Benefits of investing in the Spire Copper Rock Capital Global Smaller Companies Fund

The Fund aims to provide investors with diversification opportunities by investing in a portfolio of quality global small cap equities which offers superior and consistent returns compared with global large/mid cap equities. In selecting the portfolio of investments of the Fund, Copper Rock will focus on choosing global small cap equities which exhibit lower levels of risk relative to global large/mid cap equities at attractive valuations.

Risk level

High

Investor suitability

The Fund is suitable for investors seeking the diversification benefits of an allocation to international equities and who are seeking capital appreciation over the long term by investing in global small cap equities which Copper Rock believe have the prospects to generate superior returns.

About the Fund

The Global Small Cap strategy typically looks for resilient and defensible business models that are characterized by underlying unit growth, longer-term market share gains (an evidence of competitive strength), high profitability, and significant internal cash generation. Distinguishing elements of the process are also the application of a routinely practiced and proven Sell Discipline and Alert List that provide risk control and are crucial in preserving alpha earned in the portfolio.

About Copper Rock Capital

Copper Rock was established on 1 February 2005 and provides specialised, growth equity investment management for pension and profit sharing plans, institutional investors, and mutual funds. As of 30 June 2017, the firm had approximately US$5.7 billion in assets under management.

Copper Rock provides specialized global equity investment management solutions for institutional investors located throughout the world. Specialist in global equity investing, with a rich history in small to mid cap equities, the firm's strategies are managed by a highly experienced investment team which combines the use of a proven and proprietary quantitative model with deep fundamental research to identify global small and mid cap growth equities which provide superior earnings growth and returns relative to their peers. The firm is an affiliate of Old Mutual Asset Management (OMAM), Inc. with the principals of Copper Rock having a significant ownership stake in the firm. Copper Rock benefits from the best of both worlds: the entrepreneurial environment of a small, specialised investment boutique with access to the substantial resources of a global financial services organisation.

How we invest your money

Copper Rock believes using a hybrid fundamental-quantitative approach to identify companies with superior growth relative to their peers will lead to consistent levels of outperformance. Copper Rock seeks to identify the emerging leaders across industries because investing in future market leaders enables it to provide its clients with access to best-of-class companies at an early point in their growth cycle and before widespread investor interest drives valuations upward. The global equities team at Copper Rock has been utilising the same investment process since April 2002.

Asset allocation

• The Fund will invest primarily in equity securities of US and non-US issuers listed on globally recognised (net of GST and RITC) exchanges of developed markets.

• Investment in any one region or sector will generally be limited to +/- 6% relative to the Benchmark.

• Investment in any one security will generally be limited to +/- 3.5% relative to the Benchmark.

• The Fund may also invest up to 15% in emerging markets.

• The securities in which the Fund may invest include common stocks, preferred stocks, convertible debt, depository receipts, rights and warrants. The Fund may also invest in initial public offerings and private placements.

• The Fund will generally hold between 80 and 120 securities.

• The top 20 holdings will generally form 30% to 40% of the Fund. • The Fund will generally hold a maximum of 5% in cash.

• The Fund will generally be unhedged, but there may be instances where the Fund has the ability to Hedge back into USD.