News Releases

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Aug. 29, 2012) - BMO Financial Group today announced that its Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)* business has surpassed $7 billion in assets under management (AUM) and has grown by $1 billion (16 per cent) in the last two months alone.

"Our recent success has been driven by flows into ETFs which combine growth with attractive income," said Kevin Gopaul, Chief Investment Officer and Senior Vice President, BMO Asset Management Inc. (BMO AM). "We are extremely proud to have experienced such incredible growth over the last three years and will continue to build on this success by anticipating the needs of investors and delivering exceptional product offerings."

In June 2009, BMO AM, a member of BMO Financial Group, became the only bank-related entity in Canada to offer ETFs. In just over three short years, BMO AM's extensive ETF line-up has grown to 44 funds, including several industry firsts.

Recently, several funds in particular have been capturing the attention of investors:

• BMO High Yield U.S. Corporate Bond Hedge CAD Index ETF replicates as much as possible the performance of the Barclays Capital U.S. High Yield Very Liquid Index CAD Hedged net of expenses. The U.S. dollar currency exposure is hedged back to Canadian dollars.
   
• BMO Covered Call Dow Jones Industrial Average Hedged to CAD ETF provides exposure to a portfolio of Dow Jones Industrial Average companies while earning call option premiums. The Fund invests in securities of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and dynamically writes covered call options. The underlying portfolio is rebalanced to maintain better representation of the broad market and of American industry. Options are rolled forward upon expiry.
   
• BMO Monthly Income ETF delivers the performance of the underlying basket of higher yielding BMO ETFs. ETFs are selected by having a higher yield than either the equity market represented by the BMO Dow Jones Canada Titans 60 Index ETF or the fixed income market represented by the BMO Aggregate Bond Index ETF. The holdings are weighted by yield, with 50-per-cent investment in each of equity and fixed income and a cap of 20 per cent for each security with a range of six to 10 ETFs. The ETF is rebalanced quarterly and reconstituted semi-annually in June and December.
   

"These three innovative ETFs, along with our full line-up of product offerings, continue to provide Canadian investors with wider choices and greater access to an extensive portfolio of investment products," added Mr. Gopaul.

For more information on BMO ETFs, please visit www.bmo.com/etfs.

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*BMO ETFs are managed and administered by BMO Asset Management Inc., an investment fund manager and portfolio manager and a 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.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average(SM) is a product of Dow Jones Indexes, a licensed trade-mark of CME Group Index Services LLC ("CME"), and has been licensed for use. "Dow Jones®", "Dow Jones Industrial Average(SM)", "Dow Jones Canada Titan 60" and "Titans" are service marks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings, LLC ("Dow Jones") and have been licensed for use for certain purposes. BMO ETFs based on Dow Jones indexes are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Dow Jones, CME or their respective affiliates and none of them make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product(s).

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 $542 billion as at July 31, 2012, and more than 46,000 employees, BMO Financial Group provides a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and solutions.