April 4, 2024
Capital Group Sustainable Global Corporate Bond Fund (LUX)
Investing where sustainability meets opportunity
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Results
The information in relation to the index is provided for context and illustration only. The fund is an actively managed UCITS. It is not managed in reference to a benchmark.
Past results are not a guarantee of future results.
Price & Distributions
Portfolio
Risk Considerations
Risk factors you should consider before investing:
- This material is not intended to provide investment advice or be considered a personal recommendation.
- The value of investments and income from them can go down as well as up and you may lose some or all of your initial investment.
- If the currency in which you invest strengthens against the currency in which the underlying investments of the fund are made, the value of your investment will decrease. Currency hedging seeks to limit this, but there is no guarantee that hedging will be totally successful.
- Some funds may invest in financial derivative instruments for investment purposes, hedging and/or efficient portfolio management.
- There are additional Bonds, Counterparty, Derivative instruments, Emerging markets, Liquidity, Operational and Sustainability risks associated with this fund.
Fund risks
Bonds risk: The value of bonds can change as a result of interest rate changes – typically when interest rates rise, bond values fall. Funds investing in bonds are exposed to credit risk. A decline in the financial health of an issuer could cause the value of its bonds to fall or become worthless.
Counterparty risk: Other financial institutions provide services to the fund such as safekeeping of assets, or may serve as a counterparty to financial contracts such as derivatives. There is a risk the counterparty will not meet their obligations.
Derivative instruments risk: Derivatives are financial instruments deriving their value from an underlying asset and may be used to hedge existing exposures or to gain economic exposure. A derivative instrument may not perform as expected, may create losses greater than the cost of the derivative and may result in losses to the fund.
Emerging markets risk: Investments in emerging markets are generally more sensitive to risk events such as changes in the economic, political, fiscal and legal environment.
Liquidity risk: In stressed market conditions, certain securities held by the fund may not be able to be sold at full value, or at all. This could cause the fund to defer or suspend redemptions of its shares, meaning investors may not have immediate access to their investment.
Operational risk: The risk of potential loss resulting from inadequate or failed internal processes, people and systems or from external events.
Sustainability risk: Environmental, social or governance event or condition that, if it occurs, could cause an actual or potential material negative impact on the value of an investment of the fund.
Resources
Sustainability-related disclosures
The sustainability-related disclosures are meant to be revised as necessary from time to time to capture any changes or reviews. The capitalized terms are used in accordance with the definitions and references outlined in Capital International Fund Prospectus.
The below section “Summary” was prepared in English and is being translated to other official languages of the European Economic Area. In case of any inconsistency(ies) or conflict(s) between the different versions of this section “Summary”, the English language version shall prevail.
Date
This information is valid as of 27 February 2024.
Summary
The Fund promotes environmental and social characteristics through the Investment Adviser’s investment process, which applies an eligibility assessment and a Negative Screening Policy. While the Fund does not have as its main objective to make sustainable investments, it will still make sustainable investments.
The Fund invests in companies whose products and services are majority-aligned, or transitioning towards higher positive alignment, with any single or combination of sustainable investment themes focused on global social and environmental challenges as identified by the Investment Adviser. These themes map to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”).
To identify eligible companies, the Investment Adviser performs an assessment that relies on bottom-up proprietary research conducted by the Investment Adviser’s investment and ESG teams. This eligibility assessment is underpinned by the Investment Adviser’s sector-level “Characteristics” (which assess whether products and services contribute to the SDGs) and “Standards” (which examine management of material ESG risks and good governance). The Fund invests in ‘Aligned’ companies that currently have at least half of their business aligned, as well as ‘Transitioning’ companies that the Investment Adviser believes are actively transitioning their business to higher positive alignment with sustainable investment themes as identified by the Investment Adviser and with the SDGs, with material near-to-medium term change expected.
In addition, the Investment Adviser applies ESG and norms-based exclusions to implement a Negative Screening Policy to the Fund’s investments at the time of purchase.
Capital Group has developed a set of criteria to assess whether a company does significant harm to determine whether the investment constitutes a sustainable investment. The Fund considers the mandatory PAIs as set out in Table 1 of Annex I of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1288 for corporate investments, as well as other ESG risks and controversies that the Investment Adviser considers potentially material as outlined in the sector-level Standards described above, such as data privacy or censorship issues.
