BOSTON, May 13, 2002 - Hancock Timber Resource Group (HTRG) will speak at the upcoming Forest Products Industry Conference in Seattle on Tuesday, June 18, 2002. Clark S. Binkley, chief investment officer of HTRG, will be one of the group's featured speakers.

Hosted by the Association for Investment Management and Research, the conference is designed to help analysts and portfolio managers evaluate investment opportunities among the forest and paper products industries. Mr. Binkley's talk will discuss the advantages of private equity ownership of timberland.

HTRG is the world's largest timberland investment management organization for institutional clients, with more than $2.5 billion and 3.1 million acres under management in North America and Australia as of March 31, 2002. HTRG is a division of Hancock Natural Resource Group, Inc., a subsidiary of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc.