IMPORTANT CHANGES THAT REQUIRE YOUR VOTE

Transcription

1 Cape Town, Head Office: 7 th Floor, Protea Place, 40 Dreyer Street, Claremont, 7708 PO Box 23167, Claremont, 7735, South Africa T: F: E: info@prudential.co.za IMPORTANT CHANGES THAT REQUIRE YOUR VOTE At Prudential we believe in the importance of having a fund offering that is well-positioned to meet the needs of our investors. We continuously search for opportunities to improve investment outcomes, so when an opportunity arises to improve our offering while at the same time make our funds less expensive, it s an undertaking that we seriously consider. With this in mind, we are pleased to present to you a number of changes that we would like to make to our range of randdenominated global funds. As an investor in one or more of these funds, we ask that you please take a few moments to read through and consider the proposed changes carefully. As much as we believe these to be in the best interests of all investors, we would like to give you an opportunity to vote either for or against the proposals. To cast your vote, please complete the attached ballot form and return it to our independent auditor (Ernst & Young) no later than 27 August To help facilitate this process, we ve included a prepaid envelope that will allow you to post your response to the auditor at no cost to you. Alternatively, we have also made provisions for you to send your response via or fax if you prefer. The auditor s details can be found on the attached ballot form. Important to note is that for the ballot to be approved, we require a response from at least 25% of investors, of which more than 50% will need to vote in favour of the changes. It is therefore important that you cast your vote. Proposed changes to our rand-denominated global funds While each change will be discussed within the course of this letter, this section covers the two main changes you will be required to vote on: 1. Changing the following portfolios from a fund of funds to a feeder fund structure: Prudential Global High Yield Bond Fund of Funds Prudential Global Cautious Managed Fund of Funds Prudential Global Value Fund of Funds In case you are unfamiliar with the terms, a fund of funds is a single fund that invests into multiple underlying funds, whereas a feeder fund is a single fund that invests solely into one underlying fund. One of the major benefits of this change is that it will allow us to invest the above funds in their US dollar-denominated equivalents (which will be explained in more detail below), thereby reducing the overall cost for investors in the funds. 2. In addition to the above change, we would also like to amend the investment mandates of these funds to allow them to make use of listed and unlisted derivatives to better manage foreign exchange risk; effectively giving the portfolio managers more scope to protect your investments. Reasons for the changes 1. Change in fund structure Our range of rand-denominated global funds currently invests in a variety of unit trusts and other registered collective investment schemes. While this multi-fund approach has proved beneficial over the years, it does come with certain potential drawbacks, most notably being relatively costly. Fortunately, together with the broader Prudential Group, we at Prudential South Africa have identified an exciting opportunity to improve our current global fund range. Our shareholders have launched a new offshore management company and offshore fund range in Ireland. The new range offers a selection of Irish-domiciled, US dollardenominated portfolios designed specifically for South African investors. Three of these portfolios are intentionally designed to have very similar investment mandates to those of our existing range of global rand-denominated funds. Prudential Portfolio Managers Unit Trusts Ltd (Registration number: 1999/05242/06) Assets managed by Prudential Investment Managers (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd (Registration number: 2013/051515/07) Directors: *BR Fick (Chairman), PM Hugo (Managing Director), WT Africa, *JH Kinsley, **JA Wallace, **BW Grater *Non-Executive Director **Independent Non-Executive Director

2 This presents us with a fantastic opportunity to have our global funds invest directly and solely into these enhanced US dollar offshore equivalent funds. Making use of this structure will not only allow us to better leverage off the global investment expertise and scale of the Prudential Group, it will also allow us to reduce the cost of investing in the funds for investors. The investment management of the funds is done by M&G Investments (the Group s London-based investment manager), with Marc Beckenstrater as the lead portfolio manager of the funds supported by M&G s large and experienced investment team. Prior to his appointment, Marc was Chief Investment Officer for Prudential South Africa, where he was responsible for managing the international investment process and was a portfolio manager of the Global Value Fund of Funds and Global Cautious Managed Fund of Funds. 