Guardian Strategic Income Fund

On March 31, 2025, Morningstar, Inc. renamed the Morningstar “Sustainability Rating” for Funds to the Morningstar “ESG Risk Rating” for Funds. This change aims to better align the name with the ratings' intended meaning and provide consistency with the naming conventions used by Morningstar and Sustainalytics at the issuer level. There is no change to the methodology or calculation underlying this rating, and the “Globe” iconography associated with it will remain the same.

To review the historical 12 month history of the Fund’s ratings, rankings and scores, based on the Morningstar® ESG Risk Rating for Funds Methodology and Morningstar® Low Carbon Designation Methodology, please click here.

*Please note that the Morningstar® ESG Risk Rating and the Morningstar® Low Carbon Designation, and any other rankings and scores, are updated monthly, typically 45 days after each month-end. The Fund’s ESG data presented may not be as recent as the Fund’s performance or holdings data.



A Fund will not be assigned a fund-level ESG rating, ranking or score 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 ESG Risk Rating for Fund Methodology and/or the Morningstar® Low Carbon Designation Methodology, as applicable (see below for each methodology). Excluded from qualified holdings are short positions, cash and currency, derivatives and synthetic holdings; similarly, municipal bonds, commodities, real estate, and alternative investment types are not considered corporate or sovereign and are not currently eligible to contribute toward the overall rating. The Morningstar® ESG Risk Rating a Fund receives is determined relative to other funds in the same Morningstar® Global Category, and a Fund could have similar ESG risk to another fund yet still receive a different rating if those funds are in different Global Categories The Morningstar® Global Category assignments help investors search for investments domiciled across the globe which have similar attributes, as described in Morningstar’s Global Category Classifications found here: https://www.morningstar.com/content/dam/marketing/shared/research/methodology/860250-GlobalCategoryClassifications.pdf.

The Fund’s Morningstar® ESG Risk and Carbon 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. The full rating methodology employed by Morningstar® can be found on their website or by clicking on the following links: Morningstar® ESG Risk Rating for Fund Methodology or the Morningstar® Low Carbon Designation Methodology A copy of the Morningstar® ESG Risk Rating Methodology or Morningstar® Low Carbon Designation Methodology documents may also 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®.

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Guardian Capital LP is a signatory of the United Nations-supported Principles of Responsible Investment (UN PRI). The UN PRI does not prescribe the exclusion of any particular type of company or industry; rather it requires that, as the Manager, we are informed on the ESG issues, and that we are comfortable with the activities and practices of the companies that we invest in. Guardian Capital’s approach to responsible investing is consistent with the framework provided by the UN PRI. Guardian Capital’s approach to responsible investing is consistent with the framework provided by the UN PRI. Our Responsible Investing policies are publicly available on our website.

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.



Guardian’s Sustainable Funds have ESG-related investment objectives, while other Guardian Mutual Funds and ETFs do not. Guardian Funds integrate ESG considerations into the investment analysis of securities within their respective portfolios, but which may only have a limited role in the portfolio management team’s assessment and investment decision-making process, as applicable to the different portfolio strategies and securities. The consideration of ESG factors is only one of a number of elements and strategies in the portfolio construction process and may or may not have a material influence on portfolio composition and performance at any given time. Certain prospectused ETFs and mutual funds managed by Guardian Capital LP may invest in securities such as derivatives, cash, money market instruments, asset-backed securities and commercial paper, and other similar instruments where ESG integration may not be applicable due to the nature of such instruments. The opportunity for stewardship and active engagement is more limited for funds holding the types of securities listed above as there are typically no voting rights attached. In a fund-of-funds structure, the bottom fund holding the portfolio securities will be the fund engaged in stewardship and/or active engagement. In the case of third-party funds used in fund-of-fund structures, there may be no direct engagement by Guardian Capital LP with the issuers held in those funds. 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.

Definitions and Summaries of the Morningstar® Ratings and Methodologies:

The Morningstar® ESG Risk Rating™ is a ranking of a fund’s ESG risks relative to that fund’s Morningstar® Global 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® ESG Risk 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. A higher ESG Risk Rating represents lower ESG risk relative to a fund's peer group.

The Morningstar® ESG Risk Rating is calculated from the combined proportional Portfolio Corporate ESG Risk Rating and Portfolio Sovereign ESG Risk Rating, for the trailing 12 months on long-only positions. A Morningstar® ESG Risk Rating is assigned to any fund that has either or both a Corporate and Sovereign Portfolio ESG Risk Score™, and which requires i) that at least 67.00% of the fund's underlying assets are Qualified Holdings that are eligible to be rated and ii) is within a Morningstar® Global Category with at least 30 scored funds; therefore, the rating is not limited to funds with explicit sustainable or responsible investment mandates. Excluded from Qualified Holdings are short positions, cash and currency, derivatives and synthetic holdings; similarly, municipal bonds, commodities, real estate, and alternative investment types are not considered corporate or sovereign and are not currently eligible to contribute toward the overall rating.

Morningstar® Portfolio ESG Risk Scores

The Morningstar® ESG Risk Rating framework, which was historically based on a single ESG risk score, is now a modular approach, based on multiple ESG risk sleeve scores to provide a more comprehensive assessment of ESG risk through multiple lenses. Morningstar® determines whether a fund’s eligible portfolio holdings can be classified under a Corporate or Sovereign framework, and each holding can only contribute to one, not both. In some cases, only one of the corporate and sovereign scores is calculated because the fund’s portfolio does not have sufficient sovereign or corporate exposure within its holdings.


