
PIMCO GIS Global Low Duration Opportunities ESG Fund
SRI Style:
ESG Plus
SDR Labelling:
Not eligible to use label
Product:
SICAV/Offshore
Fund Region:
Global
Fund Asset Type:
Fixed Interest
Launch Date:
27/07/2022
Last Amended:
Jul 2025
Dialshifter (
):
Fund Size:
£4.00m
(as at: 30/04/2025)
Total Screened Themed SRI Assets:
£450.00m
(as at: 31/03/2025)
Total Assets Under Management:
£1484221.00m
(as at: 31/03/2025)
ISIN:
IE000T141LT7, IE000PF7XAH6
Objectives:
The PIMCO GIS Low Duration Opportunities ESG Fund is an ESG-optimised, absolute return fixed income strategy that aims to generate consistent excess return over the ICE BofA SOFR Overnight Rate Index with limited volatility, while focusing on capital preservation and liquidity management. The strategy is designed to access PIMCO’s highest conviction global fixed income opportunities – our secular thinking, global themes, and integrated investment process – without the constraints of a formal benchmark. The strategy seeks to sustainably outperform a cash benchmark, while focusing on capital preservation over a rolling 12-18 month period. To that end, our approach allows for more manager discretion to adjust duration exposure, allocate across sectors and more fully express our active views while seeking to promote environmental and social characteristics via meaningful allocations to ESG labelled bonds, reducing its carbon footprint, and engagement activity on sustainability issues. By bringing together our time-tested investment process and ESG investing philosophy, PIMCO GIS Low Duration Opportunities ESG Fund delivers an ESG-optimized global bond strategy with the flexibility to access a diversified opportunity set. The Fund promotes sustainability characteristics by leveraging PIMCO’s “3 Es”, our active ESG optimization process in global markets (Exclude, Evaluate, Engage). The fund seeks to exclude issuers that PIMCO deem to be fundamentally misaligned with sustainability practices.
Sustainable, Responsible
&/or ESG Overview:
Fund Description
The PIMCO GIS Low Duration Opportunities ESG Fund is an absolute return-oriented low duration high quality bond strategy, that focuses on environmental, social, and governance factors. It is designed for investors who seek enhanced returns over traditional cash investments in exchange for a modest increase in risk. The fund utilizes PIMCO’s global secular forecast and integrated investment process across multiple sectors with duration that may range from -1 to +5 years.
The Fund Advantage
The strategy is designed to deploy PIMCO’s highest conviction views across global fixed income – our secular thinking, global themes, and integrated investment process – without the constraints of a formal benchmark or significant sector constraints. This approach is designed to allow the portfolio the flexibility to navigate around traditional fixed income risks while considering ESG factors. The Fund benefits from PIMCO’s advanced sustainability capabilities, including proprietary ESG scoring frameworks for all major asset classes in the investment universe. Alongside corporate credit frameworks, PIMCO has tailored ESG frameworks for sovereigns, SSA, securitized credit and municipals. In addition, the Fund utilizes PIMCO’s bespoke ESG labelled bond framework which is incorporated in the Fund’s assessment of ESG labelled bonds – where the Fund seeks meaningful exposure to.
Primary fund last amended:
Jul 2025
Information directly from fund manager.
Fund Filters
Sustainability - General
Funds that have policies that consider (environmental and social) sustainability issues. Strategies vary but are likely to consider environmental issues like climate change, carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, resource management, environmental impacts; and social issues like equal opportunities, human rights, labour standards, diversity and adherence to internationally recognised codes. See fund information.
Find funds which substantially focus on sustainability issues
A core element of these funds aim to encourage higher sustainability standards across business practices through responsible ownership / stewardship / engagement / voting activity
Find funds that use the UN Global Compact to inform or help direct where they can or cannot invest and will typically not invest in companies with significant breaches (low standards) - although strategies vary. (The UNGC covers a wide range of issues - search 'UNGC'). See https://unglobalcompact.org/
Environmental - General
Funds that have policies which relate to environmental issues. These will typically set out the fund's stance on issues such as pollution, climate change, resource management, biodiversity loss, carbon emissions, plastics and/or additional environmental impacts. Strategies vary. See fund information for further information.
Funds that limit or 'reduce' their exposure to carbon intensive industries (ie sectors which are major contributors to climate change. Funds vary - some funds may be 'underweight' in this area which means they may have some investment in highly carbon intensive areas. Funds of this kind may choose companies they consider to be 'best in sector' and encourage ever higher standards. Strategies vary. See fund information for further details.
Funds that aim to invest in companies with strong or market leading environmental policies and practices. Strategies vary - in particular the balance between 'financial' aspects and environmental benefits. Some may invest substantially in solutions or 'positive impact' companies - others may invest in more conventional companies providing certain environmental criteria are met. See fund information for further detail.
Climate Change & Energy
Funds that avoid investing in major coal, oil and/or gas (extraction) companies. Funds vary: some may exclude all companies that extract oil. Others may have exposure to oil extraction via more diversified energy companies. See fund literature to confirm details.
Funds that avoid companies involved in fracking and tar sands - which are widely regarded as controversial methods of oil and gas extraction. Strategies vary. See fund information for further information.
Funds that avoid companies that are involved in extracting oil from the Arctic regions. See fund literature for further details.
Funds that avoid investing in companies with coal, oil and gas reserves. See fund information for further details.
A core element of these funds will aim to encourage the transition to lower carbon activities through responsible ownership / stewardship / engagement / voting activity
Funds that hold companies in the clean energy and renewable energy sectors (at the time research was supplied). Fund strategies vary, in particular the proportion of investment in these areas may vary significantly. Check fund literature for details.
The fund manager excludes companies with direct involvement in fossil fuel exploration (eg coal, oil and gas companies)
Social / Employment
Find funds that have policies which set out their approach to social issues (e.g. human rights, labour standards, equal opportunities, child labour and adherence to internationally recognised codes such as the UN Global Compact). Funds with social policies typically avoid companies with low standards or work to encourage higher standards. See fund information for detail.
Find funds that have a labour standards policy - which can be expected to mean that the fund will invest in / favour companies that have higher standards in this area - although fund strategies can vary significantly (as with all policy areas). See eg https://www.ilo.org/international-labour-standards
Find funds that invest in line with positive strategies that relate to 'people' issues - such as having strong human rights, labour standards and equal opportunities practices. Such funds are likely to invest in companies that have market leading standards with regard to employee and supplier practices. Read fund literature for further information.
Ethical Values Led Exclusions
Companies are excluded if they are involved in any aspect of the production chain for tobacco products, including cigarettes, vaping, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco and cigars.
Companies are excluded if they make more than 5% of their revenue from the manufacture, sale or distribution of tobacco products including cigarettes, vaping, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco and cigars.
Find funds that exclude companies which make controversial weapons such as landmines, cluster munitions and chemical weapons. See fund literature for further information.
Find funds that avoid companies that manufacture products intended specifically for military use. Fund strategies vary - particularly with regard to non-strategic military products. See fund literature for fund specific details.
Find funds with a written civilian firearms exclusion policy - meaning that they will not invest in companies that make (or perhaps also sell) handguns made for non-military users.
Find funds that avoid investment in companies involved in the production of alcohol. Strategies vary; some funds allow a small proportion of profits to come from this area. See fund literature for further information.
Find funds that avoid companies with significant involvement in the gambling industry. Some funds may allow a small proportion of profits to come from this area. See fund policy for further details.
Find funds that avoid companies that derive significant income from pornography and related areas. Strategies vary. See fund details for further information.
Human Rights
Find funds that have policies relating to human rights issues. Funds of this kind typically require companies to demonstrate higher standards, although some fund managers work to encourage improvements. Investee companies are often judged against internationally agreed norms or standards. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
Gilts & Sovereigns
Find funds that invest in loans issued the government, commonly known as gilts or government bonds. These may or may not be ringfenced for specific projects (see additional options). See fund literature for any selection criteria.
Find funds that avoid investing in 'some' gilts or government bonds. Strategies vary, but this may relate to avoiding specific countries or particular reasons for bond issuance. 'Green gilts' for example would be likely to be acceptable. See fund literature for further information.
Find funds that invest in financial instruments issued by governments, but will only hold those that meet certain environmental and or social criteria. This may, for example mean certain assets are excluded in line with eg Freedom House research. Strategies vary, see fund literature for more information.
Banking & Financials
Find funds that include banks as part of their holdings / portfolio.
Finds funds that include financial instruments (cash, derivatives and / or foreign exchange) issued by banks. See fund literature for further information as strategies vary.
Funds that do or may invest in insurance companies.
Governance & Management
Find fund options that have policies that relate to corporate governance issues such as board structure, executive remuneration, bribery and/or corporate corruption. These funds will typically avoid companies with poor practices. Strategies vary. See fund literature for further information.
Find funds that aim to avoid investing in companies with poor governance practices.(e.g. board structure, management practices etc.) Views may however vary on what counts as 'poor' practices - and funds may not immediately divest as they may prefer to work to encourage higher standards. See fund literature for further information.
Exclude companies that are subject to United Nations sanctions. See eg https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/en/content/un-sc-consolidated-list
Find funds that have policies explaining how managers will respond to assets / companies that do not comply with relevant anti-bribery and anti-corruption standards or laws. Strategies vary; options include stewardship/ engagement and divestment - or a combination. See fund literature for further information.
Find fund managers that encourage the banks and insurance companies they invest in to publish climate change related financial information - as set out by the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (with the aim of helping investors measure and respond to climate risk).
A core element of these funds will aim to encourage higher ESG standards through responsible ownership / stewardship / engagement /voting activity
Fund Governance
Find funds that factor in 'environmental, social and governance' issues as part of their investment decision making process. A focus on 'ESG' typically means a fund is carrying out additional research to help reduce ESG related risks. It does not necessarily mean a focus on sustainability. Strategies vary. See fund literature.
Asset Size
International entities or bodies with agreed remits that are broadly similar to those that may otherwise be undertaken by individual governments eg the UN
Impact Methodologies
Funds that aim to help or support the delivery of positive social or environmental impacts (or societal/real world outcomes) by investing in companies they regard as beneficial to people and / or the planet. Strategies vary. See fund literature for further information.
Funds that aim to measure the positive real world environmental and / or social benefits that are associated with their investment strategy. Funds that aim to deliver positive impacts and measure those impacts may be referred to as 'impact funds' - although impact measurement is not restricted to impact funds. Strategies vary. See fund information.
Find funds that direct investment towards companies where a major part of their business is about solving environmental challenges. e.g. companies helping to address climate change.
Find funds that specifically set out to invest in companies that are regarded as 'disrupting' existing business practices - typically through the development of innovative (sustainability aware) products and/or practices.
Fund aims to deliver positive environmental and or social impacts (real world benefits) through its engagement with investee assets
How The Fund Works
Find funds that focus on finding and investing in companies with positive / beneficial attributes. This strategy can be applied in addition to exclusion criteria and engagement/stewardship activity.
Find funds where their main 'ethical approach' is to avoid companies by using negative screening criteria. Read fund literature for further information.
Find funds that invest more heavily in those that have higher ESG ratings/standards or scores and less heavily in companies with lower ESG ratings. Where this is central to a fund's strategy you should expect it to invest in most sectors. Strategies vary.
Aims to avoid companies that do significant harm. This originates from the EU’s sustainable finance ‘DNSH’ (do no significant harm) work, which is not necessarily used by UK investors.
Find funds that make significant use of internationally agreed 'norms' (e.g. United Nations Global Compact - UNGC - or the UN Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs) as part of their investment selection process alongside additional SRI criteria such as positive or negative stock selection policies and/or stewardship strategies.
Find funds that have an ESG strategy (which is typically focused on avoiding companies that pose environmental, social or governance related risks) with additional criteria such as positive and/or negative screens, themes and stewardship strategies.
Find funds that consider both the 'positive' and 'negative' aspects of company behaviour and make balanced, considered decisions as part of their investment approach. May apply to a range of different issues and policy areas.
A major focus of these funds is the careful management of environmental, social and governance (ESG) related risks - typically by avoiding or being underweight in companies seen as posing major risks in these areas (i.e. not necessarily by using themes, exclusions etc).
This fund does (and has recently) invested in newly listed companies other assets (eg bonds) which are significantly focused on the provision of products and/or services which are designed to solve environmental and/or social problems.
This fund does not use stock lending for performance or risk purposes.
Unscreened Assets & Cash
The percentage of assets held within the fund that match the fund’s sustainability objectives and are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets.
The percentage of assets held within the fund that match the fund’s sustainability objectives and are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets.
The percentage of assets held within the fund that match the fund’s sustainability objectives and are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets
Intended Clients & Product Options
Finds funds designed to meet the needs of individual investors with an interest in sustainability issues.
Only applicable for DFM’s & portfolio providers. Find service providers who offer bespoke ('personalised') SRI / ESG portfolio options
Labels & Accreditations
Finds funds classified under Article 8 of the EU’s SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Requirements). Article 8 of the SFDR is a set of requirements that apply to financial products that 'promote' environmental or social characteristics with high governance also. These rules do not currently apply to UK funds so many managers may leave this field blank.
Fund Management Company Information
About The Business
Finds fund management companies that have a published company wide stewardship, engagement and / or responsible ownership policy or strategy that covers all investments. Stewardship typically involves encouraging higher ESG standards through voting and dialogue.
Find fund management companies that actively encourage higher 'environmental, social and governance' and/or 'sustainable and responsible investment' practices across investee companies - typically where the aim is to encourage positive change that is aligned with the best interests of investors. Strategies vary. See additional information and options.
Find fund management companies that consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues when deciding whether or not to invest in a company for all / almost all of their funds and other assets. This is increasingly seen as part of sound risk management.
Finds organisations / fund managers that have an in-house (company wide) diversity improvement programme - meaning that they are working to ensure that within their own businesses they employ people from diverse backgrounds - often typically focused on ethnicity and/or sex.
Find fund management companies that encourage the companies they invest in to have strong diversity, race, gender and other equality policies across all assets held, not simply screened or themed SRI/ESG funds. (ie Asset Management company wide).
Asset management company has investments in bonds designed to meet sustainability requirements - however these assets may not be 'ringfenced' for this purpose. See fund manager website for details.
Collaborations & Affiliations
Find fund management companies that have signed up to the UN backed 'Principles of Responsible Investment'.
Find fund management companies that have partnered with Fund EcoMarket - meaning that they are helping to improve access to information on sustainable and responsible investment by paying an annual fee to us which enables us to publish information for free. Partner funds are listed ahead of other funds and have their logos displayed.
