Principal Risks include: Amortized Cost, Convertible Securities, Credit Default Swaps, Credit and Counterparty, Derivatives, Dollar Rolls, Extension, Foreign Securities, Forwards, High-Yield Securities, Increase in Expenses, Industry and Sector Investing, Inflation-Protected Securities, Interest Rate, Inverse Floaters, Lending, Leverage, Loss of Money, Management, Market/Market Volatility, Mortgage-Backed and Asset-Backed Securities, Municipal Obligations, Leases, and AMT-Subject Bonds, Not FDIC Insured, Other, Preferred Stocks, Prepayment (Call), Pricing, Repurchase Agreements, Restricted/Illiquid Securities, Shareholder Activity, Socially Conscious, Structured Products, U.S. Government Obligations and Zero-Coupon Bond. See disclosure for details.
Amortized Cost If the deviation between the portfolio's amortized value per share and its market-based net asset value per share results in material dilution or other unfair results to shareholders, the portfolio's board will take action to counteract these results, including potentially suspending redemption of shares or liquidating the portfolio.
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.
Credit Default Swaps Credit default swaps insure the buyer in the event of a default of a fixed-income security. The seller of a credit default swap receives premiums and is obligated to repay the buyer in the event of a default of the underlying creditor. Investments in credit default swaps may be subject to increased counterparty, credit, and liquidity risks.
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.
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.
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.
Extension The issuer of a security may repay principal more slowly than expected because of rising interest rates. In this event, short- and medium-duration securities are effectively converted into longer-duration securities, increasing their sensitivity to interest-rate changes and causing their prices to decline.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Interest Rate Most securities are subject to the risk that changes in interest rates will reduce their market value.
Inverse Floaters Investments in inverse floaters may be subject to increased price volatility compared with fixed-rate bonds that have similar credit quality, redemption provisions, and maturity. The performance of inverse floaters tends to lag fixed-rate bonds in rising long-term interest-rate environments and exceed them in falling or stable long-term interest-rate environments.
Lending Investing in loans creates risk for the borrower, lender, and any other participants. A borrower may fail to make payments of principal, interest, and other amounts in connection with loans of cash or securities or fail to return a borrowed security in a timely manner, which may lead to impairment of the collateral provided by the borrower. Investments in loan participations may be subject to increased credit, pricing, and liquidity risks, with these risks intensified for below investment-grade loans.
Leverage Leverage transactions may increase volatility and result in a significant loss of value if a transaction fails. Because leverage usually involves investment exposure that exceeds the initial investment, the resulting gain or loss from a relatively small change in an underlying indicator will be disproportionately magnified.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Municipal Obligations, Leases, and AMT-Subject Bonds Investments in municipal obligations, leases, and private activity bonds subject to the alternative minimum tax have varying levels of public and private support. The principal and interest payments of general-obligation municipal bonds are secured by the issuer's full faith and credit and supported by limited or unlimited taxing power. The principal and interest payments of revenue bonds are tied to the revenues of specific projects or other entities. Federal income tax laws may limit the types and volume of bonds qualifying for tax exemption of interest and make any further purchases of tax-exempt securities taxable.
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.
Other The investment's performance may be impacted by its concentration in a certain type of security, adherence to a particular investing strategy, or a unique aspect of its structure and costs.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Shareholder Activity Frequent purchases or redemptions by one or multiple investors may harm other shareholders by interfering with the efficient management of the portfolio, increasing brokerage and administrative costs and potentially diluting the value of shares. Additionally, shareholder purchase and redemption activity may have an impact on the per-share net income and realized capital gains distribution amounts, if any, potentially increasing or reducing the tax burden on the shareholders who receive those distributions.
Socially Conscious Adhering to social, moral, or environmental criteria may preclude potentially profitable opportunities in sectors or firms that would otherwise be consistent with the investment objective and strategy.
Structured Products Investments in structured products may be more volatile, less liquid, and more difficult to price than other assets. These securities bear the risk of the underlying investment as well as counterparty risk. Securitized structured products including CMOs, CDOs, and other securitized products may increase volatility and be subject to increased liquidity and pricing risks compared with investing directly in the assets securitized within the product. Assets invested in structured products may be subject to full loss of value if the counterparty defaults on its obligation.
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.
Zero-Coupon Bond Investments in zero-coupon bonds, which do not pay interest prior to maturity, may be subject to greater price volatility and liquidity risks than are fixed-income securities that pay interest periodically. Still, interest accrued on these securities prior to maturity is reported as income and distributed to shareholders.
Other:
b1. Beta measures the sensitivity of the fund to its benchmark. The beta of the market (as represented by the benchmark) is 1.00. Accordingly, a fund with a 1.10 beta is expected to have 10% more volatility than the market.
b2. The portfolio composition, industry sectors, top ten holdings, and credit analysis are presented to illustrate examples of securities that the fund has bought and diversity of areas in which the fund may invest and may not be representative of the fund's current or future investments. The top ten holdings do not include money market instruments and/or futures contracts. The figures presented are as of date shown, do not include the fund's entire investment portfolio, and may change at any time.
b53. R-squared measures the degree to which the fund and its benchmark index are correlated. The closer it is to 100%, the more similar the historical performance between the two.
b54. Sharpe ratio is a measure of excess return per unit of risk, as defined by standard deviation. A higher Sharpe ratio suggests better risk-adjusted performance.
b87. Intermediate Core-Plus Bond Average is the average annual total return of the universe of mutual funds designated by Morningstar, Inc. as comprising the Morningstar Intermediate Core-Plus Bond category.
Fund data, Style Box and Morningstar Portfolio Ratings All Morningstar data is © 2017 by Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.
f1. The Gross Expense Ratio does not include fee waivers or expense reimbursements which result in lower actual cost to the investor. The Net Expense Ratio represents the effect of a fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement and is subject to change.
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Index Description:
i30. Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index is an unmanaged market value-weighted performance benchmark for investment-grade or better fixed-rate debt issues, including government, corporate, asset-backed, and mortgage-backed securities, with maturities of at least one year. Results assume the reinvestment of all capital gain and dividend distributions. An investment cannot be made directly into an index.
Morningstar Category Description:
c100. Intermediate-term core-plus bond portfolios invest primarily in investment-grade U.S. fixed-income issues including government, corporate, and securitized debt, but generally have greater flexibility than core offerings to hold non-core sectors such as corporate high yield, bank loan, emerging-markets debt, and non-U.S. currency exposures. Their durations (a measure of interest-rate sensitivity) typically range between 75% and 125% of the three-year average of the effective duration of the Morningstar Core Bond Index.
A fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses should be considered carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other important information about the fund. To obtain a prospectus, contact John Hancock Retirement Plan Services LLC at (800) 294-3575 or visit our website at myplan.johnhancock.com. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing or sending money.