2. Change in investment mandate Global rand-denominated portfolios are particularly sensitive to currency movements. Allowing the portfolios to hold investments in listed and unlisted derivatives provides the portfolio manager with the ability to reduce this exchange rate risk to a certain extent, when appropriate. A complete overview of these mandate changes can be found in the attached Annexures 1-3. How will the changes impact you? The most noticeable change that you will experience will be a change in the name of the fund that you are currently invested in. With reference to the table below, the new name will reflect the target fund that the global feeder fund will be feeding into. Current name Prudential Global Cautious Managed Fund of Funds Prudential Global High Yield Bond Fund of Funds Prudential Global Value Fund of Funds New name Prudential Global Inflation Plus Feeder Fund Prudential Global Bond Feeder Fund Prudential Global Equity Feeder Fund Secondly, you will pay lower fees within the funds. Not only will the annual management fee be reduced, but because the funds will be invested directly into their offshore equivalents, their administration and other related costs are also reduced. As shown in the table below, we expect that over time this will result in substantially lower Total Expense Ratios (TERs) for the funds. Fund Global Cautious Managed Fund of Funds Global High Yield Bond Fund of Fund Class Annual management fee* TER** Current New March 2017 # Expected ## Change A 0.75% 0.50% 1.91% 1.37% -0.54% B 0.50% 0.20% 1.62% 1.03% -0.59% A To remain unchanged at 0.50% 1.63% 1.23% -0.40% C 2.00% 1.70% 3.34% 2.60% -0.74% Global Value Fund of Funds A 0.75% 0.50% 2.01% 1.46% -0.55% *The annual management fees are quoted excluding VAT. **The TER includes VAT and other expenses incurred by the fund (e.g. audit fees, custody fees and fees and costs of all underlying funds). # To fully demonstrate the effect of the change we have used TERs for March These are the last published TERs before these Funds of Funds started investing in their new respective US Dollar equivalent offshore funds, which is when we implemented the first stage of the restructuring process to ensure that investors started receiving some of the cost benefits as soon as possible. ## Should the ballot be successful. In conclusion We strongly believe that the above changes will be beneficial for investors and hope that you see the proposals in the same light. As a reminder, please complete the ballot at the end of this letter and return it to Ernst & Young before 27 August If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our Client Service Team on or us at query@prudential.co.za. Yours sincerely Pieter Hugo MD OF PRUDENTIAL UNIT TRUSTS

3 ANNEXURE 1 CHANGES TO THE PRUDENTIAL GLOBAL HIGH YIELD BOND FUND OF FUNDS Current Proposed Fund name Prudential Global High Yield Bond Fund of Funds Prudential Global Bond Feeder Fund Investment policy a. The Prudential Global High Yield Bond Fund of Funds a. The Prudential Global Bond Feeder Fund is a specialist is a specialist portfolio. The investment objective of the Prudential Global High Yield Bond Fund of Funds is to seek to secure for investors steady growth of capital and maximisation of income. portfolio. The investment objective of the Fund is to generate investment returns through exposure to global bonds and interest-bearing instruments over the medium term. b. Investments to be included in the Prudential Global High Yield Bond Fund of Funds will, apart from non-equity securities that offer high yields of return on capital and assets in liquid form, consist of participatory interests or any other form of participation in portfolios of collective investment schemes or other similar schemes operated in territories with a regulatory environment which is to the satisfaction of the Manager and Trustee of a sufficient standard to provide investor protection at least equivalent to that in South Africa. Further in view of exchange control restrictions, the portfolio may, within the discretion of the portfolio manager invest in participatory interests and other forms of participation in schemes registered in the Republic of South Africa. The investment policy of all investments (whether participatory interests or any other type of participation referred to above) will comply with the investment policy of this Fund of Funds as referred to in clause a above. c. Nothing in this Supplemental Deed shall preclude the Manager from varying the ratios of securities, to secure capital growth and maximise investment potential in changing economic environments or market conditions or to meet the requirements, if applicable, of any exchange formally recognised in terms of legislation and from retaining cash or placing cash on deposit in terms of the Deed and this Supplemental Deed; provided that the Manager shall ensure that the aggregate value of the assets comprising the Fund of Funds shall consist of securities and assets in liquid form of the aggregate value required from time to time by the Act. d. The Trustee shall ensure that the investment policy set out in this Supplemental Deed is carried out. e. The