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(John Hancock California Tax-Free Income Fund)
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
To seek a high level of current income, consistent with preservation of capital, that is exempt from federal and California personal income taxes.
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts on Class A shares if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in the John Hancock family of funds. Intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales charge waivers or contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) waivers (See Appendix 1 - Intermediary sales charge waivers, which includes information about specific sales charge waivers applicable to the intermediaries identified therein). Although the fund does not impose any sales charges on Class I shares, you may pay commissions to your broker on your purchases and sales of Class I shares, which are not reflected in the table and example below. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial representative and on pages 18 to 20 of the prospectus under "Sales charge reductions and waivers" or pages 112 to 115 of the fund's Statement of Additional Information under "Sales Charges on Class A, Class B, and Class C Shares."
Shareholder fees (%) (fees paid directly from your investment)
Shareholder Fees - (John Hancock California Tax-Free Income Fund) - USD ($)
Class A
Class B
Class C
Class I
Class R6
Maximum front-end sales charge (load) on purchases, as a % of purchase price 4.00% none none none none
Maximum deferred sales charge (load) as a % of purchase or sale price, whichever is less 1.00% [1] 5.00% 1.00% none none
Small account fee ($) (for fund account balances under $1,000) $ 20 $ 20 $ 20 none none
[1] (on certain purchases, including those of $1 million or more)
Annual fund operating expenses (%) (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses - (John Hancock California Tax-Free Income Fund)
Class A
Class B
Class C
Class I
Class R6
Management fee 0.55% 0.55% 0.55% 0.55% 0.55%
Distribution and service (Rule 12b-1) fees 0.15% 1.00% 1.00% none none
Other expenses 0.16% 0.16% 0.16% 0.16% 0.13%
Total annual fund operating expenses 0.86% 1.71% 1.71% 0.71% 0.68%
Contractual expense reimbursement [1] (0.01%) (0.11%) [2] (0.11%) [2] (0.01%) (0.01%)
Total annual fund operating expenses after expense reimbursements 0.85% 1.60% 1.60% 0.70% 0.67%
[1] The advisor contractually agrees to waive a portion of its management fee and/or reimburse expenses for the fund and certain other John Hancock funds according to an asset level breakpoint schedule that is based on the aggregate net assets of all the funds participating in the waiver or reimbursement. This waiver is allocated proportionally among the participating funds. During its most recent fiscal year, the fund's reimbursement amounted to 0.01% of the fund's average daily net assets. This agreement expires on July 31, 2021, unless renewed by mutual agreement of the fund and the advisor based upon a determination that this is appropriate under the circumstances at that time.
[2] The distributor contractually agrees to limit its Rule 12b-1 fees for Class B and Class C shares to 0.90%. This agreement expires on September 30, 2020, unless renewed by mutual agreement of the fund and the distributor based upon a determination that this is appropriate under the circumstances at that time.
EXPENSE EXAMPLE
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. Please see below a hypothetical example showing the expenses of a $10,000 investment for the time periods indicated and then, except as shown below, assuming you sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example assumes a 5% average annual return and that fund expenses will not change over the periods. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
Sold
Expense Example - (John Hancock California Tax-Free Income Fund) - USD ($)
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Class A 483 662 857 1,417
Class B 663 828 1,118 1,784
Class C 263 528 918 2,010
Class I 72 226 394 882
Class R6 68 217 378 846
Not Sold
Expense Example, No Redemption - (John Hancock California Tax-Free Income Fund) - USD ($)
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Class B 163 528 918 1,784
Class C 163 528 918 2,010
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund's performance. During its most recent fiscal year, the fund's portfolio turnover rate was 22% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
Under normal market conditions, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus amounts borrowed for investment purposes, in securities of any maturity exempt from federal and California personal income taxes. Most of these securities are investment-grade when purchased, but the fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in junk bonds rated BB by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (S&P) or Fitch Ratings, Inc. (Fitch) or Ba by Moody's Investors Service, Inc. (Moody's), or their unrated equivalents. The fund's investment policies are based on credit ratings at the time of purchase.
