INDEX RULES ECPI EMU ETHICAL EQUITY INDEX

Transcription

1 INDEX RULES ECPI EMU ETHICAL EQUITY INDEX APRIL 2015

2 2 TABLE OF CONTENT INTRODUCTION... 2 GUIDING PRINCIPLES... 2 INDEX MANAGEMENT... 2 EQUITY INDICES CONSTRUCTION... 2 EQUITY INDICES QUARTERLY REVIEW... 2 CALCULATION METHOD... 2 ADJUSTMENTS FOR CORPORATE ACTIONS... 2 RETROSPECTIVE CHANGES TO PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED INDEX VALUES... 2 ECPI ESG SCREENING METHODOLOGY AND RATING... 2 ECPI SRI SCREENING METHODOLOGY... 2 ETHICAL EVENT - RELATED CONSTITUENTS CHANGES... 2 COMPLIANCE STATEMENT... 2 APPENDIX A: COUNTRY TABLE... 2 APPENDIX B: DIVIDEND WITHHOLDING TAXES... 2 APPENDIX C: DEFINITIONS... 2 APPENDIX D: INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION... 2 CONTACTS... 2

3 3 INTRODUCTION The present document is meant to define Index Rules for the ECPI Emu Ethical Equity Index. The Index Rules are available on ECPI s website, and/or can be requested at indices@ecpindices.com. The ECPI Emu Ethical Equity is composed by the 150 most capitalized ethical companies in the EMU market. Bloomberg Ticker: ECAPMP Index (Price) ECAPMR Index (Total Return) ECAPMND Index (Net Dividend) ECPI SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INDICES The ECPI Emu Ethical Equity is designed to be a member of the broadest family of Socially Responsible Benchmark and tradable indices. The objective of ECPI, with respect to its ECPI Indices, is to provide an essential tool to analyze the risk and performance of the socially responsible approach and to control the performance of sustainability-driven asset managers. The ECPI Indices may be used as the basis for various investment vehicles: they allow for efficient implementation of active socially responsible mandates as well as index-tracking portfolios and exchange traded funds. The socially responsible criteria, used to select the indices constituents, offer a conduit for investors to jointly express their interest in sustainability and, thus, to collectively move the relevant issues up the corporate agenda. The ECPI Indices Data Vendors as of March 2015: Aladdin - BlackRock Bloomberg Financial Markets Factset Markit Rimes Thomson Reuters ECPI Index Levels are also available on ECPI web site, Index constituents are published on the web site or can be requested at ECPI at indices@ecpindices.com.

4 4 GUIDING PRINCIPLES ECPI Indices are constructed and maintained according to the following principles: ESG Rated Companies The index is representative of the positively/highest Environmental, Social and Governance ( ESG )-rated companies according to the proprietary ECPI ESG Rating Methodology. Please refer to specific section to learn more on ESG rating methodology. Investible and Replicable The index should be capable of being replicated by reference to securities of reasonable size and liquidity. Disciplined Approach The index is constructed and managed using a set of principles, rules and guidelines. This approach is followed to maintain the attributes of stability, diversification across industries and securities accurate with respect to the ESG Rating Methodology. Transparency The index is built and maintained using clear and pre-defined rules in the public domain. The index is published on a daily basis through a variety of well known financial services providers. Independence and Objectivity The index is based on independent and objective content decisions. ECPI believes in an open dialogue with its clients, considering with objectivity their suggestions to enhance the index provision. By analyzing all the feedback received from its clients, ECPI takes the final decision independently in order to preserve the quality of the index.

5 5 INDEX MANAGEMENT The ECPI Indices are managed by ECPI, which is responsible for: The index construction, management and distribution The management of the ECPI Indices selection criteria and for the review of all indices. ECPI may also approve changes to the Index Rules The correct application of the Index Rules in maintaining the ECPI Indices The Socially Responsible selection criteria as reported in relevant section. A constituent or prospective constituent company may appeal against the decisions of ECPI on two grounds: ECPI disregards the Index Rules for the indices management ECPI fails to take into consideration a substantial and material fact in its decision. A substantial and material fact is defined as a fact which could have influenced the decision had it been considered. A request for an appeal must be made in writing and be received within six months of the application of the event giving rise to the appeal.

