Black Creek Global Leaders Fund

Transcription

1 This annual management report of fund performance contains financial highlights but does not contain the complete annual financial statements of the investment fund. You can get a copy of the annual financial statements at your request, and at no cost, by calling , by writing to us at CI Investments Inc., 2 Queen Street East, Twentieth Floor, Toronto, ON, M5C 3G7 or by visiting our website at or SEDAR at Securityholders may also contact us using one of these methods to request a copy of the investment fund s proxy voting policies and procedures, proxy voting disclosure record, or quarterly portfolio disclosure. INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE AND STRATEGIES The objective of the Black Creek Global Leaders Fund (the Fund ) is to seek growth of capital by investing primarily in stocks issued by companies worldwide. paid distributions totalling $191. million. Class A units returned 1.2% after fees and expenses for the one-year period ended March 31, 218. Over the same time period, the Fund s benchmark returned 1.6%. The benchmark is the MSCI World Total Return Index. Under normal market and economic conditions, the Fund will invest a majority of its total assets in common stocks of high quality growth companies worldwide. These companies will be those identified by the Fund as leaders in their respective industries as indicated by an established market presence and strong global, regional or country competitive positions. The Fund will invest primarily in a diversified portfolio of common stocks covering a broad range of countries, industries and companies. Securities in which the Fund may invest are denominated in many currencies and may trade in markets around the world. Under normal market and economic conditions, the Fund will diversify its investments in securities of companies among a number of different countries throughout the world, which may include Canada. There are no limits on the amount of the Fund s assets that may be invested in each country. The portfolio advisor invests in a diversified portfolio of high-quality, globally competitive companies worldwide. Historical analysis of financial performance, trends and technological changes in the business, sensitivities of economic factors, as well as other factors which may affect the future economics of the business are all considered. The portfolio advisor strives to select companies with industry leadership, strong management, growing profits and potential for capital appreciation. These companies will be those identified by the Fund as leaders in their respective industries as indicated by an established market presence and strong global, regional or country competitive positions. The Fund may use derivatives, but only as permitted by securities regulations. In order to earn additional income, the Fund also may enter into securities lending transactions, repurchase transactions and reverse repurchase transactions, to the extent permitted by securities regulations. RISK There were no changes to the Fund over the period of this report that materially affected the overall level of risk associated with the Fund. The Fund is suitable for investors who want growth of capital associated with quality growth companies worldwide, are investing for the medium and/or long term, and can tolerate medium risk. RESULTS OF OPERATIONS The net asset value of the Fund increased by $99.9 million to $3,47.8 million from March 31, 217 to March 31, 218. The Fund had net sales of $942.5 million during the year. The portfolio s performance increased assets by $239.4 million. The Fund The performance of the Fund s other classes is substantially similar to that of Class A units, except for differences in the structure of fees and expenses. For the returns of the Fund s other classes, please refer to the Past performance section. The global equity market (as defined by MSCI World Index) for the 12 months ending March 31, 218, was up 1.7% in Canadian dollar terms, with the international markets (MSCI EAFE Index) modestly outperforming North American markets. As we enter 218, a momentum-driven market persists, with the amount of money allocated to momentum ETF strategies growing rapidly, and indexes increasingly driven by the top-performing information technology stocks. Volatility of stock prices has picked up with quickly changing world views and rising interest rates. The global economy continues to expand, with additional signs of wage, transportation and other input cost pressures in many regions. It s too early to say that inflation is back, but inflation expectations seem to be rising and bond yields are also beginning to rise. Both the U.S. and Japanese economies are at full employment levels, and wage pressures are rising in both places. At the same time, it is more difficult for many companies to raise prices because of increased competition/disruption and because customers are now acclimatized to a low-inflation/deflationary environment. Therefore, companies without pricing power and unique customer value propositions will face margin compression. Political risk to the global economy is rising as the rhetoric out of the U.S. concerning trade becomes increasingly provocative, and as we begin to see talk of specific tariffs accelerate between the U.S. and China. At this point the two countries are just negotiating in public, but the market is showing disapproval. Separately, the recent row between Russia and NATO countries over the alleged poisoning of a former Russian spy in London by Russian agents has also elevated world tensions and has brought back talk of a new cold war era. Amid all of this, North Korea s leader Kim Jong-un appears to have been summoned to China for a scolding, but he remains a wild card. Despite daily headlines about which currencies are rising or falling against each other, we currently have a situation where the U.S. dollar is within 1% of the level of purchasing power parity against the Canadian dollar, sterling, the euro and the yen. On this basis, the main trading currencies are all relatively fairly valued against each other. The Fund performed well on an absolute and relative basis over the period, but slightly trailed its benchmark. Top contributors included OC Oerlikon Corp. AG, Anta Sports Products Ltd., Koninklijke DSM NV, Accor SA and Capgemini SE. Detractors from CIG

2 performance included Nielsen Holdings PLC, Grupo Televisa SAB, Aryzta AG, Hain Celestial Group Inc. and Banco Santander Mexico. During the reporting year investments were made in Akamai Technologies Inc., Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., BTG PLC, China Biologic Products Holdings Inc., Glanbia PLC, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Grupo Televisa SAB, Hain Celestial Group Inc. and Henry Schein Inc. We exited Akamai Technologies, Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc., Capgemini, Christian Dior SA, Experian PLC, Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd., Haemonetics Corp. and Shimadzu Corp. Additional comments on our most recent purchases and sales (for Q1 218) follow. Glanbia - is an innovative global nutrition company with a leading market position in performance nutrition products with strong brands. It also has attractive positions in cheese products, dairy ingredients, specialty non-dairy ingredients and vitamin and mineral blends. Glanbia is expected to benefit from the growing consumer interest in health and wellbeing solutions as part of a healthier lifestyle. Glanbia s share price came under significant pressure in the first quarter due to short-term concerns (exposure to GNC Holdings and capital investment in joint ventures) that created what we view is a great long-term opportunity. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) - is a global health care company based in the U.K. It has three leading global businesses that research, develop and manufacture innovative pharmaceutical medicines, vaccines and consumer healthcare products. The company has recently reshaped its culture and executive team under new CEO Emma Walmsley and has attracted top talent from some of the world s leading companies, including Google, Novartis and Pfizer. After many years of underinvestment, the company has also refocused its efforts in research and development to prepare for future growth. GSK s valuation on a cash flow basis is highly attractive. We sold Akamai Technologies as the stock sharply appreciated in a short period of time after activist investor Elliott Management announced a significant stake. We sold our holding in Capgemini for diversification purposes as we increased our holding in sector peer Booz Allen Hamilton. Both companies have significant exposure to consulting in digital and cyber-related solutions; however, Booz Allen Hamilton is currently more attractive in terms of valuation. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS Chasing a momentum-driven market can be tempting given the fear of missing out, but this is an increasingly crowded trade, which works until it doesn t. At times like this, we focus on sticking to our investment discipline of building a concentrated, but diversified portfolio of winning businesses at attractive valuations. Although equity valuations remain elevated, we continue to look for opportunities to upgrade the portfolio by finding better ideas than what we already own, rather than trying to time or call markets. We believe that this approach works better over time. We are invested alongside our clients, will continue to manage our strategies with a disciplined approach and seek to add value over the long-term. Effective April 3, 218, Karen Fisher became a member of the CI Board of Governors ( BOG ) and the Independent Review Committee ( IRC ) of the Fund. Meanwhile, Christopher Hopper resigned from the role as a member of the BOG and IRC. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS Manager, Portfolio Advisor, Trustee and Registrar CI Investments Inc. is the Manager, Portfolio Advisor, Trustee and Registrar of the Fund. CI Investments Inc. is a subsidiary of CI Financial Corp. The Manager, in consideration for management fees, provides management services required in the day-to-day operations of the Fund. The Manager bears all of the operating expenses of the Fund (other than taxes, borrowing costs and new governmental fees) in return for a fixed administration fee. Management fee and fixed administration fee rates as at March 31, 218, for each of the classes are shown below: Annual management fee rate (%) Annual fixed administration fee rate (%) Class A Class A Class A Class A Class A Class AT Class D Class E Class EF.9.15 Class F Class F Class F Class F Class I Paid directly by investor - Class O Paid directly by investor.15 Class P Paid directly by investor.22 The Manager received $28.1 million in management fees and $3.6 million in fixed administration fees for the year. Management Fees Approximately 26% of total management fees were used to pay for sales and trailing commissions. The remaining 74% of management fees were used for investment management and other general administration. Independent Review Committee The Fund received standing instructions from the Fund s Independent Review Committee with respect to the following related party transactions: a) trades in securities of CI Financial Corp.; b) purchases or sales of securities of an issuer from or to another investment fund managed by the Manager; c) purchases or sales of other investment funds managed by the Manager or their affiliates; and

3 d) mergers involving the Fund and another fund managed by the Manager that is subject to National Instrument Investment Funds. The applicable standing instructions require that related party transactions be conducted in accordance with the Manager s policies and procedures and that the Manager advise the IRC of any material breach of a condition of the standing instructions. The standing instructions require, among other things, that investment decisions in respect of related party transactions (a) are free from any influence by an entity related to the Manager and without taking into account any consideration relevant to an entity related to the Manager; (b) represent the business judgment of the Manager uninfluenced by considerations other than the best interests of the Fund; (c) are made in compliance with the Manager s policies and procedures; and (d) achieve a fair and reasonable result for the Fund. Transactions made by the Manager under the standing instructions are subsequently reviewed by the IRC on a quarterly basis to monitor compliance. The Fund relied on the IRC s standing instructions regarding related party transactions during this reporting year. 3

4 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS The following tables show selected key financial information about the Fund and are intended to help you understand the Fund s financial performance for the past five years, as applicable. Net Assets per Unit ($) (1) (2) (4) * Increase (decrease) from operations: Distributions: Total Realized Unrealized Total increase From net investment Net assets Net assets at the beginning Total expenses (excluding gains (losses) for gains (losses) for (decrease) from income (excluding From From capital Total at the end of the year of year (2) revenue distributions) the year the year operations (2) dividends) dividends (2, 3) gains Return of capital distributions shown (2) $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ Class A Commencement of operations February 1, 25 Mar. 31, (.35) 1.91 (.55) 1.26 (.4) - (.83) - (.87) Mar. 31, (.31) (.2) - (.75) - (.77) Mar. 31, (.31) 1.43 (.54).75 (.4) - (1.2) - (1.6) 12.2 Mar. 31, (.) (1.2) - (1.2) Mar. 31, (.27) Class A1 Mar. 31, (.22) 1.32 (.91).31 (.3) - (.) - (.63) 9.86 Class A2 Mar. 31, (.22) 1.33 (1.14).9 (.3) - (.61) - (.64) 9.86 Class A3 Mar. 31, (.21) 1.32 (.97).25 (.3) - (.62) - (.65) 9.86 Class A4 Mar. 31, (.19) 1. (1.28) (.5) (.3) - (.63) - (.66) 9.86 Class AT6 Commencement of operations July 7, 28 Mar. 31, (.45) 2.48 (.53) 1.83 (.5) - (2.11) - (2.16) Mar. 31, (.43) (.3) - (2.1) - (2.13) Mar. 31, (.45) 2.8 (.83) 1.6 (.5) - (2.54) - (2.59) Mar. 31, (.46) (3.) - (3.) Mar. 31, (.44) (.94) (.94) *Footnotes for the tables are found at the end of the Net Assets per Unit section of the Financial Highlights.

