Awards 

Eurofonds-Fundclass Grands Prix 2012

In the 2012 edition of Eurofonds-Fundclass Grands Prix, Eurizon Capital SGR was the best Italian asset manager in the category 41-70 analyzed funds.

Fundclass is an independent company of quantitative analysis that evaluates mutual funds sold in Europe on behalf of Eurofonds, a group of European quality newspapers among which there are also La Stampa and El Pais.
FundClass Ratings are assigned according to the positions obtained by funds in the past four years in the rankings for homogeneous risk categories created by FundClass, based on risk adjusted annual performance analyses, on 12 consecutive quarters’ elaborations. Asset managers with the largest number of funds having the FundClass Rating are the winners of the Grands Prix Eurofonds.

Cerchio d’Oro dell’Innovazione Finanziaria

On February 29th 2012 the 8th edition of the prize “Cerchio d’oro dell’Innvazione Finanziaria” took place. It was organized by AIFIn (Italian Financial Innovation Association).

Eurizon Capital SGR was rewarded for Eurizon EasyFund Azioni Strategia Flessibile, which ranked third in the category “Products and Investment Services”. The subfund is created by Eurizon Capital SA and managed by Eurizon Capital SGR. In 2010 Eurizon Capital SGR had already won this important award, ranking third even then in the category “Products and Investment Services” with the product Eurizon Meta Giovani.

The Prize “Cerchio d’Oro dell’Innovazione Finanziaria” is an annual award having the aim of promoting the role of innovation in the banking, insurance and financial sectors. It rewards the abilities of these sectors to anticipate and/or guide market changes. The prize is assigned by a jury of experts of the academic field and representatives of the organizing bodies. The jurors evaluate the information and the documentation on the project, giving a score to the single entries present in the participation regulations: project and related innovation clarity, project objectives, reasons why the project is considered innovative, results achieved/expected objectives.

Lipper Awards Italy 2011

2011 Lipper Fund Awards Italy recipients included:

• The Luxembourg-domiciled sub-fund Eurizon EasyFund Bond High Yield R, established by Eurizon Capital S.A. and managed by Eurizon Capital SGR, winner in the 3Y “Bond Europe - High Yield” category (out of 13 funds included in the category) and 5Y category (out of 12 funds considered).
• The Eurizon Manager Selection Fund - MS 10 sub-fund, established by Eurizon Capital S.A. and managed by Eurizon Capital SGR, as best fund in the 3Y “Mixed Asset EUR Cons – Global” category (out of 53 funds included in the category).
• Epsilon QReturn, established and managed by subsidiary Epsilon SGR as best fund in the 5Y “Absolute Return EUR High” category (out of 15 funds included in the category).

The Lipper Fund Awards Italy are handed out to funds marketed in Italy with a historical performance record of at least 36 months as at 31 December 2010. The funds which receive the Awards are those that, in each category defined by Lipper, come in at the top of the Lipper Leader for Consistent Return ranking (based on the Effective Return criterion), compared to the Lipper category average. The Consistent Return criterion considers funds with significantly higher return than a group of funds of the same kind, and its ability in maintaining performance levels over time. The period considered may be 36, 60 or 120 months.

Lipper Awards Europe 2011

At the Lipper Fund Awards Europe 2011, the Luxembourg-domicilied sub-fund Eurizon EasyFund Bond High Yield R, established by Eurizon Capital S.A and managed by  Eurizon Capital SGR was named:

• Best fund in the category Bond Europe - High Yield over 3 years  (out of 13 funds included in the category)
• Best fund in the category Bond Europe - High Yield over 5 years  (out of 12 funds included in the category).

The Lipper Fund Awards Italy are handed out to funds marketed in Spain with a historical performance record of at least 36 months as at 31 December 2010. The funds which receive the Awards are those that, in each category defined by Lipper, come in at the top of the Lipper Leader for Consistent Return ranking (based on the Effective Return criterion), compared to the Lipper category average. The Consistent Return criterion considers funds with significantly higher return than a group of funds of the same kind, and its ability in maintaining performance levels over time. The period considered may be 36, 60 or 120 months.

Lipper Awards Spain 2011

The Lipper Fund Awards 2011 Spain were handed out on 16 March 2011. Recipients included:

• Eurizon EasyFund Bond High Yield, established by Eurizon Capital S.A. and managed by Eurizon Capital SGR, as best fund in the 3Y and 5Y “Bond Europe - High Yield” category.
• Eurizon EasyFund Bond Euro Medium Term, established and managed by Eurizon Capital S.A., as best fund in the 3Y and 10Y “Bond Eurozone – Medium Term” category;

Eurizon EasyFund Bond High Yield and Eurizon EasyFund Bond Euro Medium Term are two sub-funds of the Luxembourg-domiciled Eurizon EasyFund, and are authorised to also place shares in Spain.

The Lipper Fund Awards Spain are handed out to funds marketed in Spain with a historical performance record of at least 36 months as at 31 December 2010. The funds which receive the Awards are those that, in each category defined by Lipper, come in at the top of the Lipper Leader for Consistent Return ranking (based on the Effective Return criterion), compared to the Lipper category average. The Consistent Return criterion considers funds with significantly higher return than a group of funds of the same kind, and its ability in maintaining performance levels over time. The period considered may be 36, 60 or 120 months.

Milano Finanza Global Awards 2011

At the Milano Finanza Global Awards 2011, Eurizon Capital SGR, as part of the Asset Management category, was acknowledged as the company with the Highest Number of AAA Ratings.

The Triple A rated products of Eurizon Capital SGR and its subsidiaries are:

• Eurizon Team 1 Classe A (*)
• Eurizon Team 2 Classe A (*)
• Eurizon Focus Garantito dicembre 2012  (*)
• Eurizon Focus Rendimento Assoluto 3 anni (*) 
• Eurizon EasyFund Equity Consumer Staples R (**) 
• Eurizon EasyFund Orizzonte Protetto 6 (**)
• Epsilon QReturn  (***)

    *established and managed by Eurizon Capital SGR
   **established and managed by subsidiary Eurizon Capital SA
  ***established and managed by subsidiary Epsilon SGR

Milano Finanza’s rating is based on the quotations of the previous 36 months, taking the share value on the last workday of each month; for calculation ends, an increasing weight is assigned to the most recent values. The funds are divided into categories, in accordance with the classification adopted by Assogestioni, the asset management company association. To assign the rating, the funds belonging to each category are placed in three different rankings, drawn up based on:
1) the performances achieved, measured by the fund’s average monthly return;
2) consistency, number of monthly returns higher than the fund sector average;
3) level of risk taken on by the fund manager, measured based on the volatility of the fund’s monthly logarithmic changes.
The calculation algorithms assign extreme rating values only when the fund emerges as being among the best or worst of its category in all three intermediate rankings. As a result, the highest rating, i.e. triple A (AAA), is awarded only to the funds which garner the highest score in all three rankings. Ratings are not assigned to funds younger than 36; similarly, no rating is awarded to funds that in the previous 36 months have changed investment policy or show a trend that is not correlated with that of the fund sector they belong to. 

Morningstar Awards 2011

At the Morningstar Fund Awards Italy 2011, Eurizon Capital SGR won second place in the Best “Large” Bond Company category for 2011.
 
The Morningstar Awards are given to companies or groups whose funds are sold in Italy and that have achieved the best risk-adjusted performances among the full range of funds on offer on the Italian market. The Best “Large” Bond Company category includes management firms with at least 15 bond funds, rated by Morningstar, available on the Italian market.
For each category, Morningstar assigns points based on the following methodology:
a) The 5Y Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return (MRAR) is calculated for each class of funds managed by each management firm, together with the percentile positioning based on the yield achieved within the Morningstar category;
b) The MRAR is then used to calculate the average positioning per percentile of the fund, based on the average percentile of each class.

Premio Alto Rendimento

At the 13th edition of the Premio Alto Rendimento, held in Milan on 7 March 2011, the following funds managed by Eurizon Capital received awards:

> Eurizon Azioni PMI America as“Best geographic equity fund – Equity America”
> Eurizon Azioni PMI Europa as “Best geographic equity fund – Equity Europe”
> Eurizon Focus Obbligazionario Euro High Yield as “Best Euro Bond Fund”

The Premio Alto Rendimento is an award presented by the leading Italian financial daily Il Sole 24 ORE to Asset Management firms and Mutual Investment Funds that achieve outstanding results. The awards are assigned based on solid analysis criteria, which take into account a variety of factors and are inspired by the fundamental value of investor protection.

Awards are handed out based on rating criteria (calculated based on data as at 31 December 2010). The method is applied to the best funds in terms of the results achieved over the previous three years, by CSF Rating. Funds are rated based on their standing in the Sharpe Index and regression alpha on the benchmark tables, calculated on 36 monthly results. The highest rating assigned by CFS Rating is 5 stars, the lowest is 1 star. Awards are given to the funds with the best rating, that come in highest in their category’s ranking. The American Equity category includes 702 funds and asset management companies, the European Equity category by 860, and the Euro Bond category by 707.

2010 Italy Morningstar Fund Awards

Eurizon Capital SGR was named Italy’s Best Large Bond Fund Company in 2010 among asset management companies at the 2010 Italy Morningstar Fund Awards.
The following products managed by Eurizon Capital SGR and its subsidiaries were awarded:

• Eurizon EasyFund Bond High Yield, the Luxembourg-based subfund set up by Eurizon Capital SA, was named the Best High Yield Euro Bond Fund;
• Eurizon Focus Obbligazioni Euro was a Top Selection* in the Euro Government Bond Fund Category; 
• Epsilon QIncome, a fund set up and managed by Epsilon SGR, was also named a Top Selection* in the Euro Government Bond Fund Category.

The aim of the Morningstar Awards is to award the funds and asset management companies with the best risk-corrected performance in 2009 and the previous five years in each Morningstar category or group of categories. 
The Morningstar Awards are annual; accordingly, the methodology used is based on performance in the previous calendar year, with previous year results adjusted to consider performance continuity in the long-term. The funds considered must have shown above-average performance for at least three of the previous five years. This is another way of ensuring that the awards go to funds with excellent results in the previous calendar year and the demonstrated ability to confirm such results over time.

* Top Selection funds are those ranked second to fifth place.

Standard & Poor’s Fund Ratings

On 29 January 2010 Standard & Poor’s assigned the credit and volatility ratings 'AAAf/S1+' to the two Luxembourg-domiciled Eurizon Stars Fund – Cash and Eurizon EasyFund – Cash EUR funds sub-funds.

The ‘AAAf’ Rating is the top rating level for Credit Quality and means that the portfolio’s underlying investments and funds provide extremely strong protection against the risks of loss due to credit defaults.

The ‘S1+’ Rating is the lowest level on the Volatility scale and indicates that the fund features extremely low sensitivity to changing market conditions.

The Credit Quality rating incorporates the fund’s overall exposure to the risk of default and is based in part on an assessment of the current credit exposure, adopting an approach based both on the credit score matrix deriving from the rate of transition of S&P’s historical ratings and defaults, and on the process adopted by the investment manager for the securities in the credit sector.

The Volatility ratings are based on an analysis of the fund’s investment strategy and the portfolio’s risk level. The effects of the different strategies on the portfolio, such as the use of financial leverage, hedge instruments and derivatives, are further factors considered in the rating. Account is also taken of the historical volatility of the fund yields compared to the volatility of the governing benchmarks.

Lipper Awards Italy 2010

At the Lipper Fund Awards Italy, held in Milan on 11 March 2010, the Luxembourg-domiciled Eurizon EasyFund Bond High Yield R sub-fund, set up by Eurizon Capital S.A. was classified as:

• the best fund in the category of “Bond Europe - High Yield” over 3 years out of the 12 funds in that category
• the best fund in the  category of “Bond Europe - High Yield” over 5 years out of the 10 funds in that category

The Lipper Fund Awards  program honours those funds, marketed in the Country where the awards are held, that have repeatedly out-performed the average of the Lipper classification sector. The winner of the 3, 5 and 10 year classification is the highest Lipper Leader for Consistent Return (according to the Effective Return criterion),in other words the fund that, over the time horizon considered, has excelled in delivering strong risk-adjusted performance repeatedly, relative to peers.

Lipper Awards Spain 2010

At the Lipper Fund Awards Spain, held in Madrid on 4 February 2010, the Luxembourg-domiciled Eurizon EasyFund Bond High Yield subfund, set up by Eurizon Capital S.A. was classified as:

- the best fund in the category of “Bond Europe - High Yield” over 3 years
- the best fund in the  category of “Bond Europe - High Yield” over 5 years.

The Lipper Fund Awards  program honours those funds, marketed in the Country where the awards are held, that have repeatedly out-performed the average of the Lipper classification sector. The winner of the 3, 5 and 10 year classification is the highest Lipper Leader for Consistent Return (according to the Effective Return criterion),in other words the fund that, over the time horizon considered, has excelled in delivering strong risk-adjusted performance repeatedly, relative to peers.

Milano Finanza Global Awards 2010

At the 2010 Milano Finanza Global Awards, Eurizon Capital SGR received the award for Best Average Rating and Highest Number of AAA Ratings in the asset management category.

Eurizon Capital SGR and its subsidiaries' products also received Triple A ratings:

• Eurizon Multiasset Fund Dynamic R (*)
• Eurizon Multiasset Fund Trender R (*)
• Eurizon EasyFund Equity Consumer Staples (*)
• Eurizon EasyFund - Bond EUR Medium Ter (*)
• Eurizon EasyFund - Orizzonte Protetto 12 (*)
• Eurizon EasyFund - Orizzonte Protetto 6 (*)
  
• Eurizon EasyFund - ABS attivo (***)
  
• Eurizon Focus Rendimento Assoluto 3 anni (**)
• Eurizon Team 1 Classe A (**)
• Eurizon Team 2 Classe A (**)
  
• Epsilon QReturn  (****)

    *founded and managed by the subsidiary Eurizon Capital SA
  **founded and managed by Eurizon Capital SGR
 ***founded by the subsidiary Eurizon Capital SA and managed by Eurizon Capital SGR
****founded and managed by the subsidiary Epsilon SGR

Over a 36-month period, the Milano Finanza rating considers each fund’s average monthly return, number of monthly returns that outperform the segment average and the volatility of the fund’s monthly changes. Products with the best relative and absolute returns and lowest unit volatility receive the highest ratings. Milano Finanza only rates funds that have been continuously active for at least 36 months in the same category. It does not consider funds whose performance shows no correlation with their segment. 

Premio Alto Rendimento

At the 12th Annual Premio Alto Rendimento Ceremony held in Milan on 23 March 2010, the Eurizon Azioni Asia Nuove Economie fund, managed by Eurizon Capital, was named the Best Geographical Equity Fund - Pacific Asia Equity Funds out of the 587 funds in that category.

Il Sole 24 ORE gives the Premio Alto Rendimento to asset management companies and investment funds with the highest returns. The awards are given on the basis of sound analytical criteria considering a variety of elements and the fundamental principle of investor protection.

A rating system has been adopted for the awards (calculated using figures at 31 December 2009). The funds are rated on the basis of their Sharpe ratio ranking (within the CFS Rating categories) and their Regression Alpha on the benchmark, calculated using 36 monthly returns. CFS ratings range from one to five stars, five being the best. The fund with the best rating and the highest ranking in its category is awarded.

Eurofonds-Fundclass Grands Prix 2010

Eurizon Focus Azioni Paesi Emergenti, managed by Eurizon Capital, was named the best Italian fund in the Emerging Markets category at the 2010 Eurofunds-Fundclass Grand Prix.

