GENERALI SMART FUNDS Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements As at 31.12.2020
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GENERALI SMART FUNDS Annual report and audited financial statements as at 31.12.2020 RCS Luxembourg N B208009 GENERALI SMART FUNDS Contents 3 Management and Administration 4 Report of the Board of Directors 9 Report of the Investment Managers 13 Independent Auditor’s Report 15 Statement of Net Assets as at 31.12.2020 19 Statement of Operations and Changes in Net Assets for the year ended 31.12.2020 23 Key Figures 25 Changes in number of shares Portfolios 27 GENERAtion Next Protect 28 GENERAtion Plus Euro Equity 29 GENERAtion Plus Protect I 30 GENERAtion Plus Protect II 31 Fidelity World Fund 33 JP Morgan Global Macro Opportunities 34 Amundi Managed Growth 35 JP Morgan Global Income Conservative 36 Serenity 39 Best Managers Conservative 40 Best Selection 41 PIR Valore Italia 43 PIR Evoluzione Italia 45 Prisma CONSERVADOR 46 Prisma MODERADO 47 Prisma DECIDIDO 48 Responsible Protect 90 49 JP Morgan Global Equity Fund 51 Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31.12.2020 60 Additional Information (unaudited) Subscriptions can only be received on the basis of the latest prospectus and relevant Key Investor Information Document (“KIID”) accompanied by the latest annual report as well as by the latest semi-annual report if published after the latest annual report. 2 GENERALI SMART FUNDS Management and Administration Investment Managers Registered Office DWS International GmbH 60, avenue J.F. Kennedy Mainzer Landstraße 11-17 L - 1855 Luxembourg 60329 Frankfurt am Main Germany Depositary and Paying Agent FIL Pensions Management Oakhill House, 130 Tonbridge Road BNP Paribas Securities Services, Luxembourg Branch Hildenborough, Kent TN11 9DZ 60, avenue J.F. Kennedy United Kingdom L - 1855 Luxembourg JPMorgan Asset Management (UK) Limited Central Administration, Registrar 60 Victoria Embankment London, EC4Y 0JP and Transfer Agent, and United Kingdom Domiciliation Agent Amundi Asset Management (until 17.01.2021) BNP Paribas Securities Services, Luxembourg Branch 90 boulevard Pasteur 60, avenue J.F. Kennedy F - 75015 Paris L - 1855 Luxembourg France Generali Investments Partners S.p.A. Legal Advisor Società di Gestione del Risparmio Via Machiavelli, 4 Arendt & Medernach S.A. 34132 Trieste 41 A, avenue J.F. Kennedy Italy L - 2082 Luxembourg 3 Banken-Generali Investment GmBH (since 22.05.2020) Untere Donaulände 36 Réviseur d’entreprises agréé 4020 Linz Austria Ernst & Young S.A. 35 E, avenue J.F. Kennedy L - 1855 Luxembourg Sub-Investment Managers CPR Asset Management Board of Directors (until 17.01.2020) 90, Boulevard Pasteur Chairman F - 75015 Paris France Mr Moritz Gribat (from 04.03.2021) Head of Generali Individual Savings Solutions FIL Investments International Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A Oakhill House, 130 Tonbridge Road Hildenborough, Kent TN11 9DZ Mr Bruno Guiot (until 04.03.2021) United Kingdom Head of Generali Individual Savings Solutions Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A J.P. Morgan Asset Management (Japan) Limited (since 09.09.2020) Directors Tokyo Building, 7-3 Marunouchi 2-chrome Chiyoda-ku Mr Mike Althaus Tokyo 100-6432 Legal Representative Japan Generali Investments Partners S.p.A. Società di Gestione del Risparmio - German Branch J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc (since 09.09.2020) Mr Pierre Bouchoms 383 Madison Avenue General Manager New York, NY 10 179 Generali Investments Luxembourg S.A. United States of America Management Company Generali Investments Luxembourg S.A. 4, rue Jean Monnet L - 2180 Luxembourg 3 GENERALI SMART FUNDS Report of the Board of Directors Annual report 2020 Macroeconomic overview/outlook The Covid-19 pandemic has triggered shutdowns that affected the global economy, hit trade and industrial production and particularly certain services sectors. Excluding China, the world’s major economies went into recession in Q2 2020, and despite the partial recovery in the second half of the year, they are expected to post negative GDP growth rates in 2020. US and euro area’s GDP are forecast to drop by 3.5% and 7.3% respectively. Governments were quick in their response to the crisis, providing an unprecedented policy stimulus in order to avoid even worse consequences for their economies. Central banks have also played a big role by deploying a wide range of tools to support activity and financial systems: the Federal Reserve (Fed) lowered its key rate near zero and announced unlimited quantitative easing (QE) programs, while the European Central Bank (ECB) launched in several steps a EUR 1,850 billion Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program (PEPP), conducted a series of longer-term refinancing operations (Pandemic Emergency Longer-Term Refinancing Operations, PELTROs), eased the Targeted Longer-Term Refinancing Operations (TLTRO-III) conditions and embarked also on collateral easing. At the end of the year, despite the fact that a second wave of Covid-19 