Manager will be permitted to invest on behalf of the Prudential Global High Yield Bond Fund of Funds in offshore investments as legislation permits. f. For the purpose of the Prudential Global High Yield Bond Fund of Funds the Manager shall reserve the right to close the portfolio to new investors on a date This will be done in order to be able to manage the portfolio in accordance with its mandate. The Manager may, once a portfolio has been closed, open that portfolio again to new investors on a date b. Apart from assets in liquid form and listed and unlisted financial instruments (as per the requirements in paragraph e. below), it will consist solely of participatory interests in a single portfolio of a collective investment scheme operated in a territory with a regulatory environment which is to the satisfaction of the Manager and Trustee of a sufficient standard to provide investor protection at least equivalent to that in South Africa, namely the Prudential Global Bond Fund under The Prudential Global Funds ICAV Scheme, domiciled in Ireland. c. Nothing in this Supplemental Deed shall preclude the Manager from varying the ratios of securities, to meet the investment objective in changing economic environments or market conditions or to meet the requirements, if applicable, of any exchange formally recognised in terms of legislation and from retaining cash or placing cash on deposit in terms of the Deed and this Supplemental Deed; provided that the Manager shall ensure that the aggregate value of the assets comprising the Fund shall consist of securities and assets in liquid form of the aggregate value required from time to time by the Act. d. No change e. The portfolio may from time to time invest in listed and unlisted financial instruments, in accordance with the provisions of the Act, and the Regulations thereto, as amended from time to time, in order to hedge exchange rate risk if the portfolio is exposed to exchange rate risks. f. For the purpose of the Prudential Global Bond Feeder Fund the Manager shall reserve the right to close the portfolio to new investors on a date determined by Page 1 of 4

4 ANNEXURE 2 CHANGES TO THE PRUDENTIAL GLOBAL CAUTIOUS MANAGED FUND OF FUNDS Current Proposed Fund name Prudential Global Cautious Managed Fund of Funds Prudential Global Inflation Plus Feeder Fund Investment policy a. The Prudential Global Cautious Managed Fund of Funds a. The Prudential Global Inflation Plus Feeder Fund is a is a managed Fund of Funds. The Manager will invest in a broad range of participatory interests and other forms of participation in schemes covering a range of specialist portfolio. The investment objective of the Fund is to outperform global inflation while preserving capital over the medium term. investment philosophies, which will allow it to secure for investors growth of income with relative capital stability. b. Investments to be included in the Prudential Global Cautious Managed Fund of Funds will, apart from assets in liquid form and non equity securities, consist primarily of participatory interests or any other form of participation in portfolios of Collective Investment Schemes or other similar schemes operated in territories with a regulatory environment which is to the satisfaction of the Manager and Trustee of a sufficient standard to provide investor protection at least equivalent to that in South Africa. Further in view of exchange control restrictions, the portfolio may, within the discretion of the portfolio manager invest in participatory interests and other forms of participation in schemes registered in the Republic of South Africa. The investment policy of all investments (whether participatory interests or any other type of participation referred to above) will comply with the investment policy of this Fund of Funds as referred to in clause a above. c. Nothing in this Supplemental Deed shall preclude the Manager from varying the ratios of securities, to secure a real return in changing economic environments or market conditions or to meet the requirements, if applicable, of any exchange formally recognised in terms of legislation and from retaining cash or placing cash on deposit in terms of the Deed and this Supplemental Deed; provided that the Manager shall ensure that the aggregate value of the assets comprising the portfolio shall consist of securities and assets in liquid form of the aggregate value required from time to time by the Act. d. The Trustee shall ensure that the investment policy set out in this Supplemental Deed is carried out. e. The Manager will be permitted to invest on behalf of the Prudential Global Value Fund Funds in offshore investments as legislation permits. f. For the purpose of the Prudential Global Cautious Managed Fund of Funds the Manager shall reserve the right to close the portfolio to new investors on a date This will be done in order to be able to manage the portfolio in accordance with its mandate. The Manager may, once a portfolio has been closed, open that portfolio again to new investors on a date b. Apart from assets in liquid form and listed and unlisted financial