When assessing good governance practices, the Investment Adviser will, as a minimum, have regard to matters it sees relevant to the four prescribed pillars of good governance (i.e., sound management structures, employee relations, remuneration of staff and tax compliance).
At least 90% of the Fund's investments are used to attain the environmental or social characteristics promoted by the Fund (#1 Aligned with E/S characteristics). The Fund will have a minimum proportion of 60% in the sub-category “#1A Sustainable”, and a maximum of 40% will be in category “#1B Other E/S characteristics”. A maximum of 10% of the Fund’s investments, including investments nonaligned with the E/S characteristics promoted and/or derivatives are in category “#2 Other”.
Cash and cash-equivalents are not included in the % of assets set out above. They may be held for liquidity purposes.
The Fund uses several data sources including, but not limited to, MSCI ESG Business Involvement Screening Research (“MSCI ESG”) and MSCI United Nations Global Compact violators. However, such data might not capture the full universe of activities of an issuer, change suddenly, be flawed, inaccurate, incomplete or outdated, resulting in a Fund’s investment in an issuer which an investor may expect to be excluded. Capital Group performs ongoing due diligence on third-party data sources and endeavours to ensure that third-party data is reliable. In the event that the Investment Adviser believes that data and/or assessment is incomplete or inaccurate, the Investment Adviser reserves the right to identify relevant business involvement activities through its own assessment.
Members of Capital Group's compliance, risk management and internal audit staff conduct periodic assessments on the design and operating effectiveness of the firm’s activities and key controls. This includes compliance with internal processes and procedures as well as with the regulatory landscape in the jurisdictions in which the company operates.
Establishing dialogue with companies is an integral part of the Investment Adviser’s investment management service to clients. Where Capital Group's investment teams identify an issue material to the long-term value of a company or they are concerned about relative ESG performance, Capital Group's investment professionals and governance teams will engage with management.
The Fund has not designated a reference benchmark to meet the environmental and/or social characteristics it promotes.
No sustainable investment objective
This Fund promotes environmental or social characteristics but does not have as its objective sustainable investment.
How have the indicators for adverse impacts on sustainability factors been taken into account?
As mentioned above, the Investment Adviser considers all mandatory PAIs.
The Investment Adviser considers several PAIs within its Negative Screening Policy. In particular, the Negative Screening Policy addresses PAI 4 on exposure to companies active in the fossil fuel sector, PAI 10 on United Nations Global Compact violators and PAI 14 on controversial weapons.
Beyond the negative screening process, with respect to the remaining mandatory PAIs:
- where the Investment Adviser considers sufficient and reliable quantitative data is available across the investment universe (for PAIs 1, 2, 3, 6, and 13), the Investment Adviser uses third-party data and prescribed thresholds to determine whether the adverse impact associated with the company’s activities is potentially significant based on the company’s relative ranking (on the specific adverse impact) to the overall investment universe and/or peer group; or
- where data availability or quality is not sufficient across the investment universe to enable a quantitative analysis (for PAIs 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12), the Investment Adviser assesses significant harm on a qualitative basis, for example using proxies. The Investment Adviser’s assessment will also include an overall qualitative assessment of how ESG risks are being managed.
Where third party data or the Investment Adviser’s qualitative assessment indicates that a company is potentially doing significant harm based on a PAI threshold, the Investment Adviser will do additional due diligence to better understand and assess negative impacts indicated by third party or proprietary data. If the Investment Adviser concludes that the company is not causing significant harm based on its analysis, it may proceed with the investment and the rationale for that decision will then be documented. For example, the Investment Adviser may conclude a company is not causing significant harm if (i) the Investment Adviser has reason to believe that third-party data is inaccurate and the Investment Adviser’s own research demonstrates that the company is not causing significant harm; or (ii) the company is taking steps to mitigate or remediate that harm through the adoption of timebound targets and there are meaningful signs of improvement and positive change.
How are the sustainable investments aligned with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights? Details:
The sustainable investments are aligned with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights as follows: the Investment Adviser reviews companies involved in significant ESG controversies, with a focus on those that may conflict with existing global standards, including guidelines from the United Nations Global Compact and the OECD. In accordance with the Negative Screening Policy applied to the Fund, the Investment Adviser will exclude companies violating the UN Global Compact principles. Although other incidents will not automatically result in exclusion from the Fund, the Investment Adviser ensures that appropriate action to remediate the concerns are taken.
Environmental or social characteristics of the financial product
The Fund promotes environmental and/or social characteristics through the Investment Adviser’s investment process, which applies an eligibility assessment and a Negative Screening Policy.
