Principal investments

Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowing for investment purposes) in equity securities that are tied economically to emerging market countries, which may include equity securities issued by companies domiciled in emerging market countries. Such investments may be represented by investments in securities of other investment companies that invest primarily in equity securities that are tied economically to emerging market countries. The fund generally defines emerging market countries as countries that are not included in the MSCI World Index of major world economies. However, countries included in this index may be considered emerging markets based on current political and economic factors. The fund may not always diversify its investments on a geographic basis among emerging market countries.

The fund may invest, to a limited extent, in (1) bonds, including up to 10% of its total assets in bonds that are below investment grade, which are commonly known as "junk bonds," and (2) securities of other investment companies, including exchange-traded funds ("ETFs"), that invest in emerging markets. The fund invests in securities of companies with varying market capitalizations.

Management process

The fund employs a "manager of managers" structure. UBS AM, the fund's manager and primary provider of investment advisory services, has the ultimate authority, subject to oversight by the fund's board, to oversee the fund's subadvisor(s) and recommend their hiring, termination and replacement, and to allocate assets among the fund's subadvisor(s). The relative value of each subadvisor's share of the fund's assets may change over time.

UBS AM's investment process begins with subadvisor selection. UBS AM's portfolio management team constructs a list of potential subadvisors based on information primarily from internal sources and the team's collective knowledge of the industry, but also supplemented by external sources. The team then focuses its research on that list to identify a small number of the most attractive candidates. This research includes analyzing the portfolio holdings and/or positioning of a subadvisor's investment strategy to understand whether the allocation of risk and the drivers of alpha are consistent with the subadvisor's investment philosophy and stated strengths. The most attractive sub-set of those subadvisors is then selected for in-depth, on-site due diligence meetings with representatives from the investment, operations and compliance groups within UBS AM. The due diligence information is then synthesized to select the most attractive candidate(s) for the fund, subject to the board's approval.

In managing the fund and overseeing the fund's subadvisor(s), UBS AM views its research process as an ongoing one, as the team continually seeks to confirm a subadvisor's investment thesis over the appropriate investment horizon. In general, UBS AM leverages its research and market knowledge to construct funds with exposure to various subadvisors that are expected, in combination, to produce the desired overall fund characteristics. UBS AM's ongoing monitoring and risk management process incorporates daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual responsibilities designed to monitor the drivers of fund risk and performance at the subadvisor level and at the overall fund level. Through this process, UBS AM may adjust a fund's positioning by altering its allocation weights across subadvisors within the fund and/or by changing the specific subadvisors within the fund.

The main strategies of the subadvisors include:

•  A strategy that invests in mid and large cap companies with a quality growth orientation.

•  A strategy that combines top-down analyses of economic, political and social factors with bottom-up quantitative and qualitative fundamental research to seek to identify countries, sectors and companies with robust growth characteristics.

•  A disciplined, deep value strategy based on fundamental research.