[November 19, 2020]

First Trust High Yield Opportunities 2027 Term Fund Declares its Monthly Common Share Distribution of $0.1194 Per Share for December

First Trust High Yield Opportunities 2027 Term Fund (the "Fund") (NYSE: FTHY) has declared the Fund's regularly scheduled monthly common share distribution in the amount of $0.1194 per share payable on December 28, 2020, to shareholders of record as of December 2, 2020. The ex-dividend date is expected to be December 1, 2020. The monthly distribution information for the Fund appears below.

We anticipate these distributions will be paid out of net investment income earned by the Fund. The final determination of the source and tax status of all distributions paid in 2020 will be made after the end of 2020 and will be provided on Form 1099-DIV.

The Fund is a diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund's investment objective is to provide current income. Under normal market conditions, the Fund will seek to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its managed assets in high yield debt securities of any maturity that are rated below investment grade at the time of purchase or unrated securities determined by First Trust Advisors L.P. ("FTA") to be of comparable quality. High yield debt securities include U.S. and non-U.S. corporate debt obligations and senior, secured floating rate loans ("Senior Loans"). Securities rated below investment grade are commonly referred to as "junk" or "high yield" securities and are considered speculative with respect to the issuer's capacity to pay interest and repay principal. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective or that the Fund's investment strategies will be successful.

First Trust Advisors L.P. ("FTA") is a federally registered investment advisor and serves as the Fund's investment advisor. FTA and its affiliate First Trust Portfolios L.P. ("FTP"), a FINRA registered broker-dealer, are privately-held companies that provide a variety of investment services. FTA has collective assets under management or supervision of approximately $147 billion as of October 31, 2020 through unit investment trusts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, mutual funds and separate managed accounts. FTA is the supervisor of the First Trust unit investment trusts, while FTP is the sponsor. FTP is also a distributor of mutual fund shares and exchange-traded fund creation units. FTA and FTP are based in Wheaton, Illinois.

Past performance is no assurance of future results. Investment return and market value of an investment in the Fund will fluctuate. Shares, when sold, may be worth more or less than their original cost. There can be no assurance that the Fund's investment objectives will be achieved. The Fund may not be appropriate for all investors.

Principal Risk Factors: Securities held by the Fund, as well as shares of the Fund itself, are subject to market fluctuations caused by factors such as general economic conditions, political events, regulatory or market developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in securities prices. Shares of the Fund could decline in value or underperform other investments as a result of the risk of loss associated with these market fluctuations. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, spread of infectious diseases or other public health issues, recessions, or other events could have a significant negative impact on the Fund and its investments. Such events may affect certain geographic regions, countries, sectors and industries more significantly than others. The outbreak of the respiratory disease designated as COVID-19 in December 2019 has caused significant volatility and declines in global financial markets, which have caused losses for investors. The impact of this COVID-19 pandemic may last for an extended period of time and will continue to impact the economy for the foreseeable future.

The Fund will typically invest in securities rated below investment grade, which are commonly referred to as "junk" or "high yield" securities and considered speculative because of the credit risk of their issuers. Such issuers are more likely than investment grade issuers to default on their payments of interest and principal owed to the Fund, and such defaults could reduce the Fund's NAV and income distributions. An economic downturn would generally lead to a higher non-payment rate, and a high yield security may lose significant market value before a default occurs. Moreover, any specific collateral used to secure a high yield security may decline in value or become illiquid, which would adversely affect the high yield security's value.

The debt securities in which the Fund invests are subject to certain risks, including issuer risk, reinvestment risk, prepayment risk, credit risk, and interest rate risk. Issuer risk is the risk that the value of fixed-income securities may decline for a number of reasons which directly relate to the issuer. Reinvestment risk is the risk that income from the Fund's portfolio will decline if the Fund invests the proceeds from matured, traded or called bonds at market interest rates that are below the Fund portfolio's current earnings rate. Prepayment risk is the risk that, upon a prepayment, the actual outstanding debt on which the Fund derives interest income will be reduced. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer of a security will be unable or unwilling to make dividend, interest and/or principal payments when due and that the value of a security may decline as a result. Interest rate risk is the risk that fixed-income securities will decline in value because of changes in market interest rates.