The Fund invests in companies whose products and services are majority-aligned, or transitioning towards higher positive alignment, with any single or combination of sustainable investment themes focused on global social and environmental challenges as identified by the Investment Adviser. These themes map to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”).
To identify eligible companies, the Investment Adviser performs an assessment that relies on bottom-up proprietary research conducted by the Investment Adviser’s investment and ESG teams. This eligibility assessment is underpinned by the Investment Adviser’s sector-level “Characteristics” (which assess whether products and services contribute to the SDGs) and “Standards” (which examine management of ESG risks and good governance). The Fund invests in ‘Aligned’ companies that currently have at least half of their business aligned, as well as ‘Transitioning’ companies that the Investment Adviser believes are actively transitioning their business to higher positive alignment, with material near-to-medium term change expected.
In addition, the Investment Adviser applies ESG and norms-based exclusions to implement a Negative Screening Policy to the Fund’s investments at the time of purchase.
There is no reference benchmark designated for the purpose of attaining the environmental or social characteristics promoted by the Fund.
Investment strategy
The Investment Adviser applies the following investment strategy to attain the environmental and/or social characteristics promoted and the sustainable investment objective as follows:
The Fund invests in companies whose products and services are majority-aligned, or transitioning towards higher positive alignment, with any single or combination of sustainable investment themes focused on global social and environmental challenges as identified by the Investment Adviser. These themes map to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”).
The themes map to the following key United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”):
| Themes | Key Associated UN SDGs |
|---|---|
| Health & Well-Being |
|
| Energy Transition |
|
| Sustainable Cities & Communities |
|
| Responsible Consumption |
|
| Education & Information Access |
|
| Financial Inclusion |
|
| Clean Water & Sanitation |
|
To identify such companies, the Investment Adviser performs an eligibility assessment that relies on bottom-up proprietary research conducted by the Investment Adviser’s investment and ESG teams. This eligibility assessment is underpinned by the Investment Adviser’s sector-level “Characteristics” and “Standards”:
- Characteristics: focus on whether products and services contribute to the SDGs; and
- Standards: focus on management of material ESG risks and good governance.
The Fund invests in ‘Aligned’ companies that currently have at least half of their business aligned, as well as ‘Transitioning’ companies that the Investment Adviser believes are actively transitioning their business to higher positive alignment with material near-to-medium term change expected. If a company is determined to be aligned or transitioning and purchased in the Fund, but fails to meet the aligned or transitioning requirements thereafter, such company would no longer be considered a sustainable investment anymore and would generally be sold within six months from the date of such determination, subject to the best interests of investors in the Fund.
In addition, the Investment Adviser applies ESG and norms-based exclusions to implement a Negative Screening Policy to the Fund’s investments at the time of purchase. This is supported by ongoing monitoring of the portfolio, performed by the Investment Adviser, against criteria set out in the Negative Screening Policy to identify any holdings that would be precluded. Any such company would no longer be considered a sustainable investment anymore and would generally be sold within six months from the date of such determination, subject to the best interests of investors in the Fund.
The activities and thresholds, from the Negative Screening Policy, applied to determine the list of companies to be excluded from the Funds’ investment universe consist of the following:
| Activities | Threshold |
|---|---|
| United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) | Companies that, in the Investment Adviser’s opinion, are violating the UNGC should be excluded. |
| Tobacco | Companies generating >5% of their revenue from the manufacture of tobacco products should be excluded. |
| Controversial Weapons | Companies with any ties to controversial weapons (cluster munitions, landmines, biological/chemical weapons, depleted uranium weapons, blinding laser weapons, incendiary weapons, and/or non-detectable fragments) should be excluded. |
| Nuclear Weapons | Companies generating any revenue from the production of nuclear weapons should be excluded. |
| Weapons | Companies generating >10% of their revenue from weapon systems, components and support systems and services should be excluded. |
| Oil & Gas Upstream Producers | Companies engaging in, or generating any revenue from, the exploration & production of oil and gas should be excluded. |
| Thermal Coal | Companies generating >10% of their revenue from the production and/or distribution of thermal coal should be excluded. |
When assessing potential investee companies, the Investment Adviser relies on third-party providers who identify a company’s participation in or the revenue which they derive from activities that are inconsistent with these screens. In the event that exclusions cannot be verified through third-party providers or if the Investment Adviser believes that data and/or assessment is incomplete or inaccurate, the Investment Adviser reserves the right to identify business involvement activities through its own assessment (including by using other third-party data sources).
