Investment involves risks. Please refer to the Explanatory Memorandum for details including the risk factors.
 

1. Investment risk

• The Fund’s investment portfolio may fall in value due to any of the key risk factors below and therefore your investment in the Fund may suffer losses. There is no guarantee of the repayment of principal.

2. Risks associated with debt securities

• Short-term debt instruments risk: As the Fund invests significantly in short-term debt instruments with short maturities, it means the turnover rates of the Fund’s investments may be relatively high and the transaction costs incurred as a result of the purchase or sale of short-term debt instruments may also increase, which in turn may have a negative impact on the net asset value (NAV) of the Fund.
• Credit / Counterparty risk: The Fund is exposed to the credit and default risk of issuers of the debt securities that the Fund may invest in.
• Interest rate risk: Investment in the Fund is subject to interest rate risk. In general, the prices of debt securities rise when interest rates fall, whilst their prices fall when interest rates rise.
• Credit rating and downgrading risk: Credit ratings assigned by rating agencies are subject to limitations and do not guarantee the creditworthiness of the security and/or issuer at all times. The credit rating of a debt instrument or its issuer may subsequently be downgraded. In the event of such downgrading, the value of the Fund may be adversely affected. The manager may or may not be able to dispose of the debt instruments that are being downgraded.
• Credit rating agency risk: The credit appraisal system in mainland China and the rating methodologies employed in mainland China may be different from those employed in other markets. Credit ratings given by mainland China rating agencies may therefore not be directly comparable with those given by other international rating agencies.
• Sovereign debt risk: The Fund’s investment in securities issued or guaranteed by governments may be exposed to political, social and economic risks. In adverse situations, the sovereign issuers may not be able or willing to repay the principal and/or interest when due or may request the Fund to participate in restructuring such debts. The Fund may suffer significant losses when there is a default of sovereign debt issuers.
• Valuation risk: Valuation of the Fund’s investments may involve uncertainties and judgmental determinations. If such valuation turns out to be incorrect, this may affect the NAV calculation of the Fund.
• Asset backed securities risks: Asset backed securities may be highly illiquid and prone to substantial price volatility. These instruments may be subject to greater credit, liquidity and interest rate risk compared to other debt securities. They are often exposed to extension and prepayment risks and risks that the payment obligations relating to the underlying assets are not met, which may adversely impact the returns of the securities.
• Volatility and liquidity risk: The debt securities in the emerging markets may be subject to higher volatility and lower liquidity compared to more developed markets. The prices of securities traded in such markets may be subject to fluctuations. The bid and offer spreads of the price of such securities may be large and the Fund may incur significant trading costs.

3. Risks associated with bank deposits

• Bank deposits are subject to the credit risks of the relevant financial institutions. The Fund may also place deposits in non-resident accounts (NRA) and offshore accounts (OSA) with banks in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The Fund’s deposit may not be protected by any deposit protection schemes, or the value of the protection under the deposit protection schemes may not cover the full amount deposited by the Fund. Therefore, if the relevant financial institution defaults, the Fund may suffer losses as a result.

4. Eurozone risk

• In light of ongoing concerns on the sovereign debt risk of certain countries within the Eurozone, the Fund’s investments in that region may be subject to higher volatility, liquidity, currency and default risks. Any adverse events, such as credit downgrade of a sovereign or exit of EU members from the Eurozone, may have a negative impact on the value of the Fund.

5. Risks relating to sale and repurchase agreements

• In the event of the failure of the counterparty with which collateral has been placed, the Fund may suffer loss as there may be delays in recovering collateral placed out or the cash originally received may be less than the collateral placed with the counterparty due to inaccurate pricing of the collateral or market movements.

6. Risks relating to reverse repurchase agreements

• In the event of the failure of the counterparty with which cash has been placed, the Fund may suffer loss as there may be delay in recovering cash placed out or difficulty in realising collateral or proceeds from the sale of the collateral may be less than the cash placed with the counterparty due to inaccurate pricing of the collateral or market movements. The Fund may also be subject to legal risk, operational risks, liquidity risk of the counterparty and custody risk of the collateral.

7. Risks of investing in other collective investment schemes

• The underlying money market funds in which the Fund may invest may not be regulated by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC). There may be additional costs involved when investing into these underlying funds. There is also no guarantee that the underlying funds will always have sufficient liquidity to meet the Fund’s redemption requests as and when made.

8. Risks associated with investment in financial derivative instruments (FDI)

• Risks associated with FDI include counterparty/credit risk, liquidity risk, valuation risk, volatility risk and over-the-counter transaction risk. The leverage element/component of a FDI can result in a loss significantly greater than the amount invested in the FDI by the Fund. Exposure to FDI may lead to a high risk of significant loss by the Fund.

9. Concentration risk

• The Fund will invest primarily in USD-denominated and settled short-term deposits and high quality money market instruments. The Fund is therefore likely to be more volatile than a broad-based fund that adopts a more diversified strategy.  The value of the Fund may be more susceptible to adverse economic, political, policy, foreign exchange, liquidity, tax, legal or regulatory events affecting the USD money markets.

10. Emerging market risk

• The Fund invests in emerging markets which may involve increased risks and special considerations not typically associated with investment in more developed markets, such as liquidity risks, currency risks/control, political and economic uncertainties, legal and taxation risks, settlement risks, custody risk and the likelihood of a high degree of volatility.

11. Currency risks

• Underlying investments of the Fund may be denominated in currencies other than its base currency. Also, a class of shares may be designated in a currency other than the base currency of the Fund. The NAV of the Fund may be affected unfavorably by fluctuations in the exchange rates between these currencies and the base currency and by changes in exchange rate controls.

12. RMB currency risk and RMB denominated classes risk

• RMB is currently not freely convertible and is subject to exchange controls and restrictions and investors may be adversely affected by movements of the exchange rates between RMB and other currencies.
• Currency conversion is also subject to the Fund’s ability to convert the proceeds into RMB (due to exchange controls and restrictions applicable to RMB) which may also affect the Fund’s ability to meet redemption requests from Unitholders in RMB denominated classes of units, and may delay the payment of redemption proceeds under exceptional circumstances.
• Non-RMB based investors who invest in RMB denominated classes are exposed to foreign exchange risk and there is no guarantee that the value of RMB against the investors’ base currency will not depreciate. Any depreciation of RMB could adversely affect the value of investors’investment in the RMB denominated classes of units.
• Although offshore RMB (CNH) and onshore RMB (CNY) are the same currency, they trade at different rates. Any divergence between CNH and CNY may adversely impact investors.