A member of the Taskforce for Nature Related Financial Disclosures group which aims to aid risk management and shift money towards nature-positive outcomes.
Fund management entity is a member of the Investment Association https://www.theia.org/
Resources
Find fund management companies that employ people to steer and support fund managers in voting shares at company AGM's and EGMs in ways that are consistent with encouraging higher ESG/sustainability standards.
Find a fund management company that directly employs specialist ESG/SRI/sustainability researchers or analysts. This allows asset managers to discuss environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities directly with companies.
Find fund management companies that makes use of expert external research companies. This can help deliver specialist expertise and means resources are pooled with other investors.
Accreditations
Find fund managers that are signatories to the FRC UK Stewardship Code, which sets out a framework for constructive investor / investee relations where fund managers are encouraged to behave like responsible, typically longer term 'company owners'.
Engagement Approach
Find fund management companies that regularly initiate or run industry wide (collaborative) investor projects aimed at raising environmental, social and governance standards amongst investee companies.
Fund manager has stewardship /responsible ownership strategy that is focused on addressing climate change with investee assets.
Asset manager has a stewardship /responsible ownership strategy that involves working with fossil fuel companies on climate change related issues. See fund manager website for details.
Asset manager has stewardship /responsible ownership strategy with involves encouraging investee asset to reduce plastic waste and pollution.
Asset manager has a stewardship / responsible ownership policy that means they are working to encourage more responsible mining practices - where environmental and social issues are properly dealt with by the companies they invest in.
The asset manager has a responsible ownership / stewardship strategy that focuses on biodiversity and nature issues relating to the assets they invest the aim of which will be to reduce harm and or deliver improvement. Strategies vary. https://tnfd.global
Asset manager has a responsible ownership / stewardship strategy which means they are working to encourage the shift to more sustainable business practices in ways that respect and are sensitive to social issues and the impact change has on people effected by the changes that are taking place. https://www.transitionpathwayinitiative.org/ https://transitiontaskforce.net/
Asset manager has responsible ownership / stewardship strategy in place which aims to address human rights issues in investee companies (and potentially their suppliers) with the aim of raising standards
Asset manager has responsible ownership / stewardship strategy in place that aims to improve labour standards for the benefit of employees in investee companies (and potentially their suppliers)
Asset management company has a stewardship strategy in place which involves working to raise diversity, equality and inclusion standards across investee assets
working with the assets they hold to help stamp out modern slavery - where direct or indirect company employees are exploited for business benefits.
Fund managers have stewardship strategies in place that focus on improving governance standards across investee assets
Has a stewardship / responsible ownership strategy that encourages responsible supply chain - ie the managers will discuss environmental, social and governance issues with investee companies with the aim of raising standards
Escalation policies describe how a manager will proceed if stewardship / engagement activity is not successful in the short term.
Climate & Net Zero Transition
Find fund management companies that have published a Climate Risk policy or statement that is signed / owned by their Chief Executive.
Find fund management companies that are working with the companies they invest in to encourage reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.
Finds organisations / fund managers that have published ‘forward looking climate metrics’ e.g. 'implied temperature rise' data that are a total of the asset management company's share (% owned) of all the investee company emissions of the assets they manage, as well as their own direct and other indirect emissions.
Transparency
Find fund management companies that publish a report detailing their responsible investment ownership - also known as 'Stewardship' - activity.
Find companies that publish information about their sustainable and responsible investment strategies on their company website.
Find fund management companies that will supply information about their sustainable and responsible investment activity on request.
Find fund management companies that have supplied Dialshifter information. See Dialshifter tab within record for more information.
Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Policy:
In line with the rest of our solutions that follow sustainability strategies and guidelines, this portfolio also aims at:
- Avoiding issuers and sectors fundamentally at odds with ESG practices
- Achieving a meaningful exposure to ESG-labelled bonds (Green, Social, Sustainability and Sustainability-linked Bonds)
- Active monitoring of the Fund’s carbon profile
- Engagement activity on sustainability issues with portfolio companies
Sustainability Philosophy
At PIMCO, we define ESG Integration as the integration of material ESG factors into investment research. We believe incorporating ESG factors should be part of a robust investment process. We recognize that ESG factors are increasingly material inputs into our understanding of global economies, markets, industries and business models. Whether climate change, income inequality, shifting consumer preferences, regulatory risks, human capital management or unethical conduct, ESG factors are important considerations when evaluating long-term investment opportunities. These factors are evaluated across markets and asset classes, where applicable. Our commitment to ESG integration was one of the main drivers that led PIMCO to become a signatory to the Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI) in September 2011.
The integration of ESG factors into PIMCO’s investment process seeks to account for material ESG risks in both top-down macro positioning and bottom-up security evaluation. To the extent that ESG risks are material for particular sectors, issuers, etc., our fundamental credit views will reflect this. While ESG scores play a role in security selection for portfolios that follow sustainability strategies and guidelines, they are not a criterion for security selection in portfolios that do not follow sustainability strategies and guidelines. Additionally, integrating material ESG factors into the evaluation process does not mean that ESG information is the sole consideration for an investment decision; instead, PIMCO’s portfolio managers and analyst teams evaluate a variety of factors, which can include ESG considerations, to make investment decisions. By integrating material ESG factors into the evaluation process, PIMCO is increasing the total amount of information assessed to generate a more holistic view of an investment, in efforts to deliver the best performance outcomes for our clients.
In addition to the firm wide integration of material ESG risks, The PIMCO Low Duration Opportunities ESG Fund seeks to promote environmental and social characteristics. As part of PIMCO’s ESG fund solutions, it follows our “3 E” implementation process:
- Exclude: We exclude issuers fundamentally misaligned with sustainability practices – both by their governing terms and in practice. Our exclusions process is overseen by the PIMCO ESG Exclusions Group.
- Evaluate: Using our proprietary and independent ESG scoring system, we seek to optimize portfolios that follow sustainability strategies and guidelines to emphasize companies in each industry with leading ESG practices or those who are progressing toward their ESG objectives, limited carbon footprint and high quality ESG labeled bond frameworks. Members of PIMCO’s global research team are responsible for assigning ESG scores to each of the issuers under their coverage in collaboration with our dedicated ESG analysts and ESG scores are augmented by insights from PIMCO’s engagement activities.
- Engage: Our final building block is constructive and collaborative engagement with issuers to influence ESG practices over time. We believe that allocating capital toward issuers willing to improve the sustainability of their business practices has the potential to benefit a strategy’s investment outcomes rather than simply excluding issuers with poor sustainability metrics and favouring those with strong metrics. As such, PIMCO portfolios that follow sustainability strategies and guidelines seek to overweight issuers that demonstrate a clear willingness to move toward better ESG-related practices, consistent with meeting the SDGs.
Ultimately, the Fund’s investments are governed by its prospectus, applicable laws and regulations.
Process:
ESG Integration: Firm-Wide Assets
At the firm level, PIMCO integrates material ESG factors into the investment research process where applicable to assess issuer risks. Our process emphasizes rigorous analysis of broad secular trends, which are at the core of both global ESG trends and long-term asset returns. Additionally, many ESG risks are idiosyncratic to the sector, and the specific issuer – sometimes the specific security. For this reason, our investment process evaluates relevant ESG risk factors from both the top-down (i.e. macro) and bottom-up (i.e. security specific) where applicable. In addition to the belief that ESG integration is essential to optimizing outcomes over the long-term, PIMCO has developed a robust platform specialized in supporting investment solutions with sustainability objectives.
