BMO Investments Inc. Announces Proposed Fund Mergers

TORONTO, Jan. 25, 2019 /CNW/ - BMO Investments Inc. ("BMOII"), the manager of the BMO Mutual Funds, today announced a proposal to merge certain BMO Mutual Funds to streamline its product suite.

Subject to obtaining all necessary unitholder and regulatory approvals, BMOII proposes that each mutual fund (individually a "Terminating Fund" and collectively, the "Terminating Funds") be merged into the corresponding mutual fund (individually a "Continuing Fund" and collectively, the "Continuing Funds") as set out in the chart below. If approved, the mergers will be effective on or about April 5, 2019 (the "Effective Date").

Terminating Fund	Continuing Fund
BMO Laddered Corporate Bond Fund	BMO Core Bond Fund
BMO Fixed Income Yield Plus ETF Portfolio	BMO Fixed Income ETF Portfolio
BMO Balanced Yield Plus ETF Portfolio	BMO Balanced ETF Portfolio

Approval from unitholders of the Terminating Funds will be sought at special meetings to be held on or about April 4, 2019 to consider the mergers.

In advance of the meetings, a notice-and-access document will be sent on March 4, 2019 to unitholders of record as at February 22, 2019. The notice-and-access document will describe the various ways in which unitholders can obtain a copy of a management information circular that contains full details of the proposed mergers. The notice-and-access document and management information circular will also be available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

The merger of each Terminating Fund into the applicable Continuing Fund will be effected on a tax-deferred basis for unitholders. If the proposed mergers are approved, unitholders of each series of each Terminating Fund will receive units of the equivalent series of the corresponding Continuing Fund, determined on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Each Terminating Fund will be wound up as soon as reasonably possible following its merger. The Independent Review Committee of the Terminating Funds and the Continuing Funds has reviewed the potential conflict of interest matters related to the proposed mergers and has provided BMOII with a positive recommendation for the mergers after determining that each merger, if implemented, would achieve a fair and reasonable result for the Terminating Funds and their corresponding Continuing Funds.

Purchases of, and switches into, units of each Terminating Fund will be suspended at the close of business on the third business day prior to the Effective Date, except for purchases made pursuant to pre-established Continuous Savings Plans which will be suspended as of the close of business on the fifth business day immediately preceding the Effective Date.

For more information about BMO Mutual Funds, please visit www.bmo.com/mutualfunds.

^®/™Registered trade-marks/trade-mark of Bank of Montreal, used under licence.

BMO Global Asset Management is a brand name that comprises BMO Asset Management Inc., BMO Investments Inc., BMO Asset Management Corp., BMO Asset Management Limited and BMO's specialized investment management firms.

BMO Mutual Funds are managed by BMO Investments Inc., which is an investment fund manager and a separate legal entity from Bank of Montreal.

Commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with investments in mutual funds. Trailing commissions may be associated with investments in certain series of securities of mutual funds.  Please read the fund facts or prospectus of the relevant mutual fund before investing.  Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.

About BMO Financial Group
Serving customers for 200 years and counting, BMO is a highly diversified financial services provider - the 8th largest bank, by assets, in North America. With total assets of $774 billion as of October 31, 2018, and a team of diverse and highly engaged employees, BMO provides a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, BMO Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets.

SOURCE BMO Financial Group

For further information: Media Contacts: Amanda Robinson, Toronto, [email protected], [phone]; Valérie Doucet, Montreal, [email protected], [phone]