U.S. equity investing at John Hancock Investment Management
Investing in U.S. equities is one of the best ways to build wealth over the long term. Explore time-tested strategies for overcoming short-term setbacks and making the most of the market’s long-term potential.
U.S. equity funds are designed to help:
- Pursue capital appreciation
- Provide diversification from non-U.S. equities
U.S. equity funds are designed to help:
- Pursue capital appreciation
- Provide diversification from non-U.S. equities
Equities have helped investors build wealth
More than any other investment, stocks represent the dynamic nature and growth potential of a country’s economy. Over time, stocks have helped millions of investors build wealth, outpacing bonds and inflation over the long term despite wars, recessions, and a host of other setbacks along the way.
Stocks have outpaced bonds and inflation over time, despite a litany of volatility-inducing events

Market pullbacks are normal
Occasionally, setbacks to the market’s overall advance can make stock investing feel like a losing proposition. The challenge for investors is to ride out these temporary storms and remember that while the market doesn’t go up in a straight line, it has gone up over time.
The market will often experience setbacks before moving higher
S&P 500 Index (1983–2019)

U.S. equities have always recovered
Any investor who has lived through a bear market knows how unpleasant it can be. History shows, however, that U.S. stocks have always recovered, and that bull markets have created far more wealth over time than bear markets have taken away.
Bull markets have tended to outlast bear markets
S&P 500 Index (1946–2019)
Three time-tested strategies for U.S. equity investors
1. Invest regularly
Steadily investing through market setbacks takes advantage of temporarily low prices.
Buy and hold
$10,000 invested in stocks at the start of the 2007/2008 financial crisis (December 2007)
Steady investing
$5,000 invested in stocks at the start of the 2007/2008 financial crisis (December 2007), plus $100 invested monthly (from January 2008 to February 2012), for a total of $10,000

2. Stay invested
Because market rebounds are unpredictable, staying invested may ensure you won’t miss them.
The cost of moving in and out of funds
Average annual returns (1998–2018)
The average fund holding period was just 4.03 years, and that lack of patience came at a price.

The value of staying invested
20-year growth of $10,000 (1999–2019)
Staying fully invested helps ensure that you don’t miss the market’s best days.

3. Diversify
Owning a broad mix of asset classes increases your chances of navigating the market’s
winners and losers.

Finding the best specialized manager for every fund we offer
Our multimanager approach puts us in a unique position to evaluate the skill sets, track records,
and experience of today’s portfolio managers, and our U.S. equity lineup features a range of
portfolios managed by some of the industry’s best teams.
Explore our U.S. equity funds
At John Hancock Investment Management, our U.S. equity funds are designed to address a range of investor needs. We’ve offered U.S. equity strategies to individual and institutional investors for more than 30 years, and today we oversee over $50 billion in U.S. equities across a range of strategies, managed by some of the best specialized portfolio teams from around the world.
TICKER | FUND NAME | MANAGED BY | MORNINGSTAR CATEGORY | USE FOR |
---|---|---|---|---|
JCVIX | Classic Value Fund | Pzena Investment Management | Large Value | Deep value strategy |
JVLIX | Disciplined Value Fund | Boston Partners | Large Value | Core large-cap holding |
JVMIX | Disciplined Value Mid Cap Fund | Boston Partners | Mid-Cap Value | Core mid-cap holding |
JHKIX | ESG All Cap Core Fund | Trillium Asset Management | Large Growth | Opportunistic equity holding |
JHJIX | ESG Large Cap Core Fund | Trillium Asset Management | Large Blend | Opportunistic equity holding |
JFIFX | Financial Industries Fund | Manulife Investment Management | Financial | Financials sector exposure |
JFCIX | Fundamental All Cap Core Fund | Manulife Investment Management | Large Growth | Core equity holding |
JLVIX | Fundamental Large Cap Core Fund | Manulife Investment Management | Large Blend | Core large-cap holding |
JHML | Multifactor Large Cap ETF | Dimensional Fund Advisors | Large Blend | Core equity holding |
JHMM | Multifactor Mid Cap ETF | Dimensional Fund Advisors | Mid-Cap Blend | Core equity holding |
JHSC | Multifactor Small Cap ETF | Dimensional Fund Advisors | Small Blend | Core equity holding |
JHSOX | New Opportunities Fund | GW&K Investment Management | Small Growth | Small-cap core holding |
PDT | Premium Dividend Fund | Manulife Investment Management | Closed-End Preferred Stock | Diversifying sources of equity income |
JRBFX | Regional Bank Fund | Manulife Investment Management | Financial | Regional bank sector exposure |
JCCIX | Small Cap Core Fund | Manulife Investment Management | Small Blend | Core small-cap holding |
JSJIX | Small Cap Growth Fund | Redwood Investments | Small Growth | Small-cap growth holding |
JSCBX | Small Cap Value Fund | Wellington Management | Small Value | Small-cap value holding |
HTD | Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund | Multiple managers | Closed-End Allocation- 50% to 70% Equity | Tax-sensitive equity income |
USLIX | U.S. Global Leaders Growth Fund | Sustainable Growth Advisers | Large Growth | Conservative large-cap growth |
JSGIX | U.S. Growth Fund | Wellington Management | Large Growth | Core large-cap growth holding |
Investing involves risks, including the potential loss of principal. These products carry many individual risks, including some that are unique to each fund. Please click a fund's name above to learn all of the risks associated with each investment.