From the top-down, the first and most important step in PIMCO’s process is to identify the major long-term themes that will impact the global economy and financial markets. PIMCO believes that such analysis is fundamental to making sound investment decisions. The firm’s annual Secular Forums are devoted to identifying and analyzing these longer-term trends and the analysis of ESG-related issues fits directly into that process. Similarly, periodic updates at the firm’s Cyclical Forums further address near-term sustainability related themes and potential investment implications.
Concurrently, the firm’s global research teams aim to evaluate material ESG-related issues as part of their bottom-up analysis of an issuer.
PIMCO aims to consider relevant risks and opportunities that could affect particular issuers or industries where appropriate. We consider how ESG factors may impact the issuer more broadly, and the potential effect on valuations. This can include an issuers’ impact on the environment and society, and how that impact may in turn affect the view of the issuer from relevant stakeholders including their investors, regulators, customers and labor force. To facilitate the integration of ESG risk factors in our analysis and help to monitor ESG related risks, we are continually enhancing our proprietary research with specific ESG related attributes and dedicated scoring. In addition to the ESG team working alongside analysts across asset classes, we also host training sessions on available ESG frameworks, scoring methodologies, ESG systems, data and tools.
ESG data and analysis, both internal and external, are readily available to all portfolio managers, traders and research analysts across the firm, which enables portfolio managers to make trading decisions that incorporate the material ESG characteristics of a given issuer.
ESG Investment Process: Portfolios that follow Sustainability Strategies and Guidelines
While material environmental, social, and governance considerations are incorporated into PIMCO’s broad investment processes, for those clients that want greater ESG orientation in their portfolio, our mandates that follow sustainability strategies and guidelines further utilize three building blocks of PIMCO’s ESG process – exclusions, evaluations, and engagement:
- Exclude: PIMCO’s separately managed portfolios that follow sustainability strategies and guidelines typically start with client-driven exclusions list. In the case of PIMCO sponsored funds that follow sustainability strategies and guidelines, we exclude issuers determined by PIMCO to be fundamentally misaligned with sustainability practices, including issuers focused on tobacco manufacturing, the production of controversial weapons, pornographic material and the production or distribution of coal. These core exclusions are supplemented by sovereign exclusions and a dynamic list of issuers excluded, for example, due to business practices determined in PIMCO’s judgment to be misaligned with relevant sustainable investment guidelines and restrictions and/or a failure to demonstrate a willingness to improve practices or unresponsiveness to PIMCO’s active engagement efforts. Issuers that do not meet relevant investment guidelines and restrictions are coded into our in-house compliance system, and portfolio managers, account managers, and our compliance teams closely monitor accounts to ensure compliance with applicable requirements.
- Evaluate: As well as seeking to exclude issuers lagging on ESG/sustainability progress, PIMCO portfolios that follow sustainability strategies and guidelines emphasize issuers with leading ESG practices or those who are progressing toward their ESG objectives in portfolio construction. These are identified through a proprietary ESG scoring system, which considers how an issuer currently fares relative to its peers in the industry, and the issuer’s ESG momentum. The result of this is that issuers already incorporating sound ESG practices are more likely to be candidates for our portfolios that follow sustainability strategies and guidelines.
- Engage: Our final building block is constructive and collaborative engagement with issuers to influence ESG practices over time. We believe that allocating capital toward issuers willing to improve the sustainability of their business practices has the potential to benefit a strategy’s investment outcomes rather than simply excluding issuers with poor sustainability metrics and favoring those with strong metrics. As such, PIMCO portfolios that follow sustainability strategies and guidelines seek to overweight issuers that demonstrate a clear willingness to move toward better ESG-related practices, consistent with meeting the SDGs.
The following graphic illustrates these three building blocks.
Source: PIMCO. For Illustrative Purposes only. ESG-labelled Bonds are defined as green, social, and sustainable bonds and sustainability-linked bonds. Green Bonds are those issues with proceeds specifically earmarked to be used for climate and environmental projects. Social Bonds are use-of-proceeds bonds earmarked to finance new and existing projects or activities with positive social impacts. Sustainability Bonds are use-of-proceeds bonds earmarked to finance new and existing projects or activities with positive environmental and social impacts. Sustainability-Linked Bonds (SLBs) are bonds that include sustainability-linked covenants, as explained by the issuer through use of a framework and/or legal documentation. The sustainability objectives and exclusions of any particular portfolio that follows sustainability strategies and guidelines will be set out in the respective governing documents. For detailed information related to our PIMCO sponsored funds that follow sustainability strategies and guidelines, please refer to the fund’s prospectus. Green/social/sustainability bonds of issuers involved in coal and fossil fuel-related sectors may be permitted.
ESG Evaluation
PIMCO has developed proprietary scoring frameworks across asset classes over the past decade. Our enhanced research process incorporates a detailed ESG asset assessment that complements the traditional ratings assigned by analysts. We have proprietary ESG scores for corporate issuers, sovereigns, securitized issuers and municipal issuers, in addition to PIMCO’s proprietary ESG labeled bond scoring framework to evaluate green, social and sustainability bond issuances.
Engagement
As one of the world’s leading bondholders, we engage with issuers on matters we believe are essential to risk and return considerations. Our goal is to uncover investment insights, mitigate risk, and capitalize on prospective opportunities that can influence investment outcomes.
We believe that collaborating with issuers to enhance their operational practices can significantly affect those with higher exposure to ESG-related risks. By engaging with companies at various stages of their sustainability journey, particularly in historically hard-to-abate sectors, we aim to create value and drive momentum forward. Our engagement practices, spanning diverse asset classes and types of issuers, are designed to promote efficiencies that may benefit additional stakeholders. Ultimately, our engagements are structured to help create investment value for our clients.
We engage to gain investment insights, mitigate risks, and potentially contribute to investment outcomes. We believe that working with issuers can enhance their operational practices.
Consistent issuer engagement is essential, in our view, for a thorough understanding of an investment’s risk-reward composition, which is critical to making informed buy or sell decisions. Thus, we believe consistent engagement enhances active investment management.
Our goal is to provide value for clients, and that goal informs how we structure engagement.
Portfolio Construction
Portfolio managers at PIMCO use the ESG assessments of our credit analysts and multiple proprietary ESG tools as additional inputs into their portfolio investment decisions. The combination of ESG considerations with financial valuations and credit fundamentals results in our decision to invest, add/reduce or even divest from a company.
External Research
At PIMCO we regularly evaluate ESG data providers which may add additional input into our in-house analysis conducted by our credit, sovereign and mortgage analyst teams. The firm relies primarily on internal research for decision-making; however, PIMCO also screens substantial amounts of external data sets. PIMCO currently utilizes MSCI as our primary external data provider but we also use Reprisk, TruCost, Bloomberg, CDP, SBTi, TPI, risQ, Maplecroft, Haver, and Freedom House, among other sources. ESG data generally flows directly into our proprietary IT systems, enabling portfolio managers and credit analysts to use this information efficiently. Further, data in our systems is not only limited to subscriptions to data providers. We also look at data and rankings available across different platforms including data sourced from the NGO sector. Examples of sources here include: Forest 500; Forest and Finance; Sustainability Policy Transparency Toolkit (SPOTT); the Ocean Health Index; and Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure (ENCORE). We have also reviewed data sets from the Natural History Museum, Global Forest Watch, Yale and the World Bank.
