Investment products vary from low to very high risk. To help you understand the risk associated with each our funds, we classify our range of funds into 7 risk categories.

Very Low Risk

Funds categorised as Very Low Risk have the following characteristics:

• Focus on the preservation of capital above all else
• They involve very little risk to investors’ capital
• They are only designed as short-term holdings
• Over the medium to long term, the return on these funds may be less than inflation and may not be enough to cover product charges

Low Risk

Funds categorised as Very Low Risk have the following characteristics:

• Aim to provide a return in line with, or slightly better than, deposits
• They involve very little risk to investors’ capital, provided certain conditions are met such as remaining invested for a specific period of time
• Typically investments in this category will promise a specified return at some point in the future, e.g. a minimum of 100% capital back in 5 years’ time

Low to Medium Risk

Funds categorised as Low to Medium Risk have the following characteristics:

• Offer the potential for returns in excess of deposits but do not promise a minimum return at any time
• They tend to invest in a range of assets, normally focusing on lower risk assets such as government bonds and investment grade corporate bonds
• However, they also typically invest in higher risk assets such as equities, property and alternatives (e.g. commodities). At times these investments may be a significant proportion of the fund
• Investors’ capital is less exposed to market fluctuations than with higher risk investments but investors may get back less than they originally invested

Medium Risk

Funds categorised as Medium Risk have the following characteristics:

• Offer the potential for returns in excess of deposits but do not promise a minimum return at any time
• They tend to invest in a range of assets, including lower risk assets such as government bonds and investment grade corporate bonds, but are more focused on higher risk assets such as equities, property and alternatives (e.g. commodities)
• Investors’ capital is less exposed to market fluctuations than with higher risk investments but investors may get back less than they originally invested

High Risk

Funds categorised as High Risk have the following characteristics:

• The potential return from high risk investments is much higher than deposits or inflation
• The focus is on maximising the potential return to investors, rather than minimising risks
• Some high risk funds may consist almost entirely of one asset class or be concentrated in one geographic region or sector
• Investors’ capital is not secure and may fluctuate significantly. Investors may get back substantially less than they originally invested

Very High Risk

Funds categorised as Very High Risk have the following characteristics:

• Aim to generate exceptional returns for investors, but involve a significant level of risk
• Very high funds may borrow to finance the purchase of assets and while this offers the potential for higher returns, any losses incurred by the fund will be magnified as a result of borrowing
• In a worst case scenario, investors in a very high risk fund could lose all of their original investment