Under normal circumstances, the Fund will provide exposure to investments that are economically tied to at least three different countries, including the U.S and at least 40%, unless market conditions are not deemed favorable, in which case at least 30% of the Fund's net assets will provide exposure to investments that are economically tied to countries other than the U.S. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in securities of issuers located in emerging market countries, i.e., those that are generally in the early stages of their industrial cycles.
The Fund may invest in securities of issuers of all capitalization sizes. Real estate companies tend to have smaller asset bases compared with other market sectors, therefore, the Fund may hold a significant amount of securities of small- and mid-capitalization issuers.
The Fund may engage in short sales of securities. The Fund may engage in short sales with respect to securities it owns or securities it does not own. Generally, the Fund will sell a security short to (1) take advantage of an expected decline in the security price in anticipation of purchasing the same security at a later date at a lower price, or (2) to protect a profit in a security that it owns. The Fund will not sell a security short if, as a result of such short sale, the aggregate market value of all securities sold short exceeds 10% of the Fund's net assets.
The Fund can invest in derivative instruments including forward foreign currency contracts.
The Fund can use forward foreign currency contracts to hedge against adverse movements in the foreign currencies in which portfolio securities are denominated; though the Fund has not historically used these instruments.
When constructing the portfolio, the portfolio managers use a fundamentals-driven investment process, including an evaluation of factors such as property market cycle analysis, property evaluation and management and structure review to identify securities with characteristics including (i) quality underlying properties, (ii) solid management teams with the ability to effectively manage capital structure decisions and execute their stated strategic plan, and (iii) attractive valuations relative to peer investment alternatives.
The portfolio managers focus on equity REITs and real estate operating issuers. Each qualified security in the investment universe is analyzed using fundamental real estate analysis and valuation review to identify securities that appear to have relatively favorable long-term prospects and attractive values. Some of the fundamental real estate factors that are considered include: forecasted occupancy and rental rates of the various property markets in which a firm may operate, property locations, physical attributes, management depth and skill, insider ownership, overall debt levels, percentage of variable rate financing and fixed charge coverage ratios. The issuers that are believed to have the most attractive fundamental real estate attributes are then evaluated on the basis of relative value. Some of the valuation factors that are considered include: cash flow consistency and growth, dividend yield, dividend coverage and growth, and cash flow and assets to price multiples.
The portfolio managers seek to construct a portfolio with risk characteristics similar to the FTSE EPRA Nareit Developed Index. The Fund uses this index as a guide in structuring the portfolio, but the Fund is not an index fund.
The portfolio managers seek to limit risk through various controls, such as diversifying the portfolio property types and geographic areas as well as by considering the relative liquidity of each security and limiting the size of any one holding.
The portfolio managers will consider selling a security if they conclude (1) its relative valuation has fallen below desired levels, (2) its risk/return profile has changed significantly, (3) its fundamentals have changed, or (4) a more attractive investment opportunity is identified.
As part of the Fund's investment process to implement its investment strategy in pursuit of its investment objective, the Fund's portfolio managers may also consider both qualitative and quantitative environmental, social and governance ("ESG") factors they believe to be material to understand an
issuer's fundamentals, assess whether any ESG factors pose a material financial risk or opportunity to the issuer and determine whether such risks are appropriately reflected in the issuer's valuation. This analysis may involve the use of third-party research as well as proprietary research. Consideration of ESG factors is just one component of the portfolio managers' assessment of issuers eligible for investment and not necessarily determinative to an investment decision. Therefore, the Fund's portfolio managers may still invest in securities of issuers that may be viewed as having a high ESG risk profile. The ESG factors considered by the Fund's portfolio managers may change over time, one or more factors may not be relevant with respect to all issuers eligible for investment and ESG considerations may not be applied to each issuer or Fund investment.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
As with any mutual fund investment, loss of money is a risk of investing. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. The risks associated with an investment in the Fund can increase during times of significant market volatility. The principal risks of investing in the Fund are:
Market Risk. The market values of the Fund's investments, and therefore the value of the Fund's shares, will go up and down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. Market risk may affect a single issuer, industry or section of the economy, or it may affect the market as a whole. The value of the Fund's investments may go up or down due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to the particular issuer, such as real or perceived adverse economic conditions, changes in the general outlook for revenues or corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates, regional or global instability, natural or environmental disasters, widespread disease or other public health issues, war, military conflict, acts of terrorism, economic crisis or adverse investor sentiment generally. During a general downturn in the financial markets, multiple asset classes may decline in value. When markets perform well, there can be no assurance that specific investments held by the Fund will rise in value.
REIT Risk/Real Estate Risk. Investments in real estate related instruments may be adversely affected by economic, legal, cultural, environmental or technological factors that affect property values, rents or occupancies. Shares of real estate related companies, which tend to be small- and mid-cap companies, may be more volatile and less liquid than larger companies. If a real estate related company defaults on certain types of debt obligations held by the Fund, the Fund may acquire real estate directly, which involves additional risks such as environmental liabilities; difficulty in valuing and selling the real estate; and economic or regulatory changes.
Investing in Stocks Risk. The value of the Fund's portfolio may be affected by changes in the stock markets. Stock markets may experience significant short-term volatility and may fall or rise sharply at times. Adverse events in any part of the equity or fixed-income markets may have unexpected negative effects on other market segments. Different stock markets may behave differently from each other and U.S. stock markets may move in the opposite direction from one or more foreign stock markets.
The prices of individual stocks generally do not all move in the same direction at the same time. However, individual stock prices tend to go up and down more dramatically than those of certain other types of investments, such as bonds. A variety of factors can negatively affect the price of a particular company's stock. These factors may include, but are not limited to: poor earnings reports, a loss of customers, litigation against the company, general unfavorable performance of the company's sector or industry, or changes in government regulations affecting the company or its industry. To the extent that securities of a particular type are emphasized (for example foreign stocks, stocks of small- or mid-cap companies, growth or value stocks, or stocks of companies in a particular industry), fund share values may fluctuate more in response to events affecting the market for those types of securities.
2 Invesco V.I. Global Real Estate Fund