Edentree Global Impact Bond Fund

Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Policy:

Theory of Change

The Fund has a Theory of Change which explains the link between the Fund’s investment activity and its dual objective to 1) reduce greenhouse gas emissions and 2) increase access to basic services for underserved communities. A theory of change supports each aspect of the Fund’s objective.

Climate Change: There is scientific consensus that the Earth’s climate is becoming warmer. The chief causes of this climate change are greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide (CO2). Human activities currently release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than natural processes (like trees) can remove. At the current rate of climate change, experts expect far-reaching and highly damaging environmental and social impacts. Slowing the pace of humanmade CO2 emissions will slow the rate of climate change and mitigate its damaging effects. Unsustainable business practices are currently contributing to this problem (such as products/services that rely on the burning of fossil fuels as an energy source). Our theory of change states that addressing climate change requires rapid changes to the world’s energy and industrial system through large-scale and targeted investment in products, services and technologies that provide either alternative, sustainable solutions, or help to mitigate and reverse the harmful effects that have already occurred.

Underserved Communities: Current economic practices contribute to the unequal provision of, and access to, basic services in many parts of the world, which restrict development and have created underserved communities. We define underserved communities as groups who have limited or no access to resources or that are otherwise disenfranchised. These include groups who have limited access to quality healthcare; are socioeconomically disadvantaged; have limited language proficiencies; are geographically isolated; are educationally disenfranchised; are part of a demographic minority (whether that be gender, race, ethnicity, age, or ability); or lack access to healthcare, healthy food and safe drinking water.

The existence of underserved communities has accentuated social problems such as poverty and poor health, which pose significant sustainable development challenges. Studies have shown that increasing access to basic services amongst underserved groups can be an effective way of reducing poverty and generally increasing development opportunities. Our theory of change states that we need to shift resources, attention, and capital into underserved communities to bridge existing inequalities and ensure greater access for them to basic services.

We expect the Fund to contribute to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions reductions and an increase in access to basic services for underserved communities through our asset contribution and investor contribution, as detailed below:

Asset contribution: The Fund, as bondholder, will directly finance projects and companies which reduce greenhouse gas emissions and/or increase access to basic services for underserved communities across the Fund’s People and Planet themes, as set out above. We allocate capital to issuers where the impact alignment to our thematic framework is clear and measurable to provide confidence that the activities, products and solutions offered using proceeds of the bonds within the Fund will enable a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and/ or an increase in access to basic services for underserved communities. How we select assets is detailed further in the “Asset Contribution: How we Select Assets” section.

Investor Contribution: The Investor Contribution will be realised through our engagement activities. The Manager seeks to establish positive, collaborative and long-term relationships with issuers, which facilitates constructive engagement. The Manager has an active engagement approach, delivered with the intention of enhancing the bond’s contribution to the Sustainability Objective, i.e., our engagement activities will seek to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and/or increase access to basic services for underserved communities delivered by a bond.

Engagement activities

1. Increase Positive Impacts: This type of engagement activity seeks to increase the delivery of positive impact at the bond and/or bond issuer level. Depending on the bond, this type of engagement will seek to influence the use of proceeds and/ or business strategy in regard to increasing the delivery of a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and/ or increase access to basic services for underserved communities. Where our influence is limited in terms of how proceeds are used, we will seek to influence refinancing plans, including look-back periods to encourage higher levels of additionality at the point of bond issue.
2. Reduce Potential Negative Impacts: This type of engagement activity seeks to decrease the investee company’s potential negative impacts. It will increase the greenhouse gas emissions reductions delivered by a company by reducing the scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions that are a consequence of solutions production, and via ensuring a company maintains its licence to operate (which can be affected by a variety of E, S and G factors) and can therefore continue to generate avoided emissions.

For detailed Information on engagement activities refer to the page number 112 of EdenTree Prospectus EIF Series 1.

Asset Contribution: How we select assets

To determine whether an asset is contributing to the Fund’s sustainability objective, all investments will be assessed against our proprietary Impact Framework, grounded in the Fund’s Theory of Change. The Impact Framework includes four levels of assessment.

1. An assessment of the intentionality of the prospective investment holding period.
2. An assessment of the contribution of the prospective investment
3. An assessment of the impact measurement and credibility of the prospective investment
4. An assessment of the issuer’s operations (i.e. the organisation issuing the bond)

For detailed Information refer to the page number 113 and 114 of EdenTree Prospectus EIF Series 1.

