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TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Nov. 11, 2016) - BMO Global Asset Management (BMO GAM) was recognized for investment excellence in multiple categories at the Lipper Fund Awards held this week in Toronto.

The annual Lipper Fund Awards honour top risk-adjusted performing funds relative to peers. In addition, they recognize fund families with high average scores for all funds within a particular asset class or overall.

BMO Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) have once again been recognized this year, this time winning the Group Award for Bond ETFs. In 2009, BMO became the first Canadian bank to introduce ETFs in Canada. Today, BMO GAM offers more than 70 ETF listings, including 21 fixed income ETF listings. BMO GAM has been responsible for several industry firsts and has led the Canadian ETF industry in net-new inflows for five consecutive years.

BMO GAM also claimed top honours for the following funds:

• BMO Emerging Markets Fund (Series A): Best Mutual Fund in the Emerging Markets Equity Space (over 10 years)
• BMO Resource Fund (Series A): Best Mutual Fund in the Natural Resource Equity Space (over five years)
• BMO North American Dividend Fund (Series A): Best Mutual Fund in the North American Equity Space (over five years)
• BMO Low Volatility US Equity ETF (Ticker: ZLU): Best ETF in the US Equity Space (over three years)
• BMO Low Volatility Canadian Equity ETF (Ticker: ZLB): Best ETF in the Canadian Equity Space (over three years)
• BMO Mid Provincial Bond Index ETF (Ticker: ZMP): Best ETF in the Canadian Fixed Income Space (over three years)
• BMO Emerging Markets Bond Hedged to CAD Index ETF (Ticker: ZEF): Best ETF in the High Yield Fixed Income Space (over three years)
• BMO Long Provincial Bond Index ETF (Ticker: ZPL): Best ETF in the Canadian Long Term Fixed Income Space (over three years)
• BMO S&P/TSX Equal Weight Banks Index ETF (Ticker: ZEB): Best ETF in the Financial Services Equity Space (over three years)
• BMO S&P/TSX Equal Weight Oil & Gas Index ETF (Ticker: ZEO): Best ETF in the Energy Equity Space (over three years)

"It's an honour to have multiple ETFs and mutual funds recognized by Lipper" said Kevin Gopaul, Chief Investment Officer and Head, BMO Global Asset Management Canada. "These awards are a testament to our team's commitment to meet the evolving needs of investors and deliver solutions with strong and consistent results."

For more information please visit: www.bmo.com/gam/ca

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About BMO Financial Group

Established in 1817, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified financial services provider based in North America. With total assets of approximately $692 billion as of July 31, 2016, and over 45,000 employees, BMO provides a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets.

BMO ETFs are managed and administered by BMO Asset Management Inc., a portfolio manager and investment fund 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. Exchange traded funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.

BMO Mutual Funds refers to certain mutual funds and/or series of mutual funds offered by BMO Investments Inc., a financial services firm and separate legal entity from Bank of Montreal.

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

BMO Global Asset Management is a brand name that comprises BMO Asset Management Inc., BMO Investments Inc., BMO Asset Management Corp. and BMO's specialized investment management firms.

S&P® is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC ("S&P") and "TSX" is a trademark of TSX Inc. These trademarks have been licensed for use by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and sublicensed to BMO Asset Management Inc. in connection with ZEB and ZEO. ZEB and ZEO are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P Dow Jones LLC, S&P, TSX, or their respective affiliates and S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, S&P, TSX and their affiliates make no representation regarding the advisability of trading or investing in such ETFs.

About The Lipper Fund Awards

The Lipper Fund Awards, granted annually, are part of the Thomson Reuters Awards for Excellence awarded by Lipper, Inc. and highlight funds that have excelled in delivering consistently strong risk-adjusted performance relative to their peers. The Lipper Fund Awards are based on the Lipper Ratings for Consistent Return, which is a risk-adjusted performance measure calculated over 36, 60 and 120 month periods. The highest 20% of funds in each category are named Lipper Leaders for Consistent Return and receive a score of 5, the next 20% receive a score of 4, the middle 20% are scored 3, the next 20% are scored 2 and the lowest 20% are scored 1. The highest Lipper Leader for Consistent Return in each category wins the Lipper Fund Award. Lipper Leader ratings change monthly. For more information, see www.lipperweb.com. Although Lipper makes reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data contained herein, the accuracy is not guaranteed by Lipper.

