Guardian Strategic Income Fund

*Please note that a Fund will not be assigned a fund-level ESG rating or ranking by Morningstar if it is new or does not have a sufficient enough portion of its assets under management qualified for rating according to Morningstar's Sustainability Rating for Fund Methodology.

To review the historical 12 month history of the Fund’s ratings, rankings and scores based on the Morningstar Sustainability Rating for Funds Methodology, please click here.

The Fund’s Morningstar ratings and rankings evaluate the ESG aspects of the Fund’s portfolio holdings and do not evaluate the efficacy of the Fund’s ESG investment strategies and are not indicative of how well ESG considerations are integrated by the Fund. The full rating methodology employed by Morningstar can be found on their website or by clicking on the following link: https://www.morningstar.com/content/dam/marketing/shared/research/methodology/744156_Morningstar_Sustainability_Rating_for_Funds_Methodology.pdf..

A copy of the Morningstar Sustainability Rating for Fund Methodology document may be obtained, free of charge, by contacting us at 1 (866) 383-6546 or insights@guardiancapital.com Other providers may also prepare ESG ratings and rankings of mutual funds and ETFs based on their own methodologies, which may differ from the methodology employed by Morningstar.

Responsible investing is an approach to investing that incorporates ESG considerations into investment decisions. This approach may incorporate considerations beyond traditional financial information into the investment selection process, which could result in investment performance deviating from other products with comparable objectives or from broad market benchmarks. Please review the Fund’s prospectus for details on how the Fund’s investment strategy incorporates responsible investing considerations and the associated risks, and consult your financial professional prior to investing.
Guardian’s Sustainable Funds have ESG-related investment objectives, while other Guardian Mutual Funds and ETFs do not have ESG-related investment objectives. All Guardian Funds integrate ESG considerations into the investment analysis of all holdings within their respective portfolio. A Fund’s ESG characteristics and performance may change from time to time. Please review the Fund’s prospectus for details on how the Fund’s investment strategy incorporates responsible investing considerations and the associated risks, and consult your financial professional prior to investing.

The Fund’s Morningstar Sustainability ratings, rankings and scores evaluate the ESG aspects of the Fund’s portfolio holdings and do not evaluate the efficacy of the Fund’s ESG investment strategies and are not indicative of how well ESG considerations are integrated by the Fund. Please note that a Fund will not be assigned a fund-level ESG rating or ranking by Morningstar if it is new or does not have a sufficient enough portion of its holdings qualified for rating according to Morningstar's Sustainability Rating for Fund Methodology. The full rating methodology employed by Morningstar can be found on their website or by clicking on the following link: Morningstar Sustainability Rating for Fund Methodology . A copy of the Morningstar Sustainability Rating for Fund Methodology document may be obtained, free of charge, by contacting us at 1 (866) 383-6546 or insights@guardiancapital.com Other providers may also prepare ESG ratings and rankings of mutual funds and ETFs based on their own methodologies, which may differ from the methodology employed by Morningstar.

Please read the prospectus before investing. Important information about each Guardian Capital mutual fund and exchange traded fund (“ETF”) is contained in its respective prospectus. Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with investments in mutual funds and ETFs. You will usually pay brokerage fees to your dealer if you purchase or sell units of an ETF on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX"). If the units are purchased or sold on the TSX, investors may pay more than the current net asset value when buying units of the ETF and may receive less than the current net asset value when selling them. Except as noted otherwise, the indicated rates of return are the historical annual compounded total returns including changes in unit value and reinvestment of all distributions and do not take into account sales, redemptions, distribution or optional charges or income taxes payable by any security holder that would have reduced returns. Performance is calculated net of fees. Mutual funds and ETFs are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.

Guardian Capital LP is the Manager of the Guardian Capital mutual funds and ETFs, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Guardian Capital Group Limited, a publicly traded firm, the shares of which are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Definitions:

Sustainability Rating is a ranking of a fund’s ESG risks relative to that fund’s Morningstar Category peers, and is updated monthly. It provides a measure of how well the issuing companies of the securities within a fund’s portfolio are managing their financially material ESG risks. The Morningstar Sustainability Rating is depicted by globe icons where 5 globes equals High ranking (lower ESG risk) and 1 globe equals Low ranking (higher ESG risk) compared to category peers, based off each respective funds’ Morningstar® Portfolio Sustainability Score™.

Sustainability Score assesses the degree to which the underlying companies in a fund’s portfolio are exposed to ESG factors that can negatively impact the portfolio’s value, and is updated monthly. The Portfolio Sustainability Score ranges between 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating that a fund has, on average, more of its assets invested in companies with high ESG Risk. Lower score means lower ESG risk.

Sustainability Pillar Scores are calculated as an asset-weighted average of the Environmental, Social and Governance Risk cluster scores of a fund's portfolio holdings and represent the components of a fund's ESG risk profile, and is updated monthly. These ESG Pillar Scores help investors understand the contribution of each to a fund’s overall ESG risk, as it breaks out the Sustainability Score into separate Environmental, Social, and Governance pillars.

Low Carbon Designation™ is intended to allow investors to easily identify low-carbon funds across the global universe, and is calculated quarterly. The designation is an indicator that the companies held in a fund’s portfolio are in general alignment with the transition to a low-carbon economy, and have low carbon risk scores and low levels of fossil fuel exposure.

Portfolio Carbon Risk Score is used to evaluate carbon risk at the portfolio level. It is an asset-weighted score based on Sustainalytics’ carbon-risk rating of the companies held in the fund’s portfolio, calculated quarterly, based on the most recent 12-month trailing average. It measures the risk that companies in a fund’s portfolio face from the transition to a low-carbon economy. A company’s ability to reduce emissions and mitigate carbon risk using various management strategies is deducted from their overall carbon risk exposure score. A lower score means lower carbon risk. The Carbon Risk score is ranked from 0 (Low) to 50+ (Severe).

Portfolio Fossil Fuel Involvement is designed to highlight the percentage to which a fund’s portfolio is exposed to this most significant carbon risk, calculated quarterly, based on the most recent 12-month trailing average. Companies with fossil-fuel exposure are defined as those with involvement in thermal coal extraction, thermal coal power generation and oil & gas production, power generation, &/or products and services. The Fossil Fuel Involvement is shown as a percentage out of 100%.

Fund’s Distribution of Carbon Risk shows the percent of the fund’s portfolio holdings with negligible, low, medium, high, or severe Carbon Risk Ratings, as calculated by Sustainalytics, calculated quarterly, based on the most recent 12-month trailing average.

Morningstar ratings are portfolio-based, not performance-based. They do not reflect a fund’s performance on either an absolute or risk-adjusted basis, nor are they a qualitative Morningstar evaluation of a fund’s merits and should not be the sole basis for an investment decision.