Exclusions

There are certain sectors and economic activities that we consider fundamentally unethical or misaligned with our Sustainability Objective, and we apply baseline exclusions to remove such companies from the pool of potential investments. The Fund will avoid investments where there is a material involvement (10% or more) in alcohol and tobacco production, conventional weapon production, gambling, the publication of violent or explicit materials, intensive farming, fossil fuel exploration and production and high interest (sub- prime) lending. The Fund will also avoid companies with material operations in oppressive regimes. It will also seek to avoid companies that have exposure to the manufacture of unconventional weapons where these are defined as nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, land mines and cluster bombs. Finally, the Fund will seek to avoid companies using animals to test cosmetic, beauty or household products.

Investor Contribution: Investor Stewardship

We will engage with companies held in the Fund (bond issuers), as set out the Theory of Change above (“Investor Contribution”), to fulfil our investor contribution. We will engage directly with companies and will also seek to collaborate with other investors and organisations where appropriate, for example with policy makers or other asset managers where supportive of our engagement goals and the Fund’s Theory of Change.

Our engagement is carried out across all themes. Successful engagement can take time to be realised, potentially stretching over several years and we seek to invest in bonds for long holding periods (in accordance with the term structure of the bond) to create successful engagement partnerships with issuers. With this in mind, we will engage with at least 70% of the portfolio (i.e. all holdings that meet the Fund’s minimum Sustainability Impact threshold) over the Fund’s recommended average holding period.

For detailed Information refer to the page number 114 to 116 of EdenTree Prospectus EIF Series 1.

Escalation Plans

Where progress through the milestones is deemed to be insufficient, we will employ a combination of the steps outlined below to escalate our concerns.

1. Initial outreach and conversations with issuer – The engagement approach usually begins with an initial outreach via email or letter, followed by meetings with management and/or subject matter experts.
2. Formal correspondence – If an issuer does not respond to multiple attempts of contact, or if it demonstrates insufficient progress and the topic is of a severity that necessitates further action, we will initially escalate via a formal letter to the CEO or Board. This will set out our expectations, and potential means of escalation.
3. Collaborative intervention with other investors – Failing this, we will actively collaborate with other investors to escalate the engagement. This will include joining or leading collaborative engagement efforts or signing onto joint letters.
4. Divestment – If following a period of engagement, we fail to achieve adequate progress, the position may be sold down. Maturing bonds will be directed towards alternative opportunities, while longer-dated bonds will be actively reduced within an appropriate timeframe.

Our in-house Sustainability Team oversees engagement and stewardship activities. Engagement is an internal function and is not outsourced to third parties. In addition, the stewardship approach is overseen by the EdenTree Sustainability Investment Advisory Panel. We are a signatory of the UK Stewardship Code 2020, published by the Financial Reporting Council, demonstrating its commitment to appropriately resourcing and conducting stewardship.

Ongoing Monitoring and Sustainability Metrics

We will monitor performance against the Fund’s Sustainability Objective on an ongoing basis, against a range of KPIs. All KPIs will be reported on an annual basis.

Asset Activities

These KPIs monitor asset-level activities. They demonstrate the positive outcomes that arise as a result of directing capital towards issuers that provide products and solutions that reduce carbon emissions and/or increase access to basic services for underserved communities.

• Avoided emissions (tCO2e) – emissions reductions that occur as a result of the use of the product or service. Avoided emissions embody represent CO2e emissions that have not been released into the atmosphere, thus reducing global warming, and so mitigating the harmful consequences of climate change. CO2e stands for carbon dioxide equivalent and includes other greenhouse gases adjusted to the same measure of global warming potential. This KPI applies across all Planet investment themes.
• Number of Underserved Beneficiaries (# people) – the total number of underserved people that benefit from improved access to basic services as a result of the product or service. This includes underserved people who receive access to healthcare, social infrastructure, education and financial resources. This KPI applies across all People investment themes as they all have the potential to generate greater access to basic services for underserved communities. When issuers report a specific category of beneficiaries (i.e., number of healthcare beneficiaries or number of education beneficiaries), we will aggregate these numbers to measure, at a Fund level, the total number of underserved beneficiaries (#).

At a minimum, we expect each of the Fund’s assets to contribute positively towards a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions every year, measured by avoided emissions, and/ or an increase in access to basic services for underserved, measured by total number of underserved beneficiaries. If an asset fails to make a positive contribution within a year, this would be addressed through our escalation plans.

