Keith Hartstein is stepping up as the next CEO and president for John Hancock Funds. The former head of retail sales and marketing will formally take the job on July 18, according to Hancock Funds spokesperson Liz Kennedy. Hartstein takes the reins from James "Jamie" Shepherdson, who left after a year on the job to join Axa Financial.

Hartstein has been at Hancock Funds since September of 1990, when he signed on as a wholesaler. Most recently, he was executive vice president of retail sales and marketing and a member of John Hancock Funds' executive and investment committees.

Shepherdson joined Hancock in 2003 from MetLife Investors Group, where he had been Co-CEO with Greg Brakovich. He initially headed Hancock's retirement service unit as its president, and then took over the Hancock Funds unit in May 2004 after the departure of Maureen Ford Goldfarb.

His hiring at Axa comes on the heels of that firm's loss of Jerry Hampton, an executive vice president who had headed Axa Distributors.

Shepherdson's post at Axa was not announced. 

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