John Hancock Declaration Trust
                 Supplement to the Prospectus dated May 1, 2000

John Hancock V.A. Financial Industries Fund

Shareholders of record on September 12, 2000 will be asked to eliminate the
investment restriction requiring John Hancock V.A. Financial Industries Fund to
invest more than 25% of its assets in the banking industry. If this change is
approved by shareholders, the first paragraph of the "Goal and Strategy" section
will be deleted and replaced with the following:

         The fund seeks capital appreciation. To pursue this goal, the fund
         normally invests at least 65% of assets in stocks of U.S. and foreign
         financial services companies of any size. These companies include
         banks, thrifts, finance companies, brokerage and advisory firms, real
         estate-related firms, insurance companies and financial holding
         companies.


September 13, 2000