John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund (NYSE: HTD) Shareholders Re- Elect Trustees James F. Carlin and William H. Cunningham

BOSTON, March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Shareholders of the John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund NYSE: HTD today overwhelmingly re-elected independent fund trustees James F. Carlin and William H. Cunningham to the fund Board.

A quorum was reached at the annual shareholders meeting of the fund held at 10 a.m. at the fund's offices, 601 Congress Street, Boston, Massachusetts.

Two other shareholder proposals were also approved at the meeting. Fund shareholders approved the proposal to eliminate the fund's concentration policy with respect to financial services corporations, and the proposal to modify the fund's utilities sector concentration policy to permit investments in foreign utilities corporations. In addition to these two strategy changes, the Board had previously approved another strategy change that increased to 40% of the fund's net assets the fund's ability to invest in foreign securities.

Fund management and the Board members in attendance at today's meeting also acknowledged the current situation in the market for Auction Preferred Shares (APS) and reiterated a commitment to finding a solution that will restore liquidity for current APS holders while at the same time not disadvantaging the holders of common shares of the Fund.

About John Hancock Funds

The Boston-based mutual fund business unit of John Hancock Financial Services, John Hancock Funds manages more than $56.8 billion in open-end funds, closed-end funds, private accounts, retirement plans and related party assets for individual and institutional investors at December 31, 2007. John Hancock Funds are distributed by John Hancock Funds, LLC, member FINRA. For more information, please visit www.jhfunds.com.

John Hancock Financial Services is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 19 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia, and primarily through John Hancock in the United States, the company 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$396 billion (US$401 billion) at December 31, 2007. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '0945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial may be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com.