Horizons ETFs Receives Five Fundata FundGrade A+® Awards

TORONTO, Jan. 25, 2019 /CNW/ - Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. ("Horizons ETFs") is proud to announce that five of its exchange traded funds ("ETFs") have been awarded Fundata FundGrade A+^® Awards ("Fundata Awards") for 2018:

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Created by Fundata Canada Inc., the FundGrade rating system uses risk-adjusted performance figures to rank and grade Canadian investment funds, which includes ETFs. 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"). 

"This is the highest number of ETFs we have ever had recognized in a single year with FundGrade A+ awards and follows the four awards won by Horizons in the prior year," said Steve Hawkins, President and CEO of Horizons ETFs. "It's also gratifying to see that we have been acknowledged in both our actively managed and benchmark (index-tracking) ETF families. This demonstrates why it's important for Canadian ETF investors to consider both active and passive strategies when building a winning ETF portfolio."

Two of Horizons ETFs' award-winning funds are sub-advised by some of Canada's leading investment managers. HAD is actively managed by Fiera Capital Corporation and HAL is actively managed by Guardian Capital LP.

"Fiera Capital and Guardian Capital are our two largest sub-advisor partnerships. Fiera Capital is the largest sub-advisor of our suite of actively managed fixed income ETFs, while our Guardian Capital sub-advised ETFs focus on dividend equity mandates," said Mr. Hawkins. "These awards are a testament to the consistently strong returns that can be achieved using an active manager in an asset class where there is a heavy emphasis on income."

HXT was recognized with a Fundata A+ award in the Canadian equity category. HXT is Horizons ETFs' largest fund by assets under management, and it's also the lowest-cost¹ ETF in Canada, with an effective management fee of only 0.03%. As part of Horizons ETFs' family of Total Return Index ETFs, HXT provides tax-efficient exposure to the S&P/TSX 60^™ Index when held in non-registered accounts.

"HXT currently has more than $1.8 billion in assets under management for a good reason," said Mr. Hawkins. "Since 2010, HXT has provided investors with tax-efficient exposure to Canada's biggest companies, at the lowest-cost¹of any ETF available in Canada. That's the Horizons ETFs' advantage!"

HOG and HII are also past award recipients. A benchmark strategy, HOG seeks to replicate, to the extent possible, the performance of the Solactive Canadian Midstream Oil & Gas Index, net of expenses. It provides investors with exposure to the equity securities of Canadian oil and gas companies operating in the midstream sector. HII is also a benchmark strategy, which seeks to replicate, to the extent possible, the performance of the INK Canadian Insider Index, net of expenses. The INK Canadian Insider Index is designed to provide exposure to the performance of 50 TSX-listed growth and value stocks with significant insider buying and ownership. 

"The Canadian equity market was a difficult market to be invested in in 2018, and riskier segments of that market – small/mid cap equities and energy – fared even more poorly," said. Mr. Hawkins. "HOG and HII are innovative index strategies that have demonstrated an ability to protect capital in difficult market conditions relative to their peer group."

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

Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. is an innovative financial services company and offers one of the largest suites of exchange traded funds in Canada. The Horizons ETFs product family includes a broadly diversified range of solutions for investors of all experience levels to meet their investment objectives in a variety of market conditions. Horizons ETFs has more than $10.1 billion of assets under management and 87 ETFs listed on major Canadian stock exchanges. Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. is a member of the Mirae Asset Global Investments Group.

About Fundata Canada Inc.

Fundata Canada Inc. has been providing data aggregation and dissemination services to the Canadian media and financial marketplace since 1987. Fundata is a major provider in the distribution of fund and stock information in Canada. Our database contains data on over 31,000 investment products. Fundata provides customized data feeds, top-shelf analytics, cutting-edge software tools, and seamless hosted web solutions for fund companies, back office systems, investment planners, banks, trust companies, resellers and redistributors, and online, print and broadcast media channels.

About the Fundata FundGrade A+^® Rating

The FundGrade A+^® Rating identifies funds that have been consistent FundGrade A-Grade performers over the past calendar year. It's the only objective rating system available in the market that's based solely on risk-adjusted performance history and that takes into account the consistency with which a fund is ranked at the top of its CIFSC class.

Horizons ETFs is a Member of Mirae Asset Global Investments. Commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with an investment in exchange traded products managed by 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. The prospectus contains important detailed information about the Horizons Exchange Traded Products. Please read the relevant prospectus before investing.

¹Compared to other Canadian physically replicated ETFs in the "Canadian Equity" Morningstar category. HXT has the lowest management fee among a total of 45 ETFs when accounting for its rebate, as at October 23, 2018.

