AI Issue 5 2017

52 Acquisition International - May 2017 With regards to social factors the fund considers the protection of human rights, local community impact, child labor, working conditions, workforce health & safety, education, poverty alleviation and fair trade, small and beginning farmer land access and access to food and food safety. Within the governance factors the fund analyses the companies’ alignment of interest between business management, its shareholders and other stakeholders. Amid the rising popularity of ESG investing, something that has changed is that investors now expect a competitive return for investing with a conscience. EQC Agrifund’s management team believe that there’s no longer a trade-off between profits and the planet. The fund’s results speak for themselves. The fund delivered a return of +4.4% in 2016 and has posted an annualised return since inception of +4.2% (with no negative years) while keeping volatility extremely low. The Fund’s annualised volatility since inception has been only 2.1% - considerably lower than fixed income, equities and the hedge fund space overall, leading to a Sharpe ratio of 1.75. By comparison, the Barclays Aggregate Bond Index has, over the same period, a Shape ratio of 1.14, Global Equities 0.44, DAX Global Agricultural Index 0.09 and HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index -0.33. A further key benefit of the fund is the low correlation to traditional assets and diversified strategy. The Fund has also been able to protect capital significantly better than global markets across all asset classes; the EQC Agrifund´s maximum cumulative drawdown since inception has been -1.8%, which compares very well vs. vs. the DAX Global Agricultural Index (-21.5%), Global Equities (-13.2%), the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index (-9.0%) and the Barclays Aggregate Bond Index (-2.7%). Furthermore, by the end of February 2016 (against a backdrop of plunging equity markets which were down almost -16% globally) the fund had dropped only -0.2%. Over the last three years, all of the fund’s sub- strategies have been net positive contributors to the fund’s performance, allowing the fund to deliver positive returns in over 70% of calendar months. Only in one instance since inception did the EQC Agrifund deliver a negative performance of worse than -0.5% in a single month. Moreover, the fund employs no leverage which further underscores the strength of its investment returns. Going into 2017, the supply-demand dynamics in global agricultural markets look to stay stable, barring major unexpected weather events in key geographies. In this context, the Fund expects certain themes to gain strength, including the economic recovery in South America, a closing of the lending gap in the sector, the demand for organic fruits and vegetables, and the innovation path in novel agricultural technologies. More broadly, the macroeconomic and government policies in key markets – notably the US, Europe and China - are set up to play a larger role in the agricultural economy and trade in 2017. EQC Agrifund will continue to invest responsibly and balance risks and opportunities across geographies and asset classes. We will also continue to focus on identifying and investing in opportunities with an emphasis on sustainability and social responsibility. Responsible investment in the agriculture and food space is essential for enhancing food security and nutrition and supporting the progressive realisation of the right to adequate food. quilibria Capital’s flagship fund is Avance Global, which has been managed by Daniel Tafur and Fabio Lopez Ceron since 2003 when they were at Morgan Stanley. Avance Global, which has Euro and $US share classes as well as UCITS and offshore versions, is a global macro/multi strategy investment fund that follows a value-driven approach and deploys a dynamic strategy based on fundamental top-down and bottom-up research. The fund invests globally in equities, fixed income and currencies and is designed to grow capital at attractive rates of return whilst preserving capital in adverse market conditions. The fund has a deep- value investment philosophy with a sensitivity to short-term fluctuations and a keen focus on downside protection. In managing Avance Global, Equilibria strives to achieve superior returns by selecting 40-50 high- conviction and deeply researched investments with the objective of holding them for the long-term. The company tends to stay away from index-tracking strategies and are focused on buying securities that are attractive on both an absolute and relative valuation basis. Avance Global: Consistent Returns & Capital Preservationwith a Value-Driven / Macro Approach E