HSBC portfolio investment funds

Ongoing charges are made up of the annual management charge (AMC) and other expenses. The other expenses include things like: portfolio administration services, accounting and legal fees, and custodian and settlement charges for the investments the World Selection portfolio holds. When you combine these with the AMC, you have the ongoing charge, which is the combined annual operating expense of the portfolio.

The ongoing charge is payable to the fund manager of the World Selection portfolios (HSBC Global Asset Management (UK) Limited). You won't see this charge shown on a statement – instead of being taken from your investment, it's reflected in the price of the shares.

Details of the total ongoing costs associated with each World Selection portfolio are documented in the key investor information documents (KIIDs) and factsheets which are updated from time to time. Refer to these documents for the latest ongoing charges and current prices before you invest.

Speak to one of our wealth management experts about which portfolio might be right for you.

Equity is another name for share. A share is a stake in the company that has issued it. The value of the share depends on a number of factors including how well the company is performing financially.

A fund that invests in shares will hold a stake in a range of companies and the value of this stake is often dependent upon the expectation of the future profits those companies will make, as well as their past profitability.

Bonds are issued by a company to raise money. By investing in a bond the fund lends the company money. In return the fund receives interest payments, plus the return of the original investment, when the bond matures.

This asset class covers other types of assets such as property, private equity and commodities.

These are associated with very low levels of risk and the return they offer is usually low, compared to other investments. Cash investments are short term and provide a return in the form of interest payments.

A higher level of risk could bring the potential for greater growth, but there's also more chance that your investment could go down in value.

When you choose an investment, you should think about the level of risk you're willing to take and how much you might be willing to lose.

How comfortable would you feel if your investments fell in value? How would a loss impact your finances in the short term? In the long term?

To decide if a certain level of risk might be ok for you, have a read the risk description for each of the 5 portfolios.

If you're not sure about investing or how much risk is appropriate for you, please seek financial advice.

Each portfolio is given a risk category. To keep within this risk category, the fund manager continuously tracks the performance of individual assets, and they use their understanding of the market to adjust the holdings in the fund.

The fund manager’s goal is always to maximise the return within the portfolio’s designated level of risk.

The commentary below is general in nature and only provides a summary of the principal tax considerations for certain UK resident investors who are individuals and who hold investments in HSBC World Selection portfolios. The actual tax consequences of any investment will depend upon your specific circumstances, therefore we would recommend you seek professional tax advice.

Where a share class of an offshore fund has UK reporting fund status, broadly, any gain on the disposal of such a holding is treated as a capital gain and subject to UK capital gains tax rules.

Since 1 August 2015, all HSBC World Selection portfolio share classes have UK reporting fund status. This means that from 1 August 2015, for UK resident investors who are individuals who invest in an HSBC World Selection portfolio share class for the first time, any gain on the disposal of such a holding is treated as a capital gain and subject to UK capital gains tax rules. Funds which convert to UK reporting fund status.

When a non-reporting offshore fund/share class converts to having UK reporting fund status, a UK investor will have the option to make an election to treat themselves as disposing of their investment in the fund immediately before it became a reporting fund and then reacquiring it as an investment in a reporting fund. The effect of making such an election results in any gains on this deemed disposal being treated as offshore income gains and subject to income tax. Future gains in respect of the 'reacquired' investment will be subject to capital gains tax treatment. If a UK investor opts not to make such an election, the entire gain will be taxed as offshore income gains and subject to income tax.

Please note that an exchange of shares between different funds of HSBC World Selection portfolios is regarded as a disposal (i.e. if you sell out of one HSBC World Selection portfolio and invest the proceeds in another World Selection portfolio, that is considered a disposal and any gains will be chargeable to tax).

Regulations on international tax transparency may require us to report certain information about you to the Jersey tax authority, where your account is held. Under international agreements to exchange account information, the Jersey tax authority may transfer this information to the tax authorities of other jurisdictions in which you may be tax resident.

Therefore, before choosing any investment products, it's important that all of your personal details are complete and accurate otherwise we won't be able to process your application.

Please review the existing details on your online banking profile in the 'Update your details' section and provide the new information we need:

We also need to collect information from you about your tax residencies and relevant tax identification numbers. If we don't have this information, our administration team will need to contact you, which will delay your application.

Depending on the information you provide, we may also need to contact you for further supporting documentation as required by our regulatory requirements.

If you've updated your details recently, these don't need to be supplied again. If your personal information changes in the future, please tell us within 30 days.