In addition, over a 5-year rolling period we would expect to see an increase in the rate of avoided emissions and the total number of underserved beneficiaries derived through the Fund’s activities, as a result of the growth in output of the underlying assets, the growth of the fund, and our engagement activity to increase the contribution of companies in the Fund. However, we recognise that this rate may fluctuate year on year due to external factors such as changes to broader economic conditions.

Please refer to the “Methodology for monitoring and KPI data collection” below for further information about how we calculate the Fund’s impact.

Please refer to the “Additional Metrics” section on page number 117 of EdenTree Investment Funds Series 1 Prospectus for more details.

Investor Activities

This KPI monitors the success of our engagement activities and the investor contribution of the Fund, in line with the Fund’s Theory of Change. As described above, our engagement activities seek to increase the greenhouse gas emissions reductions and/ or increase access to basic services for underserved communities delivered by a bond. To deliver this contribution, we engage via two broad categories:

• Increase Positive Impacts: This type of engagement activity seeks to increase the bond’s delivery of positive impact. It will increase the greenhouse gas emissions reductions and/or increase the basic services delivered by a bond by seeking to positively influence, where possible, use of proceeds decisions to maximise these impacts.
• Reduce Potential Negative Impacts: This type of engagement seeks to decrease the issuer’s potential negative impacts. It will ensure that a company maintains its licence to operate (which can be affected by a variety of E, S and G factors) and can therefore continue to deliver basic services for underserved communities and/or generate avoided emissions.

A non-exhaustive list of example KPIs that would be used for reporting the outcomes of our engagement is provided . table on page number 108 of EdenTree Investment Funds Series 1 Prospectus to illustrate the link between an engagement objective and the engagement KPI. These KPIs will be reported annually in the Fund’s Sustainability disclosures.

Process:

In continuation of the response provided above containing our Sustainability Approach, detailed below is the Fund’s Investment Process:

EdenTree aim to deliver on the Fund’s impact objectives in a disciplined and transparent manner. This will include holistic analysis of the underlying debt issuers using our proprietary Impact assessment framework, combined with in-depth fundamental credit research from the outset.

Our Impact framework starts by assessing the Intentionality of a prospective investment. The issuer needs to have clear ex-ante objectives about the impact that the bond is aiming to generate. In gauging the issuer’s Contribution, we seek to establish whether the planned projects fulfil a social or environmental need that would have otherwise not been met and ideally target communities or individuals that are underserved.

Such impact outcomes must also be Measurable and generated in a Sustainable manner. The latter screen endeavours to mitigate any adverse impacts from an issuer’s broader business activities, with due diligence integrating key risk factors and reflecting ESG values.

The four criteria (outlined further below) are fundamental to ensuring that the Fund can deliver real world positive impact. Qualitative screening analyses, taken together with quantitative impact data outputs from the issuers, determine portfolio suitability – results of which are monitored for magnitude as well as direction of travel using best practise approaches and applying standardised data conventions where possible.

• Intentionality – ex ante environmental & social objectives, integrated into investment decisions and assessed / classified consistently.
• Contribution – Activities enhancing attainment of desired outcomes, providing evidence of associated value, along with company engagement.
• Measurement – Quantification of environmental & social outcomes, focussing on input metrics and KPIs, e.g. capital invested, engagement results.
• Sustainability – Minimising material adverse impacts of corporate entities’ main business activity based on values and ESG considerations.

Credit Analysis

With a long-term investment horizon, we carry out in-depth credit analysis to gauge the ability and willingness of an issuer to repay their outstanding debt obligations. As noted earlier, we seek to identify high quality companies with sound financials, solid balance sheets and good potential growth prospects. Such companies tend to have a straightforward business model, generate positive free cash flow and can demonstrate an identifiable and sustainable competitive advantage. We avoid any form of creative accounting and over-indebtedness.

Credit research is typically undertaken in tandem with our proprietary impact assessment framework, where we set out to evaluate a securities’ positive impact. As such, positive impact in and of itself, is not sufficient, with the Fund seeking to establish whether an issuer’s impact is ‘net’ positive particularly as recourse is to the issuer rather than the specific projects invested in.

An assessment of an issuer’s profitability, leverage, cash flow generation and its collateral is conducted. We also monitor corporate debt spreads by credit rating and industry sector, which not only enables for peer valuation comparisons but also aids in the determination of relative value. Bond indentures and peer/industry outlooks are also assessed to ensure that valuation metrics adequately reflect the risks of investing in the credits. As often as possible, the research process is enhanced by interacting directly with company management via investor roadshows, non-deal investor meetings, site visits and or company results update meetings.

