TORONTO, July 26,
2023 /CNW/ - Horizons ETFs Management
(Canada) Inc. ("Horizons
ETFs") and National Bank Direct Brokerage ("NBDB")
are pleased to announce that Michael
Pallone from Montreal,
Quebec is the grand prize winner of the Horizons ETFs
Biggest Winner 12 Trading Competition (the "Competition").
With the highest six-week cumulative return of 27.07%, Mr. Pallone
has been awarded the grand prize of $10,000.
"I was very excited to find out I won. As a Horizons ETFs'
web subscriber and having attended their webinars in the past, I
was alerted to the competition by email. I entered the Biggest
Winner 12 to learn more about ETF trading and have fun and
ultimately, did both! It was a great competition!" said Mr.
Pallone, upon learning of his success.
The Competition, which ran from May 15 to
June 23, 2023, saw approximately 2,500 participants complete
more than 25,000 trades over the six-week trading period.
Contestants were provided with a fantasy brokerage account, with a
balance of $100,000 in notional
Canadian dollars. Competitors used these fantasy funds to place
simulated trades among more than 1,000 ETFs listed on the Toronto
Stock Exchange (TSX).
For Mr. Pallone, his key to success was anticipating and taking
advantage of recent market volatility. To achieve his returns, he
rotated in and out of long and short commodity and equity-focused
strategies, targeting opportunities to reposition and capture
momentum ahead of market reversals.
"Due to the short time horizon, I figured I needed to take
advantage of volatility and luck, and fortunately both worked out
for me," said Mr. Pallone, when asked about his winning
strategy. "I primarily used leveraged and inverse leveraged
ETFs, with a focus on natural gas, gold, silver and
Bitcoin. I took advantage of volatility through limit
buys and sells – this allowed me to buy and sell at the price I
wanted. My personal investment philosophy is to buy and hold
for the long term but for the Biggest Winner 12, I did the exact
opposite of what I would usually do!"
The runner-up, Ziad Kayal, from
Gloucester, Ontario, secured his
second-place position with a cumulative return of 23.34%, earning
him $5,000 in this year's
Competition.
"I was thrilled and pleasantly surprised, given that the
Biggest Winner is tough and you are competing against thousands of
people. To maximize my investment potential, I devised a strategy
that capitalized on macroeconomics. Initially, I rode the upwards
momentum of U.S. and tech stocks by taking advantage of the BetaPro
ETFs. Once that approach showed signs of slowing down, I
transitioned to cryptocurrency ETFs, which were primed
for a significant rally!"
As well, six weekly prizes of $1,000 were awarded to each participant who
achieved the best single-week returns. Mr. Pallone also secured a
weekly prize in addition to winning the overall Competition.
For the Biggest Winner 12, Horizons ETFs also introduced a new
way to win prizes: a random weekly draw accessible for competition
participants that executed three or more trades in the previous
week. Each week, one lucky trader was awarded a $100 Amazon gift card.
The top-traded ETFs in the contest are all managed by Horizons
ETFs. The three most-traded ETFs are a part of the Horizons'
BetaPro family of tactical ETFs: the BetaPro Natural Gas Leveraged
Daily Bull ETF ("HNU"), the BetaPro Natural Gas Leveraged
Daily Bear ETF ("HND"), and the BetaPro Crude Oil Leveraged
Daily Bull ETF ("HOU"). HNU seeks daily investment results,
before fees, expenses, distributions, brokerage commissions, and
other transaction costs, that endeavour to correspond to up to two
times (200%) the daily performance of the Horizons Natural Gas
Rolling Futures Index. HND seeks daily investment results, before
fees, expenses, distributions, brokerage commissions, and other
transaction costs, that endeavour to correspond to up to two times
(200%) the inverse (opposite) of the daily performance of the
Horizons Natural Gas Rolling Futures Index.
HOU seeks daily investment results, before fees, expenses,
distributions, brokerage commissions and other transaction costs,
that endeavour to correspond to up to two times (200%) the daily
performance of the Horizons Crude Oil Rolling Futures Index.
"It was a pleasure to preside over my first-ever Biggest
Winner and see how Canadians from across the country approached
this competition with dedication, skill and a desire to have fun,
all while trying out new ETF investing strategies," said
Rohit Mehta, President & CEO of
Horizons ETFs. "With our ETF industry continuing to grow and
with it, the number of ETFs available to invest in, the Biggest
Winner will remain an important way to help Canadians learn, grow
and ultimately, become better investors."
NBDB, a founding sponsor of the Biggest Winner Competition and
its past ten editions, believes the contest presents a unique
opportunity for investors to learn the ins and outs of
self-directed investing.
"National Bank Direct Brokerage would like to congratulate
Michael Pallone, Ziad Kayal, and the other winners in the Biggest
Winner 12 trading competition," said Claude-Frédéric Robert,
President of National Bank Direct Brokerage. "This competition
allows participants to refine their investment strategies in a
simulated environment and learn more about the mechanics of
investing. We are proud to support this contest and help
participants improve their financial knowledge."
In addition to being the listing exchange for all of the ETFs
tradeable by participants in the Competition, TSX was also a
sponsor of the Biggest Winner 12.
"On behalf of Toronto Stock Exchange, I'd like to
congratulate Michael Pallone for
winning Horizons ETFs Biggest Winner Competition," said
Graham Mackenzie, Managing Director,
Exchange Traded Products, TMX Group. "TSX is continuously
looking at ways to innovate for investors and clients alike. This
Competition allows both new and experienced investors the ability
to explore the opportunities TSX ETFs have to offer."
