TORONTO, February 3rd, 2011 – BMO Financial Group, a leader in Canada's Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) market today announced a significant expansion to its line-up with the launch of ten new funds, bringing its product line-up to a total of 40. The expansion reflects BMO Asset Management Inc's* (BMO AM) proactive commitment to this growing industry and to meeting investors' needs by providing a broad range of investment options.
The new BMO ETFs-complement the current line-up and include a number of Canadian market firsts:
- Target maturity ETFs allow investors to plan for future expenditures through diversified fixed income portfolios with defined maturity dates.
- BMO AM is the first Canadian ETF provider to give investors the ability to allocate among four commodity sectors (energy, agriculture, precious metals and base metals) with its commodity ETFs, each indexed to the applicable S&P GSCI commodities index.
- BMO AM is also the first Canadian ETF provider to offer a covered call strategy, based on writing call options on a portfolio of Canadian banks.
“The new additions to our ETF line-up were developed to meet investor demands for increased yield options as well as greater access to commodities. Our target maturity ETFs are suitable investments for investors who have a set time frame for when they will require liquidity,” said Rajiv Silgardo, CEO, BMO Asset Management Inc. “We continue to provide a diverse offering that ensures investors have a wide range of investment options available to them.”
The following new BMO ETFs begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange today:
Income Focused:
� BMO Monthly Income ETF (ZMI)
� BMO 2013 Corporate Bond Target Maturity ETF (ZXA)
� BMO 2015 Corporate Bond Target Maturity ETF (ZXB)
� BMO 2020 Corporate Bond Target Maturity ETF (ZXC)
� BMO 2025 Corporate Bond Target Maturity ETF (ZXD)
� BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF (ZWB)
Commodity Funds:
� BMO Energy Commodities Index ETF (ZCE)
� BMO Agriculture Commodities Index ETF (ZCA)
� BMO Precious Metals Commodities Index ETF (ZCP)
� BMO Base Metals Commodities Index ETF (ZCB)
“In just over 18 months, our ETF business has grown dramatically. We've launched 40 funds and these funds currently have more than $1.5 billion in assets under management. The ten new ETFs we're launching today build on our success and allow us to offer the most extensive suite of yield products and provide a very comprehensive collection of commodity sector funds,” concluded Mr. Silgardo.
*BMO ETFs are administered and managed by BMO Asset Management Inc., a portfolio manager and separate legal entity from Bank of Montreal.
Commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with investments in exchange traded funds. Please read the prospectus before investing. The funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.
About BMO Financial Group
Established in 1817 as Bank of Montreal, BMO Financial Group is a highly-diversified North American financial services organization. With total assets of $409 billion as at October 31, 2010, and more than 38,000 employees, BMO Financial Group provides a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and solutions.
S&P GSCI� is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC (“S&P”) and has been licensed for use by BMO Asset Management Inc. BMO Energy Commodities Index ETF, BMO Agriculture Commodities Index ETF, BMO Precious Metals Commodities Index ETF and BMO Base Metals Commodities Index ETF (BMO ETFs) are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P, and S&P makes no representation, warranty or condition regarding the advisability of buying, selling or holding units in the BMO ETFs.
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For More Information:
Martha McInnis, Toronto, martha.mcinnis@bmo.com , 416-867-4914
Sarah Bensadoun, Montreal, sarah.bensadoun@bmo.com, 514-877-1101
Laurie Grant, Vancouver, laurie.grant@bmo.com, 604-665-7596