We utilise sell-side analyst research from Investment banks, subscribe to Moody's global credit research coverage and use other analytical tools including Bloomberg. External research is considered alongside internally generated investment analysis in forming our investment views on a macro-economic, sector- and or credit-specific level.

The research process will also include a top-down analysis, based on our prevailing macro-economic views across geographic regions, to gauge which geographical regions, sectors of the fixed income markets or yield curve tenors offer the most attractive risk-adjusted returns in the context of the Fund’s overarching financial objective. 

Idea generation

In order to create positive societal impacts that are just and equitable for all key stakeholders, we view it as imperative that debt issuers do so responsibly.

Prospective investments around EdenTree’s core Impact themes i.e. People (Social Infrastructure, Healthcare, Financial Inclusion, Technological and Transformation ) and Planet (Energy Efficiency, Clean Energy, Sustainable Transportation and Water ) have priority. Issuers that acknowledge contribution to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are also favoured, particularly where the underlying targets or indicators are aligned.

It is worth highlighting that positive impact, in and of itself, is not the sole focus of our screening. An issuer’s overall responsibility credentials are just as important as the positive impact that they seek to generate. A failure on either aspect, therefore, would preclude an issuer from our investment universe. In so doing, the Fund seeks to ensure that the issuer’s ‘net’ impact is indeed positive, particularly as recourse is typically to the issuer rather than the specific projects.

Ideas can come from a variety of sources, including our in-house integrated investment research completed by fund managers and investment analysts; thematic research; Investor roadshows, market knowledge; economic insight; company meetings; company reviews; portfolio reviews; and sell-side broker research. ISS (Institutional Shareholder Services) and Sustainalytics are used to enhance our own in-house research capabilities, with thematic insights produced regularly by the sustainable investment analysts. As long-term investors, many of our ideas also come from ongoing reviews of existing holdings vis-à-vis regional exposures, duration positioning or sector allocation.

Quantitative screens with parameters including credit rating, maturity band, credit spread and yield are also employed to generate investment ideas as are more manual searches incorporating more qualitative factors such as ‘impact’. Our strong relationships with top tier market-making investment banks and agency brokers allow us access to broad pools of investment ideas as well as liquidity.

Impact measurement

The Global Impact Bond Fund adds an issuer’s impact assessment as a core qualifier for investment to the traditional EdenTree screening process. Whilst we believe that this accentuates the positive impact objective of the Fund, other core attributes of Impact Investing include the measurement, monitoring and management of associated outcomes.

In a global economy in which consumers’ purchase preferences are strongly influenced by sustainability, demand for impact measurement and monitoring is understandably growing. A survey conducted by CapGemini Research Institute found that 79% of consumers are changing purchase preference based on social responsibility, inclusiveness or environmental impact. More sustainability-related information needs to be availed for consumers to advance the sustainability agenda, with enterprises also having a lot more to learn about sustainability, it added. Such data disclosures will ultimately further inform financial market participants of the impacts generated by the companies they invest in and enable for better management of resulting impact outcomes. Active ownership on our part enhances the ability to drive improvement in results.

Data challenges notwithstanding, a robust approach in measuring impact is of prime importance. EdenTree’s sustainable investment analysts, in collaboration with the Fixed Income team, conduct independent analysis and impact reporting, assessing the impact reports of each issuer held within the portfolio. We believe that such analysis will reinforce the strategy’s credibility but will also help avoid misrepresentation of an issuers environmental, social and sustainable data disclosures. To aid our reporting and analysis, we have access to Luxembourg Green Exchange data that we use to gauge bonds’ reported impact.

Impact Definition and Assessment

Impact Investing seeks to generate measurable positive outcomes for people and planet alongside market-competitive financial returns, thereby setting about to achieve a double bottom-line investment objective. By investing in such instruments, our Global Impact Bond Fund aims to deliver measurable environmental and or social outcomes guided by the EdenTree’s impact themes of People (Social Infrastructure, Healthcare, Financial Inclusion, Technological and Transformation) and Planet (Energy Efficiency, Clean Energy, Sustainable Transportation and Water).

