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FlexShares Launches Global Infrastructure Index ETF

FlexShares® Exchange Traded Funds, sponsored and managed by Northern Trust, introduced the FlexShares STOXX Global Broad Infrastructure Fund (NYSE Arca: NFRA) on October 8th. A global equity portfolio, consisting of companies that have infrastructure ownership, the Fund operates with a goal of increasing diversification with other equity assets while also providing income to investors.

The Fund focuses on infrastructure ownership through a bottom-up analysis of each company's assets, as opposed to reliance on industry classifications. It also delivers greater diversification of infrastructure exposure by providing a larger array of super sectors beyond the typical exposure to utilities, energy and transportation.

NFRA also features:

  • Inclusion of Communication Infrastructure owners as part of the investment thesis, which helps generate incremental returns with lower volatility
  • Access to the newest area of infrastructure with dedicated exposure to Government Outsourcing/Social Infrastructure

“Historically, infrastructure stocks have low correlation to the overall equity market, and they tend to be defensive in nature,” said Shundrawn Thomas, head of Northern Trust's FlexShares Exchange Traded Funds Group. “With our ongoing focus on real world investor needs, we created this Fund first as a risk-mitigation tool that offers investors the unique characteristics of infrastructure in an effort to diversify their equity risk exposure, generate income and hedge against long-term inflation.”

Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, STOXX® Limited added, “Our goal with the STOXX Global Broad Infrastructure Index was to identify infrastructure companies across developed and emerging markets using a transparent, rule-based methodology that meets flexible indexing needs.”

For more information, please visit www.flexshares.com.

Before investing, carefully consider the FlexShares investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other information is in the prospectus, a copy of which may be obtained by visiting www.flexshares.com. Read the prospectus carefully before you invest.

Foreside Fund Services, LLC, distributor.

An investment in FlexShares is subject to numerous risks, including possible loss of principal. Fund returns may not match the return of the respective indexes. The Funds are subject to the following principal risks: asset class; commodity; concentration; counterparty; currency; derivatives; dividend; emerging markets; equity securities; fluctuation of yield; foreign securities; geographic; income; industry concentration; inflation-protected securities; infrastructure-related companies; interest rate / maturity risk; issuer; management; market; market trading; mid cap stock; MLP; natural resources; new funds; non-diversification; passive investment; privatization; small cap stock; tracking error; value investing; and volatility risk. A full description of risks is in the prospectus.

In addition, FlexShares STOXX Global Broad Infrastructure Index Fund is subject to the risks associated with investment in infrastructure-related companies in addition to the general risk of the stock market. Risks associated with infrastructure-related companies include: (a) realized revenue volume may be significantly lower than projected and/or there will be cost overruns; (b) infrastructure project sponsors will alter their terms making a project no longer economical; (c) macroeconomic factors such as low gross domestic product (“GDP”) growth or high nominal interest rates will raise the average cost of infrastructure funding; (d) government regulation may affect rates charged to infrastructure customers; (e) government budgetary constraints will impact infrastructure projects; (f) special tariffs will be imposed; and (g) changes in tax laws, regulatory policies or accounting standards could be unfavorable. Other risks include environmental damage due to a company’s operations or an accident, a natural disaster, changes in market sentiment towards infrastructure and terrorist acts. Any of these events could cause the value of the Fund’s investments in infrastructure-related companies to decline. Market performance is determined using the bid/ask midpoint at 4:00pm Eastern time, when the NAV is typically calculated. They do not represent the returns you would receive if you traded shares at other times. NAV is a fund’s price per share, which is calculated by dividing the total value of all the securities in the fund’s portfolio plus cash, interest and receivables less any liabilities by the number of fund shares outstanding.

About FlexShares

FlexShares is a suite of ETF products designed to pursue real-world goals by evolving the process of ETF development, providing flexibility for meeting investor needs. FlexShares Funds are sponsored by Northern Trust. Individual investors can purchase and sell shares through any brokerage firm, financial advisor or online broker. Follow us on Twitter @FlexSharesETFs.

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation (Nasdaq: NTRS) is a leading provider of investment management, asset and fund administration, banking solutions and fiduciary services for corporations, institutions and affluent individuals worldwide. Northern Trust, a financial holding company based in Chicago, has offices in 18 U.S. states and 18 international locations in North America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. As of September 30, 2013, Northern Trust had assets under custody of US$5.2 trillion, and assets under investment management of US$846.2 billion. For more than 120 years, Northern Trust has earned distinction as an industry leader in combining exceptional service and expertise with innovative products and technology. For more information, visit www.northerntrust.com or follow us on Twitter @NorthernTrust.

About STOXX Limited

STOXX Ltd. is a global index provider, currently calculating a global, comprehensive index family of over 6,000 strictly rules-based and transparent indices. Best known for the leading European equity indices EURO STOXX 50, STOXX Europe 50 and STOXX Europe 600, STOXX Ltd. maintains and calculates the STOXX Global Index family which consists of total market, broad and blue-chip indices for the regions Americas, Europe, Asia, and Pacific, the sub-regions Latin America and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China), as well as global markets. In addition, STOXX Ltd. is the marketing agent for the indices of Deutsche Boerse AG and SIX, amongst them the DAX and the SMI indices. STOXX Ltd. is part of Deutsche Boerse AG and SIX. www.stoxx.com

Contacts:

FlexShares
Media Contacts:
Doug Holt
312-557-1571
Doug_Holt@ntrs.com
or
Michael Burdeen
312-240-3152
Michael.Burdeen@Edelman.com
http://www.flexshares.com
Follow Us on Twitter @FlexSharesETFs

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