The fund may buy bonds of any maturity. The fund may engage in derivative transactions. Derivatives may be used to reduce risk and/or enhance investment returns, and may include futures contracts on debt securities and debt securities indexes; options on futures, debt securities, and debt indexes; and inverse floating-rate securities.
The manager looks for undervalued bonds, based on both broad and security-specific factors, such as issuer creditworthiness, bond structure, and general credit trends, and uses detailed analysis of an appropriate index to model portfolio performance and composition. The fund does not intend to engage in frequent trading.
The fund may invest in general obligation bonds, however, in general, the manager favors bonds backed by revenue from a specific public project or facility, such as a power plant (revenue bonds), as they tend to offer higher yields than general obligation bonds. The manager also favors bonds that have limitations on early payoff (call protection), which can help minimize the potential effect of falling interest rates on the fund's yield. To the extent that the fund invests in bonds that are subject to the alternative minimum tax (AMT), the income paid by the fund may not be entirely tax-free to all investors. Investments in bonds subject to the AMT will not be counted toward the fund's 80% investment policy.
For liquidity and flexibility, the fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in taxable and tax-free investment-grade short-term securities.
PRINCIPAL RISKS
An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Many factors affect performance, and fund shares will fluctuate in price, meaning you could lose money. The fund's investment strategy may not produce the intended results.
During periods of heightened market volatility or reduced liquidity, governments, their agencies, or other regulatory bodies, both within the United States and abroad, may take steps to intervene. These actions, which could include legislative, regulatory, or economic initiatives, might have unforeseeable consequences and could adversely affect the fund's performance or otherwise constrain the fund's ability to achieve its investment objective.
The fund's main risks are listed below in alphabetical order. Before investing, be sure to read the additional descriptions of these risks beginning on page 5 of the prospectus.
Changing distribution levels risk. The fund may cease or reduce the level of its distribution if income or dividends paid from its investments declines.
Credit and counterparty risk. The issuer or guarantor of a fixed-income security, the counterparty to an over-the-counter derivatives contract, or a borrower of fund securities may not make timely payments or otherwise honor its obligations. U.S. government securities are subject to varying degrees of credit risk depending upon the nature of their support. A downgrade or default affecting any of the fund's securities could affect the fund's performance.
Cybersecurity and operational risk. Cybersecurity breaches may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to fund assets, customer data, or proprietary information, or cause a fund or its service providers to suffer data corruption or lose operational functionality. Similar incidents affecting issuers of a fund's securities may negatively impact performance. Operational risk may arise from human error, error by third parties, communication errors, or technology failures, among other causes.
Economic and market events risk. Events in the U.S. and global financial markets, including actions taken by the U.S. Federal Reserve or foreign central banks to stimulate or stabilize economic growth, may at times result in unusually high market volatility, which could negatively impact performance. Reduced liquidity in credit and fixed-income markets could adversely affect issuers worldwide. Banks and financial services companies could suffer losses if interest rates rise or economic conditions deteriorate.
Fixed-income securities risk. A rise in interest rates typically causes bond prices to fall. The longer the average maturity or duration of the bonds held by a fund, the more sensitive it will likely be to interest-rate fluctuations. An issuer may not make all interest payments or repay all or any of the principal borrowed. Changes in a security's credit quality may adversely affect fund performance.
Hedging, derivatives, and other strategic transactions risk. Hedging, derivatives, and other strategic transactions may increase a fund's volatility and could produce disproportionate losses, potentially more than the fund's principal investment. Risks of these transactions are different from and possibly greater than risks of investing directly in securities and other traditional instruments. Under certain market conditions, derivatives could become harder to value or sell and may become subject to liquidity risk (i.e., the inability to enter into closing transactions). Derivatives and other strategic transactions that the fund intends to utilize include: futures contracts; inverse floating-rate securities; and options. Futures contracts and options generally are subject to counterparty risk.
Liquidity risk. The extent (if at all) to which a security may be sold or a derivative position closed without negatively impacting its market value may be impaired by reduced market activity or participation, legal restrictions, or other economic and market impediments. Liquidity risk may be magnified in rising interest rate environments due to higher than normal redemption rates. Widespread selling of fixed-income securities to satisfy redemptions during periods of reduced demand may adversely impact their price or salability. The secondary market for certain tax-exempt securities tends to be less well-developed or liquid than many other securities markets, which may result in increased volatility or liquidity risk.
