Key Features
for the Ascentric Wrap Account including the following
'wrappers':
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General Investment Account (GIA) |
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Individual
Savings Account (ISA) |
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Third Party
Product Account (TPPA) |
What is a 'Wrap'
A Wrap allows you to view all your investments and their up to
date values at any time via the internet. It is called a ‘Wrap’ because all the
products (e.g. pensions and ISAs) and investments you have are ‘wrapped’ up in
one account. You will be able to discuss the performance of your portfolio with
your adviser and decide with his/her advice what should be sold and bought. Your
adviser can then make those trades and the result will be visible the next day.
Aims of the Wrap
To allow you with the assistance of your Independent
Financial Adviser to select and purchase investments from a wide range
of equities, bonds, unit trusts and Open Ended Investment Companies (OEICs)
and other investment schemes and cash. With advice from your adviser you
can also select the most appropriate product within which to hold these
investments to optimise tax advantage and best reflect your financial
objectives. You and your adviser can view, value and trade these
investments at any time via the internet.
GIA
this is to hold investments which will be subject to normal UK tax.
ISA
you can invest up to £7200 in each
year into this account and transfer ISAs taken out in previous years with other
product providers.
TPPA
this account will allow you to hold investments which
aer an integral part of another product "wrapper", E.G. a self invested personal pension (SIPP) or an offshore
bond provided by a third party with whom Ascentric have an agreement.
Your Investment
The
minimum investment for a Wrap is £5000. There is no minimum for
subsequent investments.
The
minimum investment for a TPPA will be determined by the minimum
stipulated by the respective Third Party product provider.
Risk Factors
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The value of these investments and the income generated from
them can fall as well as rise and you may not get back what you
originally invested or transferred into the Wrap Account
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Past performance is not a guide to future performance
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The
performance of your fund will be reduced by the effect of charges
including initial charges, annual charges and dealing charges.
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Income generating funds sometimes deduct expenses from capital in order to improve income. This means that capital growth will suffer correspondingly.
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Withdrawing income from your fund can reduce capital growth
especially where performance is poor and the level of income
withdrawn is high.
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Certain investments for example 'emerging markets',
'high technology
sector' and 'small companies' are generally more volatile than UK
and large company investments.
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Investments in foreign assets are subject to currency risk i.e. as
well as the risk of the underlying asset there is also a risk of a
loss from the currency falling against the pound sterling. |
Frequently Asked Questions
How can
I invest in an Ascentric Wrap Account?
You
should first consult your adviser in order to choose the appropriate
product wrapper (e.g. ISA, Pension or Offshore Bond) and then the
appropriate asset allocation and investment strategy. Your adviser can
then open an Ascentric Wrap account for you. We will not open the
account until funds are available. Funds may be transmitted:
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electronically by direct credit or by cheque from you personally
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or by means of a transfer of funds from a previously arranged
product with another product provider
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or from a newly selected third party product
provider who will already hold your funds
What
investments are available?
Your
Wrap Account can invest in a wide selection of collective funds
including Unit Trusts and OEICs and cash. Equities will be added later.
How can
I make investments and deal?
Your
adviser can do this on your behalf. Once you have agreed which wrapper(s)
is/are appropriate and your investment selection your adviser will login
using specially protected PIN codes and deal on your behalf. Both you
and your adviser will receive a Contract Note detailing each investment
by email.
What
happens to money which remains uninvested?
This is
held in a cash account within each respective wrapper and earns
interest. The rates of interest are available on the Ascentric website.
Can I
save my money in cash?
Yes
there is a cash account in each wrapper. However the rules of each
product wrapper vary and there are some restrictions to holding cash in
some wrappers e.g. ISAs
How often will you communicate the value of my investments?
When you open your account
, we will send you a letter confirming the details, including account number,
and, seperately, send you your own pin code. You will then be able to visit the Ascentric website
and log in to view your investments.
