Aegon Asset Management has evolved its USD 61 million Aegon Short Dated High Yield Global Bond Fund to focus on the transition to a net-zero global economy.
To reflect the change, the fund has been renamed the Global Short Dated High Yield Climate Transition Fund from 18 December 2023 to better represent its climate transition investment criteria. The Fund will be categorised as Article 8 fund under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.
The change builds on the success of the Aegon Global Short Dated Climate Transition Fund launched in January 2020, which is now $985m in size2.
The Aegon Global Short Dated High Yield Climate Transition Fund will continue to be managed by Thomas Hanson and Mark Benbow, co-managers of Aegon AM’s successful $1bn Global High Yield franchise3, using the same high conviction investment philosophy and process with a focus on bottom-up, fundamental credit analysis. The managers will be supported by Aegon AM’s responsible investment and credit research teams.
The Fund’s enhancements aim to deliver an innovative solution to align with investors’ financial, ESG and climate-related goals. In addition to pursuing competitive financial returns, the Fund will incorporate proprietary ESG and climate research to improve the fund’s ESG profile and increasingly invest in companies with credible climate transition plans.
As part of the Fund’s climate focus, the team will rely on internal climate transition research to evaluate companies’ climate transition readiness. This forward-looking research framework assesses companies’ net-zero ambitions, performance and management of climate risks. Issuers are then categorized according to their level of alignment with progress towards a net-zero economy. The Fund will follow a climate transition pathway that increasingly allocates to companies who are actively and credibly taking steps towards a net-zero transition. In addition, the Fund will adhere to a carbon intensity reduction target and employ a focused climate transition engagement program to encourage companies to improve target setting and reduce emissions.