Dialshifter
This fund is helping to ‘shift the dial from brown to green’ by…
… excluding industries and issuers misaligned with sustainability principles, including those involved in the fossil fuel industry; emphasizing issuers with “best-in-class” environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices through a proprietary ESG scoring system; allocating meaningfully to green, social, and sustainability bonds; actively managing the portfolio’s carbon emissions and carbon intensity profile; and engaging proactively and collaboratively with corporate issuers to influence environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices.
SDR Labelling:
Not eligible to use label
Fund Name | SRI Style | SDR Labelling | Product | Region | Asset Type | Launch Date | Last Amended |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() PIMCO GIS Global Low Duration Opportunities ESG Fund |
ESG Plus | Not eligible to use label | SICAV/Offshore | Global | Fixed Interest | 27/07/2022 | Jul 2025 | |
ObjectivesThe PIMCO GIS Low Duration Opportunities ESG Fund is an ESG-optimised, absolute return fixed income strategy that aims to generate consistent excess return over the ICE BofA SOFR Overnight Rate Index with limited volatility, while focusing on capital preservation and liquidity management. The strategy is designed to access PIMCO’s highest conviction global fixed income opportunities – our secular thinking, global themes, and integrated investment process – without the constraints of a formal benchmark. The strategy seeks to sustainably outperform a cash benchmark, while focusing on capital preservation over a rolling 12-18 month period. To that end, our approach allows for more manager discretion to adjust duration exposure, allocate across sectors and more fully express our active views while seeking to promote environmental and social characteristics via meaningful allocations to ESG labelled bonds, reducing its carbon footprint, and engagement activity on sustainability issues. By bringing together our time-tested investment process and ESG investing philosophy, PIMCO GIS Low Duration Opportunities ESG Fund delivers an ESG-optimized global bond strategy with the flexibility to access a diversified opportunity set. The Fund promotes sustainability characteristics by leveraging PIMCO’s “3 Es”, our active ESG optimization process in global markets (Exclude, Evaluate, Engage). The fund seeks to exclude issuers that PIMCO deem to be fundamentally misaligned with sustainability practices. |
Fund Size: £4.00m (as at: 30/04/2025) Total Screened Themed SRI Assets: £450.00m (as at: 31/03/2025) Total Assets Under Management: £1484221.00m (as at: 31/03/2025) ISIN: IE000T141LT7, IE000PF7XAH6 |
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Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG OverviewFund Description
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Primary fund last amended: Jul 2025 |
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Information received directly from Fund Manager |
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Fund FiltersSustainability - General
Sustainability policy
Funds that have policies that consider (environmental and social) sustainability issues. Strategies vary but are likely to consider environmental issues like climate change, carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, resource management, environmental impacts; and social issues like equal opportunities, human rights, labour standards, diversity and adherence to internationally recognised codes. See fund information.
Sustainability focus
Find funds which substantially focus on sustainability issues
Encourage more sustainable practices through stewardship
A core element of these funds aim to encourage higher sustainability standards across business practices through responsible ownership / stewardship / engagement / voting activity
UN Global Compact linked exclusion policy
Find funds that use the UN Global Compact to inform or help direct where they can or cannot invest and will typically not invest in companies with significant breaches (low standards) - although strategies vary. (The UNGC covers a wide range of issues - search 'UNGC'). See https://unglobalcompact.org/ Environmental - General
Environmental policy
Funds that have policies which relate to environmental issues. These will typically set out the fund's stance on issues such as pollution, climate change, resource management, biodiversity loss, carbon emissions, plastics and/or additional environmental impacts. Strategies vary. See fund information for further information.
Limits exposure to carbon intensive industries
Funds that limit or 'reduce' their exposure to carbon intensive industries (ie sectors which are major contributors to climate change. Funds vary - some funds may be 'underweight' in this area which means they may have some investment in highly carbon intensive areas. Funds of this kind may choose companies they consider to be 'best in sector' and encourage ever higher standards. Strategies vary. See fund information for further details.
Favours cleaner, greener companies
Funds that aim to invest in companies with strong or market leading environmental policies and practices. Strategies vary - in particular the balance between 'financial' aspects and environmental benefits. Some may invest substantially in solutions or 'positive impact' companies - others may invest in more conventional companies providing certain environmental criteria are met. See fund information for further detail. Climate Change & Energy
Coal, oil & / or gas majors excluded
Funds that avoid investing in major coal, oil and/or gas (extraction) companies. Funds vary: some may exclude all companies that extract oil. Others may have exposure to oil extraction via more diversified energy companies. See fund literature to confirm details.
Fracking and tar sands excluded
Funds that avoid companies involved in fracking and tar sands - which are widely regarded as controversial methods of oil and gas extraction. Strategies vary. See fund information for further information.
Arctic drilling exclusion
Funds that avoid companies that are involved in extracting oil from the Arctic regions. See fund literature for further details.
Fossil fuel reserves exclusion
Funds that avoid investing in companies with coal, oil and gas reserves. See fund information for further details.
Encourage transition to low carbon through stewardship activity
A core element of these funds will aim to encourage the transition to lower carbon activities through responsible ownership / stewardship / engagement / voting activity
Invests in clean energy / renewables
Funds that hold companies in the clean energy and renewable energy sectors (at the time research was supplied). Fund strategies vary, in particular the proportion of investment in these areas may vary significantly. Check fund literature for details.
Fossil fuel exploration exclusion - direct involvement
The fund manager excludes companies with direct involvement in fossil fuel exploration (eg coal, oil and gas companies) Social / Employment
Social policy
Find funds that have policies which set out their approach to social issues (e.g. human rights, labour standards, equal opportunities, child labour and adherence to internationally recognised codes such as the UN Global Compact). Funds with social policies typically avoid companies with low standards or work to encourage higher standards. See fund information for detail.
Labour standards policy
Find funds that have a labour standards policy - which can be expected to mean that the fund will invest in / favour companies that have higher standards in this area - although fund strategies can vary significantly (as with all policy areas). See eg https://www.ilo.org/international-labour-standards
Favours companies with strong social policies
Find funds that invest in line with positive strategies that relate to 'people' issues - such as having strong human rights, labour standards and equal opportunities practices. Such funds are likely to invest in companies that have market leading standards with regard to employee and supplier practices. Read fund literature for further information. Ethical Values Led Exclusions
Tobacco and related product manufacturers excluded
Companies are excluded if they are involved in any aspect of the production chain for tobacco products, including cigarettes, vaping, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco and cigars.
Tobacco and related products - avoid where revenue > 5%
Companies are excluded if they make more than 5% of their revenue from the manufacture, sale or distribution of tobacco products including cigarettes, vaping, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco and cigars.
Controversial weapons exclusion
Find funds that exclude companies which make controversial weapons such as landmines, cluster munitions and chemical weapons. See fund literature for further information.
Armaments manufacturers avoided
Find funds that avoid companies that manufacture products intended specifically for military use. Fund strategies vary - particularly with regard to non-strategic military products. See fund literature for fund specific details.
Civilian firearms production exclusion
Find funds with a written civilian firearms exclusion policy - meaning that they will not invest in companies that make (or perhaps also sell) handguns made for non-military users.
Alcohol production excluded
Find funds that avoid investment in companies involved in the production of alcohol. Strategies vary; some funds allow a small proportion of profits to come from this area. See fund literature for further information.
Gambling avoidance policy
Find funds that avoid companies with significant involvement in the gambling industry. Some funds may allow a small proportion of profits to come from this area. See fund policy for further details.