6 6 EQUITY INDICES CONSTRUCTION CONSTITUENT UNIVERSE The indices construction process starts at the country level, considering all the listed companies in the reference market. In general companies and their respective securities are classified as belonging to the country in which they are incorporated. Each company has then to be selected according to the SRI Screening Methodology; the Investment Universe is composed by the companies that pass the ethical analysis and have a positive ethical rating. All the companies that are in the Investment Universe are Eligible for inclusion in the Indices: the Indices are always a sub-group of the Investment Universe. The selection of Eligible securities to construct the index is based on financial criteria, as industry group (see Appendix D) and market capitalization. This approach is followed to ensure market representation. Where there are multiple lines of equity capital in a company, all are included and priced separately in the investment universe. Investment trust, mutual funds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Equity Derivatives are not included in the Equity Universe. Convertible and preference shares and loan stocks are excluded until converted. The country markets included in the indices are reported in APPENDIX A FREE FLOAT ADJUSTMENT OF TOTAL MARKET CAPITALIZATION After identifying the universe of securities, ECPI classifies securities according to their adjusted market capitalization. The adjusted market capitalization is used to calculate security s weights within the index. The adjusted market capitalization is defined as the total market capitalization multiplied by a free float factor. The free float factor represents the percentage of shares that do not belong to strategic shareholdings and so are deemed to be available for purchase in the public equity markets by investors. Strategic shareholdings include: long-term investments in an index constituent either by another constituents (i.e. cross-holdings) or nonconstituent company or entity; significant long-term holdings by founders, their families and/or directors; employee share schemes (if restricted); government holdings; foreign ownership limits. Strategic shareholdings do not include: portfolio investments; nominee holdings (including those supporting ADRs & GDRs), unless they represent strategic shareholdings; holdings by investment companies. ECPI estimate of free float is based on public available information obtained from multiple information sources. Consultation may be conducted with official company contacts. Estimated free float is rounded to the closest 5%. If the free float is less than 15%, the company is not considered for inclusion in the indices, although remains in the Investment Universe.

7 7 EQUITY INDICES QUARTERLY REVIEW Every three months ECPI reviews the indices constituents in order to ensure the market representation. The rebalancing of the indices considers the financial and ethical evolution of the reference market. The evolution may be due to economic and financial developments as a change in the composition or structure of an industry (for example, changes in the market capitalization and representation of a company) and/or to ethical issues as well. The ethical, social and environmental performance of companies eligible for inclusion in the Indices is monitored by ECPI; each constituent has to pass the SRI Screening Methodology and satisfy the ethical criteria. The rules for inserting and deleting securities at the periodic review are designed to provide stability in the selection of constituents of the indices, while ensuring the indices continue to be representative of the reference market. The number of constituents is kept constant: ECPI Emu Ethical Equity Index = 150 constituents. The Market Capitalization data used to rebalance the indices are referred to the previous working day with respect to the process starting day (see timetable below). A company is eligible for inclusion at the quarterly review if it rises above the threshold defined for each index, when the eligible companies are ranked by adjusted market value. The inclusion threshold are defined as follow: 100th position, ECPI Emu Ethical Equity Index A company is eligible for exclusion if it falls below the threshold defined for each index, when the eligible companies are ranked by adjusted market value. The exclusion threshold are defined as follow: 250th position, ECPI Emu Ethical Equity Index The expected number of constituents change at the review is the minimum between the number of securities that rises above the inclusion threshold and the number of securities that falls under the exclusion threshold. Eligible names for inclusion and exclusion are selected based on their ranking in order to ensure market representation and maintain the turnover under 6%. In maintaining the indices, emphasis is also placed on their continuity and on minimizing the turnover in the indices. ECPI maintain the turnover under 6%. The timetable of the benchmark is reported below. The reference calendar for the quarterly review is the TARGET calendar; if the review day falls on a holiday, the subsequent working day will be considered. REVIEW TIMETABLE TIME REFERENCE ACTION WHEN t 0 t 1 t 2 Selection of the new constituents Communication of the new constituent Effective Date: the new index is effective 2nd Monday of Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec 3rd Monday of Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec 4th Monday of Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec

8 8 CALCULATION METHOD On the Communication Date, the number of shares of each stock will be communicated: the number of shares will be effective from the opening of the relevant Rebalance Date. From that moment till (but excluding) the following Rebalance Date, the number of shares will be fixed and constituent weights will vary according to price changes (see Paragraph Adjustments for Corporate Actions, for details on possible share changes). CALCULATION FREQUENCY The Index is calculated and published daily, on a next day basis. Calendar for the Index calculation is the TARGET calendar. If a calculation date is a Disrupted Day for some of the Index Constituents, ECPI will evaluate the best price to be assigned to the relevant stocks given the available information in order to complete the index calculation. PRICES AND CURRENCY CONVERSION The Index end-of-day calculations use official closing prices from the relevant exchanges of the constituent stocks. Such prices shall be converted into euro using the relevant 4pm GMT WM Reuters Currency cross rates, Mid rate The closing prices shall be converted into EURO using the formula: P i, t P FX o i, t i, t Where o P i, t = official closing price for stock i as of day t FX i, t = 4pm GMT WM Reuters Currency cross rate with respect to EURO, Mid rate, for stock i as of day t. For the avoidance of doubt, this rate represents the number of units in the currency in which the relevant stock i is quoted or traded on the relevant Exchange which could be exchanged with one unit of euro P i, t = official closing price for stock i converted into EURO as of day t INDEX CALCULATION ALGORITHM The index is capitalization weighted and is calculated by S&P Dow Jones Indices. The index is calculated by means of the divisor methodology used in all S&P Dow Jones Indices equity indices. For more information on the Index calculation methodology, please refer to the Capitalization Weighted Indices section of S&P Dow Jones Indices Index Mathematics Methodology. The following is an extract of S&P Dow Jones Indices Index Mathematics Methodology for Capitalization Weighted Indices: Definition The formula to calculate a (capitalization weighted index) is: The numerator on the right hand side is the price of each stock in the index multiplied by the number of shares used in the index calculation. This is summed across all the stocks in the index. The denominator is the divisor.

9 9 S&P Dow Jones Indices market cap-weighted indices are float adjusted the number of shares outstanding is reduced to exclude closely held shares from the index calculation because such shares are not available to investors. ( ) for each stock S&P Dow Jones Indices calculates an Investable Weight Factor (IWF) which is the percentage of total shares outstanding that are included in the index calculation. The key to index maintenance is the adjustment of the divisor. Index maintenance reflecting changes in shares outstanding, capital actions, addition or deletion of stocks to the index should not change the level of the index. Any change to the stocks in the index that alters the total market value of the index while holding stock prices constant will require a divisor adjustment. or Total Return and Net Return Indices Each index will have a total return counterpart, which assumes dividends are reinvested in the index after the close on the ex-date S&P Dow Jones Indices calculates daily return series using both gross and net cash dividends reinvested. Net return reinvested is reflective of the return to an investor where dividends are reinvested after the deduction of withholding tax. The tax rate applied is the rate to non-resident institutions that do not benefit from double taxation treaties. For more information on the tax rates used in the calculation of net return indices, please refer to S&P Dow Jones Indices Equity Indices Policies & Practices document located under the Resource Center on the Web site, Please refer to the S&P Dow Jones Indices Index Mathematics Methodology document for more information on total return calculations. No backfilling of index level or index composition is allowed. Only material errors in Index Calculation can justify the need to restate the index level, in which case adequate publicity must be provided to it.

