Chicago, IL, April 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Innovator Capital Management, LLC (Innovator) today announced that the firm was named “ETF Issuer of the Year – 2019” in the seventh annual ETF.com Awards. The award recognized Innovator’s contributions to evolve the ETF industry, acknowledging the rapid advisor adoption and the positive potential impact on investor behavior of the firm’s category-creating Defined Outcome ETF™ suite – the first group of Buffer ETFs™ designed to provide investors with built-in buffers and exposure to the growth of equity markets, to a cap, in a tax-efficient vehicle.
The ETF Issuer of the Year is awarded to the ETF sponsor that has done the most to improve investor outcomes through product introductions, product performance, fund management, asset gathering, investor support and innovation in 2019. Other finalists for ETF Issuer of the Year – 2019 included iShares by BlackRock, Vanguard, J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Global X.
“We would like to thank our industry peers for honoring us with the award for ETF Issuer of the Year,” said Bruce Bond, CEO of Innovator ETFs. “Given the market and health crisis we are all facing, our hope is this award will only raise awareness regarding Innovator Defined Outcome ETFs’ ability to help investors both weather further market turbulence and participate in potential growth when the economy recovers. We believe these products are serving a tremendous need in the marketplace today.”
Over 2019, Innovator launched twenty-five Buffer ETFs, moving to offer monthly issues of the S&P 500 Buffer ETF series and expanding the Defined Outcome lineup to provide investors buffered exposure to the MSCI EAFE Index, MSCI Emerging Markets Index, Nasdaq 100 Index and Russell 2000 Index. This allows advisors to build diversified portfolios of core equity exposures with built-in buffers against a specific level of loss over an outcome period. Innovator also facilitated regulatory evolution for the industry, helping pioneer a new rule permitting the in-kind transfer of options in ETFs, affording options-based ETFs the same tax-efficiency of stock and bond ETFs.
The Defined Outcome series saw $1.473 billion in net inflows over the year, growing from $191 million in assets under management on 12.31.18 to $1.755 billion on 12.31.19. Innovator’s total AUM across all ETFs grew by $1.545 billion to end 2019 at $2.263 billion on 12.31.19. Over the year, Innovator also expanded its team of consultants and remained focused on investor education with advances to the firm’s website, digital tools and investor resources.
About the ETF.com Awards
The seventh annual ETF.com Awards honored products, people and companies that made a difference in the ETF industry in 2019. The 33 categories recognize everything from new funds to established products, as well as the issuers, service providers and individuals involved in serving the ETF industry. ETF.com’s editorial team chose the finalists and then the ETF.com Awards Selection Committee, an independent panel comprised of fifteen of the ETF industry’s leading analysts, consultants and investors, decided the winners. In addition to being awarded ETF Issuer of the Year - 2019, Innovator was also a finalist in four other categories:
- Best New ETF
- Best New U.S. Equity ETF
- ETF of the Year
- Most Innovative ETF Issuer
The Funds have characteristics unlike many other traditional investment products and may not be suitable for all investors. For more information regarding whether an investment in the Fund is right for you, please see “Investor Suitability” in the prospectus.
About Innovator Defined Outcome ETFs
Defined Outcome ETFs are the world’s first ETFs that seek to provide investors the upside performance of broadly recognized indexes (e.g., S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Russell 2000, MSCI EAFE, and MSCI Emerging Markets) to a cap, with built-in buffers, over an outcome period of one year. The ETFs reset annually and can be held indefinitely.
Each Buffer ETF in Innovator’s Defined Outcome ETF suite seeks to provide a defined exposure to a broad market index where the downside buffer level, upside growth potential to a cap, and Outcome Period are all known, prior to investing. In 2019, Innovator began expanding its suite of S&P 500 Buffer ETFs into a monthly series to provide investors more opportunities to purchase shares as close to the beginning of their respective Outcome Periods as possible.
Investors can purchase shares of a previously listed Defined Outcome ETF throughout the entire Outcome Period, obtaining a current set of defined outcome parameters, which are disclosed daily through a web tool available at: http://innovatoretfs.com/define.
Innovator is focused on delivering defined outcome based solutions inside the benefit-rich ETF wrapper, retaining many of the features that have contributed to the success of structured products^1 (e.g., downside buffer levels, upside participation, defined outcome parameters), but with the added benefits of transparency, liquidity, the elimination of credit risk and lower costs afforded by the ETF structure.
