Brompton Proposes Conversions of Global Healthcare Income & Growth Fund and Tech Leaders Income Fund Into Exchange Traded Funds

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – Jan. 17, 2018) – (TSX:HIG.UN)(TSX:TLF.UN) Brompton Funds Limited (“Brompton” or the “Manager”), the manager of each of Global Healthcare Income & Growth Fund (“HIG”) and Tech Leaders Income Fund (“TLF” and together with HIG, the “Funds”) announces that special meetings of unitholders of units (“Unitholders”) of each of the Funds will be held on February 28, 2018 (together, the “Meetings”).

At the Meetings, Unitholders of each of the Funds will be asked, as applicable, to approve the conversion of the applicable Fund (each a “Conversion” and together the “Conversions”) from a closed-end investment fund into an exchange-traded fund (a “Brompton ETF”), along with certain other changes considered ancillary, necessary or desirable, in the opinion of the Manager to facilitate and implement the Conversions. Upon the effective date of the Conversions, HIG will become “Global Healthcare Income & Growth ETF” and TLF will become “Tech Leaders Income ETF”.

All costs of the Conversions, including with respect to the Meetings, will be borne by the Manager.

The Manager believes that Unitholders will benefit from the Conversions for the following reasons:

Increased Trading Liquidity: Approved dealers acting as market makers for an ETF have the ability to create or redeem units in large blocks directly from the applicable Brompton ETF itself. This results in improved liquidity for the applicable Brompton ETF, as the ability for an investor to buy or sell large amounts without materially affecting the market price is then governed by the liquidity of the Brompton ETF’s investment portfolio. Both HIG and TLF hold portfolios of large capitalization, liquid equities and, therefore, it is expected that the Conversions will improve the trading liquidity of the Funds from current levels.

Reduced Bid/Ask Spreads: Approved dealers acting as market makers are able to hedge, with accuracy and low cost, any long or short exposure that they take on in the course of their market making activities. As a result, market makers are able to price their bids and asks for ETF units very tightly around their estimate of the net asset value of the ETF (“NAV”), and, therefore, it is expected that the bid and ask spreads for the Brompton ETFs will be reduced from what is currently observed. This is beneficial to Unitholders because a reduced bid-ask spread is expected to result in a lower effective cost to buy or sell units of the Brompton ETFs.

Lower MER: The Manager expects that both Funds will have lower MERs after the conversion. Additionally, to conform to standard practice for ETFs, TLF will discontinue its service fee.

Potential for Lower Expenses per Unit due to Growth: As each of the Brompton ETFs will distribute units on a continuous basis, each Brompton ETF will have the potential to increase the number of units outstanding through the issuance of new units, thereby spreading its operating expenses across more units and reducing expenses per unit.

No Change to Investment Strategy: The specific investment strategies of each Fund are expected to remain substantially similar, before and after the Conversions.

Unitholders of record of each of the Funds at the close of business on January 29, 2018 will be entitled to vote at the applicable Meeting of each Fund. If approved, the Conversions are expected to be implemented in April 2018, subject to obtaining the required regulatory approvals. Details of the proposed Conversions will be further outlined in the Funds’ Notice of Special Meetings of Unitholders and Joint Management Information Circular that will be prepared and delivered to Unitholders in connection with the Meetings and will be available under each Fund’s profile on www.sedar.com.

About Brompton Funds

Brompton Funds, a division of Brompton Group which was founded in 2000, is an experienced investment fund manager with approximately billion in assets under management. Brompton’s investment solutions include TSX traded funds, mutual funds and flow-through limited partnerships. For further information, please contact your investment advisor, call Brompton’s investor relations line at 416-642-6000 (toll-free at 1-866-642-6001), email [email protected] or visit our website at www.bromptongroup.com.

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There are ongoing fees and expenses associated with owning units of an investment fund. An investment fund must prepare disclosure documents that contain key information about the fund. You can find more detailed information about the fund in the public filings available at www.sedar.com. Investment funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information may relate to matters disclosed in this press release and to other matters identified in public filings relating to each of the Funds, to the future outlook of each of the Funds and anticipated events or results and may include statements regarding the future financial performance of each of the Funds. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by terms such as “may”, “will”, “should”, “expect”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “intend”, “estimate”, “predict”, “potential”, “continue” or other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. Actual results may vary from such forward-looking information. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and we assume no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.

Brompton’s Investor Relations Line
416-642-6000 (toll-free at 1-866-642-6001)
[email protected]
www.bromptongroup.com