Investors Have a Powerful New Tool Designed to Protect Against Downside Risk With the Launch of the Armor US Equity Index ETF (ARMR)

A 10-year old bull market, renewed volatility, the tendency of investors to mistime markets all make ARMR a key bulwark in the effort to maintain gains and avoid significant sell-offs

ATLANTA--()--Armor Index, Inc., an innovative new provider of indices designed to protect against downside risk across a number of asset classes, in conjunction with Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC (“ETC”), one of the leading provider of white label ETF services, today announced the launch of the Armor US Equity Index ETF (NYSE Arca: ARMR).

ARMR seeks to provide investment returns that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the total return performance of the Armor US Equity Index. Rebalanced monthly, the index provides exposure to those sectors of the US economy that score the highest using Armor’s proprietary market performance indicator (MPI), which identifies the sectors best positioned to offer strong, long-term performance potential with lower expected downside risk.

Only the sectors that score well in the MPI are included each month, represented by using highly liquid sector ETFs. If no sector appears attractive based on the MPI’s results, the index can shift to a focus on US Treasurys.

With the current bull market for US equities now in its second decade, investors are in uncharted territory. It’s only prudent that many will be thinking about how their portfolios will respond when the inevitable downturn arrives,” said Armor Index founder Jim Colquitt. “For investors, protecting against downside risk should be paramount; and for advisors, explaining to clients how you can help them protect against downside risk is going to be an important, and recurring, conversation in 2020.”

Mr. Colquitt founded Armor Index, Inc. after having spent close to 20 years with Invesco in a variety of senior positions, including Portfolio Manager and Senior Analyst, covering asset classes from investment grade to high yield credit.

Whether it is in equity or credit, one facet of investor behavior that doesn’t change is the tendency for key investment decisions to be influenced by fear and greed,” added Colquitt. “Greed tends to keep investors overexposed to the markets when they should be paring positions, while fear can keep them out of the markets just when key turnarounds take place. It’s why the long-term performance of many investment categories is so strong, while the long-term performance of so many investors is not. With the MPI underpinning our indexes, including the one tracked by ARMR, we have sought to provide important tools to help investors stay exposed to the market while protecting against downside risk.”

We could not be happier to be teaming up with Armor to bring ARMR to the marketplace,” said J. Garrett Stevens, CEO of Exchange Traded Concepts. “This solution is a strong building block for investors looking for potential ways to protect their equity portfolios against future downturns, and it comes at a time when valuations are stretched, volatility is making an extended reappearance, and a 10-year bull market run may be showing signs of slowing down. All of this makes ARMR an important new entry to the ETF landscape and one we’re proud to be a part of.”

ARMR trades on the New York Stock Exchange and charges a 0.50 percent management fee.

About Armor Index, Inc.

Armor Index, Inc. is the creator of multiple indices designed to provide exposure to various markets while protecting investors against downside risk. Armor Index, Inc. believes that by using a quantitative, rules-based approach to investing, investors can eliminate decisions made out of fear or greed which can lead to better long-term results. For more information, please visit https://armoretfs.com/.

About Exchange Traded Concepts

Exchange Traded Concepts is a private-label ETF advisor with passive and active exemptive relief from the SEC under the Investment Company Act of 1940 to launch custom domestic and international equity and fixed income exchange traded funds through a complete turnkey solution. ETC’s ETF-In-A-Box™ Solution provides an efficient and cost-effective method to bring exchange-traded funds to market with the operational and regulatory experience necessary to manage the complexities of launching and managing an ETF. By developing strategic partnerships with veteran ETF service providers, ETC assists investment managers, independent advisors, foreign asset managers, research and index providers and others in navigating the exchange-traded fund launch and ongoing management process with the time-sensitivity and professional guidance essential for maintaining regulatory compliance. Additional information can be found on the Exchange Traded Concepts’ website at www.exchangetradedconcepts.com.

Disclosures

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. For a prospectus or summary prospectus with this and other information about the Fund, please call (888) 123-4589 or visit our website at www.armoretfs.com. Read the prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before investing.

The Funds are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC.

Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. The Fund’s return may not match or achieve a high degree of correlation with the return of the Index. To the extent the Fund’s investments are concentrated in or have significant exposure to a particular issuer, industry or group of industries, or asset class, the Fund may be more vulnerable to adverse events affecting such issuer, industry or group of industries, or asset class than if the Fund’s investments were more broadly diversified. Issuer-specific events, including changes in the financial condition of an issuer, can have a negative impact on the value of the Fund.

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.

A new or smaller fund is subject to the risk that its performance may not represent how the fund is expected to or may perform in the long term. In addition, new funds have limited operating histories for investors to evaluate and new and smaller funds may not attract sufficient assets to achieve investment and trading efficiencies.

Contacts

Chris Sullivan/Julia Stoll
MacMillan Communications
(212) 473-4442
chris@macmillancom.com

Release Summary

Armor Index and Exchange Traded Concepts are launching ARMR, a powerful tool for investors and advisors looking for protection against downside risk

Contacts

Chris Sullivan/Julia Stoll
MacMillan Communications
(212) 473-4442
chris@macmillancom.com