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, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- 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.

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