Ashmore Funds
PROSPECTUS
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Total Return Fund
(Class
A: EMKAX; Class C: EMKCX; Institutional Class: EMKIX)
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond Fund
(Class
A: ELBAX; Class C: ELBCX; Institutional Class: ELBIX)
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Corporate Income Fund
(Class
A: ECDAX; Class C: ECDCX; Institutional Class: EMCIX)
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Short Duration Fund
(Class
A: ESFAX; Class C: ESFCX; Institutional Class: ESFIX)
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Active Equity Fund
(Class
A: EMQAX; Class C: EMQCX; Institutional Class: EMQIX)
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Small‑Cap Equity Fund
(Class
A: ESSAX; Class C: ESSCX; Institutional Class: ESCIX)
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Frontier Equity Fund
(Class
A: EFEAX; Class C: EFECX; Institutional Class: EFEIX)
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Equity Fund
(Class
A: EMEAX; Class C: EMECX; Institutional Class: EMFIX)
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Equity ESG Fund
(Class
A: ESAGX; Class C: ESCGX; Institutional Class: ESIGX)
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Short Duration Select Fund
(Class
A: ESDAX; Class C: ESDCX; Institutional Class: ESDIX)
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Investment Grade Income Fund
(Class
A: IGAEX; Class C: IGCEX; Institutional Class: IGIEX)
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Corporate Income ESG Fund
(Class
A: ECAEX; Class C: ECCEX; Institutional Class: ECIEX)
CLASS
A, CLASS C and INSTITUTIONAL CLASS SHARES
This
Prospectus includes information you should know about the Ashmore Funds (the
“Trust”, and each series thereunder a “Fund,” collectively, the “Funds”) before
you invest. Please read it carefully. Neither
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) nor any state securities
commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this
Prospectus is accurate or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a
criminal offense.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
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199 |
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A-1 |
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SUMMARY
INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUNDS
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Total Return Fund
Investment
Objective
The
Fund seeks to maximize total return.
Fees
and Expenses of the Fund
The
tables below describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold,
and sell Class A, Class C or Institutional Class Shares of the
Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples
below. You may
qualify for sales charge discounts on a purchase of Class A Shares if you
and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least
$100,000 in Class A Shares of
the Funds. More information about these and other discounts is
available in the “Classes of Shares” section beginning on page 139 of the
Fund’s prospectus or from your financial intermediary. Investors investing in
the Fund through an intermediary should consult “Appendix A—Intermediary
-Specific Sales Waivers”, which includes information regarding broker-defined
sales charges and related discount policies that apply to purchases through
certain intermediaries.
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Shareholder
Fees |
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(fees paid directly from
your investment) |
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Class A Shares |
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Class C Shares |
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Institutional Class Shares |
Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering
price) |
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4.00% |
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None |
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None |
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Maximum
Deferred Sales Charge (CDSC) (Load)(1) (as a percentage
of the lower of original purchase price or NAV) |
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1.00% |
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1.00% |
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None |
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Redemption
Fee |
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None |
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None |
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None |
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Annual
Fund Operating Expenses |
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(Expenses that you pay each
year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
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Class A Shares |
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Class C Shares |
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Institutional Class Shares |
Management
Fees |
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1.00% |
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1.00% |
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1.00% |
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Distribution
and/or Service (12b‑1) Fees |
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0.25% |
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1.00% |
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None |
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Other
Expenses |
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0.17% |
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0.17% |
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0.17% |
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Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
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1.42% |
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2.17% |
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1.17% |
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Fee
Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement(2) |
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(0.15)% |
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(0.15)% |
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(0.15)% |
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Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense
Reimbursement |
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1.27% |
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2.02% |
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1.02% |
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(1) |
For Class A Shares, the CDSC is imposed only where
shares are purchased without a front‑end sales charge and subsequently
redeemed within eighteen months of purchase. For Class C Shares, the
CDSC is imposed only on shares redeemed within one year of
purchase. |
(2) |
Ashmore
Investment Advisors Limited has contractually agreed to waive its fees or
reimburse the Fund for other expenses to the extent that Total Annual Fund
Operating Expenses (other than Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, interest
expense, taxes, extraordinary expenses, custodial credits, transfer agency
credits and expense offset arrangements) for the Fund’s Class A
Shares exceed 1.27%, for the Fund’s Class C Shares exceed 2.02% and
for the Fund’s Institutional Class Shares exceed 1.02% of the Fund’s
average daily net assets attributable to the share class (the “Expense
Limitation Agreement”). The expense limitation arrangement may be
terminated before February 28, 2024 only
by the Board of Trustees. Under the Expense Limitation Agreement, the
Investment Manager may recoup any amounts waived or reimbursed for 36
months following the end of the month when the waiver or reimbursement
occurred, provided total expenses, including such recoupment, do not
exceed the applicable annual expense limit, and further that expenses may
be recouped only if and to the extent that the expense ratio at the time
of such recoupment is less than the annual expense limit in place at the
time such expenses were waived or
reimbursed. |
1
Examples
These
Examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with
the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Examples assume that you invest
$10,000 in the noted class of shares of the Fund for the time periods indicated,
your investment has a 5% return each year and the Fund’s operating expenses
remain the same. Class C Shares automatically convert to Class A
Shares after eight years. The expense example for Class C Shares for the
ten‑year period reflects the conversion to Class A Shares. The Examples are
based, for the first year, on Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee
Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement and, for all other periods, on Total Annual
Fund Operating Expenses. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, the
Examples show what your costs would be based on these assumptions.
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Example: Assuming you redeem your shares at the end of each
period |
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Example:
Assuming you do not redeem your
shares |
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1 year |
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3 years |
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5 years |
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10 years |
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1 year |
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3 years |
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5 years |
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10 years |
Class A
Shares |
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$ |
524 |
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$ |
817 |
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$ |
1,132 |
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$ |
2,021 |
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$ |
524 |
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$ |
817 |
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$ |
1,132 |
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$ |
2,021 |
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Class C
Shares |
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$ |
305 |
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$ |
665 |
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$ |
1,151 |
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$ |
2,301 |
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$ |
205 |
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$ |
665 |
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$ |
1,151 |
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$ |
2,301 |
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1 year |
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3 years |
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5 years |
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10 years |
Institutional
Class Shares (whether or not shares are redeemed) |
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$ |
104 |
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$ |
357 |
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$ |
629 |
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$ |
1,407 |
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Portfolio
Turnover
The
Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes for you if your
Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected
in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Examples, adversely affect the
Fund’s investment performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s
portfolio turnover rate was 32% of the average value of its
portfolio.
Principal
Investment Strategies
The
Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing principally in debt instruments
of Sovereign, Quasi-Sovereign, and Corporate issuers (as defined below), which
may be denominated in any currency, including the local currency of the issuer.
Sovereigns are governments of Emerging Market
Countries (as defined below). For these purposes, Sovereigns may include EM
Supra-Nationals. Quasi-Sovereigns are governmental entities, agencies and other
issuers that are more than 50% owned, directly or indirectly, by a Sovereign, or
whose obligations are guaranteed by a Sovereign. For these purposes,
governmental entities include a province, a city and local or regional
governmental bodies. A Corporate issuer is any issuer other than a Sovereign or
Quasi-Sovereign that is located in an Emerging Market Country or an issuer
deriving at least 50% of its revenues or profits from goods produced or sold,
investments made, or services performed in one or more Emerging Market Countries
or that has at least 50% of its assets in one or more Emerging Market Countries.
Emerging Market Country means any country included by the International Monetary
Fund in its list of Emerging and Developing Economies, any country which is
considered a low‑income, lower-middle-income, or upper-middle-income economy by
the World Bank, and all countries represented in any widely-recognized index of
emerging market securities (e.g., the relevant indices in the family of
J.P. Morgan Corporate Emerging Markets Bond
Index, J.P. Morgan Emerging Local Markets Index, J.P. Morgan Emerging Markets
Bond Index, J.P. Morgan Government Bond Index – Emerging Markets and MSCI
Emerging and Frontier Markets Index).
The
Fund may invest in debt instruments of all types and denominated in any
currency, whether subordinated or unsubordinated, secured or unsecured, quoted
or unquoted, rated or unrated, or floating rate or fixed rate. These may
include, without limitation, bonds, debentures, notes, convertible securities,
commercial paper, loans and related assignments and participations, trade
claims, bank certificates of deposit, fixed time deposits, bankers’ acceptances,
and money market instruments, including money market funds denominated in U.S.
dollars or other currencies. The Fund may invest in companies of any market
capitalization, and its allocations among small-, mid‑ and large-capitalization
issuers may vary significantly over time.
The
Fund will normally invest 25% to 75% of its net assets in investments
denominated in or providing investment exposure to local currencies of Emerging
Market Countries. Any portion of the Fund’s investment exposure to local
currencies of Emerging Market Countries that has been hedged into a Hard
Currency (i.e., the U.S. dollar or any
currency of a nation in the G‑7) will not count as currency of an Emerging
Market Country for this purpose. The Fund may invest in obligations of any
2
credit
quality, including obligations that are in default or that are subject to
insolvency proceedings. The Fund may invest without limitation in debt
securities that are rated below investment grade or that are unrated but judged
by the Investment Manager to be of comparable quality (i.e., “junk
bonds”).
The
Fund normally seeks to maintain a weighted average portfolio duration of between
2 and 10 years.
The
Fund may utilize various derivative instruments and related strategies,
including exclusively, to gain exposure to one or more issuers or other assets.
The Fund may utilize derivatives of all types and may invest in, without
limitation, call and put options (including options on futures contracts),
futures and forward contracts, including contracts related to currencies, and
swap agreements (including total return, interest rate, and credit default
swaps) and other related instruments with respect to individual bonds and other
securities, indices and baskets of securities, interest rates and currencies,
structured notes, and credit-linked notes as part of its principal investment
strategies. The Fund expects to primarily use derivatives for hedging or
efficient portfolio management purposes, but may also use them to increase the
Fund’s investment exposure beyond that which it could achieve by investing
directly in more conventional securities. The Fund may also invest directly in
foreign currencies for hedging or other investment
purposes.
The
Fund may invest in convertible debt instruments and equity securities related to
convertible securities or warrants the Fund holds or has held, as well as
acquire and hold equity securities, including warrants, resulting from debt
conversion or restructuring. The Fund may invest in the securities of other
investment companies, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and other pooled
vehicles, if the investment companies invest principally in the types of
investments in which the Fund may invest directly. The Fund may also lend its
portfolio securities, borrow money for investment and other purposes, and enter
into repurchase and reverse repurchase agreement
transactions.
The
Fund will not invest more than 25% of its net assets in issuers in any one
Emerging Market Country. The Fund will not invest more than 35% of its net
assets in securities of Corporate issuers having their principal place of
business in Emerging Market Countries. Also, the Fund will not invest more than
25% of its net assets in investments denominated in a single currency other than
the U.S. dollar or the Euro without seeking to hedge into U.S. dollars the
portion of the Fund’s exposure to that currency (i.e., non‑U.S. dollar, non‑Euro) that exceeds
25% of the Fund’s net assets.
In
managing the Fund, the Investment Manager’s investment committee (the
“Investment Committee”), together with the relevant portfolio managers (together
with the Investment Committee, the “Investment Team”), employs a largely
top‑down, active and value-driven investment approach in analyzing emerging
markets and currencies. The Fund’s investment approach includes an emphasis on
the influence of politics (both local and international). The Investment Team
combines this top‑down approach with an analytically-driven, bottom‑up approach
to making purchase and sale decisions with respect to individual corporate
credits. The Investment Team seeks opportunities in selected emerging markets
that it believes may benefit from significant positive changes, such as
political and economic reforms, increases in capital inflows and investor
confidence, and seeks to invest in issuers in government and Corporate sectors
it expects will benefit from such developments and associated economic
development and growth. The Investment Team’s investment process focuses on
global and emerging markets fundamentals and considers factors such as liquidity
and risk management at the macro level. The Investment Team utilizes the
Investment Manager’s broad and current knowledge of important investment areas
in various Emerging Market Countries gained, in part, through research,
experience, long-standing relationships with reliable local firms and, where
appropriate, visits by its investment personnel to countries in their respective
regions of responsibility.
In
response to adverse market, economic, political or other conditions, the Fund
may deviate from its principal strategies by making temporary investments of
some or all of its assets in various instruments, including short-term,
high-quality fixed income securities denominated in any currency, cash, cash
equivalents, money market funds, and other similar funds. The Fund may not
achieve its investment objective when it does so. The Fund may also invest a
portion of its assets in such investments and instruments on a short term or
temporary basis to manage its cash positions or otherwise manage the Fund
efficiently.
The
Fund observes a policy to normally invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus
borrowings made for investment purposes) in securities and instruments issued by
Sovereign, Quasi-Sovereign, or Corporate issuers of Emerging Market Countries
and Emerging Market currency-related derivative instruments. The Fund’s
investments in derivatives and other synthetic instruments that have economic
characteristics similar to these investments will be counted toward satisfaction
of the Fund’s 80% investment policy.
3
The
Investment Manager may engage in active and frequent trading of the Fund’s
portfolio securities to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund may
pay transaction costs, such as the bid/asked spread on purchases and sales of
securities, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A
higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may
result in higher taxes for you if your Fund shares are held in a taxable
account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses
or in the Examples, may adversely affect the Fund’s investment
performance.
Principal
Risks
It is possible to lose money on an investment in
the Fund. The Fund will be affected by the investment
decisions, techniques and risk analyses of the Fund’s Investment Manager and
there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. The
principal risks of investing in the Fund, which could adversely affect its net
asset value, yield and total return are (in alphabetical order after the first
five risks):
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Emerging Markets Risk: Compared to
foreign developed markets, investing in emerging markets may involve
heightened volatility, greater political, regulatory, legal and economic
uncertainties, less liquidity, dependence on particular commodities or
international aid, high levels of inflation, greater custody risk, and
certain special risks associated with smaller
companies; |
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• |
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Foreign Investment Risk: Investments in
foreign (non‑U.S.) issuers, directly or through use of depositary
receipts, may be negatively affected by adverse political, regulatory,
economic, market or other developments affecting issuers located in
foreign countries, currency exchange rates or regulations, or foreign
withholding or other taxes, and investing in foreign securities may result
in the Fund experiencing more rapid and extreme changes in value than a
fund that invests exclusively in securities of U.S.
issuers; |
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• |
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Currency Risk: Foreign (non‑U.S.)
currencies may decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and adversely
affect the value of the Fund’s investments in foreign currencies,
securities denominated in foreign currencies or derivatives that provide
exposure to foreign
currencies; |
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• |
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Geographic Focus Risk: The Fund may be
particularly susceptible to economic, political or regulatory events
affecting particular countries or regions to the extent the Fund focuses
its investments in such countries or
regions; |
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Credit Risk: The Fund could lose money if
the issuer or counterparty is unable or unwilling to meet its financial
obligations, and the lack of ability, or perceived lack of ability, of the
issuer to make timely payments of interest and/or principal will
negatively affect the value of the security or
instrument; |
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• |
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Bank Loans Risk: The Fund may invest in
bank loans and participations. Risks associated with these obligations
include, but are not limited to, risks involving the enforceability of
security interests and loan transactions, inadequate collateral,
liabilities relating to collateral securing obligations, and the liquidity
of these loans. The market for bank loans may be subject to irregular
trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement
periods. The loans in which the Fund invests may be rated below investment
grade; |
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Counterparty and Third Party Risk:
Transactions involving a counterparty to a derivative contract,
repurchase agreement, reverse repurchase agreement, or other financial
instrument, or to a third party responsible for servicing the instrument,
are subject to the credit risk of the counterparty or third party, and to
the counterparty’s or third party’s ability to perform in accordance with
the terms of the
transaction; |
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Currency Management Strategies Risk:
Currency management strategies, including the use of forward
currency contracts and other derivatives, may substantially change the
Fund’s exposure to currencies and currency exchange rates and could result
in losses to the Fund if currencies do not perform as the Investment
Manager anticipates; |
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• |
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Derivatives Risk: Investing in derivative
instruments may be considered risky and involves correlation,
documentation, interest rate, leverage, liquidity, market, management,
interest rate and valuation risks and the risk of losing more than the
principal amount
invested; |
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High Yield Risk: Below investment grade
securities and unrated securities of similar credit quality (commonly
known as “high yield” securities or “junk bonds”) are subject to greater
levels of credit and liquidity risks than higher quality securities, and
are considered predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s
continuing ability to make principal and interest
payments; |
4
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Inflation/Deflation Risk: The value of
the Fund’s investments may decline as inflation reduces the value of
money; conversely, if deflation reduces prices throughout the economy
there may be an adverse effect on the creditworthiness of issuers in whose
securities the Fund invests and an increase in the likelihood of issuer
defaults; |
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Interest Rate Risk: Debt and other
securities and instruments may decline in value due to changes in interest
rates, the extended duration of principal payments at below-market
interest rates, and/or prepayment. The value of most fixed income
securities will generally decline in response to increases in interest
rates; |
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Investments in Pooled Vehicles Risk:
Investing in another investment company or pooled vehicle subjects
the Fund to that company’s risks, and, in general, to a pro rata portion
of that company’s fees and expenses in addition to fees and expenses
charged by the Fund; |
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• |
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Issuer Risk: The value of a security or
instrument may decline for reasons directly related to the issuer, such as
management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the
issuer’s goods or
services; |
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• |
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Large Shareholder Risk: Shareholders of
the Fund, such as institutional investors, may disrupt the efficient
management of the Fund’s operations by purchasing or redeeming Fund shares
in large amounts; |
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• |
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Leverage Risk: Use of leverage, including
through borrowings, derivatives and reverse repurchase agreements, will
increase volatility of the Fund’s investment portfolio and magnify the
Fund’s investment losses or
gains; |
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• |
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Liquidity Risk: Illiquid securities and
other instruments may be highly volatile, difficult to value, and
difficult to sell or close out at favorable prices or
times; |
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• |
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Management Risk: The Fund’s investment
return depends on the ability of the Investment Manager to manage the
Fund’s portfolio successfully; there is a risk that the Investment Manager
may be incorrect in its analysis of economic trends, currencies,
countries, industries, companies, and the relative attractiveness of asset
classes or other
matters; |
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• |
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Market
Risk: The value of securities and instruments
owned by the Fund may rise and fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably,
due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular
industries or geographic areas, including terrorism, war, natural
disasters and the spread of infectious disease including epidemics or
pandemics such as the COVID‑19
pandemic; |
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• |
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Over‑the‑Counter Risk: Securities and
derivatives traded in over‑the‑counter markets may trade less frequently
and in limited volumes and thus exhibit more volatility and liquidity
risk, and the prices paid by the Fund in over‑the‑counter transactions may
include an undisclosed dealer
markup; |
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• |
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Portfolio Turnover Risk: If the Fund
frequently trades its securities, this will increase transaction costs,
may result in taxable capital gains, and may reduce the Fund’s investment
performance; |
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• |
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Small and Mid‑Sized Companies Risk:
Investments in securities issued by small and mid‑sized companies
tend to be more vulnerable to adverse developments than larger companies,
and may present increased volatility and liquidity risk;
and |
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• |
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Valuation Risk: Certain securities and
instruments may be difficult to value, and to the extent the Fund sells a
security or instrument at a price lower than that used to value the
security, its net asset value will be adversely
affected. |
An
investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government
agency.
Performance
Information
The bar chart and performance table that follow
provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes
in the Fund’s Institutional Class Shares’ performance from year to year and
comparing the Fund’s average annual total returns with those of broad-based
market indexes. The bar chart and the information immediately
below it show only the performance of the Fund’s Institutional
Class Shares. Although Class A and Class C Shares would have
similar annual returns (because all the Fund’s shares represent interests in the
same portfolio of securities), Class A and Class C performance would
be lower than Institutional Class performance because of the lower expenses
paid by Institutional Class Shares of the Fund. The bar
chart does not reflect any sales loads applicable to Class A or
Class C Shares. The performance shown in the bar chart
would be lower if it reflected sales charges applicable to Class A and
Class C Shares. Performance for Class A and Class C
Shares in the Average Annual Total Returns table reflects the impact of sales
charges.
5
You
may obtain the Fund’s updated performance information by visiting the website at
www.ashmoregroup.com or by calling
866‑876‑8294. As
with all mutual funds, the Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does
not predict how the Fund will perform in the
future.
Calendar
Year Total Return—Institutional
Class
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Total Return Fund % Total Return
The
best calendar
quarter return during the period shown above was 14.94% in the second quarter of 2020; the
worst was
‑21.79% in the first quarter of
2020.
Average
Annual Total Return
(For the period ended December 31, 2022)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
1-Year |
|
5-Year |
|
10-Year |
Institutional
Class |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-21.08% |
| |
|
|
-5.44% |
| |
|
|
-1.62% |
|
Return
after taxes on distributions |
|
|
|
-21.46% |
| |
|
|
-6.78% |
| |
|
|
-3.31% |
|
Return
after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares |
|
|
|
-12.48% |
| |
|
|
-4.41% |
| |
|
|
-1.78% |
|
JP
Morgan EMBI GD Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
|
|
|
-17.78% |
| |
|
|
-1.31% |
| |
|
|
1.59% |
|
JP
Morgan ELMI+ Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
|
|
|
-7.14% |
| |
|
|
-1.42% |
| |
|
|
-1.00% |
|
JP
Morgan GBI‑EM GD Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
|
|
|
-11.69% |
| |
|
|
-2.51% |
| |
|
|
-2.03% |
|
50/25/25
Composite Index(1)
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) |
|
|
|
-13.63% |
| |
|
|
-1.56% |
| |
|
|
0.09% |
|
Class A |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-24.36% |
| |
|
|
-6.42% |
| |
|
|
-2.26% |
(2) |
JP
Morgan EMBI GD Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
|
|
|
-17.78% |
| |
|
|
-1.31% |
| |
|
|
1.59% |
|
JP
Morgan ELMI+ Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
|
|
|
-7.14% |
| |
|
|
-1.42% |
| |
|
|
-1.00% |
|
JP
Morgan GBI‑EM GD Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
|
|
|
-11.69% |
| |
|
|
-2.51% |
| |
|
|
-2.03% |
|
50/25/25
Composite Index(1)
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) |
|
|
|
-13.63% |
| |
|
|
-1.56% |
| |
|
|
0.09% |
|
Class C |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-22.56% |
| |
|
|
-6.37% |
| |
|
|
‑2.46% |
(2) |
JP
Morgan EMBI GD Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
|
|
|
-17.78% |
| |
|
|
-1.31% |
| |
|
|
1.59% |
|
JP
Morgan ELMI+ Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
|
|
|
-7.14% |
| |
|
|
-1.42% |
| |
|
|
-1.00% |
|
JP
Morgan GBI‑EM GD Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
|
|
|
-11.69% |
| |
|
|
-2.51% |
| |
|
|
-2.03% |
|
50/25/25
Composite Index(1)
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) |
|
|
|
-13.63% |
| |
|
|
-1.56% |
| |
|
|
0.09% |
|
(1) |
The
composition of the 50/25/25 Composite Index is as follows: 50% JP Morgan
EMBI GD Index, 25% JP Morgan ELMI+ Index and 25% JP Morgan GBI‑EM GD
Index. |
(2) |
Class C Shares performance reflects
conversion to Class A Shares after eight
years. |
After‑tax returns are calculated using the
historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not
reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after‑tax returns depend on an investor’s
tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after‑tax returns shown are
not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax‑advantaged
arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement
accounts. After‑tax returns are shown for Institutional
Class Shares only and will vary for Class A and Class C
Shares.
6
Management
of the Fund
Investment Manager
Ashmore
Investment Advisors Limited (“the Investment Manager”)
Investment Team
Mark
Coombs, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Investment Committee;
Ricardo Xavier, Senior Portfolio Manager and Member of the Investment Committee;
Herbert Saller, Senior Portfolio Manager and Member of the Investment Committee;
Robin Forrest, Senior Portfolio Manager and Member of the Investment Committee;
and Fernando Assad, Senior Portfolio Manager and Member of the Investment
Committee, are primarily responsible for the day‑to‑day management of the Fund.
Mr. Forrest has participated in the management of the Fund since
July 2, 2012 and Mr. Assad has participated in the management of the
Fund since October 1, 2016. Each of the other members of the Investment
Team has participated in the management of the Fund since its inception in 2010.
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
The
minimum initial investment for Class A and Class C Shares is $1,000
and the minimum subsequent investment is $50. The minimum initial investment for
Institutional Class Shares is $1,000,000 and the minimum subsequent
investment is $5,000. These minimums may be waived or modified by the Fund or
the Distributor, including for certain financial intermediaries. Investors
investing in the Fund through an intermediary should consult “Appendix
A—Intermediary-Specific Sales Waivers”, which includes information regarding
broker-defined sales charges and related discount policies that apply to
purchases through certain intermediaries. You may sell (redeem) shares on any
day the New York Stock Exchange is open through your broker-dealer or other
financial intermediary (if applicable), or if you hold an account directly with
the Fund by calling 866‑876‑8294 or by sending a letter of instruction to
Ashmore Funds c/o Northern Trust Company, PO Box 4766, Chicago, IL 60680-4766.
If your shares are held in the name of a financial intermediary, those shares
may only be sold through that financial intermediary.
Tax
Information
The
Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains
to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary
income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax‑advantaged
arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account.
Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If
you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund, the Distributor, the Investment Manager
or their affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and
related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by
influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to
recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your
financial intermediary’s website for more information.
7
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond Fund
Investment
Objective
The
Fund seeks to maximize total return.
Fees
and Expenses of the Fund
The
tables below describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold,
and sell Class A, Class C or Institutional Class Shares of the
Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples
below. You may
qualify for sales charge discounts on a purchase of Class A Shares if you
and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least
$100,000 in Class A Shares of
the Funds. More information about these and other discounts is
available in the “Classes of Shares” section beginning on page 139 of the
Fund’s prospectus or from your financial intermediary. Investors investing in
the Fund through an intermediary should consult “Appendix A—Intermediary
-Specific Sales Waivers”, which includes information regarding broker-defined
sales charges and related discount policies that apply to purchases through
certain intermediaries.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Shareholder
Fees |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
(fees paid directly from
your investment) |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
Class A Shares |
|
Class C Shares |
|
Institutional Class Shares |
Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering
price) |
|
|
|
4.00% |
|
|
|
|
None |
| |
|
|
None |
|
Maximum
Deferred Sales Charge (CDSC) (Load)(1) (as a percentage
of the lower of original purchase price or NAV) |
|
|
|
1.00% |
|
|
|
|
1.00% |
|
|
|
|
None |
|
Redemption
Fee |
|
|
|
None |
| |
|
|
None |
| |
|
|
None |
|
|
|
| |
|
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
(Expenses that you pay each
year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
Class A Shares |
|
Class C Shares |
|
Institutional Class Shares |
Management
Fees |
|
|
|
0.75% |
| |
|
|
0.75% |
| |
|
|
0.75% |
|
Distribution
and/or Service (12b‑1) Fees |
|
|
|
0.25% |
| |
|
|
1.00% |
| |
|
|
None |
|
Other
Expenses |
|
|
|
1.90% |
| |
|
|
1.79% |
| |
|
|
1.88% |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
|
|
|
2.90% |
| |
|
|
3.54% |
| |
|
|
2.63% |
|
Fee
Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement(2) |
|
|
|
(1.88)% |
| |
|
|
(1.77)% |
| |
|
|
(1.86)% |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense
Reimbursement |
|
|
|
1.02% |
| |
|
|
1.77% |
| |
|
|
0.77% |
|
(1) |
For Class A Shares, the CDSC is imposed only where
shares are purchased without a front‑end sales charge and subsequently
redeemed within eighteen months of purchase. For Class C Shares, the
CDSC is imposed only on shares redeemed within one year of
purchase. |
(2) |
Ashmore
Investment Advisors Limited has contractually agreed to waive its fees or
reimburse the Fund for other expenses to the extent that Total Annual Fund
Operating Expenses (other than Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, interest
expense, taxes, extraordinary expenses, custodial credits, transfer agency
credits and expense offset arrangements) for the Fund’s Class A
Shares exceed 1.02%, for the Fund’s Class C Shares exceed 1.77% and
for the Fund’s Institutional Class Shares exceed 0.77% of the Fund’s
average daily net assets attributable to the share class (the “Expense
Limitation Agreement”). The expense limitation arrangement may be
terminated before February 28, 2024 only
by the Board of Trustees. Under the Expense Limitation Agreement, the
Investment Manager may recoup any amounts waived or reimbursed for 36
months following the end of the month when the waiver or reimbursement
occurred, provided total expenses, including such recoupment, do not
exceed the applicable annual expense limit, and further that expenses may
be recouped only if and to the extent that the expense ratio at the time
of such recoupment is less than the annual expense limit in place at the
time when such expenses were waived or
reimbursed. |
Examples
These
Examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with
the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Examples assume that you invest
$10,000 in the noted class of shares of the Fund for the time periods
indicated,
8
your
investment has a 5% return each year and the Fund’s operating expenses remain
the same. Class C Shares automatically convert to Class A Shares after
eight years. The expense example for Class C Shares for the ten‑year period
reflects the conversion to Class A Shares. The Examples are based, for the
first year, on Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or
Expense Reimbursement and, for all other periods, on Total Annual Fund Operating
Expenses. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, the Examples show
what your costs would be based on these assumptions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Example:
Assuming you redeem your shares at the end of each
period |
|
Example:
Assuming you do not redeem your
shares |
|
|
1 year |
|
3 years |
|
5 years |
|
10 years |
|
1 year |
|
3 years |
|
5 years |
|
10 years |
Class A
Shares |
|
|
$ |
500 |
| |
|
$ |
1,091 |
| |
|
$ |
1,707 |
| |
|
$ |
3,365 |
| |
|
$ |
500 |
| |
|
$ |
1,091 |
| |
|
$ |
1,707 |
| |
|
$ |
3,365 |
|
Class C
Shares |
|
|
$ |
280 |
| |
|
$ |
921 |
| |
|
$ |
1,685 |
| |
|
$ |
3,549 |
| |
|
$ |
180 |
| |
|
$ |
921 |
| |
|
$ |
1,685 |
| |
|
$ |
3,549 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 year |
|
3 years |
|
5 years |
|
10 years |
Institutional
Class Shares (whether or not shares are redeemed) . . . . .
. |
|
|
|
$ |
79 |
| |
|
$ |
640 |
| |
|
$ |
1,228 |
| |
|
$ |
2,825 |
|
Portfolio
Turnover
The
Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes for you if your
Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected
in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Examples, adversely affect the
Fund’s investment performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s
portfolio turnover rate was 53% of the average value of its
portfolio.
Principal
Investment Strategies
The
Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing principally in debt instruments
of Sovereign and Quasi-Sovereign issuers of Emerging Market Countries (as
defined below) that are denominated in the local currency of the issuer. Sovereigns are governments of Emerging Market
Countries (as defined below). For these purposes, Sovereigns may include EM
Supra-Nationals. Quasi-Sovereigns are governmental entities, agencies and other
issuers the obligations of which are guaranteed by an emerging market government
and issuers otherwise represented in the J.P. Morgan Government Bond
Index-Emerging Markets Global Diversified or a similar index as determined by
the Investment Manager. For these purposes, governmental entities include a
province, a city and local or regional governmental bodies. Emerging Market
Country means any country included by the International Monetary Fund in its
list of Emerging and Developing Economies, any country which is considered a
low‑income, lower-middle-income, or upper-middle-income economy by the World
Bank, and all countries represented in any widely-recognized index of emerging
market securities (e.g., the relevant indices in the family of J.P. Morgan
Corporate Emerging Markets Bond Index, J.P. Morgan Emerging Local Markets Index,
J.P. Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index, J.P. Morgan Government Bond Index -
Emerging Markets and MSCI Emerging and Frontier Markets Index).
The
Fund’s investments in debt instruments will generally be limited to those issued
by Sovereigns and Quasi-Sovereigns. The Fund may invest in debt instruments of
all types and denominated in any currency, whether subordinated or
unsubordinated, secured or unsecured, quoted or unquoted, rated or unrated, or
floating rate or fixed rate. These may include, without limitation, bonds,
debentures, notes, convertible securities, commercial paper, loans and related
assignments and participations, firm commitment, when-issued and
delayed-delivery securities, mortgage-backed and other types of
asset-backed
securities issued on a public or private basis, bank certificates of deposit,
fixed time deposits, bankers’ acceptances, and money market instruments,
including money market funds denominated in U.S. dollars or other
currencies.
The
Fund may invest in obligations of any credit quality, including obligations that
are in default or that are subject to insolvency proceedings. The Fund may
invest without limit in debt securities that are rated below investment grade
quality or that are unrated but judged by the Investment Manager to be of
comparable quality (i.e., “junk bonds”).
Ordinarily, at least
70%
of the securities held by the Fund will be rated by at least one internationally
recognized rating agency or issued by a Sovereign or Quasi-Sovereign issuer that
itself is rated.
The
Fund normally seeks to maintain a weighted average portfolio duration of between
2 and 7 years.
The
Fund is a “non‑diversified” fund, which means that it may invest a relatively
large portion of its assets in a single issuer or a small number of issuers in
comparison to a fund that is “diversified.”
9
Although
the Fund may gain most of its investment exposure to bonds and other debt
instruments by investing directly in them, the Fund may utilize various
derivative instruments and related strategies, including exclusively, to gain
exposure to bonds and other debt instruments. The Fund may utilize derivatives
of all types and may invest in, without limitation, call and put options
(including options on futures contracts), futures and forward contracts,
including relating to currencies, and swap agreements (including total return,
interest rate and credit default swaps) and other related instruments with
respect to individual bonds and other securities, indices and baskets of
securities, interest rates and currencies, and credit-linked notes as part of
its principal investment strategies. The Fund expects to primarily use
derivatives for hedging or efficient portfolio management purposes, but may also
use them to increase the Fund’s investment exposure beyond that which it could
achieve by investing directly in more conventional securities. The Fund may also
invest directly in foreign currencies for hedging or other investment
purposes.
The
Fund may invest in convertible debt instruments and equity securities related to
convertible securities or warrants the Fund holds or has held, as well as
acquire and hold equity securities, including warrants, resulting from debt
conversion or restructuring. The Fund may invest in the securities of other
investment companies, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and other pooled
vehicles, if the investment companies invest principally in the types of
investments in which the Fund may invest directly. The Fund may lend its
portfolio securities, borrow money for investment and other purposes, and enter
into repurchase and reverse repurchase agreement
transactions.
The
Fund will not invest more than 25% of its net assets in any one Emerging Market
Country. In addition, the Fund will not invest more than 30% of its net assets
in investments denominated in a single non‑U.S. currency without seeking to
hedge into U.S. dollars the portion of the Fund’s exposure to the non‑U.S.
currency that exceeds 30% of the Fund’s net
assets.
In
managing the Fund, the Investment Manager’s investment committee (the
“Investment Committee”), together with the relevant portfolio managers (together
with the Investment Committee, the “Investment Team”), employs a largely
top‑down, active and value-driven investment approach in analyzing emerging
markets and currencies. The Fund’s investment approach includes an emphasis on
the influence of politics (both local and international), combined with an
analytically-driven, bottom‑up approach to making purchase and sale decisions.
The Investment Team seeks opportunities in selected emerging markets that it
believes may benefit from significant positive changes, such as political and
economic reforms, increases in capital inflows and investor confidence, and
seeks to invest in issuers it expects will benefit from such developments and
associated economic development and growth. The Investment Team’s investment
process focuses on global and emerging markets fundamentals and considers
factors such as liquidity and risk management at the macro level. The Investment
Team utilizes the Investment Manager’s broad and current knowledge of important
investment areas in various Emerging Market Countries gained, in part, through
research, experience, long-standing relationships with reliable local firms and,
where appropriate, visits by its investment personnel to countries in their
respective regions of
responsibility.
In
response to adverse market, economic, political or other conditions, the Fund
may deviate from its principal strategies by making temporary investments of
some or all of its assets in various instruments, including short-term,
high-quality fixed income securities denominated in any currency, cash, cash
equivalents, money market funds, and other similar funds. The Fund may not
achieve its investment objective when it does so. The Fund may also invest a
portion of its assets in such investments and instruments on a short term or
temporary basis to manage its cash positions or otherwise manage the Fund
efficiently.
The
Fund observes a policy to normally invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus
borrowings made for investment purposes) in bonds and other debt instruments
denominated in the local currencies of Emerging Market Countries. The Fund’s
investments in derivatives and other synthetic instruments that have economic
characteristics similar to these investments will be counted toward satisfaction
of the Fund’s 80% investment
policy.
The
Investment Manager may engage in active and frequent trading of the Fund’s
portfolio securities to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund may
pay transaction costs, such as the bid/asked spread on purchases and sales of
securities, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A
higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may
result in higher taxes for you if your Fund shares are held in a taxable
account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses
or in the Examples, may adversely affect the Fund’s investment
performance.
10
Principal
Risks
It is possible to lose money on an investment in
the Fund. The Fund will be affected by the investment
decisions, techniques and risk analyses of the Fund’s Investment Manager and
there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. The
principal risks of investing in the Fund, which could adversely affect its net
asset value, yield and total return are (in alphabetical order after the first
five risks):
|
• |
|
Emerging Markets Risk: Compared to
foreign developed markets, investing in emerging markets may involve
heightened volatility, greater political, regulatory, legal and economic
uncertainties, less liquidity, dependence on particular commodities or
international aid, high levels of inflation, greater custody risk, and
certain special risks associated with smaller
companies; |
|
• |
|
Foreign Investment Risk: Investments in
foreign (non‑U.S.) issuers, directly or through use of depositary
receipts, may be negatively affected by adverse political, regulatory,
economic, market or other developments affecting issuers located in
foreign countries, currency exchange rates or regulations, or foreign
withholding or other taxes, and investing in foreign securities may result
in the Fund experiencing more rapid and extreme changes in value than a
fund that invests exclusively in securities of U.S.
issuers; |
|
• |
|
Currency Risk: Foreign (non‑U.S.)
currencies may decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and adversely
affect the value of the Fund’s investments in foreign currencies,
securities denominated in foreign currencies or derivatives that provide
exposure to foreign
currencies; |
|
• |
|
Geographic Focus Risk: The Fund may be
particularly susceptible to economic, political or regulatory events
affecting particular countries or regions to the extent the Fund focuses
its investments in such countries or
regions; |
|
• |
|
Credit Risk: The Fund could lose money if
the issuer or counterparty is unable or unwilling to meet its financial
obligations, and the lack of ability, or perceived lack of ability, of the
issuer to make timely payments of interest and/or principal will
negatively affect the value of the security or
instrument; |
|
• |
|
Counterparty and Third Party Risk:
Transactions involving a counterparty to a derivative contract,
repurchase agreement, reverse repurchase agreement, or other financial
instrument, or to a third party responsible for servicing the instrument,
are subject to the credit risk of the counterparty or third party, and to
the counterparty’s or third party’s ability to perform in accordance with
the terms of the
transaction; |
|
• |
|
Currency Management Strategies Risk:
Currency management strategies, including the use of forward
currency contracts and other derivatives, may substantially change the
Fund’s exposure to currencies and currency exchange rates and could result
in losses to the Fund if currencies do not perform as the Investment
Manager anticipates; |
|
• |
|
Derivatives Risk: Investing in derivative
instruments may be considered risky and involves correlation,
documentation, interest rate, leverage, liquidity, market, management,
interest rate and valuation risks and the risk of losing more than the
principal amount
invested; |
|
• |
|
High Yield Risk: Below investment grade
securities and unrated securities of similar credit quality (commonly
known as “high yield” securities or “junk bonds”) are subject to greater
levels of credit and liquidity risks than higher quality securities, and
are considered predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s
continuing ability to make principal and interest
payments; |
|
• |
|
Inflation/Deflation Risk: The value of
the Fund’s investments may decline as inflation reduces the value of
money; conversely, if deflation reduces prices throughout the economy
there may be an adverse effect on the creditworthiness of issuers in whose
securities the Fund invests and an increase in the likelihood of issuer
defaults; |
|
• |
|
Interest Rate Risk: Debt and other
securities and instruments may decline in value due to changes in interest
rates, the extended duration of principal payments at below-market
interest rates, and/or prepayment. The value of most fixed income
securities will generally decline in response to increases in interest
rates; |
|
• |
|
Investments in Pooled Vehicles Risk:
Investing in another investment company or pooled vehicle subjects
the Fund to that company’s risks, and, in general, to a pro rata portion
of that company’s fees and expenses in addition to fees and expenses
charged by the Fund; |
|
• |
|
Issuer Non‑Diversification Risk: The Fund
is “non‑diversified” and is therefore more susceptible to the risks of
focusing investments in a small number of issuers, industries or foreign
currencies, and the risks of a single economic, political or regulatory
occurrence, than funds that are
“diversified”; |
|
• |
|
Issuer Risk: The value of a security or
instrument may decline for reasons directly related to the issuer, such as
management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the
issuer’s goods or
services; |
11
|
• |
|
Large Shareholder Risk: Shareholders of
the Fund, such as institutional investors, may disrupt the efficient
management of the Fund’s operations by purchasing or redeeming Fund shares
in large amounts; |
|
• |
|
Leverage Risk: Use of leverage, including
through borrowings, derivatives and reverse repurchase agreements, will
increase volatility of the Fund’s investment portfolio and magnify the
Fund’s investment losses or
gains; |
|
• |
|
Liquidity Risk: Illiquid securities and
other instruments may be highly volatile, difficult to value, and
difficult to sell or close out at favorable prices or
times; |
|
• |
|
Management Risk: The Fund’s investment
return depends on the ability of the Investment Manager to manage the
Fund’s portfolio successfully; there is a risk that the Investment Manager
may be incorrect in its analysis of economic trends, currencies,
countries, industries, companies, and the relative attractiveness of asset
classes or other
matters; |
|
• |
|
Market
Risk: The value of securities and instruments
owned by the Fund may rise and fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably,
due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular
industries or geographic areas, including terrorism, war, natural
disasters and the spread of infectious disease including epidemics or
pandemics such as the COVID‑19
pandemic; |
|
• |
|
Mortgage-Backed and Asset-Backed Risk:
Payments on the underlying assets, whether they be mortgages or
other obligations, may be delayed, prepaid, subordinated or defaulted on;
rising interest rates tend to extend the duration of these securities,
making them more sensitive to changes in interest
rates; |
|
• |
|
Over‑the‑Counter Risk: Securities and
derivatives traded in over‑the‑counter markets may trade less frequently
and in limited volumes and thus exhibit more volatility and liquidity
risk, and the prices paid by the Fund in over‑the‑counter transactions may
include an undisclosed dealer
markup; |
|
• |
|
Portfolio Turnover Risk: If the Fund
frequently trades its securities, this will increase transaction costs,
may result in taxable capital gains, and may reduce the Fund’s investment
performance; and |
|
• |
|
Valuation Risk: Certain securities and
instruments may be difficult to value, and to the extent the Fund sells a
security or instrument at a price lower than that used to value the
security, its net asset value will be adversely
affected. |
An
investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government
agency.
Performance
Information
The bar chart and performance table that follow
provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes
in the Fund’s Institutional Class Shares’ performance from year to year and
comparing the Fund’s average annual total returns with those of a broad-based
market index. The bar chart and the information immediately
below it show only the performance of the Fund’s Institutional
Class Shares. Although Class A and Class C Shares would have
similar annual returns (because all the Fund’s shares represent interests in the
same portfolio of securities), Class A and Class C performance would
be lower than Institutional Class performance because of the lower expenses
paid by Institutional Class Shares of the Fund. The bar
chart does not reflect any sales loads applicable to Class A or
Class C Shares. The performance shown in the bar chart
would be lower if it reflected sales charges applicable to Class A and
Class C Shares. Performance for Class A and Class C
Shares in the Average Annual Total Returns table reflects the impact of sales
charges. You may obtain the Fund’s updated performance
information by visiting the website at www.ashmoregroup.com or by calling
866‑876‑8294. As
with all mutual funds, the Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does
not predict how the Fund will perform in the
future.
12
Calendar
Year Total Return—Institutional
Class
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond Fund % Total
Return
The
best calendar
quarter return during the period shown above was 11.96% in the fourth quarter of 2020; the
worst was
‑17.60% in the first quarter of
2020.
Average
Annual Total Return
(For the period ended December 31, 2022)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
1-Year |
|
5-Year |
|
10-Year |
Institutional
Class |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-9.86% |
| |
|
|
-2.71% |
| |
|
|
-2.26% |
|
Return
after taxes on distributions |
|
|
|
-9.86% |
| |
|
|
-2.95% |
| |
|
|
-2.60% |
|
Return
after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares |
|
|
|
-5.84% |
| |
|
|
-2.12% |
| |
|
|
-1.80% |
|
JP
Morgan GBI‑EM GD Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
|
|
|
-11.69% |
| |
|
|
-2.51% |
| |
|
|
-2.03% |
|
Class A |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-13.83% |
| |
|
|
-3.74% |
| |
|
|
-2.91% |
(1) |
JP
Morgan GBI‑EM GD Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
|
|
|
-11.69% |
| |
|
|
-2.51% |
| |
|
|
-2.03% |
|
Class C |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-11.74% |
| |
|
|
-3.68% |
| |
|
|
-3.10% |
(1) |
JP
Morgan GBI‑EM GD Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
|
|
|
-11.69% |
| |
|
|
-2.51% |
| |
|
|
-2.03% |
|
(1) |
Class C Shares performance reflects
conversion to Class A Shares after eight
years. |
After‑tax returns are calculated using the
historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not
reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after‑tax returns depend on an investor’s
tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after‑tax returns shown are
not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax‑advantaged
arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement
accounts. After‑tax returns are shown for Institutional
Class Shares only and will vary for Class A and Class C
Shares.
Management
of the Fund
Investment Manager
Ashmore
Investment Advisors Limited (“the Investment Manager”)
Investment
Team
Mark
Coombs, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Investment Committee;
Ricardo Xavier, Senior Portfolio Manager and Member of the Investment Committee;
Herbert Saller, Senior Portfolio Manager and Member of the Investment Committee;
Robin Forrest, Senior Portfolio Manager and Member of the Investment Committee;
and Fernando Assad, Senior Portfolio Manager and Member of the Investment
Committee, are primarily responsible for the day‑to‑day management of the Fund.
Mr. Forrest has participated in the management of the Fund since
July 2, 2012 and Mr. Assad has participated in the management of the
Fund since October 1, 2016. Each of the other members of the Investment
Team has participated in the management of the Fund since its inception in 2010.
13
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
The
minimum initial investment for Class A and Class C Shares is $1,000
and the minimum subsequent investment is $50. The minimum initial investment for
Institutional Class Shares is $1,000,000 and the minimum subsequent
investment is $5,000. These minimums may be waived or modified by the Fund or
the Distributor, including for certain financial intermediaries. Investors
investing in the Fund through an intermediary should consult “Appendix
A—Intermediary-Specific Sales Waivers”, which includes information regarding
broker-defined sales charges and related discount policies that apply to
purchases through certain intermediaries. You may sell (redeem) shares on any
day the New York Stock Exchange is open through your broker-dealer or other
financial intermediary (if applicable), or if you hold an account directly with
the Fund by calling 866‑876‑8294 or by sending a letter of instruction to
Ashmore Funds c/o Northern Trust Company, PO Box 4766, Chicago, IL 60680-4766.
If your shares are held in the name of a financial intermediary, those shares
may only be sold through that financial intermediary.
Tax
Information
The
Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains
to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary
income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax‑advantaged
arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account.
Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If
you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund, the Distributor, the Investment Manager
or their affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and
related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by
influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to
recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your
financial intermediary’s website for more information.
14
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Corporate Income Fund
Investment
Objective
The
Fund seeks to maximize total return.
Fees
and Expenses of the Fund
The
tables below describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold,
and sell Class A, Class C or Institutional Class Shares of the
Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples
below. You may
qualify for sales charge discounts on a purchase of Class A Shares if you
and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least
$100,000 in Class A Shares of
the Funds. More information about these and other discounts is
available in the “Classes of Shares” section beginning on page 139 of the
Fund’s prospectus or from your financial intermediary. Investors investing in
the Fund through an intermediary should consult “Appendix A—Intermediary
-Specific Sales Waivers”, which includes information regarding broker-defined
sales charges and related discount policies that apply to purchases through
certain intermediaries.
|
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Shareholder
Fees |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
(fees paid directly from
your investment) |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
Class A Shares |
|
Class C Shares |
|
Institutional Class Shares |
Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering
price) |
|
|
|
4.00% |
|
|
|
|
None |
| |
|
|
None |
|
Maximum
Deferred Sales Charge (CDSC) (Load)(1) (as a percentage
of the lower of original purchase price or NAV) |
|
|
|
1.00% |
|
|
|
|
1.00% |
|
|
|
|
None |
|
Redemption
Fee |
|
|
|
None |
| |
|
|
None |
| |
|
|
None |
|
|
|
| |
|
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
(Expenses that you pay each
year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
Class A Shares |
|
Class C Shares |
|
Institutional Class Shares |
Management
Fees |
|
|
|
0.85% |
| |
|
|
0.85% |
| |
|
|
0.85% |
|
Distribution
and/or Service (12b‑1) Fees |
|
|
|
0.25% |
| |
|
|
1.00% |
| |
|
|
None |
|
Other
Expenses |
|
|
|
0.21% |
| |
|
|
0.21% |
| |
|
|
0.21% |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
|
|
|
1.31% |
| |
|
|
2.06% |
| |
|
|
1.06% |
|
Fee
Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement(2) |
|
|
|
(0.19)% |
| |
|
|
(0.19)% |
| |
|
|
(0.19)% |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense
Reimbursement |
|
|
|
1.12% |
| |
|
|
1.87% |
| |
|
|
0.87% |
|
(1) |
For Class A Shares, the CDSC is imposed only where
shares are purchased without a front‑end sales charge and subsequently
redeemed within eighteen months of purchase. For Class C Shares, the
CDSC is imposed only on shares redeemed within one year of
purchase. |
(2) |
Ashmore
Investment Advisors Limited has contractually agreed to waive its fees or
reimburse the Fund for other expenses to the extent that Total Annual Fund
Operating Expenses (other than Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, interest
expense, taxes, extraordinary expenses, custodial credits, transfer agency
credits and expense offset arrangements) for the Fund’s Class A
Shares exceed 1.12%, for the Fund’s Class C Shares exceed 1.87% and
for the Fund’s Institutional Class Shares exceed 0.87% of the Fund’s
average daily net assets attributable to the share class (the “Expense
Limitation Agreement”). The expense limitation arrangement may be
terminated before February 28, 2024 only
by the Board of Trustees. Under the Expense Limitation Agreement, the
Investment Manager may recoup any amounts waived or reimbursed for 36
months following the end of the month when the waiver or reimbursement
occurred, provided total expenses, including such recoupment, do not
exceed the applicable annual expense limit, and further that expenses may
be recouped only if and to the extent that expense ratio at the time of
such recoupment is less than the annual expense limit in place at the time
such expenses were waived or
reimbursed. |
Examples
These
Examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with
the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Examples assume that you invest
$10,000 in the noted class of shares of the Fund for the time periods
indicated,
15
your
investment has a 5% return each year and the Fund’s operating expenses remain
the same. Class C Shares automatically convert to Class A Shares after
eight years. The expense example for Class C Shares for the ten‑year period
reflects the conversion to Class A Shares. The Examples are based, for the
first year, on Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or
Expense Reimbursement and, for all other periods, on Total Annual Fund Operating
Expenses. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, the Examples show
what your costs would be based on these assumptions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Example: Assuming you redeem your shares at the end of each
period |
|
Example:
Assuming you do not redeem your
shares |
|
|
1 year |
|
3 years |
|
5 years |
|
10 years |
|
1 year |
|
3 years |
|
5 years |
|
10 years |
Class A
Shares |
|
|
$ |
510 |
| |
|
$ |
781 |
| |
|
$ |
1,072 |
| |
|
$ |
1,900 |
| |
|
$ |
510 |
| |
|
$ |
781 |
| |
|
$ |
1,072 |
| |
|
$ |
1,900 |
|
Class C
Shares |
|
|
$ |
290 |
| |
|
$ |
627 |
| |
|
$ |
1,091 |
| |
|
$ |
2,182 |
| |
|
$ |
190 |
| |
|
$ |
627 |
| |
|
$ |
1,091 |
| |
|
$ |
2,182 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 year |
|
3 years |
|
5 years |
|
10 years |
Institutional
Class Shares (whether or not shares are redeemed) |
|
|
|
$ |
89 |
| |
|
$ |
318 |
| |
|
$ |
566 |
| |
|
$ |
1,277 |
|
Portfolio
Turnover
The
Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes for you if your
Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected
in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Examples, adversely affect the
Fund’s investment performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s
portfolio turnover rate was 55% of the average value of its
portfolio.
Principal
Investment Strategies
The
Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing principally in debt instruments
of Corporate issuers (as defined below), which may be denominated in any
currency, including the local currency of the issuer. A Corporate issuer is an issuer located in an
Emerging Market Country or an issuer deriving at least 50% of its revenues or
profits from goods produced or sold, investments made, or services performed in
one or more Emerging Market Countries or that has at least 50% of its assets in
one or more Emerging Market Countries. For these purposes, Corporate issuers do
not include Sovereigns or governmental agency issuers, but may include corporate
or other business entities in which a Sovereign or governmental agency or entity
may have, indirectly or directly, an interest, including a majority or greater
ownership interest (e.g., CITIC, Qatar Telecom). Emerging Market Country means
any country included by the International Monetary Fund in its list of Emerging
and Developing Economies, any country which is considered a low‑income,
lower-middle-income, or upper-middle-income economy by the World Bank, and all
countries represented in any widely-recognized index of emerging market
securities (e.g., the relevant indices in the family of J.P. Morgan Corporate
Emerging Markets Bond Index, J.P. Morgan Emerging Local Markets Index, J.P.
Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index, J.P. Morgan Government Bond Index - Emerging
Markets and MSCI Emerging and Frontier Markets Index).
The
Fund may invest in debt instruments of all types issued by Corporate issuers,
whether subordinated or unsubordinated, secured or unsecured, quoted or
unquoted, rated or unrated, or floating rate or fixed rate. These may include,
without limitation, bonds, debentures, notes, convertible securities, commercial
paper, loans and related assignments and participations, trade claims, bank
certificates of deposit, fixed time deposits, bankers’ acceptances, and money
market instruments, including money market funds denominated in U.S. dollars or
other currencies. The Fund may invest in companies of any market capitalization,
and its allocations among small-, mid‑ and large-capitalization issuers may vary
significantly over time.
The
Fund may invest in obligations of any credit quality, including obligations that
are in default or that are subject to insolvency proceedings. The Fund may
invest without limitation in debt securities that are of below investment grade
or that are unrated but judged by the Investment Manager to be of comparable
quality (“junk bonds”).
The
Fund normally seeks to maintain a weighted average portfolio duration of between
2 and 10 years.
Although
the Fund may gain most of its investment exposure to Corporate issuers directly,
the Fund may utilize various derivative instruments and related strategies,
including exclusively, to gain exposure to one or more Corporate issuers or
other assets. The Fund may utilize derivatives of all types and may invest in,
without limitation, call and put options (including options on futures
contracts), futures and forward contracts (including contracts related to
currencies), and swap
16
agreements
(including total return, interest rate and credit default swaps) and other
related instruments with respect to individual bonds and other securities,
indices and baskets of securities, interest rates and currencies, and
credit-linked notes as part of its principal investment strategies. The Fund
expects to primarily use derivatives for hedging or efficient portfolio
management purposes, but may also use them to increase the Fund’s investment
exposure beyond that which it could achieve by investing directly in more
conventional securities. The Fund may also invest directly in foreign currencies
for hedging or other investment
purposes.
The
Fund may invest in convertible debt instruments and equity securities related to
convertible securities or warrants the Fund holds or has held, as well as
acquire and hold equity securities, including warrants, resulting from debt
conversion or restructuring. The Fund may invest in the securities of other
investment companies, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and other pooled
vehicles, if the investment companies invest principally in the types of
investments in which the Fund may invest directly. The Fund may also lend its
portfolio securities, borrow money for investment and other purposes, and enter
into repurchase and reverse repurchase agreement
transactions.
The
Fund will not invest more than 25% of its net assets in any one Emerging Market
Country. In addition, the Fund will not invest more than 20% of its net assets
in investments denominated in currencies other than the U.S.
dollar.
In
managing the Fund, the Investment Manager’s investment committee (the
“Investment Committee”), together with the relevant portfolio managers (together
with the Investment Committee, the “Investment Team”), employs a largely
top‑down, active and value-driven investment approach in analyzing emerging
markets and currencies. The Fund’s investment approach includes an emphasis on
the influence of politics (both local and international). The Investment Team
combines its top‑down approach with an analytically-driven, bottom‑up approach
to making purchase and sale decisions with respect to individual corporate
credits. The Investment Team seeks opportunities in selected emerging markets
that it believes may benefit from significant positive changes, such as
political and economic reforms, increases in capital inflows and investor
confidence, and seeks to invest in issuers in Corporate sectors it expects will
benefit from such developments and associated economic development and growth.
The Investment Team’s investment process focuses on global and emerging markets
fundamentals and considers factors such as liquidity and risk management at the
macro level. The Investment Team utilizes the Investment Manager’s broad and
current knowledge of important investment areas in various Emerging Market
Countries gained, in part, through research, experience, long-standing
relationships with reliable local firms and, where appropriate, visits by its
investment personnel to countries in their respective regions of
responsibility.
In
response to adverse market, economic, political or other conditions, the Fund
may deviate from its principal strategies by making temporary investments of
some or all of its assets in various instruments, including short-term,
high-quality fixed income securities denominated in any currency, cash, cash
equivalents, money market funds, and other similar funds. The Fund may not
achieve its investment objective when it does so. The Fund may also invest a
portion of its assets in such investments and instruments on a short term or
temporary basis to manage its cash positions or otherwise manage the Fund
efficiently.
The
Fund observes a policy to normally invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus
borrowings made for investment purposes) in bonds and other debt instruments of
Corporate issuers (as defined above). The Fund’s investments in derivatives and
other synthetic instruments that have economic characteristics similar to these
investments will be counted toward satisfaction of the Fund’s 80% investment
policy.
The
Investment Manager may engage in active and frequent trading of the Fund’s
portfolio securities to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund may
pay transaction costs, such as the bid/asked spread on purchases and sales of
securities, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A
higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may
result in higher taxes for you if your Fund shares are held in a taxable
account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses
or in the Examples, may adversely affect the Fund’s investment
performance.
Principal
Risks
It is possible to lose money on an investment in
the Fund. The Fund will be affected by the investment
decisions, techniques and risk analyses of the Fund’s Investment Manager and
there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. The
principal risks of investing in the Fund, which could adversely affect its net
asset value, yield and total return are (in alphabetical order after the first
seven risks):
17
|
• |
|
Emerging Markets Risk: Compared to
foreign developed markets, investing in emerging markets may involve
heightened volatility, greater political, regulatory, legal and economic
uncertainties, less liquidity, dependence on particular commodities or
international aid, high levels of inflation, greater custody risk, and
certain special risks associated with smaller
companies; |
|
• |
|
Foreign Investment Risk: Investments in
foreign (non‑U.S.) issuers, directly or through use of depositary
receipts, may be negatively affected by adverse political, regulatory,
economic, market or other developments affecting issuers located in
foreign countries, currency exchange rates or regulations, or foreign
withholding or other taxes, and investing in foreign securities may result
in the Fund experiencing more rapid and extreme changes in value than a
fund that invests exclusively in securities of U.S.
issuers; |
|
• |
|
Bank Loans Risk: The Fund may invest in
bank loans and participations. Risks associated with these obligations
include, but are not limited to, risks involving the enforceability of
security interests and loan transactions, inadequate collateral,
liabilities relating to collateral securing obligations, and the liquidity
of these loans. The market for bank loans may be subject to irregular
trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement
periods. The loans in which the Fund invests may be rated below investment
grade; |
|
• |
|
High Yield Risk: Below investment grade
securities and unrated securities of similar credit quality (commonly
known as “high yield” securities or “junk bonds”) are subject to greater
levels of credit and liquidity risks than higher quality securities, and
are considered predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s
continuing ability to make principal and interest
payments; |
|
• |
|
Geographic Focus Risk: The Fund may be
particularly susceptible to economic, political or regulatory events
affecting particular countries or regions to the extent the Fund focuses
its investments in such countries or
regions; |
|
• |
|
Issuer Risk: The value of a security or
instrument may decline for reasons directly related to the issuer, such as
management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the
issuer’s goods or
services; |
|
• |
|
Credit Risk: The Fund could lose money if
the issuer or counterparty is unable or unwilling to meet its financial
obligations, and the lack of ability, or perceived lack of ability, of the
issuer to make timely payments of interest and/or principal will
negatively affect the value of the security or
instrument; |
|
• |
|
Counterparty and Third Party Risk:
Transactions involving a counterparty to a derivative contract,
repurchase agreement, reverse repurchase agreement, or other financial
instrument, or to a third party responsible for servicing the instrument,
are subject to the credit risk of the counterparty or third party, and to
the counterparty’s or third party’s ability to perform in accordance with
the terms of the
transaction; |
|
• |
|
Currency Management Strategies Risk:
Currency management strategies, including the use of forward
currency contracts and other derivatives, may substantially change the
Fund’s exposure to currencies and currency exchange rates and could result
in losses to the Fund if currencies do not perform as the Investment
Manager anticipates; |
|
• |
|
Currency Risk: Foreign (non‑U.S.)
currencies may decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and adversely
affect the value of the Fund’s investments in foreign currencies,
securities denominated in foreign currencies or derivatives that provide
exposure to foreign
currencies; |
|
• |
|
Derivatives Risk: Investing in derivative
instruments may be considered risky and involves correlation,
documentation, interest rate, leverage, liquidity, market, management,
interest rate and valuation risks and the risk of losing more than the
principal amount
invested; |
|
• |
|
Inflation/Deflation Risk: The value of
the Fund’s investments may decline as inflation reduces the value of
money; conversely, if deflation reduces prices throughout the economy
there may be an adverse effect on the creditworthiness of issuers in whose
securities the Fund invests and an increase in the likelihood of issuer
defaults; |
|
• |
|
Interest Rate Risk: Debt and other
securities and instruments may decline in value due to changes in interest
rates, the extended duration of principal payments at below-market
interest rates, and/or prepayment. The value of most fixed income
securities will generally decline in response to increases in interest
rates; |
|
• |
|
Investments in Pooled Vehicles Risk:
Investing in another investment company or pooled vehicle subjects
the Fund to that company’s risks, and, in general, to a pro rata portion
of that company’s fees and expenses in addition to fees and expenses
charged by the Fund; |
|
• |
|
Large Shareholder Risk: Shareholders of
the Fund, such as institutional investors, may disrupt the efficient
management of the Fund’s operations by purchasing or redeeming Fund shares
in large amounts; |
|
• |
|
Leverage Risk: Use of leverage, including
through borrowings, derivatives and reverse repurchase agreements, will
increase volatility of the Fund’s investment portfolio and magnify the
Fund’s investment losses or
gains; |
18
|
• |
|
Liquidity Risk: Illiquid securities and
other instruments may be highly volatile, difficult to value, and
difficult to sell or close out at favorable prices or
times; |
|
• |
|
Management Risk: The Fund’s investment
return depends on the ability of the Investment Manager to manage the
Fund’s portfolio successfully; there is a risk that the Investment Manager
may be incorrect in its analysis of economic trends, currencies,
countries, industries, companies, and the relative attractiveness of asset
classes or other
matters; |
|
• |
|
Market
Risk: The value of securities and instruments
owned by the Fund may rise and fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably,
due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular
industries or geographic areas, including terrorism, war, natural
disasters and the spread of infectious disease including epidemics or
pandemics such as the COVID‑19
pandemic; |
|
• |
|
Over‑the‑Counter Risk: Securities and
derivatives traded in over‑the‑counter markets may trade less frequently
and in limited volumes and thus exhibit more volatility and liquidity
risk, and the prices paid by the Fund in over‑the‑counter transactions may
include an undisclosed dealer
markup; |
|
• |
|
Portfolio Turnover Risk: If the Fund
frequently trades its securities, this will increase transaction costs,
may result in taxable capital gains, and may reduce the Fund’s investment
performance; |
|
• |
|
Small and Mid‑Sized Companies Risk:
Investments in securities issued by small and mid‑sized companies
tend to be more vulnerable to adverse developments than larger companies,
and may present increased volatility and liquidity risk;
and |
|
• |
|
Valuation Risk: Certain securities and
instruments may be difficult to value, and to the extent the Fund sells a
security or instrument at a price lower than that used to value the
security, its net asset value will be adversely
affected. |
An
investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government
agency.
Performance
Information
The bar chart and performance table that follow
provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes
in the Fund’s Institutional Class Shares’ performance from year to year and
comparing the Fund’s average annual total returns with those of a broad-based
market index. The bar chart and the information immediately
below it show only the performance of the Fund’s Institutional
Class Shares. Although Class A and Class C Shares would have
similar annual returns (because all the Fund’s shares represent interests in the
same portfolio of securities), Class A and Class C performance would
be lower than Institutional Class performance because of the lower expenses
paid by Institutional Class Shares of the Fund. The bar
chart does not reflect any sales loads applicable to Class A or
Class C Shares. The performance shown in the bar chart
would be lower if it reflected sales charges applicable to Class A and
Class C Shares. Performance for Class A and Class C
Shares in the Average Annual Total Returns table reflects the impact of sales
charges. You may obtain the Fund’s updated performance
information by visiting the website at www.ashmoregroup.com or by calling
866‑876‑8294. As
with all mutual funds, the Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does
not predict how the Fund will perform in the
future.
Calendar
Year Total Return—Institutional Class
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Corporate Income Fund % Total Return
19
The
best calendar
quarter return during the period shown above was 16.37% in the second quarter of 2020; the
worst was
‑18.76% in the first quarter of
2020.
Average
Annual Total Return
(For the period ended December 31, 2022)
|
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| |
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|
1-Year |
|
5-Year |
|
10-Year |
Institutional
Class |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-20.13% |
| |
|
|
-2.72% |
| |
|
|
1.10% |
|
Return
after taxes on distributions |
|
|
|
-23.04% |
| |
|
|
-5.34% |
| |
|
|
-1.86% |
|
Return
after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares |
|
|
|
-11.87% |
| |
|
|
-2.93% |
| |
|
|
-0.35% |
|
JP
Morgan CEMBI BD Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
|
|
|
-12.26% |
| |
|
|
1.08% |
| |
|
|
2.81% |
|
Class A |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-23.40% |
| |
|
|
-3.72% |
| |
|
|
0.43% |
(1) |
JP
Morgan CEMBI BD Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
|
|
|
-12.26% |
| |
|
|
1.08% |
| |
|
|
2.81% |
|
Class C |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-21.58% |
| |
|
|
-3.65% |
| |
|
|
0.23% |
(1) |
JP
Morgan CEMBI BD Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
|
|
|
-12.26% |
| |
|
|
1.08% |
| |
|
|
2.81% |
|
(1) |
Class C Shares performance reflects
conversion to Class A Shares after eight
years. |
After‑tax returns are calculated using the
historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not
reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after‑tax returns depend on an investor’s
tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after‑tax returns shown are
not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax‑advantaged
arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement
accounts. After‑tax returns are shown for Institutional
Class Shares only and will vary for Class A and Class C
Shares.
Management
of the Fund
Investment Manager
Ashmore
Investment Advisors Limited (“the Investment Manager”)
Investment Team
Mark
Coombs, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Investment Committee;
Ricardo Xavier, Senior Portfolio Manager and Member of the Investment Committee;
Herbert Saller, Senior Portfolio Manager and Member of the Investment Committee;
Robin Forrest, Senior Portfolio Manager and Member of the Investment Committee;
and Fernando Assad, Senior Portfolio Manager and Member of the Investment
Committee, are primarily responsible for the day‑to‑day management of the Fund.
Mr. Forrest has participated in the management of the Fund since
July 2, 2012 and Mr. Assad has participated in the management of the
Fund since October 1, 2016. Each of the other members of the Investment
Team has participated in the management of the Fund since its inception in 2010.
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
The
minimum initial investment for Class A and Class C Shares is $1,000
and the minimum subsequent investment is $50. The minimum initial investment for
Institutional Class Shares is $1,000,000 and the minimum subsequent
investment is
$5,000.
These minimums may be waived or modified by the Fund or the Distributor,
including for certain financial intermediaries. Investors investing in the Fund
through an intermediary should consult “Appendix A—Intermediary-Specific Sales
Waivers”, which includes information regarding broker-defined sales charges and
related discount policies that apply to purchases through certain
intermediaries. You may sell (redeem) shares on any day the New York Stock
Exchange is open through your broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (if
applicable), or if you hold an account directly with the Fund by calling
866‑876‑8294 or by sending a letter of instruction to Ashmore Funds c/o Northern
Trust Company, PO Box 4766, Chicago, IL 60680-4766. If your shares are held in
the name of a financial intermediary, those shares may only be sold through that
financial intermediary.
Tax
Information
The
Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains
to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary
income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax‑advantaged
arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account.
20
Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If
you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund, the Distributor, the Investment Manager
or their affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and
related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by
influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to
recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your
financial intermediary’s website for more information.
21
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Short Duration Fund
Investment
Objective
The
Fund seeks to maximize total return.
Fees
and Expenses of the Fund
The
tables below describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold,
and sell Class A, Class C or Institutional Class Shares of the
Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples
below. You may
qualify for sales charge discounts on a purchase of Class A Shares if you
and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least
$100,000 in Class A Shares of
the Funds. More information about these and other discounts is
available in the “Classes of Shares” section beginning on page 139 of the
Fund’s prospectus or from your financial intermediary. Investors investing in
the Fund through an intermediary should consult “Appendix A—Intermediary
-Specific Sales Waivers”, which includes information regarding broker-defined
sales charges and related discount policies that apply to purchases through
certain intermediaries.
|
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| |
Shareholder
Fees |
|
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|
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| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
(fees paid directly from
your investment) |
|
|
|
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| |
|
|
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| |
|
|
| |
|
|
Class A Shares |
|
Class C Shares |
|
Institutional Class Shares |
Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering
price) |
|
|
|
2.25% |
|
|
|
|
None |
| |
|
|
None |
|
Maximum
Deferred Sales Charge (CDSC) (Load)(1) (as a percentage
of the lower of original purchase price or NAV) |
|
|
|
1.00% |
|
|
|
|
1.00% |
|
|
|
|
None |
|
Redemption
Fee |
|
|
|
None |
| |
|
|
None |
| |
|
|
None |
|
|
|
| |
|
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
(Expenses that you pay each
year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
Class A Shares |
|
Class C Shares |
|
Institutional Class Shares |
Management
Fees |
|
|
|
0.65% |
| |
|
|
0.65% |
| |
|
|
0.65% |
|
Distribution
and/or Service (12b‑1) Fees |
|
|
|
0.25% |
| |
|
|
1.00% |
| |
|
|
None |
|
Other
Expenses |
|
|
|
0.27% |
| |
|
|
0.27% |
| |
|
|
0.27% |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
|
|
|
1.17% |
| |
|
|
1.92% |
| |
|
|
0.92% |
|
Fee
Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement(2) |
|
|
|
(0.25)% |
| |
|
|
(0.25)% |
| |
|
|
(0.25)% |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense
Reimbursement |
|
|
|
0.92% |
| |
|
|
1.67% |
| |
|
|
0.67% |
|
(1) |
For Class A Shares, the CDSC is imposed only where
shares are purchased without a front‑end sales charge and subsequently
redeemed within eighteen months of purchase. For Class C Shares, the
CDSC is imposed only on shares redeemed within one year of
purchase. |
(2) |
Ashmore
Investment Advisors Limited has contractually agreed to waive its fees or
reimburse the Fund for other expenses to the extent that Total Annual Fund
Operating Expenses (other than Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, interest
expense, taxes, extraordinary expenses, custodial credits, transfer agency
credits and expense offset arrangements) for the Fund’s Class A
Shares exceed 0.92%, for the Fund’s Class C Shares exceed 1.67% and
for the Fund’s Institutional Class Shares exceed 0.67% of the Fund’s
average daily net assets attributable to the share class (the “Expense
Limitation Agreement”). The expense limitation arrangement may be
terminated before February 28, 2024 only
by the Board of Trustees. Under the Expense Limitation Agreement, the
Investment Manager may recoup any amounts waived or reimbursed for 36
months following the end of the month when the waiver or reimbursement
occurred, provided total expenses, including such recoupment, do not
exceed the applicable annual expense limit, and further that expenses may
be recouped only if and to the extent that the expense ratio is less than
the annual expense limit in place at the time such expenses were waived or
reimbursed. |
Examples
These
Examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with
the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Examples assume that you invest
$10,000 in the noted class of shares of the Fund for the time periods
indicated,
22
your
investment has a 5% return each year and the Fund’s operating expenses remain
the same. Class C Shares automatically convert to Class A Shares after
eight years. The expense example for Class C Shares for the ten‑year period
reflects the conversion to Class A Shares. The Examples are based, for the
first year, on Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or
Expense Reimbursement and, for all other periods, on Total Annual Fund Operating
Expenses. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, the Examples show
what your costs would be based on these assumptions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
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|
|
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| |
|
|
Example:
Assuming you redeem your shares at the end of each
period |
|
Example:
Assuming you do not redeem your
shares |
|
|
1 year |
|
3 years |
|
5 years |
|
10 years |
|
1 year |
|
3 years |
|
5 years |
|
10 years |
Class A
Shares |
|
|
$ |
317 |
| |
|
$ |
564 |
| |
|
$ |
831 |
| |
|
$ |
1,592 |
| |
|
$ |
317 |
| |
|
$ |
564 |
| |
|
$ |
831 |
| |
|
$ |
1,592 |
|
Class C
Shares |
|
|
$ |
270 |
| |
|
$ |
579 |
| |
|
$ |
1,014 |
| |
|
$ |
2,028 |
| |
|
$ |
170 |
| |
|
$ |
579 |
| |
|
$ |
1,014 |
| |
|
$ |
2,028 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 year |
|
3 years |
|
5 years |
|
10 years |
Institutional
Class Shares (whether or not shares are redeemed) |
|
|
|
$ |
68 |
| |
|
$ |
268 |
| |
|
$ |
485 |
| |
|
$ |
1,108 |
|
Portfolio
Turnover
The
Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes for you if your
Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected
in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Examples, adversely affect the
Fund’s investment performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s
portfolio turnover rate was 41% of the average value of its
portfolio.
Principal
Investment Strategies
The
Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing principally in short-term debt
instruments of, and derivative instruments related to, Sovereign,
Quasi-Sovereign and Corporate issuers of Emerging Market Countries (as defined
below) denominated exclusively in Hard Currencies (i.e., the U.S. dollar or any
currency of a nation in the G‑7). The Fund normally seeks to maintain a weighted
average portfolio duration of between 1 and 3 years. The Fund has no
restrictions on individual security duration.
Duration is one measure of the expected life of a
fixed income instrument that is used to determine the sensitivity of a
security’s price to changes in interest rates. Securities with longer durations
tend to be more sensitive to changes in interest rates, usually making them more
volatile than securities with shorter durations. Accordingly, bond funds with
longer average portfolio durations will generally be more sensitive to changes
in interest rates than bond funds with shorter average portfolio durations. By
way of example, the price of a bond fund with a duration of five years would be
expected to fall approximately 5% if interest rates rose by one percentage
point.
Sovereigns are governments of Emerging Market
Countries. For these purposes, Sovereigns may include EM Supra-Nationals.
Quasi-Sovereigns are governmental entities, agencies and other issuers that are
more than 50% owned, directly or indirectly, by a Sovereign, or whose
obligations are guaranteed by a Sovereign. For these purposes, governmental
entities include a province, a city and local or regional governmental bodies. A
Corporate issuer is any issuer other than a Sovereign or a Quasi-Sovereign that
is located in an Emerging Market Country or, an issuer deriving at least 50% of
its revenues or profits from goods produced or sold, investments made, or
services performed in one or more Emerging Market Countries or that has at least
50% of its assets in one or more Emerging Market Countries. Emerging Market
Country means any country included by the International Monetary Fund in its
list of Emerging and Developing Economies, any country which is considered a
low‑income, lower-middle-income, or upper-middle-income economy by the World
Bank, and all countries represented in any widely-recognized index of emerging
market securities (e.g., the relevant indices in the family of J.P. Morgan
Corporate Emerging Markets Bond Index, J.P. Morgan Emerging Local Markets Index,
J.P. Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index, J.P. Morgan Government Bond
Index—Emerging Markets and MSCI Emerging and Frontier Markets Index).
The
Fund may invest in debt instruments of all types, whether subordinated or
unsubordinated, secured or unsecured, quoted or unquoted, rated or unrated, or
floating rate or fixed rate. These may include, without limitation, bonds,
debentures, notes, convertible securities, commercial paper, loans and related
assignments and participations, bank certificates of deposit, fixed
time
deposits, bankers’ acceptances, and money market instruments, including money
market funds denominated in U.S.
23
dollars
or other currencies. The Fund may invest in companies of any market
capitalization, and its allocations among small-, mid‑ and large-capitalization
issuers may vary significantly over
time.
The
Fund may invest in obligations of any credit quality, including obligations that
are in default or that are subject to insolvency proceedings. The Fund may
invest without limitation in debt securities that are related below investment
or that are judged by the Investment Manager to be of comparable quality (i.e., “junk
bonds”).
The
Fund is a “non‑diversified” fund, which means that it may invest a relatively
large portion of its assets in a single issuer or a small number of issuers in
comparison to a fund that is
“diversified.”
The
Fund may utilize various derivative instruments and related strategies,
including to gain exposure to one or more of the issuers referred to above or
other assets. The Fund may utilize derivatives of all types and may invest in,
without limitation, call and put options (including options on futures
contracts), futures and forward contracts and swap agreements (including total
return, interest rate, and credit default swaps), credit-linked notes,
structured notes and other related instruments with respect to individual
currencies, bonds, and securities of any kind, indices and baskets of
securities, interest rates and currencies as part of its principal investment
strategies. The Fund may use derivatives for hedging or efficient portfolio
management purposes, but may also use them to increase the Fund’s investment
exposure beyond that which it could achieve by investing directly in more
conventional securities. The Fund may invest in currency-related transactions,
such as currency forward transactions (including deliverable and non‑deliverable
forwards), currency futures transactions and currency options transactions, and
may also invest directly in foreign currencies, in each case for hedging or
other investment purposes.
The
Fund may invest in convertible debt instruments and equity securities related to
convertible securities or warrants the Fund holds or has held, as well as
acquire and hold equity securities, including warrants, resulting from debt
conversion or restructuring. The Fund may invest in the securities of other
investment companies, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and other pooled
vehicles, if the investment companies invest principally in the types of
investments in which the Fund may invest directly. The Fund may also lend its
portfolio securities, borrow money for investment and other purposes, and enter
into repurchase and reverse repurchase agreement
transactions.
The
Fund will not invest more than 35% of its net assets in any one Emerging Market
Country.
In
managing the Fund, the Investment Manager’s investment committee (the
“Investment Committee”), together with the relevant portfolio managers (together
with the Investment Committee, the “Investment Team”), employs a largely
top‑down, active and value-driven investment approach in analyzing emerging
markets and currencies. The Fund’s investment approach includes an emphasis on
the influence of politics (both local and international). The Investment Team
combines this top‑down approach with an analytically-driven, bottom‑up approach
to making purchase and sale decisions with respect to individual corporate
credits. The Investment Team seeks to invest in a portfolio of short duration
fixed-income securities in an effort to limit the Fund’s exposure to interest
rate risk. The Investment Team seeks opportunities in selected emerging markets
that it believes may benefit from significant positive changes, such as
political and economic reforms, increases in capital inflows and investor
confidence, and seeks to invest in issuers in government and Corporate sectors
it expects will benefit from such developments and associated economic
development and growth. The Investment Team’s investment process focuses on
global and emerging markets fundamentals and considers factors such as liquidity
and risk management at the macro level. This approach utilizes the Investment
Manager’s broad and current knowledge of important investment areas in various
Emerging Market Countries gained, in part, through research, experience,
long-standing relationships with reliable local firms and, where appropriate,
visits by its investment personnel to countries in their respective regions of
responsibility.
In
response to adverse market, economic, political or other conditions, the Fund
may deviate from its principal strategies by making temporary investments of
some or all of its assets in various instruments, including short-term,
high-quality fixed income securities denominated in any currency, cash, cash
equivalents, money market funds, and other similar funds. The Fund may not
achieve its investment objective when it does so. The Fund may also invest a
portion of its assets in such investments and instruments on a short term or
temporary basis to manage its cash positions or otherwise manage the Fund
efficiently.
The
Fund observes a policy to normally invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus
borrowings made for investment purposes) in bonds and other debt instruments
issued by Sovereign, Quasi-Sovereign or Corporate issuers of Emerging Market
Countries. The Fund’s investments in derivatives and other synthetic instruments
that have economic characteristics similar to the investments described above
will be counted toward satisfaction of the Fund’s 80% investment
policy.
24
The
Investment Manager may engage in active and frequent trading of the Fund’s
portfolio securities to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund may
pay transaction costs, such as the bid/asked spread on purchases and sales of
securities, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A
higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may
result in higher taxes for you if your Fund shares are held in a taxable
account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses
or in the Examples, may adversely affect the Fund’s investment
performance.
Principal
Risks
It is possible to lose money on an investment in
the Fund. The Fund will be affected by the investment
decisions, techniques and risk analyses of the Fund’s Investment Manager and
there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. The
principal risks of investing in the Fund, which could adversely affect its net
asset value, yield and total return are (in alphabetical order after the first
seven risks):
|
• |
|
Emerging Markets Risk: Compared to
foreign developed markets, investing in emerging markets may involve
heightened volatility, greater political, regulatory, legal and economic
uncertainties, less liquidity, dependence on particular commodities or
international aid, high levels of inflation, greater custody risk, and
certain special risks associated with smaller
companies; |
|
• |
|
Foreign Investment Risk: Investments in
foreign (non‑U.S.) issuers, directly or through use of depositary
receipts, may be negatively affected by adverse political, regulatory,
economic, market or other developments affecting issuers located in
foreign countries, currency exchange rates or regulations, or foreign
withholding or other taxes, and investing in foreign securities may result
in the Fund experiencing more rapid and extreme changes in value than a
fund that invests exclusively in securities of U.S.
issuers; |
|
• |
|
High Yield Risk: Below investment grade
securities and unrated securities of similar credit quality (commonly
known as “high yield” securities or “junk bonds”) are subject to greater
levels of credit and liquidity risks than higher quality securities, and
are considered predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s
continuing ability to make principal and interest
payments; |
|
• |
|
Geographic Focus Risk: The Fund may be
particularly susceptible to economic, political or regulatory events
affecting particular countries or regions to the extent the Fund focuses
its investments in such countries or
regions; |
|
• |
|
Currency Risk: Foreign (non‑U.S.)
currencies may decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and adversely
affect the value of the Fund’s investments in foreign currencies,
securities denominated in foreign currencies or derivatives that provide
exposure to foreign
currencies; |
|
• |
|
Issuer Risk: The value of a security or
instrument may decline for reasons directly related to the issuer, such as
management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the
issuer’s goods or
services; |
|
• |
|
Credit Risk: The Fund could lose money if
the issuer or counterparty is unable or unwilling to meet its financial
obligations, and the lack of ability, or perceived lack of ability, of the
issuer to make timely payments of interest and/or principal will
negatively affect the value of the security or
instrument; |
|
• |
|
Counterparty and Third Party Risk:
Transactions involving a counterparty to a derivative contract,
repurchase agreement, reverse repurchase agreement, or other financial
instrument, or to a third party responsible for servicing the instrument,
are subject to the credit risk of the counterparty or third party, and to
the counterparty’s or third party’s ability to perform in accordance with
the terms of the
transaction; |
|
• |
|
Currency Management Strategies Risk:
Currency management strategies, including the use of forward
currency contracts and other derivatives, may substantially change the
Fund’s exposure to currencies and currency exchange rates and could result
in losses to the Fund if currencies do not perform as the Investment
Manager anticipates; |
|
• |
|
Derivatives Risk: Investing in derivative
instruments may be considered risky and involves correlation,
documentation, interest rate, leverage, liquidity, market, management,
interest rate and valuation risks and the risk of losing more than the
principal amount
invested; |
|
• |
|
Inflation/Deflation Risk: The value of
the Fund’s investments may decline as inflation reduces the value of
money; conversely, if deflation reduces prices throughout the economy
there may be an adverse effect on the creditworthiness of issuers in whose
securities the Fund invests and an increase in the likelihood of issuer
defaults; |
25
|
• |
|
Interest Rate Risk: Debt and other
securities and instruments may decline in value due to changes in interest
rates, the extended duration of principal payments at below-market
interest rates, and/or prepayment. The value of most fixed income
securities will generally decline in response to increases in interest
rates; |
|
• |
|
Investments in Pooled Vehicles Risk:
Investing in another investment company or pooled vehicle subjects
the Fund to that company’s risks, and, in general, to a pro rata portion
of that company’s fees and expenses in addition to fees and expenses
charged by the Fund; |
|
• |
|
Issuer Non‑Diversification Risk: The Fund
is “non‑diversified” and is therefore more susceptible to the risks of
focusing investments in a small number of issuers, industries or foreign
currencies, and the risks of a single economic, political or regulatory
occurrence, than funds that are
“diversified”; |
|
• |
|
Large Shareholder Risk: Shareholders of
the Fund, such as institutional investors, may disrupt the efficient
management of the Fund’s operations by purchasing or redeeming Fund shares
in large amounts; |
|
• |
|
Leverage Risk: Use of leverage, including
through borrowings, derivatives and reverse repurchase agreements, will
increase volatility of the Fund’s investment portfolio and magnify the
Fund’s investment losses or
gains; |
|
• |
|
Liquidity Risk: Illiquid securities and
other instruments may be highly volatile, difficult to value, and
difficult to sell or close out at favorable prices or
times; |
|
• |
|
Management Risk: The Fund’s investment
return depends on the ability of the Investment Manager to manage the
Fund’s portfolio successfully; there is a risk that the Investment Manager
may be incorrect in its analysis of economic trends, currencies,
countries, industries, companies, and the relative attractiveness of asset
classes or other
matters; |
|
• |
|
Market
Risk: The value of securities and instruments
owned by the Fund may rise and fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably,
due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular
industries or geographic areas, including terrorism, war, natural
disasters and the spread of infectious disease including epidemics or
pandemics such as the COVID‑19
pandemic; |
|
• |
|
Over‑the‑Counter Risk: Securities and
derivatives traded in over‑the‑counter markets may trade less frequently
and in limited volumes and thus exhibit more volatility and liquidity
risk, and the prices paid by the Fund in over‑the‑counter transactions may
include an undisclosed dealer
markup; |
|
• |
|
Portfolio Turnover Risk: If the Fund
frequently trades its securities, this will increase transaction costs,
may result in taxable capital gains, and may reduce the Fund’s investment
performance; |
|
• |
|
Small and Mid‑Sized Companies Risk:
Investments in securities issued by small and mid‑sized companies
tend to be more vulnerable to adverse developments than larger companies,
and may present increased volatility and liquidity risk;
and |
|
• |
|
Valuation Risk: Certain securities and
instruments may be difficult to value, and to the extent the Fund sells a
security or instrument at a price lower than that used to value the
security, its net asset value will be adversely
affected. |
An
investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government
agency.
Performance
Information
The bar chart and performance table that follow
provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes
in the Fund’s Institutional Class Shares’ performance from year to year and
comparing the Fund’s average annual total returns with those of a broad-based
market index. The bar chart and the information immediately
below it show only the performance of the Fund’s Institutional
Class Shares. Although Class A and Class C Shares would have
similar annual returns (because all the Fund’s shares represent interests in the
same portfolio of securities), Class A and Class C performance would
be lower than Institutional Class performance because of the lower expenses
paid by Institutional Class Shares of the Fund. The bar
chart does not reflect any sales loads applicable to Class A or
Class C Shares. The performance shown in the bar chart
would be lower if it reflected sales charges applicable to Class A and
Class C Shares. Performance for Class A and Class C
Shares in the Average Annual Total Returns table reflects the impact of sales
charges. You may obtain the Fund’s updated performance
information by visiting the website at www.ashmoregroup.com or by calling
866‑876‑8294. As
with all mutual funds, the Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does
not predict how the Fund will perform in the
future.
26
Calendar
Year Total Return—Institutional
Class
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Short Duration Fund % Total
Return
The
best calendar
quarter return during the period shown above was 19.19% in the second quarter of 2020; the
worst was
‑30.86% in the first quarter of
2020.
Average
Annual Total Return
(For the period ended December 31, 2022)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
1-Year |
|
5-Year |
|
Since Inception Date of 06/24/14 |
Institutional
Class |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-19.34% |
| |
|
|
-9.04% |
| |
|
|
-1.58% |
|
Return
after taxes on distributions |
|
|
|
-22.32% |
| |
|
|
-11.70% |
| |
|
|
-4.82% |
|
Return
after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares |
|
|
|
-11.39% |
| |
|
|
-7.17% |
| |
|
|
-2.06% |
|
JP
Morgan CEMBI BD 1‑3 Year (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses,
or taxes) |
|
|
|
-7.77% |
| |
|
|
1.49% |
| |
|
|
2.24% |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
1-Year |
|
5-Year |
|
Since Inception Date of 09/23/14 |
Class A |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-21.37% |
| |
|
|
-9.98% |
| |
|
|
-2.27% |
|
JP
Morgan CEMBI BD 1‑3 Year (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses,
or taxes) |
|
|
|
-7.77% |
| |
|
|
1.49% |
| |
|
|
-2.29% |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
1-Year |
|
5-Year |
|
Since Inception Date of 06/13/17 |
Class C |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-20.86% |
| |
|
|
-9.97% |
| |
|
|
-8.15% |
|
JP
Morgan CEMBI BD 1‑3 Year (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses,
or taxes) |
|
|
|
-7.77% |
| |
|
|
1.49% |
| |
|
|
1.64% |
|
After‑tax returns are calculated using the
historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not
reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after‑tax returns depend on an investor’s
tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after‑tax returns shown are
not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax‑advantaged
arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement
accounts. After‑tax returns are shown for Institutional
Class Shares only and will vary for Class A and Class C
Shares.
Management
of the Fund
Investment Manager
Ashmore
Investment Advisors Limited (“the Investment Manager”)
27
Investment Team
Mark
Coombs, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Investment Committee;
Ricardo Xavier, Senior Portfolio Manager and Member of the Investment Committee;
Herbert Saller, Senior Portfolio Manager and Member of the Investment Committee;
Robin Forrest, Senior Portfolio Manager and Member of the Investment Committee;
and Fernando Assad, Senior Portfolio Manager and Member of the Investment
Committee, are primarily responsible for the day‑to‑day management of the Fund.
Mr. Forrest has participated in the management of the Fund since
June 24, 2014 and Mr. Assad has participated in the management of the
Fund since October 1, 2016. Each of the other members of the Investment
Team has participated in the management of the Fund since its inception in 2014.
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
The
minimum initial investment for Class A and Class C Shares is $1,000
and the minimum subsequent investment is $50. The minimum initial investment for
Institutional Class Shares is $1,000,000 and the minimum subsequent
investment is $5,000. These minimums may be waived or modified by the Fund or
the Distributor, including for certain financial intermediaries. Investors
investing in the Fund through an intermediary should consult “Appendix
A—Intermediary-Specific Sales Waivers”, which includes information regarding
broker-defined sales charges and related discount policies that apply to
purchases through certain intermediaries. You may sell (redeem) shares on any
day the New York Stock Exchange is open through your broker-dealer or other
financial intermediary (if applicable), or if you hold an account directly with
the Fund by calling 866‑876‑8294 or by sending a letter of instruction to
Ashmore Funds c/o Northern Trust Company, PO Box 4766, Chicago, IL 60680-4766.
If your shares are held in the name of a financial intermediary, those shares
may only be sold through that financial intermediary.
Tax
Information
The
Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains
to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary
income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax‑advantaged
arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account.
Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If
you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund, the Distributor, the Investment Manager
or their affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and
related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by
influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to
recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your
financial intermediary’s website for more information.
28
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Active Equity Fund
Investment
Objective
The
Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.
Fees
and Expenses of the Fund
The
tables below describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold,
and sell Class A, Class C or Institutional Class Shares of the
Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples
below. You may
qualify for sales charge discounts on a purchase of Class A Shares if you
and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least
$100,000 in Class A Shares of
the Funds. More information about these and other discounts is
available in the “Classes of Shares” section beginning on page 139 of the
Fund’s prospectus or from your financial intermediary. Investors investing in
the Fund through an intermediary should consult “Appendix A—Intermediary
-Specific Sales Waivers”, which includes information regarding broker-defined
sales charges and related discount policies that apply to purchases through
certain intermediaries.
|
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Shareholder
Fees |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
(fees paid directly from
your investment) |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
Class A Shares |
|
Class C Shares |
|
Institutional Class Shares |
Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering
price) |
|
|
|
5.25% |
|
|
|
|
None |
| |
|
|
None |
|
Maximum
Deferred Sales Charge (CDSC) (Load)(1) (as a percentage
of the lower of original purchase price or NAV) |
|
|
|
1.00% |
|
|
|
|
1.00% |
|
|
|
|
None |
|
Redemption
Fee |
|
|
|
None |
| |
|
|
None |
| |
|
|
None |
|
|
|
| |
|
Annual Fund
Operating Expenses |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
(Expenses that you pay each
year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
Class A Shares |
|
Class C Shares |
|
Institutional Class Shares |
Management
Fees |
|
|
|
1.00% |
| |
|
|
1.00% |
| |
|
|
1.00% |
|
Distribution
and/or Service (12b‑1) Fees |
|
|
|
0.25% |
| |
|
|
1.00% |
| |
|
|
None |
|
Other
Expenses |
|
|
|
0.27% |
| |
|
|
0.30% |
| |
|
|
0.27% |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
|
|
|
1.52% |
| |
|
|
2.30% |
| |
|
|
1.27% |
|
Fee
Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement(2) |
|
|
|
(0.25)% |
| |
|
|
(0.28)% |
| |
|
|
(0.25)% |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense
Reimbursement |
|
|
|
1.27% |
| |
|
|
2.02% |
| |
|
|
1.02% |
|
(1) |
For Class A Shares, the CDSC is imposed only where
shares are purchased without a front‑end sales charge and subsequently
redeemed within eighteen months of purchase. For Class C Shares, the
CDSC is imposed only on shares redeemed within one year of
purchase. |
(2) |
Ashmore
Investment Advisors Limited has contractually agreed to waive its fees or
reimburse the Fund for other expenses to the extent that Total Annual Fund
Operating Expenses (other than Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, interest
expense, taxes, extraordinary expenses, custodial credits, transfer agency
credits and expense offset arrangements) for the Fund’s Class A
Shares exceed 1.27%, for the Fund’s Class C Shares exceed 2.02% and
for the Fund’s Institutional Class Shares exceed 1.02% of the Fund’s
average daily net assets attributable to the share class (the “Expense
Limitation Agreement”). The expense limitation arrangement may be
terminated before February 28, 2024 only
by the Board of Trustees. Under the Expense Limitation Agreement, the
Investment Manager may recoup any amounts waived or reimbursed for 36
months following the end of the month when the waiver or reimbursement
occurred, provided total expenses, including such recoupment, do not
exceed the applicable annual expense limit, and further that a prior
fiscal year’s expenses may be recouped only if and to the extent that the
expense ratio at the time of such recoupment is less than the annual
expense limit in place at the time such expenses were waived or
reimbursed. |
Examples
These
Examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with
the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Examples assume that you invest
$10,000 in the noted class of shares of the Fund for the time periods
indicated,
29
your
investment has a 5% return each year and the Fund’s operating expenses remain
the same. Class C Shares automatically convert to Class A Shares after
eight years. The expense example for Class C Shares for the ten‑year period
reflects the conversion to Class A Shares. The Examples are based, for the
first year, on Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or
Expense Reimbursement and, for all other periods, on Total Annual Fund Operating
Expenses. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, the Examples show
what your costs would be based on these assumptions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Example: Assuming you redeem your shares at the end of each
period |
|
Example:
Assuming you do not redeem your
shares |
|
|
1 year |
|
3 years |
|
5 years |
|
10 years |
|
1 year |
|
3 years |
|
5 years |
|
10 years |
Class A
Shares |
|
|
$ |
648 |
| |
|
$ |
957 |
| |
|
$ |
1,288 |
| |
|
$ |
2,222 |
| |
|
$ |
648 |
| |
|
$ |
957 |
| |
|
$ |
1,288 |
| |
|
$ |
2,222 |
|
Class C
Shares |
|
|
$ |
305 |
| |
|
$ |
692 |
| |
|
$ |
1,205 |
| |
|
$ |
2,418 |
| |
|
$ |
205 |
| |
|
$ |
692 |
| |
|
$ |
1,205 |
| |
|
$ |
2,418 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 year |
|
3 years |
|
5 years |
|
10 years |
Institutional
Class Shares (whether or not shares are redeemed) |
|
|
|
$ |
104 |
| |
|
$ |
378 |
| |
|
$ |
673 |
| |
|
$ |
1,512 |
|
Portfolio
Turnover
The
Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes for you if your
Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected
in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Examples, adversely affect the
Fund’s investment performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s
portfolio turnover rate was 264% of the average value of its
portfolio.
Principal
Investment Strategies
The
Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing principally in equity
securities and equity-related investments of Emerging Market Issuers (as defined
below), which may be denominated in any currency, including the local currency
of the issuer. An Emerging Market Issuer is an
issuer that is either domiciled in an Emerging Market Country, or an issuer
deriving at least 50% of its revenues in or from one or more Emerging Market
Countries. Emerging Market Country means any country included by the
International Monetary Fund in its list of Emerging and Developing Economies,
any country which is considered a low‑income, lower-middle-income, or
upper-middle-income economy by the World Bank, and all countries represented in
any widely-recognized index of emerging market securities (e.g., the relevant
indices in the family of J.P. Morgan Corporate Emerging Markets Bond Index, J.P.
Morgan Emerging Local Markets Index, J.P. Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index,
J.P. Morgan Government Bond Index – Emerging Markets and MSCI Emerging and
Frontier Markets Index).
The
Fund may invest in equity securities and equity-related investments of all types
and denominated in any currency, including voting and non‑voting common stock,
common stock issued to special shareholder classes, preferred stock, depositary
receipts, including global and American depositary receipts, warrants,
securities convertible into equity securities, other equity-related investments
whose returns vary on the basis of the issuer’s profitability (e.g.,
participation notes), as well as securities of other investment companies,
including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and other pooled vehicles. The Fund may
invest in companies of any market capitalization, and its allocations among
small-, mid‑ and large-capitalization issuers may vary significantly over time.
The Fund may invest through investment funds, pooled accounts or other
investment vehicles designed to permit investments in a portfolio of equity
securities listed in a particular Emerging Market Country or region,
particularly in the case of countries in which such an investment vehicle is the
exclusive or main vehicle for foreign portfolio investment. The Fund’s
investments may include securities of companies that are in the process of being
privatized by a government and securities of companies that are traded in
unregulated over‑the‑counter markets or other types of unlisted securities
markets. The Fund may invest in initial public offerings.
The
Fund may utilize various derivative instruments and related strategies to gain
exposure to one or more issuers or other assets. The Fund may utilize
derivatives of all types and may invest in, without limitation, call and put
options (including options on futures contracts); futures and forward contracts,
including contracts related to currencies; and swap agreements (including total
return and interest rate swaps); other related instruments with respect to
individual stocks and other securities, indices and baskets of securities,
interest rates and currencies; participation notes; structured notes; exchange
traded notes; and credit-linked notes as part of its principal investment
strategies. The Fund may enter into foreign currency forward contracts as well
as foreign currency futures and options contracts with respect to any currency
in which it has existing investments or has contracted to make investments in an
attempt to hedge currency exchange risk. The Fund expects
30
to
primarily use derivatives for hedging or efficient portfolio management
purposes, but may also use them to increase the Fund’s investment exposure
beyond that which it could achieve by investing directly in more conventional
securities. The Fund may also invest directly in foreign currencies for hedging
or other investment purposes.
In
managing the Fund’s portfolio, the Investment Manager seeks to identify equity
investments within Emerging Markets. The Fund is managed actively, utilizing a
top‑down approach, taking into account macro- and micro-economic insights,
supplemented by bottom‑up
research.
Macro-economic
insights are based on the Investment Manager’s economic research on Emerging
Market Countries. Micro-economic insights are derived from an analysis of
aggregate earnings, and country- and industry-specific factors, which include
demand/supply, level of competition, regulatory environment and interest
rates.
Macro-
and micro-economic insights are together used to identify areas within the
investable universe that the Investment Manager believes exhibit attractive
fundamentals. Within these attractive areas, bottom‑up research is conducted to
select particular instruments based on anticipated return potential. Bottom‑up
research includes analysis of businesses, earnings expectations, underlying
business assumptions and risks, and takes into account market factors including
market positioning and capital
flows.
The
Fund’s portfolio is constructed from equity securities with what the Investment
Manager believes to have
attractive
risk-adjusted
upside potential. The Fund’s active weighting of investments across countries,
industries and sectors reflects the Investment Manager’s top‑down preferences,
which may vary significantly over time. The overall liquidity, volatility and
beta of the portfolio are also informed by the Investment Manager’s
macro-economic insights. The number of individual securities held in the Fund’s
portfolio may vary over time based on the outlook of the portfolio managers,
market conditions and other factors, and the Fund is not managed to have a
particular number or range of portfolio
holdings.
The
Fund observes a policy to normally invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus
borrowings made for investment purposes) in equity securities of Emerging Market
Issuers. The Fund’s investments in derivatives and other synthetic instruments
that have economic characteristics similar to these instruments will be counted
toward the Fund’s 80% investment policy. For example, futures contracts may be
used to obtain investment exposure equal to a portion of the Fund’s cash
positions.
The
Investment Manager may engage in active and frequent trading of the Fund’s
portfolio securities to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund may
pay transaction costs, such as the brokerage commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes for you if your
Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected
in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Examples, may adversely affect the
Fund’s investment performance.
Principal
Risks
It is possible to lose money on an investment in
the Fund. The Fund will be affected by the investment
decisions, techniques and risk analyses of the Fund’s Investment Manager and
there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. The
principal risks of investing in the Fund, which could adversely affect its net
asset value, yield and total return are (in alphabetical order after the first
five risks):
|
• |
|
Equity Securities Risk: Equity securities
may react more strongly to changes in an issuer’s financial condition or
prospects than other securities of the same
issuer; |
|
• |
|
Emerging Markets Risk: Compared to
foreign developed markets, investing in emerging markets may involve
heightened volatility, greater political, regulatory, legal and economic
uncertainties, less liquidity, dependence on particular commodities or
international aid, high levels of inflation, greater custody risk, and
certain special risks associated with smaller
companies; |
|
• |
|
Foreign Investment Risk: Investments in
foreign (non‑U.S.) issuers, directly or through use of depositary
receipts, may be negatively affected by adverse political, regulatory,
economic, market or other developments affecting issuers located in
foreign countries, currency exchange rates or regulations, or foreign
withholding or other taxes, and investing in foreign securities may result
in the Fund experiencing more rapid and extreme changes in value than a
fund that invests exclusively in securities of U.S.
issuers; |
|
• |
|
Focused Investment Risk: Focusing a
fund’s investments in a limited number of issuers, sectors or industries
increases risk and the volatility of the value of a fund’s shares. The
Fund may be particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or
other events affecting the issuers, sectors or industries to the extent it
focuses its investments; |
31
|
• |
|
Geographic Focus Risk: The Fund may be
particularly susceptible to economic, political or regulatory events
affecting particular countries or regions to the extent the Fund focuses
its investments in such countries or
regions; |
|
• |
|
Convertible Securities Risk: Securities
that are convertible into preferred or common stocks are subject to the
risks of both debt and equity securities and the risk of changing in value
at a different rate than the underlying stocks. Convertible securities are
subject to greater levels of credit and liquidity risk, may be speculative
and may decline in value due to changes in interest rates or an issuer’s
or counterparty’s deterioration or
default; |
|
• |
|
Counterparty and Third Party Risk:
Transactions involving a counterparty to a derivative contract,
repurchase agreement, reverse repurchase agreement, or other financial
instrument, or to a third party responsible for servicing the instrument,
are subject to the credit risk of the counterparty or third party, and to
the counterparty’s or third party’s ability to perform in accordance with
the terms of the
transaction; |
|
• |
|
Credit Risk: The Fund could lose money if
the issuer or counterparty is unable or unwilling to meet its financial
obligations, and the lack of ability, or perceived lack of ability, of the
issuer to make timely payments of interest and/or principal will
negatively affect the value of the security or
instrument; |
|
• |
|
Currency Management Strategies Risk:
Currency management strategies, including the use of forward
currency contracts and other derivatives, may substantially change the
Fund’s exposure to currencies and currency exchange rates and could result
in losses to the Fund if currencies do not perform as the Investment
Manager anticipates; |
|
• |
|
Currency Risk: Foreign (non‑U.S.)
currencies may decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and adversely
affect the value of the Fund’s investments in foreign currencies,
securities denominated in foreign currencies or derivatives that provide
exposure to foreign
currencies; |
|
• |
|
Derivatives Risk: Investing in derivative
instruments may be considered risky and involves correlation,
documentation, interest rate, leverage, liquidity, market, management,
interest rate and valuation risks and the risk of losing more than the
principal amount
invested; |
|
• |
|
Frontier Markets Risk: Frontier market
countries are emerging market countries, but generally have smaller
economies or less mature capital markets than more developed emerging
markets, and, as a result, the risks of investing in emerging market
countries are magnified in frontier countries. The markets of frontier
countries typically have low trading volumes and the potential for extreme
price volatility and illiquidity. This volatility may be further
heightened by the actions of a few major investors. For example, a
substantial increase or decrease in cash flows of mutual funds investing
in these markets could significantly affect local stock prices and,
therefore, the net asset value of Fund shares. These factors make
investing in frontier countries significantly riskier than in other
countries, including other emerging market countries, and any one of them
could cause the net asset value of the Fund’s shares to
decline; |
|
• |
|
Inflation/Deflation Risk: The value of
the Fund’s investments may decline as inflation reduces the value of
money; conversely, if deflation reduces prices throughout the economy
there may be an adverse effect on the creditworthiness of issuers in whose
securities the Fund invests and an increase in the likelihood of issuer
defaults; |
|
• |
|
Interest Rate Risk: Debt and other
securities and instruments may decline in value due to changes in interest
rates, the extended duration of principal payments at below-market
interest rates, and/or prepayment. The value of most fixed income
securities will generally decline in response to increases in interest
rates; |
|
• |
|
Investments in Pooled Vehicles Risk:
Investing in another investment company or pooled vehicle subjects
the Fund to that company’s risks, and, in general, to a pro rata portion
of that company’s fees and expenses in addition to fees and expenses
charged by the Fund; |
|
• |
|
IPO Risk: Securities offered in initial
public offerings (IPOs) are subject to many of the same risks of investing
in small companies and often to a heightened degree, their values may be
highly volatile, they have no trading history and information about the
issuer may have been available for only limited
periods; |
|
• |
|
Issuer Risk: The value of a security or
instrument may decline for reasons directly related to the issuer, such as
management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the
issuer’s goods or
services; |
|
• |
|
Large Shareholder Risk: Shareholders of
the Fund, such as institutional investors, may disrupt the efficient
management of the Fund’s operations by purchasing or redeeming Fund shares
in large amounts; |
|
• |
|
Leverage Risk: Use of leverage, including
through borrowings, derivatives and reverse repurchase agreements, will
increase volatility of the Fund’s investment portfolio and magnify the
Fund’s investment losses or
gains; |
32
|
• |
|
Liquidity Risk: Illiquid securities and
other instruments may be highly volatile, difficult to value, and
difficult to sell or close out at favorable prices or
times; |
|
• |
|
Management Risk: The Fund’s investment
return depends on the ability of the Investment Manager to manage the
Fund’s portfolio successfully; there is a risk that the Investment Manager
may be incorrect in its analysis of economic trends, currencies,
countries, industries, companies, and the relative attractiveness of asset
classes or other
matters; |
|
• |
|
Market
Risk: The value of securities and instruments
owned by the Fund may rise and fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably,
due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular
industries or geographic areas, including terrorism, war, natural
disasters and the spread of infectious disease including epidemics or
pandemics such as the COVID‑19
pandemic; |
|
• |
|
Over‑the‑Counter Risk: Securities and
derivatives traded in over‑the‑counter markets may trade less frequently
and in limited volumes and thus exhibit more volatility and liquidity
risk, and the prices paid by the Fund in over‑the‑counter transactions may
include an undisclosed dealer
markup; |
|
• |
|
Portfolio Turnover Risk: If the Fund
frequently trades its securities, this will increase transaction costs,
may result in taxable capital gains, and may reduce the Fund’s investment
performance; |
|
• |
|
Small and Mid‑Sized Companies Risk:
Investments in securities issued by small and mid‑sized companies
tend to be more vulnerable to adverse developments than larger companies,
and may present increased volatility and liquidity risk;
and |
|
• |
|
Valuation Risk: Certain securities and
instruments may be difficult to value, and to the extent the Fund sells a
security or instrument at a price lower than that used to value the
security, its net asset value will be adversely
affected. |
An
investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government
agency.
Performance
Information
The bar chart and performance table that follow
provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes
in the Fund’s Institutional Class Shares’ performance from year to year and
comparing the Fund’s average annual total returns with those of a broad-based
market index. The bar chart and the information immediately
below it show only the performance of the Fund’s Institutional
Class Shares. Although Class A and Class C Shares would have
similar annual returns (because all the Fund’s shares represent interests in the
same portfolio of securities), Class A and Class C performance would
be lower than Institutional Class performance because of the lower expenses
paid by Institutional Class Shares of the Fund. The bar
chart does not reflect any sales loads applicable to Class A or
Class C Shares. The performance shown in the bar chart
would be lower if it reflected sales charges applicable to Class A and
Class C Shares. Performance for Class A and Class C
Shares in the Average Annual Total Returns table reflects the impact of sales
charges. You may obtain the Fund’s updated performance
information by visiting the website at www.ashmoregroup.com or by calling
866‑876‑8294. As
with all mutual funds, the Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does
not predict how the Fund will perform in the
future.
Calendar
Year Total Return—Institutional Class
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Active Equity Fund % Total Return
33
The
best calendar
quarter return during the period shown above was 21.67% in the fourth quarter of 2020; the
worst was
‑25.33% in the first quarter of
2020.
Average
Annual Total Return
(For the period ended December 31, 2022)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
1-Year |
|
5-Year |
|
Since Inception Date of 11/01/16 |
Institutional
Class |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-24.81% |
| |
|
|
-1.99% |
| |
|
|
2.89% |
|
Return
after taxes on distributions |
|
|
|
-24.79% |
| |
|
|
-4.61% |
| |
|
|
0.05% |
|
Return
after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares |
|
|
|
-14.43% |
| |
|
|
-1.93% |
| |
|
|
1.62% |
|
MSCI
Emerging Markets Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
|
|
|
-20.09% |
| |
|
|
-1.40% |
| |
|
|
3.37% |
|
Class A |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-28.98% |
| |
|
|
-3.28% |
| |
|
|
1.76% |
|
MSCI
Emerging Markets Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
|
|
|
-20.09% |
| |
|
|
-1.40% |
| |
|
|
3.37% |
|
Class C |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-26.31% |
| |
|
|
-2.99% |
| |
|
|
1.89% |
|
MSCI
Emerging Markets Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
|
|
|
-20.09% |
| |
|
|
-1.40% |
| |
|
|
3.37% |
|
After‑tax returns are calculated using the
historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not
reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after‑tax returns depend on an investor’s
tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after‑tax returns shown are
not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax‑advantaged
arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement
accounts. After‑tax returns are shown for Institutional
Class Shares only and will vary for Class A and Class C
Shares.
Management
of the Fund
Investment Manager
Ashmore
Investment Advisors Limited (“the Investment Manager”)
Portfolio Managers
Fernando
Assad, portfolio manager, is primarily responsible for the day‑to‑day management
of the Fund. Mr. Assad has participated in the day‑to‑day management of the
Fund since November 2016.
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
The
minimum initial investment for Class A and Class C Shares is $1,000
and the minimum subsequent investment is $50. The minimum initial investment for
Institutional Class Shares is $1,000,000 and the minimum subsequent
investment is
$5,000.
These minimums may be waived or modified by the Fund or the Distributor,
including for certain financial intermediaries. Investors investing in the Fund
through an intermediary should consult “Appendix A—Intermediary-Specific Sales
Waivers”, which includes information regarding broker-defined sales charges and
related discount policies that apply to purchases through certain
intermediaries. You may sell (redeem) shares on any day the New York Stock
Exchange is open through your broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (if
applicable), or if you hold an account directly with the Fund by calling
866‑876‑8294 or by sending a letter of instruction to Ashmore Funds c/o Northern
Trust Company, PO Box 4766, Chicago, IL 60680-4766. If your shares are held in
the name of a financial intermediary, those shares may only be sold through that
financial intermediary.
Tax
Information
The
Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains
to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary
income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax‑advantaged
arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account.
34
Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If
you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund, the Distributor, the Investment Manager
or their affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and
related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by
influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to
recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your
financial intermediary’s website for more information.
35
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Small‑Cap Equity Fund
Investment
Objective
The
Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.
Fees
and Expenses of the Fund
The
tables below describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold,
and sell Class A, Class C or Institutional Class Shares of the
Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples
below. You may
qualify for sales charge discounts on a purchase of Class A Shares if you
and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least
$100,000 in Class A Shares of
the Funds. More information about these and other discounts is
available in the “Classes of Shares” section beginning on page 139 of the
Fund’s prospectus or from your financial intermediary. Investors investing in
the Fund through an intermediary should consult “Appendix A—Intermediary
-Specific Sales Waivers”, which includes information regarding broker-defined
sales charges and related discount policies that apply to purchases through
certain intermediaries.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Shareholder
Fees |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
(fees paid directly from
your investment) |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
Class A Shares |
|
Class C Shares |
|
Institutional Class Shares |
Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering
price) |
|
|
|
5.25% |
|
|
|
|
None |
| |
|
|
None |
|
Maximum
Deferred Sales Charge (CDSC) (Load)(1) (as a percentage
of the lower of original purchase price or NAV) |
|
|
|
1.00% |
|
|
|
|
1.00% |
|
|
|
|
None |
|
Redemption
Fee |
|
|
|
None |
| |
|
|
None |
| |
|
|
None |
|
|
|
| |
|
Annual Fund
Operating Expenses |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
(Expenses that you pay
each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
Class A Shares |
|
Class C Shares |
|
Institutional Class Shares |
Management
Fees |
|
|
|
1.25% |
| |
|
|
1.25% |
| |
|
|
1.25% |
|
Distribution
and/or Service (12b‑1) Fees |
|
|
|
0.25% |
| |
|
|
1.00% |
| |
|
|
None |
|
Other
Expenses |
|
|
|
1.33% |
| |
|
|
1.22% |
| |
|
|
1.27% |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
|
|
|
2.83% |
| |
|
|
3.47% |
| |
|
|
2.52% |
|
Fee
Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement(2) |
|
|
|
(1.31)% |
| |
|
|
(1.20)% |
| |
|
|
(1.25)% |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense
Reimbursement |
|
|
|
1.52% |
| |
|
|
2.27% |
| |
|
|
1.27% |
|
(1) |
For Class A Shares, the CDSC is imposed only where
shares are purchased without a front‑end sales charge and subsequently
redeemed within eighteen months of purchase. For Class C Shares, the
CDSC is imposed only on shares redeemed within one year of
purchase. |
(2) |
Ashmore
Investment Advisors Limited has contractually agreed to waive its fees or
reimburse the Fund for other expenses to the extent that Total Annual Fund
Operating Expenses (other than Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, interest
expense, taxes, extraordinary expenses, custodial credits, transfer agency
credits and expense offset arrangements) for the Fund’s Class A
Shares exceed 1.52%, for the Fund’s Class C Shares exceed 2.27% and
for the Fund’s Institutional Class Shares exceed 1.27% of the Fund’s
average daily net assets attributable to the share class (the “Expense
Limitation Agreement”). The expense limitation arrangement may be
terminated before February 28, 2024 only
by the Board of Trustees. Under the Expense Limitation Agreement, the
Investment Manager may recoup any amounts waived or reimbursed for 36
months following the end of the month when the waiver or reimbursement
occurred, provided total expenses, including such recoupment, do not
exceed the applicable annual expense limit, and further that expenses may
be recouped only if and to the extent that the expense ratio at the time
of such recoupment is less than the annual expense limit in place at the
time such expenses were waived or
reimbursed. |
Examples
These
Examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with
the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Examples assume that you invest
$10,000 in the noted class of shares of the Fund for the time periods
indicated,
36
your
investment has a 5% return each year and the Fund’s operating expenses remain
the same. Class C Shares automatically convert to Class A Shares after
eight years. The expense example for Class C Shares for the ten‑year period
reflects the conversion to Class A Shares. The Examples are based, for the
first year, on Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or
Expense Reimbursement and, for all other periods, on Total Annual Fund Operating
Expenses. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, the Examples show
what your costs would be based on these assumptions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Example:
Assuming you redeem your shares at the end of each
period |
|
Example:
Assuming you do not redeem your
shares |
|
|
1 year |
|
3 years |
|
5 years |
|
10 years |
|
1 year |
|
3 years |
|
5 years |
|
10 years |
Class A
Shares |
|
|
$ |
672 |
| |
|
$ |
1,239 |
| |
|
$ |
1,831 |
| |
|
$ |
3,426 |
| |
|
$ |
672 |
| |
|
$ |
1,239 |
| |
|
$ |
1,831 |
| |
|
$ |
3,426 |
|
Class C
Shares |
|
|
$ |
330 |
| |
|
$ |
954 |
| |
|
$ |
1,700 |
| |
|
$ |
3,524 |
| |
|
$ |
230 |
| |
|
$ |
954 |
| |
|
$ |
1,700 |
| |
|
$ |
3,524 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 year |
|
3 years |
|
5 years |
|
10 years |
Institutional
Class Shares (whether or not shares are redeemed) |
|
|
|
$ |
129 |
| |
|
$ |
665 |
| |
|
$ |
1,228 |
| |
|
$ |
2,762 |
|
Portfolio
Turnover
The
Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes for you if your
Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected
in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Examples, adversely affect the
Fund’s investment performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s
portfolio turnover rate was 50% of the average value of its
portfolio.
Principal
Investment Strategies
The
Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets
in equity securities and equity-related investments of Small-Capitalization
Emerging Market Issuers (as defined below), which may be denominated in any
currency, including the local currency of the issuer. The Fund currently defines
a Small-Capitalization issuer as any issuer included in the MSCI Emerging Market
Small Cap Index at the time of purchase, as well as any issuer with a market
capitalization that is in the lowest 15% of the market capitalization range of
issuers included in the MSCI Emerging Markets Investible Market Index (IMI) at
the time of purchase (between $122 million and $3.6 billion as of January 1,
2023). An Emerging Market Issuer is an issuer
that is located in an Emerging Market Country, or an issuer deriving at least
50% of its revenues or profits from goods produced or sold, investments made, or
services performed in one or more Emerging Market Countries or that has at
least 50%
of its
assets in
one or
more Emerging
Market Countries.
Emerging Market
Country means
any country
included by the
International Monetary Fund in its list of Emerging and Developing Economies,
any country which is considered a low‑income, lower-middle-income, or
upper-middle-income economy by the World Bank, and all countries represented in
any widely-recognized index of emerging market securities (e.g., the relevant
indices in the family of J.P. Morgan Corporate Emerging Markets Bond Index, J.P.
Morgan Emerging Local Markets Index, J.P. Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index,
J.P. Morgan Government Bond Index—Emerging Markets and MSCI Emerging and
Frontier Markets
Index).
The
Fund may invest in equity securities and equity-related investments of all types
and denominated in any currency, including voting and non‑voting common stock,
common stock issued to special shareholder classes, preferred stock, depositary
receipts, including global and American depositary receipts, warrants,
securities convertible into equity
securities,
other
equity-related investments whose returns vary on the basis of the issuer’s
profitability (e.g., participation
notes), as well as securities of other investment companies, including
exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and other pooled vehicles. The Fund may invest
through investment funds, pooled accounts or other investment vehicles designed
to permit investments in a portfolio of equity securities listed in a particular
Emerging Market Country or region, particularly in the case of countries in
which such an investment vehicle is the exclusive or main vehicle for foreign
portfolio investment. The Fund’s investments may include securities of companies
that are in the process of being privatized by a government, securities of
companies that are traded in unregulated over‑the‑counter markets or other types
of unlisted securities markets, and unregistered securities issued in private
placements. The Fund may also invest in initial public offerings. Although the
Fund focuses on Small-Capitalization securities, it reserves the flexibility to
invest a portion of its assets in securities of medium- or large-capitalization
issuers. The Fund may utilize various derivative instruments and related
strategies to gain exposure to one or more issuers or other assets. The Fund may
utilize derivatives of all types and may invest in, without limitation, call and
put options (including options on futures contracts); futures and forward
contracts, including contracts related to currencies; and swap agreements
(including total return and interest rate swaps); other related instruments with
respect to individual stocks
37
and
other securities, indices and baskets of securities, interest rates and
currencies; participation notes; structured notes; exchange traded notes; and
credit-linked notes as part of its principal investment strategies. The Fund may
enter into foreign currency forward contracts as well as foreign currency
futures and options contracts with respect to any currency in which it has
existing investments or has contracted to make investments in an attempt to
hedge currency exchange risk. The Fund expects to primarily use derivatives for
hedging or efficient portfolio management purposes, but may also use them to
increase the Fund’s investment exposure beyond that which it could achieve by
investing directly in more conventional securities. The Fund may also invest
directly in foreign currencies for hedging or other investment
purposes.
In
managing the Fund’s portfolio, the Investment Manager uses principally a
bottom‑up approach to identify particular securities for investment within
Emerging Market Countries. The Investment Manager’s investment approach is
driven by fundamental value and involves a rigorous, systemic and value-oriented
security selection process. The portfolio manager analyzes the universe of
available Small-Capitalization Emerging Market equity investments in an attempt
to identify issuers that are undervalued relative to their long-term growth
prospects. Potential candidates are systematically screened for fundamental
value based on a number of factors, such as price to earnings ratio, price to
future growth ratio, price to book value ratio, price to cash flow ratio, free
cash flow, return on equity, debt to equity ratio, earnings growth and earnings
momentum. Attractive candidates undergo a more rigorous review to assess the
issuer’s long-term prospects, including with respect to management strength,
market outlook, competitiveness, regulatory changes, restructuring and expansion
plans, profitability, financial viability, interest coverage and hidden assets.
As part of this process, the Investment Manager conducts visits to various
companies in the small-capitalization segment of Emerging Market Countries and
utilizes a proprietary database and earnings forecasts to compare applicable
industries and issuers. The screening process is designed, in part, to avoid
investments deemed by the portfolio manager to have unacceptable risk factors.
The portfolio manager also reviews and takes into account overall Fund exposures
to particular Emerging Market Countries and sectors in an effort to construct a
portfolio that provides adequate diversification and risk controls. Taking into
account the results of this screening process, the portfolio manager selects
particular investments designed to produce a diversified equity portfolio of
Small-Capitalization Emerging Market
Issuers.
The
Investment Manager may in its sole discretion consider selling a particular
security held in the Fund’s portfolio when the factors that led to its
investment change adversely or when a more attractive candidate is
identified.
In
response to adverse market, economic, political or other conditions, the Fund
may deviate from its principal strategies by making temporary investments of
some or all of its assets in various instruments, including short-term,
high-quality fixed income securities denominated in any currency, including
obligations of Emerging Market Issuers and countries, cash, cash equivalents,
money market funds, and other similar funds. The Fund may not achieve its
investment objective when it does so. The Fund may also invest a portion of its
assets in such investments and instruments on a short term or temporary basis to
manage its cash positions or otherwise manage the Fund
efficiently.
The
Fund observes a policy to normally invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus
borrowings made for investment purposes) in equity securities and other
equity-related investments of Small-Capitalization Emerging Market Issuers. The
Fund’s investments in derivatives and other synthetic instruments that have
economic characteristics similar to these investments will be counted toward
satisfaction of the Fund’s 80% investment
policy.
The
Investment Manager may engage in active and frequent trading of the Fund’s
portfolio securities to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund may
pay transaction costs, such as the brokerage commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes for you if your
Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected
in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Examples, may adversely affect the
Fund’s investment performance.
Principal
Risks
It is possible to lose money on an investment in
the Fund. The Fund will be affected by the investment
decisions, techniques and risk analyses of the Fund’s Investment Manager and
there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. The
principal risks of investing in the Fund, which could adversely affect its net
asset value, yield and total return are (in alphabetical order after the first
six risks):
|
• |
|
Small and Mid‑Sized Companies Risk:
Investments in securities issued by small and mid‑sized companies
tend to be more vulnerable to adverse developments than larger companies,
and may present increased volatility and liquidity
risk; |
|
• |
|
Equity Securities Risk: Equity securities
may react more strongly to changes in an issuer’s financial condition or
prospects than other securities of the same
issuer; |
38
|
• |
|
Emerging Markets Risk: Compared to
foreign developed markets, investing in emerging markets may involve
heightened volatility, greater political, regulatory, legal and economic
uncertainties, less liquidity, dependence on particular commodities or
international aid, high levels of inflation, greater custody risk, and
certain special risks associated with smaller
companies; |
|
• |
|
Foreign Investment Risk: Investments in
foreign (non‑U.S.) issuers, directly or through use of depositary
receipts, may be negatively affected by adverse political, regulatory,
economic, market or other developments affecting issuers located in
foreign countries, currency exchange rates or regulations, or foreign
withholding or other taxes, and investing in foreign securities may result
in the Fund experiencing more rapid and extreme changes in value than a
fund that invests exclusively in securities of U.S.
issuers; |
|
• |
|
Focused Investment Risk: Focusing a
fund’s investments in a limited number of issuers, sectors or industries
increases risk and the volatility of the value of a fund’s shares. The
Fund may be particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or
other events affecting the issuers, sectors or industries to the extent it
focuses its investments; |
|
• |
|
Geographic Focus Risk: The Fund may be
particularly susceptible to economic, political or regulatory events
affecting particular countries or regions to the extent the Fund focuses
its investments in such countries or
regions; |
|
• |
|
Convertible Securities Risk: Securities
that are convertible into preferred or common stocks are subject to the
risks of both debt and equity securities and the risk of changing in value
at a different rate than the underlying stocks. Convertible securities are
subject to greater levels of credit and liquidity risk, may be speculative
and may decline in value due to changes in interest rates or an issuer’s
or counterparty’s deterioration or
default; |
|
• |
|
Counterparty and Third Party Risk:
Transactions involving a counterparty to a derivative contract,
repurchase agreement, reverse repurchase agreement, or other financial
instrument, or to a third party responsible for servicing the instrument,
are subject to the credit risk of the counterparty or third party, and to
the counterparty’s or third party’s ability to perform in accordance with
the terms of the
transaction; |
|
• |
|
Credit Risk: The Fund could lose money if
the issuer or counterparty is unable or unwilling to meet its financial
obligations, and the lack of ability, or perceived lack of ability, of the
issuer to make timely payments of interest and/or principal will
negatively affect the value of the security or
instrument; |
|
• |
|
Currency Management Strategies Risk:
Currency management strategies, including the use of forward
currency contracts and other derivatives, may substantially change the
Fund’s exposure to currencies and currency exchange rates and could result
in losses to the Fund if currencies do not perform as the Investment
Manager anticipates; |
|
• |
|
Currency Risk: Foreign (non‑U.S.)
currencies may decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and adversely
affect the value of the Fund’s investments in foreign currencies,
securities denominated in foreign currencies or derivatives that provide
exposure to foreign
currencies; |
|
• |
|
Derivatives Risk: Investing in derivative
instruments may be considered risky and involves correlation,
documentation, interest rate, leverage, liquidity, market, management,
interest rate and valuation risks and the risk of losing more than the
principal amount
invested; |
|
• |
|
Inflation/Deflation Risk: The value of
the Fund’s investments may decline as inflation reduces the value of
money; conversely, if deflation reduces prices throughout the economy
there may be an adverse effect on the creditworthiness of issuers in whose
securities the Fund invests and an increase in the likelihood of issuer
defaults; |
|
• |
|
Interest Rate Risk: Debt and other
securities and instruments may decline in value due to changes in interest
rates, the extended duration of principal payments at below-market
interest rates, and/or prepayment. The value of most fixed income
securities will generally decline in response to increases in interest
rates; |
|
• |
|
Investments in Pooled Vehicles Risk:
Investing in another investment company or pooled vehicle subjects
the Fund to that company’s risks, and, in general, to a pro rata portion
of that company’s fees and expenses in addition to fees and expenses
charged by the Fund; |
|
• |
|
IPO Risk: Securities offered in initial
public offerings (IPOs) are subject to many of the same risks of investing
in small companies and often to a heightened degree, their values may be
highly volatile, they have no trading history and information about the
issuer may have been available for only limited
periods; |
|
• |
|
Issuer Risk: The value of a security or
instrument may decline for reasons directly related to the issuer, such as
management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the
issuer’s goods or
services; |
39
|
• |
|
Large Shareholder Risk: Shareholders of
the Fund, such as institutional investors, may disrupt the efficient
management of the Fund’s operations by purchasing or redeeming Fund shares
in large amounts; |
|
• |
|
Leverage Risk: Use of leverage, including
through borrowings, derivatives and reverse repurchase agreements, will
increase volatility of the Fund’s investment portfolio and magnify the
Fund’s investment losses or
gains; |
|
• |
|
Liquidity Risk: Illiquid securities and
other instruments may be highly volatile, difficult to value, and
difficult to sell or close out at favorable prices or
times; |
|
• |
|
Management Risk: The Fund’s investment
return depends on the ability of the Investment Manager to manage the
Fund’s portfolio successfully; there is a risk that the Investment Manager
may be incorrect in its analysis of economic trends, currencies,
countries, industries, companies, and the relative attractiveness of asset
classes or other
matters; |
|
• |
|
Market
Risk: The value of securities and instruments
owned by the Fund may rise and fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably,
due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular
industries or geographic areas, including terrorism, war, natural
disasters and the spread of infectious disease including epidemics or
pandemics such as the COVID‑19
pandemic; |
|
• |
|
Over‑the‑Counter Risk: Securities and
derivatives traded in over‑the‑counter markets may trade less frequently
and in limited volumes and thus exhibit more volatility and liquidity
risk, and the prices paid by the Fund in over‑the‑counter transactions may
include an undisclosed dealer
markup; |
|
• |
|
Portfolio Turnover Risk: If the Fund
frequently trades its securities, this will increase transaction costs,
may result in taxable capital gains, and may reduce the Fund’s investment
performance; and |
|
• |
|
Valuation Risk: Certain securities and
instruments may be difficult to value, and to the extent the Fund sells a
security or instrument at a price lower than that used to value the
security, its net asset value will be adversely
affected. |
An
investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government
agency.
Performance
Information
The bar chart and performance table that follow
provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes
in the Fund’s Institutional Class Shares’ performance from year to year and
comparing the Fund’s average annual total returns with those of a broad-based
market index. The bar chart and the information immediately
below it show only the performance of the Fund’s Institutional
Class Shares. Although Class A and Class C Shares would have
similar annual returns (because all the Fund’s shares represent interests in the
same portfolio of securities), Class A and Class C performance would
be lower than Institutional Class performance because of the lower expenses
paid by Institutional Class Shares of the Fund. The bar
chart does not reflect any sales loads applicable to Class A or
Class C Shares. The performance shown in the bar chart
would be lower if it reflected sales charges applicable to Class A and
Class C Shares. Performance for Class A and Class C
Shares in the Average Annual Total Returns table reflects the impact of sales
charges. You may obtain the Fund’s updated performance
information by visiting the website at www.ashmoregroup.com or by calling
866‑876‑8294. As
with all mutual funds, the Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does
not predict how the Fund will perform in the
future.
Calendar
Year Total Return—Institutional Class
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Small‑Cap Equity Fund % Total Return
40
The
best calendar
quarter return during the period shown above was 41.15% in the second quarter of 2020; the
worst
was
-28.80% in the first quarter of
2020.
Average
Annual Total Return
(For the period ended December 31, 2022)
|
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1-Year |
|
5-Year |
|
10-Year |
Institutional
Class |
|
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| |
|
|
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| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-24.27% |
| |
|
|
1.79% |
| |
|
|
3.74% |
|
Return
after taxes on distributions |
|
|
|
-24.27% |
| |
|
|
1.77% |
| |
|
|
3.21% |
|
Return
after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares |
|
|
|
-14.37% |
| |
|
|
1.37% |
| |
|
|
2.75% |
|
MSCI
Emerging Markets Small Cap Index (reflects no deduction for fees,
expenses, or taxes) |
|
|
|
-18.02% |
| |
|
|
1.06% |
| |
|
|
3.21% |
|
Class A |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-28.43% |
| |
|
|
0.43% |
| |
|
|
2.93% |
(1) |
MSCI
Emerging Markets Small Cap Index (reflects no deduction for fees,
expenses, or taxes) |
|
|
|
-18.02% |
| |
|
|
1.06% |
| |
|
|
3.21% |
|
Class C |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-25.78% |
| |
|
|
0.81% |
| |
|
|
2.85% |
(1) |
MSCI
Emerging Markets Small Cap Index (reflects no deduction for fees,
expenses, or taxes) |
|
|
|
-18.02% |
| |
|
|
1.06% |
| |
|
|
3.21% |
|
(1) |
Class C Shares performance reflects
conversion to Class A Shares after eight
years. |
After‑tax returns are calculated using the
historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not
reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after‑tax returns depend on an investor’s
tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after‑tax returns shown are
not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax‑advantaged
arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement
accounts. After‑tax returns are shown for Institutional
Class Shares only and will vary for Class A and Class C
Shares.
Management
of the Fund
Investment Manager
Ashmore
Investment Advisors Limited (“the Investment Manager”)
Portfolio Managers
Dhiren
Shah and Patrick Cadell, co‑portfolio managers, are primarily responsible for
the day‑to‑day management of the Fund. Mr. Shah and Mr. Cadell have
participated in the management of the Fund since November 2017.
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
The
minimum initial investment for Class A and Class C Shares is $1,000
and the minimum subsequent investment is $50. The minimum initial investment for
Institutional Class Shares is $1,000,000 and the minimum subsequent
investment is $5,000. These minimums may be waived or modified by the Fund or
the Distributor, including for certain financial intermediaries. Investors
investing in the Fund through an intermediary should consult “Appendix
A—Intermediary-Specific Sales Waivers”, which includes information regarding
broker-defined sales charges and related discount policies that apply to
purchases through certain intermediaries. You may sell (redeem) shares on any
day the New York Stock Exchange is open through your broker-dealer or other
financial intermediary (if applicable), or if you hold an account directly with
the Fund by calling 866‑876‑8294 or by sending a letter of instruction to
Ashmore Funds c/o Northern Trust Company, PO Box 4766, Chicago, IL 60680-4766.
If your shares are held in the name of a financial intermediary, those shares
may only be sold through that financial intermediary.
41
Tax
Information
The
Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains
to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary
income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax‑advantaged
arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account.
Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If
you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund, the Distributor, the Investment Manager
or their affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and
related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by
influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to
recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your
financial intermediary’s website for more information.
42
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Frontier Equity Fund
Investment
Objective
The
Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.
Fees
and Expenses of the Fund
The
tables below describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold,
and sell Class A, Class C or Institutional Class Shares of the
Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples
below. You may
qualify for sales charge discounts on a purchase of Class A Shares if you
and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least
$100,000 in Class A Shares of
the Funds. More information about these and other discounts is
available in the “Classes of Shares” section beginning on page 139 of the
Fund’s prospectus or from your financial intermediary. Investors investing in
the Fund through an intermediary should consult “Appendix A—Intermediary
-Specific Sales Waivers”, which includes information regarding broker-defined
sales charges and related discount policies that apply to purchases through
certain intermediaries.
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Shareholder
Fees |
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| |
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| |
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| |
(fees paid directly from
your investment) |
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| |
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| |
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| |
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|
Class A Shares |
|
Class C Shares |
|
Institutional Class Shares |
Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering
price) |
|
|
|
5.25% |
|
|
|
|
None |
| |
|
|
None |
|
Maximum
Deferred Sales Charge (CDSC) (Load)(1) (as a percentage
of the lower of original purchase price or NAV) |
|
|
|
1.00% |
|
|
|
|
1.00% |
|
|
|
|
None |
|
Redemption
Fee |
|
|
|
None |
| |
|
|
None |
| |
|
|
None |
|
|
|
| |
|
Annual Fund
Operating Expenses |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
(Expenses that you pay
each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
|
|
|
Class A Shares |
|
Class C Shares |
|
Institutional Class Shares |
Management
Fees |
|
|
|
1.50% |
| |
|
|
1.50% |
| |
|
|
1.50% |
|
Distribution
and/or Service (12b‑1) Fees |
|
|
|
0.25% |
| |
|
|
1.00% |
| |
|
|
None |
|
Other
Expenses |
|
|
|
0.49% |
| |
|
|
0.50% |
| |
|
|
0.48% |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
|
|
|
2.24% |
| |
|
|
3.00% |
| |
|
|
1.98% |
|
Fee
Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement(2) |
|
|
|
(0.47)% |
| |
|
|
(0.48)% |
| |
|
|
(0.46)% |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense
Reimbursement |
|
|
|
1.77% |
| |
|
|
2.52% |
| |
|
|
1.52% |
|
(1) |
For Class A Shares, the CDSC is imposed only where
shares are purchased without a front‑end sales charge and subsequently
redeemed within eighteen months of purchase. For Class C Shares, the
CDSC is imposed only on shares redeemed within one year of
purchase. |
(2) |
Ashmore
Investment Advisors Limited has contractually agreed to waive its fees or
reimburse the Fund for other expenses to the extent that Total Annual Fund
Operating Expenses (other than Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, interest
expense, taxes, extraordinary expenses, custodial credits, transfer agency
credits and expense offset arrangements) for the Fund’s Class A
Shares exceed 1.77%, for the Fund’s Class C Shares exceed 2.52% and
for the Fund’s Institutional Class Shares exceed 1.52% of the Fund’s
average daily net assets attributable to the share class (the “Expense
Limitation Agreement”). The expense limitation arrangement may be
terminated before February 28, 2024 only
by the Board of Trustees. Under the Expense Limitation Agreement, the
Investment Manager may recoup any amounts waived or reimbursed for 36
months following the end of the month when the waiver or reimbursement
occurred, provided total expenses, including such recoupment, do not
exceed the applicable annual expense limit, and further that expenses may
be recouped only if and to the extent that the expense ratio at the time
of such recoupment is less than the annual expense limit in place at the
time when such expenses were waived or
reimbursed. |
Examples
These
Examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with
the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Examples assume that you invest
$10,000 in the noted class of shares of the Fund for the time periods
indicated,
43
your
investment has a 5% return each year and the Fund’s operating expenses remain
the same. Class C Shares automatically convert to Class A Shares after
eight years. The expense example for Class C Shares for the ten‑year period
reflects the conversion to Class A Shares. The Examples are based, for the
first year, on Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or
Expense Reimbursement and, for all other periods, on Total Annual Fund Operating
Expenses. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, the Examples show
what your costs would be based on these assumptions.
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|
|
| |
|
|
Example:
Assuming you redeem your shares at the end of each
period |
|
Example:
Assuming you do not redeem your
shares |
|
|
1 year |
|
3 years |
|
5 years |
|
10 years |
|
1 year |
|
3 years |
|
5 years |
|
10 years |
Class A
Shares |
|
|
$ |
695 |
| |
|
$ |
1,146 |
| |
|
$ |
1,621 |
| |
|
$ |
2,930 |
| |
|
$ |
695 |
| |
|
$ |
1,146 |
| |
|
$ |
1,621 |
| |
|
$ |
2,930 |
|
Class C
Shares |
|
|
$ |
355 |
| |
|
$ |
882 |
| |
|
$ |
1,535 |
| |
|
$ |
3,106 |
| |
|
$ |
255 |
| |
|
$ |
882 |
| |
|
$ |
1,535 |
| |
|
$ |
3,106 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 year |
|
3 years |
|
5 years |
|
10 years |
Institutional
Class Shares (whether or not shares are redeemed) |
|
|
|
$ |
155 |
| |
|
$ |
577 |
| |
|
$ |
1,025 |
| |
|
$ |
2,269 |
|
Portfolio
Turnover
The
Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes for you if your
Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected
in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Examples, adversely affect the
Fund’s investment performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s
portfolio turnover rate was 95% of the average value of its
portfolio.
Principal
Investment Strategies
The Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing
principally in equity securities and equity-related investments of Frontier
Market Issuers, which may be denominated in any currency, including the local
currency of the issuer. A Frontier Market Issuer is an issuer that is located in
a Frontier Market Country, or an issuer deriving at least 50% of its revenues or
profits from goods produced or sold, investments made, or services performed in
one or more Frontier Market Countries or that has at least 50% of its assets in
one or more Frontier Market Countries.
Frontier Market countries are countries that either
currently or in the future are represented in widely-recognized indices of
frontier market securities or the Investment Manager considers the market to
have frontier market characteristics in respect to economic, political, or
market structure.
The
Fund may invest in equity securities and equity-related investments of all types
and denominated in any currency, including voting and non‑voting common stock,
common stock issued to special shareholder classes, preferred stock, depositary
receipts, including global and American depositary receipts, warrants,
securities convertible into equity securities, other equity-related investments
whose returns vary on the basis of the issuer’s profitability (e.g., participation notes), as well as
securities of other investment companies, including exchange-traded funds
(“ETFs”) and other pooled vehicles. The Fund may invest through investment
funds, pooled accounts or other investment vehicles designed to permit
investments in a portfolio of equity securities listed in one or more Frontier
Market Countries or regions, particularly in the case of countries that may have
restrictions on foreign investment or countries where such investments may
represent an efficient method of achieving investment exposure. The Fund’s
investments may include securities of companies that are in the process of being
privatized by a government, securities of companies that are traded in
unregulated over‑the‑counter markets or other types of unlisted securities
markets, and unregistered securities issued in private placements. The Fund may
invest in companies of any market capitalization and may also invest in initial
public offerings. The Fund’s benchmark index, the MSCI Frontier + Select
Emerging Markets Countries Capped Index, is currently concentrated in the
commercial banking industry. Although the Fund is not an index fund and does not
seek to replicate the performance of its benchmark index, it may concentrate its
investments in the commercial banking industry. As of the
date of this prospectus, the Fund’s investments are concentrated in the
commercial banking industry.
The
Fund may utilize various derivative instruments and related strategies to gain
exposure to one or more issuers or other assets. The Fund may utilize
derivatives of all types and may invest in, without limitation, call and put
options (including options on futures contracts); futures and forward contracts,
including contracts related to currencies; and swap agreements (including total
return and interest rate swaps); other related instruments with respect to
individual stocks and other securities, indices and baskets of securities,
interest rates and currencies; participation notes; structured notes;
exchange
44
traded
notes; and credit-linked notes as part of its principal investment strategies.
The Fund may enter into foreign currency forward contracts as well as foreign
currency futures and options contracts with respect to any currency in which it
has existing investments or has contracted to make investments in an attempt to
hedge currency exchange risk. The Fund expects to primarily use derivatives for
hedging or efficient portfolio management purposes, but may also use them to
increase the Fund’s investment exposure beyond that which it could achieve by
investing directly in more conventional securities. The Fund may also invest
directly in foreign currencies for hedging or other investment
purposes.
The
Fund is managed by a committee of portfolio managers, who are officers of the
Investment Manager (for purposes of this section, the “Portfolio Managers”). In
managing the Fund’s portfolio, the Portfolio Managers use principally a
bottom‑up approach to identify particular securities for investment within
Frontier Market Countries. The Portfolio Managers’ investment approach is driven
by fundamental value and involves a rigorous, systemic and value-oriented
security selection process. The Portfolio Managers analyze the universe of
available Frontier Market equity investments in an attempt to identify issuers
that are undervalued relative to their long-term growth prospects. Potential
candidates are systematically screened for fundamental value based on a number
of factors, such as price to earnings ratio, price to future growth ratio, price
to book value ratio, price to cash flow ratio, free cash flow, return on equity,
debt to equity ratio, earnings growth and earnings momentum. Attractive
candidates undergo a more rigorous review to assess the issuer’s long-term
prospects, including with respect to management strength, market outlook,
competitiveness, regulatory changes, restructuring and expansion plans,
profitability, financial viability, interest coverage and hidden assets. As part
of this process, the Portfolio Managers conduct visits to various companies in
the Frontier Market Countries and utilize a proprietary database and earnings
forecasts to compare applicable industries and issuers. The screening process is
designed, in part, to avoid investments deemed by the Portfolio Managers to have
unacceptable risk factors. The Portfolio Managers also review and take into
account overall Fund exposures to particular Frontier Market Countries and
sectors in an effort to construct a portfolio that provides a measure of
diversification among Frontier Market Countries and sectors. Taking into account
the results of this screening process, the Portfolio Managers select particular
investments designed to produce a diversified equity portfolio of Frontier
Market Issuers.
The
Fund observes a policy to normally invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus
borrowings made for investment purposes) in equity securities and other
equity-related investments of Frontier Market Issuers. The Fund’s investments in
derivatives and other synthetic instruments that have economic characteristics
similar to these investments will be counted toward satisfaction of the Fund’s
80% investment policy. For example, futures contracts may be used to obtain
investment exposure equal to a portion or all of the Fund’s cash
positions.
The
Portfolio Managers may in their sole discretion consider selling a particular
security held in the Fund’s portfolio when the factors that led to its
investment change adversely or when a more attractive candidate is
identified.
Principal
Risks
It is possible to lose money on an investment in
the Fund. The Fund will be affected by the investment
decisions, techniques and risk analyses of the Fund’s Investment Manager and
there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. The
principal risks of investing in the Fund, which could adversely affect its net
asset value, yield and total return are (in alphabetical order after the first
six risks):
|
• |
|
Equity Securities Risk: Equity securities
may react more strongly to changes in an issuer’s financial condition or
prospects than other securities of the same
issuer; |
|
• |
|
Financial Services Risk: Investments in
issuers in the financial services sector are subject to various risks
affecting financial services companies and the financial services sector
generally. The values of investments in the financial services sector are
particularly sensitive to changes in economic conditions, such as
recessions and fluctuations in interest rates. Financial services
companies may be exposed to leverage, which could magnify investment
losses under adverse market conditions. Investments in the financial
services sector are also subject to the risk that unexpected market,
economic, political, regulatory or other events might lead to a decline in
the value of most or all companies in the financial services sector. In
addition, the financial services sector of emerging markets can be
considered riskier than the U.S. financial services
sector; |
|
• |
|
Frontier Markets Risk: Frontier market
countries are emerging market countries, but generally have smaller
economies or less mature capital markets than more developed emerging
markets, and, as a result, the risks of investing in emerging market
countries are magnified in frontier countries. The markets of frontier
countries typically have low trading volumes and the potential for extreme
price volatility and illiquidity. This volatility
may |
45
|
be
further heightened by the actions of a few major investors. For example, a
substantial increase or decrease in cash flows of mutual funds investing
in these markets could significantly affect local stock prices and,
therefore, the net asset value of Fund shares. These factors make
investing in frontier countries significantly riskier than in other
countries, including other emerging market countries, and any one of them
could cause the net asset value of the Fund’s shares to
decline; |
|
• |
|
Foreign Investment Risk: Investments in
foreign (non‑U.S.) issuers, directly or through use of depositary
receipts, may be negatively affected by adverse political, regulatory,
economic, market or other developments affecting issuers located in
foreign countries, currency exchange rates or regulations, or foreign
withholding or other taxes, and investing in foreign securities may result
in the Fund experiencing more rapid and extreme changes in value than a
fund that invests exclusively in securities of U.S.
issuers; |
|
• |
|
Focused Investment Risk: Focusing a
fund’s investments in a limited number of issuers, sectors or industries
increases risk and the volatility of the value of a fund’s shares. The
Fund may be particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or
other events affecting the issuers, sectors or industries to the extent it
focuses its investments; |
|
• |
|
Banking Industry Risk: Investments in
banking industry stocks, as compared to other industries in general, may
be considered to be more volatile or riskier due to a number of factors
including more extensive government regulation that may reduce profit
potential for banks compared to other entities. Financial services
institutions are often subject to extensive governmental regulation and,
recently, government intervention and the potential for additional
regulation, which may adversely affect the scope of their activities, the
prices they can charge and the amount of capital they must maintain. The
oversight of, and regulations applicable to, companies in the banking
industry in frontier markets may be ineffective and underdeveloped
relative to more developed markets. Recent events in the financial sector
have resulted, and may continue to result, in an unusually high degree of
volatility in the financial markets, both domestic and foreign, and caused
certain financial services companies to incur large losses. The impact of
recent or future regulation in various countries on any individual bank or
on the sector as a whole cannot be predicted. In addition, the banking
industry of frontier markets can be considered riskier than
the |
U.S.
banking industry;
|
• |
|
Geographic Focus Risk: The Fund may be
particularly susceptible to economic, political or regulatory events
affecting particular countries or regions to the extent the Fund focuses
its investments in such countries or
regions; |
|
• |
|
Convertible Securities Risk: Securities
that are convertible into preferred or common stocks are subject to the
risks of both debt and equity securities and the risk of changing in value
at a different rate than the underlying stocks. Convertible securities are
subject to greater levels of credit and liquidity risk, may be speculative
and may decline in value due to changes in interest rates or an issuer’s
or counterparty’s deterioration or
default; |
|
• |
|
Counterparty and Third Party Risk:
Transactions involving a counterparty to a derivative contract,
repurchase agreement, reverse repurchase agreement, or other financial
instrument, or to a third party responsible for servicing the instrument,
are subject to the credit risk of the counterparty or third party, and to
the counterparty’s or third party’s ability to perform in accordance with
the terms of the
transaction; |
|
• |
|
Credit Risk: The Fund could lose money if
the issuer or counterparty is unable or unwilling to meet its financial
obligations, and the lack of ability, or perceived lack of ability, of the
issuer to make timely payments of interest and/or principal will
negatively affect the value of the security or
instrument; |
|
• |
|
Currency Management Strategies Risk:
Currency management strategies, including the use of forward
currency contracts and other derivatives, may substantially change the
Fund’s exposure to currencies and currency exchange rates and could result
in losses to the Fund if currencies do not perform as the Investment
Manager anticipates; |
|
• |
|
Currency Risk: Foreign (non‑U.S.)
currencies may decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and adversely
affect the value of the Fund’s investments in foreign currencies,
securities denominated in foreign currencies or derivatives that provide
exposure to foreign
currencies; |
|
• |
|
Derivatives Risk: Investing in derivative
instruments may be considered risky and involves correlation,
documentation, interest rate, leverage, liquidity, market, management,
interest rate and valuation risks and the risk of losing more than the
principal amount
invested; |
|
• |
|
Inflation/Deflation Risk: The value of
the Fund’s investments may decline as inflation reduces the value of
money; conversely, if deflation reduces prices throughout the economy
there may be an adverse effect on the creditworthiness of issuers in whose
securities the Fund invests and an increase in the likelihood of issuer
defaults; |
46
|
• |
|
Interest Rate Risk: Debt and other
securities and instruments may decline in value due to changes in interest
rates, the extended duration of principal payments at below-market
interest rates, and/or prepayment. The value of most fixed income
securities will generally decline in response to increases in interest
rates; |
|
• |
|
Investments in Pooled Vehicles Risk:
Investing in another investment company or pooled vehicle subjects
the Fund to that company’s risks, and, in general, to a pro rata portion
of that company’s fees and expenses in addition to fees and expenses
charged by the Fund; |
|
• |
|
IPO Risk: Securities offered in initial
public offerings (IPOs) are subject to many of the same risks of investing
in small companies and often to a heightened degree, their values may be
highly volatile, they have no trading history and information about the
issuer may have been available for only limited
periods; |
|
• |
|
Issuer Risk: The value of a security or
instrument may decline for reasons directly related to the issuer, such as
management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the
issuer’s goods or
services; |
|
• |
|
Large Shareholder Risk: Shareholders of
the Fund, such as institutional investors, may disrupt the efficient
management of the Fund’s operations by purchasing or redeeming Fund shares
in large amounts; |
|
• |
|
Leverage Risk: Use of leverage, including
through borrowings, derivatives and reverse repurchase agreements, will
increase volatility of the Fund’s investment portfolio and magnify the
Fund’s investment losses or
gains; |
|
• |
|
Liquidity Risk: Illiquid securities and
other instruments may be highly volatile, difficult to value, and
difficult to sell or close out at favorable prices or
times; |
|
• |
|
Management Risk: The Fund’s investment
return depends on the ability of the Investment Manager to manage the
Fund’s portfolio successfully; there is a risk that the Investment Manager
may be incorrect in its analysis of economic trends, currencies,
countries, industries, companies, and the relative attractiveness of asset
classes or other
matters; |
|
• |
|
Market
Risk: The value of securities and instruments
owned by the Fund may rise and fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably,
due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular
industries or geographic areas, including terrorism, war, natural
disasters and the spread of infectious disease including epidemics or
pandemics such as the COVID‑19
pandemic; |
|
• |
|
Over‑the‑Counter Risk: Securities and
derivatives traded in over‑the‑counter markets may trade less frequently
and in limited volumes and thus exhibit more volatility and liquidity
risk, and the prices paid by the Fund in over‑the‑counter transactions may
include an undisclosed dealer
markup; |
|
• |
|
Portfolio Turnover Risk: If the Fund
frequently trades its securities, this will increase transaction costs,
may result in taxable capital gains, and may reduce the Fund’s investment
performance; |
|
• |
|
Small and Mid‑Sized Companies Risk:
Investments in securities issued by small and mid‑sized companies
tend to be more vulnerable to adverse developments than larger companies,
and may present increased volatility and liquidity risk;
and |
|
• |
|
Valuation Risk: Certain securities and
instruments may be difficult to value, and to the extent the Fund sells a
security or instrument at a price lower than that used to value the
security, its net asset value will be adversely
affected. |
An
investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government
agency.
Performance
Information
The bar chart and performance table that follow
provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes
in the Fund’s Institutional Class Shares’ performance from year to year and
comparing the Fund’s average annual total returns with those of a broad-based
market index. The bar chart and the information immediately
below it show only the performance of the Fund’s Institutional
Class Shares. Although Class A and Class C Shares would have
similar annual returns (because all the Fund’s shares represent interests in the
same portfolio of securities), Class A and Class C performance would
be lower than Institutional Class performance because of the lower expenses
paid by Institutional Class Shares of the Fund. The bar
chart does not reflect any sales loads applicable to Class A or
Class C Shares. The performance shown in the bar chart
would be lower if it reflected sales charges applicable to Class A and
Class C Shares. Performance for Class A and Class C
Shares in the Average Annual Total Returns table reflects the impact of sales
charges.
47
You
may obtain the Fund’s updated performance information by visiting the website at
www.ashmoregroup.com or by calling
866‑876‑8294. As
with all mutual funds, the Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does
not predict how the Fund will perform in the
future.
Calendar
Year Total Return—Institutional
Class
Ashmore
Emerging Markets Frontier Equity Fund % Total
Return
The
best calendar
quarter return during the period shown above was 14.50% in the fourth quarter of 2020; the
worst was
‑28.43% in the first quarter of
2020.
Average
Annual Total Return
(For the period ended December 31, 2022)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
1-Year |
|
5-Year |
|
Since Inception Date of 11/01/13 |
Institutional
Class |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-15.33% |
| |
|
|
-1.17% |
| |
|
|
2.68% |
|
Return
after taxes on distributions |
|
|
|
-15.40% |
| |
|
|
-1.47% |
| |
|
|
1.74% |
|
Return
after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares |
|
|
|
-8.88% |
| |
|
|
-0.89% |
| |
|
|
1.84% |
|
MSCI
Frontier + Select Emerging Markets Countries Capped Index (reflects no
deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) |
|
|
|
-15.31% |
| |
|
|
-0.79% |
| |
|
|
2.34% |
|
MSCI
Frontier Markets Index(1) (reflects no
deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) |
|
|
|
-26.34% |
| |
|
|
-2.47% |
| |
|
|
1.39% |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
1-Year |
|
5-Year |
|
Since Inception Date of 05/07/14 |
Class A |
|
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-19.92% |
| |
|
|
-2.53% |
| |
|
|
0.59% |
(2) |
MSCI
Frontier + Select Emerging Markets Countries Capped Index (reflects no
deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) |
|
|
|
-15.31% |
| |
|
|
-0.79% |
| |
|
|
0.38% |
|
MSCI
Frontier Markets Index(1) (reflects no
deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) |
|
|
|
-26.34% |
| |
|
|
-2.47% |
| |
|
|
-0.61% |
|
Class C |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Return
before taxes |
|
|
|
-16.99% |
| |
|
|
-2.24% |
| |
|
|
0.46% |
(2) |
MSCI
Frontier + Select Emerging Markets Countries Capped Index (reflects no
deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) |
|
|
|
-15.31% |
| |
|
|
-0.79% |
| |
|
|
0.38% |
|
MSCI
Frontier Markets Index(1) (reflects no
deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) |
|
|
|
-26.34% |
| |
|
|
-2.47% |
| |
|
|
-0.61% |
|
(1) |
Effective
December 31, 2019, the Fund started using the MSCI Frontier + Select
Emerging Markets Countries Capped Index as the Fund’s primary benchmark
because the new index more closely aligns with the Fund’s principal
investment strategies, with performance of the index beginning on
December 31, 2019. The MSCI Frontier + Select Emerging Markets
Countries Capped Index is a customized benchmark produced by MSCI that is
designed to measure equity market performance of constituent companies in
each of the MSCI Frontiers Market Index (50%) and the Emerging Markets
Crossover Markets portion of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (50%).
Emerging Markets Crossover Markets |
48
|
are countries in the
MSCI Emerging Markets Index that the Investment Manager currently
considers to have frontier market characteristics in respect to economic,
political or market structure. As of December 31, 2022, Emerging Markets
Crossover Markets are the Philippines, Peru, Colombia, United Arab
Emirates, Qatar, Egypt and Kuwait. |