EdenTree Global Sustainable Government Bond Fund

SRI Style:

Pending

SDR Labelling:

Sustainability Focus label

Product:

OEIC

Fund Region:

Global

Fund Asset Type:

Fixed Interest

Launch Date:

29/10/2024

Last Amended:

Dec 2024

Dialshifter ():

Fund Size:

£11.10m

(as at: 31/10/2024)

Total Screened Themed SRI Assets:

£1782.80m

Total Responsible Ownership Assets:

£1541.50m

Total Assets Under Management:

£3324.30m

ISIN:

GB00BQ3S4994

Objectives:

To generate a regular income payable quarterly with some capital growth over a period of five years or more through investment in a portfolio of government and government-related green, social sustainable or impact bonds.

The Fund’s position on SDR is not yet live, we plan to send this at a later date. EdenTree has set out its position on SDR on our website here.

Sustainable, Responsible
&/or ESG Overview:

The Fund’s non-financial objective is to invest in government and government-related green, social, sustainable or impact bonds whose proceeds will be used to finance new or existing projects that support a reduction in the level of carbon emissions caused by human activities and to enable greater access to services that empower communities.

The Fund will invest at least 80% of NAV in use-of-proceeds ESG-labelled debt securities from government and government-related issuers that pass EdenTree’s responsible screening. Governments and supranational authorities play a crucial role in supporting environmental and social sustainability through direct project finance and concessions to the private sector to support underserved communities. The capital raised through government-related use-of-proceeds and impact bonds not only supports policy goals, such as those associated with climate change and access to basic services, but can have positive feedback loops, such as accelerated private sector investment in the provision of sustainable products and services.

 

Primary fund last amended:

Dec 2024

Information directly from fund manager.

Fund Filters

Sustainability - 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

Sustainability theme or focus

Find funds where there is a significant emphasis on (environmental and social) sustainability. Funds with a 'sustainability theme' typically place more emphasis on the area than funds with a 'sustainability policy' - meaning that it is more likely to drive investment selection. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.

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

Report against sustainability objectives

Find funds that publicly report their performance against specifically named sustainability objectives (in addition to reporting their financial performance)

Environmental - General
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
Clean / renewable energy theme or focus

Find funds where investment in clean / renewable energy companies an other assets is central to their investment selection strategy. The proportion of the fund that is directly or indirectly invested in renewable energy varies between funds and over time. 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.

Ethical Values Led Exclusions
Ethical policies

Find funds that have policies that set out their position on ethical or 'personal values' based issues. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.

Human Rights
Child labour exclusion

Find funds that have policies in place to ensure they do not invest in companies that employ children.

Oppressive regimes (not free or democratic) exclusion policy

Find funds with policies that exclude companies or other assets where regimes are not democratic, or where people may be oppressed. May use eg. Freedom House research. Strategies vary. See fund literature for further information.

Meeting Peoples' Basic Needs
Invests > 5% in social bonds

Find funds that invest in ‘social bonds’ which raise funds for the purpose of financing projects with positive social (people related) outcomes.

Invests > 50% in social bonds

Find funds that invests more than 50% in social bonds which raise funds for the purpose of financing projects with positive social (people related) outcomes.

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.

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.

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

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
Employ external (fund) oversight or advisory committee

Find funds that have an external committee that helps steer or advise fund managers on SRI policy or strategy related issues. These people may be paid for their time but are not employees of the fund manager.

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.

ESG factors included in Assessment of Value (AoV) report

Environmental, social and governance issues are part of this fund’s reporting of their ‘value’ to clients. AoV reporting is a statutory requirement. Including ESG factors in its calculation is not.

Asset Size
Invests in small, mid and large cap companies / assets

Find a fund that invests in a combination of small, medium and larger (potentially multinational)companies.

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

Targeted Positive Investments
Invests > 5% in sustainable bonds

Invests in loan stock that is exclusively used to finance environmental and social projects. See ICMA Sustainable Bond Guidelines.

Invest > 5% in transition bonds

Invests in loan stock that is supporting or enabling the shift towards a cleaner, more sustainable future. Strategies vary significantly and may or may not be linked to specific outcomes.

Invests > 5% in green bonds

Find funds that invest in green bonds (also known as climate bonds) which encourage sustainability and support climate related or special environmental projects. Please check fund literature for specific % of assets invested in this area.

Invests > 50% in green bonds

Find funds that invest more than 50% in green bonds (also known as climate bonds) which encourage sustainability and support climate related or special environmental projects. Please check fund literature for specific % of assets invested in this area.

Invests >25% of fund in environmental/social solutions companies

Find funds that invest >25% of their capital towards companies where a major part of their business is focused on helping to address environmental or social challenges.

Invests >50% of fund in environmental/social solutions companies

Find funds that invest >50% of their capital in companies where a major part of their business is focused on helping to address environmental or social challenges.

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.

Positive environmental impact theme

Find funds that specifically set out to help deliver positive environmental impacts, benefits or 'real world' outcomes.

Positive social impact theme

Find funds that specifically state that they aim to deliver positive social (i.e. people related) impacts and/or outcomes.

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 social solutions companies

Find funds that invest in companies where a major part of their business is specifically aimed at helping to address social challenges. e.g. companies helping to address poverty.

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

Over 50% in assets providing environmental or social ‘solutions’

50% of fund assets are regarded by the fund manager as being significantly focused on providing solutions to environmental or social challenges. Strategies vary.

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.

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.

Norms focus

Find funds that use internationally agreed standards, conventions and 'norms' to help direct where the fund can and cannot invest (e.g. the UN Global Compact, UN Sustainable Development Goals). Read fund literature for further information.

SRI / ESG / Ethical policies explained on website

Find funds that have published explanations of their ethical, social and/or environmental policies online (i.e. fund decision making strategies/ buy/sell &/or asset management strategies).

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.

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.

Intended for clients who want to have a positive impact

Finds funds designed to meet the needs of individual investors with an interest in ‘Impact investment funds’ which 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.

