The board of trustees of the FocusShares Trust, in consultation with the adviser, has voted to discontinue and liquidate the FocusShares family of exchange-traded funds as of 30 August 2012.

The 15 funds had approximately USD100m in aggregate assets as of 31 July 2012. The funds were launched in March 2011 and are designed to track broad equity market and sector-specific Morningstar benchmark indexes.

The board considered current market conditions, the inability of the funds to attract significant market interest since their inception, and their future viability as well as prospects for growth in the funds' assets in the foreseeable future. The board determined that it was advisable and in the best interests of the funds and their shareholders to liquidate the funds, which are listed for trading on NYSE Arca.

Friday 17 August 2012 will be the last day of trading for the shares of the funds on the NYSE Arca. In addition, 17 August will be the last day on which creation unit aggregations of each fund's shares may be purchased or redeemed. The NYSE Arca will suspend trading in the shares of the funds before the open of trading on 20 August. The funds will be closed to new investment beginning 20 August.

Shareholders may sell their holdings on the NYSE Arca up through 17 August, incurring any applicable transaction fees from their broker-dealer. From August 20 through 30 August, shareholders of each fund may be able to sell their shares off the exchange to certain broker-dealers, but there can be no assurance that there will be a market for the funds. All shareholders remaining on 30 August will receive cash equal to the amount of the net asset value of their fund shares as of 30 August, which will include any capital gains and dividends, into the cash portion of their brokerage accounts on or about 31 August.

Shareholders receiving the final liquidating cash distribution will not incur transaction fees in connection with this distribution or the cancellation of their fund shares. Moreover, shareholders will not bear any expenses associated with the liquidation of the funds other than bearing indirectly the portfolio transaction costs incurred in liquidating the funds' assets in advance of the funds' closure. On 20 August, the funds will commence the process of liquidating their assets and, consequently, may be unable to pursue their investment objectives.

The affected funds are:

Focus Morningstar US Market Index ETF
Focus Morningstar Large Cap Index ETF
Focus Morningstar Mid Cap Index ETF
Focus Morningstar Small Cap Index ETF
Focus Morningstar Basic Materials Index ETF
Focus Morningstar Communication Services Index ETF
Focus Morningstar Consumer Cyclical Index ETF
Focus Morningstar Consumer Defensive Index ETF
Focus Morningstar Energy Index ETF 
Focus Morningstar Financial Services Index ETF
Focus Morningstar Health Care Index ETF           
Focus Morningstar Industrials Index ETF           
Focus Morningstar Real Estate Index ETF           
Focus Morningstar Technology Index ETF            
Focus Morningstar Utilities Index ETF