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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS--(Marketwired - Feb. 10, 2015) - BMO Global Asset Management's mutual fund business has been recognized as one of the top performers in 2014 in the annual Barron's/Lipper Fund Family Ranking, coming in second among U.S. fund providers.

"We're honored to have our U.S. fund family ranked among the top two in the country by industry leaders Barron's and Lipper," said Barry McInerney, Co-CEO, BMO Global Asset Management. "This recognition is, in part, a strong validation of the experience and skill of our U.S. and global investment teams, our relentless focus on executing proven investment processes, and an unwavering commitment to adding value to our clients."

To qualify for the listing, an organization must have at least three funds in Lipper's general U.S.-stock category, as well as one in world equity which combines global and international funds. Additionally, firms need to have at least one mixed-asset (or balanced) fund which holds both stocks and bonds, at least two taxable-bond funds and one tax-exempt offering.

Mr. McInerney noted that BMO Global Asset Management's U.S. funds have enjoyed a very strong 2014. After introducing 21 new funds over the past two years, the lineup stands at 45 funds with assets under management of $14 billion.* The firm has recently introduced a number of innovative offerings including funds that cover alternative investments, frontier markets and multi-income asset classes.

BMO Mutual Funds have a record of consistent top performance:

• According to Lipper, approximately 90 percent of BMO Fund assets are in the first or second quartile over one, three, and five year periods.**
• Of the U.S. BMO Funds rated by Morningstar, 98 percent are rated three stars or higher and 60 percent are four stars or higher.**
• Funds with consistent top-quartile performance over one and three year periods include BMO Large Cap Growth Fund, BMO Large Cap Value Fund, BMO Dividend Income Fund, BMO Intermediate Tax Free Fund, BMO TCH Core Plus Fund, BMO TCH Corporate Income Fund and BMO TCH Intermediate Income Fund.***

"Our strategy has been, and continues to be, driven by performance while delivering service excellence to our diverse and increasingly global client base," said Craig Rawlins, Chief Investment Officer, BMO Global Asset Management. "Our offerings include competitive, innovative and differentiated strategies that our clients and their advisors can use as building blocks to improve their portfolios, as well as a comprehensive range of multi-asset solutions focused on delivering outcomes."

About the BMO Family of Funds

The BMO Funds are a global family of actively managed mutual funds. The firm's funds span the risk/reward spectrum and include: U.S., non-U.S. and global equity funds, U.S. (taxable and tax-free) and emerging markets fixed income funds, money market funds, and a range of multi-asset funds offering outcome-oriented solutions for investors.

The family of funds is managed by a multi-disciplined team based in Chicago and Milwaukee, and by a network of world-class boutique managers, which are strategically located across the globe. This network includes Monegy, Inc., Pyrford International Ltd., LGM Investments and Taplin, Canida & Habacht, LLC.

Established in 1992, BMO Funds are advised by BMO Asset Management Corp. Along with its subsidiary boutiques and affiliates, the advisor oversees more than $50 billion in assets under management. BMO Asset Management Corp is a part of BMO Financial Group, a fully diversified financial services organization with $589 billion CND total assets and more than 46,000 employees as of October 31, 2014.

*As of October 31st, 2014

**As of December 31st, 2014

***Lipper

Disclosures

All investments involve risk, including the possible loss of principal.

BMO Global Asset Management is the brand name for various affiliated entities of BMO Financial Group that provide investment management, retirement, and trust and custody services. Certain of the products and services offered under the brand name BMO Global Asset Management are designed specifically for various categories of investors in a number of different countries and regions and may not be available to all investors. Products and services are only offered to such investors in those countries and regions in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. BMO Financial Group is a service mark of Bank of
Montreal (BMO).

BMO Asset Management U.S. consists of BMO Asset Management Corp.

BMO Asset Management Corp. is the investment adviser to the BMO Funds. BMO Investment Distributors, LLC is the distributor. Member FINRA/SPIC. BMO Funds are not marketed or sold outside the United States.

Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the BMO Funds. This and other important information is contained in the prospectuses and/or summary prospectuses, which can be obtained by calling 1-800-580-3863. Please read carefully before investing. The investment risks of each Target Date Fund changes over time as its asset allocation changes. They are subject to the volatility of the financial markets, including equity and fixed income investments in the U.S. and abroad and may be subject to risks associated with investing in high yield, small cap, commodity-linked, and foreign securities.

To qualify for the Barron's/Lipper fund survey, a group must have at least three funds in Lipper's general U.S.-stock category, as well as one in world equity, which combines global and international funds. We also require at least one mixed-asset (or balanced) fund, which holds stocks and bonds. Fund shops also must have at least two taxable-bond funds and one tax-exempt offering. Each fund's return is measured against those of all funds in its Lipper category (such as small value). That leads to a percentile ranking, with 100 the highest and 1 the lowest, which is then weighted by asset size relative to the fund family's other assets in its general classification-world equity, for instance. If a family's biggest funds do well, that boosts its overall ranking. Poor performance in a big fund can have a big effect on the ranking. Finally, the score is multiplied by the weighting of its general classification, as determined by the entire Lipper universe of funds. The category weightings for the one-year results: general equity, 34.9%; world equity, 16.3%; mixed-asset, 17.3%; taxable bonds, 27.2%; and tax-exempt bonds, 4.3%. The category weightings for the five-year results: general equity, 36.36%; world equity, 15.73%; mixed-asset, 16.9%; taxable bonds, 26.37% and tax-exempt bonds, 4.64%. The category weightings for the 10-year results: general equity, 39.05%; world equity, 14.72%; mixed-asset, 14.76%; taxable bonds, 26.21%; and tax-exempt bonds, 5.27%. The scoring: Say a company has a fund in the general U.S. equity category that has $50 million in assets and that it accounts for half of the company's assets in that category. Its ranking is the 75th percentile. The first calculation would be 75 times 0.50, which comes to 37.5. That score is then multiplied by 38.04, general equity's overall weighting in Lipper's universe. So it would be 37.5 times 0.3804, which totals 14.265. Similar calculations are done for each fund in our study. Then, all the numbers are added up for a total score. The fund shop with the highest score wins, both for every category and overall. The same process is repeated for the five- and 10-year rankings based on their weightings.

Barron's "The Best Mutual Fund Families," published February 9, 2015. Barron's is a registered trade mark of Dow Jones & Company. All rights reserved.

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