AXA US Short Duration High Yield Fund

Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Policy:

Investment Objective

The aim of the Fund is to generate income by investing in high yield debt securities (being sub-investment grade corporate bonds) while seeking to avoid the risk of default.

Investment Policy

The Fund aims to deliver a return by investing at least 60 per cent of its Net Asset Value in high yield bonds (being sub- investment grade corporate bonds, meaning bonds with a rating of BB+ and below by Standard & Poor or equivalent rating by Moody's or Fitch) with a bias towards shorter maturities (where the full repayment of the bond by the company is expected to be less than three years), issued primarily by companies with their predominant place of business in the US. The Fund may also invest in such bonds denominated in US Dollars and issued by non-US companies. The fund manager seeks to reduce the effect of credit risk through diversification and its analysis and selection of bonds.

To avoid investing in bonds issued by companies which present excessive degrees of environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk, the fund manager applies AXA Investment Manager's (AXA IM's) sector specific investment guidelines relating to responsible investment to the Fund. Such guidelines exclude investment in soft commodity derivatives or exposure to certain companies based on their involvement in specific sectors (such as tobacco production, natural ecosystem conversion and deforestation, controversial weapons and climate risks). The fund manager also applies the AXA IM's ESG Standards policy. This policy excludes investment in companies based on: (a) manufacture of white phosphorus weapons; certain criteria relating to human rights and anti-corruption as well as other ESG factors, (b) companies which cause, contribute, or are linked to violations of international norms and standards in a material manner or which are involved in incidents and/or events that pose a severe business or reputational risk to the relevant company due to the impact of its involvement on stakeholders or the environment and (c) companies with the lowest ESG score. The AXA IM's ESG Standards policy and AXA IM's sector specific investment guidelines are subject to change and the latest copies are available from the fund manager on request. The fund manager will undertake engagements with investee issuers with the aim of preserving or enhancing long-term value and creating better ESG outcomes for its investors over the long-term. More details on the fund manager's approach to its engagement with issuers are available on the website https://www.axa-im.co.uk/ under the heading “Responsible Investing”.

Further, in selecting investments, the fund manager will, in addition to the application of the above policies, take into account the issuer's ESG score as one factor within its broader analysis of the issuer to make selections which are expected to generate an income return over the long term. It is, however, just one component of the fund manager's investment process and ESG scores are not the principal driver of investment decision making. The fund manager believes that issuers with higher ESG scores manage risk associated with ESG issues more effectively, contributing to better financial performance of such issuers in the long term. ESG scores are obtained from our selected external provider(s) and may be adjusted by the fund manager using its own research. The fund manager will not invest in bonds with the lowest ESG scores, save in exceptional circumstances. If the fund manager deems that an investment no longer meets the criteria set out in this investment policy or its expectations in terms of that investment's prospects for achieving income and capital growth, the fund manager will disinvest as soon as practicable having regard to the best interests of the Fund's investors and in accordance with its best execution policy.

(Source: KIID, as at January 2026)

SDR Labelling:

Unlabelled - promotes sustainable characteristics (has CFD)

SDR Literature:

• Consumer Facing Disclosure link