Claims Policy

GUIDELINES FOR SETTLING CLAIMS
(CLAIMS POLICY)

AVANT investiční společnost, a.s. (hereafter the Company) pursuant to Act No. 240/2013 Coll. on Investment Companies and Investment Funds, as amended (hereafter the Act):

1. RECITALS

    1.1. Unless otherwise stated, terms used in this IR have the meanings defined in IR_00 Internal Standards System.

    1.2. The Company is obliged to proceed in the performance of its obligations arising from generally binding legal regulations, or from a contract or documentation analogous to the contract concluded with the Investor (hereinafter referred to as the “Contract“), while exercising all professional care, under the terms and conditions set out in the Contract and in generally binding legal regulations.

    1.3. Where the Company administers but does not manage Funds, it shall follow the claims policy of such Funds (if applicable) when processing claims and complaints received from investors of those Funds. Where the Company delegates the processing of investor claims and complaints in relation to a Fund to another person, the procedures and policies for processing claims and complaints received from investors of those Funds shall be governed by the claims policy of the person so delegated.

    1.4. A complaint is a notice of a deficiency, misconduct or inaction by the Company or an Employee with respect to the Investor. Claim means an expression of dissatisfaction with the quality of the Company’s performance under the Contract. The procedure for processing Investor claims and complaints is analogical.

    1.5. An Investor who believes that the Company has not acted in accordance with paragraph 1.2 of this IR has the right to make a claim or complaint under this IR and applicable generally binding legal regulations. The legal prerequisite for filing a claim or complaint is a duly concluded Contract.

    1.6. Claim procedure means a set of work activities including identification of defects, decision on the legitimacy of the claim or complaint, settlement of legal claims arising from the claim or complaint and execution of the necessary accounting operations related to the claim or complaint.

    1.7. Processing of complaints and claims is always free of charge.

    2. FILING A CLAIM

    2.1. If an Investor identifies a defect, he/she shall file a claim:

    • with the Company or a person authorized by the Company to process investor claims and complaints, provided in the KID,
    • in writing, whereas an email signed with a qualified electronic signature shall be deemed written form,
    • in the period as per par. 3.1 of this IR,

    2.2. A claim filed by the Investor must contain data and documents on the basis of which the Company will investigate the legitimacy of the claim and decide whether the claim is justified, in particular:

    • name and surname/name and contact person of the Investor,
    • Investor’s residence/registered office or other contact address,
    • date of birth/ID number of the Investor,
    • reason for the claim,
    • a list of attachments as well as all attachments confirming legitimacy of the claim,
    • date and a handwritten signature or qualified electronic signature.

    2.3. If the claim does not contain data and documents allowing to assess its legitimacy, the Company will ask the Investor to complete the claim. If the Investor fails to complete the required data or documents within the specified time limit (not less than 7 days), the Company will reject such claim as unjustified.

    3. TIME LIMITS

    3.1. The Investor is obliged to file a claim without undue delay after discovering deficiencies or irregularities, but no later than 3 months from the occurrence of the deficiency or irregularity, unless otherwise defined in the Contract.

    3.2. The Company is obliged to take a position on the complaint or claim and process it, i.e. to notify the Investor whether it accepts the complaint or claim or inform the Investor about the grounds of rejection, and to send a written statement to the Investor within 30 days from the date of receipt of the claim or from the date of its completion pursuant to par. 2.3. of this IR.

    3.3. If the Company cannot resolve the complaint or claim within 30 days for objective reasons, it shall inform the Investor of the reason and, if applicable, how the claim is being or will be resolved, including a new deadline for its resolution. In doing so, the Company is mandated to comply with the following provisions of this IR.

    4. SETTLEMENT

    4.1. The Compliance Officer is responsible for the proper processing of the claim sent by the Investor to the Company, as well as for checking its status. If the claim or complaint is directed at the Compliance & Legal, a member of the Company´s Board of Directors, or the person authorized by him/her to process the claim or complaint will ensure its proper processing.

    4.2. Claims received by the Company by post are accepted by the administration department. In case of a personal delivery, claims are received by the business department, asset manager director, asset management officer or administration department. The person receiving the claim may discuss the claim with the Investor and subsequently document the meeting in the “Investor Complaint/Claim Form” attached as Annex No. 3 to this IR. The form is then signed by the Investor and the Employee who received the claim in two copies, whereas one copy will be given to the Investor. If a claim is delivered in writing, the Employee who received the claim will fill in the form and subsequently attach it to documents received from the Investor.

    4.3. The person who received the claim will inform the Compliance Officer as the person responsible for proper and complete processing of claims and issue of documents necessary for its settlement, and will provide him/her with all documents and materials related to the specific claim. Each received Investor claim or complaint is entered by the Compliance Officer in the relevant records. Employees involved in the processing of the claim provide all necessary cooperation to the Compliance Officer to ensure proper recordkeeping.

    4.4. All documents related to the processing of a specific claim are archived by the Company for at least 5 years, unless generally binding legal regulations provide for a longer period.