In gauging a security’s ability to deliver positive impact, an assessment based on the traditional impact investing criteria of intentionality, contribution, measurement is conducted. We further assess the responsibility of its ultimate parent issuer. This analysis will also consider how companies are referencing the UN Sustainable Development Goals as part of their business case and may extend to include positive themes that are not captured within EdenTree’s stated themes.

Please refer to our The EdenTree Standard: Identifying Sustainable Companies document for further details on our screening process.

Investment decision

The conclusions from the Impact & sustainability assessment analyses are then presented and discussed by the relevant individuals and or the Investment Team at large. Where a holding has been deemed suitable for portfolio inclusion, the investment case is then debated and thoroughly challenged by the investment teams, testing the robustness of investment thesis against objectives, with any follow-up queries being resolved by the analyst undertaking the research. The decision to invest is ultimately reached by the Fund Manager.

Portfolio construction

Following on from the investment decision, suggested transactions are assessed within the context of the overall portfolio in terms of fit, liquidity, risk and conviction. We seek to vary average duration and asset allocation positioning based on the prevailing economic outlook and market conditions in line with the investment strategy.

In constructing the Fund, we also select investments from a universe of global fixed income instruments that generate a positive impact across different sectors and geographies. This strategy particularly seeks out a higher allocation to use-of-proceeds instruments that possess transparent frameworks for deploying funds towards projects with verifiable environmental and social outcomes through green, social and sustainable bonds. The multi-thematic composition of the Fund enables a broad level of diversification across various financial risk factors and impact exposures, whilst also contributing positively to the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Liquidity

The Fund aims to maintain sufficient levels of liquidity so as to be able to meet client redemptions and retain a liquidity buffer. A significant proportion of the portfolio is held in bonds from high quality ‘blue-chip’ corporate issuers. Liquidity stress-testing is also done using a customised in-house model alongside Bloomberg’s Liquidity Assessment scoring. Prior to establishing a position in a particular credit security, an assessment of its liquidity is typically done. The Fund’s exposures to illiquid securities, if any, are closely monitored as well, with such holdings held over a long term horizon and the least likely to be liquidated in the event of a client redemption, due to high dealing costs.

Constraints / limits

The Fund holds no more than 3% in any one corporate credit, with a 5% maximum exposure limit applied to any one bond issuer other than Investment Grade rated government issued debt. Although we do not aim to track the Fund’s benchmark, nor be constrained by it, we nonetheless seek to minimise credit risk by holding a well-diversified portfolio by country, industry, sector, rating, term structure and issuer.

The EdenTree Global Impact Bond Fund will have the capability to invest across a diverse selection of instruments, nevertheless, the Fund will hold a minimum exposure of 80% to “Impact” fixed income securities. Non-GBP exposures will be hedged back to Sterling.

The Fund also has the flexibility to invest in unrated debt. As much as we would assess the quality of particular corporate issuers via fundamental credit analysis, we do not ascribe our own credit ratings on unrated debt. We note that it is fairly commonplace for corporate issuers not to purchase a credit rating for their entire portfolio of debt securities. It is also not necessarily economical for issuers with very few debt instruments to pursue a credit rating, particularly those that raise debt infrequently. As such, being able to invest in unrated debt sees us pick up yield from high quality issuers excluded by conventional Investment Grade mandates due to lack of credit ratings. 

Monitoring

The fund managers have responsibility for monitoring the portfolio in accordance with the overall asset allocation parameters and seek to ensure that individual credits continue to meet the desired risk-reward profile based on industry, sector, rating and or term structure. The Fund’s compliance to relative to risk parameters, minimum 80% threshold of impact holdings and the alignment of currency hedges as compared to underlying asset exposures is monitored daily and reviewed formally every month by the firm's Risk Analytics team. Risk monitoring is also done on a daily basis, with a formal review taking place every calendar quarter. Remedial actions, if required, would then be recommended and executed thereafter.

The Fund's overall tracking error is also measured, decomposing it by key rates maturity tenors, geographic yield curve exposure and credit spread relative to its comparator benchmark. This is done using Bloomberg, where scenario analyses of the impact of historic market events such as the Greek Financial crisis, collapse of Lehman Brothers or sensitivity to changes in the oil price as well as hypothetical scenarios is also estimated including; parallel shifts in yields, rotation(s) of the yield curve, movement credit spreads and changes in benchmark interest rates.

Sell discipline

It is anticipated that core bond holdings will, by and large, be held to maturity. In the absence of redemptions, turnover is more likely to be generated by the reinvestment of maturing bonds than by outright sales, given our long-term investment horizon. We anticipate portfolio turnover will be between 10% and 20%. We would also look to take advantage of periods of dislocation in the fixed interest markets, flexibly utilising opportunities that they may avail to acquire exposure to higher quality bonds at wide spreads. In a similar vein, we may reduce investment levels in favour of cash when we arrive at a view that the market has become too expensive.

Engagement and Ongoing review

Portfolio holdings are typically subject to ongoing reviews including performance, risk analysis, need for sustainable engagement based on news flow or ESG controversies, market outlook and with respect to asset and sector allocations. We accept that circumstances change and are therefore open to revisiting investment theses to ensure that they continue to deliver against desired objectives. On a broader level, the EdenTree Standard is reviewed by an external independent panel of senior financial, environmental and business figures, appointed for their long-standing industry knowledge and expertise. The Independent Panel has been guiding the evolution of thought process behind our Sustainable Funds for over 20 years.

To achieve the best outcomes for our clients, we look to focus our time and attention on issues that are most material to our investments, and where engagement can have the greatest impact on company behaviour. The Fund Managers also periodically meet with EdenTree's Impact strategist who not only appraises the Fixed Income team on the outcomes of recent impact-related issuer meetings but also leads the collaborative discussion on forward-looking impact engagement themes and targets.

Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies:

As a dedicated sustainable investment manager, all of EdenTree’s investment expertise and resources are directed towards sustainable investing. At the heart of EdenTree’s investment process is the close collaboration of its Sustainable Investment Team.

EdenTree’s Sustainable Investment Team comprises both its fund managers and its sustainability specialists. The individuals within these teams work side by side on stock selection, stewardship and thematic research. EdenTree thus employs a dual due diligence process, endeavoring to ensure robust risk management and positive sustainability outcomes. 

EdenTree’s activities are overseen by its Sustainable Investment Advisory Panel, which comprises industry and business experts appointed for their specialist knowledge. For investors, it’s an added layer of assurance that their money is being invested in companies that are operating in a sustainable way. 

Our Sustainability Specialists  

The dedicated sustainability component of our Sustainable Investment Team is made up of five sustainability specialists who oversee EdenTree’s sustainability research and stewardship activity. The team has oversight of how EdenTree assesses and integrates sustainability across all funds.

• Carlota Esguevillas, Head of Sustainable Investment - Carlota leads the sustainability team and has oversight of EdenTree’s sustainability and stewardship activities. She joined the firm in 2021, having previously worked for a leading sustainability consultancy advising global companies on their ESG strategies and disclosures. She holds a First-Class Honours BA in Geography from Oxford University, a master’s certificate with distinction in Business & Human Rights from Bergen University, and the Investment Management Certificate (IMC). She is also a member of the PA Future (formerly ESG Clarity) Committee, the IA’s Sustainability & Responsible Investment Committee, winner of Investment Week’s Rising Star Sustainable Investment Champion of the Year 2024 and highly commended Sustainable & ESG Woman of the Year at Investment Week’s Women in Investment Awards 2025.
• Hayley Grafton, Senior Sustainable Investment Analyst - Hayley Leads on the firm's approach to corporate governance and proxy voting. Hayley joined EdenTree in 2024 and leads the firm’s corporate governance approach and proxy voting activity. She is also responsible for EdenTree’s long-term engagement on financial inclusion in the UK. Hayley holds the Investment Management Certificate and is a student member of the Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland (CGIUKI), through which she is completing the Chartered Governance Qualifying Programme. Before joining EdenTree, she worked at Mercer as a Sustainable Investment Specialist, where she focused on the firm’s stewardship approach and activity across portfolio funds.
• Cordelia Dower-Tylee, Senior Sustainable Investment Analyst- Cordelia joined EdenTree in 2022 and leads the firm’s engagement strategy, overseeing activity across the team’s priority themes. She also leads EdenTree’s environmental work, with an emphasis on water, and supports the company’s work on governance. She holds the Investment Management Certificate, an MA in History from the University of Edinburgh, and a Certificate in Sustainable Finance from the University of Cambridge. She is also a member of the UKSIF Future Leaders Cohort and the PRI Nature Reference Group. Prior to joining EdenTree, Cordelia worked with the International Water Management Institute and in a green-focused corporate advisory firm.
• Aaron Cox, Impact Strategist - Aaron Leads the firm’s public market impact strategy across equities, listed infrastructure, and fixed income. He joined EdenTree in June 2022 and is an Impact Strategist within the Sustainability Team. Prior to joining EdenTree, Aaron had roles at First State Investments (now First Sentier), Jupiter and Majedie as a writer and researcher with a focus on ESG and sustainable investing. He started his career as a derivatives broker in Sydney. Aaron has a BA in English from the University of New South Wales, Post Grad Certificate in Environmental Economics from SOAS and Certificate in Sustainable Investing from Harvard Business School. He is currently undertaking a post graduate research project at Birmingham University on computational linguistic methods to identify sustainability stretch goal tensions and the risk of greenwashing and corporate misbehaviour.
• Ross Albany-Ward, Sustainable Investment Analyst - Ross joined EdenTree in 2025, and is a Sustainable Investment Analyst on the Sustainability Team and leads EdenTree’s work on climate strategy. Working across the firm’s sustainability research and stewardship activities, he leads EdenTree’s work on climate, including carbon footprinting the funds. Prior to joining EdenTree, Ross worked in the Sustainable Investment team at CCLA, assessing companies and supporting stewardship activities. Ross has a First-Class Honours degree in Geography from Nottingham University, completing his dissertation on sustainable finance and corporate sustainability.

