Recent Africa Outlook

Rob Scharar, co-manager of the Africa fund, recently sat down with the BusinessMakers radio show to share some of his wisdom from years of experience investing in Africa. For example, did you know South Africa has a stock exchange over 150 years old? Or that Malawi doesn’t tax dividends? Watch the video below to see the full interview and find out more.

Click Here for current Africa Fund Holdings.

Click Here to learn about the principal risks of investing in the Africa Fund, which include market, foreign security and geographic risk.

Many factors impact the Fund’s expense ratio, including the level of net assets.  If the Fund is unsuccessful in raising assets to the estimated levels for its initial fiscal period, the Fund’s expense ratio may be significantly higher. Investors should consider the impact expenses will have on returns over time and that a higher expense ratio will detract from the Fund’s performance. The expense ratio of the Fund for its initial period of operations will be available in the semi-annual report for the period ended April 30, 2012. Investing in international markets may involve additional risks, such as social and political instability, market illiquidity, exchange-rate fluctuations, a high level of volatility and limited regulation. Region specific funds may be subject to a higher degree of market risk than diversified funds because of concentration in a specific industry, sector or geographic location including changes in overall market movements, commodity price volatility, changes in interest rates, or sectors affecting a particular commodity, such as drought, floods, weather, embargoes, tariffs, and international economic, and regulatory developments. Many companies that are tied economically to Africa are not subject to uniform accounting, auditing, and financial reporting standards or to other regulatory practices required of U.S. companies. The portfolio may invest in small, mid-sized companies and emerging or frontier markets, which are susceptible to greater risk and tend to be more volatile than is customarily associated with investing in more established companies. The value of a particular currency may fluctuate which could erode or reverse any potential income and/or gains from the Fund’s investments in fixed income securities denominated in a foreign currency. It may not be possible for the Fund to effectively hedge the currency risks of many developing countries.