WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hartford Funds celebrated the three-year anniversary of three of its Multifactor ETFs on February 25: Hartford Multifactor Developed Markets (ex-US) ETF (RODM), Hartford Multifactor US Equity ETF (ROUS), and Hartford Multifactor Emerging Markets ETF (ROAM). The milestone was marked by the reduction of management fees across six of the seven MultiFactor ETFs, which is designed to lower costs for investors.
“Our risk-first investment approach is designed to allow advisors the ability to build more robust portfolios that are intentional about emphasizing rewarded risks, while seeking to control undesirable risks,” said Ted Lucas, Head of Investment Strategies and Solutions for Hartford Funds. “We foresee a progressively challenging investment environment and believe advisors should be positioning their clients accordingly – enhancing their potential for capital growth, while aggressively managing cost and tax drag.”
Hartford Funds’ Multifactor ETFs seek to outperform traditional passive benchmarks while delivering the potential benefits of lower cost, transparency, and tax efficiency offered within an ETF wrapper. Its flagship, RODM, was awarded a Five Star Overall Rating by Morningstar (Out of 605 products in the Foreign Large Blend Category based on Risk-Adjusted Returns as of 2/28/18)1.
Since inception on 2/25/15 through 2/28/18, RODM ranked among the second quintile for the one-year period and top decile for the three-year period out of 746 and 661 funds, respectively. The ranking was based on RODM’s NAV return in the Morningstar Foreign Large Blend Category. Morningstar fund rankings are based on total returns of all products within their peer groups.2
Hartford Funds is lowering management fees on six of its seven Multifactor ETFs. As a result of these reductions, as of 2/15/18, the operating expense ratios for Hartford Funds’ Multifactor ETFs now rank near the lowest one-third of all ETFs within their respective categories and among the least expensive 5% when compared to institutional share classes of all actively managed mutual funds.3
| Ticker | Name |
Prospectus |
Prospectus |
||||||
| Multifactor ETFs | |||||||||
| ROUS | Hartford Multifactor US Equity ETF | 0.19% | 0.29% | ||||||
| RODM | Hartford Multifactor Developed Markets (ex-US) ETF | 0.29% | 0.39% | ||||||
| ROGS | Hartford Multifactor Global Small Cap ETF | 0.39% | 0.55% | ||||||
| ROAM | Hartford Multifactor Emerging Markets ETF | 0.49% | 0.59% | ||||||
| Low Volatility Multifactor ETFs | |||||||||
| LVIN | Hartford Multifactor Low Volatility International Equity ETF | 0.29% | 0.39% | ||||||
| LVUS | Hartford Multifactor Low Volatility US Equity ETF | 0.22% | 0.29% | ||||||
| Multifactor Sector ETF | |||||||||
| RORE | Hartford US REIT ETF | 0.45% | 0.45% | ||||||
Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
Ordinary brokerage commissions apply. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns.
Transparency: The ability to see holdings information in real time. Hartford Multifactor ETFs publish holdings every market day.
Tax-efficiency: An attempt to minimize tax liability through reduced portfolio turnover, the creation/redemption process and by other means.
1 Morningstar Star Ratings: 3-year 5 stars out of 605 products for the period ended 2/28/18. The Morningstar RatingTM for funds, or “star rating”, is calculated for funds and separate accounts with at least a 3-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. Star rating based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product’s monthly excess performance (without adjusting for any sales load, if applicable), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. 5 stars are assigned to the top 10%, 4 stars to the next 22.5%, 3 stars to the next 35%, 2 stars to the next 22.5%, and 1 star to the bottom 10%. Overall Morningstar Rating is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its 3-, 5-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. For more information about the Morningstar Fund Ratings, including their methodology, please go to global.morningstar.com/managerdisclosures. © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/ or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.
2 Morningstar uses total returns based on net asset values, instead of market prices, for the ETF rating. These returns are most comparable to open-end fund returns and do not rely on market data that could potentially be stale.
The fund did not have negative performance during the reporting period.
3 Source: Morningstar Direct
Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. There is no guarantee a fund will achieve its stated objective. Security prices fluctuate in value depending on general market and economic conditions and the prospects of individual companies. •Foreign investments may be more volatile and less liquid than U.S. investments and are subject to the risk of currency fluctuations and adverse political and economic developments. •Due to their investment strategies, the funds may make higher capital gain distributions than other ETFs.
Investors should carefully consider a fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other important information is contained in a fund’s full prospectus and summary prospectus, which can be obtained by visiting hartfordfunds.com. Please read it carefully before investing.
Mutual funds are distributed by Hartford Funds Distributors, LLC (HFD), Member FINRA. Exchange-traded products are distributed by ALPS Distributors, Inc. (ALPS). Advisory services are provided by Hartford Funds Management Company, LLC (HFMC) and its wholly owned subsidiary, Lattice Strategies, LLC (Lattice). 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. Hartford Funds refers to HFD, HFMC, and Lattice, which are not affiliated with any sub-adviser or ALPS.
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. Excluding affiliated funds of funds, as of December 31, 2017, Hartford Funds Management Company, LLC and its wholly owned subsidiary, Lattice Strategies LLC, had approximately $115.3 billion in discretionary and non-discretionary assets under management. For more information about our investment family, visit http://www.hartfordfunds.com.
HIG-W
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 2017 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.
From time to time, The Hartford may use its website to disseminate material company information. Financial and other important information regarding The Hartford is routinely accessible through and posted on our website at http://ir.thehartford.com. In addition, you may automatically receive email alerts and other information about The Hartford when you enroll your email address by visiting the "Email Alerts" section at http://ir.thehartford.com.
205699
HFA000271
3/6/19
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