DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Knowledge Leaders Capital today announced the Knowledge Leaders Developed World ETF (NYSE Arca: KLDW) marked its 2-year milestone with continued growth and outperformance. As of the end of July, KLDW’s assets had surpassed US $80M as the alpha-seeking ETF continued its record of outperformance since inception*, besting the MSCI World Index by 2.84% (NAV) annualized.

In addition, the Knowledge Leaders Developed World ETF, which seeks to capture the excess returns of highly innovative companies, ranked in the top decile in the Morningstar World Large Stock category for total return and the generation of alpha, a measure of excess returns against the benchmark index, for the 2-year period as of 7/31/17 (of 843 funds for total return and alpha).

The Knowledge Leaders ETF’s track record illustrates the tendency of Knowledge Leaders to deliver excess returns in the stock market. For example, KLDW delivered greater total return and alpha than all five of the top benchmark indexes tracked by the largest international core equity ETFs over 2 years, as of 7/31/17. These included the FTSE Developed Index, the FTSE Developed ex-US All Cap Index, the MSCI World Index, the MSCI All Country World Index, and the MSCI EAFE Index.

KLDW’s investment strategy is based on capturing the Knowledge Effect, the tendency of highly innovative companies to generate excess returns in the stock market. As KLDW’s since inception performance demonstrates, the Knowledge Effect has been persistent across economic sectors and consistent through time.

KLDW is a diversified ETF offering core exposure to the developed world’s most innovative companies. Learn more at Knowledge Leaders Developed World ETF. Financial professionals may email [email protected] to request peer analysis, alpha analysis, drawdown analysis and/or attribution analysis reports.

As of 6/30/2017, the total returns for the Knowledge Leaders Developed World ETF NAV and market price, respectively, were 19.42% and 19.31% (1-Year) and 10.79% and 11.08% (Since Inception*). The expense ratio for the ETF is 0.75%.

*The fund’s inception date is July 7, 2015.

Performance data quoted represents past performance and is no guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than original cost. Returns less than one year are not annualized. NAV prices are used to calculate market price performance prior to the date when the Fund first traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Market performance is determined using the bid/ask midpoint at 4:00pm Eastern time, when the NAV is typically calculated. Market performance does not represent the returns you would receive if you traded shares at other times. For the Fund’s most recent month-end and quarter-end performance, please visit www.knowledgeleadersfunds.com/kldw.

As of 7/31/2017, the annualized total return for the MSCI World Index was 8.50% for the since inception period of the fund.

About the Knowledge Leaders Developed World ETF

The Knowledge Leaders Developed World ETF is the first ETF designed to capture the Knowledge Effect, a market anomaly by which highly innovative companies tend to generate excess returns in the stock market. The firm’s flagship Knowledge Leaders Strategy seeks to transform the Knowledge Effect into portfolio alpha. The Knowledge Effect is grounded in academic literature. It was first discovered in a series of studies in the 1990s where New York University’s Baruch Lev analyzed 20 years of financial data and discovered an association between a firm’s level of knowledge capital and its subsequent stock performance. Further research advanced the findings, and in 2005, Lev proved the existence of a market inefficiency attributable to missing information about knowledge investments. This phenomenon leads highly innovative companies to deliver persistent abnormal returns. Read the white paper on the Knowledge Effect in “Featured Research” at Knowledge Leaders Capital.

About Knowledge Leaders Capital

Knowledge Leaders Capital identified the Knowledge Effect and created the first investment methodology designed to capture the excess returns of highly innovative companies. Knowledge Leaders Capital is creator and designer of the Knowledge Leaders Strategy, indexes and investment products. Learn more at Knowledge Leaders Capital or email [email protected]. Follow our investment team blog via Twitter @KLCapital.

Please consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. The prospectus or summary prospectus that contains this and other information about the Funds is available by calling 844-428-3525 and should be read carefully.

Important Information:

Equity securities, such as common stocks, are subject to market, economic and business risks that may cause their prices to fluctuate. Currency Risk is the risk that the values of foreign investments may be affected by changes in the currency rates or exchange control regulations. Investments in foreign securities may involve risks such as social and political instability, market illiquidity, exchange-rate fluctuations, a high level of volatility and limited regulation. Investing in emerging markets involves different and greater risks, as these countries are substantially smaller, less liquid and more volatile than securities markets in more developed markets. The Fund’s return may not match or achieve a high degree of correlation with the return of the Index.

The Knowledge Leaders Developed World ETF is distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC. Foreside Fund Services, LLC is not affiliated with Knowledge Leaders Capital.

Alpha is a measure of the portfolio’s risk adjusted performance. When compared to the portfolio’s beta, a positive alpha indicates better-than-expected portfolio performance and a negative alpha worse-than-expected portfolio performance.

The FTSE Developed Index is a market-capitalization weighted index representing the performance of large and mid-cap companies in developed markets. The FTSE Developed ex-US All Cap Index is part of a range of indices designed to help US investors benchmark their international investments. The index comprises large, mid and small cap stocks from developed markets excluding the US. The MSCI World Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of developed markets. The MSCI All Country World Index is a free-float adjusted market capitalization weighted index that is designed to measure the equity market performance in 46 developed and emerging markets. The MSCI EAFE Index is designed to represent the performance of large and mid-cap securities across 21 developed markets, including countries in Europe, Australasia and the Far East, excluding the U.S. and Canada. No investment strategy can guarantee a profit or protect against loss in periods of declining values.

Shares of the Funds may be sold throughout the day on the exchange through any brokerage account. However, shares are not individually redeemable, and may only be redeemed directly from the Fund by Authorized Participants, in very large creation/redemption units. There can be no assurance that an active trading market for shares of an ETF will develop or be maintained. Shares may trade above or below NAV.

As of 7/31/17, the 2-year annualized total return performance for the FTSE Developed Index was 7.84%, for the FTSE Developed ex-US All Cap Index was 5.60%, for the MSCI World Index was 7.51%, for the MSCI All Country World Index was 7.95%, and for the MSCI EAFE Index was 4.35%. Indexes are unmanaged and it is not possible to invest directly in an index.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The Morningstar percentile ranking is based on the fund’s alpha relative to all funds that have the same category for the same time period. The KLDW ETF was in the 55th percentile for the 1 year period among 896 peers in the Morningstar World Large Stock Category and 9th percentile in the 2 year period among 843 peers ending 7/31/2017. The Morningstar percentile ranking is based on the fund’s total return relative to all funds that have the same category for the same time period. The KLDW ETF was in the 57th percentile for the 1 year period among 896 peers in the Morningstar World Large Stock Category and 7th percentile in the 2 year period among 843 peers ending 7/31/2017. The highest (or most favorable) percentile rank is 1 and the lowest (or least favorable) percentile rank is 100.

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