Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Policy:

Investment Objective

The aim of this Fund is to: (i) provide long-term capital growth over a period of 5 years or more; and (ii) invest in companies which have leading or improving environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, in line with the selection criteria described in the investment policy.

Investment Policy

The Fund invests in shares (equities) of listed companies which the fund manager believes will provide above-average returns (relative to their industry peers). The Fund invests in companies of any size and based anywhere in the world (including emerging markets). The fund manager seeks to reduce the impact on the Fund of fluctuations in value of equity markets by investing in bonds issued by developed market governments. The Fund's typical asset mix ranges between 60 – 85% in shares, with the remainder being mainly in bonds and cash.

The fund manager invests in issuers of shares of listed companies which either demonstrate leadership on sustainability issues (such as promoting better social outcomes, increasing the amount of renewable energy and using the planet's resources more sustainably and increased digitalisation) through strong ESG practices (“leaders”) or have shown a clear commitment to improve their ESG practices (“companies in transition”). More than 50% of the Fund's equity investments will be in “leaders”. The fund manager will also analyse a company's financial status, quality of management, expected profitability and prospects for growth when selecting shares.

In selecting investments (bonds and shares), the fund manager will take into account the company's or issuer's ESG score as one factor within its broader analysis of the company or issuer to identify investments which are expected to generate long-term capital growth and which have leading or improving ESG practices. The fund manager will only consider the lowest scoring companies or issuers in exceptional circumstances. ESG scores are obtained from our selected external provider(s), as detailed in the “Responsible Investment” section of the Prospectus.

To avoid investing in companies or sovereign issuers which present excessive degrees of ESG risk, the fund manager applies AXA IM Group's sector specific investment guidelines relating to responsible investment to the Fund. Such guidelines exclude investment in soft commodity derivatives or exposure to certain companies based on their involvement in specific sectors (such as unsustainable palm oil production, controversial weapons and climate risks).

The fund manager also applies the AXA Investment Managers' ESG Standards policy. This policy excludes investment in companies and sovereign issuers based on: tobacco production; manufacture of white phosphorus weapons; certain criteria relating to human rights and anti-corruption as well as other ESG factors. The AXA Investment Managers' ESG Standards policy and AXA IM Group's sector specific investment guidelines are subject to change and are available from the fund manager on request.

The Manager will look to engage on sustainability issues and identified areas of weakness with a selection of investee companies. The Manager will focus on companies where the continued enhancement of sustainability practices is expected to help support the robust, long-term profitability of such companies. More details on the Manager's approach to sustainability and its engagement with companies are available on the website: https://www.axa-im.co.uk/ under the heading “Responsible Investing”.

If the fund manager deems that an investment no longer meets the criteria set out in this investment policy or its expectations in terms of that investment's prospects for achieving the Fund's objective or, in the case of a company, becomes unresponsive to the fund manager's engagement efforts, the fund manager will disinvest as soon as practicable having regard to the best interests of the Fund's investors and in accordance with its best execution policy.

The Fund may also invest in other transferable securities and units in collective investment schemes (including those that are managed by the fund manager or its associates). The Fund may use derivatives for Efficient Portfolio Management. Use may be made of borrowing, cash holdings, hedging and other investment techniques permitted in the applicable Financial Conduct Authority rules.

This Fund is actively managed without reference to any Benchmark. The IA Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares Sector may be used by investors to compare the Fund's financial performance. The Manager currently does not consider any available benchmarks as a suitable performance comparator for investors to compare the Fund's performance against its sustainability objective.

(Source: KIID, as at Janaury 2025)