BMO Emerging Markets Fund (Series A) was awarded the 2016 Lipper Fund Award in the Emerging Markets Equity Fund Category for the ten year period ending July 31, 2016 out of a total of 15 funds. The corresponding Lipper Leader ratings of the fund for the same period are as follows: N/A (1 year), 5 (3 years), 5 (5 years), 4 (10 years).

BMO Resources Fund (Series A) was awarded the 2016 Lipper Fund Award in the Natural Resources Equity Fund category for the five year period ending July 31, 2016 out of a total of 28 funds. The corresponding Lipper Leader ratings of the fund for the same period are as follows: N/A (1 year), 5 (3 years), 5 (5 years), 3 (10 years).

BMO North American Dividend Fund (Series A) was awarded the 2016 Lipper Fund Award in the North American Equity Fund category for the five year period ending July 31, 2016 out of a total of 10 funds. The corresponding Lipper Leader ratings of the fund for the same period are as follows: N/A (1 year), 5 (3 years), 5 (5 years), 1 (10 years).

BMO Low Volatility US Equity ETF (Ticker: ZLU) was awarded the 2016 Lipper Fund Award in the US Equity ETF category for the three year period ending July 31, 2016 out of a total of 25 ETFs. The corresponding Lipper Leader ratings of the fund for the same period are as follows: N/A (1 year), 5 (3 years), N/A (5 years), N/A (10 years).

BMO Low Volatility Canadian ETF (Ticker: ZLB) was awarded the 2016 Lipper Fund Award in the Canadian Equity ETF Category for the three year period ending July 31, 2016 out of a total of 17 ETFs. The corresponding Lipper Leader ratings of the fund for the same period are as follows: N/A (1 year), 5 (3 years), 5 (5 years), N/A (10 years).

BMO Mid Provincial Bond Index ETF (Ticker: ZMP) was awarded the 2016 Lipper Fund Award in the Canadian Fixed Income ETF category for the three year period ending July 31, 2016 out of a total of 16 ETFs. The corresponding Lipper Leader ratings of the fund for the same period are as follows: N/A (1 year), 5 (3 years), N/A (5 years), N/A (10 years).

BMO Emerging Markets Bond Hedged to CAD Index ETF (Ticker: ZEF) was awarded the 2016 Lipper Fund Award in the High Yield Fixed Income ETF category for the three year period ending July 31, 2016 out of a total of 11 ETFs. The corresponding Lipper Leader ratings of the fund for the same period are as follows: N/A (1 year), 3 (3 years), 4 (5 years), N/A (10 years).

BMO Long Provincial Bond Index ETF (Ticker: ZPL) was awarded the 2016 Lipper Fund Award in the Canadian Long Term Fixed Income ETF category for the three year period ending July 31, 2016 out of a total of 6 ETFs. The corresponding Lipper Leader ratings of the fund for the same period are as follows: N/A (1 year), 4 (3 years), N/A (5 years), N/A (10 years).

BMO S&P/TSX Equal Weight Banks Index ETF (Ticker: ZEB) was awarded the 2016 Lipper Fund Award in the Financial Services Equity ETF category for the three year period ending July 31, 2016 out of a total of 6 ETFs. The corresponding Lipper Leader ratings of the fund for the same period are as follows: N/A (1 year), 1 (3 years), 2 (5 years), N/A (10 years).

BMO S&P/TSX Equal Weight Oil & Gas Index ETF (Ticker: ZEO) was awarded the 2016 Lipper Fund Award in the Energy Equity ETF category for the three year period ending July 31, 2016 out of a total of 5 ETFs. The corresponding Lipper Leader ratings of the fund for the same period are as follows: N/A (1 year), 3 (3 years), 3 (5 years), N/A (10 years).