NOT FOR RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION OR PUBLICATION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES
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Guernsey, 6 July 2012 - Volta Finance Limited (the "Company", "Volta Finance" or "Volta") announces a revised classification of its assets in order to adapt its communications to current market practices and terminology and to be helpful to investors.
Since Volta's inception, its assets have been classified in 4 categories: Corporate Credits, CDOs, ABS and Leveraged Loans. The new categories will be: Cash Corporate Credit, Synthetic Corporate Credit, CLO and ABS.
CLO will be further subdivided into USD CLO Equity, USD CLO Debt, EUR CLO Equity and EUR CLO Debt, in recognition of the significant increase in Volta's CLO holdings over the past 3 years.
Apart from CLOs, Volta also has exposure to corporate credit risk through cash or synthetic deals. The Company believes it makes sense to split those deals according to this distinction and to express clearly if a specific position has either (a) a subordination to defaults ("Debt" position), or is (b) a first loss position ("Equity" position). Amongst Synthetic Corporate Credit positions, recognizing the specifics of Bank Balance Sheet Transactions relative to other synthetic arbitrage deals should provide additional transparency to Volta's portfolio.
The full list of assets and their previous and new classification is given below.
Volta will take advantage of these changes in communication to update the way it presents geographical and currency exposure. The way assets are classified below gives a clearer picture of such issues. From the June 2012 monthly report, Volta will incorporate a table of currency exposures.
For the sake of clarity, the Company does not propose any change to the primary underlying assets in which it invests. The Company will change the classification of its assets for investor reporting purposes only. The changes will have no effect on the categorisation of its assets for IFRS purposes.
| Main Asset Class | % of GAV* | Detailed Asset Class | % of GAV* |
| CLO | 61.8 | USD CLO Equity | 22.0 |
| USD CLO Debt | 21.2 | ||
| EUR CLO Equity | 1.8 | ||
| EUR CLO Debt | 16.7 | ||
| Synthetic Corporate Credit | 17.4 | Synthetic Corporate Credit Equity | 3.1 |
| Synthetic Corporate Credit Debt | 10.1 | ||
| Bank Balance Sheet Transactions | 4.3 | ||
| Cash Corporate Credit | 10.7 | Cash Corporate Credit Equity | 8.8 |
| Cash Corporate Credit Debt | 1.8 | ||
| ABS | 2.8 | Mortgage Residual Positions | 1.4 |
| ABS Debt | 1.4 | ||
| Cash | 7.3 | Cash | 7.3 |
*As of End of May 2012
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ABOUT VOLTA FINANCE LIMITED
Volta Finance Limited is incorporated in Guernsey under the Companies (Guernsey) Laws, 1994 to 1996 (as amended) and listed on Euronext Amsterdam. Its investment objectives are to preserve capital and to provide a stable stream of income to its shareholders through dividends. For this purpose, it pursues a multi-asset investment strategy targeting various underlying assets. The assets that the Company may invest in either directly or indirectly include, but are not limited to: corporate credits; sovereign and quasi-sovereign debt; residential mortgage loans; automobile loans. Volta Finance Limited's basic approach to its underlying assets is through vehicles and arrangements that provide leveraged exposure to some of those underlying assets.
Volta Finance Limited has appointed AXA Investment Managers Paris, an investment management company with a division specialised in structured credit, for the investment management of all its assets.
ABOUT AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS
AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is a multi-expert asset management company within the AXA Group, a global leader in financial protection and wealth management. AXA IM is one of the largest European-based asset managers with €512 billion in assets under management as of the end of December 2011. AXA IM employs approximately 2,367 people around the world and operates out of 21 countries.
CONTACTS
Company Secretary
State Street (Guernsey) Limited
volta.finance@ais.statestreet.com
+44 (0) 1481 715601
Portfolio Administrator
Deutsche Bank
For the Investment Manager
AXA Investment Managers Paris
Serge Demay
serge.demay@axa-im.com
+33 (0) 1 44 45 84 47
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This press release is for information only and does not constitute an invitation or inducement to acquire shares in Volta Finance. Its circulation may be prohibited in certain jurisdictions and no recipient may circulate copies of this document in breach of such limitations or restrictions.
This press release is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). Volta Finance has not registered, and does not intend to register, any portion of any offering of its securities in the United States or to conduct a public offering of any securities in the United States.
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This document is being distributed by Volta Finance Limited in the United Kingdom only to investment professionals falling within article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Market Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order") or high net worth companies and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within article 49(2)(A) to (E) of the Order ("Relevant persons"). The shares are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire the shares will be engaged only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents. Past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance.
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This press release contains statements that are, or may deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes", "anticipated", "expects", "intends", "is/are expected", "may", "will" or "should". They include the statements regarding the level of the dividend, the current market context and its impact on the long-term return of Volta's investments. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Volta Finance's actual results, portfolio composition and performance may differ materially from the impression created by the forward-looking statements. Volta Finance does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements.
Any target information is based on certain assumptions as to future events which may not prove to be realised. Due to the uncertainty surrounding these future events, the targets are not intended to be and should not be regarded as profits or earnings or any other type of forecasts. There can be no assurance that any of these targets will be achieved. In addition, no assurance can be given that the investment objective will be achieved.
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