John Hancock Financial Trends Fund Announces Income Dividend and Capital Gains Distribution

BOSTON, Dec. 12  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- John Hancock Financial Trends Fund (NASDAQ:JHFT) announced today that the fund will pay an income dividend and capital gain distributions as follows:

  Declaration Date:         December 12, 2005
  Ex Date:                  December 20, 2005
  Record Date:              December 22, 2005
  Payable Date:             December 30, 2005

  Source of Distribution    Per Share
  Dividend Income           $0.11000
  Short-Term Capital Gain   $0.00985
  Long-Term Capital Gain    $0.29218
  Total Distribution        $0.41203



John Hancock Financial Trends Fund is a diversified, closed-end fund.  The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation with current income as a secondary objective by investing at least 80% of its assets in stocks of U.S. and foreign financial services companies of any size.

John Hancock Funds manages more than $34.0 billion in open-end funds, closed-end funds, private accounts, retirement plans and related party assets for individual and institutional investors as of September 30, 2005. Additional information about the company can be found on the website: http://www.jhfunds.com/.

John Hancock Funds is a wholly owned subsidiary of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc., a subsidiary of Manulife Financial Corporation.  Founded in 1862, John Hancock Financial Services and its subsidiaries today offer a broad range of financial products and services, including whole, term, variable, and universal life insurance, as well as college savings products, mutual funds, fixed and variable annuities, long-term care insurance and various forms of business insurance.

Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 19 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia, and primarily through John Hancock in the United States, the Company offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners.  Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$360 billion (US$310 billion) as of September 30, 2005.

Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '0945' on the SEHK.  Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at http://www.manulife.com/. 

DATASOURCE: John Hancock Financial Trends Fund



CONTACT:  Kimberley Dietrich [phone] or Investors: +1-800-843-

0090 both of John Hancock



Web site:  http://www.jhfunds.com/

http://www.manulife.com/

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