You are at risk when you participate in the ASP plan

These risks are entirely for your own account. The returns on investments can always fluctuate in the interim. The final yield is also not fixed.

Less risk as you get older

In general, it is wise to take less risk with your investments as your retirement age approaches. This is because you will have less time to make up for poor returns.

Different risks

When investing in the ASP plan, you have different risks:

Interest rate risk

Interest rate risk is the chance that bond prices will fall due to rising interest rates. Interest rate risk should be medium for the Investment Fund. The mutual fund invests primarily in medium-term bonds. Prices are less sensitive to changes in interest rates than prices of long-term bonds.

Income Risk

Income risk is the probability that the Investment Fund's income will decline due to falling interest rates. Income risk is medium for medium-term bonds. Investors should consider the possibility that the monthly income of the Investment Fund may fluctuate.

Credit Risk

Credit risk is the probability that the issuer of a bond will be unable to pay interest and/or principal. Or that the payment of interest or principal causes the price of the bonds in question to fall. Credit risk should be low for the Investment Fund. This is because the Investment Fund only buys:

• bonds issued by governments or;
• bonds of good investment quality

Redemption risk (also called prepayment risk).

Redemption risk is the probability that the issuers of redeemable bonds will be able to redeem the securities with higher yields or higher interest rates. Or redeem them before their maturity date. Does the interest rate fall? Then the Investment Fund loses the potential price increase. The Investment Fund then has to reinvest these unexpected returns at lower interest rates. That causes a decrease in the Investment Fund's income.

For mortgage-backed securities, this is called prepayment risk. Redemption risk should be medium for the Investment Fund. The Investment Fund invests only a portion of its assets in redeemable bonds and mortgage-backed securities.

Index Sampling Risk

Index sampling risk is the probability that the securities selected for the Investment Fund will not provide the same investment return as that of its benchmark index. Index sampling risk for the Investment Fund should be low.

Currency Risk

Currency risk is the probability that fluctuations in exchange rates will have an adverse effect on the value of investments held by the Investment Fund.Currency risk is low for investors investing from euro. Currency risk is high for all other investors.