Available via an ISA (OEIC only)

Find funds that are available via a tax efficient ISA product wrapper.

Portfolio SRI / ESG options available (DFMs)

Only applicable for DFM’s & portfolio providers. Finds those that offer an SRI / ESG portfolio option

Multiple SRI / ESG portfolio options available (DFMs)

Only applicable for DFM’s & portfolio providers. Find service providers who offer multiple SRI / ESG portfolio options

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
SDR Labelled

Find funds that have chosen to adopt one of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) SDR labels. Please note: there are a range of reasons why potentially relevant funds may not use an SDR label eg. adopting a label may be work in progress, the manager may not yet be allowed to do so because of the product type, a manager may feel their fund is insufficiently aligned to SDR requirements. Read fund literature and / or our blogs for further information.

Fund Management Company Information

About The Business
Boutique / specialist fund management company

Find fund management companies that are smaller or specialise in particular areas - notably, ideally ESG related. Strategies vary.

Specialist positive impact fund management company

Find fund management companies (or subsidiaries) that specialise in - or focus entirely on - investing in assets that are helping to deliver positive environmental and / or social impacts.

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.

Vote all* shares at AGMs / EGMs (AFM company wide)

Find fund managers that vote all* the shares they own at Annual General Meetings and Extraordinary General Meetings. A commitment to voting shares is a key indicator of 'responsible share ownership' demonstrating their support for or disagreement with management policy. (*situations can legitimately, occasionally occur where voting proves impossible, but in principle all shares should be voted.)

Responsible ownership / ESG a key differentiator (AFM company wide)

Find fund managers that consider responsible ownership and ESG to be a key differentiator for their business.

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).

Collaborations & Affiliations
PRI signatory

Find fund management companies that have signed up to the UN backed 'Principles of Responsible Investment'.

UKSIF member

Find fund management companies that are members of UKSIF - the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance association

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.

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.

ESG specialists on all investment desks (AFM company wide)

Finds organisations / fund managers that have one or more ESG/sustainability experts on all investment teams or 'desks' (all asset types)

Accreditations
PRI A+ rated (AFM company wide)

Finds organisations / fund managers that have an A+ PRI rating - meaning they are highly rated according to the 'Principles of Responsible Investment'

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.

Encourage responsible corporate taxation (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that are working with the companies they invest in to encourage more responsible corporate taxation.

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

Engaging on the responsible use of AI

Working to address sustainability, ESG and related concerns around artificial intelligence.

Company Wide Exclusions
Controversial weapons avoidance policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies (not funds) that avoid investment in 'controversial weapons' across all of their funds and other investment vehicles.

Tobacco avoidance policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that avoid investment in tobacco (manufacturing) companies across all their assets.

Fossil fuel exclusion policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that avoid investment in fossil fuel companies (e.g. coal, oil and gas) across all of their funds. (and/ or other assets.)

Review(ing) carbon / fossil fuel exposure for all funds (AFM company wide)

Find funds / fund managers that are reviewing, or have reviewed, their exposure to carbon intensive industries including (but not only) mining, oil and gas companies. (Typically with reference to climate change.)

Coal divestment policy (AFM company wide)

This asset manager has a strategy in place that will lead them to exit direct investments in the coal mining industry. Managers ability to do this may depend on the geographic regions in which they invest.

Coal exclusion policy (group wide coal mining exclusion policy)

This asset manager excludes direct investment in the coal mining industry. Managers ability to do this may depend on the geographic regions in which they invest.

Do not invest in companies with fossil fuel reserves

Asset management company excludes companies with fossil fuel reserves across all assets/funds

Climate & Net Zero Transition
Net Zero commitment (AFM company wide)

Fund management organisations that have pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to ‘net zero’. Strategies vary - this area is changing rapidly.

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.

Net Zero - have set a Net Zero target date (AFM company wide)

This asset management company has set a date by which they plan to achieve net zero greenhouse gas / CO2e emissions.

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.

Carbon transition plan published (AFM company wide)

Finds organisations / fund managers that have a company wide carbon transition plan - meaning that they have plotted a path to how they will move away from activities that produce or use carbon based energy sources (that emit greenhouse gases) towards clean, alternative, renewable energy sources.

‘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.

In-house carbon / GHG reduction policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that are working to reduce their own (fund management company) carbon/greenhouse gas emissions.

Working towards a ‘Net Zero’ commitment (AFM company wide)

Finds organisations / fund management companies that are in the process of working out how to make a ‘net zero commitment’ - meaning that when that is finalised they will have started the process of reducing their total greenhouse gas emissions to'zero'.

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.

Publish full voting record (AFM company wide)

Fund management companies that publish a full record of how they vote their shares at AGMs (annual general meetings) and EGMs (extraordinary general meetings). Voting strategies have an important role to play encouraging higher environmental, social and governance standards.

Paris Alignment plan publicly available (AFM company wide)

This asset management company has published a plan that explains how they will align to the climate change commitments made at the Paris Climate Talks, COP21.

Net Zero transition plan publicly available (AFM company wide)

This asset management company has published a plan that explains how they are going to achieve net zero greenhouse gas / CO2e emissions.

Dialshifter statement

Find fund management companies that have supplied Dialshifter information. See Dialshifter tab within record for more information.

Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Policy:

From a global sovereign debt universe, we assess the responsibility of governments and government-related entities through EdenTree’s proprietary Oppressive Regime screen.

EdenTree’s Oppressive Regimes list is based on assessments from Freedom House (Freedom in the World report), Transparency International (Corruption Perceptions Index), and the World Economic Forum (Gender Gap assessment). Each of these assessments considers a range of criteria when determining a country’s score, such as human rights standards, freedom of belief and political expression, use of torture, and civil liberties. Based on the relevance of each organisation’s criteria to our assessment of oppressive regimes, we have developed a weighted average – strongly skewed towards the Freedom House ranking for every country. For our purposes, countries which fall under a certain threshold – 30% - are considered to be Oppressive.

