TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 02/11/13 -- Sentry Investments ("Sentry") is pleased to announce that Vice-President and Senior Portfolio Manager Michael Simpson was honoured at the 2013 Lipper Fund Awards with the Excellence in Fund Management Award. This inaugural award recognizes outstanding asset managers who have delivered consistently strong risk-adjusted returns to investors and, in the opinion of Lipper's research analysts, represent the best of the mutual fund industry.

Michael Simpson has over 20 years' experience in the financial industry and is the lead manager of several equity products, including the flagship Sentry Canadian Income Fund. He is a two-time winner of a Brendan Wood International Canadian TopGun Award and was recently honoured at the 2012 Morningstar Canadian Investment Awards when Sentry Canadian Income Fund was recognized as the Best Canadian Dividend & Income Equity Fund.

Three Sentry mutual funds were also individually honoured at the 2013 Lipper Fund Awards. They captured five awards for delivering consistently strong risk-adjusted returns compared to their peers:

--  Sentry Canadian Income Fund, managed by Michael Simpson, earned the
    award for best fund over 10 years in the Canadian Dividend & Income
    Equity category. The Fund is a five-star Morningstar-rated fund, and is
    a top-quartile performer in its category in both absolute and risk-
    adjusted terms over one, three, five and ten years, and since its
    inception (February 15, 2002).(1) 
    
--  Sentry Precious Metals Growth Fund, managed by Kevin MacLean, earned the
    award for best fund over three and five years in the Precious Metals
    Equity category. The Fund has now been honoured with 11 Lipper Awards
    since 2007. Kevin is also a four-time Brendan Wood International TopGun
    Manager (2009 to 2012). 
    
--  Sentry Small/Mid Cap Income Fund, managed by Aubrey Hearn, earned the
    award for best fund over three and five years in the Canadian Focused
    Small/Mid Cap Equity category. The Fund is a five-star Morningstar-rated
    fund, and is a top-quartile performer in its category in both absolute
    and risk-adjusted terms over one, three and five years, and since its
    inception (July 28, 2005).(1)  

Sentry Investments

Sentry Investments is a Canadian asset management company with approximately $9 billion in assets under management on behalf of Canadian investors. Sentry was recognized as Canada's Best Equity Funds Group at the 2011 and 2012 Lipper Fund Awards(2) and is one of only three firms to receive four consecutive Brendan Wood International TopGun Asset Management Team Awards (2009 to 2012).

(1)As at December 31, 2012

(2)Lipper and Lipper corporate marks are proprietary trademarks of Lipper, a Thomson Reuters Company. © 2013 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Lipper content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

Morningstar data © 2013 Morningstar Research Inc. All rights reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete, or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.

Certain statements included in this news release constitute forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, those identified by the expressions "expect," "intend," "will" and similar expressions to the extent they relate to Sentry. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts but reflect Sentry's current expectations regarding future results or events. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. Although Sentry believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and, accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. Sentry undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statement or information whether as a result of new information, future events or other such factors which affect this information, except as required by law. For a complete disclosure record of the Sentry Group of Funds, please visit their profiles at www.sedar.com.