BOSTON, Dec. 7, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- John Hancock Bank and Thrift Opportunity Fund (NYSE: BTO) (the "Fund"), a closed-end fund managed by John Hancock Advisers, LLC, announced today that its Board of Trustees, in evaluating strategic options to enhance shareholder value, has renewed the Fund's share repurchase plan that is set to expire on December 31, 2010. The Fund's Board of Trustees also approved amendments to the Fund's investment objective and related investment policies to provide the Fund additional flexibility to invest in income generating securities.

Renewal of Share Repurchase Plan

The share repurchase plan seeks to enhance shareholder value and to potentially narrow the Fund's discount to NAV. Pursuant to the plan, the Fund may purchase, in the open market, up to an additional 10% of its outstanding common shares between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011 (based on common shares outstanding as of December 31, 2010). The share repurchase plan allows the Fund to acquire its own shares in the open market at a discount to NAV, which is intended to increase the NAV per share. It could also have the benefit of providing additional liquidity in the trading of common shares.

The Fund has been actively repurchasing shares in 2010 to seek to enhance shareholder value, and year-to-date through November 30, 2010 the Fund has repurchased 941,650 shares, or 4.46% of total outstanding shares. During this period, the share repurchases have contributed to the Fund's NAV by approximately $0.10 per share.

There is no assurance that the Fund will purchase shares at any specific discount levels or in any specific amounts. The Fund's repurchase activity will be disclosed in its shareholder report for the relevant fiscal period. There is no assurance that the market price of the Fund's shares, either absolutely or relative to net asset value, will increase as a result of any share repurchases, or that the plan will enhance shareholder value over the long-term.

Amendment to Investment Objective and Related Investment Policies

Additionally, Board of Trustees has approved an amendment to the Fund's investment objective and related investment policies with respect to investments in income generating securities. The Fund's new investment objective is to provide a high level of total return consisting of long-term capital appreciation and current income. The prior investment objective was long-term capital appreciation. This revision to the Fund's investment objective will provide additional flexibility to the portfolio management team to invest in income generating securities. The Fund's related investment policies also are being changed to align the Fund's investment policies with the newly stated investment objective. These policies as well as other investment policy changes adopted by the Board are summarized below.




    Prior Investment Policies      New Investment Policies
    -------------------------      -----------------------
    Under normal market
     conditions, the Fund may
     invest up to 25% of its total
     assets in the equity
     securities of financial
     services companies, companies
     with significant lending       Under normal market conditions, the
     operations, foreign banking,   Fund may invest up to 20% of its net
     lending and financial          assets in the equity securities of
     services companies, "money     financial services companies,
     center" banks and debt         companies with significant lending
     securities issued by U.S.      operations, foreign banking, lending
     regional banks, thrifts or     and financial services companies,
     their holding companies        "money center" banks and debt
     selected primarily for         securities issued by U.S. regional
     capital appreciation           banks, thrifts or their holding
     potential.                     companies.
    ------------------------------ ------------------------------------
    The equity securities in which
     the Fund may invest are
     common stocks, preferred
     stocks, warrants, stock
     purchase rights, securities
     convertible into other equity
     securities. Although the Fund  The equity securities in which the
     will purchase equity           Fund may invest are common stocks,
     securities principally for     preferred stocks, warrants, stock
     capital appreciation, such     purchase rights, securities
     investments may also produce   convertible into other equity
     dividends and other income.    securities.
    ------------------------------ -----------------------------------


    The Fund intends to invest
     primarily in the equity
     securities of U.S. regional
     banks, thrifts and holding
     companies with assets of less
     than $30 billion and to
     emphasize over time
     investments in U.S. regional
     banks, thrifts and their
     holding companies with assets
     of $3 billion or less. The
     Adviser believes that such
     small to medium size banks
     and thrifts offer better
     opportunity for longer-term
     capital appreciation than do
     larger banks, thrifts and
     their holding companies. Over
     time, the Fund may change its
     investment emphasis in
     response to, among other
     factors, consolidations in
     the banking and thrift         The Fund intends to invest in the
     industry and the Adviser's     equity securities of U.S. regional
     view as to opportunities for   banks, thrifts and holding companies
     capital appreciation.          of any size.
    ------------------------------ -------------------------------------


    The Fund may write and
     purchase call and put options
     on securities and securities
     indices provided that the
     value of options purchased by
     the Fund, together with the
     obligations of the Fund under  The Fund may write and purchase call
     options written by the Fund,   and put options on securities and
     other than options written or  securities indices.  The Fund
     purchased for hedging          typically will limit notional
     purposes and call options      exposure of the options to 5% of the
     written "against-the-box,"     value of the Fund's portfolio
     does not exceed 5% of the      securities, although this amount is
     Fund's total assets at the     expected to vary over time based upon
     time of such purchase or       U.S. equity market conditions and
     writing.                       other factors.
    ------------------------------ -------------------------------------

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined by the United States securities laws. You should exercise caution in interpreting and relying on forward-looking statements because they are subject to uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Fund's control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

About John Hancock Funds

The Boston-based mutual fund business unit of John Hancock Financial, John Hancock Funds, manages more than $60.8 billion in open-end funds, closed-end funds, private accounts, retirement plans and related party assets for individual and institutional investors at September 30, 2010.

About John Hancock Financial and Manulife Financial Corporation

John Hancock Financial is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 22 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and in most of Asia, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States, Manulife Financial Corporation offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$474 billion (US$460 billion) at September 30, 2010.

Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com.

The John Hancock unit, through its insurance companies, comprises one of the largest life insurers in the United States. John Hancock offers a broad range of financial products and services, including life insurance, fixed and variable annuities, fixed products, mutual funds, 401(k) plans, long-term care insurance, college savings, and other forms of business insurance. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at www.johnhancock.com.

SOURCE John Hancock Funds