497K 1 e402453_497k.htm 497K


John Hancock
Value Equity Fund

SUMMARY PROSPECTUS 3-1-15

Before you invest, you may want to review the fund's prospectus, which contains more information about the fund and its risks. You can find the fund's prospectus and other information about the fund, including the Statement of Additional Information and most recent reports, online at jhinvestments.com/Forms/Prospectuses.aspx. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 888-972-8696 or by sending an email request to info@jhinvestments.com. The fund's prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, both dated 3-1-15, and most recent financial highlights information included in the shareholder report, dated 10-31-14, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus.

Class I: JVEIX

Investment objective

To seek capital appreciation over the long term.

Fees and expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund.

Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Class I

Maximum front-end sales charge (load)

None

Maximum deferred sales charge (load)

None

 

Annual fund operating expenses (%) (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Class  I

Management fee

0.80

Other expenses 1

0.20

Total annual fund operating expenses

1.00

1

"Other expenses" have been restated from fiscal year amounts to reflect current fees and expenses.

Expense example

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. Please see below a hypothetical example showing the expenses of a $10,000 investment for the time periods indicated and then assuming a redemption of all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example assumes a 5% average annual return. The example assumes fund expenses will not change over the periods. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:

 

Expenses ($)

Class  I

1 year

102

3 years

318

Portfolio turnover

The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund's performance. During the fiscal period from June 26, 2014, to October 31, 2014 the fund's portfolio turnover rate was 10% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal investment strategies

Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in the equity securities of large and medium capitalization companies. The fund considers "large and medium capitalization companies" to be companies, at the time of purchase, whose market capitalizations are within the range of the market capitalizations in the Russell 1000® Index, which, as of December 31, 2014, was $275 million to $647 billion. Equity securities include common and preferred stock and their equivalents, such as depositary receipts, rights and warrants.

The fund invests primarily in common stocks of value-oriented companies, which generally have, among other characteristics, lower price-to-book ratios, lower forecasted growth values, and higher dividend yields relative to the broader market. The fund may invest up to 15% of its total assets in American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), which typically are issued by a U.S. bank or trust company and evidence ownership of underlying securities issued by a foreign corporation. The


John Hancock Value Equity Fund

fund also may invest in certain types of exchange-traded derivative instruments in order to "equitize" cash balances by gaining exposure to relevant equity markets. The fund may invest in futures and foreign currency forward contracts, in each case for the purposes of reducing risk, obtaining efficient market exposure, and/or enhancing investment returns. The fund also may invest in securities issued by companies of any market capitalization, including small-cap companies.

The subadvisor selects stocks of companies that it believes are undervalued relative to other companies in that particular company's industry, market, or sector, and in light of certain characteristics of the company. The characteristics that the subadvisor may consider in evaluating a company generally include the company's price-to-book ratio, price-to-earnings ratio, dividend yield, projected earnings growth, and profitability.

Principal risks

An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The fund's shares will go up and down in price, meaning that you could lose money by investing in the fund. Many factors influence a mutual fund's performance.

Instability in the financial markets has led many governments, including the U.S. government, to take a number of unprecedented actions designed to support certain financial institutions and segments of the financial markets that have experienced extreme volatility and, in some cases, a lack of liquidity. Federal, state, and other governments, and their regulatory agencies or self-regulatory organizations, may take actions that affect the regulation of the instruments in which the fund invests, or the issuers of such instruments, in ways that are unforeseeable. Legislation or regulation may also change the way in which the fund itself is regulated. Such legislation or regulation could limit or preclude the fund's ability to achieve its investment objective. In addition, political events within the United States and abroad, including the U.S. government's ongoing difficulty agreeing on a long-term budget and deficit reduction plan and uncertainty surrounding sovereign debt of European Union members, could negatively impact financial markets and the fund's performance. Further, certain municipalities of the United States and its territories are financially strained and may face the possibility of default on their debt obligations, which could directly or indirectly detract from the fund's performance.

Governments or their agencies may also acquire distressed assets from financial institutions and acquire ownership interests in those institutions. The implications of government ownership and disposition of these assets are unclear, and such a program may have positive or negative effects on the liquidity, valuation, and performance of the fund's portfolio holdings. Furthermore, volatile financial markets can expose the fund to greater market and liquidity risk and potential difficulty in valuing portfolio instruments held by the fund.

The fund's main risk factors are listed below in alphabetical order. Before investing, be sure to read the additional descriptions of these risks beginning on page 5 of the prospectus.

Active management risk. A subadvisor's investment strategy may fail to produce the intended result.

Currency risk. Fluctuations in exchange rates may adversely affect the U.S. dollar value of a fund's investments. Currency risk includes the risk that currencies in which a fund's investments are traded, or currencies in which a fund has taken an active position, will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar.

Credit and counterparty risk. The counterparty to an over-the-counter derivatives contract or a borrower of a fund's securities may be unable or unwilling to make timely principal, interest, or settlement payments, or otherwise honor its obligations.

Cybersecurity risk. Cybersecurity breaches may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to fund assets, customer data, or proprietary information, or cause the fund and/or its service providers to suffer data corruption or lose operational functionality.

