WHEATON, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

First Trust Dividend and Income Fund (the “Fund”) (NYSE: FAV) today declared the dates for its final distribution, which will be payable on October 21, 2016, to shareholders of record as of October 18, 2016. The ex-dividend date is expected to be October 14, 2016. The final distribution amount per share will be provided in a separate press release that will be issued on or before October 13, 2016.

On October 3, 2016, First Trust Advisors L.P. (“FTA”) announced that shareholders of the Fund, a closed-end fund managed by FTA, approved the Fund’s merger with and into First Trust High Income ETF (Nasdaq: FTHI), an actively-managed exchange-traded fund and series of First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VI (the “Trust”), at a Joint Special Meeting of Shareholders. At the same meeting, shareholders of FTHI approved the issuance of FTHI shares in connection with the merger. As previously announced, the merger was approved by the Board of Trustees of each of FAV and the Trust on March 18, 2016.

Upon the completion of the transaction, which is expected to be tax-free, the assets of FAV will be transferred to, and the liabilities of FAV will be assumed by, FTHI, and shareholders of FAV will receive shares of FTHI with a value equal to the aggregate net asset value of the FAV shares held by them. The closing date of the merger is expected to occur as soon as reasonably practicable, but no later than October 31, 2016.

The Fund is a diversified, closed-end management investment company that seeks to provide a high level of current income. As a secondary objective, the Fund seeks to provide capital appreciation. The Fund pursues these investment objectives by investing at least 80% of its Managed Assets in a diversified portfolio of dividend-paying multi-cap equity securities, debt securities and senior, secured floating rate loans that offer the potential for attractive income and/or capital appreciation.

FTA, the Fund’s investment advisor, along with its affiliate, First Trust Portfolios L.P., are privately-held companies which provide a variety of investment services, including asset management and financial advisory services, with collective assets under management or supervision of approximately $98 billion as of September 30, 2016 through unit investment trusts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, mutual funds and separate managed accounts.

Past performance is no assurance of future results. Investment return and market value of an investment in the Fund will fluctuate. Shares, when sold, may be worth more or less than their original cost.

Principal Risk Factors: The risks of investing in the Fund are spelled out in the shareholder reports and other regulatory filings.

There can be no assurance as to what portion of the distributions paid to the Fund's common shareholders will consist of tax-advantaged qualified dividend income.

The senior loans in which the Fund invests are generally considered to be "high-yield securities". High yield securities are subject to greater market fluctuations and risk of loss than securities with higher ratings. The Fund's portfolio is also subject to credit risk and interest rate risk. Interest rate risk is the risk that fixed-income securities will decline in value because of changes in market interest rates. Credit risk is the risk of nonpayment of scheduled contractual repayments whether interest and/or principal payments or payments for services and that the value of a security may decline as a result.

The Fund may write (sell) covered call options on all or a portion of the equity securities held in the Fund's portfolio. The use of options may require the Fund to sell portfolio securities at inopportune times or for prices other than current market values, may limit the amount of appreciation the Fund can realize on an investment, or may cause the Fund to hold an equity security that it might otherwise sell.

Use of leverage can result in additional risk and cost, and can magnify the effect of any losses.

The Fund’s daily closing New York Stock Exchange price and net asset value per share as well as other information can be found at www.ftportfolios.com or by calling 1-800-988-5891.

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