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.
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.
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.
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.
Interest Rate Most securities are subject to the risk that changes in interest rates will reduce their market value.
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.
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.
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.
Portfolio Diversification Investments that concentrate their assets in a relatively small number of issuers, or in the securities of issuers in a particular market, industry, sector, country, or asset class, may be subject to greater risk of loss than is a more widely diversified 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Cash Drag The portfolio may fail to meet its investment objective because of positions in cash and equivalents.
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.
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.
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.
High Portfolio Turnover Active trading may create high portfolio turnover, or a turnover of 100% or more, resulting in increased transaction costs. These higher costs may have an adverse impact on performance and generate short-term capital gains, creating potential tax liability even if an investor does not sell any shares during the year.
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.
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.
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.