Pornography avoidance policy
Find funds that avoid companies that derive significant income from pornography and related areas. Strategies vary. See fund details for further information. Human Rights
Human rights policy
Find funds that have policies relating to human rights issues. Funds of this kind typically require companies to demonstrate higher standards, although some fund managers work to encourage improvements. Investee companies are often judged against internationally agreed norms or standards. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail. Gilts & Sovereigns
Invests in gilts / government bonds
Find funds that invest in loans issued the government, commonly known as gilts or government bonds. These may or may not be ringfenced for specific projects (see additional options). See fund literature for any selection criteria.
Gilts / government bonds - exclude some
Find funds that avoid investing in 'some' gilts or government bonds. Strategies vary, but this may relate to avoiding specific countries or particular reasons for bond issuance. 'Green gilts' for example would be likely to be acceptable. See fund literature for further information.
Invests in sovereigns subject to screening criteria
Find funds that invest in financial instruments issued by governments, but will only hold those that meet certain environmental and or social criteria. This may, for example mean certain assets are excluded in line with eg Freedom House research. Strategies vary, see fund literature for more information. Banking & Financials
Invests in banks
Find funds that include banks as part of their holdings / portfolio.
Invests in financial instruments issued by banks
Finds funds that include financial instruments (cash, derivatives and / or foreign exchange) issued by banks. See fund literature for further information as strategies vary.
Invests in insurers
Funds that do or may invest in insurance companies. Governance & Management
Governance policy
Find fund options that have policies that relate to corporate governance issues such as board structure, executive remuneration, bribery and/or corporate corruption. These funds will typically avoid companies with poor practices. Strategies vary. See fund literature for further information.
Avoids companies with poor governance
Find funds that aim to avoid investing in companies with poor governance practices.(e.g. board structure, management practices etc.) Views may however vary on what counts as 'poor' practices - and funds may not immediately divest as they may prefer to work to encourage higher standards. See fund literature for further information.
UN sanctions exclusion
Exclude companies that are subject to United Nations sanctions. See eg https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/en/content/un-sc-consolidated-list
Anti-bribery and corruption policy
Find funds that have policies explaining how managers will respond to assets / companies that do not comply with relevant anti-bribery and anti-corruption standards or laws. Strategies vary; options include stewardship/ engagement and divestment - or a combination. See fund literature for further information.
Encourage TCFD alignment for banks & insurance companies
Find fund managers that encourage the banks and insurance companies they invest in to publish climate change related financial information - as set out by the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (with the aim of helping investors measure and respond to climate risk).
Encourage higher ESG standards through stewardship activity
A core element of these funds will aim to encourage higher ESG standards through responsible ownership / stewardship / engagement /voting activity Fund Governance
ESG integration strategy
Find funds that factor in 'environmental, social and governance' issues as part of their investment decision making process. A focus on 'ESG' typically means a fund is carrying out additional research to help reduce ESG related risks. It does not necessarily mean a focus on sustainability. Strategies vary. See fund literature. Asset Size
Invest in supranationals
International entities or bodies with agreed remits that are broadly similar to those that may otherwise be undertaken by individual governments eg the UN Impact Methodologies
Aims to generate positive impacts (or 'outcomes')
Funds that aim to help or support the delivery of positive social or environmental impacts (or societal/real world outcomes) by investing in companies they regard as beneficial to people and / or the planet. Strategies vary. See fund literature for further information.
Measures positive impacts
Funds that aim to measure the positive real world environmental and / or social benefits that are associated with their investment strategy. Funds that aim to deliver positive impacts and measure those impacts may be referred to as 'impact funds' - although impact measurement is not restricted to impact funds. Strategies vary. See fund information.
Invests in environmental solutions companies
Find funds that direct investment towards companies where a major part of their business is about solving environmental challenges. e.g. companies helping to address climate change.
Invests in sustainability / ESG disruptors
Find funds that specifically set out to invest in companies that are regarded as 'disrupting' existing business practices - typically through the development of innovative (sustainability aware) products and/or practices.
Aim to deliver positive impacts through engagement
Fund aims to deliver positive environmental and or social impacts (real world benefits) through its engagement with investee assets How The Fund Works
Positive selection bias
Find funds that focus on finding and investing in companies with positive / beneficial attributes. This strategy can be applied in addition to exclusion criteria and engagement/stewardship activity.
Negative selection bias
Find funds where their main 'ethical approach' is to avoid companies by using negative screening criteria. Read fund literature for further information.
ESG weighted / tilt
Find funds that invest more heavily in those that have higher ESG ratings/standards or scores and less heavily in companies with lower ESG ratings. Where this is central to a fund's strategy you should expect it to invest in most sectors. Strategies vary.
Significant harm exclusion
Aims to avoid companies that do significant harm. This originates from the EU’s sustainable finance ‘DNSH’ (do no significant harm) work, which is not necessarily used by UK investors.
Combines norms based exclusions with other SRI criteria
Find funds that make significant use of internationally agreed 'norms' (e.g. United Nations Global Compact - UNGC - or the UN Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs) as part of their investment selection process alongside additional SRI criteria such as positive or negative stock selection policies and/or stewardship strategies.
Combines ESG strategy with other SRI criteria
Find funds that have an ESG strategy (which is typically focused on avoiding companies that pose environmental, social or governance related risks) with additional criteria such as positive and/or negative screens, themes and stewardship strategies.
Balances company 'pros and cons' / best in sector
Find funds that consider both the 'positive' and 'negative' aspects of company behaviour and make balanced, considered decisions as part of their investment approach. May apply to a range of different issues and policy areas.
Focus on ESG risk mitigation
A major focus of these funds is the careful management of environmental, social and governance (ESG) related risks - typically by avoiding or being underweight in companies seen as posing major risks in these areas (i.e. not necessarily by using themes, exclusions etc).
Participated in sustainability solutions IPOs or new issuances
This fund does (and has recently) invested in newly listed companies other assets (eg bonds) which are significantly focused on the provision of products and/or services which are designed to solve environmental and/or social problems.
Do not use stock / securities lending
This fund does not use stock lending for performance or risk purposes. Unscreened Assets & Cash
Assets typically aligned to sustainability objectives 70 - 79%
The percentage of assets held within the fund that match the fund’s sustainability objectives and are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets.
Assets typically aligned to sustainability objectives 80 – 89%
The percentage of assets held within the fund that match the fund’s sustainability objectives and are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets.
Assets typically aligned to sustainability objectives > 90%
The percentage of assets held within the fund that match the fund’s sustainability objectives and are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets Intended Clients & Product Options
Intended for investors interested in sustainability
Finds funds designed to meet the needs of individual investors with an interest in sustainability issues.
Bespoke SRI / ESG portfolios available (DFMs)
Only applicable for DFM’s & portfolio providers. Find service providers who offer bespoke ('personalised') SRI / ESG portfolio options Labels & Accreditations
SFDR Article 8 fund / product (EU)
Finds funds classified under Article 8 of the EU’s SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Requirements). Article 8 of the SFDR is a set of requirements that apply to financial products that 'promote' environmental or social characteristics with high governance also. These rules do not currently apply to UK funds so many managers may leave this field blank. Fund Management Company InformationAbout The Business
Responsible ownership / stewardship policy or strategy (AFM company wide)
Finds fund management companies that have a published company wide stewardship, engagement and / or responsible ownership policy or strategy that covers all investments. Stewardship typically involves encouraging higher ESG standards through voting and dialogue.
