CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwired - Dec 19, 2013) - Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC, a leading global provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), announced today the PowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio (BKLN) received the William F. Sharpe Award for ETF Product of the Year. Listed on March 3, 2011, BKLN represents the first and largest floating-rate senior loan ETF available to US investors having recently surpassed $6.2 billion in assets under management.
In addition, the PowerShares S&P 500® Downside Hedged Portfolio (PHDG) was awarded ETF Innovation of the Year and recently surpassed $100 million in assets under management. The Fund's underlying index, the S&P 500® Dynamic VEQTOR Index, was also recognized with the award for Index Innovation of the Year.
"We take pride in being an ETF innovator and are truly honored to be recognized by our industry peers with the 2013 William F. Sharpe Award for ETF Product of the Year," said Dan Draper, Invesco PowerShares Managing Director of global ETFs. "These awards are a reflection of PowerShares strength in providing investors intelligent exposure to the liquid alternative space."
"PowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio (BKLN) was a groundbreaking listing for investors seeking to reduce duration in their bond holdings and has become a flagship ETF in this space," added Gregory Stoeckle, President and Managing Director of the Fund's Sub-Adviser, Invesco Senior Secured Management, Inc.
BKLN was recognized as ETF Product of the Year for having the most significant impact on the ETF market over the previous 12 months. This is the third consecutive year a PowerShares ETF has received this prestigious award, following the PowerShares S&P 500® Low Volatility Portfolio (SPLV) as the 2012 recipient and the PowerShares Fundamental High Yield® Corporate Bond Portfolio (PHB) in 2011.
The William F. Sharpe Awards recognize the best and the brightest innovators in the field of indexing, ETFs, and investment management. This year's awards were presented at the 2013 Global Indexing & ETFs Conference held in Scottsdale, AZ from December 8-10, 2013.
The PowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio (BKLN) is based on the S&P/LSTA U.S. Leveraged Loan 100 Index (Index). The Fund will normally invest at least 80% of its total assets in the component securities that comprise the Index. The Index is designed to track the market-weighted performance of the largest institutional leveraged loans based on market weightings, spreads and interest payments. The Fund and the Index are rebalanced and reconstituted bi-annually, in June and December.
The PowerShares S&P 500® Downside Hedged Portfolio (PHDG) is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) that seeks to achieve positive total returns in rising or falling markets that are not directly correlated to broad equity or fixed-income market returns. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by using a quantitative, rules-based strategy designed to provide returns that correspond to the performance of the S&P 500® Dynamic VEQTOR Index (the Index). The Index provides investors with broad equity market exposure with an implied volatility hedge by dynamically allocating between equity, volatility and cash. The index allows investors to receive exposure to the equity and volatility of the S&P 500 Index in a dynamic framework.
About the William F. Sharpe Awards
The William F. Sharpe Awards honor new products or innovations. Nominees were selected from a pool of submissions solicited from the industry at large, and the final nominations and subsequent winners for each category were chosen by the Associate Editors of the Journal of Index Investing. Entries were judged on the following criteria:
1. How cutting edge is the product/innovation?
2. Has the product/innovation pioneered a new market or restructured an existing one?
3. What evidence is there that the product/innovation has staying power, and is or will be a financial success?
4. How will the product innovation enhance the investment community?
Category descriptions of the awards won by Invesco PowerShares are as follows: ETF Product of the Year Awarded to the company responsible for the most significant index product in the previous twelve months; ETF Innovation of the Year Awarded to the company responsible for the most significant new product, service or strategy in ETF investing.
About Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC and Invesco, Ltd.
Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC is leading the Intelligent ETF Revolution® through its family of more than 140 domestic and international exchange-traded funds, which seek to outperform traditional benchmark indexes while providing advisors and investors access to an innovative array of focused investment opportunities. With franchise assets over $97 billion as of November 30, 2013, PowerShares ETFs trade on both US stock exchanges. For more information, please visit us at invescopowershares.com or follow us on Twitter @PowerShares.
Invesco Ltd. is a leading independent global investment management firm, dedicated to helping investors worldwide achieve their financial objectives. By delivering the combined power of our distinctive investment management capabilities, Invesco provides a wide range of investment strategies and vehicles to our clients around the world. Operating in more than 20 countries, the firm is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol IVZ. Additional information is available at www.invesco.com.
Important Risk Information
There are risks involved with investing in ETFs, including possible loss of money. Shares are not actively managed and are subject to risks similar to those of stocks, including those regarding short selling and margin maintenance requirements. Ordinary brokerage commissions apply. The Funds' return may not match the return of the Underlying Index.
The Funds are considered non-diversified and can invest a greater portion of their assets in securities of individual issuers than a diversified fund.
Investments focused in a particular industry are subject to greater risk, and are more greatly impacted by market volatility, than more diversified investments.
Note: Not all products are available through all firms.
Not FDIC Insured | May Lose Value | No Bank Guarantee
BKLN Risk Information
Investments in loans are subject to interest rate risk and credit risk. Interest rate risk refers to fluctuations in the value of a loan resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the borrower of a loan will be unable and/or unwilling to make timely interest payments and/or repay the principal on its obligation. There is no organized exchange on which loans are traded and reliable market quotations may not be readily available.
As the purchaser of a loan assignment, the Fund typically succeeds to all assigning institution rights and obligations and becomes a lender under the credit agreement with respect to the debt obligation.
