Evli Short Corporate Bond

The aim is to achieve a return which exceeds the return of the benchmark during a 12-month investment horizon.

The level of diversification in the investment portfolio is large both within every fixed income asset class and between the asset classes which keeps the fund’s overall risk moderate. A particular characteristic of the fund is to achieve a high risk adjusted return by a large diversification among none or low correlating fixed income assets and by an active reallocation of assets among these asset classes.

The fund’s investments carry a credit risk

Credit risk originates from a bond issuer’s ability to repay the bond’s coupons and capital on the maturity date. In the fund’s investments, the default risk arising from an individual issuer is reduced by diversifying the investments among various issuers. The risk premium (credit margin) required by investors varies during the bonds’ exercise period according to the market conditions and factors related to individual issuers.

As the fund’s floating-rate bond investments are susceptible to changes in risk premiums, the fund’s value may fluctuate.

The fund’s value is affected by interest rate risk

As money market funds carry a small interest rate risk, the effect of interest rate risk on the fund’s performance is small.

Investors were already looking to close their books and welcome 2023 when the ECB spooked markets and especially ‘pivot’ tilted investors with their hawkish message in mid-December. The main message from the ECB was that they continue to hike rapidly in 2023 until base inflation starts to ease. In the following days, individual central bankers delivered similar messages, guiding markets to factor in more hikes and a higher terminal rate. The trillion-euro question is how high the ECB will hike and how well the European economy can withstand the hikes until it cracks. Yields rose substantially in December, as both the German 2- and 5-year yields ended the month 64 basis points higher. Yield spreads continued to tighten and partly offset the yield move.

The fund netted -0.20% in December, taking the full year return to -6.31%. By sector, the best performers were Basic Industry, which succeeded in passing on higher input costs to selling prices; Telecoms, which is typically a less cyclical sector; and Consumer Goods. By far the worst performer was Real Estate, which took a significant hit in sentiment due to higher rates.

At the start of the year, the market pricing for short maturity corporate bonds is very attractive. Spreads are at summer-2020 levels despite much stronger credit fundamentals, and the YTM of 5.51% combined with short duration offer high total return potential.

Financial product’s sustainability information in accordance with EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) 2019/2088 (sustainability‐related disclosures in the financial services sector). This is a financial product in accordance with Article 8 of the SFDR.

Publication date: December 1, 2022
Legal Entity Identifier: 743700SXX2ZOCK35W726

a) Summary

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This financial product promotes environmental or social characteristics, but does not have as its objective sustainable investment.

The fund promotes climate change mitigation by investing at least 2 percent of its total investments in activities that are environmentally sustainable economic activities under the EU Taxonomy Regulation (2020/852). For an economic activity to be environmentally sustainable under the Taxonomy Regulation, it must not cause significant harm to other environmental objectives. Environmentally sustainable investments are in line with the OECD Principles for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Global Compact and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Environmental and social characteristics are promoted by observing Evli’s Principles for Responsible Investment, Climate Change Principles and climate targets, and by requiring that target companies observe good governance practices. The fund excludes harmful industries on the basis of Evli’s responsibility principles and Climate Change Principles. In addition, target companies are monitored regularly to ensure they have not violated the norms of specific international treaties and principles.

The fund promotes climate change mitigation in accordance with Evli’s climate targets: the fund’s carbon footprint and emission indicators are measured and monitored, and a regular scenario analysis is conducted to monitor the attainment of Evli’s general climate targets. Evli’s goal is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 at the latest, and it has set an interim target of a 50 percent reduction in indirect emissions from all investments by 2030, provided that this is possible in the investment environment. The comparison year is 2019. The fund-specific share of the emission reduction target may vary between funds.

Investment targets are monitored regularly, and efforts are made to engage with companies to influence their practices. Evli can engage with companies either independently or together with other investors. The themes of Evli’s engagement are climate change mitigation, respect for human rights, anti-corruption measures, taking environmental issues into consideration, factors related to good governance and the reporting of responsibility factors. Evli’s Responsible Investment Policy and Corporate Governance Principles set the framework for Evli’s engagement and conduct in the event of perceived breaches of the Code.

The fund’s target companies are analyzed before an investment decision is made and at regular intervals during the investment period with regard to environmental, social and corporate governance matters, or ESG factors. ESG factors are integrated into the analysis of target companies and their selection for investment by the fund. Evli has built an internal ESG database based on data produced by external service providers, which it uses to monitor ESG factors.

The achievement of the environmental or social characteristics promoted by the financial product is monitored and reported through the target companies’ carbon intensity trend and commitment to emission reduction targets, as well as through the number of target companies that have not committed serious norm violations.

Sustainability indicators are monitored through Evli’s internal ESG database. The data is based on data provided by external service providers, which is not verified by a third party. The completeness of the data is reported in conjunction with the sustainability indicators. All active investments of the fund promote environmental and social characteristics by observing Evli’s Principles for Responsible Investment and Climate Change Principles, and completeness of data has no impact on observance of the above-mentioned principles.

The fund’s benchmark index is a money market-based index that does not consider sustainability factors. The benchmark index used by the fund can be found in the fund-specific key investor information document.

b) No sustainable investment objective

This financial product promotes environmental or social characteristics, but does not have as its objective sustainable investment.

