WS Macquarie Global Infrastructure Securities Fund

* IPE Real Assets Top 100 Infrastructure Investment Managers 2023, published in July/August 2023. Macquarie Group’s investments in infrastructure are predominantly by Macquarie Asset Management’s private markets infrastructure team, which acquires and manages infrastructure and infrastructure-like businesses on behalf of investors. These investments are not related to the investments in listed infrastructure securities. 

Fund (not by share class)

Objective: The Fund aims to achieve a total return (the combination of income and capital growth), after all costs and charges have been taken, over any five-year period.

Risks

• Infrastructure sector risk: The potential for adverse events in the global infrastructure sector to impact the performance of the investments of the Strategy. Investments in securities issued by companies which are principally engaged in the infrastructure business will subject the Strategy to risks associated with direct investment in infrastructure assets. Factors such as the availability of finance, the cost of such finance in general as well as in comparison to prior periods, the level of supply of suitable infrastructure projects and government regulations relating to infrastructure may influence the value of these investments and hence the Strategy. The risks of investing in the infrastructure sector include those listed below:
  • New project risk: Where an infrastructure issuer invests in new infrastructure projects, it is likely to retain some residual risk that the project will not be completed within budget, within the agreed time frame and to the agreed specification.
  • Strategic asset risk: Infrastructure assets may include strategic assets, that is, assets that have a national or regional profile, and may have monopolistic characteristics. The nature of these assets may generate additional risk given the national/regional profile and/or their irreplaceable nature, and may constitute a higher risk target for terrorist acts or political actions.
  • Documentation risk: Infrastructure assets are often governed by a complex series of legal documents and contracts. As a result, the risk of a dispute over interpretation or enforceability of the documentation may be higher than for other issuers.
  • Operation risk: Should an infrastructure issuer fail to maintain and operate the assets efficiently, the ability to maintain payments of dividends or interest to shareholders may be impaired. Failure by the infrastructure issuer to carry adequate insurance or to operate the asset appropriately could lead to significant losses and damages.
• Concentration risk: The investment policy of the Strategy will result in a portfolio containing a concentrated group of investments focused on gaining exposure to companies in the infrastructure sector, as opposed to investing across the entire market. Strategies which invest in a concentrated portfolio may be subject to greater volatility than Strategies with a more diversified portfolio.
• Emerging markets risk: International investments entail risks including fluctuation in currency values, differences in accounting principles, or economic or political instability. Investing in emerging markets can be riskier than investing in established foreign markets due to increased volatility, lower trading volume, and higher risk of market closures. In many emerging markets, there is substantially less publicly available information and the available information may be incomplete or misleading. Legal claims are generally more difficult to pursue.
• Hybrid securities risk: The Strategy may invest in preferred stock and hybrid securities, which may have special risks. Preferred and hybrid securities may include provisions that permit the issuer, at its discretion, to defer distributions for a stated period without any adverse consequences to the issuer. Some preferred and hybrid securities are non-cumulative, meaning that the dividends do not accumulate and need not ever be paid. A portion of the Strategy’s assets may include investments in noncumulative preferred or hybrid securities, under which the issuer does not have an obligation to make up any arrears to its investors. Preferred and hybrid securities may be substantially less liquid than many other securities, such as common stocks or US government securities. Generally, preferred and hybrid security holders (such as the Strategy) have no voting rights with respect to the issuing company unless preferred dividends have been in arrears for a specified number of periods, at which time the security holders generally may select a number of directors to the issuer’s board. Generally, once all the arrears have been paid, the security holders no longer have voting rights. In certain varying circumstances, an issuer of preferred or hybrid securities may redeem the securities prior to a specified date. For instance, for certain types of preferred or hybrid securities, a redemption may be triggered by a change in federal income tax or securities laws. A redemption by the issuer may negatively impact the return of the security held by the Strategy.
• Derivatives risk: Certain derivatives could increase the Strategy’s volatility or expose the Strategy to losses greater than the cost of the derivatives.
• Market risk: The risk that all or a majority of the securities in a certain market — like the stock market or bond market — will decline in value because of factors such as adverse political or economic conditions, future expectations, investor confidence, or heavy institutional selling.
• Liquidity risk: Liquidity risk is the possibility that securities cannot be readily sold within seven days at approximately the price at which a Strategy has valued them.
• Performance risk: Performance risk broadly refers to the potential for changes in share prices to result in a loss in the value of your investment in the Strategy. The Strategy primarily invests in companies that are listed on a share market and as a result is exposed to movements in their share prices.
• Currency risk: Currency risk is the risk that the value of a Strategy’s investments may be negatively affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates. Adverse changes in exchange rates may reduce or eliminate any gains produced by investments that are denominated in foreign currencies and may increase any losses.>
• IBOR risk: IBOR risk is the risk that changes related to the use of the London interbank offered rate (LIBOR) or similar rates (such as EONIA) could have adverse impacts on financial instruments that reference these rates. The abandonment of these rates and transition to alternative rates could affect the value and liquidity of instruments that reference them and could affect performance.
• Disruption risk: The disruptions caused by natural disasters, pandemics, or similar events could prevent the Strategy from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and could negatively impact the Strategy’s ability to achieve its investment objective and the value of the Strategy’s investments.