Lower-rated and high-yield fixed-income securities risk. Lower-rated and high-yield fixed-income securities (junk bonds) are subject to greater credit quality risk, risk of default, and price volatility than higher-rated fixed-income securities, may be considered speculative, and can be difficult to resell.
Municipal bond risk. The prices of municipal bonds, including general obligation bonds, can decline if the issuer's credit quality declines. Revenue bond prices can decline if related projects become unprofitable. An insured municipal bond is subject to the risk that the insurer may be unable to pay claims and is not insured with respect to the market value of the obligation. Municipal bond income could become taxable in the future. Investments in AMT bonds may result in tax liability for shareholders.
Sector risk. When a fund focuses its investments in certain sectors of the economy, its performance may be driven largely by sector performance and could fluctuate more widely than if the fund were invested more evenly across sectors.
State/region risk. Investing heavily in any one state or region increases exposure to losses in that state or region. This risk is magnified for a fund that invests mainly in bonds from a single state. Factors that may affect performance include economic or political changes, tax base erosion, state constitutional limits on tax increases, budget deficits and other financial difficulties, and changes in credit ratings. At times, California has been more economically volatile than the United States as a whole. Puerto Rican municipal obligations, in which the fund may invest, may be subject to further devaluation due to adverse political, economic, and market conditions.
PAST PERFORMANCE
The following information illustrates the variability of the fund's returns and provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund by showing changes in the fund's performance from year to year and by showing how the fund's average annual returns compared with a broad-based market index. Past performance (before and after taxes) does not indicate future results. The Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index shows how the fund's performance compares against the returns of similar investments. All figures assume dividend reinvestment. Performance information is updated daily, monthly, and quarterly and may be obtained at our website, jhinvestments.com, or by calling 800-225-5291 (Class A, Class B, and Class C), Monday to Thursday, 8:00 A.M.—7:00 P.M., and Friday, 8:00 A.M.—6:00 P.M., Eastern time, or 888-972-8696 (Class I and Class R6) between 8:30 A.M. and 5:00 P.M., Eastern time, on most business days.
A note on performance
Class A shares commenced operations on December 29, 1989. Class I shares commenced operations on February 13, 2017. Class R6 shares commenced operations on August 30, 2017. Returns shown prior to the commencement dates of Class I shares and Class R6 shares are those of Class A shares, except that they do not include sales charges and would be lower if they did. Returns for Class I and Class R6 shares would have been substantially similar to returns of Class A shares because both share classes are invested in the same portfolio of securities and returns would differ only to the extent that expenses of the classes are different.
Please note that after-tax returns (shown for Class A shares only) reflect the highest individual federal marginal income-tax rate in effect as of the date provided and do not reflect any state or local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns may be different. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k), or other tax-advantaged investment plan. After-tax returns for other share classes would vary. The returns for Class A shares have been adjusted to reflect the reduction in the maximum sales charge from 4.50% to 4.00%, effective February 3, 2014.
Calendar year total returns (%)—Class A (sales charges are not reflected in the bar chart and returns would have been lower if they were)
Bar Chart
Year-to-date total return. The fund's total return for the six months ended June 30, 2019, was 5.13%.
Best quarter: Q3 '09, 11.25%
Worst quarter: Q4 '10, –5.27%
Average annual total returns (%)—as of 12/31/18
Average Annual Total Returns - (John Hancock California Tax-Free Income Fund)
1 Year
5 Years
10 Years
Class A (3.64%) 3.25% 5.55%
Class A | after tax on distributions (4.98%) 1.65% 4.53%
Class A | after tax on distributions, with sale (2.15%) 1.77% 4.30%
Class B (5.09%) 2.98% 5.32%
Class C (1.30%) 3.32% 5.16%
Class I 0.67% 4.17% 6.02%
Class R6 0.61% 4.14% 6.00%
Bloomberg Barclays California Municipal Bond Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) 1.11% 3.95% 5.28%
Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) 1.28% 3.82% 4.85%