Bonds issued by the government of any country identified as having an oppressive regime are excluded from our investment universe. This screen also specifically captures a specific set of corporate activities where there is overlap with government policies that could lead to human rights violations such as:

  • Operating in a country where UN sanctions are in place
  • Activities within disputed territories which may lead to complicity in violating human rights.
  • Involvement in projects shown to lead to egregious violations of human rights.
  • State-owned enterprises of any government identified as an oppressive regime.
  • Direct complicity in a government’s ability to carry out the death penalty.
  • Activities – direct or in supply chains – in any country identified as having an Oppressive Regime with state-sponsored child or slave labour, where mitigation is impossible.


We consider such issuers as fundamentally unethical and/or misaligned with the Fund’s non-financial objective. EdenTree updates its Oppressive Regimes list annually.

Process:

Where sovereigns have passed responsible screening, suitable assets with desirable risk-return profiles as compared to benchmark are sought, focussing on ESG-labelled bonds. Sub-sovereign-, agency and or supra-national ESG-labelled debt denominated in the same currency not only adds diversification but is also utilised for portfolio construction, particularly where sovereign issuers have no debt with the use-of-proceeds provisions sought by the Fund.

 

Idea generation – Whilst the Fund is primarily comprised of ESG-labelled debt, an ESG label in and of itself, is not sufficient, with the Fund seeking to establish whether the issuer’s overall profile is responsible, particularly as recourse is to the issuer rather than the specific projects funded.

Ideas can come from a variety of sources, including our in-house integrated investment research completed by fund managers and investment analysts; RI thematic research; Investor roadshows, market knowledge; economic insight; company meetings; company reviews; portfolio reviews; and sell-side broker research. ISS is used to enhance our own in-house responsible research capabilities, with thematic reports being produced regularly by the Responsible Investment (RI) Team. As long-term investors, many of our ideas also are generated by ongoing review of our existing holdings vis-à-vis portfolio positioning on duration or geographic allocation.

Quantitative screens with parameters including country allocation, maturity band, credit spread and yield are also employed to generate investment ideas as are more manual searches incorporating more qualitative factors such as bonds’ intentionality, label credibility and reporting framework. Taken together, the results of such analyses determine portfolio suitability.

  • Intentionality – ex ante environmental & social objectives, integrated into investment decisions and assessed / classified consistently.
  • Label Credibility – assessment against respective green, social, impact or sustainable bond qualifying standard and pre-issuance assurance check.
  • Reporting framework – demonstration of transparency in allocation of bond or proceeds, residual balances, with clear metrics for environmental and or social impacts.

 

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. We seek to identify high quality issuers.

Credit research is typically undertaken in tandem with our responsible screening, where we set out to holistically evaluate a securities’ investment suitability for portfolio inclusion.

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

We utilise sell-side credit ratings research from Moody’s, analyst research from Investment banks, independent external research providers such as Oxford Economics along with other analytical tools including Bloomberg. External research is considered alongside internally generated investment analysis in forming our macroeconomic and or credit-specific investment views.

For governments, an assessment of the strength of their institutions, credibility of their monetary policy, debt sustainability, alongside gauging outlooks of economic growth and fiscal policy not only enables for country comparisons but may also aid in the determination of relative value. Where possible, the research process is enhanced by engagement via investor roadshows.

There are two examples of labelled bonds that have been assessed against the Fund’s Sustainability Approach in the Fund’s prospectus (page 32) here


Investment decision – The conclusions from the credit and responsible investment 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.


Investor stewardship – EdenTree will engage with issuers, where necessary, in order to support their contribution to the Fund’s non-financial objective. This includes engagement and advocacy to support the issuers’ contribution to a reduction in carbon emissions caused by human activities and access to basic services, as well as engagement as a means of escalation where a lack of progress against the KPIs is observed.

  • Fact finding engagement: Due diligence with issuers to monitor the investment and ensure it remains aligned to the Fund’s sustainable objective.
  • Thematic engagement: Engagement with a specific objective to support the issuers’ contribution to a reduction in carbon emissions caused by human activities and access to services that empower communities, including through policy and advocacy, working with the wider asset management industry, and adding to a body of transparency.

 

EdenTree’s RI Team oversees EdenTree’s engagement and stewardship activities. Engagement is an internal function and is not outsourced to third parties. In addition, EdenTree’s stewardship approach is overseen by an Independent Responsible Investment Advisory Panel.

EdenTree is a signatory of the UK Stewardship Code 2020, published by the Financial Reporting Council, demonstrating its commitment to appropriately resourcing and conducting stewardship activities.

Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies:

EdenTree’s Head of Responsible Investment Carlota Esguevillas reports into EdenTree’s Chief Investment Officer Charlie Thomas, who is part of EdenTree’s Executive Committee. The Executive Committee and ultimately the EdenTree Investment Management Board have responsibility for oversight for EdenTree’s ESG Processes.

The Responsible Investment (RI) Team is part of the wider Investment Team, and provides the specialist in-house resource for ESG screening, engagement, voting and thought leadership. The Teams sit together in our London office and there is ongoing interaction between them, whether they are discussing a company screen, upcoming webinar, potential expert briefing for our website or evolving regulatory requirements.

  • Carlota Esguevillas, Head of Responsible Investment – Carlota is responsible for leading the Team. Prior to being promoted at the start of this year, Carlota led EdenTree’s work on social topics such as human rights, diversity and workforce issues.
  • Amelia Gaston, Senior Responsible Investment Analyst – Amelia leads EdenTree’s work environment and climate change issues.
  • Hayley Grafton, Senior Responsible Investment Analyst – Hayley leads on the firm's approach to corporate governance and proxy voting.
  • Cordelia Dower-Tylee, Responsible Investment Analyst – Cordelia leads EdenTree’s environmental work, with an emphasis on water, and supports the company’s work on governance.
  • Aaron Cox, Impact Strategist – Aaron leads on the firm’s approach to Impact strategy.


