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Risks

Investors need to be aware of risks before investing.

Credit & counterparty risk​

  • Investors in the US T-Bills Money Market Fund are exposed to the risk of default by the United States Treasury on its ultra short-term debt obligations.
  • Investors in the EU T-Bills Money Market Fund are exposed to the risk of default by selected Eurozone countries on their ultra short-term debt obligations.
  • Regarding the small portion of cash that can be held temporarily by the Funds at its custodian bank, investors in the Fund are exposed to the risk of default of this bank.
Mitigants
  • The US Fund only invests in US T-Bills which are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. Since the end of the gold convertibility of the dollar in 1971 (end of the Gold Standard era), the US has never defaulted on its debt or failed to pay its bills.
  • In the Eurozone, the EU Fund only invests in bills issued by countries whose debt is classified as "investment grade" by world's top credit rating agencies.
  • Regarding the depositary, CACEIS is a subsidiary of global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) Groupe Crédit Agricole and Santander. CACEIS ranks amongst the world’s ten biggest custodians and holds more than $5tn assets under custody. CACEIS Bank has appointed JP Morgan as its correspondent bank for the USD. JP Morgan is the largest bank in the United States.

Interest rate risk​

If interest rates set by central banks become very low or negative or if T-Bills face exceptionally strong demand, the yield of the Funds can become negative.

Mitigants

If that happens, you can withdraw your money from the Funds at any time and place it in stablecoins or in a current account that costs - and yields - nothing.

FX risk​

Investors whose reference currency is different from that of the Fund in which they invest are exposed to exchange rate variations.

mitigants

Be careful to invest in a fund denominated in your reference currency if you do not wish to have exposure to exchange rate fluctuations.

Operational risk​

The Spiko T-Bills Money Market Funds use public blockchain networks to maintain and manage the register of shareholders. Although already well-tested, these technologies are relatively recent, and unexpected malfunctions could pose temporary operational issues.

mitigants

As required by law in our jurisdiction, a business continuity plan is in place in order to continue the Funds' activities even in the event that such disruptions were to materialize. Investors remain owners of their Fund shares and have a claim on the underlying assets held by the Fund.

Private key custody risk​

Investors who opt to use their own wallet to receive their Fund shares are responsible for securing their private key and for managing the associated wallet securely.

mitigants

Use Spiko's custodial solution if you do not want to be responsible for your private key.