Manulife Financial Corp. is one of the latest mutual fund providers to file a 40-APP form with the Securities & Exchange Commission that would allow it to issue ETFs.

Three of the company’s subsidiaries - John Hancock Advisers LLC, John Hancock Investment Mangement Services and MFC Global Investment Management – would each advise at least one of the resulting products.

The filing is part of a growing trend as a new wave of mutual fund providers seek to leverage their fund management expertise to enter a rapidly growing section of the market. Pimco launched its first ETF in June, and other big names seeking to enter the market include Schwab and Old Mutual.

No specific funds are detailed, but the filing does indicate that the proposed products would be index-based funds tracking domestic or international markets.

Manulife is a large Canadian insurer with extensive financial services operations that operates primarily under its “John Hancock” brand name in the U.S.  Assets under management for John Hancock Companies stood at roughly $186 billion earlier this year.