Companies that fail both the eligibility process and the Negative Screening Policy are considered not to contribute to the Fund’s environmental and/or social characteristics.
What is the policy to assess good governance practices of the investee companies?
When assessing good governance practices, the Investment Adviser will, as a minimum, have regard to matters it sees relevant to the four prescribed pillars of good governance (i.e., sound management structures, employee relations, remuneration of staff and tax compliance).
The Investment Adviser assesses the quality of corporate governance practices of companies as part of its eligibility assessment when examining ESG risks, and as part of its ESG integration process more broadly. The Investment Adviser’s fundamental analysis covers a range of governance metrics including among others, audit practices, board composition, tax paid, controversies and executive compensation. The Investment Adviser engages in regular dialogue with companies on corporate governance issues and exercises its proxy voting rights for the entities in which the Fund invests.
As described above, the Investment Adviser applies a Negative Screening Policy to the Fund. As part of this, the Investment Adviser excludes companies violating the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) principles as well as those violating principle 10 on anti-corruption and principle 3 on employee relations.
Capital Group's ESG Policy Statement provides additional detail on the Investment Adviser's ESG integration approach and processes, including proxy voting procedures and principles, as well as views on specific ESG issues, including ethical conduct, disclosures and corporate governance. Information on the Investment Adviser’s corporate governance principles can be found in its Proxy Voting Procedures and Principles.
Further details can be found in the ESG Policy Statement on:
https://www.capitalgroup.com/content/dam/cgc/tenants/eacg/esg/files/esg-policy-statement(en).pdf
Proportion of investments
At least 90% of the Fund's investments are used to attain the environmental or social characteristics promoted by the Fund (#1 Aligned with E/S characteristics). The Fund will have a minimum proportion of 60% in the sub-category “#1A Sustainable”, and a maximum of 40% will be in category “#1B Other E/S characteristics”.
A maximum of 10% of the Fund’s investments, including investments nonaligned with the E/S characteristics promoted and/or derivatives are in category “#2 Other”.
Cash and cash-equivalents are not included in the % of assets set out above. They may be held for liquidity purposes.
Monitoring of environmental or social characteristics
The sustainability indicators used by this Fund to measure the attainment of each of the environmental or social characteristics it promotes are the following:
- Percentage of issuers falling under the sectors defined as part of the Negative Screening Policy,
- Percentage of investments having at least 50% of their revenue aligned with the SDGs, and
- Percentage of investments in companies considered as “Transitioning”.
Methodologies
The methodologies used to measure how the environmental and/or social characteristics are met are as follows:
- Eligibility process: the Investment Adviser seeks to invest in companies whose products and services are majority-aligned, or transitioning towards higher positive alignment, with any single or combination of sustainable investment themes focused on global social and environmental challenges as identified by the Investment Adviser. These themes map to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”). ‘Aligned’ companies currently have at least half of their business aligned and ‘Transitioning’ are companies that the Investment Adviser believes are actively transitioning their business to higher positive alignment with sustainable investment themes as identified by the Investment Adviser and with the SDGs, with material near-to-medium term change expected. The Investment Advisor typically uses revenue to assess business alignment, however in some instances other metrics may be more relevant, for example, energy production mix for utilities. The business alignment is accompanied by a qualitative assessment of the company’s product and service contribution to the SDGs, as well as risk of misalignment. It will also consider how material ESG risks and opportunities are being addressed and managed by the company, such as the quality of corporate governance practices and any adverse environmental or social impacts. For Transitioning companies in particular, company development pathway and timeline to reach intended impact is also considered.
- Relevant KPIs and targets, as well as topics for engagement, are also identified at the time of eligibility and tracked over time. For Transitioning companies in particular, KPIs may include aligned revenue, as well as other transition metrics. Progress against these KPIs and targets is assessed periodically.
- Research is conducted by the Investment Advisor’s ESG analysts and investment analysts. Eligibility decisions are voted on by the strategy’s Principal Investment Officers, Portfolio Managers, and ESG leadership.
- Negative Screening Policy: the Investment Adviser applies ESG and norms-based exclusions to implement a Negative Screening Policy to the Fund’s investments at the time of purchase. The Investment Adviser relies on third-party providers who identify a company’s participation in or the revenue which they derive from activities that are inconsistent with these screens. In the event that exclusions cannot be verified through third-party providers or if the Investment Adviser believes that data and/or assessment is incomplete or inaccurate, the Investment Adviser reserves the right to identify business involvement activities through its own assessment (including by using other third-party data sources).