10 10 ADJUSTMENTS FOR CORPORATE ACTIONS Corporate actions are treated by the index agent, S&P Dow Jones Indices, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices Corporate Actions Policies & Practices Methodology. The following is an extract of S&P Dow Jones Indices Index Mathematics Methodology for Capitalization Weighted Indices: When a company is added to or deleted from the index, the net change in the market value of the index is calculated and this is used to calculate the new divisor. The market values of stocks being added or deleted are based on the prices, shares outstanding, IWFs and any other share count adjustments. ( ) there are a few dates during the year when IWFs and share counts are updated. (Typically small changes in shares outstanding are reflected in indices once a quarter to avoid excessive changes to an index.) The revisions to the divisor resulting from these are calculated and a new divisor is determined ( ) There are a large range of different corporate actions ranging from routine share issuances or buy backs to unusual events like spin-offs or mergers. These are listed on the table below with notes about the necessary changes and whether the divisor is adjusted. With corporate actions where cash or other corporate assets are distributed to shareholders, the price of the stock will gap down on the ex-dividend day (the first day when a new shareholder is not eligible to receive the distribution.) The effect of the divisor adjustment is to prevent this price drop from causing a corresponding drop in the index. CORPORATE ACTION Company added/deleted Change in shares outstanding Stock split Spin-off Spin-off Spin-off Change in IWF Special Dividend Rights offering INDEX ADJUSTMENT Net change in market value determines the divisor adjustment. Any combination of secondary issuance, share repurchase or buy back share counts revised to reflect change. Share count revised to reflect new count. Divisor adjustment is not required since the share count and price changes are offsetting. If the spun-off company is not being added to the index, the divisor adjustment reflects the decline in index market value (i.e., the value of the spun-off unit). Spun-off company added to the index, no company removed from the index. Spun-off company added to the index, another company removed to keep number of names fixed. Divisor adjustment reflects deletion. Increasing (decreasing) the IWF increases (decreases) the total market value of the index. The divisor change reflects the change in market value caused by the change to an IWF. When a company pays a special dividend the share price is assumed to drop by the amount of the dividend; the divisor adjustment reflects this drop in index market value. Each shareholder receives the right to buy a proportional number of additional shares at a set (often discounted) price. The calculation assumes that the offering is fully subscribed. Divisor adjustment reflects increase in market cap measured as the shares issued multiplied by the price paid. DIVISOR ADJUSTMENT Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes For more information on Corporate Actions, please refer to the S&P Dow Jones Indices / Equity Indices Policies & Practice document located under the Resources Center on the website

11 PUBLIC INFORMATIONSOURCES 11 RETROSPECTIVE CHANGES TO PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED INDEX VALUES The ECPI Index Methodology does not allow retrospective changes to previously published index values ( Backfilling ). Divisor corrections, index input changes due to late dividend announcements and other similar adjustments are not considered backfilling. ECPI ESG SCREENING METHODOLOGY AND RATING ECPI research process follows an objective, rigorous and disciplined proprietary methodology that translates qualitative data into quantitative indicators, assigning to each issuer an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) score and a rating. ECPI uses a rule-based non-discretionary approach considering approximately 100 key performance indicators to evaluate an issuer s environmental, social and governance sustainability. ECPI evaluates companies in the following areas: 7 Environmental Strategy and Policy 13 Environmental Management 3/4 Products - sector specific 6/11 Production Process - sector specific 9 Employees and Human Capital 12 Community Relations 11 Markets 19 Corporate Governance & Shareholders ENVIRONMENTAL Score max 60 Rating (9 notches) F=>EEE SOCIAL & GOVERNANCE Score max 60 Rating (9 notches) F=>EEE ESG RATING Score max 120 Rating (9 notches) F => EEE The traditional pillars of ESG scrutiny are the following: E S G Environmental strategy, policy and management system. Industry-specific environmental impact of production processes and products. Social strategy and policy: assessing the quality of the company s relationships with its stakeholders (customers, competitors, employees, management, public agencies and regulators, shareholders, creditors, local government and international institutions), market positioning and competitor analysis. Governance structure: assessing both market and internal management issues, identifying the structure of the company s governing bodies, its main operating characteristics, as well as the political and regulatory/legal specifics of the firm s country of affiliation. The analysis produces a score and a rating. A company s overall rating is the sum of the scores from each indicator; the higher the final score, the higher the final rating. ECPI s proprietary rating scale ranges from F to EEE, along 9 notches.

