John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund (NYSE: HTD) Shareholders Re- Elect...

John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund (NYSE: HTD) Shareholders Re-
Elect Trustees James F. Carlin and William H. Cunningham
Annual Shareholders Meeting held this morning in Boston

BOSTON, March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Shareholders of the John
Hancock Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund (NYSE: HTD) today overwhelmingly
re-elected independent fund trustees James F. Carlin and William H. Cunningham
to the fund Board.
A quorum was reached at the annual shareholders meeting of the fund held
at 10 a.m. at the fund's offices, 601 Congress Street, Boston, Massachusetts.
Two other shareholder proposals were also approved at the meeting. Fund
shareholders approved the proposal to eliminate the fund's concentration
policy with respect to financial services corporations, and the proposal to
modify the fund's utilities sector concentration policy to permit investments
in foreign utilities corporations. In addition to these two strategy changes,
the Board had previously approved another strategy change that increased to
40% of the fund's net assets the fund's ability to invest in foreign
securities.
Fund management and the Board members in attendance at today's meeting
also acknowledged the current situation in the market for Auction Preferred
Shares (APS) and reiterated a commitment to finding a solution that will
restore liquidity for current APS holders while at the same time not
disadvantaging the holders of common shares of the Fund.
About John Hancock Funds
The Boston-based mutual fund business unit of John Hancock Financial
Services, John Hancock Funds manages more than $56.8 billion in open-end
funds, closed-end funds, private accounts, retirement plans and related party
assets for individual and institutional investors at December 31, 2007. John
Hancock Funds are distributed by John Hancock Funds, LLC, member FINRA. For
more information, please visit www.jhfunds.com.
John Hancock Financial Services is a unit of Manulife Financial
Corporation, a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving
millions of customers in 19 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as
Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia, and primarily through 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 Cdn$396 billion (US$401
billion) at December 31, 2007. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC'
on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '0945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial may
be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com.
SOURCE John Hancock Funds

Beth McGoldrick of John Hancock Funds, +1-617-663-4751,
bmcgoldrick@jhancock.com