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Funds Group: FundX Investment Group

Management Company: FundX Investment Group

Funds Affected: FundX Sustainable Impact Fund

Principal Sustainable Investment Management Strategy*: Thematic Investing, ESG Integration, Exclusions, Shareholder Advocacy, Proxy Voting 

Summary:

This fund-of-funds invests in mutual funds and ETFs that self-identify as socially responsible impact funds or environmental, social and governance funds and funds with portfolios that have an above-average ESG Rating.

Sustainable impact investing incorporates non-financial performance indicators that measure a company’s management of risks associated with environmental sustainability, social concerns, ethical considerations and corporate governance (ESG Factors) in an effort to generate long-term competitive investment performance and positive societal impact. These ESG factors include, but are not limited to:

A number of independent third-party enterprises endeavor to measure corporate performance with respect to ESG Factors by analyzing company policies, activities and practices. The fund will employ data and research provided by independent third-party enterprises that use company level research to assess the portfolios of the underlying funds and provide a fund level ESG rating.

Funds that meet one of the two selection criteria described above, are further considered for investment in the portfolio of the fund based on the Advisor’s internal upgrading process. The Advisor applies a performance-and risk-based ranking system (FundX Rank) to underlying funds and selects investments for the fund based on these rankings. Invested funds that fall below a minimum FundX Rank as determined by the Advisor or fail to maintain an above-average ESG Rating are sold and replaced with other highly ranked funds.

*Based on one or more of the underlying funds held in FundX Sustainable Impact Fund as of September 30, 2017.

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Research

Research and analysis to keep sustainable investors up to-date on a broad range of topics that include trends and developments in sustainable investing and sustainable finance, regulatory updates, performance results and considerations, investing through index funds and actively managed portfolios, asset allocation updates, expenses, ESG ratings and data, company and product news, green, social and sustainable bonds, green bond funds as well as reporting and disclosure practices, to name just a few.

A continuously updated Funds Directory is also available to investors.  This is intended to become a comprehensive listing of sustainable mutual funds, ETFs and other investment products along with a description of their sustainable investing approaches as set out in fund prospectuses and related regulatory filings.

Getting started

Many questions have surfaced in recent years regarding sustainable and ESG investing.  Here, investors and financial intermediaries will find materials that describe the various approaches to sustainable investing and their implementation.  While sustainable investing approaches vary and they have thus far defied universally accepted definitions, many practitioners agree that they fall into the following broad categories:  Values-based investing, investing via exclusions, impact investing, thematic investments and ESG integration.  In conjunction with each of these approaches, investors may also adopt various issuer engagement procedures and proxy voting practices.  That said, sustainable investing approaches will continue to evolve.

In addition to periodic updates regarding sustainable investing and how this form of investing is evolving, investors and financial intermediaries interested in implementing a sustainable investing approach will also find source materials that cover basic investing themes as well as asset allocation tactics.

Inesting ideas

Thoughts and ideas targeting sustainable investing strategies executed through various registered and non-registered sustainable investment funds and products such as mutual funds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), closed-end funds, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Unit Investment Trusts (UITs). Coverage extends to investment management firms as well as fund groups. 

Independent source for sustainable investment management company research, analysis, opinions and sustainable fund disclosure assessments