John Hancock Relaunches Fund as Disciplined Value Fund

January 12, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - John Hancock Funds announced it has completed the adoption of the Robeco Boston Partners Large Cap Value Fund and has launched it as the newly established John Hancock Disciplined Value Fund (JVLAX).

Keith F. Hartstein, John Hancock President and CEO said in the announcement the Disciplined Value Fund is a core value fund with broad sector representation, and it offers advisers and investors an alternative to the more concentrated approach of the John Hancock Classic Value Fund.

The fund seeks to provide long-term growth of capital primarily through investment in equity securities, with current income as a secondary objective, the announcement said. It pursues its objectives by investing, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of net assets in a diversified portfolio consisting primarily of equity securities of issuers with a market capitalization of $1 billion or greater that are identified by Robeco Boston Partners as having value characteristics.

The fund will be managed on a day-to-day basis by Robeco Boston Partners.

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