NEW YORK, June 24, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Horizons ETFs Management (USA) LLC ("Horizons USA"), a member of the Horizons ETFs Group, one of the largest collective families of ETFs in the world, announced that it has launched the Horizons S&P 500® Covered Call ETF ("HSPX"), an exchange traded fund (ETF) that uses an innovative covered call strategy designed to potentially generate additional income from the option-eligible stocks in the S&P 500®, the most widely followed U.S. large-cap stock index. The new ETF begins trading today on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol HSPX (NYSE:HSPX).
HSPX generally seeks to provide exposure to the performance of the S&P 500® Stock Covered Call Index (the "Underlying Index") and will make monthly distributions of dividend and call option income. Horizons USA has an exclusive agreement with Standard & Poor's to offer an ETF in the U.S. based on the Underlying Index.
"The Horizons S&P 500® Covered Call ETF attempts to generate additional monthly income for investors while lowering the volatility of returns versus the S&P 500®" said Howard Atkinson, Managing Director of Horizons USA. "We're pleased to be bringing to market the first covered call ETF strategy that seeks to write on all eligible individual stocks in the S&P 500® as it answers a growing need for maintaining regular income streams in a persistent low-interest-rate and shrinking-yield environment."
HSPX uses a replication strategy and invests substantially all of its total assets in same securities of the Underlying Index. HSPX will generally own all the securities of the S&P 500® in substantially similar weights to the index, and will sell or "write" covered call options on up to 100% of each of the option eligible securities in the portfolio. A covered call is an options strategy whereby an investor holds a long position in an asset and sells or "writes" call options on that same asset in an attempt to generate more income (the additional income from option premium) than the asset would otherwise provide on its own from dividends or other distributions. The covered call strategy is used by the Underlying Index in an attempt to generate additional monthly income on the S&P 500®.
Historically, during bear markets, range-bound markets and modest bull markets, covered call strategies generally have outperformed their underlying securities. During strong bull markets, when the underlying securities may frequently rise through their strike prices, covered call strategies historically have tended to lag. During these strong bull markets, however, investors would still generally have earned some capital appreciation on the stock positions, together with dividends and the option premiums from writing the covered calls.
"Our team has more than two decades of experience overseeing covered call investment vehicles," said Mr. Atkinson. "The Horizons S&P 500® Covered Call ETF offers multiple security covered call execution to individual investors through the low-cost, convenient structure of an ETF."
Horizons USA serves as sub-adviser to HSPX. Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC has listed HSPX on the NYSE Arca under its passive exemptive relief and also serves as its adviser. Foreside Fund Services, LLC facilitates distribution of HSPX. Citibank, NA and Citi Fund Services Ohio, Inc. serve as custodian and administrator, respectively.
Separately, Horizons USA is pleased to announce that Adam Felesky has been appointed Head of Americas for the Horizons ETFs businesses across the United States, Canada and Latin America.
Mr. Felesky is Chief Executive Officer of Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. ("Horizons Canada"). He founded Horizons Canada in 2005 and oversaw the launch of the first two Horizons ETFs. Over the next five years, he oversaw the launch of more than 70 additional ETFs. Mr. Felesky also acts as CEO and Director of all Horizons Canada's operating subsidiaries. He is currently a member of the Ontario Securities Commission - Investment Funds Product Advisory Committee and a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO).
"We are very pleased to announce Adam's new appointment and his expanded role in advancing our global ETF franchise. Adam has shown leadership in building Horizons Canada and a commitment to taking it to the next level. As we enter the U.S. ETF market, we are particularly excited to have Adam lead the Americas' ETF businesses. This is an exciting time and we look forward to continuing our work together," said Mr. Taeyong Lee, President of the Global Business Unit and Global Head of ETFs at Mirae Asset Global Investments, the parent company of the Horizons ETFs Group.
Shares of the Horizons-branded exchange-traded funds (the "Funds") may be purchased or sold in the secondary market throughout the regular trading day on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) through a brokerage account. However, shares are not individually redeemable directly from the Funds; shares may only be redeemed directly from the Funds by Authorized Participants in very large Creation/Redemption Units.
Before investing you should carefully consider the Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other information is in the prospectus, a copy of which may be obtained by visiting the Fund's website at www.HorizonsETFs.com/USA. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest. Distributor: Foreside Fund Services, LLC.
There are risks involved with investing, including possible loss of principal. The Funds are non-diversified and may invest a greater portion of their assets in securities of a small number of issuers which may have an adverse effect on Fund performance. Concentration in a particular industry or sector will subject the Funds to loss due to adverse occurrences that may affect that industry or sector. The Funds risk not benefiting from potential increases in the value of underlying securities above the exercise prices of the written covered call options, and are subject to the risk of declines in the value of such securities. Each sector fund is subject to its own specific risk factors. See prospectus for specific risks regarding each Fund and sector.
An option is a contract sold by one party to another that gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy (call) or sell (put) a stock at an agreed upon price within a certain period or on a specific date. A covered call option involves holding a long position in a particular asset, in this case U.S. common equities, and writing a call option on that same asset with the goal of realizing additional income from the option premium.
The Horizons ETFs Group (www.HorizonsETFs.com)
The Horizons ETFs Group consists of innovative financial services companies offering regional families of ETFs in Canada, Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, and the United States. Currently, all of the ETFs offered by these companies use the Horizons ETFs brand with the exception of the 'BetaShares' family of ETFs in Australia and the 'TIGER ETFs' family in Korea. With approximately $7 billion in assets under management and 180 ETF listings worldwide, the Horizons ETFs Group makes up one of the largest collective families of ETFs in the world. All of the Horizons ETFs Group companies and affiliates are subsidiaries of Mirae Asset Global Investments Co., Ltd.
Mirae Asset Global Investments (www.MiraeAsset.com)
Mirae Asset Global Investments is a global investment management firm with offices located in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam. With approximately 560 employees, including 133 investment professionals, the firm manages over $57 billion in assets globally through a diversified platform to offer market-leading franchises in traditional equity and fixed income products, ETFs and alternative strategies, including real estate, private equity and hedge funds.