Our basic ESG risk analysis is provided by our data providers, ISS ESG & Sustainalytics, who flag potential violations of global norms. In addition, if any of our holdings breach our screens we are immediately notified by our data providers and can then review the breach with the ultimate sanction of divestment if we deem it necessary. Furthermore, periodically stocks and instruments held within our funds are reviewed by the RI Team to ensure that they remain suitable, whilst the team monitors any negative news flow, engaging with companies to provide clarity and assess the risk level involved.

 

Our RI team conducts additional research and analysis from publicly available materials including:

  • Company literature (annual reports, websites and sustainability reports)
  • Industry or trade body publications and websites
  • NGO reports and websites e.g. Banktrack
  • Government and academic research
  • Investor benchmark initiatives

 

Edentree plays a leading and longstanding role across multiple organisations. They are signatories, members and subscribers to a number of industry partnerships and initiatives including:


Signatory organisations
Principles of Responsible Investing (PRI);
UK Sustainable Investment & Finance Association (UKSIF);
Global Impact Investing Network;
UK Stewardship Code FRC;
CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project);
Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC);
Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return (FAIRR);
Financing a Just Transition Alliance;
World Benchmarking Alliance;
Workforce Disclosure Initiative (WDI);
Access to Nutrition Initiative;
Access to Medicine Initiative;
Investor Initiative on Hazardous Chemicals


Collaborative engagement initiatives
PRI Advance Human Rights - Human Rights;
IIGCC Banks Working Group - Climate Change;
Climate Action 100+ - Climate Change;
Nature Action 100+ - Biodiversity;
Investor Action Group on AMR - Water & AMR;
Valuing Water Initiative - Water;
Investor Initiative on Hazardous Chemicals - Water & Chemicals;
Microfibre pollution initiative - Plastics Pollution;
30% Club Investor Group - Diversity;
WBA – Digital Inclusion Group - Digital rights;
Good Work Coalition - Good work;
Votes Against Slavery - Modern slavery

 

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.


Responsible Investment Panel Review

In addition to the review provided by the RI Team, this Team itself has external oversight from an independent Advisory Panel of eight senior industry practitioners with expertise in the field of responsible investment.

The EdenTree Responsible Investment Advisory Panel exists to provide advisory oversight of our ESG processes. They may advise and inform but not mandate a course of action. For assurance purposes, we view the Panel as providing external independent assurance of our process and RI activity. Our Group Internal Audit function also plays a role in reviewing and certifying key internal controls, risk functions and other stewardship processes such as proxy voting. The Executive Committee and ultimately the EdenTree Investment Management Board have responsibility for oversight.

The Panel is made up of a number of industry experts, including:

  • Will Oulton – Panel Chair, (former Head of RI at First Sentier)
  • Mike Barry – Former Director of Sustainable Business
  • Verity Mitchell - Independent Consultant, (former Director of Utilities for HSBC Global Research)
  • Julian Parrott – Client Member, Ethical Futures
  • Sue Round – Chair of EdenTree Investment Management ACD Board and former CEO
  • Annette Ferguson – Independent Consultant (former Head of Sustainable Business at Vodafone)
  • Paul Simpson OBE – Strategic Advisor (former CEO of CDP)

Dialshifter

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

The Fund invests in government and related green, social, sustainable, or impact bonds to finance projects reducing carbon emissions (measured in CO2 avoided) and empowering communities (measured in beneficiaries). These bonds have provisions detailing fund allocation, objectives, and impacts. They support projects addressing social or environmental issues and aim for positive outcomes. Proceeds are tracked, allocated, and publicly reported annually. Each bond must meet standards of globally recognized frameworks like the Green Bond Principles, Social Bond Principles, Sustainability Bond Guidelines, or Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles, ensuring transparency and accountability in achieving their goals.

 

Our organisation is helping to support the Paris Climate Agreement and the Race to Net Zero by…

We have close to 100% of assets (98%) managed in an ethical and sustainable way. We carefully scrutinize whether emissions reductions targets are science based, and all funds are currently in-line with the Paris Agreement target of no more than 1.5 degrees of warming.

Our parent the Benefact Group aims to deliver a zero direct impact (Scope I & II) by 2023, and net zero (Scope III) by 2040. EdenTree will support the Group in its ambitions, whilst developing its own thinking to support investing clients. As a Group subsidiary we form part of the Group’s overall Net Zero ambition.

SDR Labelling:

Sustainability Focus label

Key Performance Indicators:

EdenTree will monitor performance against the Fund’s Sustainable Objective on an ongoing basis, against a range of KPIs.

  • The proportion of the Fund invested as a sustainable investment (%) – this measures the proportion of the Fund invested in labelled bonds, and therefore contributing to the sustainable objective. The minimum requirement for this KPI is 80%.
  • Avoided emissions (tCO2e) – emissions reductions that occur as a result of deployment of the proceeds of the bond. Avoided emissions represent CO2 emissions that have not been released into the atmosphere, thus reducing global warming, and so mitigating the harmful consequences of climate change. KPIs reported by issuers are recorded at the bond level and aggregated to report on avoided emissions across the Fund’s relevant holdings, and thereby assess the Fund’s progress towards the non-financial objective.
  • Number of Social Beneficiaries (# people) – the number of beneficiaries as a result of deployment of the proceeds of the bond, such as those reached through access to healthcare and education. KPIs reported by issuers are recorded at the bond level and aggregated to report on the number of social beneficiaries across the Fund’s relevant holdings, and thereby assess progress against the non-financial objective.

 

We expect the Fund to demonstrate improving performance over the recommended holding period, as measured by the quantum of avoided emissions and number of social beneficiaries. A lack of improvement, which EdenTree monitors on an ongoing basis, would prompt escalation measures.

At a minimum, we expect each of the Fund’s assets to contribute positively towards at least one of the Fund level KPIs. If an asset fails to make a positive contribution, this would be addressed through the escalation plans detailed below. All KPIs will be reported on an annual basis in the Fund’s sustainability report.

