Last checked at 30 Sep 2013 17:08
Ashmore Group PLC
30 September 2013
Notice of Annual General Meeting and
Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2013
Ashmore Group plc issued its Notice of Annual General Meeting ("the Notice") today, 30 September 2013. The Circular containing the Notice contains a summary of the business of the resolutions to be proposed at the meeting which is available on the Company's website.
The Company's Annual General Meeting will be held at 12 noon on Wednesday 30 October 2013 at Kingsway Hall , 66 Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5BX.
Copies of the Company's Notice of Annual General Meeting, together with the Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2013, have been uploaded to the UK Financial Conduct Authority National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM
The above documents can also be downloaded from the Company's website at :-
http://www.ashmoregroup.com
Additional Information
Included in this announcement is additional information, for the purposes of compliance with the Disclosure and Transparency Rules, which includes the Directors responsibility statement and Risk Statement, all as extracted from the 2013 Annual Report and Accounts dated 9 September 2013.
Statement of Directors' responsibilities
The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the Group and parent company financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
Company law requires the Directors to prepare Group and parent company financial statements for each financial year. Under that law they are required to prepare the Group financial statements in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU and applicable law and have elected to prepare the parent company financial statements on the same basis.
Under company law the Directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Group and parent company and of their profit and loss for that period. In preparing each of the Group and parent company financial statements, the Directors are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether they have been prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU; and
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Group and the parent company will continue in business.
The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the parent company's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the parent company and enable them to ensure that its financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the Group and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.
Under applicable law and regulations, the Directors are also responsible for preparing a Directors' report, Directors' remuneration report and corporate governance statement that comply with that law and those regulations.
The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the Company's website. Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
Responsibility statement of the Directors in respect of the annual financial report
We confirm that to the best of our knowledge:
- The financial statements, prepared in accordance with the applicable set of accounting standards give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the Company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole;
- The annual report and financial statements, taken as a whole, provides the information necessary to assess the Company's performance, business model and strategy and is fair, balanced and understandable; and
- The Directors' report includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the issuer and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that they face.
Michael Benson
Chairman
9 September 2013
Risk
Risk is inherent in all businesses and is therefore present within the Group's activities. The Group seeks to identify, quantify, monitor and manage each of its risks effectively. The ultimate responsibility for risk management rests with the Board. However, from a practical perspective some of this activity is delegated and the Group actively promotes a risk awareness culture throughout the organisation.
The principal risks, their mitigants, and their delegated owners are set out on pages 32 and 33 for each of the four risk categories that Ashmore considers most important: strategic and business, investment, operational, and treasury - with reputational risk being a common characteristic across all four categories.
During the year the Group's risk control framework has been enhanced to take account of changing business and market conditions, with refinement of the Group Risk Matrix, which seeks to identify the principal risks to the Group, as well as current mitigants and forward-looking action plans.
Further details of the Group's risk management and internal control systems and reporting are described in the Corporate governance report on pages 40 to 46 .
Principal Risks and Mitigation
Risk type/owner | Description of risk | Mitigation |
Strategic and Business risk The risk that the medium and long-term profitability of the Group could be adversely impacted by the failure either to identify and implement the correct strategy, or to react appropriately to changes in the business environment. Delegated to: Ashmore Group plc Board | These include: A long-term downturn in the fundamental and technical dynamics of emerging markets; Ineffective marketing and distribution strategy; Expansion into unsuccessful themes; Potential market capacity issues and increased competition; Impact of negative or inaccurate press comments. | These include: The Board's long investment management experience; A clearly defined Group strategy, understood throughout the organisation and actively monitored; A diverse range of Emerging Markets investment themes across asset classes; Experienced, centrally managed and globally located distribution team to access increasingly diversified sources of AuM; Product Committee with knowledge of the markets in place; Defined Media and Reputation Management Policy in place. |
Investment risk The risk of non-performance or manager neglect, including the risk that long-term investment outperformance is not delivered thereby damaging prospects for winning and retaining clients, and putting average management fee margins under increased pressure; and decreased market liquidity provided by counterparties that the Group and its Funds rely on. Delegated to: Ashmore Group Investment Committees | These include: That the investment manager does not adhere to policies; A downturn in long-term investment performance; Insufficient counterparties. | These include: Experienced Investment Committees meet weekly ensuring consistent core investment processes are applied; Dedicated Emerging Markets research and investment focus, with frequent country visits as well as a physical presence in key Emerging Markets; Diversification of investment capabilities by theme, asset class and location; Strong Compliance and Risk Management oversight of policies, restrictions, limits and other related controls; Formal counterparty policy with reviews held at least quarterly. |
Risk type/owner | Description of risk | Mitigation |
Operational risk Risks in this category are broad in nature and inherent in most businesses and processes. They include the risk that operational flaws result from a lack of resources or planning, error or fraud, or weaknesses in systems and controls. Delegated to: Ashmore Group Risk & Compliance Committee | These include: Compliance with regulatory requirements as well as with respect to the monitoring of investment breaches; The oversight of overseas subsidiaries; Availability and retention of staff; Fraud by an employee or third-party service provider; Accuracy and integrity of data, including over-reliance on manual processes; Errors resulting from trade execution and settlement process; Oversight of third-party providers, including Fund Administrators; New fund set-up or material changes to existing funds are incorrectly implemented; Business and systems disruption; Set-up and maintenance of trading counterparties. | These include: A Risk and Compliance Committee meets on a monthly basis to consider the Group's Key Risk Indicators (KRIs); Experienced Compliance, Legal and Finance departments to identify, quantify, monitor and manage regulatory changes; An integrated control and management framework is in place to ensure day-to-day global operations are managed effectively; Resources are regularly reviewed and also career development and succession planning is in place; IT Steering Group in place to approve and monitor progress of projects to reduce significant manual dependencies; Fully integrated trade order management and portfolio accounting platforms; Engagement letters or service level agreements are in place with all significant service providers; Formal procedures and sign-off in place for launch of new funds or material changes to existing funds; a BCP and Disaster Recovery policy and related procedures exist, and is tested regularly; All trading counterparties are subject to strict risk, legal, compliance and operational sign-off prior to set-up. |
Treasury risk These are risks that the Management does not appropriately mitigate balance sheet risks or exposures which could ultimately impact the financial performance or position of the Group. Delegated to: Chief Executive Officer and Finance Director | These include: Group revenues are primarily US dollar-based, whereas financial results are denominated in Sterling; The Group invests in its own funds from time to time, exposing it to price risk, credit risk and foreign exchange risk; Liquidity management; The Group is exposed to credit risk and interest rate risk in respect of its cash balances. | These include: Monthly reporting of all balance sheet exposures to the Executive; Oversight and management of the Group's foreign exchange balances is the responsibility of the FX Management Committee which determines the appropriate level of hedging required; Seed capital is subject to strict monitoring by the Board within a framework of set limits including diversification; Cash flows are forecast and monitored on a regular basis and managed in line with approved policy; Group Liquidity Policy in place; The availability of GBP and USD S&P AAA-rated liquidity funds managed by experienced cash managers; Defined risk appetite in place. |
Enquiries:
Michael Perman
Company Secretary
30 September 2013