Fundclass is an independent fund analysis agency that rates UCITSs sold in Europe on behalf of the Eurofunds consortium, comprised of European newspapers. The Fundclass ratings are calculated considering the funds' positions in the previous four years within Fundclass's risk category rankings, analysing their risk-corrected annual performance over 12 consecutive quarters. Eurofund Grand Prix winners are the funds with the most consistently excellent ratings, i.e., four and five stars (out of seven stars, including two negative stars).

Lipper Awards 2009

The ceremony for the delivery of the Lipper Fund Awards Italy was held at Milan's Principe di Savoia Hotel on 5 March 2009.
Among the funds managed by Eurizon Capital, an award was secured for:

the Luxembourg segment, Eurizon EasyFund Bond High Yield, which received the top ranking in the 'Bond Europe - High Yield 3 Years' category.

The Lipper Awards are assigned to Italian- and foreign-law funds marketed in Italy with an historic series of performance of at least 36 months as of 31 December 2008. The analysis of performance is focused on the total return.  The award-winning fund in terms of the Lipper classification sector is the fund that ranked first in the Lipper Leaders classification by Consistent Return* (according to the Effective Return criterion), with respect to the average for the Lipper classification sector. The Consistent Return criterion considers funds with returns significantly higher than the group of funds of the same type and the fund's capacity to maintain the level of performance over time.

Milano Finanza Global Awards 2009

The 2009 edition of the 'Milano Finanza Global Awards' conferred a Triple-A award to:

Eurizon EasyFund Orizzonte Protetto 6 R

Considering a 36-month horizon, the Milano Finanza rating evaluates the average monthly return of each product, the number of monthly returns in excess of the average for the sub-fund, and the volatility of the monthly changes in the fund.  The highest ratings are assigned to the products with the highest returns (relative and absolute) and the lowest volatility.  It is noted that Milano Finanza assigns its rating only to funds with at least 36 months of continuous activity in the same category, and that the funds which present performance without any correlation with the segment to which they belong are excluded from the computation.

Morningstar Awards 2009

Morningstar assigned the following award to Eurizon Capital:

Fund Selection for the Luxembourg-law fund segment, Eurizon EasyFund Equity Oceania , within the Asia Pacific Equities category; 

The awards recognize excellence in management over the medium/long term, control of risk and transparency in market information.
The methodology adopted by the Morningstar Awards honours the funds that achieved the best risk-adjusted performance in 2008, within the respective Morningstar category.  The funds examined must have held positions above the category average for at least three of the past five years.  This aspect represents another element of selection, aimed at ensuring that the awards are given to products that have achieved outstanding results during the most recent calendar year, and have demonstrated their capacity to confirm those results over time.  For additional information, see the note on methodology available on the site www.morningstar.it.

Eurizon Capital’s funds with 4 and 5 stars - Data as of February 29th 2012

Among Eurizon Capital’s product offer there are numerous mutual funds that have earned 4 and 5 stars from Morningstar’s Overall Rating.

Morningstar’s Ratings measure risk adjusted yields. The Overall Rating derives from the weighted averages of the performances associated to the rating metrics of 3,5,10 (if available) years.

Information is updated on a monthly basis.

The products that as of today have obtained 5 stars   are:

The products that have instead obtained 4 stars  are:

The funds Eurizon Capital Corporate Fund, Eurizon EasyFund, Eurizon Manager Selection Fund, Eurizon Stars Fund are of Luxembourgian law.

For further details on the Institutional class’s products:
visit the website www.eurizoncapital.lu - Institutional

Go to Morningstar’s website for further details on the rating

Morningstar Rating™
2011 Morningstar Italy. All rights are reserved. The information here contained:
(1) is a property of Morningstar and (2) cannot be copied.
The information must not be used without an appropriate verification by the customer and, if necessary, a professional opinion. Morningstar is not responsible for any damage or loss deriving from the use of the information and the reader agrees that the information provided by Morningstar, eventually through the Licensee, is used at the customer’s risk. There is no guarantee that past results will be confirmed in the future.