John Hancock Funds Sets Initial Public Offering of John Hancock Hedged Equity & Income Fund

John Hancock Funds today announced the initial public offering of the John Hancock Hedged Equity & Income Fund, which began trading today on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “HEQ.” The John Hancock Hedged Equity & Income Fund is a newly-organized, diversified, closed-end fund; its investment objective is to provide total return consisting of current income and gains and long-term capital appreciation. The John Hancock Hedged Equity & Income Fund is the tenth closed-end fund offered by John Hancock, which has been managing closed-end funds since 1971. The Fund is issuing 14,015,000 shares at an initial offering price of $20 per share, resulting in gross proceeds of $280,300,000. Including the underwriters' over-allotment option, total shares issued were 16,116,052, for gross proceeds of $322,321,040. Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. are acting as lead underwriters in connection with the offering, with BofA Merrill Lynch, UBS Investment Bank, and Wells Fargo Securities as co-lead managers.