You will be able to
print off a full valuation of your investments in your
Ascentric
Wrap whenever you wish. In addition we will send you a full statement
twice a year by email or by post if you do not have an email address.
We will
not send you copies of reports and accounts or voting and meeting
information normally issued by investment providers unless you
specifically request it. This will incur an additional charge.
What
happens to income from my investments in the Wrap?
Income
from investments in your Wrap account will be paid to your cash account.
In time we will offer further options e.g. to purchase the fund from
which the income arose or to another unrelated fund.
Monies
from your cash account can be paid to your selected bank account at
calendar quarterly intervals and amounts you select with your adviser.
Please note that should there be insufficient cash in your account to
meet the income payment we will sell investments to meet it as stated in
the Ascentric Terms and Conditions.
What
happens to income from my investments in the TPPA?
This is
wholly dependent on the Terms and Conditions of the respective third
party product. Please refer to these and/or consult your adviser.
What
are the charges for the Ascentric Wrap?
There
are four sources of charge made on your investments:
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The Ascentric charges
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Adviser commission
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The
Fund Manager charges
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The
Product Provider Charges
1.The
Ascentric Commissions and Charges
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Ascentric Annual Charge - Ascentric will charge you the following
on each part of your total fund: |
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Up to £1,000,000 - 0.25% of your investment deducted
quarterly
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Over £1,000,000 - 0.10% of your investment deducted quarterly
Note
-There is a minimum charge of £37.50 per quarter
Ascentric receive a rebate from most Collective Funds. Normally for a
typical UK Equity fund charging 1.5% annual management charge Ascentric
will receive a rebate of 0.25%. Ascentric will pay all of this rebate to
your account and this will then be offset against the Ascentric Annual
charge detailed above. The amount of this rebate is available from the
funds list on the Ascentric website.
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Ascentric Transaction Charges |
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Each electronic deal (using EMX or Crest and an electronic
Contract Note) - £12.50
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Any other deal - £20.00
Note -
A fund
‘switch’ is treated as two deals ( i.e. a ‘sell’ and a ‘buy’).
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Ascentric charges for transferring out of the Wrap account. |
There
is a charge for ‘in-specie’ transfers out (also known as
‘re-registration’):
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Transfer of a collective fund or a Certificated Stock
- £15.00
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Transfer of a Crest traded
stock - £15.00
2. The
Adviser Commission or Charge
This
will be agreed between you and your adviser and stated clearly on the
application form which you must sign to confirm your agreement. The
selected arrangement will be clearly shown in the Contract Notes you
receive from Ascentric. Any rebate we receive from Fund Managers in
respect of Adviser commissions will be rebated to the Adviser account to
be offset against the commission you agree with your adviser.
3. The
Fund Manager Charge
These
are shown on the funds list on the Ascentric web site which your adviser
can show to you. In addition access is given to the Fund Manager Terms
and Conditions for each fund as selected. Ascentric have negotiated
advantageous terms with Fund managers such that their initial charge
(net of any Adviser commission) is low and often zero. These deals will
be evident on the funds list in the secure area on the Ascentric
website.
4. The
Product Provider Charge
The
product charges are specific to the product selected by you and your
adviser. You should see the Key Features and Terms and Conditions of
each product selected. These will normally be available through the
Ascentric website. In the case of ISAs and GIAs these products are
provided by Fundsdirect. There is no charge in addition to those
detailed above for these products. The Terms and Conditions are
available on the Ascentric website.
How do
these charges affect my investment?
The
impact of these charges on your investment depend on a number of factors
including among others the funds selected, the rate of adviser
commission and any product charges. Three examples are shown below –
each assuming two different levels of adviser initial commission:
1a. The illustration below assumes:
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5 initial transactions at a charge of £12.50 each
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fund growth of 7.0% per annum
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initial adviser commission of 0%
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a fund Total Expense Ratio (TER) of 1.6%
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of which your adviser receives 0.5%
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Ascentric charges £37.50 per quarter
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Ascentric rebates 0.25% from the fund managers to your account
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1a.