5 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (cont d) Net Assets per Unit ($) (1) (2) (4) * Increase (decrease) from operations: Distributions: Total Realized Unrealized Total increase From net investment Net assets Net assets at the beginning Total expenses (excluding gains (losses) for gains (losses) for (decrease) from income (excluding From From capital Total at the end of the year of year (2) revenue distributions) the year the year operations (2) dividends) dividends (2, 3) gains Return of capital distributions shown (2) $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ Class D Commencement of operations May 1, 2 Mar. 31, (.) 2.1 (.48) 1.49 (.4) - (.93) - (.97) Mar. 31, (.27) (.2) - (.85) - (.87) Mar. 31, (.27) 1. (.61).81 (.4) - (1.13) - (1.17) 12.8 Mar. 31, (.26) (1.31) - (1.31) Mar. 31, (.23) Class E Commencement of operations July 29, 215 Mar. 31, (.25) 1.44 (.61).76 (.3) - (.63) - (.66) 1.29 Mar. 31, (.22) (.2) - (.57) - (.59) 9.91 Mar. 31, (.14) (.3) - (.77) - (.8) 9.12 Class EF Commencement of operations July 29, 215 Mar. 31, (.13) 1.42 (.38) 1.9 (.3) - (.75) - (.78) 1.18 Mar. 31, (.12) (.2) - (.68) - (.7) 9.81 Mar. 31, (.7).74 (.2).52 (.3) - (.89) - (.92) 9.6 Class F Commencement of operations June 13, 26 Mar. 31, (.21) 2.1 (.71) 1.44 (.5) - (1.9) - (1.14) 15.5 Mar. 31, (.19) (.3) - (.99) - (1.2) Mar. 31, (.19) 1.58 (.58) 1. (.5) - (1.29) - (1.34) 13. Mar. 31, (.18) (1.48) - (1.48) Mar. 31, (.16) Class F1 Mar. 31, (.12) 1.39 (1.).9 (.3) - (.72) - (.75) 9.84 Class F2 Mar. 31, (.12) 1.37 (1.3).34 (.3) - (.73) - (.76) 9.85 *Footnotes for the tables are found at the end of the Net Assets per Unit section of the Financial Highlights.

6 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (cont d) Net Assets per Unit ($) (1) (2) (4) Increase (decrease) from operations: Distributions: Total Realized Unrealized Total increase From net investment Net assets Net assets at the beginning Total expenses (excluding gains (losses) for gains (losses) for (decrease) from income (excluding From From capital Total at the end of the year of year (2) revenue distributions) the year the year operations (2) dividends) dividends (2, 3) gains Return of capital distributions shown (2) $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ Class F3 Mar. 31, (.1) 1.29 (1.24).7 (.3) - (.74) - (.77) 9.84 Class I Commencement of operations June 13, 26 Mar. 31, (.77) 1.91 (.7) - (1.48) - (1.55) Mar. 31, (.4) - (1.34) - (1.38) Mar. 31, (.69) 1. (.6) - (1.68) - (1.74) 15.6 Mar. 31, (1.89) - (1.89) Mar. 31, (.9) (.9) Class O Commencement of operations July 29, 215 Mar. 31, (.2) 1.43 (.53) 1.5 (.4) - (.87) - (.91) 1.19 Mar. 31, (.2) (.2) - (.79) - (.81) 9.83 Mar. 31, (.1) (.3) - (.92) - (.95) 9.9 Class P Mar. 31, (.2) 1.27 (.91).45 (.4) - (.83) - (.87) 9.82 (1) This information is derived from the Fund s audited annual financial statements. (2) Net assets per unit and distributions per unit are based on the actual number of units outstanding for the relevant class at the relevant time. The increase (decrease) in net assets from operations per unit is based on the weighted average number of units outstanding for the relevant class over the fiscal year. (3) Distributions are automatically reinvested in additional units of the Fund. (4) This information is provided for the years ended March 31.

7 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (cont d) Ratios and Supplemental Data (1) (5) * Total net assets (5) Number of units outstanding (5) Management expense ratio before taxes (2) Management expense ratio after taxes (2) Effective HST rate for the year (2) Harmonized Trading Portfolio sales tax (2) expense ratio (3) turnover rate (4) $ s s % % % % % % Class A Commencement of operations February 1, 25 Mar. 31, 218 1,236,837 9, Mar. 31, 217 1,9,51 76, Mar. 31, ,598 7, Mar. 31, ,327 62, Mar. 31, ,374 58, Class A1 Mar. 31, ,365 12, Class A2 Mar. 31, ,977 3, Class A3 Mar. 31, ,527 1, Class A4 Mar. 31, 218 3, Class AT6 Commencement of operations July 7, 28 Mar. 31, 218 1, Mar. 31, 217 1, Mar. 31, 216 1, Mar. 31, 215 2, Mar. 31, 214 2, *Footnotes for the tables are found at the end of the Financial Highlights section.

8 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (cont d) Ratios and Supplemental Data (1) (5) * Total net assets (5) Number of units outstanding (5) Management expense ratio before taxes (2) Harmonized sales tax (2) Management expense ratio after taxes (2) Effective HST rate for the year (2) Trading expense ratio (3) Portfolio turnover rate (4) $ s s % % % % % % Class D Commencement of operations May 1, 2 Mar. 31, , Mar. 31, , Mar. 31, , Mar. 31, ,294 1, Mar. 31, ,114 1, Class E Commencement of operations July 29, 215 Mar. 31, ,568 4, Mar. 31, 217 2,1 2, Mar. 31, 216 6, Class EF Commencement of operations July 29, 215 Mar. 31, ,932 2, Mar. 31, ,592 2, Mar. 31, 216 1,215 1, Class F Commencement of operations June 13, 26 Mar. 31, ,435 27, Mar. 31, ,825 17, Mar. 31, ,446 13, Mar. 31, ,96 11, Mar. 31, ,5 8, Class F1 Mar. 31, ,678 3, Class F2 Mar. 31, 218 7, *Footnotes for the tables are found at the end of the Financial Highlights section.

9 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (cont d) Ratios and Supplemental Data (1) (5) Total net assets (5) Number of units outstanding (5) Management expense ratio before taxes (2) Harmonized sales tax (2) Management expense ratio after taxes (2) Effective HST rate for the year (2) Trading expense ratio (3) Portfolio turnover rate (4) $ s s % % % % % % Class F3 Mar. 31, 218 4, Mar. 31, Mar. 31, Mar. 31, Mar. 31, Mar. 31, 213^ Class I Commencement of operations June 13, 26 Mar. 31, 218 1,,123 61, Mar. 31, , 43, Mar. 31, ,7 35, Mar. 31, ,468 28, Mar. 31, ,886 22, Class O Commencement of operations July 29, 215 Mar. 31, ,92 4, Mar. 31, ,911 2, Mar. 31, 216 5, Class P Mar. 31, 218 2, (1) This information is derived from the Fund s audited annual financial statements. (2) Management expense ratio is calculated based on expenses charged to the Fund (excluding commissions and other portfolio transaction costs) and is expressed as an annualized percentage of daily average net assets for the year, including the Fund s proportionate share of any underlying fund(s) expenses, if applicable. The Effective HST tax rate is calculated using the attribution percentage for each province based on unitholder residency and can be different from 13%. (3) The trading expense ratio represents total commissions and other portfolio transaction costs expressed as an annualized percentage of daily average net assets during the year, including the Fund s proportionate share of such expenses of any underlying fund(s), if applicable. (4) The Fund s portfolio turnover rate indicates how actively the Fund s portfolio advisor manages its portfolio investments. A portfolio turnover rate of 1% is equivalent to the Fund buying and selling all of the securities in its portfolio once in the course of the fiscal year. The higher a Fund s portfolio turnover rate in a year, the greater the trading costs payable by the Fund in the year, and the greater the chance of an investor receiving taxable capital gains in the year. There is not necessarily a relationship between a higher turnover rate and the performance of a Fund. Portfolio turnover rate is calculated by dividing the lesser of the cost of purchases and the proceeds of sales of portfolio securities for the year, and excluding cash and short-term investments maturing in less than one year, and before assets acquired from a merger, if applicable, by the average of the monthly fair value of investments during the year. (5) This information is provided for the years ended March 31.