ESG / SRI engagement (AFM company wide)
Find fund management companies that actively encourage higher 'environmental, social and governance' and/or 'sustainable and responsible investment' practices across investee companies - typically where the aim is to encourage positive change that is aligned with the best interests of investors. Strategies vary. See additional information and options.
Integrates ESG factors into all / most (AFM) fund research
Find fund management companies that consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues when deciding whether or not to invest in a company for all / almost all of their funds and other assets. This is increasingly seen as part of sound risk management.
In-house diversity improvement programme (AFM company wide)
Finds organisations / fund managers that have an in-house (company wide) diversity improvement programme - meaning that they are working to ensure that within their own businesses they employ people from diverse backgrounds - often typically focused on ethnicity and/or sex.
Diversity, equality & inclusion engagement policy (AFM company wide)
Find fund management companies that encourage the companies they invest in to have strong diversity, race, gender and other equality policies across all assets held, not simply screened or themed SRI/ESG funds. (ie Asset Management company wide).
Invests in new sustainability linked bond issuances (AFM company wide)
Asset management company has investments in bonds designed to meet sustainability requirements - however these assets may not be 'ringfenced' for this purpose. See fund manager website for details. Collaborations & Affiliations
PRI signatory
Find fund management companies that have signed up to the UN backed 'Principles of Responsible Investment'.
Fund EcoMarket partner
Find fund management companies that have partnered with Fund EcoMarket - meaning that they are helping to improve access to information on sustainable and responsible investment by paying an annual fee to us which enables us to publish information for free. Partner funds are listed ahead of other funds and have their logos displayed.
TNFD forum member (AFM company wide)
A member of the Taskforce for Nature Related Financial Disclosures group which aims to aid risk management and shift money towards nature-positive outcomes.
Investment Association (IA) member
Fund management entity is a member of the Investment Association https://www.theia.org/ Resources
In-house responsible ownership / voting expertise
Find fund management companies that employ people to steer and support fund managers in voting shares at company AGM's and EGMs in ways that are consistent with encouraging higher ESG/sustainability standards.
Employ specialist ESG / SRI / sustainability researchers
Find a fund management company that directly employs specialist ESG/SRI/sustainability researchers or analysts. This allows asset managers to discuss environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities directly with companies.
Use specialist ESG / SRI / sustainability research companies
Find fund management companies that makes use of expert external research companies. This can help deliver specialist expertise and means resources are pooled with other investors. Accreditations
UK Stewardship Code signatory (AFM company wide)
Find fund managers that are signatories to the FRC UK Stewardship Code, which sets out a framework for constructive investor / investee relations where fund managers are encouraged to behave like responsible, typically longer term 'company owners'. Engagement Approach
Regularly lead collaborative ESG initiatives (AFM company wide)
Find fund management companies that regularly initiate or run industry wide (collaborative) investor projects aimed at raising environmental, social and governance standards amongst investee companies.
Engaging on climate change issues
Fund manager has stewardship /responsible ownership strategy that is focused on addressing climate change with investee assets.
Engaging with fossil fuel companies on climate change
Asset manager has a stewardship /responsible ownership strategy that involves working with fossil fuel companies on climate change related issues. See fund manager website for details.
Engaging to reduce plastics pollution / waste
Asset manager has stewardship /responsible ownership strategy with involves encouraging investee asset to reduce plastic waste and pollution.
Engaging to encourage responsible mining practices
Asset manager has a stewardship / responsible ownership policy that means they are working to encourage more responsible mining practices - where environmental and social issues are properly dealt with by the companies they invest in.
Engaging on biodiversity / nature issues
The asset manager has a responsible ownership / stewardship strategy that focuses on biodiversity and nature issues relating to the assets they invest the aim of which will be to reduce harm and or deliver improvement. Strategies vary. https://tnfd.global
Engaging to encourage a Just Transition
Asset manager has a responsible ownership / stewardship strategy which means they are working to encourage the shift to more sustainable business practices in ways that respect and are sensitive to social issues and the impact change has on people effected by the changes that are taking place. https://www.transitionpathwayinitiative.org/ https://transitiontaskforce.net/
Engaging on human rights issues
Asset manager has responsible ownership / stewardship strategy in place which aims to address human rights issues in investee companies (and potentially their suppliers) with the aim of raising standards
Engaging on labour / employment issues
Asset manager has responsible ownership / stewardship strategy in place that aims to improve labour standards for the benefit of employees in investee companies (and potentially their suppliers)
Engaging on diversity, equality and / or inclusion issues
Asset management company has a stewardship strategy in place which involves working to raise diversity, equality and inclusion standards across investee assets
Engaging to stop modern slavery
working with the assets they hold to help stamp out modern slavery - where direct or indirect company employees are exploited for business benefits.
Engaging on governance issues
Fund managers have stewardship strategies in place that focus on improving governance standards across investee assets
Engaging on responsible supply chain issues
Has a stewardship / responsible ownership strategy that encourages responsible supply chain - ie the managers will discuss environmental, social and governance issues with investee companies with the aim of raising standards
Stewardship escalation policy
Escalation policies describe how a manager will proceed if stewardship / engagement activity is not successful in the short term. Climate & Net Zero Transition
Publish 'CEO owned' Climate Risk policy (AFM company wide)
Find fund management companies that have published a Climate Risk policy or statement that is signed / owned by their Chief Executive.
Encourage carbon / greenhouse gas reduction (AFM company wide)
Find fund management companies that are working with the companies they invest in to encourage reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.
‘Forward Looking Climate Metrics’ published / ITR (AFM company wide)
Finds organisations / fund managers that have published ‘forward looking climate metrics’ e.g. 'implied temperature rise' data that are a total of the asset management company's share (% owned) of all the investee company emissions of the assets they manage, as well as their own direct and other indirect emissions. Transparency
Publish responsible ownership / stewardship report (AFM company wide)
Find fund management companies that publish a report detailing their responsible investment ownership - also known as 'Stewardship' - activity.
Full SRI / responsible ownership policy information on company website
Find companies that publish information about their sustainable and responsible investment strategies on their company website.
Full SRI / responsible ownership policy information available on request
Find fund management companies that will supply information about their sustainable and responsible investment activity on request.
Dialshifter statement
Find fund management companies that have supplied Dialshifter information. See Dialshifter tab within record for more information. Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Policy:In line with the rest of our solutions that follow sustainability strategies and guidelines, this portfolio also aims at:
The integration of ESG factors into PIMCO’s investment process seeks to account for material ESG risks in both top-down macro positioning and bottom-up security evaluation. To the extent that ESG risks are material for particular sectors, issuers, etc., our fundamental credit views will reflect this. While ESG scores play a role in security selection for portfolios that follow sustainability strategies and guidelines, they are not a criterion for security selection in portfolios that do not follow sustainability strategies and guidelines. Additionally, integrating material ESG factors into the evaluation process does not mean that ESG information is the sole consideration for an investment decision; instead, PIMCO’s portfolio managers and analyst teams evaluate a variety of factors, which can include ESG considerations, to make investment decisions. By integrating material ESG factors into the evaluation process, PIMCO is increasing the total amount of information assessed to generate a more holistic view of an investment, in efforts to deliver the best performance outcomes for our clients. In addition to the firm wide integration of material ESG risks, The PIMCO Low Duration Opportunities ESG Fund seeks to promote environmental and social characteristics. As part of PIMCO’s ESG fund solutions, it follows our “3 E” implementation process:
Ultimately, the Fund’s investments are governed by its prospectus, applicable laws and regulations.