The Morningstar® Portfolio Corporate ESG Risk Score^TM is an asset-weighted average of Sustainalytics’ ESG Risk Ratings* for corporate issuers in a fund’s portfolio, based on 12-month historical holdings, updated monthly. The Sustainalytics' ESG Risk Rating measures the degree to which a company's economic value may be at risk driven by ESG factors. To receive a Portfolio Corporate ESG Risk Score, at least 67.00% of a fund’s corporate issuer holdings (long positions only) must have an ESG Risk Rating. The Portfolio Corporate ESG Risk 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. A fund with a lower score indicates lower ESG risk.


The Morningstar® Portfolio Sovereign ESG Risk Score^TM is an asset-weighted average of Sustainalytics’ Country Risk Ratings* for sovereign issuers in a fund’s portfolio, based on 12-month historical holdings, updated monthly. The Sustainalytics' Country Risk Rating measures the risk to a country's long-term prosperity and economic development by assessing its wealth and its ability to managing its wealth sustainably. To receive a Portfolio Sovereign ESG Risk Score, at least 67.00% of a fund's sovereign issuer holdings (long only) must have a Country Risk Rating. The Portfolio Sovereign ESG Risk Score ranges between 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating that a fund has, on average, more of its assets invested in sovereign issuers with high ESG risk. A fund with a lower score indicates lower ESG risk.


The Morningstar® ESG Risk Pillar Scores™ are provided to help investors understand the contribution of each to a fund’s overall ESG risk, as it breaks out the Portfolio Corporate ESG Risk Score for a fund into separate Environmental, Social, Governance and Unallocated ESG Risk pillars. It is based on Sustainalytics’ ESG Risk Ratings for corporate issuer securities, shown as a percentage of total, and is updated monthly.
* The rating methodology employed by Sustainalytics can be found on their website or by clicking on the following links: ESG Risk Ratings Methodology Abstract https://connect.sustainalytics.com/hubfs/INV/Methodology/Sustainalytics_ESG%20Ratings_Methodology%20Abstract.pdf or Country Risk Rating https://connect.sustainalytics.com/hubfs/INV%20-%20Reports%20and%20Brochure/Product%20Brochures/Country%20Risk%20Rating.pdf

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The Morningstar® Low Carbon Designation™ is intended to allow investors to easily identify low-carbon funds across the global universe, and is calculated monthly. 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.
The Low Carbon Designation is assigned to funds with a Historical Carbon Risk Score below 10 and a Historical Fossil Fuel Percentage of Covered Portfolio Involved of less than 7.00%. For a fund to receive a Historical Carbon Risk Score and the Historical Fossil Fuel Percentage of Covered Portfolio Involved, the percentage of eligible portfolio covered must meet or exceed 67.00%, respectively.
To determine Carbon Risk Scores and Fossil Fuel Involvement, Morningstar® uses Sustainalytics’ company-level data, based on the 12-month historical weighted averages. The Historical Carbon Risk Score measures the degree of material financial risk within a fund’s portfolio, calculated based on the underlying companies’ exposure to and management of material carbon issues. The Historical Fossil Fuel Involvement measures the percentage of a fund’s covered portfolio that is exposed to corporations that generate any revenue from involvement in fossil fuels.

Portfolio Carbon Risk Score measures of the degree of material financial risk posed by the transition to a low carbon economy, and was designed to support investors in evaluating the degree of carbon-related risk within the fund. It is an asset-weighted score based on Sustainalytics’ Carbon Risk Rating* of the companies held in the fund’s portfolio, calculated monthly, based on the most recent 12-month trailing average. The Sustainalytics’ Carbon Risk Rating measures the degree to which a company’s enterprise value is at risk, driven by factors related to the transition to a low carbon economy, or more technically speaking, the magnitude of a company’s unmanaged carbon risks. 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 overall Portfolio Carbon Risk Score means lower carbon risk. The Portfolio Carbon Risk Score is ranked from 0 (Low) to 50+ (Severe).

Portfolio Fossil Fuel Involvement measures a portfolio’s exposure to companies involved in high-impact and conventional fossil fuels and is designed to highlight the percentage to which a fund’s portfolio is exposed to this most significant carbon risk, calculated monthly, based on the most recent 12-month trailing average. The Sustainalytics’ Fossil Fuels Involvement* examines a company’s involvement in conventional fossil fuels, such as thermal coal and oil & gas, as well as high-impact fossil fuels including oil sands, oil shale and arctic oil and gas. The Portfolio Fossil Fuel Involvement is shown as a percentage out of 100.00%, based on a rescaled, adjusted eligible portfolio of long positions less short positions.

Fund’s Distribution of Carbon Risk shows the percent of the fund’s portfolio holdings with negligible, low, medium, high, or severe Carbon Risk Score as calculated by Sustainalytics, shown as a percentage of the fund’s total Portfolio Carbon Risk Score, calculated monthly, based on the most recent 12-month trailing average.
*The rating methodology employed by Sustainalytics can be found on their website or by clicking on the following links: Carbon Risk Ratings and Research https://connect.sustainalytics.com/hubfs/INV/Climate%20Solutions/Carbon%20Ratings%20and%20Research/Carbon%20Ratings%20and%20Research%20(Climate%20Solutions)%20Brochure.pdf

© 2023 Morningstar®. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar® and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar® nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Sustainalytics is an ESG and corporate governance research, ratings, and analysis company affiliated with Morningstar®, Inc.