One Year Anniversary of the WCM/BNY Mellon Focused Growth ADR ETF (AADR)

BETHESDA, Md., Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- AdvisorShares Investments, LLC, an investment adviser to actively managed exchange traded funds (ETFs), recently celebrated the one year anniversary of  the industry's first actively managed international ETF, the WCM/BNY Mellon Focused Growth ADR ETF (NYSE: AADR). AADR is sub-advised by institutional money manager WCM Investment Management (WCM), who has a 6 year track record of beating international benchmarks for their Institutional clients. BNY Mellon, the world's largest depositary for American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) provides expertise to the portfolio management team as well as to all other market intermediaries.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110909/PH64986LOGO )

As of 8/31/2011 and since inception (7/20/2010), AADR has outperformed all broadly comparable Foreign Large Cap Indexes with a Beta of 0.73, Alpha of 9.14 and correlation of 0.69 relative to the MSCI EAFE Index and a Beta of 0.81, Alpha of 8.96 and correlation of 0.92 relative to the BNY Mellon Classic ADR Index. (Source: AdvisorShares) Additionally, AADR had a substantially less maximum and periodic drawdown further defining its risk adjusted performance attributes as a better risk adjusted option for investors.  As of 8/31/2011, AADR has returned 16.99% vs. 10.38% and vs. 8.53% for the MSCI EAFE Index and the BNY Mellon Classic ADR Index, respectively, the Fund's referenced benchmarks.

Standardized Performance for AADR (as of June 30, 2011)

Performance data quoted represents past performance and is no guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than original cost. Returns less than one year are not annualized. For the Fund's most recent month end performance, please visit www.advisorshares.com. The Gross Expense Ratio is 1.27% and the Net Expense Ratio is 1.25%.  The Advisor has contractually agreed to reduce its fees and/or reimburse expense in order to keep net expenses from exceeding 1.25% of the Fund's average daily net assets until October 31, 2012.

Investors and Financial Advisors have been closely watching the growth of actively managed ETFs.  The ability to potentially out-perform passive indexes, while still providing transparency and tax efficiency are the attributes that have driven the growth of active ETFs.  Active ETFs provide investors with the ability to buy and hold a strategy with a professional money manager, or they are able to trade ETFs as an "alpha basket" in their overall asset allocation strategy.

"We are very pleased with how AADR has managed risk over the past year and has outperformed its benchmark to date," said Noah Hamman, CEO and Founder of AdvisorShares. "WCM has continued to follow their very thoughtful fundamental investment strategy that they have used with success within their other investment vehicles, in managing AADR. AADR is doing what many said could not be done- an actively managed, fully transparent ETF that publicly publishes its holdings nightly is beating its published index. We believe AADR is a smart solution for an investors' large cap international exposure."

WCM President and Co-CEO Paul R. Black said, "A year after bringing AADR to market with AdvisorShares, we continue to take long term perspective in a market that is very reactive in the short term. Through AADR, our strategy is more available to all investors. We are proud of our 6 year institutional track record, and excited that any investor can have access to this strategy through AADR."

In implementing AADR's investing strategy, WCM uses domestically-traded equity ADRs which provide accessibility, convenience and cost efficiencies when accessing foreign markets. "The ADR market saw first half records broken in both capital raisings and ADR trading volumes," said Julio Lugo, BNY Mellon's Global Head of ADR Structured Products. "I am not surprised by the success of AADR both on its performance and on the fundamental ETF structure."

To request more information on AdvisorShares, please contact Noah Hamman at 202-657-6383 or [email protected].

About AdvisorShares

AdvisorShares is one of the leading providers of actively managed ETFs.  As of 09/1/2011 AdvisorShares offers 10 active ETFs with over $370,000,000 of assets under management.  AdvisorShares is pleased to offer actively managed ETFs, including the

Alternative Strategies

Core Tactical Strategies

Dent Tactical ETF (NYSE: DENT)

Cambria Global Tactical ETF (NYSE: GTAA)

Meidell Tactical Advantage ETF (NYSE: MATH)

Core Long/Short Strategies

Mars Hill Global Relative Value ETF (NYSE: GRV)

Core Short Strategies

Active Bear ETF (NYSE: HDGE)

Core Domestic Strategies

Madrona Domestic ETF (NYSE: FWDD)

Core International Strategies

WCM/BNY Mellon Focused Growth ADR ETF (NYSE: AADR)

Madrona International ETF (NYSE: FWDI)

Income Strategies

Peritus High Yield ETF (NYSE: HYLD)

Madrona Global Bond ETF (NYSE: FWDB)

AdvisorShares provides educational support to help investors understand ETFs, and the underlying investment strategy for each of the AdvisorShares ETFs.  AdvisorShares continues to seek qualified sub-advisor investment partners to offer compelling investment strategies in an active ETF structure. Visit our website at www.advisorshares.com to learn more about us. Follow the AdvisorShares Team on Twitter or 'Like' us on Facebook.

About WCM Investment Management

WCM Investment Management is committed to helping clients achieve their financial goals by utilizing a variety of disciplined techniques for security selection and portfolio construction. Since 1976 our team of investment professionals has met client objectives with innovative and thoughtful investment management.

As of 06/30/2011, WCM Investment Management has approximately $1.1 billion in assets under management. Visit their website at www.wcminvest.com.  

About BNY Mellon Depositary Receipts

BNY Mellon acts as depositary for more than 2,100 American and global depositary receipt programs, acting in partnership with leading companies from 83 countries. With an unrivaled commitment to helping securities issuers succeed in the world's rapidly evolving financial markets, the company delivers the industry's most comprehensive suite of integrated depositary receipt, corporate trust and stock transfer services. Learn more at www.bnymellon.com/dr.

Before investing you should carefully consider the Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other information is in the prospectus, a copy of which may be obtained by visiting the Fund's website at http://www.AdvisorShares.com. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest. Foreside Fund Services, LLC, distributor.

An investment in the Fund is subject to risk, including the possible loss of principal amount invested. Other Fund risks include concentration risk, foreign securities and currency risk, emerging markets risk, large-cap risk, early closing risk, counterparty risk and trading risk, which can increase Fund expenses and may decrease Fund performance. The Fund is, also, subject to the same risks associated with the underlying ETFs, which can result in higher volatility. This Fund may not be suitable for all investors.

Alpha is a measure of performance on a risk-adjusted basis. Beta is a measure of the volatility of a security or a portfolio in comparison to the market as a whole. Correlation shows how closely related a fund is to an index, or another fund. If there is perfect positive linear relationship between the two, the correlation will be 1.0. ADR (American Depository Receipt) is a negotiable certificate issued by a U.S. bank representing a specified number of shares (or one share) in a foreign stock that is traded on a U.S. exchange.

Shares are bought and sold at market price (closing price) not NAV and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Market price returns are based on the midpoint of the bid/ask spread at 4:00 pm Eastern Time (when NAV is normally determined), and do not represent the return you would receive if you traded at other times.

The BNY Mellon Classic ADR Index combines the over the counter (OTC) traded ADRs with exchange-listed ADRs bringing transparency to the available universe of American Depositary Receipts, including those issued by many of the world's premier companies. The Index is capitalization-weighted and adjusted for free-float utilizing Dow Jones' current methodology. The MSCI EAFE Index is an unmanaged free float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of developed markets, excluding the US & Canada.  One cannot invest directly in an index.

Contact: Noah Hamman
AdvisorShares
202-657-6383 
[email protected]

SOURCE AdvisorShares Investments, LLC