Client Investment = £50,000
Adviser Initial
commission = 0%
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At the end of year |
Investment to date (£) |
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Effect of deductions to date (£) |
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Effect of annual deductions (%) |
Of which
Ascentric (%) |
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What you might get back (£) |
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1 |
50,000 |
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1,050 |
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2.1% |
0.71% |
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52,500 |
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2 |
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2,080 |
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1.9% |
0.56% |
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55,200 |
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3 |
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3,150 |
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1.9% |
0.53% |
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58,100 |
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4 |
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4,260 |
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1.9% |
0.50% |
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61,200 |
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5 |
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5,410 |
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1.8% |
0.48% |
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64,400 |
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6 |
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6,610 |
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1.8% |
0.45% |
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67,800 |
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7 |
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7,850 |
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1.8% |
0.43% |
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71,400 |
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8 |
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9,140 |
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1.8% |
0.41% |
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75,300 |
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9 |
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10,400 |
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1.7% |
0.39% |
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79,300 |
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10 |
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11,900 |
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1.7% |
0.37% |
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83,600 |
This illustration shows
that over 10 years the effect of total charges and expenses could amount
to £11,900.00. Putting it another way, this has the same effect as
bringing illustrated investment growth from 7.0% a year, down to 5.3% a
year.
1b. The illustration below assumes:
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an
initial investment of £50,000 |
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5 initial transactions at a charge of £12.50 each
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fund growth of 7.0% per annum
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initial adviser commission of 3%
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a fund Total Expense Ratio (TER) of 1.6%
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of which your adviser receives 0.5%
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Ascentric charges £37.50 per quarter
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Ascentric rebates 0.25% from the fund managers to your account
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1b.
Client Investment = £50,000
Adviser Initial
commission = 3%
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At the end of year |
Investment to date (£) |
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Effect of deductions to date (£) |
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Effect of annual deductions (%) |
Of which Ascentric (%) |
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What you might get back (£) |
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1 |
50,000 |
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2,510 |
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5.1% |
0.73% |
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49,300 |
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2 |
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3,500 |
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1.9% |
0.59% |
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51,900 |
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3 |
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4,520 |
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1.9% |
0.56% |
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54,600 |
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4 |
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5,580 |
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1.9% |
0.54% |
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57,400 |
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5 |
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6,680 |
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1.9% |
0.51% |
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60,400 |
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6 |
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7,820 |
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1.8% |
0.48% |
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63,600 |
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7 |
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9,000 |
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1.8% |
0.46% |
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67,000 |
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8 |
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10,200 |
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1.8% |
0.44% |
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70,600 |
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9 |
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11,500 |
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1.8% |
0.41% |
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74,400 |
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10 |
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12,800 |
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1.7% |
0.39% |
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78,400 |
This illustration shows
that over 10 years the effect of total charges and expenses could amount
to £12,800.00. Putting it another way, this has the same effect as
bringing illustrated investment growth from 7.0% a year, down to 4.6% a
year.
2a.
The illustration below assumes:
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an initial
investment of £150,000 |
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10 initial transactions at a charge of £12.50 each
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fund growth of 7.0% per annum
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initial adviser commission of 0%
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a fund Total Expense Ratio (TER) of 1.6%
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of which your adviser receives 0.5%
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Ascentric charges 0.25%
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Ascentric rebates 0.25% from the fund managers to your account
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2a.
Client Investment = £150,000
Adviser Initial
commission = 0%
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At the end of year |
Investment to date (£) |
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Effect of deductions to date (£) |
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Effect of annual deductions (%) |
Of which Ascentric (%) |
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What you might get back (%) |
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1 |
150,000 |
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2,590 |
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1.7% |
0.33% |
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158,000 |
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2 |