Fund Name SRI Style SDR Labelling Product Region Asset Type Launch Date Last Amended

EdenTree Global Sustainable Government Bond Fund

Pending Sustainability Focus label OEIC Global Fixed Interest 29/10/2024 Dec 2024

Objectives

To generate a regular income payable quarterly with some capital growth over a period of five years or more through investment in a portfolio of government and government-related green, social sustainable or impact bonds.

The Fund’s position on SDR is not yet live, we plan to send this at a later date. EdenTree has set out its position on SDR on our website here.

Fund Size: £11.10m

(as at: 31/10/2024)

Total Screened Themed SRI Assets: £1782.80m

(as at: 31/10/2024)

Total Responsible Ownership Assets: £1541.50m

(as at: 31/10/2024)

Total Assets Under Management: £3324.30m

(as at: 31/10/2024)

ISIN: GB00BQ3S4994

Contact Us: clientservice@edentreeim.com

Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Overview

The Fund’s non-financial objective is to invest in government and government-related green, social, sustainable or impact bonds whose proceeds will be used to finance new or existing projects that support a reduction in the level of carbon emissions caused by human activities and to enable greater access to services that empower communities.

The Fund will invest at least 80% of NAV in use-of-proceeds ESG-labelled debt securities from government and government-related issuers that pass EdenTree’s responsible screening. Governments and supranational authorities play a crucial role in supporting environmental and social sustainability through direct project finance and concessions to the private sector to support underserved communities. The capital raised through government-related use-of-proceeds and impact bonds not only supports policy goals, such as those associated with climate change and access to basic services, but can have positive feedback loops, such as accelerated private sector investment in the provision of sustainable products and services.

 

Primary fund last amended: Dec 2024

Information received directly from Fund Manager

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Fund Filters

Sustainability - 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

Sustainability theme or focus

Find funds where there is a significant emphasis on (environmental and social) sustainability. Funds with a 'sustainability theme' typically place more emphasis on the area than funds with a 'sustainability policy' - meaning that it is more likely to drive investment selection. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.

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

Report against sustainability objectives

Find funds that publicly report their performance against specifically named sustainability objectives (in addition to reporting their financial performance)

Environmental - General
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
Clean / renewable energy theme or focus

Find funds where investment in clean / renewable energy companies an other assets is central to their investment selection strategy. The proportion of the fund that is directly or indirectly invested in renewable energy varies between funds and over time. 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.

Ethical Values Led Exclusions
Ethical policies

Find funds that have policies that set out their position on ethical or 'personal values' based issues. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.

Human Rights
Child labour exclusion

Find funds that have policies in place to ensure they do not invest in companies that employ children.

Oppressive regimes (not free or democratic) exclusion policy

Find funds with policies that exclude companies or other assets where regimes are not democratic, or where people may be oppressed. May use eg. Freedom House research. Strategies vary. See fund literature for further information.

Meeting Peoples' Basic Needs
Invests > 5% in social bonds

Find funds that invest in ‘social bonds’ which raise funds for the purpose of financing projects with positive social (people related) outcomes.

Invests > 50% in social bonds

Find funds that invests more than 50% in social bonds which raise funds for the purpose of financing projects with positive social (people related) outcomes.

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.

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.

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

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
Employ external (fund) oversight or advisory committee

Find funds that have an external committee that helps steer or advise fund managers on SRI policy or strategy related issues. These people may be paid for their time but are not employees of the fund manager.

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.

ESG factors included in Assessment of Value (AoV) report

Environmental, social and governance issues are part of this fund’s reporting of their ‘value’ to clients. AoV reporting is a statutory requirement. Including ESG factors in its calculation is not.

Asset Size
Invests in small, mid and large cap companies / assets

Find a fund that invests in a combination of small, medium and larger (potentially multinational)companies.

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

Targeted Positive Investments
Invests > 5% in sustainable bonds

Invests in loan stock that is exclusively used to finance environmental and social projects. See ICMA Sustainable Bond Guidelines.

Invest > 5% in transition bonds

Invests in loan stock that is supporting or enabling the shift towards a cleaner, more sustainable future. Strategies vary significantly and may or may not be linked to specific outcomes.

Invests > 5% in green bonds

Find funds that invest in green bonds (also known as climate bonds) which encourage sustainability and support climate related or special environmental projects. Please check fund literature for specific % of assets invested in this area.

Invests > 50% in green bonds

Find funds that invest more than 50% in green bonds (also known as climate bonds) which encourage sustainability and support climate related or special environmental projects. Please check fund literature for specific % of assets invested in this area.

Invests >25% of fund in environmental/social solutions companies

Find funds that invest >25% of their capital towards companies where a major part of their business is focused on helping to address environmental or social challenges.

Invests >50% of fund in environmental/social solutions companies

Find funds that invest >50% of their capital in companies where a major part of their business is focused on helping to address environmental or social challenges.

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.

Positive environmental impact theme

Find funds that specifically set out to help deliver positive environmental impacts, benefits or 'real world' outcomes.

Positive social impact theme

Find funds that specifically state that they aim to deliver positive social (i.e. people related) impacts and/or outcomes.

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 social solutions companies

Find funds that invest in companies where a major part of their business is specifically aimed at helping to address social challenges. e.g. companies helping to address poverty.

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

Over 50% in assets providing environmental or social ‘solutions’

50% of fund assets are regarded by the fund manager as being significantly focused on providing solutions to environmental or social challenges. Strategies vary.

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.

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.

Norms focus

Find funds that use internationally agreed standards, conventions and 'norms' to help direct where the fund can and cannot invest (e.g. the UN Global Compact, UN Sustainable Development Goals). Read fund literature for further information.

SRI / ESG / Ethical policies explained on website

Find funds that have published explanations of their ethical, social and/or environmental policies online (i.e. fund decision making strategies/ buy/sell &/or asset management strategies).

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.

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.

Intended for clients who want to have a positive impact

Finds funds designed to meet the needs of individual investors with an interest in ‘Impact investment funds’ which 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.

