Fund Evaluator:

JHancock Multi-Asset Absolute Return R2 Overview

JHancock Multi-Asset Absolute Return R2 (JHARX) is an actively managed Allocation Tactical Allocation fund. John Hancock launched the fund in 2012.

The investment seeks long term total return. The fund may use an extensive range of investment strategies and invest in a wide spectrum of equity and fixed-income securities, as well as derivative instruments, in pursuing its investment objective. It may invest in equity and fixed-income securities of companies and government and supranational entities around the world, including in emerging markets. The fund is not subject to any maturity, market capitalization, or credit quality restrictions and may invest in high-yield below-investment-grade bonds (junk bonds) without limitation. It may invest significantly in particular economic sectors.

About JHancock Multi-Asset Absolute Return R2 (JHARX)

There are 3 members of the management team with an average tenure of 6.92 years: Claus Vorm (2019), Kurt Kongsted (2019), Asbjørn Hansen (2019). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg US Agg Bond TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and ICE BofA 0-3 M US Trsy Bill TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. JHancock Multi-Asset Absolute Return R2 has 197 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 67.4% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

JHancock Multi-Asset Absolute Return R2 is part of the Allocation global asset class and is within the Allocation fund group. JHancock Multi-Asset Absolute Return R2 has 45.1% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 32.9%. There is 17.9% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 48.2% (21.0% domestic bond, 27.2% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). JHancock Multi-Asset Absolute Return R2 has 1.0% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $627 million in total assets, which is below the $222 million average for the Tactical Allocation category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

JHARX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The JHancock Multi-Asset Absolute Return R2 expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Tactical Allocation category. JHancock Multi-Asset Absolute Return R2 has an expense ratio of 1.70%, which is 3% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a C. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. JHancock Multi-Asset Absolute Return R2 has a portfolio turnover rate of 8%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.1 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 196% for the Tactical Allocation category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, JHancock Multi-Asset Absolute Return R2 returned -0.8%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Tactical Allocation category had an average return of -0.9%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

JHancock Multi-Asset Absolute Return R2 has a trailing yield of 0.00%, which is below the 2.86% category average. The fund normally distributes its income annually and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

JHancock Multi-Asset Absolute Return R2 Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 1.7%, 6.6 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 5.3% over the past year (grade of F), 3.7% over the past three years (grade of F) and 2.1% per year over the past five years (grade of F) and 2.9% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).

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