Horizons ETFs and Fiduciaria Bogotá S.A. launch an ETF that tracks S&P Colombia Select Index

BOGOTÁ, May 29, 2014 /CNW/ - Horizons ETFs Management (LATAM) LLC ("Horizons LatAm"), a member of the Horizons ETFs Group, is pleased to announce the launch of its second Latin American exchange traded fund ("ETF"), the Fondo Bursátil Horizons Colombia Select de S&P (the "Horizons Colombia Select ETF"), which provides investors with exposure to the S&P Colombia Select Index (the "Index"). The Horizons Colombia Select ETF begins trading today on the Bolsa de Valores de Colombia ("BVC") under the ticker symbol HCOLSEL.

The Horizons Colombia Select ETF will seek to replicate the returns of the Index. S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC ("S&P") designed the Index to provide exposure to the largest and most liquid domestic stock issuers in Colombia. S&P's selection universe for the Index is based on all the securities in the S&P Colombia BMI that trade on the BVC.

The Horizons Colombia Select ETF was developed in association with Fiduciaria Bogotá S.A. "Fidubogotá"), one of Colombia's largest mutual fund providers. Fidubogotá will act as the management company to the Horizons Colombia Select ETF and Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. ("Horizons ETFs"), an affiliate of Horizons LatAm, will act as portfolio manager.

"With a single investment, investors can now have efficient access to the Colombian equity markets," said Federico Torres, Head of Latin American Sales for Horizons LatAm.

"In our view S&P has developed a superior index strategy for Colombia which reduces the issuer and sector concentration risks that exist in current Colombian stock market benchmarks. Since no single stock will have more than a 15 per cent weight in the Index and no sector will have more than a 40 per cent weight, investors in the Horizons Colombia Select ETF can be confident they will be gaining exposure to a more diversified Colombian solution than what currently exists," added Torres.

"The Horizons Colombia Select ETF is our second ETF launch in Latin America, and gives investors low cost exposure to a more diversified index than other benchmarks in the marketplace," said Howard Atkinson, Managing Director of Horizons LatAm and the Global Head of Sales and Marketing for Mirae Asset Global Investments' ETF business. "One of our strategic objectives is to take the best practices we've learned from our global ETF business and leverage them in local markets. We have a strong business relationship globally with S&P and are pleased to be able to offer their top-tier index strategies to Latin American investors."

"We're very pleased to be expanding our ETF solutions for accessing the Colombian equity market in a more diversified and low-cost manner. Mirae Asset has a globally renowned reputation for identifying and serving markets with the greatest potential and we believe that the Horizons Colombia Select ETF is a promising way of achieving that goal," said Mr. Taeyong Lee, President of the Global Business Unit and Global Head of ETFs at Mirae Asset Global Investments, the parent company of the Horizons ETFs.

The Horizons Select Colombia ETF is the first ETF launched in the Colombian market and administered by Fidubogotá, the local pioneer of end-to-end custody and administration solutions for funds.

"We are very proud to bring this product to market in conjunction with Horizons ETFs. For us, it is essential that fiduciaries, especially Fiduciaria Bogotá, offer products that have been developed according to international standards," said Cesar Prado, President of Fidubogotá. "We think the combination of our strong local presence combined with an adherence to global best practices puts us in a unique position to offer value to a capital markets sector that has been historically dominated by foreign competitors."

Prado also added, "The market for ETFs is growing globally in a very important way, and Colombia will not be the exception. We believe that the Horizons Colombia Select ETF is an excellent opportunity for both local and foreign investors to share in the growth our country is experiencing."

About Horizons ETFs Group (www.HorizonsETFs.com)

Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. and Horizons ETFs Management (LATAM) LLC are members of the Horizons ETFs Group. The Horizons ETFs Group consists of innovative financial services companies offering regional families of ETFs in Canada, Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, the United States and Colombia. Currently, all of the ETFs offered by these companies use the Horizons ETFs' brand with the exception of the 'BetaShares' family of ETFs in Australia and the 'Mirae Asset Tiger ETFs' family in Korea. With approximately $8.6 billion in assets under management and 141 ETF listings worldwide (as at April 30, 2014), the Horizons ETFs Group makes up one of the largest collective families of ETFs in the world. All of the Horizons ETFs Group companies and affiliates are subsidiaries of Mirae Asset Global Investments Co., Ltd.

About Mirae Asset Global Investments (www.MiraeAsset.com)

Mirae Asset Global Investments is one of the world's largest investment managers in emerging market equities (Investments & Pensions Europe, January 2014). With approximately 570 employees, including 124 dedicated investment professionals, Mirae Asset offers a breadth of emerging markets expertise. Mirae Asset's offices are located in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Taiwan, the U.K., the United States and Vietnam. Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, the firm manages $58.7 billion in assets globally (as at December 31, 2013) through a diversified platform to offer market-leading franchises in traditional equity and fixed income products, ETFs and alternative strategies, such as real estate, private equity and hedge funds.

About Fiduciaria Bogotá S.A. (www.fidubogota.com)

Fiduciaria Bogotá S.A. (Fidubogotá) is a subsidiary of Banco De Bogota and is a member of Grupo AVAL. It was established in September 1991 and is a leader in fiduciary products and services. Fidubogotá provides strong local market knowledge, excellent good will and a range of fiduciary capabilities that few other Colombian trust companies can provide. Fidubogotá delivers integrated solutions to its clients with one of the most experienced and well known fiduciary services team, offering one of the widest range of local products available.

