TORONTO – August 23, 2023 – Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. (“Horizons ETFs” or the “Manager”) held special meetings (each a “Meeting” and collectively, the “Meetings”) of unitholders of Horizons Conservative TRI ETF Portfolio (“HCON”), Horizons Balanced TRI ETF Portfolio (“HBAL”) and Horizons Growth TRI ETF Portfolio (“HGRO”, and together with HCON and HBAL, the “ETFs”), on August 23, 2023.
During these Meetings, unitholders approved all matters relating to proposed changes to the investment objectives (including changes to the currency hedging strategy of each ETF), in connection therewith, changes to the fee structure and distribution policy of each ETF (together, the “Changes”) that were previously announced in an information circular that was made available to unitholders.
The approval of the Changes follows the proposal made by the Manager and published in an information circular sent to all unitholders, dated July 14, 2023, as well as announced by a press release dated July 18, 2023. Both the information circular and press release are available at www.sedarplus.com and www.HorizonsETFs.com.
The Changes follow an extensive review by the Manager of the ETFs and are expected to be effective at the opening of trading on August 25, 2023.
The changes to each ETFs’ investment objective are substantially as follows:
| ETF | Prior Investment Objective | New Investment Objective |
| HCON | The investment objective of the ETF is to seek moderate long-term capital growth using a conservative portfolio of exchange traded funds. | The ETF seeks to provide a combination of income and moderate long-term capital growth, primarily by investing in exchange traded funds that provide exposure to a globally diversified portfolio of fixed income and equity securities. |
| HBAL | The investment objective of the ETF is to seek long-term capital growth using a balanced portfolio of exchange traded funds. | The ETF seeks to provide a combination of long-term capital growth and a moderate level of income, primarily by investing in exchange traded funds that provide exposure to a globally diversified portfolio of equity and fixed income securities. |
| HGRO | The investment objective of the ETF is to seek long-term capital growth using a portfolio of primarily equity-focussed exchange traded funds. | The ETF seeks to provide long-term capital growth, primarily by investing in exchange traded funds that provide exposure to a globally diversified portfolio of equity securities. |
The changes to each ETFs’ currency hedging strategy are substantially as follows:
| ETF | Prior Currency Hedging Disclosure | New Currency Hedging Disclosure |
| HCON | HCON will use currency forwards to hedge its non-Canadian dollar currency exposure to the Canadian dollar at all times. | The ETF, at its sole discretion, may elect to hedge the foreign currency exposure of its fixed income investments back to the Canadian dollar through the use of currency forwards or investments in hedged fixed income exchange traded funds. The ETF will not hedge the foreign currency exposure of any asset class other than fixed income. |
| HBAL | HBAL will use currency forwards to hedge its non-Canadian dollar currency exposure to the Canadian dollar at all times. | The ETF, at its sole discretion, may elect to hedge the foreign currency exposure of its fixed income investments back to the Canadian dollar through the use of currency forwards or investments in hedged fixed income exchange traded funds. The ETF will not hedge the foreign currency exposure of any asset class other than fixed income. |
| HGRO | HGRO will use currency forwards to hedge its non-Canadian dollar currency exposure to the Canadian dollar at all times. | The ETF will not hedge its exposure to foreign currencies back to the Canadian dollar. |
The changes to each ETF’s fee structure are substantially as follows:
| ETF | Prior Management Fee Disclosure | New Management Fee Disclosure |
| HCON | The management fees directly payable to the Manager by each ETF are nil.
However, the total return index exchange traded funds managed by the Manager (“TRI ETFs”) and held by the ETFs will pay management fees and will incur trading expenses. The Manager pays all of the operating and administrative expenses incurred by the ETFs. Based on the historical management expense ratios of the portfolios of TRI ETFs held by the ETFs, the total management expense ratios of HCON, HBAL and HGRO, for the 2022 calendar year, are expected to be approximately 0.14%, 0.15% and 0.16%, respectively, and will not exceed 0.15%, 0.16% and 0.17%, respectively, as at any rebalance. Based on historical trading expense ratios of the TRI ETFs held by the ETFs, the aggregate underlying trading expense ratios of the portfolios of TRI ETFs held by HCON, HBAL and HGRO, for the 2022 calendar year, are expected to be approximately 0.10%, 0.09% and 0.08%, respectively, and are not expected to exceed 0.11%, 0.10% and 0.10%, respectively. As trading expense ratios include expenses outside of the control of the Manager, the trading expense ratios of the portfolios of TRI ETFs held by HCON, HBAL and HGRO are subject to change. |
Each ETF pays annual management fees (the “Management Fees”) to the Manager equal to 0.18% of the net asset value of the Units of that ETF, plus applicable Sales Tax. The Management Fees are calculated and accrued daily and payable monthly in arrears.
