Horizons Gold Yield Fund completes conversion into ETF

TORONTO, Feb. 27, 2012 /CNW/ - Horizons Exchange Traded Funds Inc. ("Horizons ETFs") and its affiliate AlphaPro Management Inc. ("AlphaPro") are pleased to announce the conversion of the Horizons Gold Yield Fund (the "Fund") into an open-end exchange traded fund. The Fund has been renamed the Horizons Gold Yield ETF (the "ETF") and the Class E units of the ETF (the "Class E Units") will begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on February 28, 2012, under the symbol HGY.

Concurrent with, but unrelated to, the conversion, the ETF will begin issuing Advisor Class units (the "Advisor Class Units") which will also begin trading on the TSX on February 28, 2012, under the symbol HGY.A.

The ETF's investment objectives are to provide holders of Class E Units and Advisor Class Units with: (i) exposure to the price of gold bullion hedged to the Canadian dollar, less the ETF's fees and expenses; (ii) tax-efficient monthly distributions; and (iii) in order to mitigate downside risk and generate income, exposure to a covered call option writing strategy.

The Fund, originally a closed-end investment fund, has issued approximately 6.27 million Class A units (the "Class A Units") and Class F units (the "Class F Units") for gross proceeds of approximately $62.5 million since its inception in December, 2010.

After the close of business today, the Class A Units and Class F Units of the Fund converted into a total of 6,261,986 Class E Units based on the following ratios:

Class	Fund Unit Outstanding	Ratio	Number of E-Class Units Issued
Class A Units	5,762,421	1:1	5,762,421
Class F Units	479,160	1.042586:1	499,565

"We are pleased that our popular Horizons Gold Yield Fund will now be available to investors as an ETF," said Howard Atkinson, CEO of Horizons ETFs. "Gold has been a very lucrative asset class to be invested in, but physical gold ETFs traditionally do not have income distributions. The Horizons Gold Yield ETF offers investors a way to gain exposure to gold but also to a unique option-writing strategy to provide tax-efficient monthly distributions."

AlphaPro is the manager and trustee of the ETF and its affiliate, Horizons Investment Management Inc., the investment manager of the ETF, is responsible for implementing the investment strategies of the ETF.

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with investments in the ETF. The ETF is not guaranteed, its value will change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Please read the prospectus before investing.

A copy of the ETF's final prospectus is available at www.sedar.com or on the Horizons Exchange Traded Funds website at www.horizonsetfs.com.

The ETF has closed the initial offering of its Class E Units and Advisor Class Units and will begin trading tomorrow on the TSX when the market opens.

About Horizons Exchange Traded Funds Inc. (www.horizonsetfs.com)

Horizons ETFs is an innovative financial services company offering the Horizons ETFs family of ETFs. The Horizons ETFs family includes a broadly diversified range of investment tools with solutions for investors of all experience levels to meet their investment objectives in a variety of market conditions. With more than $3.3 billion in assets under management and 78 ETFs listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the Horizons ETFs family makes up the largest selection of ETFs in Canada. Horizons ETFs is a subsidiary of Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. and a member of the Mirae Asset Financial Group.

 

 

Martin Fabregas, Investor Relations, [phone].