HEQ - John Hancock Diversified Income Fund

What this means for you

Karpus is known for pushing closed-end funds to narrow the gap between price and value. For now it has told the regulator it is not seeking changes. One other large investor owns more than 5% of this fund and has said the same; that is common for banks, brokers and index funds that hold shares for their clients.

Nothing is required of you. If an investor changes its mind, it must file a new notice within days, and it will show up here.

Email me if this changes

What happened, and when

1. Aug 14, 2026

   Karpus now owns 7.5%, as a passive investor.

   Original document →

2. July 14, 2026

   First Trust Portfolios L.P. cut its stake to 8.9% (from 10.2%), as a passive investor.

   Original document →

3. April 14, 2026

   First Trust Portfolios L.P. cut its stake to 10.2% (from 11.6%), as a passive investor.

   Original document →

4. Jan 14, 2026

   First Trust Portfolios L.P. cut its stake to 11.6% (from 14.3%), as a passive investor.

   Original document →

5. Oct 17, 2025

   First Trust Portfolios L.P. now owns 14.3%, as a passive investor.

   Original document →

About this fund

• Run by John Hancock Investment Management LLC. Part of the John Hancock Group of Funds fund family. As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's yearly report. Original document →
• Size: about $150 million of holdings, as of June 30, 2026. As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →
• Borrowing: the fund borrows about 11% on top of its own money, as of June 30, 2026. Borrowed money makes gains and losses bigger. As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →
• Costs: 0.9% a year in management fees; 1.3% a year in total, including interest on borrowed money. Fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2025. As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's yearly report. Original document →
  Among the 90 funds we follow that invest in bonds, 28 charge a lower management fee and 11 charge less in total, at their last yearly reports. Both numbers are measured against the fund's own money, not the money it borrows on top, so a fund that borrows more shows higher costs on both counts.
• Payouts: last fiscal year (ended Dec 31, 2025) the fund paid $1.00 a share. $0.50 of that was income; $0.50 was your own money back, not income. Most funds announce their monthly or quarterly payout on their own website, not in a filing with the regulator, so a cut or a raise there does not show up here until the next yearly report. A few funds do file a notice about a fixed payout; those appear under What happened, and when. As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• Value of holdings per share at the last fiscal year end (Dec 31, 2025): $12.20. The shares traded at $10.75, about 11.9% below that. As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's yearly report. Original document →
• How the holdings did: up 8% over the last three months we have (April-June 2026), before the share price is taken into account. As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →
• First reported to the regulator in 2010.

How this has changed

• Payouts per share: $1.00 in the fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2025; $1.00 in the year ended Dec 31, 2024; $1.08 in the year ended Dec 31, 2023.As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• Of that, your own money back rather than income: $0.50 in the year ended Dec 31, 2025; $0.23 in the year ended Dec 31, 2024; $0.54 in the year ended Dec 31, 2023.As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• Costs, including interest on borrowed money: 1.31% a year in the fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2025; 1.2% a year in the year ended Dec 31, 2024; 1.23% a year in the year ended Dec 31, 2023.As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• Size of the holdings: about $147 million at Dec 31, 2025; $141 million at Dec 31, 2024; $141 million at Dec 31, 2023. From the fund's quarterly holdings reports. Original documents: Dec 31, 2025 →, Dec 31, 2024 →, Dec 31, 2023 →.
• Borrowing: none at Dec 31, 2025; none at Dec 31, 2024; none at Dec 31, 2023. From the fund's quarterly holdings reports. Original documents: Dec 31, 2025 →, Dec 31, 2024 →, Dec 31, 2023 →.
• The fund had about 12 million shares at Dec 31, 2025, down 0.8% from Dec 31, 2023.As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →

What these lines mean: a payout that is your own money back, what a fund costs, borrowing.

What a holder made

• The year ended Dec 31, 2025: the shares returned +15.6%, counting payouts; the holdings +15%. The holdings figure is what the fund's investments earned, before the share price is taken into account. As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• The year ended Dec 31, 2024: the shares returned +11.6%, counting payouts; the holdings +10.1%. As of Dec 31, 2024, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• The year ended Dec 31, 2023: the shares returned -3.2%, counting payouts; the holdings +9.5%. As of Dec 31, 2023, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• The year ended Dec 31, 2022: the shares returned -2.7%, counting payouts; the holdings -1%. As of Dec 31, 2022, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• The year ended Dec 31, 2021: the shares returned +24.2%, counting payouts; the holdings +11.7%. As of Dec 31, 2021, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• Those five years together: the shares returned +50.9%. $10,000 of shares bought at the start (Jan 1, 2021) would have become about $15,100 by Dec 31, 2025, with every payout counted, before tax. As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• The holdings over the last twelve months we have, to June 30, 2026: +18.7%. The quarterly reports carry no share price, so this is the holdings alone. As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →
• Of the 75 funds that invest in bonds with a fiscal year ending within six months of this one, 10 reported a higher share return for that year and 64 a lower one. As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• A past year says nothing about the next one. All figures are the fund's own, from its reports to the regulator.

Why the shares and the holdings can differ: the gap between price and value. Why payouts count: a payout that is your own money back.

What the fund holds

Mostly shares (62%), the rest bonds, mortgage bonds and asset-backed bonds. About 51% issued in the U.S.

1. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Preference - 1.4%
2. Cisco Systems Inc Common Stock USD.001 - 1.1%
3. Cash and short-term - 1.1%
4. JPMORGAN CHASE and CO COMMON STOCK USD1.0 - 1%
5. Exxon Mobil - 0.9%
6. United Microelectronics Corporation - 0.8%
7. CVS Health Corp Common Stock USD.01 - 0.8%
8. JOHNSON and JOHNSON COMMON STOCK USD1.0 - 0.8%
9. Philip Morris International in - 0.8%
10. Allianz SE - 0.7%

As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →