Horizons ETFs Wins Lipper Fund Awards

Horizons ETFs receives awards for Best Canadian Fixed Income ETF¹, Best Canadian Short-term Fixed Income ETF¹ and the Best Bond ETF Group²

TORONTO, Nov. 8, 2018 /CNW/ - Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. ("Horizons ETFs") is proud to announce that two of its exchange traded funds ("ETFs") won "best" in their respective ETF categories¹ at the 2018 Thomson Reuters Lipper Fund Awards ("Lipper Fund Awards"). In addition, Horizons ETFs also won a Canada ETF Award in the Best Bond ETF Group category².

The following ETFs won individual awards:

"We're very proud of our Lipper wins for these two ETFs that continue to deliver exceptional performance relative to their peer group over their respective three and five-year periods," said Steve Hawkins, President and Co-CEO of Horizons ETFs. "We've long advocated that an active approach in fixed income investing can offer consistent outperformance in Canadian fixed income so it's very gratifying to see these two actively managed ETFs earn this recognition from Lipper."

The Lipper Fund Awards are calculated based on a comparison with other ETFs in the same Canadian Investment Funds Standards Committee ("CIFSC") category. The 2018 Lipper Fund Awards are given to funds for delivering consistently strong risk-adjusted performance relative to their peers, for various time periods ending July 31, 2018.  

HAD received the 2018 Lipper Fund Award in the Canadian Fixed Income category¹ for the three-year period ending July 31, 2018 – ranking first out of 12 ETFs eligible for consideration.  HAD won the same award for the five-year period ending July 31, 2018, ranking first among 10 ETFs.

"Generating outperformance in Canadian investment-grade bonds can be quite difficult. The Fiera Capital team, led by portfolio manager Christopher Laurie, have done a fantastic job actively managing HAD," said Mr. Hawkins. "A lot of this outperformance comes from the tactical allocation of the portfolio's interest rate exposure, which is a key driver of returns in this space," Mr. Hawkins added.

HFR received the 2018 Lipper Fund Award in the Canadian Short-Term Fixed Income category¹ for the three-year period ending July 31, 2018 – ranking first out of 21 ETFs eligible for consideration.

"HFR continues to be one of our best-selling ETFs and now represents more than $700 million in assets under management," said Mr. Hawkins. "With interest rates continuing to rise, investors are looking for ETF solutions that can preserve capital while increasing yield. HFR's unique interest rate overlay structure has allowed it to raise its yield over the last year, while keeping its duration and market value in check, unlike many other mid and long-duration fixed income strategies. 

Horizons ETFs also won the Lipper Award for Best Bond ETF Asset Group² for the three-year period ending July 31, 2018. This award is based on risk-adjusted performance for the following ETFs: the Horizons Active Cdn Municipal Bond ETF (HMP), Horizons Active Cdn Bond ETF (HAD), Horizons Active Corporate Bond ETF (HAB), Horizons Active Emerging Markets Bond ETF (HEMB), Horizons Active Floating Rate Bond ETF (HFR), Horizons Active Floating Rate Senior Loan ETF (HSL), Horizons Active High Yield Bond ETF (HYI), Horizons Active US Floating Rate Bond (USD) ETF (HUF), Horizons Cdn Select Universe Bond ETF (HBB), Horizons US 7-10 Year Treasury Bond CAD Hedged ETF (HTH) and the Horizons US 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (HTB).

"We're extremely proud of our family of fixed income ETFs and their return track records," said Mr. Hawkins. "These ETFs, which include both active and passive mandates, cover a wide breadth of strategies, so that investors have choices when building an income-focused ETF portfolio that can help them meet their specific fixed-income objectives."

About the Lipper Fund Awards

For more than three decades and in over 20 countries worldwide, the Thomson Reuters Lipper Fund Awards have honoured funds and fund management firms that have excelled in providing consistently strong risk-adjusted performance relative to their peers. Renowned fund data and proprietary methodology is the foundation of the Award qualification. Individual classifications of three-, five-, and ten-year periods, as well as fund families with high average scores for the three-year period are recognized.

For more information about the Lipper Fund Awards, please contact markets.awards@thomsonreuters.com or visit www.lipperfundawards.com.

About Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc.

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 $10.2 billion of assets under management and 85 ETFs listed on major Canadian stock exchanges. Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. is a member of the Mirae Asset Global Investments Group.

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. 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.

¹ Horizons Active Cdn Bond ETF (HAD) was awarded the 2018 Lipper Fund Award in the Canadian Fixed Income category, for the three and five-year periods ending July 31, 2018, out of a total of 12 ETFs and 10 ETFs respectively, and the Horizons Active Floating Rate Bond ETF (HFR) was awarded the 2018 Lipper Fund Award in the Canadian Short-Term Fixed Income category for the three-year period ending July 31, 2018 out of a total of  21 ETFs. The Thomson Reuters Lipper Fund Awards, granted annually, highlight 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 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.lipperfundawards.com.

Although Thomson Reuters Lipper makes reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data contained herein, the accuracy is not guaranteed by Lipper. Performance for the HAD fund for the period ended July 31, 2018, is as follows: 3.64% (1 year), 1.40% (3 year), 3.17% (5 year), and 2.46% (since inception on October 10, 2012). Performance for the HFR fund for the period ended July 31, 2018, is as follows: 1.76% (1 year), 1.88% (3 year), 1.84% (5 year), and 2.28% (since inception on December 10, 2010). The corresponding Lipper Leader total return ratings for HAD for the same periods are as follows: 4 (3 years), 4 (5 years). The corresponding Lipper Leader Ratings for HFR for the same period are as follows: 5 (3 years), 5 (5 years).

² The Lipper Award for Best Bond ETF Group for the three-year period ending July 31, 2018 was based on risk-adjusted performance for the following Horizons ETFs' Funds: Horizons Active Cdn Municipal Bond ETF (HMP), Horizons Active Cdn Bond ETF (HAD), Horizons Active Corporate Bond ETF (HAB), Horizons Active Emerging Markets Bond ETF (HEMB), Horizons Active Floating Rate Bond ETF (HFR), Horizons Active Floating Rate Senior Loan ETF (HSL), Horizons Active High Yield Bond ETF (HYI), Horizons Active US Floating Rate Bond (USD) ETF (HUF), Horizons Cdn Select Universe Bond ETF (HBB), Horizons US 7-10 Year Treasury Bond CAD Hedged ETF (HTH), and Horizons US 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (HTB).The Thomson Reuters Lipper Fund Group Awards, granted annually, highlight the group of funds that have collectively excelled in delivering consistently strong risk-adjusted performance relative to peer groups. The Lipper Fund Awards are based on the Lipper Ratings for Consistent Group Return, which is a risk-adjusted performance measure calculated over a 36 month period. The asset class group award winner is determined based on the lowest average weighted decile rank of the eligible funds per asset class and group. There were six fund groups in this category.

Annualized Performance^*

SOURCE Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc.