HSBC International Select Funds (ISF)

The common feature of all the funds within the HSBC International Select Fund is that they are managed by HSBC Multimanager. HSBC Multimanager is a specialist multimanager business, providing multimanager solutions to clients globally. HSBC Multimanager has one of the largest multimanager teams in the world, comprising more than 50 investment professionals (including a dedicated property multimanager team) based in 12 locations around the world. The global reach of the team locations adds value through highly localised and expert manager insight and allows the Multimanager team to leverage their local market knowledge when building truly global solutions for clients.

The funds available can be broadly split into two categories; MultiAlpha funds and the fund of funds portfolios.

The Select Portfolio's are a 'fund of funds' investment which invests in a number of other funds, as opposed to investing directly in assets such as shares and bonds.

There are three asset allocation funds to choose from: Cautious, Balanced and Adventurous, each with a different investment objective and level of risk. The portfolios aim to achieve long term capital growth by investing ina broad selection of funds from a variety of fund managers.

MultiAlpha's global platform gives you access to what we consider to be the world's best 'boutique' managers in each market and each asset class. The funds aim to produce 'alpha' performance that outperforms the indices to which they are benchmarked. To try and achieve this, HSBC Multimanager assigns specialist managers to be responsible for a proportion of assets within each MultiAlpha fund. This strategy aims to control risk and deliver a superior performance.

The investment process involves identifying the world's best managers and combining them effectively to achieve diversification and reduce your exposure to risk - this strategy ensures your return is not dependent upon anyone manager's performance. Each individual manager is selected for the following reasons:

• The strength of their investment personnel, process and ability to perform; and
• Their ability to complement the other managers within the structure by potentially enhancing the performance and risk characteristics of the combined portfolio
• Each of the underlying managers is monitored. Under-performers are replaced and a portfolio is rebalanced on an ongoing basis with the aim of maximising your growth potential and managing risk.