instruments (as per the requirements in paragraph e. below), it will consist solely of participatory interests in a single portfolio of a collective investment scheme operated in a territory with a regulatory environment which is to the satisfaction of the Manager and Trustee of a sufficient standard to provide investor protection at least equivalent to that in South Africa, namely the Prudential Global Inflation Plus Fund under The Prudential Global Funds ICAV Scheme, domiciled in Ireland. c. Nothing in this Supplemental Deed shall preclude the Manager from varying the ratios of securities, to meet the investment objective in changing economic environments or market conditions or to meet the requirements, if applicable, of any exchange formally recognised in terms of legislation and from retaining cash or placing cash on deposit in terms of the Deed and this Supplemental Deed; provided that the Manager shall ensure that the aggregate value of the assets comprising the Fund shall consist of securities and assets in liquid form of the aggregate value required from time to time by the Act. d. No change e. The portfolio may from time to time invest in listed and unlisted financial instruments, in accordance with the provisions of the Act, and the Regulations thereto, as amended from time to time, in order to hedge exchange rate risk if the portfolio is exposed to exchange rate risks. f. For the purpose of the Prudential Global Inflation Plus Feeder Fund the Manager shall reserve the right to close the portfolio to new investors on a date determined by Page 2 of 4

5 ANNEXURE 3 CHANGES TO THE PRUDENTIAL GLOBAL VALUE FUND OF FUNDS Current Proposed Fund name Prudential Global Value Fund of Funds Prudential Global Equity Feeder Fund Investment policy a. The Prudential Global Value Fund of Funds is a general a. The Prudential Global Equity Feeder Fund is a specialist Fund of Funds. The investment objective of the Prudential Global Value Fund of Funds is to seek to secure for portfolio. The investment objective of the Fund is to provide long-term capital growth. investors growth of income and capital. It will invest in a broad range of participatory interests and other forms of participation in schemes covering a broad range of investment philosophies in order to achieve a portfolio, which reflect its investment objective. b. Investments to be included in the Prudential Global Value Fund of Funds will, apart from assets in liquid form and non equity securities consist primarily of participatory interests or any other form of participation in portfolios of collective investment schemes or other similar schemes operated in territories with a regulatory environment which is to the satisfaction of the Manager and Trustee of a sufficient standard to provide investor protection at least equivalent to that in South Africa. Further in view of exchange control restrictions, the portfolio may, within the discretion of the portfolio manager invest in participatory interests and other forms of participation in schemes registered in the Republic of South Africa. The investment policy of all investments (whether participatory interest or any other type of participation referred to above) will comply with the investment policy of this Fund of Funds as referred to in clause a above. c. Nothing in this Supplemental Deed shall preclude the Manager from varying the ratios of securities, to maximise capital growth and investment potential in changing economic environments or market conditions or to meet the requirements, if applicable, of any exchange formally recognised in terms of legislation and from retaining cash or placing cash on deposit in terms of the Deed and this Supplemental Deed; provided that the Manager shall ensure that the aggregate value of the assets comprising the Fund of Funds shall consist of securities and assets in liquid form of the aggregate value required from time to time by the Act. d. The Trustee shall ensure that the investment policy set out in this Supplemental Deed is carried out. e. The Manager will be permitted to invest on behalf of the Prudential Global Value Fund Funds in offshore investments as legislation permits. f. For the purpose of the Prudential Global Value Fund of Funds the Manager shall reserve the right to close the portfolio to new investors on a date determined by b. Apart from assets in liquid form and listed and unlisted financial instruments (as per the requirements in paragraph e. below), it will consist solely of participatory interests in a single portfolio of a collective investment scheme operated in a territory with a regulatory environment which is to the satisfaction of the Manager and Trustee of a sufficient standard to provide investor protection at least equivalent to that in South Africa, namely the Prudential Global Equity Fund under The Prudential Global Funds ICAV Scheme, domiciled in Ireland. c. Nothing in this Supplemental Deed shall preclude the Manager from varying the ratios of securities, to meet the investment objective in changing economic environments or market conditions or to meet the requirements, if applicable, of