Fitch Rates Sterling Cons U-S ESG
A press release entitled, "Fitch Assigns The Sterling Conservative Ultra Short ESG Fund First-Time 'AAf'/'S1' Rating" tells us, "Fitch Ratings has assigned the Northern Trust Global Funds PLC - The Sterling Conservative Ultra Short ESG Fund a Fund Credit Quality Rating of 'AAf' and a Fund Market Risk Sensitivity Rating of 'S1'. The fund is managed by Northern Trust Asset Management, a subsidiary of Northern Trust Corporation (AA-/Stable/F1+). The 'AAf' Fund Credit Quality Rating is driven by the high credit quality of the fund as measured by its weighted average rating factor (WARF) and its investment guidelines. The 'S1' Fund Market Risk Sensitivity Rating is driven by the low sensitivity of the fund to interest rate and spread risks, as reflected in its short maturity profile. The fund pursues an ESG strategy. The manager applies certain ESG criteria to manage the fund and follows an exclusionary approach to define the investable universe. Specifically, the investable universe excludes weapon and tobacco producers, violators of the U.N Global Compact, and those involved in any notable ESG controversies. Northern Trust Asset management fully integrates MSCI's ESG issuer ratings in their investment process. The investment manager makes the security selection and constructs the portfolio while considering each issuer's ESG ratings in its fundamental research and relative-value analysis. The ESG framework is a neutral factor in Fitch's rating analysis." It adds, "The fund was launched on 6 August 2019 with a stated investment objective to provide moderate liquidity while maximising income and preserving capital via investing in investment-grade fixed-income securities. Fitch views the legal and regulatory framework of the fund satisfactory. The Sterling Conservative Ultra Short ESG Fund is a sub-fund of Northern Trust Global Funds Plc, a Dublin-domiciled ICVC fund pursuant to the UCITS regulation. As of end-June 2020, the fund's total assets stood at GBP50 million. The fund has daily dealing with T+2 day settlement period. The fund has a concentrated but stable investor base, with close scrutiny of the fund's inflows and outflows." In other "offshore" news, a shareholder notice tells us, "The Board of Directors of BNP Paribas InstiCash decides, in accordance with the provisions of Article 32 of the Articles of Association of the Company and the Chapter 8 of the Luxembourg Law of 17 December 2010 concerning UCI, to merge the Merging Sub-fund into the Receiving Sub-fund in accordance with Article 1, point 20), a) of the Law: BNP Paribas InstiCash Merging Sub-fund InstiCash GBP 1D Short Term VNAV into InstiCash GBP 1D LVNAV."