materialized, economic expectations improved. Most importantly, there was encouraging news about vaccines fostering hopes about a pronounced economic rebound in 2021. Moreover, the US election results raised the chances for more fiscal stimuli to come. The European Union has finally sealed a deal on its seven-year EU budget and on the Recovery Fund thereby paving the way for the disbursement of the grants and loans that are of particular importance for the Southern European economies. Finally, the United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed on a post-Brexit trade deal after intensive negotiations so that concerns about a stronger detrimental effect of a no-deal scenario are off the table. Financial markets The spread of Covid-19 with its lockdowns, the monetary and fiscal policy interventions, the political developments and concerns about the economic recession have severely impacted the global bond markets. In Q1 2020, US 10-year yield and the 10-year Bond yield decreased significantly. However, in the last months of 2020 US yields saw a partial rebound given different technical demand/offer conditions, growing deficit and higher inflation expectations in 2021. Despite a partial increase in Q4 2020, the 10-year Treasury fell by 100 bps to 0.91%. In the euro area, the 10-year Bond yield further decreased by 39 bps, closing the year at -0.58%. In the other large economies of the area, which recorded a more significant yield decline, spreads tightened. After an initial widening in Q1 2020, the Italian 10-year spread tightened from a peak of over 280 bps to 110 bps at the end of December. 2020 has been characterized by high volatility in the equity markets in response to uncertainty about the development of the pandemic and its impact on the real economy. Worldwide, equity markets plummeted sharply during the first part of 2020 over Covid-19 fears, which essentially wiped out the 2019 profit. A rebound has followed, mainly on the back of the exceptional monetary and fiscal stimuli put in place. The rebound has been particularly strong for parts of the Tech sector which benefitted from the lockdowns. Overall, in 2020 the MSCI World advanced by 14.2 %, with the US (S&P 500 + 16.3%) outperforming while despite the strong recovery in the second half of the year the European market recorded a loss (MSCI EMU - 2.7%). Covid-19 considerations for the Fund As soon as Covid-19 became a concern, a crisis committee has been set up with the aim to monitor the evolution and the consequence on Generali Investments Luxembourg S.A. (the “Management Company”) activities and employees. Remote working for all employees has been introduced, to guarantee the continuity of operating processes. No specific impact on Fund’s activities has been reported. No liquidity issues have been identified. No measures foreseen within the Fund's prospectus have been activated resulting from the Covid outbreak. On the level of service providers, their operational teams have been ensuring the business continuity despite the pandemic. The Management Company continuously monitored their performance in organising regular interactions. No significant operational errors or incidents occurred during the year. Outlook 2021 Macroeconomy Strong economic growth is expected to pick up in second half of 2021 as the vaccine rollout will eventually enable countries to lift many of the restrictions in place. Rebound in the hardest hit sectors will help economies getting back to pre-pandemic levels of activity. An uneven recovery is forecasted. The manufacturing and construction sectors will likely lead, while services and more generally the US job market are lagging behind. Vaccine production capacity, willingness of the population to be vaccinated and logistical issues are the limiting factors in this scenario. 4 GENERALI SMART FUNDS More specifically, in the US, after a relatively weak Q1 2021, consumer spending is expected to rebound; we expect GDP to rise by 5.5% in 2021, also thanks to the upcoming new package of fiscal stimulus. In the euro area, some Covid-19 restrictions are expected to be lifted leading to higher levels of confidence and investments, and to a 5.3% economic rebound in 2021. The Recovery Fund will help European Member States to address the economic challenges. The monetary policy of the Fed and the European Central Bank will stay accommodative for a long time as a high output gap and unemployment will keep inflation low, in particular in the euro area. Markets Internationally, government bond markets will remain strongly influenced by fiscal and monetary policies in 2021. Central banks will continue with their accommodative stance and are likely to err on the side of caution to avoid derailing a rebound. As central banks will keep key rates on current low levels likely well beyond 2021 the short end of the curve will stay anchored for the time being. Moreover, fiscal policy will continue to be very expansionary in 2021. The upcoming bond supply with long duration is likely to trigger a steepening at the long end of the curve.