Process:ESG Integration: Firm-Wide Assets At the firm level, PIMCO integrates material ESG factors into the investment research process where applicable to assess issuer risks. Our process emphasizes rigorous analysis of broad secular trends, which are at the core of both global ESG trends and long-term asset returns. Additionally, many ESG risks are idiosyncratic to the sector, and the specific issuer – sometimes the specific security. For this reason, our investment process evaluates relevant ESG risk factors from both the top-down (i.e. macro) and bottom-up (i.e. security specific) where applicable. In addition to the belief that ESG integration is essential to optimizing outcomes over the long-term, PIMCO has developed a robust platform specialized in supporting investment solutions with sustainability objectives. From the top-down, the first and most important step in PIMCO’s process is to identify the major long-term themes that will impact the global economy and financial markets. PIMCO believes that such analysis is fundamental to making sound investment decisions. The firm’s annual Secular Forums are devoted to identifying and analyzing these longer-term trends and the analysis of ESG-related issues fits directly into that process. Similarly, periodic updates at the firm’s Cyclical Forums further address near-term sustainability related themes and potential investment implications. Concurrently, the firm’s global research teams aim to evaluate material ESG-related issues as part of their bottom-up analysis of an issuer. PIMCO aims to consider relevant risks and opportunities that could affect particular issuers or industries where appropriate. We consider how ESG factors may impact the issuer more broadly, and the potential effect on valuations. This can include an issuers’ impact on the environment and society, and how that impact may in turn affect the view of the issuer from relevant stakeholders including their investors, regulators, customers and labor force. To facilitate the integration of ESG risk factors in our analysis and help to monitor ESG related risks, we are continually enhancing our proprietary research with specific ESG related attributes and dedicated scoring. In addition to the ESG team working alongside analysts across asset classes, we also host training sessions on available ESG frameworks, scoring methodologies, ESG systems, data and tools. ESG data and analysis, both internal and external, are readily available to all portfolio managers, traders and research analysts across the firm, which enables portfolio managers to make trading decisions that incorporate the material ESG characteristics of a given issuer. ESG Investment Process: Portfolios that follow Sustainability Strategies and Guidelines While material environmental, social, and governance considerations are incorporated into PIMCO’s broad investment processes, for those clients that want greater ESG orientation in their portfolio, our mandates that follow sustainability strategies and guidelines further utilize three building blocks of PIMCO’s ESG process – exclusions, evaluations, and engagement:
The following graphic illustrates these three building blocks. Source: PIMCO. For Illustrative Purposes only. ESG-labelled Bonds are defined as green, social, and sustainable bonds and sustainability-linked bonds. Green Bonds are those issues with proceeds specifically earmarked to be used for climate and environmental projects. Social Bonds are use-of-proceeds bonds earmarked to finance new and existing projects or activities with positive social impacts. Sustainability Bonds are use-of-proceeds bonds earmarked to finance new and existing projects or activities with positive environmental and social impacts. Sustainability-Linked Bonds (SLBs) are bonds that include sustainability-linked covenants, as explained by the issuer through use of a framework and/or legal documentation. The sustainability objectives and exclusions of any particular portfolio that follows sustainability strategies and guidelines will be set out in the respective governing documents. For detailed information related to our PIMCO sponsored funds that follow sustainability strategies and guidelines, please refer to the fund’s prospectus. Green/social/sustainability bonds of issuers involved in coal and fossil fuel-related sectors may be permitted. ESG Evaluation PIMCO has developed proprietary scoring frameworks across asset classes over the past decade. Our enhanced research process incorporates a detailed ESG asset assessment that complements the traditional ratings assigned by analysts. We have proprietary ESG scores for corporate issuers, sovereigns, securitized issuers and municipal issuers, in addition to PIMCO’s proprietary ESG labeled bond scoring framework to evaluate green, social and sustainability bond issuances. Engagement As one of the world’s leading bondholders, we engage with issuers on matters we believe are essential to risk and return considerations. Our goal is to uncover investment insights, mitigate risk, and capitalize on prospective opportunities that can influence investment outcomes. We believe that collaborating with issuers to enhance their operational practices can significantly affect those with higher exposure to ESG-related risks. By engaging with companies at various stages of their sustainability journey, particularly in historically hard-to-abate sectors, we aim to create value and drive momentum forward. Our engagement practices, spanning diverse asset classes and types of issuers, are designed to promote efficiencies that may benefit additional stakeholders. Ultimately, our engagements are structured to help create investment value for our clients. We engage to gain investment insights, mitigate risks, and potentially contribute to investment outcomes. We believe that working with issuers can enhance their operational practices. Consistent issuer engagement is essential, in our view, for a thorough understanding of an investment’s risk-reward composition, which is critical to making informed buy or sell decisions. Thus, we believe consistent engagement enhances active investment management. Portfolio Construction Portfolio managers at PIMCO use the ESG assessments of our credit analysts and multiple proprietary ESG tools as additional inputs into their portfolio investment decisions. The combination of ESG considerations with financial valuations and credit fundamentals results in our decision to invest, add/reduce or even divest from a company. External Research At PIMCO we regularly evaluate ESG data providers which may add additional input into our in-house analysis conducted by our credit, sovereign and mortgage analyst teams. The firm relies primarily on internal research for decision-making; however, PIMCO also screens substantial amounts of external data sets. PIMCO currently utilizes MSCI as our primary external data provider but we also use Reprisk, TruCost, Bloomberg, CDP, SBTi, TPI, risQ, Maplecroft, Haver, and Freedom House, among other sources. ESG data generally flows directly into our proprietary IT systems, enabling portfolio managers and credit analysts to use this information efficiently. Further, data in our systems is not only limited to subscriptions to data providers. We also look at data and rankings available across different platforms including data sourced from the NGO sector. Examples of sources here include: Forest 500; Forest and Finance; Sustainability Policy Transparency Toolkit (SPOTT); the Ocean Health Index; and Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure (ENCORE). We have also reviewed data sets from the Natural History Museum, Global Forest Watch, Yale and the World Bank. Dialshifter (Fund)This fund is helping to ‘shift the dial from brown to green’ by… … excluding industries and issuers misaligned with sustainability principles, including those involved in the fossil fuel industry; emphasizing issuers with “best-in-class” environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices through a proprietary ESG scoring system; allocating meaningfully to green, social, and sustainability bonds; actively managing the portfolio’s carbon emissions and carbon intensity profile; and engaging proactively and collaboratively with corporate issuers to influence environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices. Dialshifter (Corporate)Our organisation is helping to support the Paris Climate Agreement and the Race to Net Zero by… … offering solutions to support clients’ decarbonization goals. To provide clients a fixed income solution for the transition to a lower-carbon economy, PIMCO offers our Climate Bond Strategy, investing in issuers at the forefront of the climate transition. Additionally, for clients looking to implement decarbonization targets, PIMCO has developed a four-pillar decarbonization framework to help investors target long term objectives to reduce portfolio exposure to greenhouse gases. This framework provides a meaningful and realistic approach to decarbonizing fixed income portfolios over time, while engaging and investing in the climate solutions and leaders best positioned to contribute to real-economy emissions reductions. SDR Labelling:Not eligible to use label |