John Hancock Marathon ABL Fund to Convert to Interval Fund
The John Hancock Marathon Asset-Based Lending Fund, a direct lending fund designed to provide exposure to a diversified portfolio of private credit investments, is preparing for a planned conversion this spring from a tender offer model to an interval fund structure.
Subject to shareholder approval in mid-March, the fund – co-managed by Manulife John Hancock Investment Management and sub-advised by Marathon Asset Management – anticipates converting from a tender offer fund with monthly subscriptions to an interval fund with daily subscriptions. The fund is targeting an effective date of April 24, 2026. The first daily subscriptions are anticipated to be accepted on or about April 27, 2026, at the fund’s net asset value on that date.
As of Jan. 31, 2026, the fund’s NAV per share was $20.25 and its total net assets were approximately $263.4 million.
To facilitate its planned transition, the fund reported that it will not accept any subscriptions submitted from April 1 through April 24, 2026. This suspension may be extended if the conversion is delayed.
Effective immediately, the fund has stopped accepting purchase orders for Class S and Class D shares from all investors. These classes had previously been closed to new investors prior to Aug. 1, 2025. The fund is continuing to offer and sell Class I shares. Previously, the minimum initial investment in the fund by any account, unless waived, was $1 million for Class I shares with additional investment minimums of $100,000; and $10,000 with additional investment minimums of $5,000 for Class S and Class D shares.
The fund has eliminated its 2% early repurchase fee, which was previously charged for share repurchases occurring before the one-year anniversary of an investor’s purchase.
Earlier this year, AltsWire similarly announced that the board of PGIM Private Real Estate Fund Inc. – a continuously offered, closed-end tender offer fund – had approved its conversion to an interval fund structure.
Launched in July 2022, the John Hancock fund seeks to provide high current income and, to a lesser extent, capital appreciation via its investments. At least 80% of its net assets are invested in asset-based lending investments. These are loans secured by hard or financial assets, such as healthcare royalties, transportation equipment (aircraft and shipping vessels), and consumer-related assets. The fund has also noted it pursues an “all-weather strategy,” a flexible mandate designed to generate strong risk-adjusted returns with low volatility and low correlation to traditional asset classes across varying credit cycles.
The fund recently reported an 8.88% distribution yield and a trailing 12-month yield of 7.58%.
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