Touchstone Launches Credit Opportunities Fund with Ares Capital Management II LLC as Sub-Advisor

CINCINNATI, Sept. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Touchstone Investments announces the launch of the Touchstone Credit Opportunities Fund in an effort to take advantage of market inefficiencies and relative value opportunities in the global fixed-income market. Ares Capital Management II LLC of Ares Management, L.P. will sub-advise the Fund.

"We are thrilled to include this dynamic portfolio in our fund family and to have the deeply experienced Ares Management team managing the Fund," said Steven M. Graziano, President of Touchstone Investments. "As market conditions continue to evolve, we see significant opportunities in the credit markets with many securities poised to benefit from capital appreciation and income generation." Touchstone incorporates a sub-advisor model that offers investors access to institutional asset managers whose strategies are typically not available to average shareholders.

The Fund seeks to generate absolute returns by investing primarily in global debt securities, by identifying opportunities that are believed to offer attractive relative values when compared to their fundamental credit risk. Ares Management incorporates a flexible investment strategy with the capacity to reallocate assets among core investments and opportunistic investments as market conditions change.  Broad investment categories include high yield bonds, bank loans, special situations, structured credit and hedges.

Management of the Touchstone Credit Opportunities Fund is led by Ares Management's Seth Brufsky, John Leupp and Darryl Schall, investment professionals with an average of more than 25 years of financial experience. Shares of the Fund are offered as A Shares (Symbol: TCOAX), C Shares (SYMBOL: TOCCX), Y Shares (Symbol: TCOYX), and Institutional Shares (Symbol: TOCIX).

"Since our firm's inception in 1997, we have adhered to a disciplined investment philosophy that focuses on delivering attractive risk-adjusted investment returns throughout market cycles," said Seth Brufsky, Partner and Portfolio Manager in the Ares Management Tradable Credit Group.  "We look forward to serving investors seeking exposure to credit markets and are excited to partner with Touchstone and continue our demonstrated presence in this market segment."

About Touchstone Investments
Touchstone Investments is a mutual fund company committed to providing investors with access to institutional asset managers who act in a sub-advisory capacity. Managed by sub-advisors with high conviction, concentrated portfolios, Touchstone's entire equity fund lineup is composed of high Active Share funds which means their holdings are highly differentiated from their benchmarks. Touchstone's sub-advisor selection and monitoring approach is built upon the conviction that an asset manager's organizational stability, quality of its personnel, adherence to its investment discipline and infrastructure represent the elements of repeatable, value-added performance results over time. This philosophy has resulted in a diverse but focused product offering that gives investors a full breadth of investment options across styles and asset classes. The Touchstone Funds are advised by Touchstone Advisors, Inc., a registered investment advisor, and are distributed nationally through intermediaries including broker-dealers, financial planners and institutions by Touchstone Securities, Inc., a registered broker-dealer and member FINRA/SIPC. Touchstone, Touchstone Funds and Touchstone Investments are federal service mark registrations and applications owned by IFS Financial Services, Inc. Touchstone Securities, Inc., Touchstone Advisors, Inc. and IFS Financial Services, Inc. are members of Western & Southern Financial Group. Western & Southern Financial Group, Inc. (Western & Southern) is a Fortune 500 company with $69 billion of assets owned and managed, as of June 30, 2015. For more information, please visit TouchstoneInvestments.com.

About Ares Management L.P.
Ares Capital Management II LLC is the Fund's sub-advisor.  Parent company, Ares Management, L.P. (NYSE: ARES) is a publicly traded, leading global alternative asset manager with approximately $88 billionⁱ of assets under management as of June 30, 2015 and more than 15 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Since its inception in 1997, Ares has adhered to a disciplined investment philosophy that focuses on delivering strong risk-adjusted investment returns throughout market cycles. Ares believes each of its four distinct but complementary investment groups in Tradable Credit, Direct Lending, Private Equity and Real Estate is a market leader based on assets under management and investment performance. Ares was built upon the fundamental principle that each group benefits from being part of the greater whole.

Please consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Fund carefully before investing. The prospectus and the summary prospectus contain this and other information about the Fund. To obtain a prospectus or a summary prospectus, contact your financial advisor or download and/or request one at TouchstoneInvestments.com/literature-center or call Touchstone at 800.638.8194. Please read the prospectus and/or summary prospectus carefully before investing.

The Fund invests in debt securities which can lose their value as interest rates rise and are subject to the risk of deterioration in the financial condition of an issuer and/or general economic conditions that can cause the issuer to not make timely payments of principal and interest also causing the securities to decline in value and an investor can lose principal. When interest rates rise, the price of debt securities generally falls. Longer term securities are generally more volatile. The Fund invests in non-investment grade debt securities, distressed securities and corporate loans which are considered speculative with respect to the issuers' ability to make timely payments of interest and principal, may lack liquidity and have more frequent and larger price changes than other debt securities. There is a high risk that the Fund could suffer losses from investments in non-investment grade debt securities caused by the default of an issuer. The Fund invests in Collateralized Loan Obligations (CLOs) that have risks that largely depend on the type of underlying collateral and risks may include illiquidity, limited active market, the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will be insufficient to make interest or other payments, the potential for a decline in the quality of the collateral, and can bear the risk of default by the loans. The Fund invests in convertible securities which are subject to the risks of both debt securities and equity securities. The Fund invests in equities which are subject to market volatility and loss. The Fund invests in preferred stocks which are relegated below bonds for payment should the issuer be liquidated. The fixed dividend may be less attractive in a rising interest rate market. The Fund invests in foreign securities which carry the associated risks of economic and political instability, market liquidity, currency volatility and differences in accounting standards. The Fund may invest in derivatives, futures contracts, options and swap agreements for speculative purposes. Derivatives can be highly volatile, illiquid and difficult to value, subject to counterparty and leverage risks and there is risk that changes in the value of a derivative held by the Fund will not correlate with the Fund's other investments. Gains or losses from speculative positions in a derivative may be much greater than the original cost and potential losses may be substantial. The Fund is involved in short selling which may result in additional costs associated with covering short positions and a possibility of unlimited loss. The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of a limited number of issuers and may be subject to greater risks. Current and future portfolio holdings are subject to risk. The advisor engages the sub-advisor to manage the Fund's portfolio; the sub-advisor's judgment may impact the Fund's performance.

ⁱ As of June 30, 2015, AUM amounts include capital available to vehicles managed or co-managed by Ares, including funds managed by Ivy Hill Asset Management, L.P., a wholly owned portfolio company of Ares Capital Corporation and a registered investment adviser. 

SOURCE Touchstone Investments

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