| General Risks: Past performance is not a guide to future performance and Shares, other than Shares ofLiquidity Funds, should be regarded as a medium to long-term investment. The value of investments and the income generated by them may go down as well as up and Shareholders may not get back the amount originally invested. Where the currency of a Fund varies from the Investor’s home currency, or where the currency of a Fund varies from the currencies of the markets in which the Fund invests, there is the prospect of additional loss (or the prospect of additional gain) to the Investor greater than the usual risks of investment. Investment Objective Risk: Investment objectives express an intended result but there is no guarantee that such a result will be achieved. Depending on market conditions and the macro economic environment, investment objectives may become more difficult or even impossible to achieve. There is no express or implied assurance as to the likelihood of achieving the investment objective for a Fund. Regulatory Risk: The Company is domiciled in Luxembourg and Investors should note that all the regulatory protections provided by their local regulatory authorities may not apply. Additionally the Funds will be registered in non-EU jurisdictions. As a result of such registrations the Funds may be subject, without any notice to the shareholders in the Funds concerned, to more restrictive regulatory regimes. In such cases the Funds will abide by these more restrictive requirements. This may prevent the Funds from making the fullest possible use of the investment limits. Risk of Suspension of Share dealings: nvestors are reminded that in certain circumstances their right to redeem or switch Shares may be suspended. Interest Rate Risk: The values of bonds and other debt instruments usually rise and fall in response to changes in interest rates. Declining interest rates generally increase the values of existing debt instruments, and rising interest rates generally reduce the value of existing debt instruments. Interest rate risk is generally greater for investments with long durations or maturities. Some investments give the issuer the option to call or redeem an investment before its maturity date. If an issuer calls or redeems an investment during a time of declining interest rates, a Fund might have to reinvest the proceeds in an investment offering a lower yield, and therefore might not benefit from any increase in value as a result of declining interest rates. Credit Risk: The ability, or perceived ability, of an issuer of a debt security to make timely payments of interest and principal on the security will affect the value of the security. It is possible that the ability of the issuer to meet its obligation will decline substantially during the period when a Fund owns securities of that issuer, or that the issuer will default on its obligations. An actual or perceived deterioration in the ability of an issuer to meet its obligations will likely have an adverse effect on the value of the issuer’s securities. If a security has been rated by more than one nationally recognised statistical rating organisation the Fund’s Investment Manager may consider the highest rating for the purposes of determining whether the security is investment grade. A Fund will not necessarily dispose of a security held by it if its rating falls below investment grade, although the Fund’s Investment Manager will consider whether the security continues to be an appropriate investment for the Fund. A Fund’s Investment Manager considers whether a security is investment grade only at the time of purchase. Some of the Funds will invest in securities which will not be rated by a nationally recognised statistical rating organisation, but the credit quality will be determined by the Investment Manager. Credit risk is generally greater for investments issued at less than their face values and required to make interest payments only at maturity rather than at intervals during the life of the investment. Credit rating agencies base their ratings largely on the issuer’s historical financial condition and the rating agencies’ investment analysis at the time of rating. The rating assigned to any particular investment does not necessarily reflect the issuer’s current financial condition, and does not reflect an assessment of an investment’s volatility and liquidity. Although investment grade investments generally have lower credit risk than investments rated below investment grade, they may share some of the risks of lower-rated investments, including the possibility that the issuers may be unable to make timely payments of interest and principal and thus default. Liquidity Risk: Liquidity risk exists when particular investments are difficult to purchase or sell. A Fund’s investment in illiquid securities may reduce the returns of the Fund because it may be unable to sell the illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price. Investments in foreign securities, derivatives or securities with substantial market and/or credit risk tend to have the greatest exposure to liquidity risk. Illiquid securities may be highly volatile and difficult to value. Inflation/Deflation Risk: Inflation is the risk that a Fund’s assets or income from a Fund’s investments may be worth less in the future as inflation decreases the value of money. As inflation increases, the real value of a Fund’s portfolio could decline. Deflation risk is the risk that prices throughout the economy may decline over time. Deflation may have an adverse effect on the creditworthiness of issuers and may make issuer default more likely, which may result in a decline in the value of a Fund’s portfolio. Financial Derivative Instrument Risk: For a Fund that uses financial derivative instruments to meet its specific investment objective, there is no guarantee that the performance of the