In light of the escalating Covid-19 pandemic we wanted to outline the steps we are taking to both protect the safety of our staff and also continue to provide the level of service our clients expect.

We are following the relevant government guidelines, including working from home. We can assure you this is not effecting how we manage client money or the level of close monitoring of our funds and rigorous controls that are still in place and operating effectively.

Key questions covered:

• What are Architas doing to protect your employees and your clients?
• How are Architas managing money in this market environment?
• Are Architas still able to apply the investment and monitoring processes if the teams are working from home?

What are Architas doing to protect your employees and your clients?

Following developments related to Covid-19, we updated our travel and event restrictions to ensure no employees are unnecessarily exposing themselves to risk.

All our external events are on hold until such a time that it is deemed safe to resume. Following increasing encouragement from global governments to social distance, we do not feel it is appropriate to continue with these activities at this time.

We have a number of ways to keep you informed on how the rapidly changing market conditions are influencing how we manage our funds and will communicate with you regularly via this website.

Architas moved to a full working from home policy for our offices across UK, Ireland, France and Belgium from early March. We have operated under a flexible working practice for a number of years already and have been preparing for this scenario for a number of weeks. As a global business, we are well equipped to continue our rigorous fund management duties and operate our controls remotely.

How are Architas managing money in this market environment?

As a multi-manager, our key focusses are diversification and risk management for our clients. At this time of extreme volatility, we are monitoring markets very closely but also taking a longer-term view.

The coronavirus impact on global growth will likely be significant. The global stock markets reflect this concern and the extent and duration of the impact are very difficult to forecast.

In the current situation our investment team is communicating on a daily basis to evaluate the current situation and discuss what actions we could take from here.

Are Architas still able to apply the investment and monitoring processes if the teams are working from home?

We have always maintained robust business continuity plans. We have stringent measures in place to ensure our operations can continue effectively under a scenario such as this.

As mentioned, as a global business, Architas teams have already been working from home for a number of years using centralised systems. All employees have laptops and technical equipment that allows them to work from anywhere with an internet connection.

We are able to use conference calls to ensure all governance meetings, such as our investment committee meetings and risk management forums, are able to continue without interruption. We would like to reassure you that your money is being managed with the same level of careful due diligence as if we were working from our respective offices.

In summary

As an asset manager operating across various countries, and as part of the global AXA Group, we are confident we have the systems and controls to continue to operate efficiently. We know that these are challenging times and we are here to support you. You can contact us here with any questions or concerns.

Nicolas Deschamps, Head of Client Group, Architas