Horizons ETFs Wins Two Fundata FundGrade® A+ Awards. 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 2015.
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”).
“For the second year in a row, Horizons ETFs is very honoured to have won FundGrade A+® Awards for HXS and HAB,” said Steve Hawkins, Co-CEO and Chief Investment Officer for Horizons ETFs.
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 $51 billion in fixed income assets (as at September 30, 2015). This is the third year running that HAB has received a FundGrade A+® Award. HAB also received a 5-star Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Rating as of September 30, 2013, which it has maintained through December 31, 2015.
“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,” said Mr. Hawkins. “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 better total returns, versus index strategies that invest in the Canadian corporate bond market.”
In addition to winning a FundGrade A+® Award for the second year in a row, HXS was recently awarded the 2015 Lipper Fund Award in the U.S. Equity category (for the three-year period ended July 31, 2015).* 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 structure can reduce tracking error and also minimize taxable distributions. Since its inception in 2010, HXS has not paid any taxable distributions.
“Since HXS won the FundGrade A+ Award last year, there are now 16 competitors offering single-long exposure to the S&P 500®, but it’s the combination of HXS’ low management fees, reduced potential for tracking error and greater tax efficiency, that have led to its strong category performance and industry accolades,” said Mr. Hawkins.
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.
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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 2015 Lipper Fund Award in the U.S. Equity category for the three-year period ending July 31, 2015, ranking first out of the 16 ETFs eligible for consideration in its category. Performance for the HXS fund for the period ended July 31, 2015 is as follows: 32.82 % (1 year), 27.50 % (3 years) and 47.49 % (since inception on November 30, 2010). The corresponding Lipper Leader ratings of the fund for the same period are as follows: 4 (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.