About Innovator Capital Management, LLC
Innovator Capital Management, LLC is an SEC registered investment advisor (RIA) based in Wheaton, IL. Formed in 2014, the firm is currently headed by ETF visionaries Bruce Bond and John Southard, founders of one of the largest ETF providers in the world. Innovation is our hallmark and acts as a guide to our company principles. Innovator is committed to helping investors better control their financial outcomes by providing investment opportunities they never considered or thought possible. For additional information, visit www.innovatoretfs.com.
About Cboe Global Markets, Inc.
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE | Nasdaq: CBOE) is one of the world’s largest exchange-holding companies, offering cutting-edge trading and investment solutions to investors around the world. For more information, visit www.cboe.com.
About Milliman Financial Risk Management LLC
Milliman Financial Risk Management LLC (Milliman FRM) is a global leader in financial risk management to the retirement industry, providing investment advisory, hedging, and consulting services on over $148.6 billion in global assets as of September 30, 2019. For more information about Milliman FRM, visit Milliman.com/FRM.
Interim Period Shareholders
Unlike structured notes, which offer limited liquidity, Innovator Defined Outcome ETFs trade throughout the day on an exchange, like a stock. As a result, investors purchasing shares of a Fund after its launch date may achieve a different payoff profile than those who entered the Fund on day one. Innovator recognizes this as a benefit of the Funds and provides a web-based tool that allows investors to know, in real-time throughout the trading day, their potential defined outcome return profile before they invest, based on the current ETF price and the Outcome Period remaining. Innovator’s web tool can be accessed at http://www.innovatoretfs.com/define.
Although each Fund seeks to achieve the defined outcomes stated in its investment objective, there is no guarantee that it will do so. The returns that the Funds seek to provide do not include the costs associated with purchasing shares of the Fund and certain expenses incurred by the Fund.
1 Structured notes and structured annuities are financial instruments designed and created to afford investors exposure to an underlying asset through a derivative contract. It is important to note that these ETFs are not structured notes or structured annuities.
Investing involves risks. Loss of principal is possible. The Funds face numerous market trading risks, including active markets risk, authorized participation concentration risk, buffered loss risk, cap change risk, capped upside return risk, correlation risk, liquidity risk, management risk, market maker risk, market risk, non-diversification risk, operation risk, options risk, trading issues risk, upside participation risk and valuation risk. For a detail list of fund risks see the prospectus.
Foreign and Emerging Markets Risk Non-U.S. securities and Emerging Markets are subject to higher volatility than securities of domestic issuers due to possible adverse political, social or economic developments, restrictions on foreign investment or exchange of securities, lack of liquidity, currency exchange rates, excessive taxation, government seizure of assets, different legal or accounting standards, and less government supervision and regulation of securities exchanges in foreign countries.
Technology Sector Risk Companies in the technology sector are often smaller and can be characterized by relatively higher volatility in price performance when compared to other economic sectors. They can face intense competition, which may have an adverse effect on profit margins.
Small Cap Risk Small cap companies may be more volatile and susceptible to adverse developments than their mid and large cap counterpart. In addition, the small cap companies may be less liquid than larger companies.
FLEX Options Risk The Fund will utilize FLEX Options issued and guaranteed for settlement by the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). In the unlikely event that the OCC becomes insolvent or is otherwise unable to meet its settlement obligations, the Fund could suffer significant losses. Additionally, FLEX Options may be less liquid than standard options. In a less liquid market for the FLEX Options, the Fund may have difficulty closing out certain FLEX Options positions at desired times and prices. The values of FLEX Options do not increase or decrease at the same rate as the reference asset and may vary due to factors other than the price of reference asset.
These Funds are designed to provide point-to-point exposure to the price return of the Index via a basket of Flex Options. As a result, the ETFs are not expected to move directly in line with the Index during the interim period.
Investors purchasing shares after an outcome period has begun may experience very different results than funds' investment objective. Initial outcome periods are approximately 1-year beginning on the funds' inception date. Following the initial outcome period, each subsequent outcome period will begin on the first day of the month the fund was incepted. After the conclusion of an outcome period, another will begin.
