Note 3 — Guarantees and indemnifications
Under the Trust's organizational documents, its Officers and Trustees are indemnified against certain liabilities arising out of the performance of their duties to the Trust, including the fund. Additionally, in the normal course of business, the fund enters into contracts with service providers that contain general indemnification clauses. The fund's maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against the fund that have not yet occurred. The risk of material loss from such claims is considered remote.
Note 4 — Fees and transactions with affiliates
John Hancock Advisers, LLC (the Advisor) serves as investment advisor for the fund. John Hancock Funds, LLC (the Distributor), an affiliate of the Advisor, serves as principal underwriter of the fund. The Advisor and the Distributor are indirect, wholly owned subsidiaries of Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC).
Management fee. The fund has an investment management agreement with the Advisor under which the fund pays a daily management fee to the Advisor, on an annual basis, equal to 0.800% of average daily net assets. The Advisor has a subadvisory agreement with Epoch Investment Partners, Inc. The fund is not responsible for payment of the subadvisory fees.
The Advisor has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fee and/or reimburse expenses for certain funds of the John Hancock funds complex, including the fund (the participating portfolios). This waiver is based upon aggregate net assets of all the participating portfolios. The amount of the reimbursement is calculated daily and allocated among all the participating portfolios in proportion to the daily net assets of each fund. During the year ended February 28, 2015, this waiver amounted to 0.01% of the fund's average net assets on an annualized basis. This arrangement may be amended or terminated at any time by the Advisor upon notice to the fund and with the approval of the Board of Trustees.
The Advisor has contractually agreed to waive all or a portion of its management fees and/or reimburse or pay operating expenses of the fund to the extent necessary to maintain the fund's total operating expenses at 1.47% and 0.97% for Class R2 and Class R6 shares, respectively, excluding certain expenses such as taxes, brokerage commissions, interest expense, litigation and indemnification expenses and other extraordinary expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the fund's business, acquired fund fees and short dividend expense. These expense limitations shall remain in effect until June 30, 2015, unless renewed by mutual agreement of the fund and the Advisor based upon a determination that this is appropriate under the circumstances at the time.
Effective July 1, 2014, the Advisor has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse all class-specific expenses for Class B shares of the fund, including Rule 12b-1 fees, transfer agency fees and service fees, blue sky fees, and printing and postage, as applicable, to the extent they exceed 1.30% of average annual net assets (on an annualized basis) attributable to Class B shares (the Class Expense Waiver). The Class Expense Waiver expires on June 30, 2015, 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. Prior to July 1, 2014, Class B and Class C shares had fee waivers and/or reimbursements such that the expenses would not exceed 2.12% for Class B and Class C shares, respectively.
For Class R6 shares, the Advisor has contractually agreed to waive and/ or reimburse all class specific expense of the fund, including transfer agency fees and service fees, blue sky fees, and printing and postage, as applicable, to the extent they exceed 0.00% of average annual net assets. The fee waiver and/or reimbursement will continue in effect until June 30, 2015, unless renewed by mutual agreement of the fund and Advisor based upon a determination that this is appropriate under the circumstances at the time.
The expense reductions described above amounted to $41,187, $1,208, $10,524, $77,730, $15,431, $17,142 and $47,196 for Class A, Class B, Class C, Class I, Class R2, Class R6 and Class NAV shares, respectively, for the year ended February 28, 2015.
The investment management fees, including the impact of the waivers and reimbursements as described above, incurred for the year ended February 28, 2015 were equivalent to a net annual effective rate of 0.79% of the fund's average daily net assets.