Available via an ISA (OEIC only)

Find funds that are available via a tax efficient ISA product wrapper.

Portfolio SRI / ESG options available (DFMs)

Only applicable for DFM’s & portfolio providers. Finds those that offer an SRI / ESG portfolio option

Multiple SRI / ESG portfolio options available (DFMs)

Only applicable for DFM’s & portfolio providers. Find service providers who offer multiple SRI / ESG portfolio options

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
SDR Labelled

Find funds that have chosen to adopt one of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) SDR labels. Please note: there are a range of reasons why potentially relevant funds may not use an SDR label eg. adopting a label may be work in progress, the manager may not yet be allowed to do so because of the product type, a manager may feel their fund is insufficiently aligned to SDR requirements. Read fund literature and / or our blogs for further information.

Fund Management Company Information

About The Business
Boutique / specialist fund management company

Find fund management companies that are smaller or specialise in particular areas - notably, ideally ESG related. Strategies vary.

Specialist positive impact fund management company

Find fund management companies (or subsidiaries) that specialise in - or focus entirely on - investing in assets that are helping to deliver positive environmental and / or social impacts.

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.

Vote all* shares at AGMs / EGMs (AFM company wide)

Find fund managers that vote all* the shares they own at Annual General Meetings and Extraordinary General Meetings. A commitment to voting shares is a key indicator of 'responsible share ownership' demonstrating their support for or disagreement with management policy. (*situations can legitimately, occasionally occur where voting proves impossible, but in principle all shares should be voted.)

Responsible ownership / ESG a key differentiator (AFM company wide)

Find fund managers that consider responsible ownership and ESG to be a key differentiator for their business.

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).

Collaborations & Affiliations
PRI signatory

Find fund management companies that have signed up to the UN backed 'Principles of Responsible Investment'.

UKSIF member

Find fund management companies that are members of UKSIF - the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance association

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.

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.

ESG specialists on all investment desks (AFM company wide)

Finds organisations / fund managers that have one or more ESG/sustainability experts on all investment teams or 'desks' (all asset types)

Accreditations
PRI A+ rated (AFM company wide)

Finds organisations / fund managers that have an A+ PRI rating - meaning they are highly rated according to the 'Principles of Responsible Investment'

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.

Encourage responsible corporate taxation (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that are working with the companies they invest in to encourage more responsible corporate taxation.

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

Engaging on the responsible use of AI

Working to address sustainability, ESG and related concerns around artificial intelligence.

Company Wide Exclusions
Controversial weapons avoidance policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies (not funds) that avoid investment in 'controversial weapons' across all of their funds and other investment vehicles.

Tobacco avoidance policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that avoid investment in tobacco (manufacturing) companies across all their assets.

Fossil fuel exclusion policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that avoid investment in fossil fuel companies (e.g. coal, oil and gas) across all of their funds. (and/ or other assets.)

Review(ing) carbon / fossil fuel exposure for all funds (AFM company wide)

Find funds / fund managers that are reviewing, or have reviewed, their exposure to carbon intensive industries including (but not only) mining, oil and gas companies. (Typically with reference to climate change.)

Coal divestment policy (AFM company wide)

This asset manager has a strategy in place that will lead them to exit direct investments in the coal mining industry. Managers ability to do this may depend on the geographic regions in which they invest.

Coal exclusion policy (group wide coal mining exclusion policy)

This asset manager excludes direct investment in the coal mining industry. Managers ability to do this may depend on the geographic regions in which they invest.

Do not invest in companies with fossil fuel reserves

Asset management company excludes companies with fossil fuel reserves across all assets/funds

Climate & Net Zero Transition
Net Zero commitment (AFM company wide)

Fund management organisations that have pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to ‘net zero’. Strategies vary - this area is changing rapidly.

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.

Net Zero - have set a Net Zero target date (AFM company wide)

This asset management company has set a date by which they plan to achieve net zero greenhouse gas / CO2e emissions.

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.

Carbon transition plan published (AFM company wide)

Finds organisations / fund managers that have a company wide carbon transition plan - meaning that they have plotted a path to how they will move away from activities that produce or use carbon based energy sources (that emit greenhouse gases) towards clean, alternative, renewable energy sources.

‘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.

In-house carbon / GHG reduction policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that are working to reduce their own (fund management company) carbon/greenhouse gas emissions.

Working towards a ‘Net Zero’ commitment (AFM company wide)

Finds organisations / fund management companies that are in the process of working out how to make a ‘net zero commitment’ - meaning that when that is finalised they will have started the process of reducing their total greenhouse gas emissions to'zero'.

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.

Publish full voting record (AFM company wide)

Fund management companies that publish a full record of how they vote their shares at AGMs (annual general meetings) and EGMs (extraordinary general meetings). Voting strategies have an important role to play encouraging higher environmental, social and governance standards.

Paris Alignment plan publicly available (AFM company wide)

This asset management company has published a plan that explains how they will align to the climate change commitments made at the Paris Climate Talks, COP21.

Net Zero transition plan publicly available (AFM company wide)

This asset management company has published a plan that explains how they are going to achieve net zero greenhouse gas / CO2e emissions.

Dialshifter statement

Find fund management companies that have supplied Dialshifter information. See Dialshifter tab within record for more information.

Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Policy:

From a global sovereign debt universe, we assess the responsibility of governments and government-related entities through EdenTree’s proprietary Oppressive Regime screen.

EdenTree’s Oppressive Regimes list is based on assessments from Freedom House (Freedom in the World report), Transparency International (Corruption Perceptions Index), and the World Economic Forum (Gender Gap assessment). Each of these assessments considers a range of criteria when determining a country’s score, such as human rights standards, freedom of belief and political expression, use of torture, and civil liberties. Based on the relevance of each organisation’s criteria to our assessment of oppressive regimes, we have developed a weighted average – strongly skewed towards the Freedom House ranking for every country. For our purposes, countries which fall under a certain threshold – 30% - are considered to be Oppressive.