²Horizons Total Return Index ETFs ("Horizons TRI ETFs") are index-tracking ETFs that use an innovative investment structure known as a Total Return Swap to deliver index returns in a low-cost and tax-efficient manner. Unlike a physical replication ETF that typically purchases the securities found in the relevant index in the same proportions as the index, a Horizons TRI ETF uses a synthetic structure that never buys the securities of an index directly. Instead, the Horizons TRI ETF provides the investor with the total return of the index through entering a Total Return Swap agreement with one or more counterparties, typically large financial institutions, which will provide the ETF with the total return of the index in exchange for the interest earned on the cash held by the ETF. Any distributions which are paid by the Index constituents are reflected automatically in the net asset value (NAV) of the ETF. As a result, the investor only receives the total return of the index, which is reflected in the ETF's unit price, and is not expected to receive any taxable distributions directly. This means that an investor is only expected to be taxed on any capital gain that is realized if, and when, holdings are sold."Standard & Poor's^®" and "S&P®" are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC ("S&P") and "TSX^®" is a registered trademark of the TSX Inc. ("TSX"). These marks have been licensed for use by Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. The ETF is not sponsored, endorsed, sold, or promoted by the S&P, TSX or their affiliated companies and none of these parties make any representation, warranty or condition regarding the advisability of buying, selling or holding units/shares of the ETF.

The financial instrument is not sponsored, promoted, sold or supported in any other manner by Solactive AG nor does Solactive AG offer any express or implicit guarantee or assurance either with regard to the results of using the Index and/or Index trade name or the Index Price at any time or in any other respect. The Index is calculated and published by Solactive AG. Solactive AG uses its best efforts to ensure that the Index is calculated correctly. Irrespective of its obligations towards the Issuer, Solactive AG has no obligation to point out errors in the Index to third parties including but not limited to investors and/or financial intermediaries of the financial instrument. Neither publication of the Index by Solactive AG nor the licensing of the Index or Index trade name for the purpose of use in connection with the financial instrument constitutes a recommendation by Solactive AG to invest capital in said financial instrument nor does it in any way represent an assurance or opinion of Solactive AG with regard to any investment in this financial instrument.

FundGrade A+^® is used with permission from Fundata Canada Inc., all rights reserved. The annual FundGrade A+^® Awards are presented by Fundata Canada Inc. to recognize the "best of the best" among Canadian investment funds. The FundGrade A+^® calculation is supplemental to the monthly FundGrade ratings and is calculated at the end of each calendar year. The FundGrade rating system evaluates funds based on their risk-adjusted performance, measured by Sharpe Ratio, Sortino Ratio, and Information Ratio. The score for each ratio is calculated individually, covering all time periods from 2 to 10 years. The scores are then weighted equally in calculating a monthly FundGrade. A fund's FundGrade is subject to change from month-to-month. The top 10% of funds earn an A Grade; the next 20% of funds earn a B Grade; the next 40% of funds earn a C Grade; the next 20% of funds receive a D Grade; and the lowest 10% of funds receive an E Grade. To be eligible, a fund must have received a FundGrade rating every month in the previous year. The FundGrade A+^® uses a GPA-style calculation, where each monthly FundGrade from "A" to "E" receives a score from 4 to 0, respectively. A fund's average score for the year determines its GPA. Any fund with a GPA of 3.5 or greater is awarded a FundGrade A+^® Award. For more information, see www.FundGradeAwards.com. Although Fundata makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data contained herein, the accuracy is not guaranteed by Fundata.

Performance for HAD for the period ending December 31, 2018 is as follows: 2.48% (1 year), 2.14% (3 years), 3.49% (5 years) and 2.55% (since inception on October 10, 2012). HAD was awarded its FundGrade A+ Award for consistently demonstrating the best risk-adjusted returns throughout the calendar year, ending December 31, 2018. In its award category – Canadian Fixed Income – HAD was in competition with 315 other investment funds.

Performance for HAL for the period ending December 31, 2018 is as follows: -5.66% (1 year), 6.78% (3 years), 4.94% (5 years) and 7.53% (since inception on February 9, 2010). HAL was awarded its FundGrade A+ Award for consistently demonstrating the best risk-adjusted returns throughout the calendar year, ending December 31, 2018. In its award category – Canadian Dividend & Income Equity – HAL was in competition with 370 other investment funds.

Performance for HII for the period ending December 31, 2018 is as follows: -17.92% (1 year), 3.39% (3 years), and 2.77% (since inception on January 20, 2015). HII was awarded its FundGrade A+ Award for consistently demonstrating the best risk-adjusted returns throughout the calendar year, ending December 31, 2018. In its award category – Canadian Small/Mid Cap Equity – HII was in competition with 151 other investment funds.

Performance for HOG for the period ending December 31, 2018 is as follows: -12.07% (1 year), 6.14% (3 years) and -1.87% (since inception on July 14, 2014). HOG was awarded its FundGrade A+ Award for consistently demonstrating the best risk-adjusted returns throughout the calendar year, ending December 31, 2018. In its award category – Energy Equity – HOG was in competition with 42 other investment funds.

Performance for HXT for the period ending December 31, 2018 is as follows: -7.61% (1 year), 7.15% (3 years), 4.94% (5 years) and 5.39% (since inception on September 14, 2010). HXT was awarded its FundGrade A+ Award for consistently demonstrating the best risk-adjusted returns throughout the calendar year, ending December 31, 2018. In its award category – Canadian Equity – HXT was in competition with 401 other investment funds.

SOURCE Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc.