Hartford Global Impact NextShares Fund Brings Socially Responsible Investing to the NextShares Platform
Press Release – Wayne, Penn. December 7, 2017 – Hartford Funds today announced the launch of Hartford Global Impact NextShares Fund (HFGIC), the firm’s first NextShares product. NextShares are an innovative way to invest in actively managed strategies, which, because they trade on an exchange, may offer cost and tax efficiencies that may enhance shareholder returns. Hartford Global Impact NextShares Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing in companies throughout the world that it believes are likely to address major social and environmental challenges.
“The Hartford Global Impact NextShares Fund is yet another step we are taking in listening to financial advisor demand for lower-cost, tax-efficient, and innovative products that can help investors reach their goals,” said Vernon Meyer, Chief Investment Officer of Hartford Funds. “The Hartford Global Impact NextShares Fund allows us to offer actively managed strategies while also providing investors the opportunity to align their portfolios with their values.”
“We are proud to partner with Hartford Funds to bring Hartford Global Impact NextShares Fund to market,” said Stephen Clarke, President of NextShares Solutions LLC. “It is the first equity NextShares product to invest in companies whose core business seeks to address the world’s major social and environmental challenges.”
NextShares, which, as an exchange-traded managed fund (“ETMF”), offer investors a new way to tap into and capitalize on actively managed strategies with potential cost and tax advantages, seek to outperform their benchmark index and peer funds based on their manager’s investment insights and research judgments. NextShares offers the potential benefits of protecting the confidentiality of fund trading information and providing trading cost transparency to fund investors.
Hartford Global Impact NextShares Fund will invest in companies that focus their operations in areas that address themes including, but not limited to, sustainable agriculture and nutrition, health, clean water and sanitation, affordable housing, education and training, financial inclusion, narrowing the digital divide, alternative energy, resource stewardship and efficiency, as determined by the sub-adviser, Wellington Management Company LLP (“Wellington Management”). The Fund will operate as a “feeder fund” under a master-feeder structure along with the Hartford Global Impact mutual fund, with both funds investing all of their assets in shares of the Global Impact Master Portfolio.
The Hartford Global Impact NextShares Fund complements Hartford Funds’ two existing socially responsible investment products, the Hartford Global Impact Fund (HGXAX) and the Hartford Environmental Opportunities Fund (HEOMX).
Wellington Management’s Eric Rice, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager, and R. Patrick Kent, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager, will serve as the portfolio managers of the Hartford Global Impact Master Portfolio.
About Hartford Funds
Founded in 1996, Hartford Funds is a leading asset manager, which provides mutual funds, ETFs, and 529 college savings plans. Using its human-centric investing approach, Hartford Funds creates strategies and tools designed to address the needs and wants of investors. Leveraging partnerships with leading experts, Hartford Funds delivers insight into the latest demographic trends and investor behavior.
The firm’s line-up includes more than 55 mutual funds in a variety of styles and asset classes, as well as a variety of multifactor and active ETFs. Its mutual funds (with the exception of certain fund of funds) are sub-advised by Wellington Management or Schroder Investment Management North America Inc. The strategic beta ETFs offered by Hartford Funds are designed to help address investors’ evolving needs by leveraging a unique risk-optimized approach, which identifies risks within each asset class and then deliberately and systematically re-allocates capital toward risks more likely to enhance return potential. As of September 30, 2017, Hartford Funds had approximately $95.6 billion (excluding assets used in certain annuity products) in discretionary and non-discretionary assets under management. For more information about our investment family, visit http://www.hartfordfunds.com.
About NextShares
Shares of NextShares funds are normally bought and sold in the secondary market through a broker, and may not be individually purchased or redeemed from the fund. In the secondary market, buyers and sellers transact with each other, rather than with the fund. NextShares funds issue and redeem shares only in specified creation unit quantities in transactions by or through Authorized Participants. In such transactions, a fund issues and redeems shares in exchange for the basket of securities, other instruments and/or cash that the fund specifies each business day. By transacting in kind, a NextShares fund can lower its trading costs and enhance fund tax efficiency by avoiding forced sales of securities to meet redemptions. Redemptions may be effected partially or entirely in cash when in-kind delivery is not practicable or deemed not in the best interests of shareholders. A fund’s basket is not intended to be representative of the fund’s current portfolio positions and may vary significantly from current positions. As exchange-traded securities, NextShares can operate with low transfer agency expenses by utilizing the same highly efficient share processing system as used for exchange-listed stocks and ETFs.
