• New Emerging Markets and European Dividend ETFs offer regular income and growth potential
• Three new currency-hedged ETFs provide investors with greater choice
• First unhedged European dividend and hedged international dividend ETFs in Canada

TORONTO, Oct. 22, 2014 /CNW/ - RBC Global Asset Management Inc. (RBC GAM) today announced the launch of five new Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) specifically designed to meet the needs of investors and advisors for income, access to international markets and reduced exposure to foreign currency risk. All five ETFs are now available for purchase on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX).

"Our ongoing discussions with investors and advisors indicated a need for better income-generating solutions that provide international diversification and limit foreign currency risk," said Mark Neill, head of RBC ETFs. "These new ETFs build upon our successful suite of RBC Quant Dividend Leaders ETFs, which feature a forward-looking investment approach, superior portfolio construction and competitive fees while offering additional global investment opportunities."

RBC Quant Emerging Markets Dividend Leaders ETF (RXD) seeks to provide regular income by focusing on companies domiciled in the emerging markets by following the rules-based Quant Dividend Leaders investment process which screens for income, financial strength and growth potential and applies a modified cap weighting methodology. This ETF has a management fee of 0.64 per cent. The ticker symbol "RXD" represents Canadian-dollar-denominated units, while the ticker symbol "RXD.u" represents U.S.-dollar denominated units.

RBC Quant European Dividend Leaders ETF (RPD) seeks to provide regular income by focusing on companies domiciled in Europe by following the rules-based Quant Dividend Leaders investment process which screens for income, financial strength and growth potential and applies a modified cap weighting methodology. This is the first unhedged European dividend ETF in Canada and has a management fee of 0.49 per cent. The ticker symbol "RPD" represents Canadian-dollar-denominated units, while the ticker symbol "RPD.u" represents U.S.-dollar denominated units.

Three new currency-hedged RBC Quant Dividend Leaders ETFs

RBC GAM also announced the launch of three new currency-hedged ETFs:

• RBC Quant U.S. Dividend Leaders (CAD Hedged) ETF (RHU)
• RBC Quant European Dividend Leaders (CAD Hedged) ETF (RHP)
• RBC Quant EAFE Dividend Leaders (CAD Hedged) ETF (RHI)

The RBC Quant EAFE Dividend Leaders ETF is the first and only international dividend ETF available in Canada and it is now available in a currency-hedged option.

The five new ETFs launched today bring the number of RBC Quant Dividend Leaders ETFs to eight, with four also available in U.S.-dollar denominated units. Each RBC Quant Dividend Leaders ETF is managed by Bill Tilford, head of Quantitative Investments, RBC GAM, and a team of portfolio managers and analysts. The management team employs a rigorous, rules-based investment approach to identify companies with higher-than-average dividend yields, strong balance sheets, positive market sentiment and potential for future dividend growth.

RBC Quant Dividend Leaders ETFs Lineup:

"More and more, investors are looking for global investment options that offer income and growth potential, and are easy to understand," Neill added. "These five new ETFs help address that need, as they have the potential to generate regular monthly income and capital growth. As Canada's leading provider of income solutions, we look forward to continuing to add more innovative products to RBC Global Asset Management's ETF family."

With these new additions, RBC GAM offers a total of 17 ETFs, with over $530 million in assets under management as of October 17, 2014, an increase of 185 per cent since the start of 2014.

For further information regarding RBC ETFs, please visit www.rbcgam.com/etfs.

About RBC Global Asset Management and RBC Wealth Management
RBC Global Asset Management (RBC GAM) is the asset management division of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), and includes institutional money managers BlueBay Asset Management and Phillips, Hager & North Investment Management. RBC GAM is a provider of global investment management services and solutions to individual, high-net-worth and institutional investors through mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, hedge funds, pooled funds, separate accounts and specialty investment strategies. RBC GAM group of companies manage more than C$350 billion in assets and have approximately 1,200 employees located across Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia.

RBC Global Asset Management is part of RBC Wealth Management, which is one of the world's top five largest wealth managers*. RBC Wealth Management directly serves affluent, high-net-worth and ultra-high net worth clients in Canada, the United States, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia with a full suite of banking, investment, trust and other wealth management solutions. The business also provides asset management products and services directly and through RBC and third party distributors to institutional and individual clients, through its RBC Global Asset Management business (which includes BlueBay Asset Management). RBC Wealth Management has more than C$690 billion of assets under administration, more than C$426 billion of assets under management and approximately 4,400 financial consultants, advisors, private bankers, and trust officers. For more information, please visit www.rbcwealthmanagement.com.

*Scorpio Partnership Global Private Banking KPI Benchmark 2013. In the United States, securities are offered through RBC Wealth Management, a division of RBC Capital Markets, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada. Member NYSE/FINRA/SIPC.

SOURCE RBC