Schroder UK Multi-Factor Equity Component Fund (formerly Advanced Beta UK Equity Fund) Annual Report and Accounts 10 June 2021 Contents 1 Fund Information{ } 3 1 Review of Investment Activities{ } 4 1 Risk Profile{ } 5 Statement of the Manager’s Responsibilities 6 Report of the Trustee 7 Independent auditors’ report to the Unitholders of Schroder UK Multi-Factor Equity Component Fund (formerly Schroder Advanced Beta UK Equity Fund) 8 Comparative Table 10 1 Portfolio Statement{ } 11 Financial Statements 13 Notes to the Accounts 14 Distribution Table 20 Remuneration 21 1 General Information{ } 22 1 Collectively these comprise the Manager's report. Schroder UK Multi-Factor Equity Component Fund (formerly Schroder Advanced Beta UK Equity Fund) Annual Report and Accounts 2 10 June 2021 Fund Information Investment objective and policy The Schroder UK Multi-Factor Equity Component (formerly Schroder Advanced Beta UK Equity Fund) (the ‘Fund’) seeks to provide capital growth and income in excess of the FTSE All Share (Net Total Return) index (after fees have been deducted) over a three to five year period by investing in a portfolio of equity and equity related securities of UK companies. The Fund is actively managed and invests at least 80% of its assets in equity and equity-related securities of companies incorporated, headquartered or having their principle business activities in the UK. Companies will be simultaneously assessed on all targeted equity factors using a fully integrated systematic, bottom-up investment approach. The Fund will focus on: A range of equity factors (also commonly known as investment styles) that may include the following: Low volatility – involves evaluating indicators such as share price movement and historical performance to determine those securities that the Investment Manager believes will experience smaller price movements than the global equity markets on average. Momentum – involves evaluating trends in stocks, sectors or countries within the relevant equity market. Quality – involves evaluating indicators such as a company’s profitability, stability and financial strength. Value – involves evaluating indicators such as cash flows, dividends and earnings to identify securities that the Investment Manager believes have been undervalued by the market. Small cap – involves investing in small-sized companies being companies that, at the time of purchase, are considered to be in the bottom 30% by market capitalisation of the UK equity market and exhibit attractive characteristics based on the styles described above. The Fund may also invest directly or indirectly in other securities (including in other asset classes), countries, regions, industries or currencies, collective investment schemes (including Schroder funds), warrants and money market instruments, and hold cash. The Fund may also use derivatives with the aim of achieving investment gains, reducing risk or managing the Fund more efficiently. For more information please refer to section 6 of Appendix I of the Prospectus. The Investment Manager is limited to investing in accordance with the composition of the benchmark but has the discretion to vary the weightings in the benchmark’s securities. With effect from 31 March 2021 the Fund’s Investment objective and policy changed, previously it was: The Fund seeks to provide capital growth and income in line with the FTSE 350 (Gross Total Return) index (after fees have been deducted) over a three to five year period by investing in a portfolio of the equities and equity related securities of UK companies. The Fund is actively managed and invests at least 80% of its assets in equity and equity related securities of companies incorporated, headquartered or have their principle business activities in the UK. These companies will have value, quality or low volatility characteristics. Value investing involves evaluating indicators such as operational cash flow and share price to determine those securities that the Investment Manager believes have been undervalued by the market. Quality investing involves evaluating indicators such as profitability and borrowing. Low volatility investing involves evaluating indicators such as share price movement and historical performance to determine those securities that the Investment Manager believes will experience smaller price movements than the global equity markets on average. Advanced beta uses a systematic approach to investing that seeks to deliver targeted exposure to relevant individual or multiple factors (such as value, quality, momentum or low volatility) with low active risk. The Fund has not been designed to have a bias to any particular sector or industry. The Fund may also invest directly or indirectly in other securities (including in other asset classes), countries, regions, industries or currencies, collective investment schemes (including Schroder funds), warrants and money market instruments, and hold cash. The Fund may use derivative instruments for investment purposes as well as for efficient portfolio management (for more information please refer