Huntington Situs Fund Marks a Decade of Success by Focusing on Strategic Geographical Investments

Geographic Investment approach has helped Fund exceed S&P 600 returns since its inception

COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Huntington Asset Advisors (HAA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Huntington Bank (NASDAQ: HBAN; www.huntington.com), announces that the Situs Fund continues to perform above its benchmark on the 10-year anniversary of its inception. Launched in third quarter 2002, the Fund’s unique approach to investing is designed to offer investors a portfolio comprised of both U.S. and foreign companies whose situs, or geographical location, gives a competitive advantage and the potential to outperform.

Situs looks for critical advantages in regions, both domestic and foreign, that include favorable political, social or economic conditions and population demographics. Both Class A Shares (Ticker: HSUAX) and Trust Shares (Ticker: HSUTX) are available.

“By focusing on a strategic combination of U.S. and foreign companies, whose geographical locations offer a variety of competitive advantages, the Situs Fund has given investors a potent combination of diversification and above average returns,” said Huntington’s chief investment officer and Situs Fund manager, Randy Bateman. “For those who have long-term investment goals, and seek to complement their large-company stock holdings with a more aggressive approach to equity investing, the Situs Fund can help provide that counterbalance.”

This unique approach has proven successful over its 10-year lifetime. As of September 30, 2012, the Fund has a Four-Star Morningstar Rating™ for the overall time period in the Mid-Cap Blend category out of 373 funds. With net assets of $212 million, the Situs Trust shares reached a total return of 8.43 percent for the quarter ending September 30, 2012. This compares to the 5.40 percent return of the S&P Small Cap Index (S&P 600) and the 5.44 percent achieved by the S&P 400 Mid Cap Index for the same period. In absolute terms, for the same period, the Fund has generated a 17.26 percent return in 2012 to date. Situs also ranked in the top quartile for the 1-, 3-, and 10-year time periods by Lipper in the Small Cap Blend category. For each respective time period the Fund ranked 118 out of 712, 104 out of 626 and 46 out of 322 funds, respectively.

With more than 35 years of experience in managing fiduciary assets, Bateman is responsible for $14.6 billion in discretionary assets within Huntington and oversees Huntington Funds, which represent $3.5 billion in assets. He is also responsible for Huntington Asset Advisor’s (HAA) two exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) that make up the Huntington Strategy Shares family. The investment managers of Huntington Funds include some of the most experienced people in the industry. On average, the investment professionals of HAA have worked for more than 25 years in the investment business.

Lipper rankings are based on Total Return and do not take sales charges into account. For the 5–year time period ended 9/30/12 the Huntington Situs Fund Trust Shares ranked 147 out of 535 funds.

For each fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar Rating^TM based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a fund's monthly performance (including the effects of sales charges, loads, and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of funds in each category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. (Each share class is counted as a fraction of one fund within this scale and rated separately, which may cause slight variations in the distribution percentages.) For the Overall, 3-, 5- and 10-year periods ended 9/30/12, the Situs Fund Trust Shares received 4, 4, 3 and 4 stars and was rated among 373, 373, 316 and 199 funds, respectively.

The Overall Morningstar Rating for a fund is derived from a weighted-average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five- and ten-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. Ratings are for the Trust Share class; other classes may have different performance characteristics.

Performance data quoted represents past performance which is no guarantee of future results. Investments return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original costs. Mutual Fund Performance changes over time and current performance may be lower or higher than what is stated. To obtain current to the most recent month-end performance, call 800-253-0412. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Diversification does not ensure a profit or guarantee against loss.

The S&P Small-Cap 600 Index is an unmanaged index which generally represents all major industries in the small-cap range of the U.S. stock market. Investments cannot be made in an index.

Mid-cap and small-cap investing involves greater risk not associated with investing in more established companies, such as greater price volatility, business risk, less liquidity and increased competitive threat.

International investing involves special risks including currency risk, increased volatility of foreign securities, political risks and differences in auditing and other financial standards.

You should carefully consider the investment objectives, potential risks, management fees, and charges and expenses of the Fund before investing. The Fund's prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund, and should be read carefully before investing. You may obtain a current copy of the Fund's prospectus or summary prospectus by calling 1-800-253-0412. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment in the Fund will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost.

Distributed by Unified Financial Securities, Inc., 2960 North Meridian Street, Suite 300, Indianapolis, IN 46208. (Member FINRA)

About Huntington Asset Advisors, Inc.
Huntington Asset Advisors, Inc., a subsidiary of The Huntington National Bank (www.huntington.com) and its affiliates, have managed money since 1917. Based in Columbus, Ohio, Huntington sponsors The Huntington Funds mutual funds and Huntington Strategy Shares ETFs, and manages money for individuals, institutions, endowments, foundations, retirement plans, IRAs and municipalities. More information is available at www.HuntingtonFunds.com and www.HuntingtonStrategyShares.com.

The Huntington National Bank, Member FDIC. The logo mark and Huntington^® are federally registered service marks of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated.

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated
Cynthia Kincaid, 614-480-5415
cynthia.kincaid@huntington.com

Source: Huntington

Released December 3, 2012