Horizons ETFs Launches an Innovative Canadian Equity Index ETF

New ETF offers an inventive way to screen for quality Canadian equities

TORONTO, Nov. 14, 2017 /CNW/ - Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. ("Horizons ETFs") is pleased to announce its partnership with Inovestor Inc. ("Inovestor") on the launch of the Horizons Inovestor Canadian Equity Index ETF ("INOC"). INOC is the first exchange traded fund ("ETF") in Canada to offer low-cost exposure to the Nasdaq Inovestor Canada Index ("the Index").

Units of the ETF will begin trading today on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") under the ticker symbol INOC.

INOC has a Canadian-focused equity mandate of holding high-quality Canadian stocks and seeking to replicate the performance of the Index. The Index was jointly designed by Inovestor and Nasdaq.

The Index is comprised of 25 equal-weighted large-capitalization, Canadian-listed companies, which are high-quality firms that trade at a reasonable price with the best rankings in Inovestor's StockPointer stock selection model.

"As Canadian equities continue to rise, investors are increasingly looking for new ways to search for quality issuers at reasonable prices," said Steve Hawkins, President and Co-CEO of Horizons ETFs. "INOC harnesses the stock selection power of Inovestor's StockPointer, which has been one of Canada's largest stock selection software services for financial advisors during the past two decades."

INOC uses a six-step investment process within the ETF that begins with screening the Canadian universe of stocks based on a metric called Economic Profit – a form of residual wealth that occurs when a company pays back its cost of capital from its operating profit, adjusted for tax. Economic Profit is one way of viewing whether capital invested in a company has generated value for investors.

Once the top-100 securities are selected with the Economic Performance Indicator, sectors are weighted and the top-25 securities are selected using a StockPointer score – a 50/50 combination of performance and risk metrics. The ETF is rebalanced quarterly to ensure diversification among the top-25 securities selected and avoid concentration risk.

Inovestor's StockPointer is regarded as a leading stock selection software among Canadian financial advisors. "Having spent decades perfecting our technique of selecting and ranking equities within our software for advisors and firms, we are excited to be relaying our expertise in investment metrics within an ETF that our clients and the broader public can invest," said Pascal Lefrancois, President and CEO of Inovestor. "Many investors have struggled to determine the true value of various Canadian securities, and we believe our investment process helps choose quality stocks at a reasonable price."

INOC has closed its initial offering of units and will begin trading on the TSX when the market opens this morning.

About Inovestor (www.inovestor.com)

Founded in 1999, Inovestor is a leading provider of professional digital financial platforms and services such as the software platforms StockGuide and StockPointer. Leading Canadian investment advisors, banks, insurance companies and exchanges have been relying on Inovestor's fundamental data and analytics to make optimal investment decisions. Inovestor has offices in Montreal and Toronto in Canada and Greenwich in the U.S.

About Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. (www.HorizonsETFs.com)

Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. is an innovative financial services company and offers one of the largest suites of exchange traded funds in Canada. The Horizons ETFs product suite includes a broadly diversified range of solutions for investors of all experience levels to meet their investment objectives in a variety of market conditions. Horizons ETFs currently has more than $8.9 billion of assets under management and 80 ETFs listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. is a member of the Mirae Asset Global Investments Group.

Horizons ETFs is a member of Mirae Asset Global Investments. Commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with an investment in the Horizons Inovestor Canadian Equity Index ETFmanaged by Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. (the "ETF"). The ETF is not guaranteed, its values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. The prospectus contains important detailed information about the ETF. Please read the prospectus before investing.

SOURCE Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc.