Summary
The fund invests primarily in a range of "investment grade" fixed income securities (which are loans that pay a fixed or variable rate of interest) issued by companies or governments from around the world and mainly be priced in euros. The fund may also hold other currencies as well as securities that are priced in other currencies. The investment advisor will choose securities with varying repayment dates based on its expectations for interest rate and exchange rate changes. The fund's benchmark is the Barclays Euro Aggregate ex Treasury 1-3 Year Index. It is used to measure duration. Duration is the sensitivity of a fixed income security to a change in interest rates. The longer the duration of a fixed income security, the higher its sensitivity to interest rates. Investment grade securities, as determined by international ratings agencies, whilst potentially producing a lower level of income than "non-investment grade" securities, are also considered to be of lower risk. The fund may also invest up to 10% in lower rated securities of "Baa3" or below by these same agencies. These are generally considered to be riskier investments but pay a higher income.