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.

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KEMPEN WIDE APPROACH TO RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT

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

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• 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 behavior 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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CLIMATE CHANGE

As a long term investor, we believe climate change represents a systemic risk facing the economy, society and environment, and we want to consider the risks and opportunities this presents to our investments in the coming decades. We have therefore set a long-term commitment (2050) and a mid-term ambition (2030).

• 2050: Net zero investor

• 2030: Aligned with a Paris Agreement pathway (listed and non-listed investments)

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The Kempen climate change policy can be found here (under climate change policy).

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OUR FUND APPROACH TO RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT

Kempen’s ESG policy is fully implemented in our fund’s investment process with the key pillars being our approaches to: Exclusion, ESG integration and Active ownership. Within this, it is important to note that the Fund will invest in a pool of - mainly illiquid – bespoke Private Debt funds which are managed by carefully selected direct lending managers.

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1. Exclusion

On the basis of the investment restrictions as described in the limiting partnership agreements between the direct lending manager of the respective direct lending fund and the Management Company of the Fund, the underlying customized Private Debt funds adhere to a number of bespoke ESG exclusions and are prohibited to invest in in businesses that:

1. Generate significant revenues from the manufacturing or distribution of controversial weapons;

2. Generate significant revenues from the manufacturing or distribution tobacco products;

3. Use harmful or exploitative forms of forced or child labour;

4. Engage in coal mining as their main activity or are heavily reliant on coal;

5. Obtain the majority of their revenues from tar sands.

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All selected direct lending managers provide full portfolio transparency and detailed reporting on every transaction including ESG considerations. Kempen also receives quarterly custom ESG reporting which includes but is not limited to an overview of key ESG metrics of the respective portfolio, a summary quarterly investment activity including key ESG considerations, commentary on any ESG issues that occurred during the quarter.

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2. ESG integration

ESG considerations are fully integrated in the investment process of the selected direct lending managers, both pre- and post-investment. Incorporating ESG risks into investment analysis is particularly relevant to Private Debt investing given the illiquid nature of the loans and the longer-term credit view the direct lending managers take on the borrowers as ESG risks can potentially have a material impact on borrower’s long-term financial performance.

Formal ESG integration in the investment due diligence process ensures that the direct lending managers are aware of all relevant ESG risks and can make informed investments decisions with knowledge of these. The extent to which they are critical to the overall investment decision varies from investment to investment.

Post-investment the direct lending managers monitor all relevant news flows with regards to ESG issues and formally monitor ESG risks as part of the regular monitoring cycle.

All selected direct lending managers are signatories of the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI).

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3. Active ownership

Kempen believes that providers of debt have a role in engaging with borrowers on ESG matters that have the potential to impact investment returns. The selected direct lending managers maintain an active dialogue with the companies in which we invest in order to monitor the management of material ESG risks, as well as potentially to influence practices should they feel material ESG risks could be better managed by the company. The managers do so by engaging with company management directly as well as with other relevant key stakeholders. The selected direct lending managers also regularly obtain advisory board seats where they can also add ESG issues to the agenda.

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