12 12 RATING LEVEL DEFINITION ECPI COMPANY RATING EEE EEE- EEE EEE- EE+ EE EE- E+ E E- F Very good Good Fair Poor The company shows an innovative long-term strategic attitude, strong operational management practices and proactive actions to tackle social and environmental needs. The company shows a clear long-term strategic attitude, sound operational management practices and positive actions to tackle social and environmental needs. The company shows a basic long-term strategic attitude, standard operational management practices and/or average actions to tackle social and environmental needs. The company shows a poor long-term strategic attitude, weak operational management practices and/or ineffective-negative actions to tackle social and environmental needs. VERY GOOD GOOD FAIR POOR EE+ EE EE- E+ E E- F NE* Controversial The company is involved in controversial ECPI SRI SCREENING METHODOLOGY SCREENING METHODOLOGY Exclusions are based on the analysis of sectors where a company is active: companies in conflict with social, environmental and ethical values are excluded from the investment universe. The main areas of activity considered for company exclusion are: Alcohol: Production and/or promotion of alcoholic products and its use Gambling: Involvement in horse betting, betting centers, casinos, gambling machine manufacturing Weapons and Violence: Involvement in the spread of violence, such as manufacture of firearms for the consumer market, manufacture of landmines, major weapons contractors contributing to the spread of global militarism Tobacco: Manufacturing, processing, trading or distributing wholesale tobacco, and tobacco products Pornography: Production aimed exclusively at inducing sexual excitement or a prurient interest in sex e.g. the objectification of women as sexual objects Nuclear energy: Involvement in the production of Nuclear energy, with relation to possible accidents and disasters, residual generation of plutonium and raw material used in nuclear armament production (proliferation) Contraceptives: In the pharmaceutical industry, production of contraceptives, medicines and equipment related to abortion or birth control methods. GMO - Genetically modified organism food production: Involvement in the research, development and production of biotechnologies and in the genetic modification and production of species, produce and other organisms

13 13 SYNTHETIC TABLE ON SECTOR CRITERIA SECTOR OR EXCLUSION CRITERIA Beverages Gambling DESCRIPTION The production and/or the promotion of alcoholic products and its use. Horse betting, betting centres, gambling and casinos, gambling machine manufacturing. The supply of goods and services to military sector and to the Ministry of Defence and its offices for the purpose of military objectives. Weapons and Military Contracting Sub categories include the supply of civil goods and services: to military infrastructures; to private companies (materials and parts used for military objectives such as steel and chemical products); to strategic partners. Tobacco Pornography Nuclear energy Contraceptives Biotechnology and Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) The production and/or the promotion of tobacco products and its use. In the media, telecom and entertainment industries, the production of pornographic material. The exclusion of companies operating in the nuclear energy sector is related to the lack of economic preparation to address problems in case of nuclear accident or disaster, the lack of resolution to address radioactivity issues, the awareness that nuclear energy production generates plutonium (the most important raw material used in nuclear armament production). In the pharmaceutical industry, companies producing contraceptives, medicines and equipment related to abortion or birth control methods. In the food and agriculture industries, those companies actively involved in the research, development and production of biotechnologies, manipulation and genetic modification and production of species, produce and other organisms.

