Invesco has informed shareholders of a number of fund name changes effective from 24 March 2025, in which they substitute the terms ‘sustainable’ and ‘responsible’ to comply with the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
According to a letter sent to shareholders on 20 January, the Invesco Sustainable Eurozone Equity fund will be known as the Invesco Transition Eurozone Equity fund, and the Invesco Sustainable Global Income fund will change its name to the Invesco Transition Global Income fund. Both funds will also apply the exclusion criteria of the Climate Transition Benchmark in line with the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) guidelines.
The Invesco Responsible Global Real Asset fund, the Invesco Sustainable Global High Income fund and the Invesco Sustainable Multi-Sector Credit fund will also change, becoming the Invesco Global Real Assets fund, the Invesco Global High Yield fund and the Invesco Multi-Sector Credit fund respectively.
Additionally, for these three funds, the current ESG characteristics will not be retained, and there will no longer be a commitment to invest a minimum percentage of the NAV in ‘sustainable investments’ under the meaning of SFDR.
A spokesperson also confirmed that Invesco did not apply for any fund labels under the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Sustainable Disclosure Requirements (SDR).
Castlefield’s ‘thoughtful’ investment approach
Similarly, in response to SDR, Castlefield renamed its ‘Sustainable’ fund range as ‘Thoughtful’ on 2 December 2024, with no changes to the fund’s investment process, portfolio or risk profile.
“Castlefield is supportive of the evolution of the sustainable finance industry, and took part in the consultation with the FCA that formed the basis of the new regulations,” a spokesperson told PA Future.
“The key difference between labelled and unlabelled funds is the adoption of a ‘Sustainability Objective’ which is critical to how the fund will be invested on a day-to-day basis. There are many potential objectives that could be pursued. However, over many years, Castlefield has developed an investment approach that emphasises breadth over specificity, using good judgement alongside engagement.”
They went on to state that a broad-based investment approach like the one it runs is not suited to a narrower thematic goal or an approach that relies heavily on data-ranking without an understanding of what a company truly does.
“Castlefield’s ‘Thoughtful Investor’ approach offers values-based investment products and services from our position as a values-based organisation. This approach encompasses the ethical and broader, non-financial values and objectives of our clients and we feel it is appropriate that this is reflected in the way we refer to our range of funds. The term ‘Thoughtful’ encapsulates Castlefield’s ethos and aligns with our commitment to ethical and values-led investing,” they continued.
“Castlefield worked hard with the regulator to ensure that the firm can continue to manage these strategies in the way that we have done previously while being fully compliant with the new SDR regulations. We are proud of our identity as the Thoughtful Investor and will continually review progress. We may consider adopting a label in future, but only if we believe it is in our clients’ best interests to do so.”
