This fund has rather high exposure to ESG risk relative to its peers in the Global Equity Large Cap category, earning it the lowest Morningstar Sustainability Rating of 1 globe. Funds with 4 or 5 globes tend to hold securities that are less exposed to ESG risk. Unlike impact, which focuses on generating positive environmental and societal outcomes, ESG risk measures the degree to which investments could be affected by material ESG issues, including climate change, biodiversity, product safety, community relations, data privacy and security, bribery and corruption, and corporate governance.
One potential issue for a sustainability-focused investor is that GQG Partners Global Quality Equity Fund doesn’t have an ESG-focused mandate. A fund with an ESG-focused mandate would have a higher probability to drive positive ESG outcomes. Currently, the fund has 24.9% involvement in fossil fuels, surpassing 3.7% for the average peer in its category. Companies are considered involved in fossil fuels if they derive some revenue from thermal coal, oil, and gas. The fund has extremely high exposure (21.92%) to companies with high or severe controversies. From bribery and corruption to workplace discrimination and environmental incidents, controversies are incidents that have a negative impact on stakeholders or the environment, which create some degree of financial risk for the company. Severe and high controversies can have significant financial repercussions, ranging from legal penalties to consumer boycotts. In addition, they can damage the reputation of both companies themselves and their shareholders.
GQG Partners Global Quality Equity Fund has an asset-weighted Carbon Risk Score of 9.0, indicating that its companies have low exposure to carbon-related risks. These are risks associated with the transition to a low-carbon economy such as increased regulation, changing consumer preferences, technological advancements, and stranded assets.