HARVEST Banks & Buildings Income Fund Completes Warrant Exercise Raising an Additional $23,290,944.30 CDN


OAKVILLE, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 18, 2011) - Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. (the "Manager") is pleased to announce that the HARVEST Banks & Buildings Income Fund (TSX:HBB.UN) (the "Fund") issued an additional 1,990,679.00 Units of the Fund at the close of business April 15th, 2011. Through the Warrant exercise the Fund raised additional net proceeds of $23,290,944.30.

The Fund was established to provide unitholders with attractive monthly distributions and to maximize total return by investing in an actively managed portfolio comprised primarily of Canadian Banks, Financial and Real estate Issuers. "The HARVEST Banks & Buildings Income Fund is a core Canadian Equity Income Fund that provides investors with access to two of Canada's most solid and stable sectors. The fund is one of the top performing Closed End Funds in Canada and will continue to invest in these sectors to provide our unitholders with quality, transparency and steady income for the long term" said Michael Kovacs, President & CEO of HARVEST Portfolios Group.

The Fund presently trades on the TSX under the symbol HBB.UN. On or about October 18, 2011, the Fund will, subject to receipt of all required regulatory approvals, automatically convert to an open-end mutual fund, on a tax-deferred basis.

Certain statements included in this news release constitute forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, those identified by the expressions "expect", "intend", "will" and similar expressions to the extent they relate to the Fund and/or the Manager. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts but reflect the Fund's, and/or the Manager's current expectations regarding future results or events. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. Although the Fund and/or the Manager that the assumptions inherent in the forward- looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and, accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. The Fund and/or the Manager undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statement or information whether as a result of new information, future events or other such factors which affect this information, except as required by law.

All capitalized terms noted herein but not defined are as defined in the Fund's prospectus dated October 2nd, 2009.

Contact Information:

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.
Michael Kovacs
1-866-998-8298
mkovacs@harvestportfolios.com

For additional information please contact
your registered financial advisor.