Bonds issued by the government of any country identified as having an oppressive regime are excluded from our investment universe. This screen also specifically captures a specific set of corporate activities where there is overlap with government policies that could lead to human rights violations such as:

  • Operating in a country where UN sanctions are in place
  • Activities within disputed territories which may lead to complicity in violating human rights.
  • Involvement in projects shown to lead to egregious violations of human rights.
  • State-owned enterprises of any government identified as an oppressive regime.
  • Direct complicity in a government’s ability to carry out the death penalty.
  • Activities – direct or in supply chains – in any country identified as having an Oppressive Regime with state-sponsored child or slave labour, where mitigation is impossible.


We consider such issuers as fundamentally unethical and/or misaligned with the Fund’s non-financial objective. EdenTree updates its Oppressive Regimes list annually.

Process:

Where sovereigns have passed responsible screening, suitable assets with desirable risk-return profiles as compared to benchmark are sought, focussing on ESG-labelled bonds. Sub-sovereign-, agency and or supra-national ESG-labelled debt denominated in the same currency not only adds diversification but is also utilised for portfolio construction, particularly where sovereign issuers have no debt with the use-of-proceeds provisions sought by the Fund.

 

Idea generation – Whilst the Fund is primarily comprised of ESG-labelled debt, an ESG label in and of itself, is not sufficient, with the Fund seeking to establish whether the issuer’s overall profile is responsible, particularly as recourse is to the issuer rather than the specific projects funded.

Ideas can come from a variety of sources, including our in-house integrated investment research completed by fund managers and investment analysts; RI thematic research; Investor roadshows, market knowledge; economic insight; company meetings; company reviews; portfolio reviews; and sell-side broker research. ISS is used to enhance our own in-house responsible research capabilities, with thematic reports being produced regularly by the Responsible Investment (RI) Team. As long-term investors, many of our ideas also are generated by ongoing review of our existing holdings vis-à-vis portfolio positioning on duration or geographic allocation.

Quantitative screens with parameters including country allocation, maturity band, credit spread and yield are also employed to generate investment ideas as are more manual searches incorporating more qualitative factors such as bonds’ intentionality, label credibility and reporting framework. Taken together, the results of such analyses determine portfolio suitability.

  • Intentionality – ex ante environmental & social objectives, integrated into investment decisions and assessed / classified consistently.
  • Label Credibility – assessment against respective green, social, impact or sustainable bond qualifying standard and pre-issuance assurance check.
  • Reporting framework – demonstration of transparency in allocation of bond or proceeds, residual balances, with clear metrics for environmental and or social impacts.

 

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. We seek to identify high quality issuers.

Credit research is typically undertaken in tandem with our responsible screening, where we set out to holistically evaluate a securities’ investment suitability for portfolio inclusion.

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

We utilise sell-side credit ratings research from Moody’s, analyst research from Investment banks, independent external research providers such as Oxford Economics along with other analytical tools including Bloomberg. External research is considered alongside internally generated investment analysis in forming our macroeconomic and or credit-specific investment views.

For governments, an assessment of the strength of their institutions, credibility of their monetary policy, debt sustainability, alongside gauging outlooks of economic growth and fiscal policy not only enables for country comparisons but may also aid in the determination of relative value. Where possible, the research process is enhanced by engagement via investor roadshows.

There are two examples of labelled bonds that have been assessed against the Fund’s Sustainability Approach in the Fund’s prospectus (page 32) here


Investment decision – The conclusions from the credit and responsible investment 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.


Investor stewardship – EdenTree will engage with issuers, where necessary, in order to support their contribution to the Fund’s non-financial objective. This includes engagement and advocacy to support the issuers’ contribution to a reduction in carbon emissions caused by human activities and access to basic services, as well as engagement as a means of escalation where a lack of progress against the KPIs is observed.

  • Fact finding engagement: Due diligence with issuers to monitor the investment and ensure it remains aligned to the Fund’s sustainable objective.
  • Thematic engagement: Engagement with a specific objective to support the issuers’ contribution to a reduction in carbon emissions caused by human activities and access to services that empower communities, including through policy and advocacy, working with the wider asset management industry, and adding to a body of transparency.

 

EdenTree’s RI Team oversees EdenTree’s engagement and stewardship activities. Engagement is an internal function and is not outsourced to third parties. In addition, EdenTree’s stewardship approach is overseen by an Independent Responsible Investment Advisory Panel.

EdenTree is a signatory of the UK Stewardship Code 2020, published by the Financial Reporting Council, demonstrating its commitment to appropriately resourcing and conducting stewardship activities.

Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies:

EdenTree’s Head of Responsible Investment Carlota Esguevillas reports into EdenTree’s Chief Investment Officer Charlie Thomas, who is part of EdenTree’s Executive Committee. The Executive Committee and ultimately the EdenTree Investment Management Board have responsibility for oversight for EdenTree’s ESG Processes.

The Responsible Investment (RI) Team is part of the wider Investment Team, and provides the specialist in-house resource for ESG screening, engagement, voting and thought leadership. The Teams sit together in our London office and there is ongoing interaction between them, whether they are discussing a company screen, upcoming webinar, potential expert briefing for our website or evolving regulatory requirements.

  • Carlota Esguevillas, Head of Responsible Investment – Carlota is responsible for leading the Team. Prior to being promoted at the start of this year, Carlota led EdenTree’s work on social topics such as human rights, diversity and workforce issues.
  • Amelia Gaston, Senior Responsible Investment Analyst – Amelia leads EdenTree’s work environment and climate change issues.
  • Hayley Grafton, Senior Responsible Investment Analyst – Hayley leads on the firm's approach to corporate governance and proxy voting.
  • Cordelia Dower-Tylee, Responsible Investment Analyst – Cordelia leads EdenTree’s environmental work, with an emphasis on water, and supports the company’s work on governance.
  • Aaron Cox, Impact Strategist – Aaron leads on the firm’s approach to Impact strategy.


