Meritas SRI Funds Emerge on Top in Corporate Knights Rankings

VANCOUVER, Feb. 24, 2012 /CNW/ - Meritas SRI Funds ("Meritas") achieved outstanding results in the annual socially responsible investments ("SRI") rankings conducted by Corporate Knights for their 2012 Responsible Investing Guide, with the Meritas International Equity Fund receiving the highest score overall. In the Equity Fund category, all four Meritas equity funds were also awarded with four Shields; the highest number of Shields awarded to a fund by Corporate Knights this year.

Of the 32 socially responsible equity funds ranked this year, Meritas International Equity Fund was the top fund of the year with Meritas' other three equity funds (Meritas Jantzi Social Index^® Fund, Meritas US Equity Fund and Meritas Monthly Dividend and Income Fund) also placing in the top 9 funds.

The ranking are based on a blend of social scores and financial performance recognizing that investors who choose SRI often do so with an interest in the financial, social and environmental performance of their investments.

"These rankings reflect our commitment to provide investors with sound financial investments that align with their social and environmental concerns," stated Gary Hawton, President of OceanRock Investments Inc. "In 2011, on the social side of the ledger, Meritas engaged 36 management teams, voted 150 proxies and filed 8 shareholder proposals on behalf of our investors. The issues covered included climate risk disclosure, oil sand reclamation, and child labour, to name a few. The recognition from Corporate Knights indicates that we are taking the right steps to achieving our goal of being an SRI leader."

Meritas' stable of sub-advisers includes well-known investment managers such as Jarislowsky Fraser Limited, Legg Mason Canada Inc. and Thornburg Investment Management.  These sub-advisers utlilize high quality research into environmental, social and governance aspects of the companies in which they choose to invest, which in turn helps to ensure that their portfolios reflect the best possible investments from a financial, social, governance and environmental perspective.

About Corporate Knights Magazine

Corporate Knights Magazine, the magazine for clean capitalism, is published 4 times per year by Corporate Knights Inc. Founded in 2002, Corporate Knights' flagship magazine, with both an American and a Canadian version, is published as a quarterly insert in the Globe and Mail and Washington Post. As the world's only large circulation (200K+) magazine focused on the intersection of business and society, Corporate Knights is the most prominent brand in the clean capitalism media space. Each year they release rankings for SRI funds in their Corporate Knights Responsible Investing Guide.

About OceanRock Investments Inc.

Meritas, a division of OceanRock Investments Inc. ("OceanRock"), has been dedicated to building SRI solutions for individual and institutional investors for over 10 years. OceanRock is a unique provider of traditional and SRI solutions, and is a subsidiary of the Qtrade Financial Group.

About the Qtrade Financial Group

The Qtrade Financial Group provides comprehensive brokerage and wealth management platforms, services and solutions to the retail public as well as the customers of hundreds of financial institutions across Canada. Since 1999, Qtrade has been dedicated to providing its financial institution partners with a single source for market-leading wealth management products and services including: online, full-service and institutional brokerage services, mutual fund dealer services, insurance dealer services, portfolio management and discretionary money management services and proprietary managed money solutions.  For more information, visit www.qtrade.ca.

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.

Qtrade Financial Group
Pamela Patton
Vice President, Marketing & Communications
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