First Trust Active Dividend Income Fund Board Approves Aviance Capital Management, LLC as Investment Sub-Advisor Following the Automatic Termination o

WHEATON, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--First Trust Active Dividend Income Fund (NYSE: FAV) (the “Fund”) announced today that it has entered into an interim investment sub-advisory agreement with Aviance Capital Management, LLC (“Aviance”) following the automatic termination of the Fund’s sub-advisory agreement. Effective October 27, 2009, Aviance redistributed certain outstanding ownership interests among its principal owners (the “Transaction”), which resulted in a “change of control” of Aviance, automatically terminating the Fund’s sub-advisory agreement pursuant to its terms and the provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). The Board of Trustees has approved an interim sub-advisory agreement with Aviance, which the Fund entered into effective upon the Transaction, whereby Aviance will continue to serve as the Fund’s sub-advisor for a maximum period of 150 days. A new sub-advisory agreement with Aviance will be submitted to shareholders of the Fund for approval and would take effect upon such shareholder approval. The new sub-advisory agreement will be substantially similar to the Fund’s prior sub-advisory agreement. The Transaction will not impact the day-to-day operations of Aviance, and the portfolio managers of the Fund will remain the same. Aviance has served as the Fund’s investment sub-advisor since the Fund’s inception.

A special meeting of FAV shareholders to vote on a proposal to approve the new sub-advisory agreement with Aviance is expected to be held prior to March 26, 2010. Any solicitation of proxies by FAV in connection with this shareholder meeting will only be made pursuant to separate proxy materials filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) under applicable federal securities laws. There can be no assurance that the necessary percentage of the shareholders of FAV will vote to approve the new sub-advisory agreement with Aviance.

First Trust Advisors L.P. (“FTA”), the Fund’s investment advisor, along with its affiliate First Trust Portfolios L.P., are privately-held companies which provide a variety of investment services, including asset management, financial advisory services, and municipal and corporate investment banking, with collective assets under management or supervision of over $24 billion as of September 30, 2009 through closed-end funds, unit investment trusts, mutual funds, separate managed accounts and exchange-traded funds.

In connection with the solicitation of proxies, the Fund intends to file a proxy statement. Because the proxy statement will contain important information, FAV’s shareholders are urged to read it carefully when it becomes available. When filed with the SEC, the proxy statement will be available free of charge at the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. FAV’s shareholders will also be able to obtain copies of these documents and other transaction-related documents, when available, by calling FTA toll-free at 800-621-1675. The foregoing is not an offer to sell, nor a solicitation of an offer to buy, shares of the Fund, nor is it a solicitation of any proxy.

First Trust Active Dividend Income Fund
Jeff Margolin, 630-915-6784