Senior Loans are structured as floating rate instruments in which the interest rate payable on the obligation fluctuates with interest rate changes. As a result, the yield on Senior Loans will generally decline in a falling interest rate environment, causing the Fund to experience a reduction in the income it receives from a Senior Loan. In addition, the market value of Senior Loans may fall in a declining interest rate environment and may also fall in a rising interest rate environment if there is a lag between the rise in interest rates and the reset. Many Senior Loans have a minimum base rate, or floor (typically, a "LIBOR floor"), which will be used if the actual base rate is below the minimum base rate. To the extent the Fund invests in such Senior Loans, the Fund may not benefit from higher coupon payments during periods of increasing interest rates as it otherwise would from investments in Senior Loans without any floors until rates rise to levels above the LIBOR floors. As a result, the Fund may lose some of the benefits of incurring leverage. Specifically, if the Fund's borrowings have floating dividend or interest rates, its costs of leverage will increase as rates increase. In this situation, the Fund will experience increased financing costs without the benefit of receiving higher income. This in turn may result in the potential for a decrease in the level of income available for dividends or distributions to be made by the Fund.

The senior loan market has seen a significant increase in loans with weaker lender protections including, but not limited to, limited financial maintenance covenants or, in some cases, no financial maintenance covenants (i.e., "covenant-lite loans") that would typically be included in a traditional loan agreement and general weakening of other restrictive covenants applicable to the borrower such as limitations on incurrence of additional debt, restrictions on payments of junior debt or restrictions on dividends and distributions. Weaker lender protections such as the absence of financial maintenance covenants in a loan agreement and the inclusion of "borrower-favorable" terms may impact recovery values and/or trading levels of senior loans in the future. The absence of financial maintenance covenants in a loan agreement generally means that the lender may not be able to declare a default if financial performance deteriorates. This may hinder the Fund's ability to reprice credit risk associated with a particular borrower and reduce the Fund's ability to restructure a problematic loan and mitigate potential loss. As a result, the Fund's exposure to losses on investments in senior loans may be increased, especially during a downturn in the credit cycle or changes in market or economic conditions.

Many financial instruments use or may use a floating rate based upon the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), which is being phased out by the end of 2021. There remains some uncertainty regarding the future of utilization of LIBOR and the nature of any replacement rate.

A second lien loan may have a claim on the same collateral pool as the first lien or it may be secured by a separate set of assets. Second lien loans are typically secured by a second priority security interest or lien on specified collateral securing the borrower's obligation under the interest and present a greater degree of investment risk. These loans are also subject to the risk that borrower cash flow and property securing the loan may be insufficient to meet scheduled payments after giving effect to those loans with a higher priority. These loans also have greater price volatility than those loans with a higher priority and may be less liquid. However, second lien loans often pay interest at higher rates than first lien loans reflecting such additional risks.

The Fund intends to terminate on or about August 1, 2027. Because the assets of the Fund will be liquidated in connection with the termination, the Fund may be required to sell portfolio securities when it otherwise would not, including at times when market conditions are not favorable, which may cause the Fund to lose money. The Fund is not a "target term" Fund and its primary objective is to provide high current income. As a result, the Fund may not return the Fund's initial public offering price of $20.00 per share at its termination.

Use of leverage can result in additional risk and cost, and can magnify the effect of any losses.

The risks of investing in the Fund are spelled out in the shareholder report and other regulatory filings.

The information presented is not intended to constitute an investment recommendation for, or advice to, any specific person. By providing this information, First Trust is not undertaking to give advice in any fiduciary capacity within the meaning of ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code or any other regulatory framework. Financial professionals are responsible for evaluating investment risks independently and for exercising independent judgment in determining whether investments are appropriate for their clients.

The Fund's daily closing New York Stock Exchange price and net asset value per share as well as other information can be found at www.ftportfolios.com or by calling 1-800-988-5891.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201119006312/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]