John Hancock Funds Wins Top Fund Industry Communications Award for Fourth Consecutive Year

John Hancock Funds Wins Top Fund Industry Communications Award for Fourth
Consecutive Year
Mutual Fund Education Alliance (MFEA) honors John Hancock Funds with nine
awards in total, including "Best Overall Communications"

BOSTON, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- John Hancock Funds won "Best Overall
Communications" for both Retail and Advisor Communications in the large
company category (more than $25 billion in assets under management) from the
Mutual Fund Education Alliance (MFEA) at its awards ceremony in Chicago last
week. This marks the fourth year in a row that John Hancock has won MFEA's top
award, and the third consecutive year the company has won more than eight
awards in total.

Carey Foran Hoch, Vice President and head of marketing for John Hancock Funds,
accepted the award. "We're proud to be so honored by our peers who comprise
the judges' panel at MFEA, especially for our achievements in electronic
communication," she said. "At John Hancock, we are committed to continue
expanding our suite of best in class materials, web site and tools to help
financial advisors communicate more effectively with their clients."

Keith F. Hartstein, President and CEO of John Hancock Funds, said: "This is
yet another terrific testimonial to the strength of our marketing
communications group and the quality of materials that they produce."

He added, "We are especially pleased to be cited for 'Best Online Advisor
Services' for Portfolio Insight, our new, web-based tool. If there is one
thing that we've learned from the events of the last year, it's that portfolio
transparency is more important than ever. Portfolio Insight allows advisers
to create custom reports which detail a client portfolio quickly and
efficiently. The result is a comprehensive, transparent view of a client's
mutual fund holdings that can help build client confidence."

Below is a recap of John Hancock's awards, with judges' commentary:
-- Best Overall Communications Retail: "Clean, attractive design;
informative and useful content; and solid writing are hallmarks of
John
Hancock's material. Truly beautiful and effective!"
-- Best Overall Communications Advisor: "Highest quality. Flawless
consistency. All clearly John Hancock. These communications serve as a
model for how to do it right."
-- Best Investor Introduction Kit: Disciplined Value Fund kit, "First
class design. Nice visual presentation. Simple explanation."
-- Best Annual Report: "Nice design and information is clear and
concise."
-- Best Special Communications: A Special Focus on Volatility and the
Financial Markets Brochure, "Excellent, superior design coupled with
solid, targeted messaging. Very nice!"
-- Best Printed Communications: 12 MORE Great Client Communications
Brochure, "A great piece -- beautifully designed, laid out, and well
written. A piece I'd be happy to receive."
-- Best Online Advisor Services: Portfolio Insight, "A really strong
tool
that allows advisors to customize information for clients -- very
nicely
done."
-- Best Advisor Home page: Advisor Home Page, "Nice integration with
look
and feel of printed materials. Quite intuitive."

-- Best Advisor Web site: "A very well designed site that provides
multiple resources for financial professionals."

About the STAR Awards and the Mutual Fund Education Alliance
The annual STAR Awards recognize mutual fund companies for outstanding
investor communications, education and support. Each year the MFEA examines
the best educational materials, both in print and electronic, in the mutual
fund industry and then asks industry judges to select from the best. The
Mutual Fund Education Alliance is the national trade association for mutual
fund companies that offer funds direct, through supermarkets or through third
parties and financial advisors. The Association provides a variety of
services, information and resources designed to support the marketing and
investor education initiatives of its member firms and enhancing the public's
awareness of the beneficial use of mutual funds. It provides a dynamic forum
for mutual fund executives and fund industry business partners and fosters
member success through the exchange of information, shared intelligence and
commentary, and strong networking among colleagues. For more information,
visit www.mfea.info.

About John Hancock Funds
The Boston-based mutual fund business unit of John Hancock Financial, John
Hancock Funds manages more than $42.9 billion in open-end funds, closed-end
funds, private accounts, retirement plans and related party assets for
individual and institutional investors at June 30, 2009.

About John Hancock Financial and Manulife Financial Corporation
John Hancock Financial is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading
Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 22
countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada
and in most of Asia, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States,
Manulife Financial Corporation 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$421 billion (US$362
billion) at June 30, 2009.

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
www.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, fixed and
variable 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 www.johnhancock.com.

SOURCE John Hancock Funds

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