Article 6, 8 and 9 investment solutions are the three classifications of strategies that will apply to Helveteq’s products under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). This new set of rules coming into effect in 2022 will force asset managers to reveal the differing levels of sustainability integration and focus of each investment strategy that they offer.
The regulation aims to create a more transparent playing field, partly to prevent greenwashing – where some financial firms claim that their products are sustainable when they are not. This bodes well for Helveteq’s suite of strategies that have embraced sustainability right from the start and can now be appropriately labeled as such.
Under the new classifications, a strategy will labeled under either Article 6, 8 or 9 of the SFDR:
- Article 6 covers investment products which do not integrate any kind of sustainability into the investment process and could include stocks currently excluded by ESG financial products such as tobacco companies or thermal coal producers. While these will be allowed to continue to be sold in the EU, provided they are clearly labelled as non-sustainable, they may face considerable marketing difficulties when matched against more sustainable investments.
- Article 8, also known as ‘environmental and socially promoting’, applies “… where a financial product promotes, among other characteristics, environmental or social characteristics, or a combination of those characteristics, provided that the companies in which the investments are made follow good governance practices.”
- Article 9, also known as ‘products targeting sustainable investments’, covers products targeting bespoke sustainable investments and applies “… where a financial product has sustainable investment as its objective and an index has been designated as a reference benchmark.”
The majority of products at Helveteq will be classified as Article 8, including our “Zero” suite of products. These are ETPs that achieve a quasi zero carbon footprint with respect to the underlying(s).
Please find below the sustainability-related disclosures for all of our products. You can also access the product pages directly to find information.
Product | Pre-contractual disclosure | Learn More |
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BTCO2 | Learn More | |
ETH2O | Learn More |