However, the Fund may not be able to enforce all rights and remedies under the loan including any associated collateral. If the loan is foreclosed, the Fund may become part owner of any collateral and may bear the costs and liabilities of owning and disposing of the collateral. The Fund may be required to pass on to a purchaser that buys a loan from the Fund a portion of fees it is entitled to under the loan. In connection with purchasing loan participations, the Fund will have no right to enforce borrower compliance with the terms of the loan agreement, nor any rights of set-off against the borrower, and the Fund may not benefit from any collateral supporting the loan. Consequently, the Fund will be subject to the credit risk of both the borrower and the lender that is selling the participation. In the event of the insolvency of the lender selling participation, the Fund may be treated as the lender's general creditor and may not benefit from any set-off between the lender and the borrower.
The Fund may invest in non-investment grade, or high-yield, securities (junk bonds). High-yield securities have additional risks, including interest rate changes, decreased market liquidity and a larger amount of outstanding debt than investment grade securities.
Proceeds from a current investment of the Fund, both interest payments and principal payments, may be reinvested in instruments that offer lower yields than the current investment due in part to market conditions and the interest rate environment at the time of reinvestment.
The market value of the shares of closed-end investment companies may differ from their NAV. In addition, the shares of closed-end investment companies frequently trade at a discount to their NAV. As an investor in closed-end investment companies, the Fund would bear its ratable share of those closed-end investment companies' fees and expenses, including its investment advisory and administration fees, while continuing to pay its own advisory and administration fees and other expenses. As a result, shareholders will be absorbing duplicate levels of fees with respect to investments in closed-end investment companies.
The Fund may invest all or a portion of its assets in loans of non-U.S. borrowers. Loans of non-U.S. borrowers have additional risks, including decreased market liquidity, political instability and taxation by foreign governments.
The Fund's use of a representative sampling approach will result in its holding a smaller number of loans than are in the Underlying Index, and may subject the Fund to greater volatility.
The Fund currently intends to effect creations and redemptions principally for cash, rather than principally in-kind because of the nature of the Fund's investments. As such, investments in the Fund may be less tax efficient than investments in ETFs that create and redeem in-kind.
Liquidity risk may occur since the Fund's assets may be invested in loans that are less liquid than securities traded on national exchanges. Since the Fund may engage in frequent trading of securities in connection with rebalancing or adjusting its' underlying index, high brokerage costs and higher taxable capital gains distributions to shareholders may occur due to portfolio turnover risk.
The Fund invests in fixed-income securities, such as notes and bonds, which carry interest rate and credit risk. Interest rate risk refers to the risk that bond prices generally fall as interest rates rise and vice versa. Credit risk is the risk of loss on an investment due to the deterioration of an issuer's financial health.
The S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan Index is an unmanaged index that tracks the current outstanding balance and spread over LIBOR for fully funded term loans. The Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index is an unmanaged index considered representative of the U.S. investment-grade, fixed-rate bond market.
PHDG Risk Information
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) can make methodological changes to the calculation of the VIX Index that could affect the value of the futures contracts on the VIX Index and may affect the value of your investment.
The contracts included in the VIX Index historically have traded in "contango" markets, resulting in a roll cost, which could adversely affect the value of the Shares. At any given time, the percentage increase in the amount of VIX Index Related Instruments in which the Fund invests may be less than the percentage increase in the VIX Index.
The Fund may engage in investment transactions, or enter into futures contracts. Because futures contracts project price levels in the future, market circumstances may cause a discrepancy between the price of a stock index future and the movement in the underlying index. In the event of adverse price movements, the Fund would be required to make daily cash payments to maintain its required margin.
The Fund's use of derivatives may increase the amount of risk associated with the Fund and may magnify changes in the Fund's value positively and negatively. The use of this fund may not be suitable for all investors.
ETNs are short-term investments and if leveraged may have amplified losses or gains. ETNs do not provide principal protection and may or may not make periodic coupon payments. ETNs are subject to credit risk and the value of the ETN may drop due to a downgrade in the issuer's credit rating, despite the underlying market benchmark or strategy remaining unchanged.
The Fund will gain most of its exposure to the futures markets by entering into VIX Index futures. The Fund intends to restrict its income from VIX Index futures that do not generate qualifying income, to a maximum of 10% of its gross income. However, there is no guarantee the Fund will be successful in doing so, and failure to comply with this restriction would have significant negative consequences to Fund shareholders.
The Fund currently intends to effect creations and redemptions principally for cash, rather than principally in-kind because of the nature of the Fund's investments. As such, investments in the Fund may be less tax efficient than investments in ETFs that create and redeem in-kind.
The Fund is designed to achieve positive total returns in rising or falling markets. Significant short-term price movements could adversely affect the performance of the Fund and cause substantial losses.
The S&P 500® Index is an unmanaged index considered representative of the U.S. stock market. The T-Bill 3 Month Index (U.S. Treasury Bills Index) is tracked by Lipper to provide performance for the 3-month U.S. Treasury Bill. The HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index is an investable hedge fund index designed to provide returns that reflect the performance of the global hedge fund universe. The VIX Index is a theoretical calculation and cannot be traded. The VIX Index measures the 30-day forward volatility of the S&P 500 Index as calculated based on the prices of certain put and call options on the S&P 500 Index.
Shares are not individually redeemable and owners of the shares may acquire those shares from the Fund and tender those shares for redemption to the Fund in Creation Units only, typically consisting of aggregations of 50,000, 75,000, 100,000 or 200,000 shares.
Invesco Distributors, Inc. is the distributor of the PowerShares Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II.
PowerShares® is a registered trademark of Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC (Invesco PowerShares). Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC and Invesco Distributors, Inc. are indirect, wholly owned subsidiaries of Invesco Ltd.
An investor should consider the Funds' investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. For this and more complete information about the Funds call 800 983 0903 or visit invescopowershares.com for a prospectus. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.