 24-year industry veteran, joins Manulife AM from UBS where since 1997 he focused exclusively on US small cap investing. His responsibilities included fundamental and industry-level research for consumer discretionary and utilities. Prior to UBS, he invested in private debt and equity for the Travelers Companies. There he financed expansion, buyouts, recapitalizations, and spin-offs. He initiated some of Travelers’ earliest non-US investments and represented the company on two private equity fund advisory boards. Talbot is a graduate of Trinity College, and obtained a MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth College.

Nowinski also joins from UBS where he was co-portfolio manager of the U.S. Small Cap Value Portfolio. His responsibilities included portfolio construction and maintaining the integrity of the research process for the small cap equity team. He focused exclusively on U.S. small cap investing where his responsibilities included fundamental and industry-level research for energy, materials and industrials. Prior to joining UBS in 2005, Nowinski spent six years with Citigroup Global Asset Management as a senior equity analyst, covering the retail, healthcare services, and REIT sectors.

Schaftenaar was with UBS prior to joining Manulife AM, working on small cap analysis of the healthcare sector, including pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and biotechnology. Prior to joining UBS in 2004, he worked for Lincoln Capital Management, where he analyzed the retail and consumer products industries.

Kaura also was previously with UBS, covering the small cap technology sector. Prior to joining the UBS small cap team in 2006, he spent six years as a sell-side analyst focusing on technology stocks at RBC Capital Markets, Piper Jaffray, and Collins Stewart, and also worked for 10 years in technology research and product development at GE and Rockwell Automation.

Manulife Asset Management is the global asset management arm of Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC).