ETHENEA and MainFirst: Joint ManCo as of 01.01.2024

Management of the fund companies ETHENEA Independent Investors S.A. and MainFirst Affiliated Fund Managers S.A. will be bundled under one roof

Munsbach, 13 December 2023 − The administration of the fund companies ETHENEA and MainFirst will be combined under one roof in future. This will make the back-office functions more efficient but will not affect the decision-making processes in portfolio management or the individual philosophy for the management of each fund. For investors, the change is purely administrative and will have no impact on their investments or their personal investment situation.

ETHENEA Independent Investors S.A. will act as the management company for all asset management companies belonging to Haron Holding S.A. from 1 January 2024. The ETHENEA brand with the Ethna Funds will be continued and the MainFirst and Hesper fund brands and their investment funds will also remain unaffected by this step. The most important factors for investors - the independent investment concepts of the individual products and the experienced fund management teams - will remain unchanged, and they will be able to rely on bundled and powerful back-office support.

Thomas Bernard, CEO of Haron Holding S.A., to which ETHENEA and MainFirst belong, explains the advantages of the reorganisation: "With this step, we are creating the legal basis for the functions in the management company to continue to grow together. Until now, ETHENEA and MainFirst have performed the tasks of a management company in parallel. However, the legal separation has made cross-divisional cooperation and the utilisation of shared resources more difficult. As both companies are located at the same site and are partly managed by the same people, there has of course already been a joint exchange, but this was limited by legal hurdles. This is neither up-to-date nor efficient. That is why we will be bundling the tasks under one roof from 1 January 2024. By realising synergy potential, we are responding to increasing regulatory requirements and highly competitive pressures on the cost side. In the future, it will no longer be necessary for two management companies to carry out processes that are ultimately also necessary for legal reasons. We look forward to using the capacities and positive energy that this change will release to further develop our Group strategically and lead it successfully into the future - for the benefit of investors."

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