Investment advisor: UBS Asset Management (Americas) Inc.
Launch date: 8/31/1993
Expense ratio: 0.25% – 1.25%, depending on share class
Fundamental investment strategy:
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes, if any) in equity securities. Investments in equity securities may include, but are not limited to, dividend-paying securities, common stock and preferred stock of issuers located throughout the world and equity securities of real estate investment trusts (“REITs”). Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests primarily (at least 65% of its total assets) in issuers organized or having their principal place of business outside the United States or doing a substantial amount of business outside the United States. Up to 35% of the Fund’s assets may be invested in US equity securities. The Fund may invest in issuers from both developed and emerging markets. The Fund’s investments may include investments in China A-shares (shares of companies based in mainland China that trade on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange). The Fund may also invest in US- or Hong Kong-listed issuers that have entered into contractual relationships with a China-based business and/or individuals/entities affiliated with the business structured as a variable interest entity (“VIE”). In a VIE structure, instead of directly owning the equity interests in a Chinese company, the listed company has contractual arrangements with the Chinese company. These contractual arrangements are expected to provide the listed company (and investors in such company, such as the Fund) with exposure to the China-based company. These arrangements are often used because of Chinese governmental restrictions on non-Chinese ownership of companies in certain industries in China. The Advisor, on behalf of the Fund, intends to diversify broadly among countries, but reserves the right to invest a substantial portion of the Fund’s assets in one or more countries if economic and business conditions warrant such investments. The Fund may invest in stocks of companies of any size.
The Fund may, but is not required to, use exchange-traded or over-the-counter (“OTC”) derivative instruments for risk management purposes or as part of the Fund’s investment strategies. Generally, derivatives are financial contracts whose value depends upon, or is derived from, the value of an underlying asset, reference rate, index or other market factor and may relate to stocks, bonds, interest rates, credit, currencies or currency exchange rates, commodities and related indexes. The derivatives in which the Fund may invest include futures, forward currency agreements and equity participation notes. All of these derivatives may be used for risk management purposes to manage or adjust the risk profile of the Fund. Futures on currencies and forward currency agreements may also be used to hedge against a specific currency. In addition, all of the derivative instruments listed above may be used for investment (non-hedging) purposes to earn income; to enhance returns; to replace more traditional direct investments (except for forward currency agreements); or to obtain exposure to certain markets (except for forward currency agreements). The Fund also may use futures contracts on equity securities and indices to gain market exposure on its uninvested cash.
Under certain market conditions, the Fund may invest in companies at the time of their initial public offering (“IPO”).
Sustainable investing approach:
The Advisor’s investment decisions are based upon price/value discrepancies as identified by the Advisor’s fundamental valuation process and material sustainability factors across environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) criteria.
In constructing the Fund’s portfolio, the Advisor employs a positive screening process to identify equity securities of companies that are attractive based on their fundamental valuation profile in addition to evaluating specific sustainability factors. In selecting securities for the Fund, the Advisor focuses on, among other things, identifying discrepancies between a security’s fundamental value and its market price. In this context, the fundamental value of a given security is the Advisor’s assessment of what a security is worth. The Advisor will select a security whose fundamental value it estimates to be greater than its market value at any given time. For each stock under analysis, the Advisor bases its estimates of value upon country, economic, industry and company analysis, as well as upon a company’s management team, competitive advantage and core competencies. The Advisor then compares its assessment of a security’s value against the prevailing market prices, with the aim of constructing a portfolio of stocks across industries and countries with attractive relative price/value characteristics. Sustainability factors used by the Advisor in security selection are material factors that help the Advisor evaluate and compare the ESG performance relative to its industry and/or sector. This information is combined with additional financial analysis and research described above to identify companies the Advisor believes will provide attractively valued and sustainable investment opportunities.
In considering sustainability factors, the Advisor uses ESG tools such as an ESG Material Issues Framework to identify 3 to 5 of the most financially relevant factors, per sector, that can impact the investment thesis across different industry sectors. The universe of sustainability issues includes environmental factors such as global greenhouse gas emissions and wastewater management; social factors such as customer privacy and product safety; and governance factors such as critical and systemic risk management.
The Advisor also uses a proprietary risk tool to combine scores and data points from a number of reputable external research providers together with the UBS ESG Score to form the UBS ESG Consensus Score. The ESG Consensus Score is a normalized weighted average of ESG Score data from internal and recognized external providers (on a scale of 1-10 with 10 having the best sustainability profile). In addition, absolute ESG risks such as poor corporate governance and high ESG controversy levels are included in the Advisor’s risk tool. Collectively, these inputs may lead to an ESG Risk Signal which flags companies with high ESG risks. Once outliers are identified, the Advisor conducts more in-depth analysis to assess the material impact of the ESG risks.
The individual investments in the Fund have a UBS ESG Consensus Score (on a scale of 1-10, with 10 having the best sustainability profile). The Fund’s sustainability profile is measured using the weighted average UBS ESG Consensus score. The Fund seeks to maintain a sustainability profile that is higher than its benchmark based on the Advisor’s framework. The Fund’s sustainability profile is measured by its benchmark profile and the corresponding results are calculated at least once a year. The Fund’s sustainability profile calculation does not take account of cash and unrated investment instruments.
In addition, the Advisor excludes from the Fund’s portfolio companies or sectors that manufacture products or engage in business activities viewed as having a negative social or environmental impact. Such products or business activities include certain controversial weapons, natural resource extraction activities, thermal coal power generation, and certain controversial behavior and business activities as well as the failure of a portfolio company to meet certain engagement objectives identified by the Advisor. The Advisor may modify the above list of negative screens at any time, without prior shareholder approval or notice.
Notes of Explanation: For mutual funds, expense ratio may vary by share class and launch date applies to the launch date of the earliest share class. Sources: Fund prospectus or other offering document, as disclosed.
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