The Manager pays all of the operating and administrative expenses incurred by the ETFs. The total management expense ratios of HCON, HBAL, and HGRO are expected to be approximately 0.20%. The trading expense ratio of each ETF is expected to be 0.02%. As trading expense ratios include expenses outside of the control of the Manager, the trading expense ratios of the portfolios held by an ETF are subject to change.
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| HBAL | Same as above | Same as above |
| HGRO | Same as above | Same as above |
The Manager is changing the names of each ETF to the names set forth in the following table, which are expected to be effective at the opening of trading on August 25, 2023.
| ETF | Prior ETF Name | New ETF Name |
| HCON | Horizons Conservative TRI ETF Portfolio | Horizons Conservative Asset Allocation ETF |
| HBAL | Horizons Balanced TRI ETF Portfolio | Horizons Balanced Asset Allocation ETF |
| HGRO | Horizons Growth TRI ETF Portfolio | Horizons All-Equity Asset Allocation ETF |
Additionally, the Manager is changing the ticker symbol of HGRO as follows:
| ETF | Prior Ticker Symbol | New Ticker Symbol |
| Horizons Growth TRI ETF Portfolio | HGRO | HEQT |
The change to the ticker symbol of HGRO is expected to be effective at the opening of trading on August 25, 2023. The ticker symbols for each of HCON and HBAL will remain the same.
Further details regarding the changes can be found at www.sedarplus.com and www.HorizonsETFs.com.
About Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. (www.HorizonsETFs.com)
Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. is an innovative financial services company with one of the largest suites of exchange traded funds in Canada. The Horizons ETFs product family 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 $27 billion of assets under management and 110 ETFs listed on major Canadian stock exchanges. Horizons ETFs is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mirae Asset Financial Group, which manages approximately $710 billion of assets across 13 countries around the world.
Investor inquiries:
Contact Horizons ETFs at 1-866-641-5739 (toll-free) or (416) 933-5745
info@horizonsetfs.com
Media inquiries:
Contact Jonathan McGuire
Assistant Vice President, ETF Strategy
Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc.
(416) 640-2956
Commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with an investment in exchange traded products managed by Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. (the “Horizons Exchange Traded Products”). The Horizons Exchange Traded Products are not guaranteed, their value changes frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Certain Horizons Exchange Traded Products may have exposure to leveraged investment techniques that magnify gains and losses and which may result in greater volatility in value and could be subject to aggressive investment risk and price volatility risk. Such risks are described in the prospectus. The prospectus contains important detailed information about the Horizons Exchange Traded Products. Please read the relevant prospectus before investing.
Horizons Total Return Index ETFs (“Horizons TRI ETFs”) are generally index-tracking ETFs that use an innovative investment structure known as a Total Return Swap to deliver index returns in a low-cost and tax-efficient manner. Unlike a physical replication ETF that typically purchases the securities found in the relevant index in the same proportions as the index, most Horizons TRI ETFs use a synthetic structure that never buys the securities of an index directly. Instead, the ETF receives the total return of the index through entering into a Total Return Swap agreement with one or more counterparties, typically large financial institutions, which will provide the ETF with the total return of the index in exchange for the interest earned on the cash held by the ETF. Any distributions which are paid by the index constituents are reflected automatically in the net asset value (NAV) of the ETF. As a result, the Horizons TRI ETF receives the total return of the index (before fees), which is reflected in the ETF’s share price, and investors are not expected to receive any taxable distributions. Certain Horizons TRI ETFs (Horizons Nasdaq-100 ® Index ETF and Horizons US Large Cap Index ETF) use physical replication instead of a total return swap. The Horizons Cash Maximizer ETF and Horizons USD Cash Maximizer ETF use cash accounts and do not track an index but rather receive interest paid on cash deposits that can change over time.
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