Kempen Capital Management is an asset manager that believes in stewardship and investment focusing on the long-term for the benefit of all stakeholders. Value creation is at the heart of the services we provide to our clients. We believe that being an engaged shareholder on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and retaining a long-term focus, is critical to helping our clients to preserve and create sustainable wealth that has positive real world impact and economic returns.

Kempen wide approach to responsible investment

We are committed to create sustainable alpha. The four pillars of our ESG-policy are:

• ESG integration: Ensuring sustainability risks and opportunities are adequately considered in our investment analysis and processes.

• Exclusion & avoidance: Not investing in companies involved in controversial activities or conduct.

• Active ownership: Being responsible stewards of our clients’ capital and using our influence through engagement and voting to improve corporate behaviour on specific ESG issues and achieve positive change

• Positive impact: Investing with an objective to achieve positive real world outcomes and impact, such as contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

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To put our mission and vision into practice we engage with our investee companies on a wide array of strategic, financial, and ESG topics. As an active owner we use our influence to improve our investee companies’ ESG performance.  This helps us address some of the most pressing and important sustainability issues facing business and the world. Our focus themes for engagement are: human rights, labour rights, climate change and governance.

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Through collaboration with other investors and industry think tanks we contribute to the development of principles and standards of corporate responsibility both at sector levels, as well as investee company level.

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Our full voting records are available here.

OUR FUND APPROACH TO RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT

The ESG policy is fully implemented into the investment process of the Euro Government Strategy, with the key pillars in our approach being: Exclusion and ESG integration.

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1.  � Exclusion

The fund follows the clear and transparent exclusion framework developed by Kempen. This includes exclusions for controversial weapon producers and the screening out of countries and companies based on UN Global Compact criteria. Such exclusions are reviewed as part of a quarterly process.

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2.   � ESG integration

ESG analysis is undertaken both pre-investment and as part of our portfolio monitoring activities. Portfolio managers perform an in-depth analysis of ESG data, and ESG risks and opportunities are taken into account when selecting and monitoring governments and government-related issuers.

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First, as shown in the figure on the right side, ESG factors are a crucial part of the fundamental analysis used to generate a country score. The relative country valuation process includes several fundamental qualitative indicators covering each section of ESG. The portfolio managers assess the materiality of the ESG issue and its implications for the credit profile of the issuer.

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Second, the fund performs a quarterly screening using research provided by MSCI ESG. Kempen’s Responsible Investment team conducts the screening, and a review of the ESG ratings of bonds in the portfolio along with discussions on ESG rating developments are conducted by the Euro Government team.

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The following items are discussed on a quarterly basis:

• A review of the ESG ratings of bonds in the portfolio;

• A discussion on any developments / changes in the ESG ratings;

• Screening for controversies using MSCI ESG research;

• Exclusions, as detailed above.

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Finally, we are an active player in the market of green bonds and have a green bond policy which outlines the guidelines we adhere to defining a green bond. The Euro Government strategy will invest in green bonds rather than a ‘normal bond’ if the two bonds have the same risk/return characteristics.

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^{Although Kempen Capital Management N.V.’s information providers, including without limitation, MSCI ESG Research LLC and its affiliates (the “ESG Parties”), obtain information from sources they consider reliable, none of the ESG Parties warrants or guarantees the originality, accuracy and/or completeness of any data herein. None of the ESG Parties makes any express or implied warranties of any kind, and the ESG Parties hereby expressly disclaim all warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, with respect to any data herein. None of the ESG Parties shall have any liability for any errors or omissions in connection with any data herein. Further, without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall any of the ESG Parties have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, consequential or any other damages (including lost profits) even if notified of the possibility of such damages.}