Objective
The fund aims to provide a combination of capital growth and income to deliver a return that is higher than that of the Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) stockmarket over any five-year period.
Investment policy and strategy
Core investment: At least 80% of the fund is invested in the shares of companies domiciled, or conducting the major part of their economic activity, in the Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) region. The fund may invest in China A- Shares via the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect.
Other investment: The fund also holds cash or assets that can be turned quickly into cash.
Strategy in brief: The investment manager invests in the shares of companies whose long-term prospects are considered to be undervalued. Stock selection is driven by in-depth analysis of individual companies, with a specific focus on their level of profitability, their corporate governance practices and the valuation of the shares. The investment manager selects stocks with distinct profitability profiles to build a fund that has the potential to cope in a variety of market conditions.
Performance comparator: The fund is actively managed. The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific ex Japan Index is a point of reference against which the performance of the fund may be measured.
Risks associated with the fund
The value and income from the fund's assets will go down as well as up. This will cause the value of your investment to fall as well as rise. There is no guarantee that the fund will achieve its objective and you may get back less than you originally invested.
Investing in emerging markets involves a greater risk of loss due to greater political, tax, economic, foreign exchange, liquidity and regulatory risks, among other factors. There may be difficulties in buying, selling, safekeeping or valuing investments in such countries.
The fund can be exposed to different currencies. Movements in currency exchange rates may adversely affect the value of your investment.
The fund may invest in China A shares. Investments in assets from the People's Republic of China are subject to changeable political, regulatory and economic conditions, which may cause difficulties when selling or collecting income from these investments. In addition, such investment is made via the 'Stock Connects' systems, which may be more susceptible to clearing, settlement and counterparty risk. These factors could cause the fund to incur a loss.
In exceptional circumstances where assets cannot be fairly valued, or have to be sold at a large discount to raise cash, we may temporarily suspend the fund in the best interest of all investors.
The fund could lose money if a counterparty with which it does business becomes unwilling or unable to repay money owed to the fund.
Further details of the risks that apply to the fund can be found in the fund's Prospectus.
Other information
The fund invests mainly in company shares and is therefore likely to experience larger price fluctuations than funds that invest in bonds and/or cash.