Investors are putting their John Hancock on the new John Hancock Real Estate Mutual Fund that made its public debut in March 2000. From a valuation perspective, it looks like a great time to buy into real estate securities," said James J. McKelvey, co-portfolio manager. "With the volatility of tech funds, we see real estate as a good safe haven." In 1999 the fund returned 2.38 percent and its unofficial first quarter 2000 results show a 3.32 percent return, according to McKelvey. When bringing the fund public, McKelvey noted that real estate was lacking in John Hancock's family of funds. "We have a very good number of stock and bond funds," he said, "But, we don't have the third leg of the stool. This [new Fund] is rounding out our products." The minimum investment in the fund is $1,000 and there is a front end load for Class A shares of five percent, and Class B shares carry a deferred sales charge of five percent and Class C shares levy a deferred sales charge of one percent.