Fund shareholders are subject to an upside return cap (the "Cap") that represents the maximum percentage return an investor can achieve from an investment in the funds' for the Outcome Period, before fees and expenses. If the Outcome Period has begun and the Fund has increased in value to a level near to the Cap, an investor purchasing at that price has little or no ability to achieve gains but remains vulnerable to downside risks. Additionally, the Cap may rise or fall from one Outcome Period to the next. The Cap, and the Fund's position relative to it, should be considered before investing in the Fund. The Funds' website, www.innovatoretfs.com, provides important Fund information as well information relating to the potential outcomes of an investment in a Fund on a daily basis.
The Funds only seek to provide shareholders that hold shares for the entire Outcome Period with their respective buffer level against Index losses during the Outcome Period. You will bear all Index losses exceeding 9, 15 or 30%. Depending upon market conditions at the time of purchase, a shareholder that purchases shares after the Outcome Period has begun may also lose their entire investment. For instance, if the Outcome Period has begun and the Fund has decreased in value beyond the pre-determined buffer, an investor purchasing shares at that price may not benefit from the buffer. Similarly, if the Outcome Period has begun and the Fund has increased in value, an investor purchasing shares at that price may not benefit from the buffer until the Fund's value has decreased to its value at the commencement of the Outcome Period.
Nasdaq® is a registered trademark of Nasdaq, Inc. (which with its affiliates is referred to as the "Corporations") and is licensed for use by Innovator Capital Management, LLC. The Product(s) have not been passed on by the Corporations as to their legality or suitability. The Product(s) are not issued, endorsed, sold, or promoted by the Corporations.
THE CORPORATIONS MAKE NO WARRANTIES AND BEAR NO LIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO THE PRODUCT(S).
The Innovator Russell 2000 Power Buffer ETF (the “Fund”) has been developed solely by Innovator Capital Management, LLC. The “Fund” is not in any way connected to or sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by the London Stock Exchange Group plc and its group undertakings (collectively, the “LSE Group”). FTSE Russell is a trading name of certain of the LSE Group companies. All rights in the Russell 2000 Index (the “Index”) vest in the relevant LSE Group company, which owns the Index. “FTSE®” “Russell®”, and “FTSE Russell®” are trade marks of the relevant LSE Group company and are used by any other LSE Group company under license.
The Index is calculated by or on behalf of FTSE International Limited or its affiliate, agent or partner. The LSE Group does not accept any liability whatsoever to any person arising out of (a) the use of, reliance on or any error in the Index or (b) investment in or operation of the Fund. The LSE Group makes no claim, prediction, warranty or representation either as to the results to be obtained from the Fund or the suitability of the Index for the purpose to which it is being put by Innovator Capital Management, LLC.
The ETFs referred to herein is not sponsored, endorsed, or promoted by MSCI Inc. or based upon the MSCI EAFE and MSCI Emerging Markets Indexes. MSCI Inc. bears no liability with respect to the ETFs.
MSCI, MSCI EAFE, and MSCI Emerging Markets are trademarks or service marks of MSCI Inc. or its affiliates (“Marks”) and are used hereto subject to license from MSCI. All goodwill and use of Marks inures to the benefit of MSCI and its affiliates. No other use of the Marks is permitted without a license from MSCI.
Cboe Global Markets, Inc., and its affiliates do not recommend or make any representation as to possible Benefits from any securities, futures or investments, or third-party products or services. Cboe Global Markets, Inc., is not affiliated with S&P DJI, Milliman, or Innovator Capital Management. Investors should undertake their own due diligence regarding their securities, futures and investment practices.
Cboe Global Markets, Inc., and its affiliates make no warranty, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, any warranties as of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, completeness or timeliness, or as to the results to be obtained by recipients of the products.
Innovator ETFsTM, Defined Outcome ETFTM, Buffer ETFTM, Enhanced ETFTM, Define Your FutureTM, Leading the Defined Outcome ETF RevolutionTM and other service marks and trademarks related to these marks are the exclusive property of Innovator Capital Management, LLC.
The Funds' investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses should be considered before investing. The prospectus contains this and other important information, and it may be obtained at innovatoretfs.com. Read it carefully before investing.
Innovator ETFs are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC.
Copyright © 2020 Innovator Capital Management, LLC.
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