In total, $21,000 in cash prizes
were awarded as part of the Competition. The winners are:
Grand Prize: Michael Pallone,
Montreal, ON
Runner-up:
Ziad Kayal, Scarborough, ON
Week One: Amin Ebadi, Toronto, ON
Week Two: Meshaal Khan, Brampton,
ON
Week Three: Michael Pallone,
Montreal, QC
Week Four: Dan Trudelle,
Waterloo, ON
Week Five: Fiona Nyugen,
Edmonton, AB
Week Six: Devon Yu, Meadow Lake, SK
About National Bank Direct
Brokerage (www.NBDB.ca)
National Bank Direct Brokerage (NBDB) is a division of National
Bank Financial Inc. (NBF), as well as a trademark owned by National
Bank of Canada (NBC) that is used
under licence by NBF. NBF is a member of the Investment Industry
Regulatory Organization of Canada,
the Canadian Investor Protection Fund, and is a subsidiary of NBC,
a public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: NA).
NBDB provides order execution only services and makes no investment
recommendations.
About National Bank of
Canada
With $418 billion in assets as at
January 31, 2023, National Bank of
Canada, together with its
subsidiaries, forms one of Canada's leading integrated financial groups.
It has more than 30,000 employees in knowledge-intensive positions
and has been recognized numerous times as a top employer and for
its commitment to diversity. Its securities are listed on the
Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: NA). Follow the Bank's activities at
nbc.ca or via social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and
Twitter.
About Horizons ETFs Management
(Canada) Inc.
(www.HorizonsETFs.com)
Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. is an innovative financial
services company with one of the largest suites of exchange traded
funds in Canada. The Horizons ETFs
product family includes a broadly diversified range of solutions
for investors of all experience levels to meet their investment
objectives in a variety of market conditions. Horizons ETFs
currently has more than $27 billion
of assets under management and 113 ETFs listed on major Canadian
stock exchanges. Horizons ETFs is a wholly owned subsidiary of the
Mirae Asset Financial Group, which manages approximately
$710 billion of assets across 13
countries around the world.
Commissions, management fees and expenses all may be
associated with an investment in exchange traded products managed
by Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. (the "Horizons Exchange Traded
Products"). The Horizons Exchange Traded Products are not
guaranteed, their value changes frequently and past performance may
not be repeated. Certain Horizons Exchange Traded Products may have
exposure to leveraged investment techniques that magnify gains and
losses and which may result in greater volatility in value and
could be subject to aggressive investment risk and price volatility
risk. Such risks are described in the prospectus. The prospectus
contains important detailed information about the ETF. Please read
the relevant prospectus before investing.
The Horizons Exchange Traded Products include our BetaPro
products (the "BetaPro Products"). The BetaPro Products are
alternative mutual funds within the meaning of National Instrument
81-102 Investment Funds and are permitted to use strategies
generally prohibited by conventional mutual funds: the ability to
invest more than 10% of their net asset value in securities of a
single issuer, to employ leverage, and engage in short selling to a
greater extent than is permitted in conventional mutual funds.
While these strategies will only be used in accordance with the
investment objectives and strategies of the BetaPro Products,
during certain market conditions they may accelerate the risk that
an investment in shares of a BetaPro Product decreases in
value.
The BetaPro Products consist of our Daily Bull and Daily Bear
ETFs ("Leveraged and Inverse Leveraged ETFs"), Inverse ETFs
("Inverse ETFs"), Leveraged and Inverse Leveraged ETFs and certain
other BetaPro Products use leveraged investment techniques that can
magnify gains and losses and may result in greater volatility of
returns. These BetaPro Products are subject to leverage risk and
may be subject to aggressive investment risk and price volatility
risk, among other risks, which are described in their respective
prospectuses. Each Leveraged and Inverse Leveraged ETF seeks a
return, before fees and expenses, that is either up to, or equal
to, either 200% or –200% of the performance of a specified
underlying index, commodity futures index or benchmark (the
"Target") for a single day. Each Inverse ETF seeks a return that is
–100% of the performance of its Target. Due to the compounding of
daily returns a Leveraged and Inverse Leveraged ETF's or Inverse
ETF's returns over periods other than one day will likely differ in
amount and, particularly in the case of the Leveraged and Inverse
Leveraged ETFs, possibly direction from the performance of their
respective Target(s) for the same period. For certain Leveraged and
Inverse Leveraged ETFs that seek up to 200% or up to or -200%
leveraged exposure, the Manager anticipates, under normal market
conditions, managing the leverage ratio as close to two times
(200%) as practicable however, the Manager may, at its sole
discretion, change the leverage ratio based on its assessment of
the current market conditions and negotiations with the respective
ETF's counterparties at that time. Hedging costs charged to BetaPro
Products reduce the value of the forward price payable to that
ETF.
This communication is intended for informational purposes
only and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation
of an offer to purchase exchange traded products (the "Horizons
Exchange Traded Products") managed by Horizons ETFs Management
(Canada) Inc. and is not, and
should not be construed as, investment, tax, legal or accounting
advice, and should not be relied upon in that regard. Individuals
should seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding
any particular investment. Investors should consult their
professional advisors prior to implementing any changes to their
investment strategies. These investments may not be suitable to the
circumstances of an investor.
Certain statements may constitute a forward-looking
statement, including those identified by the expression "expect"
and similar expressions (including grammatical variations thereof).
The forward-looking statements are not historical facts but reflect
the author's current expectations regarding future results or
events. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events
to differ materially from current expectations. These and other
factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place
undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the
authors do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement
that is contained herein, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable
law.
SOURCE Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc.