Fund description
ERSTE STOCK EUROPE EMERGING invests primarily in companies domiciled in or with business interests in Central, Southern and Eastern European countries (incl. CIS, successor states of the Soviet Union and Turkey). The fund's investment process is based on fundamental company analysis. The selection of securities is based on high-quality and high-growth companies. Hedging of foreign currency risks is generally not planned, but possible.
The fund pursues an active investment policy. The assets are selected on a discretionary basis. The fund is oriented towards a benchmark index (for licensing reasons, the specific name of the index used is given in the prospectus, item 12 or KID "Objectives and investment policy"). The composition and performance of the fund may deviate substantially to completely, positively or negatively from that of the benchmark index over the short and long term. The discretion of the management company is not limited.
Suspension of price calculation as of 24.02.2022
Due to the current political situation and the resulting uncertainties regarding the fungibility of the Moscow Stock Exchange, the price calculation and the unit certificate business have been suspended for ERSTE STOCK EUROPE EMERGING as of February 24th, 2022. The resumption of the unit certificate business will be announced separately.
For more information: Suspension of price calculation: ERSTE STOCK RUSSIA, ERSTE STOCK EUROPE EMERGING, Global Flexible Strategy Fund 2 (erste-am.at)
Current developments
With the beginning of the Ukraine crisis, there were significant sanctions against Russian companies, restrictions on the tradability of Russian securities, the exclusion of some Russian banks from the international payment system SWIFT, the closure of the Moscow Stock Exchange and a drastic devaluation of the Russian ruble.
On March 9th, 2022, international index provider MSCI Inc. classified the Russian stock index MSCI Russia from Emerging Market to Standalone. As a result, all Russian stocks were removed from international indices (for more information, click here).
However, the indices of other Eastern European countries have also suffered from the current geopolitical situation.
On the one hand, there are fears that the conflict will spread to these countries as well. On the other hand, these countries are importers of raw materials. As a result, the sometimes-extreme rise in commodity prices has led to a shock. This exacerbates the problem of high inflation rates that already existed before.
The following chart shows the development of the stock markets in Poland, Turkey and Hungary. It is easy to see here how the start of the war in Ukraine led to losses in these Eastern European stocks. In the meantime, some of the losses have been recovered.
Of the 58 shares in the portfolio, a total of 21 shares were from Russia. Among the top 10 positions were 7 stocks from Russia (see chart below - stocks with (RU)).
Ukrainian equities were not in the portfolio.
Outlook
As the Russian stock exchange remains closed until further notice, there is no information regarding an opening date and the tradability of the Russian securities is very limited, the unit certificate business of ERSTE STOCK EUROPE EMERGING remains suspended as pricing is currently not possible. The situation is monitored on a daily basis, but due to the current political situation it is not possible to predict when pricing and unit certificate business can be resumed. We will provide information on any changes in a timely manner.
The future development of the entire portfolio will continue to be largely determined by the current geopolitical situation. A further escalation could once again lead to price losses. A de-escalation could contribute to a further recovery of Eastern European equities.
Cost reduction
Against the backdrop of the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine, trading conditions on local markets are currently not as they would normally function.
Following the suspension of the issuance, the redemption of shares and the publication of a NAV, Erste Asset Management GmbH has decided to change the management fee as follows.
The reduction of the management fee is valid until further notice and retroactively as of March 1st, 2022.
Disclaimer
This document is an advertisement. Please refer to the prospectus of the UCITS or to the Information for Investors pursuant to Art 21 AIFMG of the alternative investment fund and the Key Information Document before making any final investment decisions. All data is sourced from Erste Asset Management GmbH, unless indicated otherwise. Our languages of communication are German and English.
The prospectus for UCITS (including any amendments) is published in accordance with the provisions of the InvFG 2011 in the currently amended version. Information for Investors pursuant to Art 21 AIFMG is prepared for the alternative investment funds (AIF) administered by Erste Asset Management GmbH pursuant to the provisions of the AIFMG in connection with the InvFG 2011.
The fund prospectus, Information for Investors pursuant to Art 21 AIFMG, and the Key Information Document can be viewed in their latest versions at the web site www.erste-am.com within the section mandatory publications or obtained in their latest versions free of charge from the domicile of the management company and the domicile of the custodian bank. The exact date of the most recent publication of the fund prospectus, the languages in which the Key Information Document is available, and any additional locations where the documents can be obtained can be viewed on the web site www.erste-am.com. A summary of investor rights is available in German and English on the website www.erste-am.com/investor-rights as well as at the domicile of the management company.
The management company can decide to revoke the arrangements it has made for the distribution of unit certificates abroad, taking into account the regulatory requirements.
Detailed information on the risks potentially associated with the investment can be found in the fund prospectus or Information for investors pursuant to Art 21 AIFMG of the respective fund. If the fund currency is a currency other than the investor's home currency, changes in the corresponding exchange rate may have a positive or negative impact on the value of his investment and the amount of the costs incurred in the fund - converted into his home currency.
Our analyses and conclusions are general in nature and do not take into account the individual needs of our investors in terms of earnings, taxation, and risk appetite. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of the future performance of a fund.
The issue and redemption of unit certificates and the execution of payments to unit holders has been transferred to the Fund's custodian bank/depositary, Erste Group Bank AG, Am Belvedere 1, 1100 Vienna, Austria. Redemption requests can be submitted by investors to their custodian bank, which will forward them to the Custodian Bank/Depositary of the Fund for execution via the usual banking channels. All payments to investors are also processed via the usual banking clearing channel with the investor's custodian bank. In Germany, the issue and return prices of shares are published in electronic form on the web site www.erste-am.com (and also at www.fundinfo.com). Any other information for Shareholders is published in the Bundesanzeiger, Cologne.