to section 6 of Appendix I of the Prospectus). The Investment Manager is limited to investing in accordance with the composition of the benchmark but has the discretion to vary the weightings in the benchmark’s securities. Fund characteristics The Fund’s performance should be assessed against its constraining benchmark being the FTSE All Share (Net Total Return) index. The Investment Manager is limited to investing in accordance with the composition of the benchmark but has the discretion to vary the weightings in the benchmark’s securities. The constraining benchmark has been selected because the Investment Manager is constrained by reference to the value, price or components of that benchmark as stated in the investment objective and policy. Significant events Effective from 1 March 2021 a transparent “all in one” fund management fee was introduced. This is a single percentage based fee to cover certain elements of the separate charges and fees, which were previously charged and are now replaced with a single charge named “Schroders Annual Charge”. Previously all expenses were directly charged to each Fund as incurred. This structure consisted of the Annual Management Charge, plus other fees and expenses, including the Trustee fee, Custody fee, Transfer Agent fee, Audit fee and certain costs and administrative expenses paid by the Manager in relation to the management and operation of the funds, as disclosed in the Prospectus. Effective from 31 March 2021, Schroder Advanced Beta UK Equity Fund changed its name to Schroder UK Multi-Factor Equity Component Fund, and changed its investment objective, policy and constraining benchmark from FTSE 350 (Gross Total Return) Index to FTSE All-Share (Net Total Return) Index. Schroder UK Multi-Factor Equity Component Fund (formerly Schroder Advanced Beta UK Equity Fund) Annual Report and Accounts 3 10 June 2021 Review of Investment Activities From 10 June 2020 to 10 June 2021, the price of I Accumulation units on a Fund Manager: dealing price basis rose 18.41%. In line with this, the benchmark generated Systematic Investment Team led by Ashley Lester, 1 a total return of 18.48% . PhD. The year was a tale of two halves. The Fund lagged the benchmark over each of the first 5 The Schroders Systematic Investments Team was established months before recovering much of this performance in the latter half to leave the Fund in in 2011 and manages £21 billion (as at 30 April 2021) across a line with the benchmark over the year. range of quantitative equity strategies. UK equities fell over the first 5 month amid renewed fears about a potential negative The investment team consists of 14 members based in outcome to Brexit talks and an increase in Covid-19 cases. During this initial period, Value London. and Governance exposures detracted from active returns. This was only partially offset by positive contributions from Profitability and Momentum. The market responded well to November vaccine news, which prompted Value and Governance to rally. Simultaneously, we saw a change in fortunes for Profitability, which gave back some of its gains from earlier in the year. Investors’ hopes for a global economic recovery continued to grow into the new year, amid the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines. Value continued to post positive contributions but tapered off near the end of the period. Governance provided support and Momentum also added to returns with small gains each month. In December, we changed our Low Volatility signal. The change shifted the focus of our Low Volatility factor from the total volatility of stock returns to the stock-specific risk component. Our research shows the latter measure of risk better explains the relationship between risk and return and can improve risk-adjusted returns. At the end of March, we changed the benchmark and investment universe from the FTSE 350 to the FTSE All Share Index. This increased the pool of stocks available for inclusion in the portfolio from around 350 to over 600 and should lead to greater diversification in the Fund. 1 The Fund’s benchmark changed on 31 March 2021 from FTSE 350 Gross Total Return to FTSE All Share Net Total Return. The full track record of the previous benchmark has been kept and chainlinked to the new one. Source: B-One. Past performance is not a guide to future performance and may not be repeated. The value of investments and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amounts originally invested. Exchange rate changes may cause the value of any overseas investments to rise or fall. Schroder UK Multi-Factor Equity Component Fund (formerly Schroder Advanced Beta UK Equity Fund) Annual Report and Accounts 4 10 June 2021 Risk Profile Risk and reward indicator Lower risk Higher risk Potentially lower reward Potentially higher reward < > 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The risk category was calculated using historical performance data and may not be a reliable indicator of the Fund’s future risk profile. The Fund’s risk category is not guaranteed to remain fixed and may change over time.