10 PAST PERFORMANCE This section describes how the Fund has performed in the past. Remember, past returns do not indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. The information shown assumes that distributions made by the Fund in the years shown were reinvested in additional units of the relevant classes of the Fund. In addition, the information does not take into account sales, redemption, distribution or other optional charges that would have reduced returns or performance. Year-by-Year Returns The following charts show the Fund s annual performance for each of the years shown and illustrate how the Fund s performance has changed from year to year. In percentage terms, the charts show how much an investment made on the first day of each financial year would have grown or decreased by the last day of each financial year, except where noted. Class A Class AT6 Class D Class E Dec. 29 Dec. 21 Dec. 211 Mar. 213 Mar. 214 Mar. 215 Dec. 29 Dec. 21 Dec. 211 Mar. 213 Mar. 214 Mar. 215 Dec. 29 Dec. 21 Dec. 211 Mar. 213 Mar. 214 Mar. 215 Class EF Class F Class I Class O Dec. 29 Dec. 21 Dec. 211 Mar. 213 Mar. 214 Mar. 215 Dec. 29 Dec. 21 Dec. 211 Mar. 213 Mar. 214 Mar return is for the period from January 1, 212 to March 31, return is for the period from July 29, 215 to March 31, 216.

11 Annual Compound Returns The following table shows the Fund s annual compound returns for each year indicated, compared to the MSCI World Total Return Index. The MSCI World Total Return Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of developed markets. The Index consists of the following 23 developed market country indices: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. A discussion of the performance of the Fund as compared to the benchmark is found in the Results of Operations section of this report. One Year (%) Three Years (%) Five Years (%) Ten Years (%) Since Inception (%) Class A n/a MSCI World Total Return Index n/a Class AT n/a 11.2 MSCI World Total Return Index n/a 9.7 Class D n/a MSCI World Total Return Index n/a Class E 1.4 n/a n/a n/a 9.3 MSCI World Total Return Index 1.6 n/a n/a n/a 8.1 Class EF 11.6 n/a n/a n/a 1.4 MSCI World Total Return Index 1.6 n/a n/a n/a 8.1 Class F n/a MSCI World Total Return Index n/a Class I n/a MSCI World Total Return Index n/a Class O 12.8 n/a n/a n/a 11.5 MSCI World Total Return Index 1.6 n/a n/a n/a

12 SUMMARY OF INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO as at March 31, 218 Category % of Net Assets Category % of Net Assets Top 25 Holdings % of Net Assets Country allocation U.S.A U.K Japan France Mexico Cash & Equivalents Germany Switzerland Portugal Panama Netherlands Cayman Islands India Austria Ireland Spain Other Net Assets (Liabilities)....4 Sector allocation Industrials Health Care Consumer Discretionary Materials Information Technology Consumer Staples Cash & Equivalents Financials Energy Other Net Assets (Liabilities)....4 Cash & Equivalents GlaxoSmithKline PLC, ADR Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp Schneider Electric S.A HeidelbergCement AG Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd Oracle Corp Nielsen Holdings PLC Galp Energia SGPS S.A Carnival Corp The Hain Celestial Group Inc Daikin Industries Ltd BorgWarner Inc Henry Schein Inc Banco Santander Mexico S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple Koninklijke DSM N.V FTI Consulting Inc Accor S.A OC Oerlikon Corp., AG Woodward Inc Grupo Televisa S.A.B. de C.V., ADR ICICI Bank Ltd., ADR Wienerberger AG BTG PLC Glanbia PLC (Dublin) Total Net Assets (in $ s) $3,47,818 The summary of investment portfolio may change due to ongoing portfolio transactions of the Fund and updates will be available on a quarterly basis. A NOTE ON FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This report may contain forward-looking statements about the Fund, its future performance, strategies or prospects, and possible future Fund action. The words may, could, should, would, suspect, outlook, believe, plan, anticipate, estimate, expect, intend, forecast, objective, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both about the Fund and general economic factors, so it is possible that predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved. We caution you not to place undue reliance on these statements as a number of important factors could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement made by the Fund. These factors include, but are not limited to, general economic, political and market factors in Canada, the United States and internationally, interest and foreign exchanges rates, global equity and capital markets, business competition, technological changes, changes in laws and regulations, judicial or regulatory judgments, legal proceedings and catastrophic events. The above list of important factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. Before making any investment decisions, we encourage you to consider these and other factors carefully. All opinions contained in forward-looking statements are subject to change without notice and are provided in good faith but without legal responsibility.