Quantum's Business Contingency Plan

In the wake of the spreading COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian Government's Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a Travel Advisory and applied visa restrictions thereby impacting travel to and from India. Important excerpts from the Advisory are:

• All existing visas issued to nationals of any country except those issued to Diplomats, Officials, UN/International organizations, Employment, or Project visas stand suspended till April 15, 2020. This has come into effect from 1200 GMT on March 13, 2020 at the port of departure of any foreigner for onward journey to India.

• Any foreign national who intends to travel to India for compelling reasons may contact the nearest Indian Mission for a fresh visa.

• All incoming travelers, including Indian nationals, arriving from any destination and having visited China, Italy, Iran, Republic of Korea, France, Spain and Germany on or after February 15, 2020 shall be quarantined for a minimum period of 14 days. This has come into effect from 1200 GMT on March 13, 2020 at the port of departure of such travelers.

The Advisory ends by saying "All Indian nationals are strongly advised to avoid all non-essential travel abroad. On their return they can be subjected to quarantine for a minimum period of 14 days."

The impact of the COVID-19 virus goes beyond just travel. Domestic travel is curtailed and companies, like Quantum, announcing preventive measures like requesting employees work from home.

Impact on Quantum's Research Team

Our research operations are continuing almost as normal. Precautionary measures taken by Indian companies to prevent the virus' spread will impact our ability to go and physically meet companies or visit factories, but through conference calls we are able to reach out to companies, speak with them and assess the risk they are facing in their businesses and how they are dealing with it.

Quantum as an Employer

We are focused on providing a safe and healthy work environment for all our employees. While we ensure that all critical functions related to portfolio management and client servicing are not affected, as a preventive measure we have announced a work-from-home policy as part of our Business Continuity Plan for all our employees, which involves:

• Employees based in Mumbai can work from our Head Office or any satellite offices in Mumbai - this is for those who can travel to work by avoiding public transport (Trains and Buses)

• Other employees based in Mumbai who have to use public transport to get to work can work from home if they live far from Quantum offices

• Stay at home (with paid leave) for employees who can neither travel to work safely nor work from home

• Paid leave for colleagues who stay at home voluntarily due to any medical condition

• Quantum branches in other affected cities (Pune, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad) have closed offices and have instituted work-from-home policies for all employees at those locations

• Quantum employees are also being incentivized to work from home rather than coming to office. Quantum has instituted a policy of giving an additional 25% of basic pay to employees working from home as an incentive to continue to do so. This covers almost everyone in the company other than the senior management.

In addition to the above, our offices are disinfected but extra precautions have been undertaken to keep the premises more highly sanitized than in the normal course of operations. We are continuously issuing advisories to employees with information on proper hygiene and preventive measures. We have also requested that our employees across the country get themselves checked if they display any flu-like symptoms. All our Leaders have been counseled to be proactive, sympathetic, and sensitive in their approach towards team members who may show virus symptoms.

Our employees have also been requested to refrain from conducting physical meetings or attending large gatherings, and we have also temporarily suspended our Path to Profit sessions and other educational awareness programmes, where we need to be physically present. We will be closely monitoring the situation and will resume our connect with investors as soon as the scenario improves.

We sincerely hope that the pandemic subsides soon and those affected recover quickly. Until then, rest assured that we have adapted to the situation and our operations are ongoing. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns. You can contact us on 1800-22-3863 or 1800-209-3863 (Toll Free) from Monday to Saturday anytime between 9.00am to 9.00pm (Except on Public Holidays) or write to us on [email protected].

Disclaimer, Statutory Details & Risk Factors:

The views expressed here in this article / video are for general information and reading purpose only and do not constitute any guidelines and recommendations on any course of action to be followed by the reader. Quantum AMC / Quantum Mutual Fund is not guaranteeing / offering / communicating any indicative yield on investments made in the scheme(s). The views are not meant to serve as a professional guide / investment advice / intended to be an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial product or instrument or mutual fund units for the reader. The article has been prepared on the basis of publicly available information, internally developed data and other sources believed to be reliable. Whilst no action has been solicited based upon the information provided herein, due care has been taken to ensure that the facts are accurate and views given are fair and reasonable as on date. Readers of this article should rely on information/data arising out of their own investigations and advised to seek independent professional advice and arrive at an informed decision before making any investments.

Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks read all scheme related documents carefully.

Please visit – www.QuantumMF.com to read scheme specific risk factors. Investors in the Scheme(s) are not being offered a guaranteed or assured rate of return and there can be no assurance that the schemes objective will be achieved and the NAV of the scheme(s) may go up and down depending upon the factors and forces affecting securities market. Investment in mutual fund units involves investment risk such as trading volumes, settlement risk, liquidity risk, default risk including possible loss of capital. Past performance of the sponsor / AMC / Mutual Fund does not indicate the future performance of the Scheme(s). Statutory Details: Quantum Mutual Fund (the Fund) has been constituted as a Trust under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882. Sponsor: Quantum Advisors Private Limited. (liability of Sponsor limited to Rs. 1,00,000/-) Trustee: Quantum Trustee Company Private Limited. Investment Manager: Quantum Asset Management Company Private Limited. The Sponsor, Trustee and Investment Manager are incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956.

Above article is authored by Quantum.

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