Aston Hill Announces Second Quarter Results

Calgary, August 27, 2008 - Aston Hill Financial Inc. (the "Company" or "Aston Hill”) (TSXV:AHF) announces that it has filed the unaudited interim consolidated financial statements for the period ended June 30, 2008 and related Management Discussion and Analysis with Canadian Securities Regulatory Authorities. Copies of these documents may be obtained via SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Aston Hill’s net income for the three months ending June 30, 2008 was $4.1 million. This included revenue from management and acquisition fees of $2.3 million and income from investing activities of $4.0 million, offset by net operating expenses of $2.2 million.

The highlight of the second quarter consisted of the increase in the value of Aston Hill’s investment in Sword Energy Inc. (“Sword”). Aston Hill had increased its ownership in this private oil and gas producing entity in the first quarter of 2008. Since that time, Sword has benefited from an increase in value attributed to higher commodity prices, and an increase in oil and gas reserves value due to property development and acquisition activities.

The management fees received from Sword remain Aston Hill’s greatest source of income. It hould be noted that these fees get re-calculated retroactively based upon the Net Asset Value (“NAV”) of Sword at each year end. The fees received for the first half of 2008 do not reflect the aforementioned increase in Sword’s NAV as they were based upon Sword’s NAV at Dec. 31, 2007. The final adjustments to this fee are calculated and payable in the fourth quarter of each year.

Assets Under Management (“AUM”) have grown from approximately $500 million at June 30, 2007 to approximately $735 million at June 30, 2008, representing a year over year growth rate of 47%. Aston Hill is continuously launching new products and working to increase the size and return of existing products with a goal to grow recurring cash flows.

Subsequent to the second quarter, Aston Hill was pleased to announce that it was selected to sub-advise the IA Clarington Tactical Income Fund and the IA Clarington Global Income Fund. At July 31, 2008, these funds had total assets of $135 million and will be added to our AUM alculation in the third quarter of 2008. IA Clarington Investments Inc. is a subsidiary of Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. and markets a wide range of investment products managed by leading portfolio managers.

Aston Hill is an investment manager with expertise in the energy sector, income trusts, oil and gas property management, private equity and high-yield products.

Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may"or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or
making the projections contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the failure of the Company to close the Private Placement.

For a detailed description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company’s annual financial statements and management discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2007, both of which are available at www.sedar.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change, unless required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

For further information concerning this press release, please contact:

Eric Tremblay
Chief Executive Officer
Aston Hill Financial Inc.
(403) 770-4817

Ben Cheng
President
Aston Hill Financial Inc.
(416) 861-9152

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy and accuracy of this release.

 

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