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Horizons ETFs and Horizons LatAm are members of Mirae Asset Global Investments.

THE OBLIGATIONS OF FIDUBOGOTA ASSOCIATED WITH THE MANAGING OF THE PORTFOLIO ARE ONES OF DUE DILIGENCE AND NOT OF GUARANTEED PERFORMANCE, RESPONSIBLE FOR ORDINARY NEGLIGENCE IN THE PERFORMANCE OF ITS MANAGEMENT AS A PRUDENT AND DILIGENT EXPERT. INVESTMENT IN THE FUND IS SUBJECT TO INVESTMENT RISKS ARISING FROM THE EVOLUTION OF THE PRICES OF THE SECURITIES THAT MAKE UP THE FUND. REGISTRATION IN THE NATIONAL REGISTRY OF SECURITIES AND ISSUERS ("RNVE" AFTER ITS INITIALS IN SPANISH) DOES NOT IMPLY CERTIFICATION REGARDING THE PROFITABILITY OF THE SECURITY OR SOLVENCY OF THE ISSUER BY THE COLUMBIAN FINANCIAL SUPERINTENDENCY.

THE LIABILITY OF HORIZONS ETFS IN RESPECT OF THE MANAGEMENT OF THE PORTFOLIO OF FONDO BURSÁTIL HORIZONS COLOMBIA SELECT DE S&P IS OF DUE DILIGENCE AND NOT OF GUARANTEED PERFORMANCE, RESPONSIBLE ONLY FOR ORDINARY NEGLIGENCE IN THE PERFORMANCE OF ITS MANAGEMENT AS A PRUDENT AND DILIGENT EXPERT.

THE INVESTMENT MADE BY THE INVESTORS INVOLVES THE RISK OF PARTIAL OR TOTAL LOSS. FIDUBOGOTA SHALL ABSTAIN FROM IN ANY WAY GUARANTEEING A FIXED RETURN ON THE PARTICIPATIONS CONSTITUTED, OR FROM GUARANTEEING THE PERFORMANCE OF VALUATIONS OF THE ASSETS MAKING UP THE FUND.

The S&P Colombia Select Index (the "Index") is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC ("SPDJI"), and has been licensed for use by Horizons ETFs.  Standard & Poor's® and S&P® are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC ("S&P"); Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC ("Dow Jones"); The Trademarks are trademarks of the S&P and Dow Jones; and these trademarks have been licensed for use by SPDJI and sublicensed for certain purposes by Horizons. The Fondo Bursátil Horizons Colombia Select de S&P (the "Fund") is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by SPDJI, Dow Jones, S&P, any of their respective affiliates (collectively, "S&P Dow Jones Indices").  S&P Dow Jones Indices makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of the Fund or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in the Fund particularly or the ability of the Index to track general market performance.  S&P Dow Jones Indices' only relationship to Horizons ETFs with respect to the Index is the licensing of the Index and certain trademarks, service marks and/or trade names of S&P Dow Jones Indices and/or its licensors.  The Index is determined, composed and calculated by S&P Dow Jones Indices without regard to Horizons ETFs or the Fund.  S&P Dow Jones Indices have no obligation to take the needs of Horizons Etfs or the owners of the Fund into consideration in determining, composing or calculating the Index.  S&P Dow Jones Indices are not responsible for and have not participated in the determination of the prices, and amount of the Fund or the timing of the issuance or sale of the Fund or in the determination or calculation of the equation by which the Fund is to be converted into cash, surrendered or redeemed, as the case may be.  S&P Dow Jones Indices have no obligation or liability in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of the Fund. There is no assurance that investment products based on the Index will accurately track index performance or provide positive investment returns.  S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC is not an investment advisor.  Inclusion of a security within an index is not a recommendation by S&P Dow Jones Indices to buy, sell, or hold such security, nor is it considered to be investment advice.  

S&P DOW JONES INDICES DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ADEQUACY, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS AND/OR THE COMPLETENESS OF THE INDEX OR ANY DATA RELATED THERETO OR ANY COMMUNICATION, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ORAL OR WRITTEN COMMUNICATION (INCLUDING ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS) WITH RESPECT THERETO.  S&P DOW JONES INDICES SHALL NOT BE SUBJECT TO ANY DAMAGES OR LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR DELAYS THEREIN.  S&P DOW JONES INDICES MAKE NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE OR AS TO RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED BY HORIZONS, OWNERS OF THE FUND, OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY FROM THE USE OF THE INDEX OR WITH RESPECT TO ANY DATA RELATED THERETO.  WITHOUT LIMITING ANY OF THE FOREGOING, IN NO EVENT WHATSOEVER SHALL S&P DOW JONES INDICES BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF PROFITS, TRADING LOSSES, LOST TIME OR GOODWILL, EVEN IF THEY HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBLITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE.  THERE ARE NO THIRD PARTY BENEFICIARIES OF ANY AGREEMENTS OR ARRANGEMENTS BETWEEN S&P DOW JONES INDICES AND HORIZONS, OTHER THAN THE LICENSORS OF S&P DOW JONES INDICES."

SOURCE: Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc.

For further information: Mónica Diaz, Communications, Horizons LatAm, 2WAYcomm, [e-mail], + (57) 311 226 28 78; Howard Atkinson, President, Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc., [phone], [e-mail]