14 14 ETHICAL EVENT - RELATED CONSTITUENTS CHANGES ETHICAL EVENT Ethical event: a constituent becomes Not Eligible because it doesn t match more with the ethical criteria of the SRI Screening Methodology. In case of constituent s exclusion related to an event-related change, the security excluded is replaced by an Eligible company. The removal and replacement are effected simultaneously on the effective date as indicated in the timetable below. ECPI ETHICAL EVENT RELATED CONSTITUENTS' CHANGES TIME REFERENCE ACTION WHEN t 0 t 1 Communication of the constituent's change Effective Date: the new Benchmark is effective When the extraordinary event take place At least 10 working days after t0 ECPI however doesn t ensure the respect of this timeline for reasons which do not depend on ECPI responsibility (for example, mergers/acquisitions communication not provided by the public source with a sufficient anticipation). COMPLIANCE STATEMENT ECPI Group keeps certain activities of its business units separate from each other in order to preserve the independence and objectivity of their respective activities. As a result, certain business units ECPI group may have information that is not available to other business units. ECPI Group has established policies and procedures that prohibit constituents to its indices to be included in an index on the basis of payment volunteered from them.

15 15 APPENDIX A: COUNTRY TABLE COUNTRY TABLE: ECPI EMU ETHICAL EQUITY INDEX Austria Belgium Finland France Germany Greece Ireland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Portugal Spain

16 16 APPENDIX B: DIVIDEND WITHHOLDING TAXES COUNTRY NAME COUNTRY ISO TAXATION Austria AT 0,25 Australia AU 0,3 Belgium BE 0,25 Bermuda BM 0 Brazil BR 0 Canada CA 0,25 Switzerland CH 0,35 Chile CL 0,35 China CN 0,1 Czech CZ 0,35 Germany DE 0,26375 Denmark DK 0,27 Spain ES 0,21 Finland FI 0,3 France FR 0,3 Great Britain GB 0 Greece GR 0,25 Hong Kong HK 0 Hungary HU 0 Indonesia ID 0,2 Ireland IE 0,2 India IN 0 Iceland IS 0,18 Italy IT 0,26 Japan JP 0,2042 South Korea KR 0,22 Luxembourg LU 0,15 Mexico MX 0 Netherlands NL 0,15 Norway NO 0,25 New Zealand NZ 0,3 Philippines PH 0,3 Poland PL 0,19 Portugal PT 0,25 Russia RU 0,15 Sweden SE 0,3 Singapore SG 0 Thailand TH 0,1 Taiwan TW 0,2 Usa US 0,3 South Africa ZA 0,15 Data as of September 16, 2014 APPENDIX C: DEFINITIONS

17 17 Index Constituent or Constituent Any security comprised in the index, provided that on any Reference Date and in the relevant Rebalance Period, Constituent shall include any stock which will be included in the index as of the next Rebalance Date at the end of such Rebalance Period. Rebalance Period It is the timeframe between Reference Date and Rebalance Date. Exchange and Related Exchange Each exchange on which any Index Constituent is, in the determination of ECPI, principally traded. Scheduled Trading Day Any day on which each Exchange and each Related Exchange are scheduled to be open for trading for their respective regular trading session. Disrupted Day Any Scheduled Trading Day on which: (i) a relevant Exchange or any Related Exchange fails to open for trading during its regular trading session; or (ii) a Market Disruption Event has occurred. Market Disruption Event The occurrence, in respect of the Index Constituent of: a Trading Disruption an Exchange Disruption an Early Closure where the aggregate of all Index Constituents in respect of which a Trading Disruption, an Exchange Disruption or an Early Closure occurs, comprises 20 per cent or more of the aggregate number of all Index Constituents for which the Exchange and Related Exchange were scheduled to be open for trading for its regular trading session on such day. Trading Disruption Any suspension of or limitation imposed on trading by the Relevant Exchange or Related Exchange or otherwise and whether by reason of movements in price exceeding limits permitted by the Relevant Exchange and Related Exchange or otherwise. Exchange Disruption Any event that disrupts or impairs (as determined by the ECPI) the ability of market participants in general (i) to effect transaction in, or obtain market values for the Index Constituents. Early Closure The closure on any Exchange Business Day of the Relevant Exchange or any Related Exchange prior to its Scheduled Closing Time.

