Horizons Seasonal Rotation ETF Turns Six Years Old

TORONTO, Dec. 7, 2015 /CNW/ - Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. and AlphaPro Management Inc. (collectively "Horizons ETFs") are proud to announce that the Horizons Seasonal Rotation ETF ("HAC") is celebrating its sixth year anniversary.

Launched in late November 2009, HAC uses an innovative seasonal rotation strategy that seeks to deliver absolute returns in all market conditions by investing in seasonally favourable asset classes and sectors throughout the course of the year, primarily through the purchase of North American-listed ETFs.

HAC's underlying portfolio follows the detailed seasonal investing research of Brooke Thackray, Research Analyst with Horizons ETFs and author of Thackray's Investor's Guide — updated annually to highlight the upcoming seasonal investment themes and potential trades for the next 12 months.  

"Brooke has shown investors that seasonal patterns in investing have been historically significant, and when followed with the right technical indicators, make for effective long-term, risk-adjusted returns," said Steve Hawkins, Co-CEO of Horizons ETFs. "HAC has the longest track record of all our actively managed ETFs and we're proud of the industry recognition it has received this past year."

In early November, HAC received the 2015 Lipper Award in the Alternative Strategies category for the three-year period ending July 31, 2015, ranking first out of the six ETFs eligible for consideration.

"HAC has garnered impressive industry recognition this year in an environment that has been difficult for both North American equity investors and alternative investors due to the volatility in the markets," said Mr. Hawkins. "Looking at HAC's results year-to-date, it effectively managed the market's volatility at the end of the third quarter and delivered an impressive absolute return of 10.64%."

	1 Mo	3 Mo	6 Mo	YTD	1 Yr	3 Yr	5 Yr	SIR*	Std. Deviation	Correlation
Horizons Seasonal Rotation ETF	1.93%	3.17%	2.82%	10.64%	10.93%	9.94%	8.89%	8.94%	8.90%	1.000
S&P 500^® Index	0.30%	6.07%	-0.21%	3.01%	2.75%	16.09%	14.39%	13.59%	15.76%	-0.0176
S&P/TSX 60™ Index	-0.15%	-2.10%	-8.07%	-4.81%	-5.43%	7.26%	4.34%	5.28%	13.48%	0.0082
HAC Annual Benchmark	0.42%	1.25%	2.5%	4.58%	5%	5%	5%	5%	N/A	N/A

Source: Bloomberg, as at November 30, 2015.
*Since inception returns are from November 19, 2009, the inception date of HAC.
The indicated rates of return are the historical annual compounded total returns including changes in per unit value and reinvestment of all dividends and distributions and do not take into account sales, redemption, distribution or optional charges or income taxes payable by any unitholder that would have reduced returns. The rates of return are not intended to reflect future values of the ETF or returns on investment in the ETF.

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

Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. and its affiliate AlphaPro Management Inc. are innovative financial services companies, which combined make up one of the largest families of exchange traded funds in Canada. The Horizons ETFs' product suite 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 currently has more than $5.1 billion of assets under management and has 70 ETFs listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. and AlphaPro Management Inc. are members of the Mirae Asset Global Investments Group.  

Horizons ETFs is a member of Mirae Asset Global Investments. Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with an investment in the Horizons Seasonal Rotation ETF, managed by AlphaPro Management Inc. (the "ETF"). The ETF is not guaranteed, its values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. The ETF may have exposure to leveraged investment techniques that magnify gains and losses and which may result in greater volatility in value and could be subject to aggressive investment risk and price volatility risk. Such risks are described in the ETF's prospectus. The prospectus contains important detailed information about the ETF. Please read the prospectus before investing.

Horizons Seasonal Rotation ETF (HAC) was awarded the 2015 Lipper Fund Award in the Alternative Strategies category for the three year period ending July 31, 2015 out of a total of 6 ETFs. The Lipper Fund Awards, granted annually, are part of the Thomson Reuters Awards for Excellence awarded by Lipper, Inc. and 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.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. Performance for the HAC fund for the period ended July 31, 2015, is as follows: 12.76 % (1 year), 9.89 % (3 years), 8.68 % (5 years) and 9.11 % (since inception on November 19, 2009). The corresponding Lipper Leader ratings of the fund for the same period are as follows: 4 (3 years), 5 (5 years).

SOURCE Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc.

Mark Noble, Vice-President, Communications and PR, Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc., [phone], [email protected]