BOSTON, Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- John Hancock Funds
is pleased to announce that seven of its closed-end funds,
John Hancock Bank and Thrift
Opportunity Fund (NYSE: BTO), John Hancock Preferred Income Fund
(NYSE: HPI), John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II (NYSE: HPF),
John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III (NYSE: HPS), John Hancock
Premium Dividend Fund (NYSE: PDT), John Hancock Tax-Advantaged
Dividend Income Fund (NYSE: HTD), and John Hancock Tax-Advantaged
Global Shareholder Yield Fund (NYSE: HTY), will hold a Joint Annual
Meeting of Shareholders ("Annual Meeting") on January 20, 2012 at 2:00
p.m., Eastern Time, at the offices of the Funds, 601
Congress Street, Boston,
Massachusetts 02210.
Shareholders of record of each Fund as of the close of business
on November 1, 2011 are entitled to
notice of, and to vote at, the Annual Meeting and at any
adjournment thereof. At the Annual Meeting, shareholders of
the Funds will be asked to re-elect certain of the Funds'
Trustees.
About John Hancock Funds
The Boston-based mutual fund
business unit of John Hancock Financial, John Hancock Funds,
manages more than $71.6 billion in
open-end funds, closed-end funds, private accounts, retirement
plans and related party assets for individual and institutional
investors at June 30, 2011.
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$481 billion (US$498
billion) at June 30, 2011.
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