calculated daily and allocated among all the
participating portfolios in proportion to the daily net assets of each fund. During the six months ended April 30, 2021, this waiver amounted to 0.01% of the fund’s average daily net assets, on an annualized
basis. This arrangement expires on July 31, 2022, unless renewed by mutual agreement of the fund and the Advisor based upon a determination that this is appropriate under the circumstances at that time.
The expense reductions described
above amounted to $51,242 for the six months ended April 30, 2021.
Expenses waived or reimbursed in the
current fiscal period are not subject to recapture in future fiscal periods.
The investment management fees,
including the impact of the waivers and reimbursements as described above, incurred for the six months ended April 30, 2021, were equivalent to a net annual effective rate of 0.74% of the fund's average daily managed
net assets.
Accounting and legal services. Pursuant to a service agreement, the fund reimburses the Advisor for all expenses associated with providing the administrative, financial, legal, compliance, accounting and recordkeeping
services to the fund, including the preparation of all tax returns, periodic reports to shareholders and regulatory reports, among other services. These accounting and legal services fees incurred, for the six months
ended April 30, 2021, amounted to an annual rate of 0.01% of the fund's average daily managed net assets.
Trustee expenses. The fund compensates each Trustee who is not an employee of the Advisor or its affiliates. These Trustees receive from the fund and the other John Hancock closed-end funds an annual
retainer. In addition, Trustee out-of-pocket expenses are allocated to each fund based on its net assets relative to other funds within the John Hancock group of funds complex.
Note 6—Fund share transactions
In December 2007, the Board of
Trustees approved a share repurchase plan, which is subsequently reviewed by the Board of Trustees each year in December. Under the current share repurchase plan, the fund may purchase in the open market, between
January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021, up to 10% of its outstanding common shares as of December 31, 2020. The current share repurchase plan will remain in effect between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021.
During the six months ended April
30, 2021 and the year ended October 31, 2020, the fund had no activities under the repurchase program. Shares repurchased and corresponding dollar amounts, if any, are included on the Statements of changes in net
assets. The anti-dilutive impacts of these share repurchases are included on the Financial highlights.
Note 7—Leverage risk
The fund utilizes a Liquidity
Agreement (LA) to increase its assets available for investment. When the fund leverages its assets, shareholders bear the expenses associated with the LA and have potential to benefit or be disadvantaged from the use
of leverage. The Advisor’s fee is also increased in dollar terms from the use of leverage. Consequently, the fund and the Advisor may have differing interests in determining whether to leverage the fund’s
assets. Leverage creates risks that may adversely affect the return for the holders of shares, including:
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the likelihood of greater volatility of NAV and market price of shares;
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fluctuations in the interest rate paid for the use of the LA;
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•
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increased operating costs, which may reduce the fund’s total return;
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the potential for a decline in the value of an investment acquired through leverage, while the fund’s obligations under such leverage remains fixed; and
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the fund is more likely to have to sell securities in a volatile market in order to meet asset coverage or other debt compliance requirements.
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To the extent the income or capital
appreciation derived from securities purchased with funds received from leverage exceeds the cost of leverage, the fund’s return will be greater than if leverage had not been used;