    4.5. By virtue of his/her position, the Compliance Officer and the Internal Auditor have access to the records of Investor complaints and claims. The Compliance Officer is obliged to coordinate the development of corrective measures and to check the compliance of the proposed measures with legal regulations with regard to the claims filed against the Company and the results of their settlement.

    5. REJECTION OF CLAIM

    5.1. A claim will be rejected if the investigation has established it is unfounded or the information in the claim is incorrect and the Company has credible evidence to reject it.

    6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF CLAIM

    6.1. When the Company acknowledges a complaint or a claim, the Compliance Officer will, depending on the content of the claim, appoint a specific Employee to settle the claim with the Investor. The name of such Employee will subsequently be communicated to the Investor. The specific issue that is the subject of the claim will be addressed without undue delay.

    6.2. The Investor is obliged to provide necessary assistance to the Company for processing the claim.

    6.3. The person whose activities are the subject of the claim will prepare a written response. He/she will consult the proposed resolution of the claim or complaint with his/her supervisor. Once agreed, the response will be forwarded to the Compliance Officer for archiving.

    6.4. If a complaint is filed against an Employee who is in charge of its processing, the Investor will communicate directly with the Compliance Officer, who will personally process the claim.

    7. CHANGES TO CLAIMS POLICY

    7.1. The Claims Policy stipulates the rules that are followed by the Employees in the processing of complaints and claims and is attached as Annex No. 3 to the IR.

    7.2. In the event of a change to the Claims Policy, the Company will notify Investors of the change in writing in a timely manner, and any change to the Claims Policy will be published at the Company’s registered office and on the Company’s website. The means of notification of the new version of the Claims Policy to the Investor, as well as the qualified manner of expressing the Investor’s consent to the relevant changes, will be governed by the relevant provisions of the Contract, as applicable.

    8. FINAL PROVISIONS

    8.1. The rules set out in the internal standards issued by the Company in accordance with the provisions of the AICIF and the generally binding implementing provisions of the AICIF will be observed by the Company and all its Employees in their activities consisting in the management and administration of investment funds within the meaning of Section 5 and Section 38 of the AICIF and the provision of services to investment companies. The rules will apply to all Employees, i.e. both the Company’s employees under employment contracts and under agreements on work performed outside the employment relation, as well as persons, including their employees, performing work for the Company on the basis of other contractual arrangements, within outsourcing in the sense of Sections 23 et seq. and 52 et seq. of the AICIF, etc.

    8.2. This IR is kept at the registered office of the Company and may be updated from time to time as needed and also in response to changes in generally binding legislation.

    In Prague, on 6 September 2021

    CLAIMS POLICY

    1. This Claims Policy specifies the rules and procedures for the free of charge processing of complaints and claims of shareholders and stockholders (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Investor”) of funds administered by AVANT investiční společnost, a.s. (hereinafter referred to as the “Company”).
    2. The legal prerequisite for filing a complaint or claim is a duly concluded contract or contractual documentation analogous to the contract whereunder the Company provides services to the Investor (hereinafter referred to as the “Contract”).
    3. The Investor must file a complaint or claim exclusively in writing. An email signed with a qualified electronic signature is also considered written form.
    4. The Investor is obliged to file a claim or complaint without undue delay after discovering deficiencies or irregularities, but no later than within 3 months from the occurrence of the deficiency or irregularity, unless otherwise defined in the Contract.
    5. A claim filed by the Investor must contain data and documents on the basis of which the Company will investigate the legitimacy of the claim and decide whether the claim is justified, in particular:
    • name and surname/name and contact person of the Investor,
    • Investor’s residence/registered office or other contact address,
    • date of birth/ID number of the Investor,
    • reason for the claim,
    • a list of attachments as well as all attachments confirming legitimacy of the claim,
    • date and handwritten signature or a qualified electronic signature.
    1. If the claim does not contain data and documents allowing to assess its legitimacy, the Company will ask the Investor to complete the claim. If the Investor fails to complete the required data or documents within the specified time limit (not less than 7 days), the Company will reject such claim as unjustified.
    2. The Company is obliged to take a position on the complaint or claim and process it, i.e. to notify the Investor whether it accepts the complaint or claim or inform the Investor about the grounds of rejection, and to send a written statement to the Investor within 30 days from the date of receipt of the claim or from the date of its completion pursuant to the previous point. If the Company cannot resolve the complaint or claim within 30 days for objective reasons, it shall inform the Investor of the reason and, if applicable, how the claim is being or will be resolved, including a new deadline for its resolution.
    3. The Investor is obliged to provide the Company with the necessary assistance in resolving the claim.
    4. The complaint or claim will be either acknowledged or rejected by the Company in a written communication to the Investor.
    5. The complaint or claim will be rejected by the Company if the investigation has established it is unfounded or the information in the claim is incorrect and the Company has credible evidence to reject the claim.
    6. When the Company acknowledges the complaint or a claim, the specific issue that is the subject of the claim will be addressed without undue delay and the name of the Company employee who will process the claim will be communicated to the Investor.
    7. If the complaint is filed against a Company employee who is in charge of handling the complaint, the Investor will communicate directly with the Compliance Officer, who will personally process the claim as a person responsible for proper and complete settlement of claims and issue of accompanying documents.