Linge Participatiefonds (the “Fund”) falls under the scope of article 8 of the SFDR, indicating  the fund promotes environmental and/or social characteristics. The fund does not have sustainable investment as its objective.Â

The Fund excludes companies through the application of strict exclusion criteria. These take into account international standards, such as the UN Global Compact framework, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights, and our Principles for Responsible Investment commitments. The Fund applies additional exclusion criteria based on product involvement and business conduct.

The Fund promotes environmental characteristics related to:
• Climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation in line with the Paris Climate Agreement; Â
• The protection of biodiversity and ecosystems; Â
• The transition to a circular economy.Â

The Fund promotes social characteristics related to:Â
• Decent work;Â
• Adequate living standards and wellbeing for end-users; Â
• Other social topics such as gender equality and broader diversity matters.Â

The environmental characteristics promoted by the Fund seek to contribute to the achievement of the climate goals of the Paris Agreement and the National Climate Agreement of the Netherlands (‘Klimaatakkoord’). This decarbonization pathway encompasses short-term (2025) objectives, a mid-term (2030) ambition and a long-term commitment to be net zero by 2050. Although there has been no index designated as a reference benchmark, by 2025 the Fund aims to have a carbon intensity that is below the 7% reduction pathway. Â

The Fund employs a bottom-up investment process to construct a concentrated portfolio of shares in small European companies. The Fund primarily aims to qualify for Participation Exemption (deelnemingsvrijstelling) and therefore the investments are usually at least 5% of the nominal paid-up capital of the company. The Fund strives to be an engaged shareholder in companies in which it participates. The Fund aims to generate a long-term total return of 10% on an annual basis, comprising net capital gains or losses plus dividend. Our ESG-policy, described in the ESG Policy & Process document, is aimed at the promotion of environmental and/or social characteristics. This ESG policy is implemented in our strategy’s investment process across four pillars: Exclusion, ESG Integration, Active ownership and 4)Positive impact.Â

Before and after selecting the asset, we apply adequate (ESG) due diligence measures. This can help to enhance long-term risk adjusted returns for investors, in accordance with the investment objectives of the Fund. We  look at each company on a case-by-case basis, taking into account both material risks in a given industry and the company’s respective risk exposure, practices and disclosure. This includes:Â
- an assessment of good governance practices. The investee companies are rated for governance aspects using external research and internal assessments.Â
- the company’s exposure to past controversies and future ESG opportunities
Based on fundamental ESG analysis we form an opinion on the quality of a company’s ESG profile and award a score (1-5).

Information about the proportion of investments with environmental or social characteristics is available in the annex II of this product. Â

The holdings are screened quarterly for compliance with Kempen’s ESG criteria. The screening process allows Kempen to monitor the ESG performance of all companies in the fund. It also encourages engagement on potential issues identified. Furthermore, the results of the screening feeds into quarterly challenging sessions between ESG specialists and portfolio managers. These sessions are used to assess whether ESG risks and opportunities are sufficiently reflected in the investment decision making process of Kempen.

Principal Adverse Impact Indicators are monitored at individual holding level and at the portfolio level.Â

Kempen ESG Score serves as input throughout the investment process (exclusion, integration in the valuation models, engagement). Scores are based on 21 ESG risk factors, which are selected based on their materiality per industry.Â

Carbon emission intensity is used as the key carbon metric. We calculate carbon intensity based on revenues (weighted average carbon intensity), which we use for our commitment, ambition and objectives.Â

EU Taxonomy alignment is measured by turnover, for which we use a combination of actual data from investee companies and estimates on EU Taxonomy alignment made by a third party provider.Â

Engagement Milestones are used in order to measure engagement success. All engagement contacts are recorded and classified: Milestone 1 (company is informed), Milestone 2 (company acknowledges request), Milestone 3 (company commits to improve), up until Milestone 4 (proof of improvement).

External data providers include (but are not limited to)Â
- Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), used for proxy voting, governance research, carbon data and Sustainable Development Goals data;Â
- MSCI ESG Research: used for company ESG Ratings, product involvement data, principal adverse indicators and to assess the degree to which the investments are in environmentally sustainable economic activities under the EU Taxonomy, measured by turnover;Â
- Sustainalytics: used for ESG Risk Ratings and product involvement data.Â
Internal as well as external data is collected and processed in several data analytics (including FactSet, PowerBI, Tableau) and internal compliance systems (including ThinkFolio).

Externally provided ESG data is far from perfect. Therefore we conduct rigorous due diligence of the data used in our ESG processes to ensure the limitations will not affect the environmental and social characteristics. To ensure data quality we regularly engage with portfolio companies and third party vendors. Limitations include, but are not limited to discrepancies between company reported data and data provided by third parties, inconsistencies across data vendors, market cap bias and modelling assumptions.

Before a company is invested in, Portfolio Managers perform a due diligence on potential ESG risks and principal adverse impact indicators, opportunities, as well as potential past controversies. ESG due diligence is integrated in the different stages of the investment process (screening of the investable universe, fundamental research & portfolio management). ESG specialists challenge the portfolio managers on the implementation of the ESG process on a quarterly basis.