Investment involves risk. Please refer to the offering document(s) for details, including the risk factors.
1. Credit risk
If the issuer of any of the securities in which the Fund's assets are invested defaults, the performance of the Fund will be adversely affected and the Fund could suffer substantial loss. For fixed income securities, a default on interest or principal may adversely impact the performance of the Fund. Decline in credit quality of the issuer may adversely affect the valuation of the relevant bonds and the Fund. The credit ratings assigned by credit rating agencies do not guarantee the creditworthiness of the issuer.
2. Interest rate risk
Interest rates in the countries in which the Fund's assets will be invested may be subject to fluctuations. Any such fluctuations may have a direct effect on the income received by the Fund and its capital value. Bonds are particularly susceptible to interest rate changes and may experience significant price volatility. The prices of bonds generally increase when interest rates decline and decrease when interest rates rise. Longer term bonds are usually more sensitive to interest rate changes.
3. Currency risk
The assets in which the Fund is invested and the income from the assets will or may be quoted in currency which are different from the Fund's base currency. The performance of the Fund will therefore be affected by movements in the exchange rate between the currencies in which the assets are held and Fund's currency of denomination. Investors whose base currency is different (or not in a currency linked to the Fund's currency of denomination) may be exposed to additional currency risk.
4. Investment grade bond risk
Investment grade bonds are assigned ratings within the top rating categories by rating agencies (including but not limited to Fitch, Moody's and/or Standard & Poor's) on the basis of the creditworthiness or risk of default of a bond issue. Rating agencies review such assigned ratings and bonds may therefore be downgraded in rating if economic circumstances (e.g. subject to market or other conditions) impact the relevant bond issues. Downgrading of the bonds may adversely affect the value of the relevant bonds and therefore the performance of the Fund. Also, the Fund may face higher risks of default in interest payment and principal repayment. As a result, investors may get back less than they originally invested.
5. Investment risk
The value of the Fund's holdings may fall as well as rise. Investors may be subject to substantial losses.
6. Liquidity risk
The Fund may invest in instruments where the volume of transactions may fluctuate significantly depending on market sentiment. There is a risk that investments made by the Fund may become less liquid in response to market developments or adverse investor perceptions.
7. Class currency risk
The Class Currency of each Class may be different from the Fund's base currency, the currencies of which the Fund's assets are invested and/or investors' base currencies of investment. If an investor converts its base currency of investment to the Class Currency in order to invest in a particular Class and subsequently converts the redemption proceeds from that Class Currency back to its original base currency of investment, the investor may suffer a loss due to the depreciation of the Class Currency against the original currency. For example, if an investor whose base currency of investment is Hong Kong dollars (i.e. not RMB) and chooses to invest in the RMB Class, the investor may be exposed to a higher currency risk. The investor may suffer a higher loss as a result of exchange rate fluctuations between Hong Kong dollars and RMB upon the reconversion of its RMB investment back to Hong Kong dollars as compared to an investor whose base currency of investment is originally in RMB.
8. RMB currency risk
RMB is subject to a managed floating exchange rate based on market supply and demand with reference to a basket of foreign currencies. RMB exchange rate is also subject to exchange control policies. The daily trading price of the RMB against other major currencies in the inter-bank foreign exchange market is allowed to float within a narrow band around the central parity published by the relevant authorities of the People's Republic of China. As the exchange rates are influenced by government policy and market forces, the exchange rates for RMB against other currencies, including US dollars and HK dollars, are susceptible to movements based on external factors. Accordingly, the investment in Classes denominated in RMB may be adversely affected by the fluctuations in the exchange rate between RMB and other foreign currencies. RMB is currently not freely convertible and RMB convertibility from offshore RMB (CNH) to onshore RMB (CNY) is a managed currency process subject to foreign exchange control policies of and restrictions imposed by the Chinese government.