18 18 APPENDIX D: INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION CODE INDUSTRY CODE INDUSTRY Energy Equipment & Services Household Products Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels Personal Products Chemicals Health Care Equipment & Supplies Construction Materials Health Care Providers & Services Containers & Packaging Health Care Technology Metals & Mining Biotechnology Paper & Forest Products Pharmaceuticals Aerospace & Defense Life Sciences Tools & Services Building Products Banks Construction & Engineering Diversified Financial Services Electrical Equipment Consumer Finance Industrial Conglomerates Capital Markets Machinery Insurance Trading Companies & Distributors Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Commercial Services & Supplies Real Estate Management & Development Professional Services Internet Software & Services Air Freight & Logistics IT Services Airlines Software Marine Communications Equipment Road & Rail Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals Transportation Infrastructure Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components Auto Components Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment Automobiles Diversified Telecommunication Services Household Durables Wireless Telecommunication Services Leisure Products Electric Utilities Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods Gas Utilities Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure Multi-Utilities Diversified Consumer Services Water Utilities Media Independent Power and Renewable Electricity Producers Food Products

19 19 CONTACTS AND DISCLAIMER Index Dept. T indices@ecpindices.com Filippo Bucci T f.bucci@ecpindices.com Bloomberg: ECPS Reuters: ECAPITAL Disclaimer This document has been prepared by ECP International S.A., and/or ECPI S.r.l., and/or any of their subsidiaries and affiliates, being noted that ECP International S.A., ECPI S.r.l., are entirely owned by ECPI Group S.r.l., a company organized and existing under the laws of Italy, with registered office at Via Carducci, Milan, Italy (the ECPI Group Companies ) as part of their internal research activity. The information provided herein and, in particular, the data contained in this document are taken from information available to the public. All information contained herein is obtained from sources believed by it to be accurate and reliable. While the opinions and information contained in this document are based on public sources believed to be reliable and in good faith, ECPI Group Companies have not independently verified the accuracy of such public sources. Because of the possibility of human, technical or whatsoever kind of similar error, however, such information is provided as is without warranty of any kind and ECPI Group Companies, in particular, make no representation or warranty, whether express or implicit, as to the fairness, accuracy, timeliness, completeness, merchantability and/or fitness of any such information and opinions contained in this document. Accordingly, neither ECPI Group Companies nor any of their respective directors, managers, officers or employees shall be held liable for whatever reason (including, without limitation, liability in negligence) for any loss (including consequential loss), expense, consequential, special, incidental, direct or indirect or similar damage, whether or not advised of the possibility of such damage, in connection with the fairness, accuracy, timeliness, completeness, merchantability and/or fitness of the information and opinions contained in this document and/or arising from any use or performance of this document or its contents or otherwise arising in connection with this document. Any opinions, forecasts or estimates contained herein constitute a high-level information statement only valid as at the date of its release. There can be no assurance that the evolution of the information contained herein and/or any future events will be consistent with such opinions, forecasts or estimates. Any information herein is at any time subject to change, update or amendment subsequently to the date of this document, with no undertaking by ECPI Group Companies to notify such change, update or amendment. This document is not, nor may it be construed as to constitute a recommendation to make any kind of investment decision or an offer for sale or subscription of or a solicitation of any offer to buy or subscribe for any financial instrument. Accordingly, this document may not be used as a solicitation or an offer for sale or subscription, and any solicitation or offer shall be made only in accordance with all applicable laws and regulation, including, whenever applicable, the filing of a prospectus with the relevant authorities. ECPI Group Companies are not financial advisors subject to special authorization and thus do not provide formal financial advice in the area of investment nor perform any asset management activity. ECPI Group Companies recommend to potential investors wishing to be provided with formal financial advice in the area of investment to contact a financial advisor duly authorized by the competent regulatory authority of its country. ECPI Group Companies publish researches on a regular basis. This publication has been prepared on behalf of ECPI Group Companies solely for information purposes. All the information contained herein is copyrighted in the name of ECPI Group Companies, and none of such information may be copied or otherwise reproduced, except for personal use only, further transmitted, transferred, published, disseminated, redistributed or resold, in whole or in part, in any form or manner or by any means whatsoever, by any person without ECPI Group Companies prior written consent