Brompton Announces the Launch of Three New Actively Managed ETFs

TORONTO, Oct. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (TSX:BPRF, BDIV, BFIN) Brompton Funds Limited (the "Manager"), is pleased to announce that three new actively-managed ETFs (together, the "ETFs") will commence trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange today. The ETFs will seek to hedge substantially all of their direct foreign currency exposure back to the Canadian dollar.  A final prospectus dated October 5, 2018 has been filed with the securities regulatory authorities in each province and territory in Canada.

Brompton Flaherty & Crumrine Investment Grade Preferred ETF (TSX: BPRF) ("BPRF") invests in an actively-managed portfolio consisting primarily of preferred and income-producing corporate securities, including traditional preferred stock, trust preferred securities, hybrid securities that have characteristics of both equity and debt securities, contingent-capital securities, subordinated debt, and senior debt of North American issuers or of Canadian or U.S. dollar-denominated securities of global issuers. BPRF will primarily invest in securities that are rated Investment Grade, with at least 75% of BPRF's portfolio comprised of investment grade securities at the time of any new investment. BPRF's targeted distribution rate is 5% per annum, to be paid monthly.

Flaherty & Crumrine Incorporated ("Flaherty & Crumrine") will act as the sub-advisor to BPRF.  Flaherty & Crumrine was established in 1983, and specializes in US-dollar-denominated preferred securities and corporate debt instruments. The firm uses 30 years of proprietary data on over 1500 preferred securities to carry out intensive credit analysis, thorough vetting of securities' terms and structures, and active portfolio management, with the goal of exploiting pricing inefficiencies in the preferred securities market to provide attractive rates of return on its funds. As of September 30, 2018, Flaherty & Crumrine's AUM was approximately US$4.2 billion, primarily in preferred securities.

Brompton Global Dividend Growth ETF (TSX: BDIV) ("BDIV") invests in an actively-managed portfolio consisting of securities of at least 20 global dividend growth companies with a market capitalization of at least $10 billion, that have a history (or in the Manager's view a future likelihood) of dividend growth. BDIV's portfolio will be selected by the Manager with consideration given to applicable factors including, but not limited to, dividend growth potential, valuation, profitability, current dividend yield, balance sheet strength, and/or trading liquidity of the equity securities and options. The Manager will consider such factors as macroeconomic conditions, political conditions and sector fundamentals when determining the geographic and sector allocation of BDIV's portfolio, in addition to consideration of diversification across regions, countries, sectors and industries. In order to increase distributable cash and to reduce portfolio volatility, the Manager may write covered calls on up to 33% of BDIV's portfolio. BDIV's targeted distribution rate is 6% per annum, to be paid monthly.

Brompton North American Financials Dividend ETF (TSX:BFIN) ("BFIN") invests in an actively-managed portfolio consisting of securities of at least 15 North American financial services companies with a market capitalization of at least $5 billion. BFIN's portfolio will be selected by the Manager with consideration given to applicable factors including but not limited to dividend growth potential, valuation, profitability, current dividend yield, balance sheet strength, and/or trading liquidity of the equity securities and options. The Manager will consider various factors, including but not limited to, macroeconomic conditions, political conditions, the regulatory environment and sector fundamentals when determining the geographic and sector allocation of BFIN's portfolio. The Manager will allocate to subsectors and geographies based on the Manager's view of the relative attractiveness of the investment opportunities available therein. Up to 20% of BFIN's portfolio may be invested in other financial services companies, or in financial services-related companies, or in global financial services companies. BFIN's targeted distribution rate is 5% per annum, to be paid monthly.

About Brompton Funds
Brompton Funds, a division of Brompton Group which was founded in 2000, is an experienced investment fund manager with over $2 billion in assets under management. Brompton's investment solutions include TSX traded funds, mutual funds and flow-through limited partnerships.  For further information, please contact your investment advisor, call Brompton's investor relations line at 416-642-6000 (toll-free at 1-866-642-6001), email us at [email protected] or visit our website at www.bromptongroup.com.

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

 Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information may relate to matters disclosed in this press release and to other matters identified in public filings relating to the ETFs, to the future outlook of the ETFs and anticipated events or results and may include statements regarding the future financial performance of the ETFs.  In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by terms such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "estimate", "predict", "potential", "continue" or other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts.  Actual results may vary from such forward-looking information. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and we assume no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.