Foord Asia ex-Japan Fund

Management Fee (Percentage of the applicable Net Asset Value per share)
Class R: 0.85% + 15% of outperformance over the benchmark

The annual fee comprises a fixed standard fee plus a performance fee, subject to an overall minimum.  

The annual fee may be adjusted up daily (subject to fulfilling the performance conditions) by the performance fee, calculated as the difference between the portfolio performance and the benchmark return for the same period multiplied by the performance fee sharing rate.

• Asia Ex-Japan markets’ (+0.5%) flat return masked what was another volatile month — global and broad-based selling took the index down more than 8% by mid-month, rescued by a +5.5% final week rally, driven (ironically) by hopes for more dovish US Federal Reserve policy on prospects of slowing growth
• Chinese equities (+1.2%) posted their first positive month of 2022 as draconian COVID-19 restrictions begin to ease in several Tier-1 cities — it appears that China’s leadership may be taking a more balanced approach to the pandemic and the need to foster economic growth
• Taiwanese equities (+3.6%) rebounded from the near 10% decline suffered in April — China’s pivot towards balancing COVID-19 containment with the need for economic growth have (at least temporarily) allayed fears that continued lockdowns could decimate semiconductor demand in one of the largest global markets
• Indian markets (-5.8%) fell — an importer of much of its energy needs, higher commodity prices have weighed on Indian growth expectations
• Though potentially short lived, the prospects of a marginally less hawkish Fed resulted in a rebound in interest rate sensitive and consumer-oriented sectors — leading sectors included information technology (+3.2%), industrials (+2.3%) and consumer discretionary (+1.0%)
• The fund outperformed the benchmark — driven by Chinese technology firms Baidu (+13.0%) and Netease (+10.5%), partly offset by declines in JD.Com (-12.8%)