The team leverages both proprietary and third-party research applies value orientated screens, attends conferences and often meets with company management. The investment research undertaken provides the foundations for the lead fund manager to decide whether it is appropriate to include the stock in the overall portfolio.

Proprietary analysis sits at the core of our investment process at EdenTree. For our sustainability analysis we believe a qualitative approach is needed to capture the nuances and hence we choose to rely on in-depth analyst research, rather than third-party ratings, to form an opinion on suitability. To complete the assessment, the analyst utilises a variety of sources, including: Newsflow, annual and sustainability reports, policies, industry publications and websites, NGO research, investor databases, benchmark initiatives, and government and academic research. As mentioned above, EdenTree also has access to several third-party research providers, including Bloomberg, Sustainalytics, ISS ESG, and Glass Lewis, which are used to support the analyst assessment.

Partnerships

We are members or signatories to several industry partnerships involving the sustainable investment community. Ultimately, membership of organisations such as the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) affords specific opportunity to work with like-minded global investors on material issues. The SI Team oversee periodic review of our involvement in these industry partnerships and collaborative initiatives, particularly assessing effectiveness, progress made and alignment with our engagement priorities. Over the period, our partnerships included:

Collaborative engagement memberships

Most engagement is conducted by EdenTree directly. However, we seek to collaborate positively with like minded investors wherever possible or as part of collaborative industry initiatives. Detailed below is a list of the initiatives we were involved in, and in what capacity, over the period. Further detail and updates on our involvement in these collaborations are shared in our quarterly reports.

EdenTree believes these partnerships signals their commitment to having an active and positive role in the investment community. Collaborations are critical to driving change, whilst learning from expert sources allows them to provide more for their clients.

EdenTree also sits on UKSIF’s Analyst Committee, which advises on the development of UKSIF’s knowledge sharing programme on evolving sustainability issues. They also sit on the PRI’s Circular Economy Reference Group, which explores how investors can better integrate the principles of a circular economy into investment processes. EdenTree’s CIO, Charlie Thomas, sits on the IA’s Sustainability and Responsible Investment Committee.

EdenTree Sustainable Investment Advisory Panel

The EdenTree Sustainable Investment Advisory Panel is an external advisory panel of seven senior industry practitioners with expertise in the field of sustainable investment. The Sustainable Investment Advisory Panel (“the Panel”) has independent oversight over the Sustainability Team, led by Carlota Esguevillas, Head of Sustainable Investment. The Panel meets three times each year to provide oversight to EdenTree’s proprietary sustainable investment process (the “EdenTree Standard” edentree-identifying-sustainable-companies.pdf) and to discuss the latest trends and developments in sustainable investment and research. The purpose of the Panel is to: 

• Ensure that EdenTree’s range of funds meet the stated sustainable aims and objectives. 
• Provide advice in the formulation of policy in the light of changing social and sustainability issues.
• Advise on emerging issues or topics relevant to EdenTree’s sustainable investment criteria. 
• Provide advice and guidance on individual companies or sectors, and engagement work with regards to sustainable and social topics.

