Horizons ETFs Wins Two Fundata FundGrade® A+ Awards

News provided by

Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc.

Jan 28, 2015, 10:02 ET

TORONTO, Jan. 28, 2015 /CNW/ - Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. and AlphaPro Management Inc. (collectively, "Horizons ETFs") are proud to announce that the Horizons S&P 500^® Index ETF ("HXS") and the Horizons Active Corporate Bond ETF ("HAB") have both won Fundata FundGrade^® A+ Awards for 2014.

Created by Fundata Canada Inc., the FundGrade rating system uses risk-adjusted performance figures to rank and grade Canadian investment funds. Based on up to 10 years of performance data, the 'A+ Grade' is strictly a quantitative calculation conducted on an annual basis, which results in a grade score ranking, according to the fund classification standards defined by the Canadian Investment Funds Standards Committee ("CIFSC").

"Horizons ETFs is very honoured to have won FundGrade A+^®Awards for HXS and HAB," said Howard Atkinson, President of Horizons ETFs. "According to Fundata, the only products that receive an A+ Award are the 'best-of-the-best' in their respective fund category, which means, in their view, our innovative actively managed and index ETFs are exceeding the industry standards of performance."

This was the second year in a row that HAB received a FundGrade A+^® Award. HAB is an actively managed Canadian corporate bond ETF, sub-advised by Fiera Capital Corporation ("Fiera"), one of the largest independent fixed income managers in Canada, with more than $50 billion in fixed income assets. HAB also received a 5-star Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Rating as of September 30, 2013, which it has maintained through December 31, 2014.

"HAB's portfolio managers are not forced to buy and sell bonds the way an index does, which has been an advantage in its ability to generate total returns in the corporate bond market," said Mr. Atkinson, "Fiera has one of the most experienced fixed income investment teams in Canada and they add additional value through their robust credit analysis and bond selection process."

In addition to winning a FundGrade A+^® Award, HXS was also awarded the 2014 Lipper Fund Award in the U.S. Equity category earlier this year (for the three-year period ended July 31, 2014).* HXS also received a five-star rating from Morningstar as of September 30, 2014 which it continues to maintain.

HXS seeks to replicate, to the extent possible, the performance of the S&P 500^® (Total Return), net of expenses. HXS uses a total-return swap based structure, which means the ETF does not physically hold the underlying stocks of the S&P 500^®. This can reduce tracking error and can also minimize taxable distributions. Since its inception in 2010, HXS has not paid any taxable distributions.

"There are at least seven ETFs in Canada that offer single-long exposure to the S&P 500^®, but we believe that it's the combination of HXS' low management fees, reduced potential for tracking error and greater tax efficiency, that have led to outstanding exposure to the index and have earned it numerous awards," said Mr. Atkinson. "The A+ Award further substantiates that benchmarking, while basic in concept, can still provide superior performance and efficiencies."

About Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. (www.HorizonsETFs.com)

Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. and its affiliate AlphaPro Management Inc. are innovative financial services companies offering the Horizons ETFs family of exchange-traded funds. The Horizons ETFs family includes a broadly diversified range of investment tools with solutions for investors of all experience levels to meet their investment objectives in a variety of market conditions. Horizons ETFs has more than $4.6 billion of assets under management and with 73 ETFs listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the Horizons ETFs family makes up one of the largest families of ETFs in Canada. Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. and AlphaPro Management Inc. are members of the Mirae Asset Financial Group.

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with an investment in exchange traded products managed by AlphaPro Management Inc. and Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. (the "Horizons Exchange Traded Products"). The Horizons Exchange Traded Products are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Please read the relevant prospectus before investing.

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information may relate to a future outlook and anticipated distributions, events or results and may include statements regarding future financial performance. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by terms such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "intend" or other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. Actual results may vary from such forward-looking information. Horizons ETFs undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future events or other such factors which affect this information, except as required by law.

The FundGrade rating is used with permission from Fundata Canada Inc., all rights reserved. Fundata is a Canadian investment funds data and analytics company. The FundGrade A+ Rating identifies funds that have consistently demonstrated the best risk-adjusted returns through an entire calendar year. For more information on the rating system, please visit www.fundata.com.

Morningstar® is a registered trademark of Morningstar Inc. ("Morningstar"). The Horizons Exchange Traded Products are not sponsored, endorsed, sold, or promoted by Morningstar and its affiliated companies and none of these parties make any representation, warranty or condition regarding the advisability of buying, selling or holding units/shares in the Horizons Exchange Traded Products. The information contained herein is not warranted by Morningstar to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.

The Lipper Fund Awards are part of the Thomson Reuters Awards for Excellence, a global family of awards that celebrate exceptional performance throughout the professional investment community. The Thomson Reuters Awards for Excellence recognize the world's top investment funds, fund management firms, sell-side firms, research analysts, and investor relations teams. The Thomson Reuters Awards for Excellence also include the Extel Survey Awards and the StarMine Analyst Awards. For more information, please contact [email protected] or visit excellence.thomsonreuters.com.

The Lipper Fund Awards, granted annually, are part of the Thomson Reuters Awards for Excellence awarded by Lipper, Inc. and highlight investment funds that have excelled in delivering consistently strong risk-adjusted performance relative to their peers. The Lipper Fund Awards are based on the Lipper Ratings for Consistent Return, which is a risk-adjusted performance measure calculated over 36, 60 and 120 month periods. The highest 20% of investment funds in each category are named Lipper Leaders for Consistent Return and receive a score of 5, the next 20% receive a score of 4, the middle 20% are scored 3, the next 20% are scored 2 and the lowest 20% are scored 1. The highest Lipper Leader for Consistent Return in each category wins the Lipper Fund Award. Lipper Leader ratings change monthly. For more information, see www.lipperweb.com. Although Lipper makes reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data contained herein, the accuracy is not guaranteed by Lipper.

*HXS was awarded the 2014 Lipper Fund Award in the U.S. Equity category for the three-year period ending July 31, 2014, ranking first out of the 8 ETFs eligible for consideration in its category. Performance for HXS for the period ended December 31, 2014 was as follows: 23.80% (1 year), 25.56% (3 years) and 20.36% (since inception, November 30, 2010). The corresponding Lipper Leader ratings of the ETF for the same period are as follows: N/A (1 year), 5 (3 years). Lipper Leader ratings range from 1 to 5, with a ranking of 5 meaning that the fund is in the top 20% of its category. For greater detail please go to www.lipperweb.com.

SOURCE Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc.