| Investment Risks The Fund is an investment fund. The Fund’s investment portfolio may fall in value due to any of the risk factors below and therefore your investment in the Fund may suffer losses. There is no guarantee of the repayment of principal. Credit Risks: The Fund may be exposed to the credit/default risk of bonds that it invests in. In the event of bankruptcy or default of an issuer, the Fund may experience losses and incur costs. The actual or perceived downgrading of a rated debt security or its issuers could decrease its value and liquidity, and may have an adverse impact on the Fund, however, the Fund may continue to hold it to avoid a distressed sale. Emerging Market Risks: Investment in emerging markets may be subject to a higher than average volatility than more developed markets due to greater political, tax, sustainability related, economic, social, and foreign exchange risks. The size and trading volume of securities markets in emerging markets may be substantially smaller than developed markets. This may subject the Fund to higher liquidity and volatility risks. Custody and registration of assets in emerging markets may be less reliable than in developed markets, which may subject the Fund to higher settlement risk. The Fund may be subject to higher regulatory risks due to low level of regulation, enforcement of regulations and monitoring of investors’ activities in emerging markets. Interest Rate Risks: An increase in interest rates may adversely affect the value of the bonds held by the Fund. Non-Investment Grade / Unrated Bonds Risks: Investment in non-investment grade or unrated bonds, including sovereign debts, may subject the Fund to higher credit/default risks. If the issuer of the non-investment grade or unrated bonds defaults, or if the non-investment grade or unrated bonds fall in value, investors may suffer significant losses. Non-investment grade or unrated bonds tend to be less liquid and more volatile, and the market for these bonds is generally less liquid and more volatile, higher rated fixed-income securities. Adverse events or market conditions may have a larger negative impact on the prices of non-investment grade or unrated bonds than on higher rated fixed-income securities. Such securities are also subject to a greater risk of loss of principal and interest than higher rated fixed-income securities. Sovereign Debt Risks: Investment in bonds issued or guaranteed by governments or authorities may involve political, economic, default, or other risks, which may in turn have an adverse impact on the Fund. Due to these factors, the sovereign issuers may not be able or willing to repay the principal and/or interest when due. Holders of defaulting sovereign debt may be requested to participate in the restructuring of such debt. In addition, there may be limited legal recourses available against the sovereign issuer in case of failure of or delay in repayment. The Fund may have exposure to Eurozone sovereign debts. In light of the fiscal conditions of certain European countries, the Fund may be subject to a number of increased risks arising from a potential crisis in the Eurozone (such as volatility, liquidity, price and currency risks). The performance of the Fund could deteriorate should there be any adverse events in the Eurozone (e.g. downgrade of sovereign credit ratings, default of one or more European countries, or even break-up of the Eurozone). The Fund may have greater exposure (up to 20% per country) of its assets in debt securities issued by and/or guaranteed by non-investment grade countries i.e. Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and Venezuela, which may result in higher credit/default risk and concentration risk. Capital Growth Risks: Risks associated with Fees and/or Dividends Paid Out of Capital Any distributions involving payment of dividends out of capital (Classes 6 and 8), payment of dividends out of gross income (i.e. payment of fees and expenses out of capital) (Classes 6 and 8) or payment of implied interest rate differentials arising from share class currency hedging as dividends (Class 8) amounts to a return or withdrawal of part of an investor’s original investment or from any capital gains attributable to that original investment. Whilst all dividends paid result in an immediate reduction of the net asset value per share, these share classes may pay larger dividends (i.e. by paying dividends out of capital, gross income or interest rate differentials arising from share class currency hedging gains (if any)), which may therefore result in a larger reduction in the net asset value per share. Payment of Dividends From Implied Interest Rate Differentials For Distributing (R) Shares (Class 8), any dividends payable may include interest rate differentials arising from share class currency hedging gains/losses which may increase/decrease dividends paid. Shareholders of such Distributing (R) Shares will forego capital gains as any currency hedging gains are distributed rather than added to capital. Conversely, currency hedging losses may decrease the dividends paid, and in extreme cases may deduct from capital. Currency Risks: The Fund may invest in assets denominated in a currency other than the base currency of the Fund. Also, a class of shares may be designated in a currency other than the base currency of the Fund. Changes in exchange rates between such currency and the base currency and changes in exchange rate controls may adversely affect the value of the Fund’s assets. The Investment Adviser may utilise techniques and instruments (e.g. currency overlays) in relation to currencies other than the base currency with the aim of generating positive returns. Any active currency management techniques implemented by the Fund may not be correlated with the underlying securities held by the Fund. As a result, the Fund may suffer significant losses even if there is no loss to the value of the underlying securities held by the Fund. Derivatives Risks: In an adverse situation, if the use of derivatives for hedging and efficient portfolio management becomes ineffective, the Fund may suffer significant losses. Foreign Investments Restrictions Risks: Some countries prohibit or restrict investment, or the repatriation of income, capital or the proceeds from sale of securities. The Fund may incur higher costs investing in these countries. Such restrictions may delay the investment or repatriation of capital of the Fund. Liquidity Risks: The size and trading volume of securities in the markets relevant to the Fund may be substantially smaller than developed markets. This may lead to investments in such securities becoming less liquid, making it difficult to dispose of them which may reduce the Fund’s returns/lead to losses for investors. Securities Lending Risks: When engaging in securities lending, the Fund will have a credit risk exposure to the counterparties to any securities lending contract. Fund investments can be lent to counterparties over a period of time. A default by the counterparty combined with a fall in the value of the collateral below that of the value of the securities lent may result in a reduction in the value of the Fund. Currency Conversion Risk for Renminbi (“RMB”) Denominated Classes: RMB is currently not freely convertible and is subject to exchange controls and restrictions. The Fund offers RMB denominated share classes. Subscriptions and redemptions for the Fund may involve conversion of currency. Currency conversion will be conducted at the applicable exchange rate and subject to the applicable spread. Non-RMB based investors are exposed to foreign exchange risk and there is no guarantee that the value of RMB against the investors’ home currency will not depreciate. Any depreciation of RMB could adversely affect the value of investors’ investment in the RMB denominated share classes. Under exceptional circumstances, payment of realisation proceeds and/or dividend payment (if any) in RMB may be delayed due to the exchange controls and restrictions applicable to RMB. RMB is traded in both the onshore and offshore markets. While both onshore RMB (“CNY”) and offshore RMB (“CNH”) represent the same currency, they are traded in different and separate markets which operate independently. Therefore, CNY and CNH do not necessarily have the same exchange rate and their movement may not be in the same direction. When converting the base currency of the Fund to RMB for the purposes of calculating the net asset value of a share class with a RMB reference currency, the Management Company will apply the CNH rate. Any divergence between CNH and CNY may adversely impact investors.Contingent Convertible Bonds Risks: A contingent convertible bond may be converted into the issuer’s equity or be partly or wholly written off (a “write-down”) if a pre-specified trigger event occurs. Trigger levels differ and the exposure to conversion risk depends on the distance of the capital ratio to the trigger level. In case of conversion into equity, the Fund might be forced to sell these new equity shares. Such a forced sale might have an effect on market liquidity as there may not be sufficient demand for these shares. In the event of a write-down, which may be either temporary or permanent, the Fund may suffer a full, partial or staggered loss of the value of its investment. It might be difficult for the Fund to anticipate the trigger events or how the securities will behave upon conversion. Investment in contingent convertible bonds may suffer a loss of capital. Further, contingent convertible bonds are usually subordinated to comparable non-convertible securities, and thus are subject to higher risks than other debt securities. Coupon payments on certain contingent convertible bonds may be entirely discretionary and may be cancelled by the issuer, in which event the Fund may experience losses. Investment in contingent convertible bonds may also lead to increased industry concentration risk and thus counterparty risk as such securities are issued by a limited number of banks. |