Manulife Financial Corporation News
John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund Board Urges Shareholders to Re-Elect James F. Carlin and William H. Cunningham as Fund Trustees
Because the Board is committed to protecting the long-term interests of all shareholders, it is urging shareholders to immediately vote the GOLD proxy card to re-elect independent trustees James F. Carlin and William H. Cunningham to the Board of Trustees. The Board believes that Messrs. Carlin and Cunningham are very experienced in overseeing closed-end funds, and will support the Board's leadership in continuing their track record of providing sustainable tax-advantaged returns for long-term investors.
Under the leadership of the existing Board: — The fund has produced attractive distributions, the majority of which are designed to qualify for a maximum 15% federal income tax rate. The fund's distribution rate was 8.92% based on the fund's February 29, 2008 market value (an 8% distribution taxed at 15% is comparable to a 10% distribution taxed at the maximum federal rate of 35%). — The fund's net expenses, paid by fund shareholders, are consistently below its Lipper peer group median. — The fund's NAV discount of 5.93% as of February 29, 2008 places it in the upper half of its Lipper peer group or 85 basis points (0.85%) better than the Lipper peer group average.
Moreover, the Board has taken steps that continue to show improved discounts:
— On December 4, 2007, the Board approved (1) a level distribution policy, increasing the distribution by 29%, and (2) an open-market share repurchase program. — On December 5, 2006, the Board approved the filing of an exemptive application with the SEC for a managed distribution plan, which may enhance a fund's regular distribution rate by including long-term capital gains, and which may reduce a market discount. Managed distribution orders allow a fund to distribute long-term gains on a more frequent basis. A fund must obtain an exemptive order from the SEC in order to adopt such a plan. The SEC announced that it would begin accepting applications for such orders on December 1, 2006. However, despite the Board's proactivity, more than fourteen months later, the SEC still has not granted any orders.
The Board recognizes that a hedge fund called Western Investment LLC is trying to unseat Messrs. Carlin and Cunningham with two dissident candidates, and urges shareholders NOT to vote Western's proxy, because:
— One of the dissident candidates reports no registered fund board experience and the other candidate reports less than a year's experience on the board of a competitor fund, which could conflict with services to HTD. — One of the dissident candidates owes allegiance to the Western Investment hedge funds, and the Board questions whether the dissident candidate would place the interests of all HTD shareholders ahead of Western's shareholdings in HTD. — Western is interested in a short-term event that it can leverage to make a quick profit at the expense of long-term shareholders. More than 99% of the shares that Western owned as of the record date were purchased by it just since October 17, 2007. More recent Western filings also indicate that they are interested in actions that the Board has already implemented, such as a distribution policy and open-market share repurchases at a discount to NAV.
If shareholders have previously returned any proxy card sent to them by Western, they can still revoke their vote by voting the GOLD proxy card. For additional information on how to vote, or to receive a replacement proxy card, please contact: The Altman Group, toll free (866) 745-0264.
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The performance data contained within this press release represents past performance, which does not guarantee future results. Performance, especially for short time periods, should not be the sole factor in making your investment decision. Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined by
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