2025/12 - Ebi Portfolio Changes

Ebi are making a strategic, positive change to the underlying investment funds within your portfolio.

As an independent financial advisory firm, our foundational approach is an Evidence-Based Investment Philosophy. This philosophy dictates that investment decisions are grounded in rigorous academic research and long-term data, not market speculation or short-term trends.

We believe this investment philosophy will lead to the highest expected returns considering your risk profile. Ultimately, the aim is to give you the most money to live your ideal life with in the future.

MUVADO’s core expertise lies in financial planning and advice and not the continuous research and real-time tracking of every available investment fund. Therefore, we recommend outsourced implementation of this philosophy to a specialist discretionary investment manager.

Following a research of all available options in the market, we selected ebi as our chosen investment partner. They have the size, time, and expertise to continuously research and track the best available implementation options in the market and get the lowest cost possible for you.

ebi is partnering with Amundi, one of the world’s top 10 asset managers measured by assets under management, to introduce a new suite of four exclusive factor funds.¹

These new funds are designed to provide enhanced factor exposure and significant tax advantages over the current holdings. I outline the changes below

The current funds will be sold and new funds bought from Thursday 11^th December on the Fundment platform.

The date for change has not been confirmed for the Transact platform yet.

The new funds represent a significant enhancement to the Earth and Earth UK portfolios, driven by two core benefits: tax efficiency and a more academically grounded factor approach.

1. Enhanced Tax Advantages & Net Benefit

The new funds utilise a master–feeder structure (Luxembourg feeder fund investing in an Irish-domiciled ETF). This structure is critical because it allows the funds to benefit from the favourable tax treaty between Ireland and the US.

• Reduced Withholding Tax: The tax rate on US dividends is reduced from the standard 30% to 15%.

  
  

• Estimated Net Benefit: This tax saving is expected to deliver a meaningful net benefit to your portfolio. Based on historical analysis, the estimated saving on US dividends alone could average around 0.20% per annum across the funds. This benefit is expected to outweigh the marginal increase in the portfolio’s overall OCF (an increase of just 0.002%).

2. Robust, Academically Grounded Strategy

The new funds are built in partnership with Amundi, a global leader in index and ETF solutions, ensuring institutional-grade fund manufacturing and operational excellence.

• Consistent Approach: Each new fund tracks a carefully constructed MSCI index, providing a more transparent, consistent, and systematic approach to factor implementation compared to the incumbent funds.

  
  

• Strong ESG Alignment: All new funds are classified as ‘SFDR Article 8’ and incorporate robust Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria. The funds feature significant business exclusions (e.g., controversial weapons, thermal coal, tobacco) and target a 30% reduction in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) intensity versus their parent benchmarks.

• Tax. Where investments are held in an ISA or pension, there are no tax implications. If you hold the ebi Earth investment strategy in a General Investment Account, there are potential tax implications. We've contacted you separately if this is the case.

  
  

• Time out the market. There will be 2 to 3 days out of the market between selling the current investment funds and buying the new funds. If investments go down in this time, it will work in your favour. If investments go up, you'll miss out on some investment return.

These changes align fully with our firm's long-term commitment to providing you with the best available, most effective, and appropriate investment solutions in the market.

We have reviewed these enhancements and approve ebi’s decision to improve the robustness, tax efficiency, and ESG alignment of the underlying portfolio components.

There is no action required from you to benefit from these changes.

Should you have any immediate questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Risk warnings

Investments do not give the same capital security as cash deposits. Investments carry risks. The value of your investment (and any income from them) can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Tax rates may change in the future.