Allocating assets to only one or a small number of the investment options (other than the Target Date ‘Lifecycle’ or Target Risk ‘Lifestyle’ options) should not be considered a balanced investment program. In particular, allocating assets to a small number of options concentrated in particular business or market sectors will subject your account to increased risk and volatility. Examples of business or market sectors where this risk may be particularly high include: a) technology-related businesses, including Internet-related businesses, b) small-cap securities and c) foreign securities. John Hancock does not provide advice regarding appropriate investment allocations.
Management Performance is subject to the risk that the advisor’s asset allocation and investment strategies do not perform as expected, which may cause the portfolio to underperform its benchmark, other investments with similar objectives, or the market in general. The investment is subject to the risk of loss of income and capital invested, and the advisor does not guarantee its value, performance, or any particular rate of return.
Conflict of Interest A conflict of interest may arise if the advisor makes an investment in certain underlying funds based on the fact that those funds are also managed by the advisor or an affiliate or because certain underlying funds may pay higher fees to the advisor do than others. In addition, an advisor’s participation in the primary or secondary market for loans may be deemed a conflict of interest and limit the ability of the investment to acquire those assets.
Temporary Defensive Measures Temporary defensive positions may be used during adverse economic, market, or other conditions. In this event, up to 100% of assets may be allocated to securities, including cash and cash equivalents that are normally not consistent with the investment objective.
Derivatives Investments in derivatives may be subject to the risk that the advisor does not correctly predict the movement of the underlying security, interest rate, market index, or other financial asset, or that the value of the derivative does not correlate perfectly with either the overall market or the underlying asset from which the derivative's value is derived. Because derivatives usually involve a small investment relative to the magnitude of liquidity and other risks assumed, the resulting gain or loss from the transaction will be disproportionately magnified. These investments may result in a loss if the counterparty to the transaction does not perform as promised.
Forwards Investments in forwards may increase volatility and be subject to additional market, active management, currency, and counterparty risks as well as liquidity risk if the contract cannot be closed when desired. Forwards purchased on a when-issued or delayed-delivery basis may be subject to risk of loss if they decline in value prior to delivery, or if the counterparty defaults on its obligation.
Loss of Money Because the investment’s market value may fluctuate up and down, an investor may lose money, including part of the principal, when he or she buys or sells the investment.
Preferred Stocks Investments in preferred stocks may be subject to the risks of deferred distribution payments, involuntary redemptions, subordination to debt instruments, a lack of liquidity compared with common stocks, limited voting rights, and sensitivity to interest-rate changes.
Not FDIC Insured The investment is not a deposit or obligation of, or guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank and is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other U.S. governmental agency.
Warrants Investments in warrants may be subject to the risk that the price of the underlying stock does not rise above the exercise price. In this event, the warrant may expire without being exercised and lose all value.
Interest Rate Most securities are subject to the risk that changes in interest rates will reduce their market value.
Index Correlation/Tracking Error A portfolio that tracks an index is subject to the risk that certain factors may cause the portfolio to track its target index less closely, including if the advisor selects securities that are not fully representative of the index. The portfolio will generally reflect the performance of its target index even if the index does not perform well, and it may underperform the index after factoring in fees, expenses, transaction costs, and the size and timing of shareholder purchases and redemptions.
Futures Investments in futures contracts and options on futures contracts may increase volatility and be subject to additional market, active management, interest, currency, and other risks if the contract cannot be closed when desired.
Fixed-Income Securities The value of fixed-income or debt securities may be susceptible to general movements in the bond market and are subject to interest-rate and credit risk.
Hedging Strategies The advisor’s use of hedging strategies to reduce risk may limit the opportunity for gains compared with unhedged investments, and there is no guarantee that hedges will actually reduce risk.
High-Yield Securities Investments in below-investment-grade debt securities and unrated securities of similar credit quality, commonly known as "junk bonds" or "high-yield securities," may be subject to increased interest, credit, and liquidity risks.
Currency Investments in securities traded in foreign currencies or more directly in foreign currencies are subject to the risk that the foreign currency will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar, which may reduce the value of the portfolio. Investments in currency hedging positions are subject to the risk that the value of the U.S. dollar will decline relative to the currency being hedged, which may result in a loss of money on the investment as well as the position designed to act as a hedge. Cross-currency hedging strategies and active currency positions may increase currency risk because actual currency exposure may be substantially different from that suggested by the portfolio’s holdings.
Emerging Markets Investments in emerging- and frontier-markets securities may be subject to greater market, credit, currency, liquidity, legal, political, and other risks compared with assets invested in developed foreign countries.
Municipal Project-Specific Investments in municipal bonds that finance similar types of projects, including those related to education, health care, housing, transportation, utilities, and industry, may be subject to a greater extent than general obligation municipal bonds to the risks of adverse economic, business, or political developments.
Financials Sector Concentrating assets in the financials sector may disproportionately subject the portfolio to the risks of that industry, including loss of value because of economic recession, availability of credit, volatile interest rates, government regulation, and other factors.
