TORONTO, July 13, 2015 /CNW/ - Aston Hill Asset Management Inc. announced today that it has filed a management information circular (the "Circular") on SEDAR relating to the previously announced meetings of unitholders of Aston Hill VIP Income Fund ("VIP"), Aston Hill Oil & Gas Income Fund ("OGF") and Aston Hill Global Resource & Infrastructure Fund ("GR&I") to be held on August 10, 2015. Aston Hill Capital Markets Inc. also announced today that it has decided not to proceed with the previously announced unitholder meeting for Low Volatility Canadian Equities Income Fund but will continue to manage the fund in its current form and will reassess any changes to such fund that may be in the best interests of unitholders.
Conversion Proposals
Unitholders of each of VIP and OGF are being asked to consider an extraordinary resolution which would result in certain changes to the operations, investment objectives, strategies and restrictions of each fund which will have the effect of delisting each fund from the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") and converting to an open-end daily redeemable mutual fund on or about August 31, 2015.
If the VIP conversion is approved, VIP will be renamed "Aston Hill North American Dividend Fund" (the "North American Dividend Fund"). The North American Dividend Fund's investment objective will be to provide unitholders with the benefits of a high level of monthly income together with the opportunity for capital appreciation. To achieve its objective, the North American Dividend Fund will invest in a diversified portfolio primarily consisting of dividend paying common shares and preferred shares issued by Canadian and U.S. companies.
If the OGF conversion is approved, OGF will be renamed "Aston Hill Global Resource Fund" (the "Global Resource Fund"). The Global Resource Fund's investment objective will be the same as those of GR&I and will provide exposure to a broader range of resource companies including infrastructure companies that support resource companies. To achieve its objective, the Global Resource Fund will invest primarily in equity and fixed income securities (including high yield debt securities) of resource companies and infrastructure companies located anywhere in the world.
Merger Proposal
GR&I unitholders are being asked to consider an extraordinary resolution to, among other things, approve a merger (the "GR&I Merger") with OGF, resulting in OGF being the continuing fund and GR&I being the terminating fund. The GR&I Merger proposal is conditional on the approval and implementation of the OGF conversion proposal pursuant to which OGF will adopt investment objectives, strategies and valuation procedures that are the same as GR&I. The GR&I Merger will likely have tax consequences for GR&I unitholders because the merger will not take place on a rollover basis for tax purposes. The GR&I Merger will result in GR&I unitholders owning units of OGF which has a substantial amount of tax loss carry-forwards.
Details of the proposed reorganizations are outlined in the management information circular which will be delivered to unitholders of each fund in connection with the special meetings and which will be available on www.sedar.com. The reorganizations will be subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals.
Aston Hill VIP Income Fund and Aston Hill Oil & Gas Income Fund are closed-end funds managed by Aston Hill Asset Management Inc. and are listed on the TSX under the symbols VIP.UN and OGF.UN, respectively. Aston Hill Global Resource & Infrastructure Fund is an open-end fund managed by Aston Hill Asset Management Inc. Low Volatility Canadian Equities Income Fund is a closed-end fund managed by Aston Hill Capital Markets Inc. and is listed on the TSX under the symbol LOW.UN.
Aston Hill Asset Management Inc. and Aston Hill Capital Markets Inc. are subsidiaries of Aston Hill Financial Inc. (TSX: AHF). Aston Hill Financial Inc. is a diversified asset management company with a suite of retail mutual funds, closed end funds, private equity funds, hedge funds and segregated institutional funds. Aston Hill Financial Inc. has offices in Calgary, Toronto and Halifax.
SOURCE Aston Hill Financial Inc.
Please contact your financial advisor, call Aston Hill's Sales and Marketing support line at 416-583-2300 (toll-free at 1-800-513-3868), or visit our website at www.astonhill.ca.Copyright CNW Group 2015