Economic and market events risk. Events in the financial markets have resulted, and may continue to result, in an unusually high degree of volatility in the financial markets, both domestic and foreign. In addition, reduced liquidity in credit and fixed-income markets may adversely affect issuers worldwide. Banks and financial services companies could suffer losses if interest rates were to rise or economic conditions deteriorate.

Equity securities risk. The value of a company's equity securities is subject to changes in the company's financial condition, and overall market and economic conditions. The securities of value companies are subject to the risk that the companies may not overcome the adverse business developments or other factors causing their securities to be underpriced or that the market may never come to recognize their fundamental value.

Foreign securities risk. As compared to U.S. corporate and government issuers, there may be less publicly available information relating to foreign corporate and government issuers. Foreign securities may be subject to foreign taxes. The value of foreign securities is subject to currency fluctuations and adverse political and economic developments.

Hedging, derivatives, and other strategic transactions risk. Hedging, derivatives, and other strategic transactions may increase the volatility of a fund and, if the transaction is not successful, could result in a significant loss to a fund. The use of derivative instruments could produce disproportionate gains or losses, more than the principal amount invested. Investing in derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments and, in a down market, derivative instruments could become harder to value or sell at a fair price. The following is a list of certain derivatives and other strategic transactions that the fund intends to utilize and the main risks associated with each of them:

Foreign currency forward contracts. Counterparty risk, liquidity risk (i.e., the inability to enter into closing transactions), foreign currency risk, and risk of disproportionate loss are the principal risks of engaging in transactions involving foreign currency forward contracts.

Futures contracts. Counterparty risk, liquidity risk (i.e., the inability to enter into closing transactions), and risk of disproportionate loss are the principal risks of engaging in transactions involving futures contracts.

Issuer risk. An issuer of a security may perform poorly and, therefore, the value of its stocks and bonds may decline. An issuer of securities held by the fund could default or have its credit rating downgraded.


Large company risk. Large-capitalization stocks as a group could fall out of favor with the market, causing the fund to underperform investments that focus on small- or mid-capitalization stocks. Larger, more established companies may be slow to respond to challenges and may grow more slowly than smaller companies. For purposes of the fund's investment policies, the market capitalization of a company is based on its market capitalization at the time the fund purchases the company's securities. Market capitalizations of companies change over time.

Liquidity risk. Exposure exists when trading volume, lack of a market maker, or legal restrictions impair the ability to sell particular securities or close derivative positions at an advantageous price.

Medium and smaller company risk. The prices of medium and smaller company stocks can change more frequently and dramatically than those of large company stocks. For purposes of the fund's investment policies, the market capitalization of a company is based on its market capitalization at the time the fund purchases the company's securities. Market capitalizations of companies change over time.

Preferred stock risk. Preferred stock generally has a preference as to dividends and liquidation over an issuer's common stock but ranks junior to debt securities in an issuer's capital structure. Unlike interest payments on debt securities, preferred stock dividends are payable only if declared by the issuer's board of directors. Preferred stock also may be subject to optional or mandatory redemption provisions.

Sector risk. Because the fund may, from time to time, focus on one or more sectors of the economy, at such times its performance will depend in large part on the performance of those sectors. A fund that invests in particular sectors is particularly susceptible to the impact of market, economic, regulatory, and other factors affecting those sectors. As a result, at such times, the value of your investment may fluctuate more widely than it would in a fund that is invested across sectors.

Warrants risk. Warrants are rights to purchase securities at specific prices valid for a specific period of time. Their prices do not necessarily move parallel to the prices of the underlying securities, and warrant holders receive no dividends and have no voting rights or rights with respect to the assets of an issuer. Warrants cease to have value if not exercised prior to their expiration dates.

Past performance

This section normally shows how the fund's total return has varied from year to year, along with a broad-based market index for reference. Because the fund has less than a full calendar year of performance, there is no past performance to report.

Investment management

Investment advisor John Hancock Advisers, LLC
Subadvisor Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss, LLC

Portfolio management

 

Mark Giambrone
Managing Director and Portfolio Manager

Managed the fund since inception

Michael Nayfa, CFA
Director, Assistant Portfolio Manager, and
Research Analyst

Managed the fund since inception

Terry Pelzel, CFA
Director, Assistant Portfolio Manager, and Research Analyst

Managed the fund since inception

Purchase and sale of fund shares

The minimum initial investment requirement for Class I shares of the fund is $250,000. There are no subsequent investment requirements. You may redeem shares of the fund on any business day by mail: John Hancock Signature Services, Inc., P.O. Box 55913, Boston, Massachusetts 02205-5913; or for most account types through our website: jhinvestments.com; or by telephone: 888-972-8696.

Taxes

The fund's distributions are taxable, and will be taxed as ordinary income and/or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or individual retirement account. Withdrawals from such tax-deferred arrangements may be subject to tax at a later date.

Payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries

If you purchase the fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank, registered investment advisor, financial planner, or retirement plan administrator), the fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.


© 2015 JOHN HANCOCK FUNDS, LLC 454ISP 3-1-15 SEC file number: 811-00560