FGEF CELEBRATES ITS 2nd YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Foord Global Equity Fund (“FGEF”), a Singapore domiciled Unit Trust, managed by Foord Singapore, recently marked its second anniversary. It is timely to reflect on how Foord Singapore has evolved and continues to evolve in order to deliver on the investment objectives of FGEF which is to outperform the MSCI All Country World Index.

The investment team at Foord Singapore currently comprises a strong group of investment professionals with collective investment experience exceeding 50 years and includes CFA Charter Holders. This team is further complemented by a research support team of equity
analysts from Foord South Africa.

Foord Singapore team embraces the same philosophy as Foord South Africa which entrenches the following principles:

• to invest in solid companies with sustainable earnings and quality management,
• not follow the herd,
• be contrarian where appropriate; and
• volatility is not risk but represents an opportunity.

The investment team in Singapore frequently travels to different countries meeting with company management, visiting factories and “kicking the tyres”. Being based in a global financial hub like Singapore, they also enjoy access to a lot of management teams that come through the City State.

FGEF us an equity only relative return fund that is expected to outperform its benchmark over a period of 3-5 years. FGEF is distinctly different from the Foord International Fund which is an absolute return asset allocation fund with an objective of delivering a 10% per annum return over a period of time. The investment universe for FGEF global which therefore represents a wider universe of both developed markets and emerging markets. The portfolios are therefore structured to include a concentrated number of stocks but with careful consideration for risk management that would ensure diversification across various sectors and geographies. The investment selection focuses on companies that are large, mid and small caps which have sound management teams and the capacity to generate sustainable earnings which can deliver enhanced returns for our investors. The wide universe also enables the investment team to take advantage of volatility in different markets and make opportunistic buy or sell decisions that can generate higher returns for our investors.

Foord Singapore has now reduced the investment threshold for Class B units, which is currently available to retail investors, from US$250,000 to US$10,000 in order to make FGEF more attractive to this investor group.

FGEF is also now registered for distribution in South Africa and a rand priced South African feeder fund was launched in May 2014 by Foord Unit Trust Limited following the approval by the Financial Services Board in South Africa.