The fund promotes climate change mitigation by investing at least 2 percent of its total investments in activities that are environmentally sustainable economic activities under the EU Taxonomy Regulation (2020/852). For an economic activity to be environmentally sustainable under the Taxonomy Regulation, it must not cause significant harm to other environmental objectives. Environmentally sustainable investments are in line with the OECD Principles for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Global Compact and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. 

c) Environmental or social characteristics of the financial product

In addition to other characteristics, the fund promotes environmental and social characteristics by observing Evli’s Principles for Responsible Investment, Climate Change Principles and climate targets, and requires that target companies observe good governance practices. The fund excludes harmful industries on the basis of Evli’s responsibility principles and Climate Change Principles. In addition, target companies are regularly monitored for violations of norms.

The fund promotes climate change mitigation in accordance with Evli’s climate targets: the fund’s carbon footprint and emission indicators are measured and monitored, and a regular scenario analysis is conducted to monitor the attainment of Evli’s general climate targets. Evli’s goal is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 at the latest, and it has set an interim target of a 50 percent reduction in indirect emissions from all investments by 2030, provided that this is possible in the investment environment. The comparison year is 2019. The fund-specific share of the emission reduction target may vary between funds.

Investment targets are monitored regularly, and efforts are made to engage with companies to influence their practices. Evli can engage with companies either independently or together with other investors. The themes of Evli’s engagement are climate change mitigation, respect for human rights, anti-corruption measures, taking environmental issues into consideration, factors related to good governance and the reporting of responsibility factors.

d) Investment strategy

The fund’s target companies are analyzed before an investment decision is made and at regular intervals during the investment period with regard to environmental, social and corporate governance matters, or ESG factors. ESG factors are integrated into the analysis of target companies and their selection for investment by the fund. Evli has built an internal ESG database based on data produced by external service providers, which it uses to monitor ESG factors.

The attainment of the climate targets will be measured using data from external service providers to monitor the fund’s carbon footprint and intensity, the degree of low-carbon transition, a scenario analysis in relation to the target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and the warming ratio associated with the fund.

An assessment of the quality of corporate governance is an important part of the assessment of potential investments. Good governance refers in particular to effective management structures, employee relations, staff remuneration and tax compliance.

Evli’s ownership control principles state that the companies it invests in must engage in good governance by complying with the Finnish Corporate Governance Code issued by the Securities Market Association, for example, or corresponding foreign guidelines, which often impose a partial framework on the remuneration models of the invested companies. In addition, Evli’s Responsible Investment Team analyzes the fund’s investments every three months for any breaches of norms (UN Global Compact and OECD’s guidelines for multinational companies). The OECD’s guidelines for multinational companies also cover disputes related to taxation. Consequently, such disputes may lead to the exclusion of an investment instrument.

e) Proportions of investments

All active investments of the fund promote environmental and social characteristics.

Of the fund’s total investments, 2 percent are made in environmentally sustainable targets related to climate change mitigation in compliance with the EU’s Taxonomy Regulation.

f) Monitoring of environmental or social characteristics

The achievement of the environmental or social characteristics promoted by the financial product is monitored through the target companies’ carbon intensity trend and commitment to emission reduction targets, as well as through the number of target companies that have not committed serious norm violations. Evli has built an internal ESG database to monitor sustainability indicators. In addition, the Responsible Investment Team analyzes norm violation cases in accordance with the process set out in the Principles for Responsible Investment.

g) Methods concerning environmental or social characteristics

The environmental and social characteristics promoted by the financial product are monitored and reported using the sustainability indicators mentioned above.

h) Data sources and data processing

Evli has built an internal database based on data provided by external service providers, which is used for monitoring and reporting sustainability indicators and adverse impacts of investment decisions related to the promotion of the promoted environmental and social characteristics. The data from external providers is not verified by a third party and the completeness of the data is reported at the same time.

i) Limitations of methods and data

The achievement of the promoted environmental and social characteristics is reported annually through the sustainability indicators mentioned above, in conjunction with which the completeness of the data from the target companies is also reported. All active investments of the fund promote environmental and social characteristics by observing Evli’s Principles for Responsible Investment and Climate Change Principles. The completeness of the data does not affect compliance with the above principles.

j) Due diligence

The fund’s target companies are analyzed before an investment decision is made and at regular intervals during the investment period with regard to environmental, social and corporate governance matters, or ESG factors. ESG factors are integrated into the analysis of target companies and their selection for investment by the fund. Evli has built an internal ESG database based on data produced by external service providers, which it uses to monitor ESG factors. Evli regularly monitors its active investments and seeks to influence the companies’ practices. If a company violates the principles of the UN Global Compact, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises or Evli’s Climate Change Principles, Evli will either seek to influence the company’s actions through engaging with it or exclude it from its investments. The methods are based on data provided by an external service provider, which is not verified by a third party.

k) Engagement policies

The financial product can be used to engage with the target companies as part of the promotion of environmental and social characteristics. Evli’s Responsible Investment Policy and Corporate Governance Principles set the framework for Evli’s engagement and conduct in the event of perceived breaches of the Code.

l) Designated reference value

The fund’s benchmark index is a money market-based index that does not consider sustainability factors. The benchmark index used by the fund can be found in the fund-specific key investor information document.

Read more about Evli's responsible investing

Information on environmental and social characteristics of the fund in accordance with article 8 of Sustainable Disclosure Regulation (in force from January 1, 2023)