First Trust Dividend and Income Fund Declares Quarterly Distribution of $0.17 Per Share

First Trust Dividend and Income Fund (the “Fund”) (NYSE: FAV) today declared its regularly scheduled quarterly distribution payable on April 29, 2016, to shareholders of record as of April 26, 2016. The ex-dividend date is expected to be April 22, 2016. The quarterly distribution information for the Fund appears below.

First Trust Dividend and Income Fund (FAV):

        
        
           
        
        
           
        
        
           
        
        
           
        
        
        
      
      
        
          Distribution per share:
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
          $0.17
        
      
      
        
          Distribution Rate based on the April 8, 2016 NAV of $8.92:
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
          7.62%
        
      
      
        
          Distribution Rate based on the April 8, 2016 closing market price of 
          $8.62:
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
          7.89%
        
      
    
    

The majority, and possibly all, of this distribution will be paid out of net investment income earned by the Fund. The final determination of the source and tax status of all 2016 distributions will be made after the end of 2016.

The Fund’s Board of Trustees has approved a merger of the Fund into First Trust High Income ETF (“FTHI”), an actively managed exchange-traded fund. FTHI will be the surviving fund. Under the terms of the merger, which is expected to be tax-free, the Fund’s assets would be transferred to, and the Fund’s liabilities would be assumed by, FTHI, and the Fund’s shareholders will receive shares of FTHI, with a value equal to the aggregate net asset value of the Fund’s shares held by them. It is currently expected that the transaction will be consummated no later than October 31, 2016, subject to requisite shareholder approvals, satisfaction of applicable regulatory requirements and approvals, and customary closing conditions. There is no assurance whether or when such approvals, or any other approvals required for the transaction, will be obtained. For more information about the proposed merger, investors of the Fund are urged to carefully read the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus and other documents filed with the SEC in their entirety when they become available.

The Fund is a diversified, closed-end management investment company that seeks to provide a high level of current income. As a secondary objective, the Fund seeks to provide capital appreciation. The Fund pursues these investment objectives by investing at least 80% of its Managed Assets in a diversified portfolio of dividend-paying multi-cap equity securities, debt securities and senior, secured floating rate loans that offer the potential for attractive income and/or capital appreciation.

First Trust Advisors L.P., 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 and financial advisory services, with collective assets under management or supervision of approximately $96 billion as of March 31, 2016 through unit investment trusts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, mutual funds and separate managed accounts.

Chartwell Investment Partners, LLC. (“Chartwell”) serves as the Fund’s investment sub-advisor and is an investment firm focusing on institutional, sub-advisory, and private client relationships. The firm is a research-based equity and fixed-income manager with a disciplined, team-oriented investment process. At March 31, 2016, Chartwell had approximately $8.6 billion in assets under management.

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.

Principal Risk Factors: Investment in this Fund involves investment and market risk, management risk, common stock risk, option risk; sub-advisor risk, value investing risk, dividend strategy risk, master limited partnership risk, qualified dividend income tax risk, equity securities risk, small and medium cap company risk, non-U.S. securities risk, and emerging markets risk. By writing call options on equity securities held, the capital appreciation potential of the equity securities is limited; however, the potential for capital depreciation is unlimited. The risks of investing in the Fund are detailed in the shareholder reports and other regulatory filings.

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: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160411006311/en/

First Trust Dividend and Income FundPress Inquiries: Jane Doyle, 630-765-8775Analyst Inquiries: Jeff Margolin, 630-915-6784Broker Inquiries: Jeff Margolin, 630-915-6784