Not for distribution to U.S. newswire services or for dissemination in the United States .

TORONTO, July 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (TSX: FFI.UN) Investors and investment advisors are invited to listen to an update on Flaherty & Crumrine Investment Grade Fixed Income Fund (the “Fund”) provided by Chad Conwell, EVP of Flaherty & Crumrine Incorporated. A link to the update recorded on July 16, 2018 has been posted to the Brompton Funds website at the following link:

http://www.bromptongroup.com/static/mp3/FFI_July162018.mp3

The Fund has been assigned an investment grade rating by Standard & Poor’s.  The Fund’s investment objectives are to provide unitholders with a stable stream of monthly distributions, to preserve the net asset value per unit and to enhance the total return per unit by actively managing the portfolio. To achieve these objectives, the Fund invests in a portfolio of fixed income securities consisting primarily of US-dollar-denominated corporate debt and preferred securities of North American issuers that have an investment grade rating at time of purchase. Substantially all of the US dollar foreign exchange exposure of the Fund’s portfolio is hedged to the Canadian dollar.

The Fund has generated a compound return of 9.8% per annum for the 10 years ending June 30, 2018 (1) .  Its current regular distribution of $0.84 per annum represents a cash distribution rate of 7.1% per annum based on the July 16, 2018 TSX closing price.  The Fund also offers a distribution reinvestment plan (“DRIP”) which provides unitholders with the ability to automatically reinvest their distributions and realize the benefits of compound growth of their investment. The Fund has paid out $15.95 per unit in cash distributions since inception through to June 30, 2018. The Fund is available for purchase on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FFI.UN.

About Brompton Funds Brompton Funds, a division of Brompton Group which was founded in 2000, is an experienced investment fund manager with approximately $2 billion in assets under management. Brompton’s investment solutions include TSX traded funds, mutual funds and flow-through limited partnerships. For further information, please contact your investment advisor, call Brompton’s investor relations line at 416-642-6000 (toll-free at 1-866-642-6001), email info@bromptongroup.com or visit our website at www.bromptongroup.com .

(1) Returns are for the periods ended June 30, 2018. The table shows the Fund's compound return for each period indicated, compared with the return for the ICE BofAML US Capital Securities US Issuers 8% Constrained Index ("Corporate US Capital Index") and the ICE BofAML Hybrid Preferred Securities 8% Constrained Index ("Hybrid Preferred Securities Index"). The Corporate US Capital index included investment-trade, fixed rate or fixed-to-floating rate $1,000 par securities that are structured for institutional investors that receive some degree of equity credit from the rating agency or their regulators. The Hybrid Preferred Securities Index includes taxable, fixed rate, US dollar denominated, investment grade preferred securities listed in a US exchange and structured for retail investors.  Since the fund is actively managed, the sector weightings and credit ratings may differ from those of the indices. The indices are also not leveraged, whereas the Fund employs leverage. Further the indices are calculated without the deduction of management fees, fund expenses and trading commissions. whereas the performance of the Fund is calculated after deducting such fees and expenses.

Flaherty & Crumrine Investment Grade Fixed Income Fund          
Performance to June 30, 2018 1 Yr 3 Yrs 5 Yrs 10 Yrs Incep. (15/12/04)
Flaherty & Crumrine Investment Grade Fixed Income Fund (TSX:FFI.UN) (1.4 %) 6.4 % 8.4 % 9.8 % 5.4 %
ICE BofAML US Capital Securities US Issuers 8% Constrained Index 1.8 % 4.4 % 5.5 % 7.3 % 4.8 %
ICE BofAML Hybrid Preferred Securities 8% Constrained Index 2.5 % 6.5 % 6.6 % 7.3 % 4.8 %
           

The securities offered have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1993, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or any applicable exemption from the registration requirements.  This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy securities nor will there be any sale of such securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

You will usually pay brokerage fees to your dealer if you purchase or sell units of the investment fund on the Toronto Stock Exchange or other alternative Canadian trading system (an “exchange”).  If the units are purchased or sold on an exchange, investors may pay more than the current net asset value when buying units of the investment fund and may receive less than the current net asset value when selling them.

There are ongoing fees and expenses associated with owning units of an investment fund.  An investment fund must prepare disclosure documents that contain key information about the fund.  You can find more detailed information about the Fund in the public filings available at www.sedar.com. The indicated rates of return are the historical annual compounded total returns including changes in unit value and reinvestment of all distributions and do not take into account certain fees such as redemption costs or income taxes payable by any securityholder that would have reduced returns.  Investment funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.

The benchmarks from ICE Data Indices, LLC (“ICE Data”) are used with permission. ICE Data, its affiliates and their respective third party suppliers disclaim any and all warranties and representations, express and/or implied, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or use, including the indices, index data and any data included in, related to, or derived therefrom. Neither ICE Data, its affiliates nor their respective third party providers shall be subject to any damages or liability with respect to the adequacy, accuracy, timeliness or completeness of the indices or the index data or any component thereof, and the indices and index data and all components thereof are provided on an “as is” basis and your use is at your own risk. ICE Data, its affiliates and their respective third party suppliers do not sponsor, endorse, or recommend the Fund.

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information may relate to matters disclosed in this press release and to other matters identified in public filings relating to the Fund, to the future outlook of the Fund and anticipated events or results and may include statements regarding the future financial performance of the Fund.  In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by terms such as “may”, “will”, “should”, “expect”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “intend”, “estimate”, “predict”, “potential”, “continue” or other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts.  Actual results may vary from such forward-looking information. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and we assume no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.