John Hancock Floating Rate Income Fund Marks Fifth Anniversary

BOSTON, Feb. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- John Hancock Funds announced that the John Hancock Floating Rate Income Fund (Class A:  JFIAX; Class I:  JFIIX) recently marked its fifth anniversary.  For the five-year period ended December 31, 2012, the fund's Class I shares rank in the top two percent of Morningstar's Bank Loan category; while the Class A shares rank in the top four percent.

Sub-advised by Western Asset Management Company (WAMCO), under the supervision of John Hancock Investment Management Services (IMS), the Fund's investment objective is to seek a high level of current income. The Fund's Class A and I shares were both launched on January 2, 2008.  The John Hancock Floating Rate Income Fund had approximately $2.8 billion in assets as of December 31, 2012.

"We congratulate the portfolio management team at Western Asset Management Company on achieving this milestone with the John Hancock Floating Rate Income Fund," said Andrew G. Arnott, President & CEO, John Hancock Funds. "The Fund offers investors attractive levels of current income, and may provide protection against rising interest rates and an appealing way to diversify their portfolios, as bank loans have historically provided a lower correlation to other traditional fixed-income and equity asset classes. Moreover, the Fund is yet another example of the extensive, ongoing research we perform in order to provide mutual fund investors with access to proven institutional asset management expertise and products that would otherwise not be available to them."   

Western Asset Management is one of the world's premier fixed-income managers. The portfolio management team for the John Hancock Floating Rate Income Fund includes Portfolio Manager Timothy J. Settle; Stephen Walsh, CIO of WAMCO; and Michael Buchanan, CFA, Head of Credit. 

The Fund invests primarily in floating rate loans, which often include debt securities of domestic and foreign issuers that are rated below investment grade (rated below Baa or BBB by a rating organization such as Moody's Investor Services or Standard & Poor's), at the time of purchase, or are of comparable quality, as determined by the subadviser, and other floating rate securities.

"We are very pleased with the success of the fund over the last five years," said Mr. Settle, Portfolio Manager.  "The team at John Hancock has done a tremendous job raising awareness among investors about the benefits of including bank loans in their portfolios.  In our view, bank loans continue to offer an attractive yield relative to other asset classes today and should benefit from rising rates and improving company fundamentals."

The Class I shares are currently rated 5 stars, the Class A load-waived shares are rated 4 stars, and the Class A shares with load are rated 3 stars by Morningstar. Class I shares were rated 4 stars out of 134 funds and 5 stars out of 110 funds for the 3- and 5-year periods, respectively, as of December 31, 2012, by Morningstar.  The Class A load-waived shares were rated 3 stars out of 134 funds and 5 stars out of 110 funds for the 3- and 5-year periods, respectively.   Class A shares with load were rated 2 stars out of 134 funds and 4 stars out of 110 funds for the 3- and 5-year periods, respectively.  Class I and Class A shares share a common portfolio of investments, but have difference expense structures.

About Western Asset Management
Western Asset Management is one of the world's premier fixed-income managers. With offices in Pasadena, New York, London, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Melbourne and Sao Paulo, Western's only business is fixed income.  For more information, please visit www.westernasset.com.

About John Hancock Funds
The Boston-based mutual fund business unit of John Hancock Financial, John Hancock Funds manages more than $77.8 billion in open-end funds, closed-end funds, private accounts, college savings and retirement plans, and related party assets for individual and institutional investors as at September 30, 2012.  

About John Hancock Financial and Manulife Financial
John Hancock Financial is a division of Manulife Financial, a leading Canada-based financial services group with principal operations in Asia, Canada and the United States. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States, the Company offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were C$515 billion (US$523 billion) as at September 30, 2012. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at manulife.com.

The John Hancock unit, through its insurance companies, comprises one of the largest life insurers in the United States. John Hancock offers a broad range of financial products and services, including life insurance, annuities, fixed products, mutual funds, 401(k) plans, long-term care insurance, college savings, and other forms of business insurance. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at johnhancock.com.

Fixed-income investments are subject to interest-rate and credit risk; their value will normally decline as interest rates rise or if the creditor is unable or unwilling to make principal or interest payments. Investments in higher-yielding, lower-rated securities involve additional risks as these securities include a higher risk of default and loss of principal. If the Fund invests in illiquid securities, it may be difficult to sell them at a price approximating their value. Foreign investing, especially in emerging markets, has additional risks, such as currency and market volatility and political and social instability. The Fund may invest its assets in a small number of issuers. Performance could suffer significantly from adverse events affecting these issuers. The distribution rate and income amounts reflect past amounts distributed and may not be indicative of future rates or income amounts. The distribution amounts paid by the Fund generally depend on the amount of income and/or dividends received by the Fund's investments. The Fund may not be able to pay distributions or may have to reduce its distribution level if the amount of such income and/or dividends received from its investment declines. Therefore, distribution rates and income amounts can change at any time. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund's prospectus.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.  A fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses should be considered carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other important information about the Fund. To obtain a prospectus, contact your financial professional, call John Hancock Funds at 1-800-225-5291 or visit our Web site at www.jhfunds.com. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing or sending money.

The Morningstar rating methodology rates funds based on an enhanced Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure. Within the Morningstar Bank Loan Category, the top 10% of funds receive five stars, the next 22.5% four stars, the middle 35% three stars, the next 22.5% two stars, and the bottom 10% receive one star. Funds are rated for up to three time periods--three-, five-, and 10 years--and these ratings are combined to produce an overall rating.   The fund's adviser has waived a portion of its management fee and/or reimbursed or paid operating expenses of the fund.  Without such waiver and/or reimbursement, the fund's returns for the periods indicated would be lower. 

SOURCE John Hancock Funds