BOSTON, Nov. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- FFCM LLC ("FFCM")
and O'Shares Investments, Inc. ("O'Shares") announce the closing of
the two ETFs listed below (the "Funds").
Fund
|
Ticker
|
O'Shares FTSE Europe
Quality Dividend Hedged ETF
|
OEUH
|
O'Shares FTSE Asia
Pacific Quality Dividend Hedged ETF
|
OAPH
|
"Investors have shown great demand for several of the O'Shares
ETFs, including O'Shares FTSE U.S. Quality Dividend ETF (ticker
OUSA) for U.S. large caps and O'Shares FTSE Russell US Small Cap
Quality Dividend ETF (ticker OUSM) for U.S. small caps.
However, we have had limited demand for our currency hedged ETFs
investing in Europe and
Asia. Due to the small size and
limited demand for these products, the decision has been made to
close the Funds, so we can direct resources to developing new
O'Shares ETFs to meet investors' demand for different strategies,"
stated Connor O'Brien, CEO of
O'Shares.
The Funds will cease trading on the NYSE Arca, Inc. ("NYSE
Arca") and will be closed to purchase by investors as of the close
of regular trading on the NYSE on November
30, 2017 (the "Closing Date"). The Funds will not
accept creation unit orders from authorized participants after the
Closing Date, and trading on the NYSE Arca for the shares of the
Funds will be suspended prior to the open of business on
December 1, 2017. Shareholders
may sell their holdings on or before the Closing Date and customary
brokerage charges may apply to such transactions.
After the Closing Date until December 8,
2017 (the "Liquidation Date"), the Funds will undertake the
process of closing down and liquidating their respective
portfolios. This process will result in the Funds increasing
their cash holdings and not tracking their underlying
indexes.
On or about December 12, 2017,
shareholders who do not sell their holdings on or before the
Closing Date will receive cash equal to the amount of the net asset
value of their shares as of the Liquidation Date, which will
include the costs of liquidating the relevant portfolio and closing
the Fund. These distributions may be taxable and will include
any accrued capital gains and dividends. Once the liquidating
distribution is completed by each Fund, it will terminate.
O'Shares Investments, Inc. ("O'Shares"), the Funds' sponsor,
informed FFCM, the Funds' investment adviser, and the Funds' Board
of Trustees (the "Board") that, due to limited investor demand for
the Funds, the Funds could not conduct their business and
operations in an economically efficient manner over the long term
due to the Funds' inability to attract sufficient assets.
Based on this assessment of the Funds' viability, O'Shares and FFCM
recommended the Funds' liquidation to the Board. The Board
determined, after considering this recommendation, that it is in
the best interests of each Fund and its shareholders to liquidate
and terminate the Funds as described above. Accordingly, the
Board authorized the orderly liquidation of the Funds.
FFCM LLC
Founded in 2009, FFCM, LLC is a Boston-based investment advisory firm founded
with a vision to provide investors with efficient and cost
effective exposure to investment factors through a family of ETFs
and investment strategies. The leadership team at FFCM has
extensive experience in traditional and alternative factor driven
investments, ETFs, quantitative investing, operations and portfolio
management.
FFCM is part of the AGFiQ quantitative investment platform for
AGF Investments Inc. ("AGF", an affiliate of FFCM). AGFiQ is
powered by an intellectually diverse, multi-disciplined team that
combines the complementary strengths of investment professionals
across AGF and its affiliates from Highstreet Asset Management Inc.
and FFCM. www.AGFiQ.com
O'Shares ETF
Investments
O'Shares provides ETFs for conservative long-term wealth
management, using FTSE Russell Quality/Volatility/Yield rules-based
indexes across the family of O'Shares ETFs investing in equities,
across the U.S., Europe and
Asia-Pacific regions.
O'Shares ETFs are designed to be core investment holdings providing
cost-efficient long-term investment performance, with less risk and
more yield, by holding portfolios of large-cap, mid-cap and
small-cap companies that meet financial criteria for quality, low
volatility and yield. oshares.com
For Further Information:
Kevin Beadles
kbeadles@oshares.com
Kevin
Collins
kcollins@ffcmllc.com
Before you invest in O'Shares Investments Funds,
please refer to the prospectus for important information about the
investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. To obtain a
prospectus containing this and other important information, please
visit www.oshares.com to view or download a prospectus online. Read
the prospectus carefully before you invest. There are risks
involved with investing including the possible loss of
principal.
Concentration in a particular industry or sector will
subject the Fund to loss due to adverse occurrences that may affect
that industry or sector. The Fund may use derivatives which may
involve risks different from, or greater than, those associated
with more traditional investments. The Fund's emphasis on
dividend-paying stocks involves the risk that such stocks may fall
out of favor with investors and underperform the market. Also, a
company may reduce or eliminate its dividend after a Fund's
purchase of such a company's securities. Returns on investments in
foreign securities could be more volatile than, or trail the
returns on, investments in U.S. securities. Exposures to foreign
securities entail special risks, including political, diplomatic,
economic, foreign market and trading risks. In addition, unless
perfectly hedged, the Fund's investments in securities denominated
in other currencies could decline due to changes in local currency
relative to the value of the U.S. dollar, which may affect the
Fund's returns. The Fund's hedging strategies may not be
successful, and even if they are successful, the Fund's exposure to
foreign currency fluctuations is not expected to be fully hedged at
all times. See the prospectus for specific risks regarding the
Fund.
Returns on investments in foreign securities could be more
volatile than, or trail the returns on, investments in U.S.
securities. Exposures to foreign securities entail special risks,
including political, diplomatic, economic, foreign market and
trading risks. In addition, unless perfectly hedged, the Fund's
investments in securities denominated in other currencies could
decline due to changes in local currency relative to the value of
the U.S. dollar, which may affect the Fund's returns.
Past performance does not guarantee future results. Shares
are bought and sold at market price (not NAV), are not individually
redeemable, and owners of the Shares may acquire those Shares from
the Funds and tender those Shares for redemption to the Funds in
Creation Unit aggregations only, consisting of 50,000 Shares.
Brokerage commissions will reduce returns.
O'Shares Investments Funds are distributed by Foreside
Fund Services, LLC. Foreside Fund Services, LLC is not affiliated
with O'Shares Investments or any of its affiliates.
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SOURCE O'Shares Investments