financial derivative instruments will result in a positive effect for the Fund and its Shareholders. Warrants Risk: When a Fund invests in warrants, the price, performance and liquidity of such warrants are typically linked to the underlying stock. However, the price, performance and liquidity of such warrants will generally fluctuate more than the underlying securities because of the greater volatility of the warrants market. In addition to the market risk related to the volatility of warrants, a Fund investing in synthetic warrants, where the issuer of the synthetic warrant is different to that of the underlying stock, is subject to the risk that the issuer of the synthetic warrant will not perform its obligations under the transactions which may result in the Fund, and ultimately its Shareholders, suffering a loss. Credit Default Swap Risk: A credit default swap allows the transfer of default risk. This allows a Fund to effectively buy insurance on a reference obligation it holds (hedging the investment), or buy protection on a reference obligation it does not physically own in the expectation that the credit will decline in quality. One party, the protection buyer, makes a stream of payments to the seller of the protection, and a payment is due to the buyer if there is a credit event (a decline in credit quality, which will be predefined in the agreement between the parties). If the credit event does not occur the buyer pays all the required premiums and the swap terminates on maturity with no further payments. The risk of the buyer is therefore limited to the value of the premiums paid. In addition, if there is a credit event and the Fund does not hold the underlying reference obligation, there may be a market risk as the Fund may need time to obtain the reference obligation and deliver it to the counterparty. Furthermore, if the counterparty becomes insolvent, the Fund may not recover the full amount due to it from the counterparty. The market for credit default swaps may sometimes be more illiquid than the bond markets. The Company will mitigate this risk by monitoring in an appropriate manner the use of this type of transaction. Futures, Options and Forward Transactions Risk: A Fund may use options, futures and forward contracts on currencies, securities, indices, volatility, inflation and interest rates for hedging and investment purposes. Transactions in futures may carry a high degree of risk. The amount of the initial margin is small relative to the value of the futures contract so that transactions are “leveraged” or“geared”. A relatively small market movement will have a proportionately larger impact which may work for or against the Fund. The placing of certain orders which are intended to limit losses to certain amounts may not be effective because market conditions may make it impossible to execute such orders. Transactions in options may also carry a high degree of risk. Selling (“writing” or“granting”) an option generally entails considerably greater risk than purchasing options. Although the premium received by the Fund is fixed, the Fund may sustain a loss well in excess of that amount. The Fund will also be exposed to the risk of the purchaser exercising the option and the Fund will be obliged either to settle the option in cash or to acquire or deliver the underlying investment. If the option is “covered” by the Fund holding a corresponding position in the underlying investment or a future on another option, the risk may be reduced. Forward transactions, in particular those traded over-the-counter, have an increased counterparty risk. If a counterparty defaults, the Fund may not get the expected payment or delivery of assets. This may result in the loss of the unrealised profit. Credit Linked Note Risk: A credit linked note is a debt instrument which assumes both credit risk of the relevant reference entity (or entities) and the issuer of the credit linked note. There is also a risk associated with the coupon payment; if a reference entity in a basket of credit linked notes suffers a credit event, the coupon will be re-set and is paid on the reduced nominal amount. Both the residual capital and coupon are exposed to further credit events. In extreme cases, the entire capital may be lost. There is also the risk that a note issuer may default. Equity Linked Note Risk: The return component of an equity linked note is based on the performance of a single security, a basket of securities or an equity index. Investment in these instruments may cause a capital loss if the value of the underlying security decreases. In extreme cases the entire capital may be lost. These risks are also found in investing in equity investments directly. The return payable for the note is determined at a specified time on a valuation date, irrespective of the fluctuations in the underlying stock price. There is no guarantee that a return or yield on an investment will be made. There is also the risk that a note issuer may default. A Fund may use equity linked notes to gain access to certain markets, for example emerging and less developed markets, where direct investment is not possible. This approach may result in the following additional risks being incurred – lack of a secondary market in such instruments, illiquidity of the underlying securities, and difficulty selling these instruments at times when the underlying markets are closed. General Risk associated with OTC Transactions: Instruments traded in OTC markets may trade in smaller volumes, and their prices may be more volatile than instruments principally traded on exchanges. Such instruments may be less liquid than more widely traded instruments. In addition, the prices of such instruments may include an undisclosed dealer mark-up which a Fund may pay as part of the purchase price. Counterparty Risk: The Company conducts transactions through or with brokers, clearing