AdvisorShares Announces the Launch Date of the Athena International Bear ETF (HDGI)

BETHESDA, Md., July 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- AdvisorShares, a leading sponsor of actively managed exchange-traded funds (ETFs), announced today that the AdvisorShares Athena International Bear ETF (NYSE Arca: HDGI) will open for trading on Friday, July 19, 2013.  HDGI is sub-advised by AthenaInvest Advisors LLC, a SEC Registered Investment Adviser with an established history of delivering industry leading behavioral portfolio management and development of a patented behavioral research process. Athena's skill as an equity manager is substantiated by industry recognition and a proven track record.[1]

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HDGI is a short international equity securities portfolio with a tactical overlay.  Led by Dr. C. Thomas Howard, PhD, co-founder and chief investment officer of Athena, the portfolio management utilizes a behavioral factor driven investment process that measures manager behavior, strategy consistency and conviction, and identifies which stocks are held in top and bottom relative weight positions within the equity universe. Short positions are selected from the lowest conviction holdings in the international universe. Equity manager and investor behavior factors also determine the most attractive markets and capitalization ranges from Athena's perspective, allowing a tactical overlay that allocates short and cash exposure within the portfolio. The HDGI portfolio can range from 50 to 100 holdings and invests in American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) and international company stocks traded on U.S. exchanges.

"We believe that Athena's behavioral investment process and extensive track record of producing measurable results brings a unique approach to the HDGI strategy," said Noah Hamman, chief executive officer of AdvisorShares. "With the launch of the first international all-short actively managed ETF, we feel that investors and financial advisors in search of portfolio diversification will find HDGI an important investment option not historically available via a transparent, liquid and efficient active ETF structure."

"Our behavioral portfolio management approach and patented behavioral investment process is deeply rooted in a robust academic foundation with over 35-plus years of research and statistical validation," said Dr. Howard. "With our scalable and holistic process, we aim to provide shareholders with a compelling alternative to other short and inverse products. Partnering with AdvisorShares allows us to deliver a unique strategy, providing benefits historically associated with alternative and hedge fund strategies, but delivered in a portable, liquid and transparent active ETF."

For media inquiries requesting more information on AdvisorShares, please contact Ryan Graham at 202-684-6442 or [email protected].  For financial professionals and investors requesting more information, please visit www.advisorshares.com or call the AdvisorShares Investment Consultant Team at 1-877-THE-ETF1 (1-877-843-3831).

Please visit www.advisorshares.com to register for free weekly economic commentary. For educational insight into the active ETF marketplace, visit www.alphabaskets.com, follow @AdvisorShares on Twitter and 'Like' us on Facebook. Every Thursday at 4:00pm EDT, AdvisorShares hosts an educational conference call for Financial Professionals featuring our portfolio managers and leading investment industry experts—Dial: 1-800-977-8002; Code: 777534#

About AdvisorShares

AdvisorShares is one of the leading providers of actively managed ETFs. As of 7/10/2013, AdvisorShares offers 17 active ETFs with approximately $820,000,000 of assets under management. AdvisorShares provides educational support to help financial advisors and investors understand the benefits of actively managed ETFs and their underlying investment strategies.

About AthenaInvest Advisors, LLC

AthenaInvest is the industry leader in behavioral portfolio management with a patented behavioral research process built on a deep academic foundation and developed over 35 years of interaction with leading academics and institutional money managers by C. Thomas Howard, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Investment Officer and Director of Research. AthenaInvest delivers next generation investment strategies that use persistent and predictive behavioral factors in a rigorous and disciplined investment approach designed to build portfolios that perform. Please visit www.athenainvest.com for additional information.

Before investing you should carefully consider the Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other information is in the prospectus, a copy of which may be obtained by visiting the Fund's website at www.AdvisorShares.com. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest.

Foreside Fund Services, LLC, distributor.

There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.  An investment in the Fund is subject to risk, including the loss of principal amount invested.  The Fund may participate in leveraged transactions to include selling securities short which create the risk of magnified capital losses. Under certain market conditions, short sales can increase the volatility and decrease the liquidity of certain securities or positions and may lower the Fund's return or result in a loss. The Fund may invest in Exchange-Traded Vehicles which subjects the Fund to the risks associated with such vehicle's investments or reference asset in the case of ETNs, including the possibility that value of the securities could decrease.  Other Fund risks include foreign securities risk, large-, mid-, and small- capitalization risk, ADRs which may be less liquid, early closing risk and trading risk.  See prospectus for details regarding specific risks. This Fund may not be suitable for all investors.

A short position is the sale of a borrowed investment with the expectation that it will decline in value. Alpha is a measure of performance on a risk-adjusted basis. The excess return of the fund relative to the return of the benchmark index is a fund's alpha. Correlation is a statistical measure of how two securities move in relation to each other.

Shares are bought and sold at market price not net asset value (NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the Fund.  Market price returns are based on the midpoint of the bid/ask spread at 4:00 pm Eastern Time (when NAV is normally determined) and do not represent the return you would receive if you traded at other times.

[1] For more information, please visit http://www.informais.com/topguns/topguns.asp and http://online.barrons.com/public/page/9_0210-sepacctwinners.html

SOURCE AdvisorShares