Country or Region Investments in securities from a particular country or region may be subject to the risk of adverse social, political, regulatory, or economic events occurring in that country or region. Country- or region-specific risks also include the risk that adverse securities markets or exchange rates may impact the value of securities from those areas.
Bank Loans Investments in bank loans, also known as senior loans or floating-rate loans, are rated below-investment grade and may be subject to a greater risk of default than are investment-grade loans, reducing the potential for income and potentially leading to impairment of the collateral provided by the borrower. Bank loans pay interest at rates that are periodically reset based on changes in interest rates and may be subject to increased prepayment and liquidity risks.
Unrated Securities Investments in unrated securities may be subject to increased interest, credit, and liquidity risks if the advisor does not accurately assess the quality of those securities.
OTC Investments traded and privately negotiated in the over-the-counter market, including securities and derivatives, may be subject to greater price volatility and liquidity risk than transactions made on organized exchanges. Because the OTC market is less regulated, OTC transactions may be subject to increased credit and counterparty risk.
Industry and Sector Investing Concentrating assets in a particular industry, sector of the economy, or markets may increase volatility because the investment will be more susceptible to the impact of market, economic, regulatory, and other factors affecting that industry or sector compared with a more broadly diversified asset allocation.
Sovereign Debt Investments in debt securities issued or guaranteed by governments or governmental entities are subject to the risk that an entity may delay or refuse to pay interest or principal on its sovereign debt because of cash flow problems, insufficient foreign reserves, or political or other considerations. In this event, there may be no legal process for collecting sovereign debts that a governmental entity has not repaid.
Merger and Replacement Transition Risk for Sub-Account. It is possible that the Fund will be replaced with or merged into another investment option offered under your plan's group annuity contract. In the case of fund mergers and replacements, the affected funds that are being merged or replaced may implement the redemption of your interest by payment in cash or by distributing assets in kind. In either case, the redemption of your interest by the affected fund, as well as the investment of the redemption proceeds by the ''new'' fund, may result in transaction costs to the funds because the affected funds may find it necessary to sell securities and the ''new'' funds will find it necessary to invest the redemption proceeds. Also, the redemption and reinvestment processes, including any transition period that may be involved in completing such mergers and replacements, could be subject to market gains or losses, including those from currency exchange rates. The transaction costs and potential market gains or losses could have an impact on the value of your investment in the affected fund and in the ''new'' fund, and such market gains or losses could also have an impact on the value of any existing investment that you or other investors may have in the ''new'' fund. Although there can be no assurances that all risks can be eliminated, the portfolio manager(s) of the affected funds will use their best efforts to manage and minimize such risks and costs.
Risk of Increase in Expenses for Sub-Account. Your actual costs of investing in the fund may be higher than the expenses shown in "Annual fund operating expenses" for a variety of reasons. For example, expense ratios may be higher than those shown if a fee limitation is changed or terminated or if average net assets decrease. Net assets are more likely to decrease and fund expense ratios are more likely to increase when markets are volatile.
Restricted/Illiquid Securities Restricted and illiquid securities may fall in price because of an inability to sell the securities when desired. Investing in restricted securities may subject the portfolio to higher costs and liquidity risk.
Credit and Counterparty The issuer or guarantor of a fixed-income security, counterparty to an OTC derivatives contract, or other borrower may not be able to make timely principal, interest, or settlement payments on an obligation. In this event, the issuer of a fixed-income security may have its credit rating downgraded or defaulted, which may reduce the potential for income and value of the portfolio.
Long-Term Outlook and Projections The investment is intended to be held for a substantial period of time, and investors should tolerate fluctuations in their investment's value.
Repurchase Agreements Repurchase agreements may be subject to the risk that the seller of a security defaults and the collateral securing the repurchase agreement has declined and does not equal the value of the repurchase price. In this event, impairment of the collateral may result in additional costs.
Swaps Investments in swaps, such as interest-rate swaps, currency swaps and total return swaps, may increase volatility and be subject to increased liquidity, credit, and counterparty risks. Depending on their structure, swaps may increase or decrease the portfolio’s exposure to long- or short-term interest rates, foreign currency values, corporate borrowing rates, security prices, index values, inflation rates, credit, or other factors.
U.S. Government Obligations Investments in U.S. government obligations are subject to varying levels of government support. In the event of default, some U.S. government securities, including U.S. Treasury obligations and Ginnie Mae securities, are issued and guaranteed as to principal and interest by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Other securities are obligations of U.S. government-sponsored entities but are neither issued nor guaranteed by the U.S. government.
Reinvestment Payments from debt securities may have to be reinvested in securities with lower interest rates than the original securities.
Prepayment (Call) The issuer of a debt security may be able to repay principal prior to the security’s maturity because of an improvement in its credit quality or falling interest rates. In this event, this principal may have to be reinvested in securities with lower interest rates than the original securities, reducing the potential for income.
Cash Drag The portfolio may fail to meet its investment objective because of positions in cash and equivalents.
Regulation/Government Intervention The business of the issuer of an underlying security may be adversely impacted by new regulation or government intervention, impacting the price of the security. Direct government ownership of distressed assets in times of economic instability may subject the portfolio's holdings to increased price volatility and liquidity risk.
Mortgage-Backed and Asset-Backed Securities Investments in mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities may be subject to increased price volatility because of changes in interest rates, issuer information availability, credit quality of the underlying assets, market perception of the issuer, availability of credit enhancement, and prepayment of principal. The value of ABS and MBS may be adversely affected if the underlying borrower fails to pay the loan included in the security.
Increase in Expenses The actual cost of investing may be higher than the expenses listed in the expense table for a variety of reasons, including termination of a voluntary fee waiver or losing portfolio fee breakpoints if average net assets decrease. The risk of expenses increasing because of a decrease in average net assets is heightened when markets are volatile.
Issuer A stake in any individual security is subject to the risk that the issuer of that security performs poorly, resulting in a decline in the security’s value. Issuer-related declines may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, technological breakthroughs, reliance on suppliers, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, or other factors. Additionally, certain issuers may be more sensitive to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, market, or economic developments.
Distressed Investments Investments in distressed or defaulted investments, which may include loans, loan participations, bonds, notes, and issuers undergoing bankruptcy organization, are often not publicly traded and face increased price volatility and liquidity risk. These securities are subject to the risk that the advisor does not correctly estimate their future value, which may result in a loss of part or all of the investment.
Inflation/Deflation A change of asset value may occur because of inflation or deflation, causing the portfolio to underperform. Inflation may cause the present value of future payments to decrease, causing a decline in the future value of assets or income. Deflation causes prices to decline throughout the economy over time, impacting issuers’ creditworthiness and increasing their risk for default, which may reduce the value of the portfolio.
Pricing Some investments may not have a market observed price; therefore, values for these assets may be determined through a subjective valuation methodology. Fair values determined by a subjective methodology may differ from the actual value realized upon sale. Valuation methodologies may also be used to calculate a daily net asset value.
Dollar Rolls Dollar rolls transactions may be subject to the risk that the market value of securities sold to the counterparty declines below the repurchase price, the counterparty defaults on its obligations, or the portfolio turnover rate increases because of these transactions. In addition, any investments purchased with the proceeds of a security sold in a dollar rolls transaction may lose value.
Convertible Securities Investments in convertible securities may be subject to increased interest-rate risks, rising in value as interest rates decline and falling in value when interest rates rise, in addition to their market value depending on the performance of the common stock of the issuer. Convertible securities, which are typically unrated or rated lower than other debt obligations, are secondary to debt obligations in order of priority during a liquidation in the event the issuer defaults.
Variable-Rate Securities Investments in variable-rate securities, which periodically adjust the interest-rate paid on the securities, may be subject to greater liquidity risk than are other fixed-income securities. Because variable-rate securities are subject to less interest-rate risk than other fixed-income securities, their opportunity to provide capital appreciation is comparatively reduced.
Market/Market Volatility The market value of the portfolio’s securities may fall rapidly or unpredictably because of changing economic, political, or market conditions, which may reduce the value of the portfolio.
Foreign Securities Investments in foreign securities may be subject to increased volatility as the value of these securities can change more rapidly and extremely than can the value of U.S. securities. Foreign securities are subject to increased issuer risk because foreign issuers may not experience the same degree of regulation as U.S. issuers do and are held to different reporting, accounting, and auditing standards. In addition, foreign securities are subject to increased costs because there are generally higher commission rates on transactions, transfer taxes, higher custodial costs, and the potential for foreign tax charges on dividend and interest payments. Many foreign markets are relatively small, and securities issued in less-developed countries face the risks of nationalization, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, and adverse changes in investment or exchange control regulations, including suspension of the ability to transfer currency from a country. Economic, political, social, or diplomatic developments can also negatively impact performance.
Active Management The investment is actively managed and subject to the risk that the advisor’s usage of investment techniques and risk analyses to make investment decisions fails to perform as expected, which may cause the portfolio to lose value or underperform investments with similar objectives and strategies or the market in general.
Investment-Grade Securities Investments in investment-grade debt securities that are not rated in the highest rating categories may lack the capacity to pay principal and interest compared with higher-rated securities and may be subject to increased credit risk.
Inflation-Protected Securities Unlike other fixed-income securities, the values of inflation-protected securities are not significantly impacted by inflation expectations because their interest rates are adjusted for inflation. Generally, the value of inflation-protected securities will fall when real interest rates rise and rise when real interest rates fall.
Options Investments in options may be subject to the risk that the advisor does not correctly predict the movement of an option’s underlying stock. Option purchases may result in the loss of part or all of the amount paid for the option plus commission costs. Option sales may result in a forced sale or purchase of a security at a price higher or lower than its current market price.
ETF Investments in exchange-traded funds generally reflect the risks of owning the underlying securities they are designed to track, although they may be subject to greater liquidity risk and higher costs than owning the underlying securities directly because of their management fees. Shares of ETFs are subject to market trading risk, potentially trading at a premium or discount to net asset value.
Maturity/Duration Securities with longer maturities or durations typically have higher yields but may be subject to increased interest-rate risk and price volatility compared with securities with shorter maturities, which have lower yields but greater price stability.
