PowerShares Fundamental High Yield(R) Corporate Bond Portfolio (PHB) Recognized With William F. Sharpe Award for ETF Product of the Year


CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwire - Dec 8, 2011) - Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC, a leading global provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), announced today the PowerShares Fundamental High Yield® Corporate Bond Portfolio (PHB) received the William F. Sharpe Award for ETF Product of the Year at the 2011 Super Bowl of Indexing Conference. The ETF Product of the Year is awarded to the company responsible for the ETF product that had the most significant impact on the ETF market over the previous twelve months.

"The William F. Sharpe Awards recognize the best and the brightest innovators in the field of indexing, ETFs, and investment management," said Ben Fulton, Invesco PowerShares managing director of global ETFs. "We are quite honored to receive the highly regarded ETF Product of the Year award recognizing the innovative investment opportunity the PowerShares Fundamental High Yield® Corporate Bond Portfolio provides investors."

The PowerShares Fundamental High Yield® Corporate Bond Portfolio is the first fixed-income ETF to use Research Affiliates' Fundamental Index® methodology. Traditional bond indices give the largest weights to the biggest debtors, potentially exposing investors to greater risks of default. In contrast, the Fundamental Index methodology uses fundamental measures of company size, including book value of assets, sales, dividends and cash flow, to set constituent weights.

"By weighting companies based on fundamental measures of their resources available to service debt, we believe the PowerShares Fundamental High Yield® Corporate Bond Portfolio represents an important alternative to market-cap-weighted fixed-income portfolios and provides investors the potential for improved risk-adjusted returns," added Joseph Becker, senior fixed & equity income product strategist at Invesco PowerShares.

The PowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio (BKLN) also received recognition at the 2011 Super Bowl of Indexing as a runner-up in the categories of ETF Product of the Year and ETF Innovation of the Year, which is awarded to the company responsible for the most significant new product, service, or strategy in ETF investing. BKLN is the first ETF that provides investors access to a portfolio of senior secured bank or floating rate loans.

The PowerShares Fundamental High Yield® Corporate Bond Portfolio (PHB) is based on the RAFI® High Yield Bond Index ("Index"). The Fund will normally invest at least 80% of its total assets in the securities that comprise the Index. The Index is comprised of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds registered for sale in the United States whose issuers are public companies listed on major U.S. stock exchanges. Only securities with greater than one year to maturity qualify for inclusion in the Index. Based on the Fundamental Index® methodology developed by Research Affiliates, LLC, the Index is compiled and calculated by Ryan ALM, Inc. The Index is rebalanced monthly.

The Super Bowl of Indexing Conference® was held in Phoenix, Arizona December 4-7, 2011. The program is the largest of its kind in the world and has become the annual meeting for the indexing industry. It is attended by virtually the entire marketplace, including public and private plan sponsors, institutional fund managers, traders, investment consultants, financial advisors and planners, ETF sponsors, hedge funds, index and service providers, researchers and academics. The speaker faculty includes the world's leading experts and practitioners in the field. At this year's program, Information Management Network (IMN), which hosts the Super Bowl of Indexing, teamed up with The Journal of Index Investing -- a leading peer-reviewed journal that covers the latest innovations in Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), investable indexes, and mutual funds -- to produce the annual William F. Sharpe Indexing Achievement Awards. On December 5, 2011, the industry's contributions during the past year were recognized with six William F. Sharpe Indexing Achievement Awards. Award categories include Best Research Paper; Best Index Product; Best Indexing Innovation; Best ETF Product; Best ETF Innovation; and Lifetime Achievement Award. The winners of the awards are selected by a panel of the world's leading practitioners and researchers in the field of indexing research.

Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC is leading the Intelligent ETF Revolution® through its family of more than 140 domestic and international exchange-traded funds, which seek to outperform traditional benchmark indexes while providing advisors and investors access to an innovative array of focused investment opportunities. With franchise assets over $52.4 billion as of September 30, 2011, PowerShares ETFs trade on both U.S. stock exchanges. For more information, please visit us at invescopowershares.com or follow us on Twitter @PowerShares.

Invesco is a leading independent global investment manager, dedicated to helping investors worldwide achieve their financial objectives. By delivering the combined power of our distinctive investment management capabilities, Invesco provides a wide range of investment strategies and vehicles to our retail, institutional and high net worth clients around the world. Operating in more than 20 countries, the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol IVZ. Additional information is available at www.invesco.com.

Any reference to a ranking, a rating, or an award provides no guarantee for future performance results and is not constant over time.

There are risks involved with investing in ETFs, including possible loss of money. Shares are not actively managed and are subject to risks including those regarding short selling and margin maintenance requirements. Ordinary brokerage commissions may apply.

PHB's use of a representative sampling approach will result in its holding a smaller number of securities than are in the underlying Index, and may be subject to greater volatility. Non-investment grade securities have additional risks, including higher default risk and decreased market liquidity.

Research Affiliates, LLC, a global leader in innovative investing and asset allocation strategies, operates from its headquarters in Newport Beach, California. Dedicated to solving complex investment issues, the firm creates innovative strategies that respond to the current needs of the market. Leveraging its strong research focus, Research Affiliates distributes innovative investment products in partnership with some of the world's leading financial institutions. The firm, founded in 2002 by Robert D. Arnott, a renowned innovator in investment theory and practice, is majority employee-owned. As of September 2011, approximately $78 billion in assets are managed worldwide using investment strategies developed by Research Affiliates.

Fundamental Index®, Research Affiliates®, Fundamental High Yield®, and all other Research Affiliates trademarks, trade names, patented and patent-pending concepts are the exclusive property of Research Affiliates, LLC. The RAFI Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index is calculated and maintained by ALM Research Solutions, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Ryan ALM, Inc.) in conjunction with Research Affiliates LLC and is the exclusive property of Research Affiliates. Research Affiliates is not affiliated with Invesco, Ltd.

Not FDIC Insured | May Lose Value | No Bank Guarantee
Shares are not individually redeemable and owners of the shares may acquire those shares from the Fund and tender those shares for redemption to the Fund in Creation Units only, typically consisting of aggregations of 50,000 shares.

Invesco Distributors, Inc. is the distributor of the PowerShares Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II.

Note: Not all products available through all firms.

PowerShares® is a registered trademark of Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC. Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC and Invesco Distributors, Inc. are indirect, wholly owned subsidiaries of Invesco Ltd.

An investor should consider the Fund's investment objective, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. For this and more complete information about the Fund call 800 983 0903 or visit invescopowershares.com for a prospectus. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Contact Information:

Media Contacts:
Kristin Sadlon
Cohn & Wolfe
212.798.9864


Bill Conboy
303-415-2290