# John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III is an Asset Manager based in Boston, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Asset Manager - **Headquarters:** Boston, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** Boston, MA, United States - **Founded:** 2003 - **Assets under management:** Undisclosed - **Website:** johnhancock.com ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III launched in 2003 as part of John Hancock Investment Management's closed-end fund complex. Managed by Gregory K. Phelps and Joseph H. Bozoyan, the fund invests principally in preferred stocks and other fixed-income securities, with a mandate weighted toward the financials, utilities, and insurance sectors. It is one of several preferred-income funds the firm operates, each differentiated by leverage ratios and portfolio composition. The vehicle is exchange-listed and trades on the New York Stock Exchange, providing daily liquidity to shareholders while maintaining a closed-end structure that allows the portfolio managers to operate without redemption-driven turnover. The fund's strategy centers on generating high current income through preferred securities, corporate bonds, and capital securities issued by U.S. companies. As of its most recent reporting periods, the portfolio is heavily allocated to the financial services sector, with banks, insurance companies, and real estate investment trusts forming the core. Positions include preferred stock issued by large-cap U.S. banks, utilities, and energy companies, alongside select hybrid instruments from telecommunications and pipeline operators. The fund employs leverage in pursuit of enhanced yield, a common feature across the John Hancock closed-end preferred fund family, and distributes income to shareholders on a monthly basis (per the firm's official communications). The fund operates under the broader John Hancock Investment Management umbrella, a division of Manulife Investment Management, which traces its parentage to Manulife Financial Corporation, the Toronto-based insurance and financial services giant. This links the Boston-based managers to a global asset management platform with offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. In July 2024, John Hancock announced the continuation of its monthly distribution policy for the fund, maintaining the shareholder payout at levels consistent with the prior year (per the firm's July 2024 announcement). The fund's board of trustees also oversees governance and adherence to the Investment Company Act of 1940. Structurally, the fund's closed-end format is its defining mechanism. Unlike open-end mutual funds that must honor daily redemptions at NAV, the closed-end wrapper lets Phelps and Bozoyan hold illiquid preferred issues through rate cycles without forced selling. The trade-off for shareholders is that the fund's market price can diverge materially from its net asset value, sometimes trading at persistent discounts or premiums that corporate actions such as rights offerings or tender offers may later address. This discount dynamic, alongside the layered use of leverage, creates a security that behaves differently from the underlying assets it holds — and that structural tension is precisely what the managers navigate in seeking to deliver the stated yield objective. ## Sectors - Financials - Insurance - Real Estate - Utilities - Energy - Telecommunications ## People - Gregory K. Phelps — Senior Managing Director, Head of Income & Value - Joseph H. Bozoyan — Portfolio Manager ## Questions ### What does John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III actually hold? The fund holds a diversified portfolio of preferred stocks, capital securities, and investment-grade corporate bonds, primarily issued by U.S. financial institutions, utilities, and insurance companies. Preferred securities are hybrid instruments that sit above common equity but below senior debt in the capital structure. The portfolio is concentrated in rate-sensitive, U.S.-dollar-denominated paper, and the managers use leverage to amplify the yield available to common shareholders. ### How is this fund different from open-end preferred-stock mutual funds or ETFs? As a closed-end fund, it does not face daily shareholder redemptions, which means the managers can hold less-liquid preferred issues through market dislocations without being forced sellers. The trade-off is that shares can trade at a discount or premium to net asset value, introducing a layer of market-price risk that open-end funds and ETFs do not carry to the same degree. Many allocators track the discount-to-NAV metric as a factor in entry and exit timing. ### Who makes the day-to-day investment decisions for the fund? Gregory K. Phelps and Joseph H. Bozoyan serve as the fund's portfolio managers. Phelps is also the head of the broader income and value platform at John Hancock Investment Management. They operate within the income and fixed-income division, drawing on credit research and risk-management resources shared across Manulife Investment Management. ### What is the relationship between this fund and Manulife Financial? John Hancock Investment Management is the U.S. asset management arm of Manulife Investment Management, which itself is wholly owned by Manulife Financial Corporation, the Toronto-based global insurer and financial services firm. The fund's portfolio managers sit in Boston, but the credit platform and parent-company resources span North America, Europe, and Asia. ## Related profiles - [SuperX AI Technology](https://altss.com/profile/superx-ai-technology-ltd) - [Invesco Senior Income Trust](https://altss.com/profile/invesco-senior-income-trust) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/john-hancock-preferred-income-fund-iii Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology