AlphaPro Management Inc. has filed a final prospectus in for an initial public offering of units of Horizons Gold Yield Fund for a maximum offering size of $100 million.

The offering is expected to close on December 20.

The Toronto Stock Exchange has conditionally approved the listing of the Class A units under the symbol HGY.UN. The fund offering comprises Class A and Class F Units priced at $10.00 per unit.

AlphaPro says the fund was created to offer investors a low cost exposure to the price of gold bullion, while providing monthly tax-efficient distributions. The fund will seek to achieve its investment objectives by gaining exposure to a portfolio consisting of securities and other instruments that provide exposure to the price of gold bullion.

The fund’s gold portfolio will be managed by JovInvestment Management Inc. JovInvestment intends to write at-the-money covered call options on approximately, and not more than, 33% of the securities in the gold portfolio. JovInvestment will not manage the call option writing strategy to achieve a specific target return, but will manage it to generate attractive option premiums that temper the volatility associated with owning the gold portfolio. The gold portfolio does not invest in the shares of gold mining companies and does not employ leverage.

“With this new launch, Canadian investors gain exposure to gold which has emerged as a long term global store of value, serves as a strong inflationary hedge and can reduce portfolio risk. The fund also features exposure to a conservative option-writing strategy to provide tax-efficient monthly distributions. We believe this launch significantly increases our offering for Canadian investors who are seeking a yield-plus type of investment opportunity,” stated Ken McCord, president of AlphaPro, in a release.

The fund’s investment objectives are to provide unitholders with: exposure to the price of gold bullion hedged to the Canadian dollar, less the fund’s fees and expenses; and tax-efficient monthly distributions, initially expected to be $0.0542 per unit ($0.65 per year to yield 6.5% on the issue price of $10.00 per unit).

It is initially expected that monthly distributions received by investors will consist primarily of return of capital, AlphaPro said.

The fund is expected to convert automatically to an ETF by no later than July 31, 2012.

The syndicate of agents for the offering is being led by BMO Capital Markets, CIBC and National Bank Financial Inc. and includes, RBC Capital Markets, Scotia Capital Inc., Canaccord Genuity Corporation, HSBC Securities (Canada) Inc., GMP Securities L.P., Raymond James Ltd., Dundee Securities Corporation, Mackie Research Capital Corporation, Macquarie Private Wealth Inc., MGI Securities Inc., Rothenberg Capital Management Inc. and Wellington West Capital Markets Inc.