BMO Asset Management Inc. Announces Index Change for ZTL, Changes to Risk Ratings for Certain BMO ETF Listings and Clarification of Investment Objectives and Strategies for Certain BMO ETFs

TORONTO, Jan. 13, 2020 /CNW/ - BMO Asset Management Inc. today announced a pending change to the underlying index for BMO Long-Term US Treasury Bond Index ETF ("ZTL"), changes to the risk rating for 15 BMO ETF listings, and a clarification of the investment objectives and investment strategies for certain BMO ETFs.

Index Change

Effective on or about January 15, 2020, ZTL will begin tracking the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Index and will no longer track the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Long Treasury Bond Index.

There is no change in the index provider for ZTL and the change to the index aligns with the current investment objectives and strategies of the BMO ETF.  ZTL will seek to provide investors with substantially the same exposure to the asset class to which they are currently exposed and the frequency of rebalancing for the BMO ETF remains the same.

The proposed change to the index is reflected in the prospectus of the BMO ETFs dated January 10, 2020.

Risk Rating Changes

Effective immediately, the risk ratings for the following BMO ETFs have changed.

These changes are the result of an annual review conducted using the investment risk classification methodology set forth in National Instrument 81-102 – Investment Funds.

The risk rating changes are as follows:

Ticker	ETF Name	Current Rating	New Rating
ZBK	BMO Equal Weight US Banks Index ETF	High	Medium to High
ZTM	BMO Mid-Term US Treasury Bond Index ETF	Medium	Low to Medium
ZHP	BMO US Preferred Share Hedged to CAD Index ETF	Medium	Low to Medium
ZUP	BMO US Preferred Share Index ETF	Medium	Low to Medium
ZUP.U	BMO US Preferred Share Index ETF	Medium	Low to Medium
ZWK	BMO Covered Call US Banks ETF	High	Medium to High
ZWU	BMO Covered Call Utilities ETF	Medium	Low to Medium
ZFH	BMO Floating Rate High Yield ETF	Low to Medium	Low
ZLB	BMO Low Volatility Canadian Equity ETF	Medium	Low to Medium
ZLI	BMO Low Volatility International Equity ETF	Medium	Low to Medium
ZLD	BMO Low Volatility International Equity Hedged to CAD ETF	Medium	Low to Medium
ZLU	BMO Low Volatility US Equity ETF	Medium	Low to Medium
ZLU.U	BMO Low Volatility US Equity ETF	Medium	Low to Medium
ZLH	BMO Low Volatility US Equity Hedged to CAD ETF	Medium	Low to Medium
ZDY	BMO US  Dividend ETF	Medium	Low to Medium

Clarification of Investment Objectives and Investment Strategies

A clarification of the investment objectives and strategies for certain BMO ETFs has been made in the most recently filed prospectus for the BMO ETFs. The name of the index that the following BMO ETFs track was inadvertently included in the prospectus disclosure of the BMO ETF's investment objective and has been removed.  The name of the index remains in the investment strategy of each of the BMO ETFs. 

This change impacted the following ETFs:

• BMO Aggregate Bond Index ETF
• BMO China Equity Index ETF
• BMO Corporate Bond Index ETF
• BMO Discount Bond Index ETF
• BMO Emerging Markets Bond Hedged to CAD Index ETF
• BMO Equal Weight Banks Index ETF
• BMO Equal Weight Global Base Metals Hedged to CAD Index ETF
• BMO Equal Weight Global Gold Index ETF
• BMO Equal Weight Industrials Index ETF
• BMO Equal Weight Oil & Gas Index ETF
• BMO Equal Weight REITs Index ETF
• BMO Equal Weight US Banks Hedged to CAD Index ETF
• BMO Equal Weight US Banks Index ETF
• BMO Equal Weight US Health Care Hedged to CAD Index ETF
• BMO Equal Weight US Health Care Index ETF
• BMO Equal Weight Utilities Index ETF
• BMO Global Communications Index ETF
• BMO Global Consumer Discretionary Hedged to CAD Index ETF
• BMO Global Consumer Staples Hedged to CAD Index ETF
• BMO Global Infrastructure Index ETF
• BMO Government Bond Index ETF
• BMO High Yield US Corporate Bond Hedged to CAD Index ETF
• BMO High Yield US Corporate Bond Index ETF
• BMO India Equity Index ETF
• BMO Junior Gas Index ETF
• BMO Junior Gold Index ETF
• BMO Junior Oil Index ETF
• BMO Laddered Preferred Share Index ETF
• BMO Long Corporate Bond Index ETF
• BMO Long Federal Bond Index ETF
• BMO Long Provincial Bond Index ETF
• BMO Long-Term US Treasury Bond Index ETF
• BMO Mid Corporate Bond Index ETF
• BMO Mid Federal Bond Index ETF
• BMO Mid Provincial Bond Index ETF
• BMO Mid-Term US IG Corporate Bond Hedged to CAD Index ETF
• BMO Mid-Term US IG Corporate Bond Index ETF
• BMO Mid-Term US Treasury Bond Index ETF
• BMO Real Return Bond Index ETF
• BMO Short Corporate Bond Index ETF
• BMO Short Federal Bond Index ETF
• BMO Short Provincial Bond Index ETF
• BMO Short-Term Bond Index ETF
• BMO Short-Term US IG Corporate Bond Hedged to CAD Index ETF
• BMO Short-Term US Treasury Bond Index ETF

The changes to the prospectus disclosure do not impact how each of the BMO ETFs is being managed.

Commissions, management fees and expenses (if any) all may be associated with investments in exchange traded funds. Please read the ETF Facts or prospectus before investing. Exchange traded funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.

For a summary of the risks of an investment in the BMO ETFs, please see the specific risks set out in the prospectus.  BMO ETFs and ETF series trade like stocks, fluctuate in market value and may trade at a discount to their net asset value, which may increase the risk of loss. Distributions are not guaranteed and are subject to change and/or elimination.

BMO ETFs are managed by BMO Asset Management Inc., which is an investment fund manager and a portfolio manager, and a separate legal entity from Bank of Montreal.

BLOOMBERG® is a trademark and service mark of Bloomberg Finance L.P. and its affiliates (collectively "Bloomberg"). BARCLAYS® is a trademark and service mark of Barclays Bank Plc (collectively with its affiliates, "Barclays"), used under license. Bloomberg or Bloomberg's licensors, including Barclays, own all proprietary rights in the Bloomberg Barclays Indices, including the Index. Neither Bloomberg nor Barclays is affiliated with the Manager, and neither approves, endorses, reviews or recommends the fund(s) mentioned herein. Neither Bloomberg nor Barclays guarantees the timeliness, accurateness or completeness of any data or information relating to the Index and neither shall be liable in any way to the Manager, investors in fund(s) mentioned or other third parties in respect of the use or accuracy of the Index or any data included therein 

Further information about BMO ETFs can be found at www.bmo.com/etfs.

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About BMO Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
Established in May 2009, BMO Financial Group's ETF business is a leading ETF provider in Canada. BMO ETFs provide Canadian investors with broader choices and greater access to an innovative portfolio of investment products.

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 $852 billion as of October 31, 2019, 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

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