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.6

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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.

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OUR FUND APPROACH TO RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT

Kempen (Lux) Euro Sustainable Credit Fund primarily aims to generate a long-term return in excess of the Markit iBoxx Euro Corporates Index (the “Benchmark”), comprising capital growth and income, by investing in corporate bonds issued by companies which comply with strict sustainability criteria.

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We strive to invest in companies that have a lower carbon intensity than their sector peers, or in companies that are willing and able to considerably lower their carbon intensity to a level below their sector peers – ideally in line with the Paris goals. We encourage this via continuing engagements with companies, clients, investors and other stakeholders.

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Kempen’s ESG policy is implemented in our fund’s investment process by the following pillars: Exclusion, Integration and Active ownership.

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Exclusion & Avoidance

In line with the general Kempen policy, the Kempen (Lux) Euro Sustainable Credit Fund excludes all companies on the KCM Exclusion- or Avoidance list.

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Companies that ‘Fail’ marked against the criteria of the United Nations Global Compact or those companies that attract a red flag on the MSCI ESG impact monitor are excluded.

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Companies scoring an MSCI ESG rating CCC are excluded. Companies that score a MSCI ESG rating of B are excluded on a comply or explain basis.

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The Kempen (Lux) Euro Sustainable Credit Fund also excludes companies based on additional sustainability criteria as listed in the table below.

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More information on our exclusion criteria and thresholds can be found here.

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ESG Integration

The assessment of companies’ ESG profiles is an integral part of our investment process. We assess each company on a case-by-case basis, taking into account material risks in a given industry in combination with the company’s respective risk exposure, practices and disclosure.

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A low score on ESG criteria can result in the demand for an additional premium on the company’s bonds and/or initiation of an engagement with the issuer. If ESG risks are deemed too severe, an investment in the company will be avoided and/or existing holdings will be sold.

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On a quarterly basis, the Kempen Responsible Investment team screens the holdings of the Kempen Euro Credit Strategies, and discusses the findings with the portfolio managers.

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Active Ownership

As active investors we perform comprehensive engagements with our portfolio companies with the objective to unlock value and reduce risk.

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Our engagement process defines clear objectives of which the progress and result is tracked and well documented. If at any stage the company refuses to cooperate, divestment has to be considered.

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Engagement examples can be found here

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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.}