any exchange formally recognised in terms of legislation and from retaining cash or placing cash on deposit in terms of the Deed and this Supplemental Deed; provided that the Manager shall ensure that the aggregate value of the assets comprising the Fund shall consist of securities and assets in liquid form of the aggregate value required from time to time by the Act. d. No change e. The portfolio may from time to time invest in listed and unlisted financial instruments, in accordance with the provisions of the Act, and the Regulations thereto, as amended from time to time, in order to hedge exchange rate risk if the portfolio is exposed to exchange rate risks. f. For the purpose of the Prudential Global Equity Feeder Fund the Manager shall reserve the right to close the portfolio to new investors on a date determined by Page 3 of 4

6 PRUDENTIAL PORTFOLIO MANAGERS UNIT TRUSTS LTD DISCLAIMER Prudential Portfolio Managers Unit Trusts Ltd (Registration number: 1999/0524/06) is an approved CISCA management company (#29). Assets are managed by Prudential Investment Managers (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, which is an approved discretionary Financial Services Provider (#45199). The Trustee s/ Custodian details are: Standard Bank of South Africa limited Trustees Services & investor Services. 20th Floor, Main Tower, Standard Bank Centre, Heerengracht, Cape Town. Collective Investment Schemes (unit trusts) are generally medium-to long-term investments. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future investment performance. Unit trust prices are calculated on a net asset value basis. This means the price is the total net market value of all assets of the unit trust fund divided by the total number of units of the fund. Any market movements for example in share prices, bond prices, money market prices or currency fluctuations - relevant to the underlying assets of the fund may cause the value of the underlying assets to go up or down. As a result, the price of your units may go up or down. Unit trusts are traded at the ruling forward price of the day, meaning that transactions are processed during the day before you or the Manager know what the price at the end of the day will be. The price and therefore the number of units involved in the transaction are only known on the following day. The unit trust fund may borrow up to 10% of the fund value, and it may also lend any scrip (proof of ownership of an investment instrument) that it holds to earn additional income. A Prudential unit trust fund may consist of different fund classes that are subject to different fees and charges. Where applicable, the Manager will pay your financial adviser an agreed standard ongoing adviser fee, which is included in the overall costs of the fund. A Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) summary with all fees and maximum initial and ongoing adviser fees is available on our website. One can also obtain additional information on Prudential products on the Prudential website. The Fund may hold foreign securities including foreign CIS funds. As a result, the fund may face material, risks. The volatility of the fund may be higher and the liquidity of the underlying securities may be restricted due to relative market sizes and market conditions. The fund s ability to settle securities and to repatriate investment income, capital or the proceeds of sales of securities may be adversely affected for multiple reasons including market conditions, macro-economic and political circumstances. Further, the return on the security may be affected (positively or negatively) by the difference in tax regimes between the domestic and foreign tax jurisdictions. The availability of market information and information on any underlying sub-funds may be delayed. The fund is a fund of funds which may only invest in other unit trusts (sub-funds) and assets in liquid form. Sub-funds may levy their own charges that could result in a higher fee structure for these funds. The Manager may, at its discretion, close your chosen unit trust fund to new investors and to additional investments by existing investors to make sure that it is managed in accordance with its mandate. It may also stop your existing debit order investment. The Manager makes no guarantees as to the capital invested in the fund or the returns of the fund. Excessive withdrawals from the fund may place the fund under liquidity pressure and, in certain circumstances; a process of ring fencing withdrawal instructions may be followed. Fund prices are published daily on the Prudential website. These are also available upon request. The performance is calculated for the portfolio. Individual investor performance may differ as a result of initial fees, the actual investment date, the date of reinvestment and dividend withholding tax. Purchase and repurchase requests must be received by the Manager by 13h30 (11h30 for the Money Market Fund) SA time each business day. All online purchase and repurchase transactions must be received by the Manager by 10h30 (for all Funds) SA time each business day. Page 4 of 4