Our basic ESG risk analysis is provided by our data providers, ISS ESG & Sustainalytics, who flag potential violations of global norms. In addition, if any of our holdings breach our screens we are immediately notified by our data providers and can then review the breach with the ultimate sanction of divestment if we deem it necessary. Furthermore, periodically stocks and instruments held within our funds are reviewed by the RI Team to ensure that they remain suitable, whilst the team monitors any negative news flow, engaging with companies to provide clarity and assess the risk level involved.

 

Our RI team conducts additional research and analysis from publicly available materials including:

  • Company literature (annual reports, websites and sustainability reports)
  • Industry or trade body publications and websites
  • NGO reports and websites e.g. Banktrack
  • Government and academic research
  • Investor benchmark initiatives

 

Edentree plays a leading and longstanding role across multiple organisations. They are signatories, members and subscribers to a number of industry partnerships and initiatives including:


Signatory organisations
Principles of Responsible Investing (PRI);
UK Sustainable Investment & Finance Association (UKSIF);
Global Impact Investing Network;
UK Stewardship Code FRC;
CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project);
Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC);
Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return (FAIRR);
Financing a Just Transition Alliance;
World Benchmarking Alliance;
Workforce Disclosure Initiative (WDI);
Access to Nutrition Initiative;
Access to Medicine Initiative;
Investor Initiative on Hazardous Chemicals


Collaborative engagement initiatives
PRI Advance Human Rights - Human Rights;
IIGCC Banks Working Group - Climate Change;
Climate Action 100+ - Climate Change;
Nature Action 100+ - Biodiversity;
Investor Action Group on AMR - Water & AMR;
Valuing Water Initiative - Water;
Investor Initiative on Hazardous Chemicals - Water & Chemicals;
Microfibre pollution initiative - Plastics Pollution;
30% Club Investor Group - Diversity;
WBA – Digital Inclusion Group - Digital rights;
Good Work Coalition - Good work;
Votes Against Slavery - Modern slavery

 

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.


Responsible Investment Panel Review

In addition to the review provided by the RI Team, this Team itself has external oversight from an independent Advisory Panel of eight senior industry practitioners with expertise in the field of responsible investment.

The EdenTree Responsible Investment Advisory Panel exists to provide advisory oversight of our ESG processes. They may advise and inform but not mandate a course of action. For assurance purposes, we view the Panel as providing external independent assurance of our process and RI activity. Our Group Internal Audit function also plays a role in reviewing and certifying key internal controls, risk functions and other stewardship processes such as proxy voting. The Executive Committee and ultimately the EdenTree Investment Management Board have responsibility for oversight.

The Panel is made up of a number of industry experts, including:

  • Will Oulton – Panel Chair, (former Head of RI at First Sentier)
  • Mike Barry – Former Director of Sustainable Business
  • Verity Mitchell - Independent Consultant, (former Director of Utilities for HSBC Global Research)
  • Julian Parrott – Client Member, Ethical Futures
  • Sue Round – Chair of EdenTree Investment Management ACD Board and former CEO
  • Annette Ferguson – Independent Consultant (former Head of Sustainable Business at Vodafone)
  • Paul Simpson OBE – Strategic Advisor (former CEO of CDP)

Dialshifter

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

The Fund invests in government and related green, social, sustainable, or impact bonds to finance projects reducing carbon emissions (measured in CO2 avoided) and empowering communities (measured in beneficiaries). These bonds have provisions detailing fund allocation, objectives, and impacts. They support projects addressing social or environmental issues and aim for positive outcomes. Proceeds are tracked, allocated, and publicly reported annually. Each bond must meet standards of globally recognized frameworks like the Green Bond Principles, Social Bond Principles, Sustainability Bond Guidelines, or Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles, ensuring transparency and accountability in achieving their goals.

 

Our organisation is helping to support the Paris Climate Agreement and the Race to Net Zero by…

We have close to 100% of assets (98%) managed in an ethical and sustainable way. We carefully scrutinize whether emissions reductions targets are science based, and all funds are currently in-line with the Paris Agreement target of no more than 1.5 degrees of warming.

Our parent the Benefact Group aims to deliver a zero direct impact (Scope I & II) by 2023, and net zero (Scope III) by 2040. EdenTree will support the Group in its ambitions, whilst developing its own thinking to support investing clients. As a Group subsidiary we form part of the Group’s overall Net Zero ambition.

SDR Labelling:

Sustainability Focus label

Key Performance Indicators:

EdenTree will monitor performance against the Fund’s Sustainable Objective on an ongoing basis, against a range of KPIs.

  • The proportion of the Fund invested as a sustainable investment (%) – this measures the proportion of the Fund invested in labelled bonds, and therefore contributing to the sustainable objective. The minimum requirement for this KPI is 80%.
  • Avoided emissions (tCO2e) – emissions reductions that occur as a result of deployment of the proceeds of the bond. Avoided emissions represent CO2 emissions that have not been released into the atmosphere, thus reducing global warming, and so mitigating the harmful consequences of climate change. KPIs reported by issuers are recorded at the bond level and aggregated to report on avoided emissions across the Fund’s relevant holdings, and thereby assess the Fund’s progress towards the non-financial objective.
  • Number of Social Beneficiaries (# people) – the number of beneficiaries as a result of deployment of the proceeds of the bond, such as those reached through access to healthcare and education. KPIs reported by issuers are recorded at the bond level and aggregated to report on the number of social beneficiaries across the Fund’s relevant holdings, and thereby assess progress against the non-financial objective.

 

We expect the Fund to demonstrate improving performance over the recommended holding period, as measured by the quantum of avoided emissions and number of social beneficiaries. A lack of improvement, which EdenTree monitors on an ongoing basis, would prompt escalation measures.

At a minimum, we expect each of the Fund’s assets to contribute positively towards at least one of the Fund level KPIs. If an asset fails to make a positive contribution, this would be addressed through the escalation plans detailed below. All KPIs will be reported on an annual basis in the Fund’s sustainability report.