Notice of AGM

RNS Number : 8825S

Ashmore Group PLC

29 September 2014

 



Ashmore Group PLC

29 September 2014

Notice of Annual General Meeting and

Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2014

Ashmore Group plc issued its Notice of Annual General Meeting ("the Notice") today, 29 September 2014.  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 Thursday 30 October 2014 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 2014, 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 2014 Annual Report and Accounts dated 10 September 2014.

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

10 September 2014

Principal Risks and Mitigation

Risk management

The ultimate responsibility for risk management rests with the Board. However, for practical reasons 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 in the table below for each of the four risk categories that Ashmore considers most important: strategic and business; investment; operational; and treasury. Reputational and conduct risks are common characteristics across all four categories.

Risk management structure

Ashmore plc Board

-     Ultimately responsible for the Group's risk management and internal control systems

Group Risk and Compliance Committee (RCC)

-     Maintain a sound risk management and internal control environment

-     Assess the impact of the Group's activities on its regulatory and operational exposures

Chairman:

Group Head of Risk Management and Control

Members:

-     Chief Executive Officer

-     Group Finance Director

-     Group Head of Compliance

-     Group Head of Legal and Transaction Management

-     Group Head of Distribution         

-     Group Head of IT, Operations, Performance, GIRC and Client Reporting

-     Group Head of Internal Audit

Risk type/owner	Description of risk	Mitigation
Strategic and Business risk
The risk that the medium and long-term profitability and/or reputation 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. Responsible body: 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; and -     Impact of negative or inaccurate press comments.	These include: -     The Board's long investment management experience; -     Group Operating Committee meets regularly; -     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 and related regulation; and -     Defined Media and Reputation Management Policy in place.
Risk type/owner	Description of risk	Mitigation
Investment risk
The risk of non-performance or manager neglect of duty, 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. Responsible body: Ashmore Group Investment Committees	These include: -     That the investment manager does not adhere to strict policies e.g. in relation to market abuse; -     Funds with a similar investment theme and restrictions are not managed similarly, resulting in different positions or exposures being held; -     A downturn in long-term investment performance; and -     Insufficient counterparties.	These include: -     Investment Committees meet regularly (weekly for most investment themes across the Group) ensuring consistent core investment processes are applied; -     Allocations across funds are actively reviewed to ensure appropriate consistency; -     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; and -     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, weaknesses in systems and controls, or incorrect accounting or tax treatment. Responsible body: Ashmore Group Risk and 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 including cyber security; -     Set-up and maintenance of trading counterparties; -     Inappropriate accounting practices lead to sanctions; and -     Inadequate tax oversight or advice.			These include: -     The Group's Risk and Compliance Committee meets on a monthly basis to consider the Group's Key Risk Indicators (KRIs); -     Compliance, Legal and Finance departments to identify, quantify, monitor and manage regulatory changes; -     Conflicts of interest review performed; -     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 are tested regularly; -     Cyber security review performed; -     All trading counterparties are subject to strict risk, legal, compliance and operational sign-off prior to set-up; -     Group accounting policies in place and regularly reviewed; and -     Dedicated tax specialist within the Finance department.

Risk type/owner	Description of risk	Mitigation
Treasury risk
These are risks that management does not appropriately mitigate balance sheet risks or exposures which could ultimately impact the financial performance or position of the Group. Responsible body: Chief Executive Officer and Group 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 to meet funding obligations; and -     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 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 US dollar S&P AAA-rated liquidity funds managed by experienced cash managers; and -     Defined risk appetite in place.

Enquiries:

Michael Perman

Company Secretary

29 September 2014

 

END

 

 

NOALLMJTMBJTBJI