EdenTree Sustainable Investment Advisory Panel Members: 

• Will Oulton, Panel Chair - Will Oulton is the Chair of the European Sustainable Investment Forum (Eurosif), a Non-Exec Director and Board Champion for Ocean Recovery at the UK based Marine Conservation Society, and Chair of King Charles III’s Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) Expert Panel. Prior to these positions he was for over a decade the Global Head of Responsible Investment at global asset manager First Sentier Investors, where he led the delivery of an award winning RI strategy for the business. He was also the Head of Responsible Investment for EMEA at Mercer Investments and the Director of Responsible Investment at FTSE, leading the ongoing management and development of FTSE’s responsible investment services.
• Paul Simpson OBE, Strategic Advisor - Paul is an advisor to organisations focussed on accelerating the transition to a net zero economy. He pioneered climate and environmental disclosure globally having co-founded CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) in 2001 and spent 12 years as the CEO until 2022. Paul received an OBE for services to tackling climate change in the 2022 Honours List. He initiated the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) in 2014 and has held board positions with SBTi, We Mean Business, EIRIS, The Investor Agenda and the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (now part of the International Sustainability Standards Board).
• Verity Mitchell, Independent Consultant - Verity Mitchell is UK Analyst and editor of What's Next for UK Water for Global Water Intelligence magazine. Previously she was Director, Utilities for HSBC Global Research. Her equity coverage included Pennon, Severn Trent and United Utilities in the UK; Veolia in France; and American Water and Essential Utilities in the US, together with Centrica, Drax, National Grid, SSE and Biffa. She covered most of the larger UK water companies before they were taken private. She has been involved in bringing a number of global water and waste management companies to the listed equity markets in the UK, US and Middle East. Previously she worked in project finance for HSBC on a number of infrastructure mandates including water projects. She began her career at what is now the Department of Business and Trade.
• Annette Fergusson, Independent Consultant - Annette is an independent consultant with over 25 years of experience working on sustainability and business and human rights, with a particular focus on the telecoms and technology sectors. She advises companies, industry associations and non-governmental organisations on a wide range of human rights issues including digital rights, children’s rights and labour standards. Annette was previously Vodafone Group’s Head of Sustainable Business and for over 10 years led the company’s human rights programme. From 2016 to 2018, she was a member of the Board of the multi-stakeholder Global Network Initiative.
• Julian Parrott, Client Member, Ethical Futures - Julian Parrott is an independent financial planner specialising in ethical and sustainable investment advice. Julian has over 25 years’ experience in financial services, encompassing building society management, life assurance sales and financial planning & advice. He is the founding partner of the Ethical Futures LLP and holds the ISO 22222 standard in financial planning. Julian is active in promoting ethical investment to the public and adviser community. He has served on the board of UKSIF & Ethical Investment Association. He is a Director of the Ethical Finance Hub project as well as other consultancy roles. Julian is a fellow of the RSA.
• Mike Barry, Former Director of Sustainable Business - Until recently, Mike was Director of Sustainable Business at Marks & Spencer, spearheading its ground-breaking Plan A sustainability programme. He also co-chaired the Consumer Goods Forum’s sustainability work, bringing together the world’s largest retailers and fast moving consumer goods brands to work on issues such as deforestation, plastics and forced labour. He is a Senior Associate at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
• Sue Round, Chair, EdenTree Investment Management - Following more than 40 years in investment management, Sue retired in 2022. Prior to retirement she had developed and led EdenTree and is currently Chair of EdenTree Investment Management.

Sue joined what was then Ecclesiastical Investment Management in 1984 and as a senior fund manager, launched one of the first responsible (ethical) retail funds in 1988. She went to develop and reposition a range of funds to integrate environmental, social and governance into the investment process. Prior to retirement, Sue was a member of FCA Smaller Business Practitioners Panel and an advocate for improvements across the broader investment industry to promote greater clarity of approach to avoid “greenwash “ to clients. Prior to joining Ecclesiastical, Sue spent five years at Philip Hill, the Investment Trust specialist management house.

Dialshifter

This fund is helping to ‘shift the dial from brown to green’ by…

Progressing towards our goals is driven by our Climate Change Strategy. It is based on four pillars where we believe there is both a need for action and where we can make a difference. The four pillars – Decarbonise, Accelerate, Collaborate and Embody – each address a different part of the low carbon transition, targeting the areas where investors have the biggest role to play.

Please refer to the Climate Stewardship Report 2024/25 for more details.

SDR Labelling:

Sustainability Impact label

SDR Literature:

• EdenTree Global Impact Bond Fund Sustainability Disclosure