EX-99.77B ACCT LTTR

Report of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Auditors To the Shareholders and Board
of Trustees of John Hancock Investors Trust In planning and performing our audit
of the financial statements of the John Hancock Investors Trust (the "Trust")
for the year ended December 31, 2002, we considered its internal control,
including control activities for safeguarding securities, in order to determine
our auditing procedures for the purpose of expressing our opinion on the
financial statements and to comply with the requirements of Form N-SAR, not to
provide assurance on internal control. The management of the Trust is
responsible for establishing and maintaining internal control. In fulfilling
this responsibility, estimates and judgments by management are required to
assess the expected benefits and related costs of controls. Generally, controls
that are relevant to an audit pertain to the Trust's objective of preparing
financial statements for external purposes that are fairly presented in
conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.
Those controls include the safeguarding of assets against unauthorized
acquisition, use or disposition. Because of inherent limitations in any internal
control, misstatements due to errors or fraud may occur and not be detected.
Also, projection of any evaluation of internal control to future periods is
subject to the risk that it may become inadequate because of changes in
conditions, or that the effectiveness of the design and operation may
deteriorate. Our consideration of internal control would not necessarily
disclose all matters in internal control that might be material weaknesses under
standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
A material weakness is a condition in which the design or operation of one or
more of the internal control components does not reduce to a relatively low
level the risk that misstatements caused by error or fraud in amounts that would
be material in relation to the financial statements being audited may occur and
not be detected within a timely period by employees in the normal course of
performing their assigned functions. However, we noted no matters involving
internal control and its operation, including controls for safeguarding
securities that we consider to be material weaknesses as defined above as of
December 31, 2002. This report is intended solely for the information and use of
management, the Board of Trustees of the John Hancock Investors Trust and the
Securities and Exchange Commission and is not intended to be and should not be
used by anyone other than these specified parties. ERNST & YOUNG LLP Boston,
Massachusetts February 8, 2003

EX-99.77K CHNG ACCNT

JH Investors Trust
Change in Independent Auditor

Based on the recommendation of the Audit Committee of the fund, the Board of
Trustees has determined not to retain Ernst & Young LLP as the Fund's
independent auditor and voted to appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2003. During the two most recent fiscal years and
through August 27, 2002, Ernst & Young LLP's audit reports contained no adverse
opinion or disclaimer of opinion; nor were their reports qualified as to
uncertainty, audit scope, or accounting principles. Further, there were no
disagreements between the Fund and Ernst & Young LLP on accounting principles,
financial statements disclosure or audit scope, which if not resolved to the
satisfaction of Ernst & Young LLP would have caused them to make reference to
the disagreement in their report.



February 25, 2003

Securities and Exchange Commission
450 Fifth Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20549


Dear Sirs:

     We have read and agree with the comments contained in Sub-Item 77k of Form
N-SAR of the John Hancock Investors Trust. We have no basis to agree or disagree
with other statements of the registrant contained therein.

Very truly yours,
Ernst & Young LLP

EX-99.77Q3 CERT

CERTIFICATION
I, Maureen R. Ford, certify that

1.I have reviewed this report on Form N-SAR of the John Hancock  Investors Trust
(the "registrant");
2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements
made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not
misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial information included in this report, and
the financial statements on which the financial information is based, fairly
present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations,
changes in net assets, and cash flows (if the financial statements are required
to include a statement of cash flows) of the registrant as of, and for, the
periods presented in this report;

4. The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Rule 30a-2(c) under the Investment Company Act) for the registrant and have:

a) designed the disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that material
information relating to the registrant is made known to us by others within
those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being
prepared; b) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
and procedures as of a date within 90 days prior to the filing date of this
report (the "Evaluation Date"); and c) presented in this report our conclusions
about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures based on our
evaluation as of the Evaluation Date;

5. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our
most recent evaluation, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of
the registrant's board of trustees:

a) all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal controls
which could adversely affect the registrant's ability to record, process,
summarize, and report financial data and have identified for the registrant's
auditors any material weaknesses in internal controls; and b) any fraud, whether
or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a
significant role in the registrant's internal controls; and

6. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have indicated in this report
whether or not there were significant changes in internal controls or in other
factors that could significantly affect internal controls subsequent to the date
of our most recent evaluation, including any corrective actions with regard to
significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.



Date: _____________      _________________________
Maureen R. Ford
Chairman, President
and Chief Executive Officer





CERTIFICATION
I, Richard A. Brown, certify that

1.I have reviewed this report on Form N-SAR of the John Hancock  Investors Trust
(the "registrant");

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements
made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not
misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial information included in this report, and
the financial statements on which the financial information is based, fairly
present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations,
changes in net assets, and cash flows (if the financial statements are required
to include a statement of cash flows) of the registrant as of, and for, the
periods presented in this report;

4. The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Rule 30a-2(c) under the Investment Company Act) for the registrant and have:

a) designed the disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that material
information relating to the registrant is made known to us by others within
those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being
prepared; b) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
and procedures as of a date within 90 days prior to the filing date of this
report (the "Evaluation Date"); and c) presented in this report our conclusions
about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures based on our
evaluation as of the Evaluation Date;

5. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our
most recent evaluation, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of
the registrant's board of trustees:

a) all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal controls
which could adversely affect the registrant's ability to record, process,
summarize, and report financial data and have identified for the registrant's
auditors any material weaknesses in internal controls; and b) any fraud, whether
or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a
significant role in the registrant's internal controls; and

6. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have indicated in this report
whether or not there were significant changes in internal controls or in other
factors that could significantly affect internal controls subsequent to the date
of our most recent evaluation, including any corrective actions with regard to
significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.



Date: _____________      _________________________
Richard A. Brown
Senior Vice President
and Chief Financial Officer