Last checked at 28 Sep 2009 17:36
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Ashmore Group PLC
28 September 2009
Notice of Annual General Meeting and Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2009
Ashmore Group plc issued its Notice of Annual General Meeting today, 28 September 2009.
The Company's Annual General Meeting will be held at 12 noon on Thursday 29 October 2009 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 2009, have been submitted to the UK Listing Authority, and will shortly be available for inspection at the UK Listing Authority's Document Viewing Facility which is situated at:
The Financial Services Authority
25 The North Colonnade
Canary Wharf
London E14 5HS
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7066 1000
The above documents can also be downloaded from the Company's website at :-
http://www.ashmoregroup.com
The unaudited 2009 preliminary results for the year ended 30 June 2009, released on 15 September 2009, were prepared in accordance with IAS 34. Included in this announcement is additional information, for the purposes of compliance with the Disclosure and Transparency Rules, which includes a responsibility statement and key risk analysis , all as extracted from the 2009 Annual Report and Accounts dated 14 September 2009.
Statement of Directors' responsibilities
The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report, the Remuneration report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations. UK company law requires the Directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the Directors have prepared the Company and the Group financial statements in accordance with IFRS. In accordance with the FSA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules (DTR 4.1.12) the Directors confirm to the best of their knowledge that: (a) the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the applicable set of accounting standards, and 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; and
(b) the Business review includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that they face.
In preparing those 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 that the financial statements comply with IFRS as adopted by the EU; and
• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis, unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Company and the Group will continue in business.
The Directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and the Group and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements and the Remuneration report comply with the Companies Acts and, as regards the Group financial statements, Article 4 of the IAS Regulation. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Company and the Group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the Company's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
Risk Analysis
Risk is inherent in all businesses and is therefore present within the Group's activities. The Group seeks to effectively identify, monitor and manage each of its risks and actively promotes a risk awareness culture throughout the organisation. The ultimate responsibility for risk management rests with the Board.
However, from a practical perspective some of this activity is delegated. The key risks, their mitigants, and their delegated owners are set out below 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. There has been specific focus on the further development of the Group Risk Matrix, which seeks to identify the key risks to the Group, as well as current mitigants and forward-looking action plans.
Risk management and control
Risk management and control is one element of the Group's overall system
of internal controls within its corporate governance framework - incorporating
Risk, Compliance and, with effect from July 2009, a newly formed Internal
Audit function. Further details of the Group's internal control environment
are described in the Corporate governance report of the annual report on pages 30 to 37.
Risk Analysis
| Risk Type/owner | Description of Risk | Mitigation |
| Strategic and business risks The risk that the medium and long-term profitability of the Group could be adversely impacted by the failure to identify and implement the correct strategy, and to react smartly 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. • Reputational damage to Ashmore impacting marketing and distribution capabilities. • Loss of key staff. | These include: • Board's long investment management experience. • Clearly defined Group strategy, understood throughout the organisation and actively monitored. • Diversification of investment capabilities to reduce single event/product exposure. • Committee based investment methodology creates a scalable business model. • New talent targeted and incorporated into Group processes as appropriate |
| Investment risks The risk that long-term investment outperformance is not delivered, damaging prospects for winning and retaining clients, and putting average management fee margins under pressure. Delegated to: Ashmore Group Investment Committee | These include: • A downturn in investment performance. • Inadequate due diligence on an investment/deal. • Lack of financing, or an exit strategy for privately held investments. | These include: • Experienced Investment Committee (IC) meets weekly ensuring consistent core investment processes are applied. • Dedicated emerging markets research and investment focus, with frequent country visits. • Compensation structure links investment professionals' remuneration to long-term performance of funds they manage, and the wider Group. • Dedicated deal teams with expertise centred around structuring of special situations deals. |
| Operational risks Risks in this category are broad in nature and inherent in all businesses. They include the risk that operational flaws result in business losses - through error or fraud, the inability to capitalise on market opportunities, or weaknesses in systems and controls. Delegated to: Ashmore Group Risk and Compliance Committee | These include: • Inability to fairly price assets. • Oversight of offshore subsidiaries. • Compliance, including monitoring of investment breaches. • Controls around special purpose vehicles. • Execution and process management. • Business and systems disruption. | These include: • Pricing Methodology Committee (PMC) providing oversight of prices used for valuing hard-to-price assets, with valuations of the most material assets outsourced to independent third parties. • Integrated control and management framework to ensure day-to-day global operations are managed effectively. • Risk and Compliance Committee meets on a monthly basis to consider the Group's Key Risk Indicators ("KRIs"). • A disaster recovery procedure exists and is tested regularly. • Engagement letters or service level agreements in place with all significant service providers. |
| Treasury risks These are the 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 Group Finance Director | These include: • Group revenues are primarily US Dollar-based, whereas 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. • A proportion of Group currency exposures are hedged as a matter of policy. • Counterparties utilised for corporate deposits or investments are approved by the Executive. • Significant corporate investments are approved by the Board, and all others by the Chief Executive Officer. |
Enquiries:
Michael Perman
Company Secretary
28 September 2009