Class(es) denominated in RMB will generally be valued with reference to RMB (CNH) rather than RMB (CNY). While RMB (CNH) and RMB (CNY) represent the same currency, they are traded in different and separate markets which operate independently. As such RMB (CNH) does not necessarily have the same exchange rate and may not move in the same direction as RMB (CNY). Class(es) denominated in RMB participate in the offshore RMB (CNH) market, which allow investors to freely transact CNH outside of mainland China. Class(es) denominated in RMB will have no requirement to remit CNH to onshore RMB (CNY). Non-RMB based investors (e.g. Hong Kong investors) in Class(es) denominated in RMB may have to convert HK dollars or other currencies into RMB when investing in Class(es) denominated in RMB and subsequently convert the RMB redemption proceeds and/or distributions (if any) back to HK dollars or such other currencies. Investors will incur currency conversion costs and may suffer losses depending on the exchange rate movements of RMB relative to HK dollars or such other currencies. Also, there can be no assurance that RMB will not be subject to devaluation and any depreciation of RMB could adversely affect the value of the investor's investment in the Fund.
Even if the Fund aims at paying redemption monies and/or distributions of RMB denominated Class(es) in RMB, the Manager may, under extreme market conditions when there is not sufficient RMB for currency conversion and with the approval of the Trustee, pay redemption monies and/or distributions in US dollars. There is also a risk that payment of redemption monies and/or distributions in RMB may be delayed when there is not sufficient amount of RMB for currency conversion for settlement of the redemption monies and distributions in a timely manner due to the exchange controls and restrictions applicable to RMB. In any event, the redemption proceeds will be paid not later than one calendar month after the relevant dealing day on which units are redeemed and the Manager has received a duly completed redemption request in a prescribed format and such other information as the Trustee or the Manager may reasonably require.
9. Currency Hedged Classes risk
Each Currency Hedged Class may hedge the Fund's denominated currency back to its currency of denomination, with an aim to provide a return on investment which correlates with the return of the Class of unit which is denominated in the base currency of the Fund. The costs and resultant profit or loss on the hedging transactions will be reflected in the net asset value per unit for the units of the relevant Currency Hedged Classes. The costs relating to such hedging transactions which may be significant depending on prevailing market conditions shall be borne by that Currency Hedged Class only.
The precise hedging strategy applied to a particular Currency Hedged Class may vary. In addition, there is no guarantee that the desired hedging instruments will be available or hedging strategy will achieve its desired result. In such circumstances, investors of the Currency Hedged Class may still be subject to the currency exchange risk on an unhedged basis (which means that, for example, if the hedging strategy in respect of the RMB Hedged Class is ineffective, depending on the exchange rate movements of RMB relative to the base currency of the Fund, and/or other currency(ies) of the non-RMB denominated underlying investment of the Fund, (i) investors may still suffer losses even if there are gains or no losses in the value of the non-RMB denominated underlying investments; or (ii) investors may suffer additional losses if the non-RMB denominated underlying investments of the Fund fall in value). If the counterparties of the instruments used for hedging purposes default, investors of the Currency Hedged Classes may be exposed to the currency exchange risk on an unhedged basis and may therefore suffer further losses.
While the hedging strategy may protect investors of the Currency Hedged Classes against a decrease in the value of the Fund's base currency relative to the denominated currency of that Currency Hedged Class, the hedging strategy may substantially limit the benefits of any potential increase in the value of a Currency Hedged Class expressed in the Class currency, if the Currency Hedged Class' denominating currency falls against the base currency of the Fund.
10. Payment of distributions out of capital risk
Where the income generated by the Fund is insufficient to pay a distribution as the Fund declares, the Manager may in its discretion determine such distributions may be paid from capital including realized and unrealized capital gains. Investors should note that the payment of distributions out of capital represents a return or withdrawal of part of the amount they originally invested or from any capital gains attributable to that original investment. As a result, the capital that the Fund has available for investment in the future and capital growth may be reduced. Any payments of distributions by the Fund may result in an immediate decrease in the net asset value per unit. Also, a high distribution yield does not imply a positive or high return on the total investment.
11. Risks related to the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis
The Fund may invest substantially in the Eurozone. In light of the current fiscal conditions and concerns on the sovereign debt risk of certain countries within the Eurozone (in particular, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain), the Fund's investments in the region may be more volatile. The performance of the Fund may deteriorate significantly should there be any adverse credit events (e.g. downgrade of the sovereign credit rating, obligation default, etc) of any Eurozone country.