Market trading prices of NextShares are linked to the fund’s next-computed net asset value (NAV) and will vary from NAV by a market-determined premium or discount, which may be zero. Buyers and sellers of NextShares will not know the value of their purchases and sales until after the fund’s NAV is determined at the end of the trading day. Market trading prices may vary significantly from anticipated levels. NextShares do not offer investors the opportunity to buy and sell intraday based on current (versus end-of-day) determinations of fund value. NextShares trade execution prices will fluctuate based on changes in NAV. Although limit orders may be used to control trading costs, they cannot be used to control or limit trade execution prices. As a new type of fund, NextShares have a limited operating history and may initially be available through a limited number of brokers. There can be no guarantee that an active trading market for NextShares will develop or be maintained, or that their listing will continue unchanged. Buying and selling NextShares may require payment of brokerage commissions and expose transacting shareholders to other trading costs. Frequent trading may detract from realized investment returns. The return on a shareholder’s NextShares investment will be reduced if the shareholder sells shares at a greater discount or narrower premium to NAV than he or she acquired the shares.
NextShares™ is a trademark of NextShares Solutions LLC. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Important Information
All investments are subject to risk, including the possible loss of principal. There is no guarantee the Fund will achieve its stated objective. The net asset value (NAV) of the Fund’s shares may fluctuate due to changes in the market value of the Fund’s holdings, as well as the relative supply of and demand for the shares on an exchange. Foreign investments can be riskier and more volatile than U.S. investments due to the adverse effects of currency exchange rates, differences in market structure and liquidity, as well as political and economic developments in foreign countries and regions (e.g., “Brexit”). These risks are generally greater for investments in emerging markets. Small-cap securities can have greater risk and volatility than large-cap securities. Investing in companies that seek to address major social and environmental challenges may cause the Fund to forego certain investment opportunities and underperform Funds that do not have a similar focus. By investing in cash and money market instruments, the Fund may lose the benefit of market upswings. The Fund invests in a Master Portfolio so it is subject to master-feeder structure risk. Other feeder funds may invest in the Master Portfolio. A large-scale redemption by another feeder fund may increase the proportionate share of the costs of the Master Portfolio borne by the remaining feeder fund shareholders, including the Fund. The Fund is actively managed and does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index. To the extent the NextShares Fund has a limited number of authorized participants (APs) who transact in its shares, the Fund may be adversely affected if an AP chooses not to make such transactions.
Investors should carefully consider a fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other important information is contained in the fund’s prospectus and summary prospectus (if available), which can be obtained by visiting hartfordfunds.com. Please read it carefully before investing.
Hartford Funds refers to Hartford Funds Management Group, Inc., and its subsidiaries, including the mutual funds’, ETMFs’ and active ETFs’ investment manager, Hartford Funds Management Company, LLC (HFMC), the mutual funds’ distributor, Hartford Funds Distributors, LLC, Member FINRA, as well as Lattice Strategies LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of HFMC, which serves as the investment adviser to strategic beta exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Certain funds are sub-advised by Wellington Management Company LLP or Schroder Investment Management North America Inc. Schroder Investment Management North America Ltd. serves as a secondary sub-adviser to certain funds. All ETFs and ETMFs are distributed by ALPS Distributors, Inc. (ALPS). Hartford Funds is not affiliated with any fund sub-adviser or ALPS.
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Some of the statements in this release may be considered forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We caution investors that these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially. Investors should consider the important risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ. These important risks and uncertainties include those discussed in The Hartford’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, our 2016 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the other filings The Hartford makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We assume no obligation to update this release, which speaks as of the date issued.
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