- Engagement: Engagements are conducted by the ESG team in collaboration with our investment professionals. We engage management teams on topics that are informed by our research, ESG investment frameworks, voting and monitoring process.
- Proxy Voting: We have investment professional-led proxy voting, with our in-house Global Stewardship & Engagement (GSE)/Proxy team conducting analysis. Final proxy outcomes are decided by members of our investment units.
Data sources and processing
The Fund uses several data sources as part of the investment process.
In relation to the SDGs alignment, the Investment Adviser typically uses revenue to assess business alignment, but will leverage other metrics if there are more sector-relevant financial metrics for a company and its industry.
The data sources used as part of the Negative Screening Policy are as follows:
| Activities | Datasource |
|---|---|
| United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) | Companies are identified through MSCI’s UNGC violators. |
| Tobacco | Companies are identified through MSCI’s Tobacco Producer – Maximum Percentage of Revenue factor name. |
| Controversial Weapons | Companies are identified through MSCI’s Controversial Weapons – Any Tie factor name. |
| Nuclear Weapons | Companies are identified through MSCI’s Weapons – Nuclear Maximum Percentage of Revenue factor name. |
| Weapons | Companies are identified through MSCI’s Weapons – Maximum Percentage of Revenue factor name. |
| Oil & Gas Upstream Producers | Equity: Companies are identified through Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) “Integrated Oil & Gas” and “Oil & Gas Exploration & Production” sub-sector classifications. Fixed Income: Companies are identified through Barclays Global Sector Classification (BCLASS) “Independent” and “Integrated” sectors. |
| Thermal Coal | Companies are identified through MSCI’s Thermal Coal – Maximum Percentage of Revenue factor name. |
For further information about Capital International Fund ESG Negative Screening Policy, the following page can be consulted: https://www.capitalgroup.com/content/dam/cgc/tenants/eacg/negative-screening-policy.pdf
Capital Group periodically reviews the quality of the service provider organisations’ performance and conducts ongoing monitoring and due diligence activities commensurate with the significance of the services provided.
Limitations to methodologies and data
The Investment Adviser may be reliant on third-party data or a combination of third-party data and Capital Group’s proprietary research and analysis. However, such data might not capture the full universe of activities of an issuer, change suddenly, be flawed, inaccurate, incomplete or outdated, resulting in a Fund’s investment in an issuer which an investor may expect to be excluded from the portfolio. Capital Group performs ongoing due diligence on third-party data sources and endeavours to ensure that third-party data is reliable.
In addition, in the event that data cannot be obtained through third-party providers or if the Investment Adviser believes that third-party data and/or assessment is incomplete or inaccurate, the Investment Adviser reserves the right to identify business involvement activities through its own assessment (including by using other third-party data sources).
Due diligence
Members of Capital Group's compliance, risk management and internal audit staff conduct periodic assessments on the design and operating effectiveness of the firm’s activities and key controls. This includes compliance with internal processes and procedures as well as with the regulatory landscape in the jurisdictions in which the company operates. Capital Group meets regularly with the third-party data providers to review the quality of the services provided.
Pre-trade and post-trade checks are also in place as further explained in section “Monitoring of environmental or social characteristics” above.
Engagement policies
Establishing dialogue with companies is an integral part of the Investment Adviser’s investment management service to clients. Capital Group’s investment teams meet on a regular basis with company management, including executive and non-executive directors, chairs and finance directors. This enables the company to engage and generate dialogue on any issues that could affect the company’s long-term prospects, including exposures to sustainability issues.
Where Capital Group's investment teams identify an issue material to the long-term value of a company or they are concerned about relative ESG performance, Capital Group's investment professionals and governance teams will engage with management. Management’s response and the steps they take to minimise any associated risks, forms an important part of Capital Group's assessment of management quality, which itself is a key factor in the stock selection decisions.
Designated reference benchmark
The Fund has not designated a reference benchmark to meet the environmental and/or social characteristics it promotes.
Where can more product-specific information be found?
More product-specific information can be found in the pre-contractual template: https://docs.publifund.com/1_PROSP/ LU2720022586/en_LU
More product-specific information can be found in the periodic reports: https://docs.publifund.com/4_AR/ LU2720022586/en_LU