The Citigroup Economic Surprise Indices quantitative measures of economic news – defined as weighted historical standard deviations of data surprises. A positive reading of the Economic Surprise Index suggests that economic releases have on balance been beating consensus. The indices are calculated daily in a rolling three-month window.
About Risk
Many countries in the European Union are susceptible to high economic risks associated with high levels of debt, notably due to investments in sovereign debts of European countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain.
The dollar value of foreign investments will be affected by changes in the exchange rates between the dollar and the currencies in which those investments are traded.
There are risks involved with investing in ETFs, including possible loss of money. Shares are not actively managed and are subject to risks similar to those of stocks, including those regarding short selling and margin maintenance requirements. Ordinary brokerage commissions apply. The fund’s return may not match the return of the Underlying Index. The fund is subject to certain other risks. Please see the current prospectus for more information regarding the risk associated with an investment in the fund.
The risks of investing in securities of foreign issuers can include fluctuations in foreign currencies, political and economic instability, and foreign taxation issues.
The economies of the countries in the Asia Pacific region are largely intertwined, if an economic recession is experienced by any of these countries, it will like adversely impact the economic performance of other countries in the region.
Currency hedging can reduce or eliminate losses or gains and can also be subject to imperfect matching between the derivative and its reference asset. There is no assurance the fund’s hedging strategy will be effective. Some foreign currency forward contracts are less liquid, which may result in the fund being unable to structure its hedging transactions as intended and may be unable to obtain sufficient liquidity in an underlying currency. As a result, the fund’s hedging transactions may not successfully reduce the currency risk included in the fund’s portfolio.
The funds are non-diversified and may experience greater volatility than a more diversified investment.
There is no assurance that the funds will provide low volatility.
PowerShares Japan Currency Hedged Low Volatility Portfolio (FXJP)
The Japanese economy has been adversely affected by trade tariffs and competition from emerging economies, and has experienced the effects of the economic slowdown in the United States and Europe. Japan’s economy also faces several other concerns, including a financial system with large levels of nonperforming loans, over-leveraged corporate balance sheets, a changing corporate governance structure and large government deficits, which may cause a continued slowdown.
PowerShares Developed EuroPacific Currency Hedged Low Volatility Portfolio (FXEP)
Stocks of small and mid-capitalization companies tend to be more vulnerable to adverse developments, may be more volatile, and may be illiquid or restricted as to resale than large companies.