houses, market counterparties and other agents. The Company will be subject to the risk of the inability of any such counterparty to perform its obligations, whether due to insolvency, bankruptcy or other causes. A Fund may invest into instruments such as notes, bonds or warrants the performance of which is linked to a market or investment to which the Fund seeks to be exposed. Such instruments are issued by a range of counterparties and through its investment the Fund will be subject to the counterparty risk of the issuer, in addition to the investment exposure it seeks. The Funds will only enter into OTC derivatives transactions with first class institutions which are subject to prudential supervision and specialising in these types of transactions. In principle, the counterparty risk for such derivative transactions entered into with first class institutions should not exceed 10% of the relevant Fund’s net assets when the counterparty is a credit institution or 5% of its net assets in other cases. However, if a counterparty defaults, the actual losses may exceed these limitations. Custody Risk: Assets of the Company are safe kept by the Custodian and investors are exposed to the risk of the Custodian not being able to fully meet its obligation to restitute in a short time frame all of the assets of the Company in the case of bankruptcy of the Custodian. The assets of the Company will be identified in the Custodian's books as belonging to the Company. Securities held by the Custodian will be segregated from other assets of the Custodian which mitigates but does not exclude the risk of non restitution in case of bankruptcy. However, no such segregation applies to cash which increases the risk of non restitution in case of bankruptcy. The Custodian does not keep all the assets of the Company itself but uses a network of sub-custodians which are not part of the same group of companies as the Custodian. Investors are exposed to the risk of bankruptcy of the sub-custodians in the same manner as they are to the risk of bankruptcy of the Custodian. A Fund may invest in markets where custodial and/or settlement systems are not fully developed. The assets of the Fund that are traded in such markets and which have been entrusted to such sub-custodians may be exposed to risk in circumstances where the Custodian will have no liability. Smaller Companies Risk: A Fund which invests in smaller companies may fluctuate in value more than other Funds. Smaller companies may offer greater opportunities for capital appreciation than larger companies, but may also involve certain special risks. They are more likely than larger companies to have limited product lines, markets or financial resources, or to depend on a small, inexperienced management group. Securities of smaller companies may, especially during periods where markets are falling, become less liquid and experience short-term price volatility and wide spreads between dealing prices. They may also trade in the OTC market or on a regional exchange, or may otherwise have limited liquidity. Consequently investments in smaller companies may be more vulnerable to adverse developments than those in larger companies and the Fund may have more difficulty establishing or closing out its securities positions in smaller companies at prevailing market prices. Also, there may be less publicly available information about smaller companies or less market interest in the securities, and it may take longer for the prices of the securities to reflect the full value of the issuers’ earning potential or assets. Technology Related Companies Risk: Investments in the technology sector may present a greater risk and a higher volatility than investments in a broader range of securities covering different economic sectors.The equity securities of the companies in which a Fund may invest are likely to be affected by world-wide scientific or technological developments, and their products or services may rapidly fall into obsolescence. In addition, some of these companies offer products or services that are subject to governmental regulation and may, therefore, be adversely affected by governmental policies. As a result, the investments made by a Fund may drop sharply in value in response to market, research or regulatory setbacks. Lower Rated, Higher Yielding Debt Securities Risk: A Fund may invest in lower rated, higher yielding debt securities, which are subject to greater market and credit risks than higher rated securities. Generally, lower rated securities pay higher yields than more highly rated securities to compensate Investors for the higher risk. The lower ratings of such securities reflect the greater possibility that adverse changes in the financial condition of the issuer, or rising interest rates, may impair the ability of the issuer to make payments to holders of the securities. Accordingly, an investment in the Fund is accompanied by a higher degree of credit risk than is present with investments in higher rated, lower yielding securities. Property and Real Estate Companies Securities Risk: The risks associated with investments in securities of companies principally engaged in the real estate industry include: the cyclical nature of real estate values; risks related to general and local economic conditions; overbuilding and increased competition; increases in property taxes and operating expenses; demographic trends and variations in rental income; changes in zoning laws; casualty or condemnation losses; environmental risks; regulatory limitations on rents; changes in neighbourhood values; related party risks; changes in the appeal of properties to tenants; increases in interest rates; and other real estate capital market influences. Generally, increases in interest rates will increase the costs of obtaining financing, which could directly and indirectly decrease the value of the Fund's investments. |