Victory RS Growth Fund has several promising attributes that may appeal to sustainability-focused investors.
The ESG risk of Victory RS Growth Fund's holdings is comparable to its peers in the US Equity Large Cap Growth category, thus earning an average Morningstar Sustainability Rating of 3 globes. Funds in the same category rated 4 or 5 globes tend to hold securities less exposed to ESG risk. Unlike impact, which measures positive environmental and societal outcomes attributable to an investment, ESG risk reflects the degree to which investments could be affected by material ESG issues like climate change and inequalities.
One key area of strength for Victory RS Growth Fund is its low Morningstar Portfolio Carbon Risk Score of 4.44 and low fossil fuel exposure of 1.37% over the past 12 months, which earns it the Morningstar Low Carbon Designation. The fund is therefore well positioned to transition to a low-carbon economy.
One potential issue for a sustainability-focused investor is that Victory RS Growth Fund doesn’t have an ESG-focused mandate. Funds with an ESG-focused mandate would have a higher probability to drive positive ESG outcomes.
The fund has a modest level of exposure (7.80%) to companies with high or severe controversies. Companies with high or severe controversies are involved in incidents such as corruption, employee abuses, environmental incidents, and corporate scandals that pose serious business risks to the company.