AXA Insurance Pte Ltd Company Reg No. 199903512M 8 Shenton Way, #24-01, AXA Tower Singapore 068811 Thank You for Investing with AXA
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03/2018 AXA Insurance Pte Ltd Company Reg No. 199903512M 8 Shenton Way, #24-01, AXA Tower Singapore 068811 Thank you for investing with AXA We are pleased to present to you the Annual Report of AXA Pulsar, AXA Polaris and AXA Optimus range of sub-funds for the 12 months ending 31 December 2017. Bullish markets with low volatility 2017 was considered a very good year for investments in general as stock markets around the world had strong returns with very low volatility. Worries over the new US President Donald Trump initiating trade protectionist measures simmered down as he focused more on immigration measures and verbal sparring with the North Koreans. Economies around the world also reported generally better growth than previous years with unemployment numbers falling. Inflation remained weaker than expected, likely due to slow wage increases and technology disruptions bringing down costs. Global equity markets had another good year (MSCI World was up about 14% in Singapore dollar terms) with the European markets driving the best returns in Singapore dollar terms. Emerging markets have outperformed global markets in 2017 as economic growth in this region is improving as well (MSCI Emerging Markets was up more than 27% in Singapore dollar terms with China being the main contributor). Fixed income markets on the other hand continue to face challenges with the anticipation of more Federal Reserve rate hikes and the gradual ending of Quantitative Easing by the other developed nations. Government bonds were mainly flat while bonds with higher risks delivered low positive returns. We are pleased to share that our fixed income delivered mostly positive returns ranging from -2% to 11% while our mixed assets funds delivered positive returns from 4% to 12% (all in Singapore dollar terms). Our equity and alternatives funds also achieved mostly positive returns ranging from -1% to 55%, with the JPMorgan Funds - Greater China Fund delivering the highest return in 2017. Staying attuned to your needs As part of our on-going review and due diligence, we are pleased to inform you that we have added one new fund in the second half of 2017: Fundsmith Equity Fund (EUR) from Fundsmith, a new manager on our platform. With the addition of this new fund, we now have about 90 funds for you to select from in order to construct a diversified investment portfolio. We will continue to seek more value-added funds to on-board our platform in the future. We hope you find this report beneficial and informative. Do continue to regularly engage your personal financial consultant with regards to your wealth management needs. Thank you. Yours sincerely, Jean Drouffe Chief Executive Officer AXA Insurance Singapore 1 announcement announcement We would like to inform you of the following summary of changes to various funds below. Please refer to the 7. H2O Allegro Fund Annual Funds Report for the details of the changes. Effective 20 November 2017, Natixis Global Asset Management changed its name to Natixis Investment Managers. The change better highlights its multi-affiliate business model and the value of what they do, 1. Aberdeen Select Portfolio - Aberdeen Pacific Equity Fund which is to offer leading active investment solutions from a diverse range of managers, combined with Effective 18 December 2017, the wholly-owned Mauritius subsidiary merged into Aberdeen Global – the research, analytics and support to help its clients build portfolios that address its clients’ demanding Indian Equity Fund, the Underlying Fund of the Aberdeen Select Portfolio - Aberdeen Pacific Equity Fund. investing challenges. 2. AllianceBernstein Emerging Markets Debt Portfolio Fund 8. JPMorgan Funds - US Equity Fund Effective 1 February 2018, the reference benchmark of the AllianceBernstein Emerging Markets Debt Effective 23 February 2018, JPM Funds – US Equity Fund was merged into the JPM Funds – US Select Portfolio Fund was changed from JP Morgan EMBI Global Index to JP Morgan EMBI Global Diversified Equity Fund. As we do not carry the JPM Funds – US Select Equity Fund on our platform, we have Index. transferred existing clients’ assets in the fund to the Threadneedle American Fund, a fund with similar investment objectives. There is no change to the fees which investors are paying. 3. AllianceBernstein Global High Yield Portfolio Fund Effective 22 February 2018, the manager have updated the investment policies of the fund to include 9. Mirae Asset Asia Great Consumer Equity Fund additional disclosures with respect to the use of certain financial derivative instruments to better manage Effective 13 November 2017, additional risk factors (i.e. risks linked to the use of securities lending, volatility and the portfolio’s exposure to currencies. repurchase, reverse repurchase, buy-sell back and sell-buy back transactions, depositary risk and collateral management risk) were inserted in the prospectus, section titled “Risk Factors”. 4. Franklin Technology Fund Effective 30 September 2017, the benchmark of the Franklin Technology Fund was changed from 10. Neuberger Berman US Strategic Income Fund BofAML Technology 100 Index to the MSCI World Information Technology Index. Effective 29 December 2017, the fund name of Neuberger Berman US Strategic Income Fund was amended to Neuberger Berman Strategic Income Fund. 5. Franklin U.S. Small-Mid Cap Growth Fund Effective 3 November 2017, Franklin U.S. Small-Mid Cap Growth Fund was merged into the Franklin 11. PineBridge Asia Ex Japan Small Cap Equity Fund U.S. Opportunities Fund. As we do not carry the Franklin U.S. Opportunities Fund on our platform, we Effective 13 February 2018, the fund may invest and have direct access to eligible China A-Shares via have transferred existing clients’ assets in the fund to the Threadneedle American Smaller Companies the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect. Fund, a fund with similar investment objectives. There is no change to the fees which investors are paying. 12. Pioneer Funds Following the merger of Pioneer Asset Management S.A. and Amundi Group in July 2017, Pioneer Asset 6. Henderson Funds Management S.A. has changed its name to Amundi Luxembourg S.A. on 1 January 2018. As a result Following the merger of Henderson Group plc and Janus Capital Inc in May 2017, Henderson Global of the merger, the Pioneer Funds’ names were changed with effect from 16 February 2018: Investors rebranded its business as Janus Henderson Investors. As a result of the merger, the Henderson Old Name New Name Funds’ names were changed with effect from 15 December 2017: Pioneer Funds – U.S. Dollar Aggregate Bond Amundi Funds II – Pioneer U.S. Dollar Aggregate Old Name New Name (USD) Bond (USD) Henderson Global Technology Fund Janus Henderson Global Technology Fund Pioneer Funds – U.S. Dollar Aggregate Bond Amundi Funds II – Pioneer U.S. Dollar Aggregate Henderson Global Select Funds – Henderson Janus Henderson Global Select Funds – Janus (SGD Hedged) Bond (SGD Hedged) Asia-Pacific Property Equities Fund Henderson Asia-Pacific Property Equities Fund Pioneer Funds – U.S. Fundamental Growth Amundi Funds II – Pioneer U.S. Fundamental Henderson Global Select Funds – Henderson Janus Henderson Global Select Funds – Janus (USD) Growth (USD) Global Property Equities Fund Henderson Global Property Equities Fund Henderson Horizon Fund - Japan Janus Henderson Horizon Fund - Japan 13. Schroder ISF Asia Pacific Cities ealR Estate Fund Opportunities Fund Opportunities Fund Effective 1 February 2018, the manager of Schroder ISF Asia Pacific Cities Real Estate Fund made a minor modification to its investment policy. The manager increased its flexibility to invest in China Henderson Horizon Fund - Pan European Janus Henderson Horizon Fund - Pan European A-shares through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Alpha Fund Alpha Fund Connect to “less than 30%” of their assets from “up to 10%”. This is in light of the potential investment Henderson Gartmore Fund – Continental Janus Henderson Fund – Continental European opportunities in the China A shares market. European Fund Fund 14. Schroder Multi-Asset Revolution 30, Schroder Multi-Asset Revolution 50 & Schroder Multi- Henderson Gartmore Fund – Latin American Janus Henderson Fund – Latin American Fund Asset Revolution 70 Funds Fund Effective 7 November 2017, the manager of Schroder ISF US Large Cap Fund, one of the underlying funds of the Schroder Multi-Asset Revolution 30, Schroder Multi-Asset Revolution 50 & Schroder Multi- Asset Revolution 70 Funds, has decided to restructure their US Large Cap equity capabilities. Schroders 2 3 announcement contents has decided to integrate responsibility for primary US stock coverage into the Global Equity Team in section page this section explains: London. Management of the Schroder ISF US Large Cap Fund and related strategies was also moved to London effective 7 November 2017. 16 • fund performance 1 Aberdeen Pacific Equity Fund 16 • at a glance 17 • schedule of investments 15. Schroder Singapore Fixed Income Fund Effective 1 February 2018, the investment objective of the fund was updated to reflect the fund’s aim AllianceBernstein Emerging Markets Debt 21 • fund performance 2 21 • at a glance Portfolio Fund to provide investors with diversified exposure to the Singapore fixed income market through investment 22 • schedule of investments in SGD denominated bonds or where in foreign currency, hedged back to SGD. All other key features of the fund will remain the same. AllianceBernstein Global High Yield Portfolio 26 • fund performance 3 27 • at a glance Fund 28 • schedule of investments 16. Templeton Latin America Fund Effective 31 May 2017, there was a change in the management structure of the Templeton Latin America AllianceBernstein Thematic Research 32 • fund performance 4 32 • at a glance Portfolio Fund Fund. The management structure of fund has changed from a co-investment management structure 33 • schedule of investments with Templeton Asset Management Limited and Franklin Templeton Investimentos (Brasil) Ltda. to a lead investment management structure with only Franklin Advisers, Inc.