It is the policy of the ICON Funds (the “Trust”) and ICON Advisers, Inc., (“ICON”) to protect the confidentiality of each ICON Fund’s (each a “Fund”) holdings and prevent the selective disclosure of nonpublic information about a Fund’s portfolio holdings.
Information related to the 10 largest portfolio holdings of each Fund is made available to the general public via ICON’s website within approximately 10 business days after month-end.
A complete list of portfolio holdings, including short positions, for each Fund is made available to the general public approximately 60 days after the end of each calendar quarter when it is filed with the SEC as required either on Form N-Q or in the Trust’s annual and semi-annual report to shareholders.
Additionally, except as required by the SEC in its filing, ICON generally does not provide short positions or the industry/sector weighting in short positions. Short positions and/or weightings can only be disclosed with the permission of the Investment Committee Member primarily responsible for the ICON Long/Short Fund or the designee, except as required in filings with the SEC.
Excluding the ICON Long/Short Fund, Marketing can use sector, industry and asset allocation percentages, but not actual positions, excluding the top 10, or short positions, in marketing materials, such as the Fund Fact Sheets. The Fund Fact Sheets are posted to the ICON website quarterly.
For the ICON Long/Short Fund, Marketing can use sector, industry and asset allocation percentages, including the top 10 short positions, top 5 short sectors and the top 5 short industries, in marketing materials, such as the Fund Fact Sheets. The short position information CANNOT be posted or distributed before 60 days after the quarter end or once it is filed with the SEC, whichever is earlier.
Complete portfolio holdings are provided to the Trust’s service providers, which have contracted to provide services to the Trust (including custodian, sub-administrator, and certain others) and which require portfolio holdings information in order to perform those services. These service providers receive Fund holdings information prior to and more frequently than the public disclosure of such information (“non-standard disclosure”). Non-standard disclosure of portfolio holdings information may also be provided to entities that provide a service to the Trust or ICON, provided that the service is related to the investment advisory or administrative services that ICON provides to the Trust. Non-standard disclosure of portfolio holdings also is provided to third-party ratings agencies. Non-standard disclosure is subject to duties of confidentiality, including a duty not to trade on nonpublic information, imposed by law and/or contract. In addition, ICON may occasionally discuss certain portfolio holdings with the media, subject to ICON’s Press Policy.
Other non-standard disclosure of portfolio holdings may only be made subject to the following conditions:
- a written request for non-standard disclosure must be submitted to and approved in writing by either ICON’s General Counsel or Chief Compliance Officer;
- The request must relate to an appropriate business purpose; and
- The holdings information is disclosed pursuant to the terms of a written confidentiality agreement between ICON and the recipient of the holdings information, unless such party is a regulatory or other governmental entity.
Any Confidentiality Agreement must be in form and substance acceptable to an appropriate officer of the Funds and/or ICON Advisers’ legal department. Such Confidentiality Agreement should generally provide that:
- the portfolio information is the confidential property of the Funds (and its service provider, if applicable) and may not be shared or used directly or indirectly for any purpose except as expressly provided in the Confidentiality Agreement;
- the recipient of the portfolio information agrees to limit access to the portfolio information to its employees (and agents) who, on a need-to-know basis, are (i) authorized to have access to the portfolio information and (ii) subject to confidentiality obligations, including duties not to trade on nonpublic information, no less restrictive than the confidentiality obligations contained in the Confidentiality Agreement;
- upon written request, the recipient agrees to promptly return or destroy, as directed, the portfolio information; and
- portfolio information may be deemed to no longer be confidential if (i) it is already known to the recipient prior to disclosure by the Funds, (ii) it becomes publicly known without breach of the Confidentiality Agreement by the recipient, (iii) it is received from a third party and, to the knowledge of the recipient, the disclosure by such third party is not a breach of any agreement to which such third party is subject, or (iv) it is authorized by the Funds or their agents to be disclosed.
