…continued from items (a) to (g)…
Accompanying disclosure
Finally, to avoid being misleading, staff are of the view that a sales communication that includes fund-level ESG ratings, scores or rankings should include the following disclosure:
(h) for fund-level ESG rankings:
(i) the classification of the peer group used for the ranking (e.g. Canadian equity);
(ii) the number of funds in the peer group; and
(iii) the fund-level ESG rating or score of the fund that was used to determine the fund’s fund-level ESG ranking;
(i) if the fund is not an ESG Objective Fund, cautionary language that states that the fund does not have ESG-related investment objectives;
(j) if applicable, cautionary language that states that the fund-level ESG rating or score (or in the case of a fund-level ESG ranking, the fund-level ESG rating or score on which the ranking is based) does not evaluate the ESG-related investment objectives of, or any ESG strategies used by, the fund and is not indicative of how well ESG factors are integrated by the fund;
(k) a one-or two-sentence summary explaining what the fund-level ESG rating , score , or ranking measures or assesses , including:
(i) for a fund-level ESG ranking, language identifying the fund-level ESG rating or score that the ranking is based on ;
(ii) for a Portfolio-Based ESG Rating or Portfolio-Based ESG Ranking, language that states that the fund-level ESG rating or score (or in the case of a fund-level ESG ranking, the fund-level ESG rating or score on which the ranking is based) is a weighted average ESG rating or score of the company-level ESG ratings or scores of the underlying portfolio holdings of the fund ; and
(iii) for a fund-level ESG rating , score or ranking that is not a Portfolio-Based ESG Rating or Portfolio-Based ESG Ranking , an explanation of what the fund-level ESG rating or score (or in the case of a fund-level ESG ranking, the fund-level ESG rating or score on which the ranking is based) measures or assesses;
(l) if the sales communication is online, a link to the full methodology of the fund-level ESG rating or score (or in the case of a fund-level ESG ranking, the fund-level ESG rating or score on which the ranking is based);
(m) if the sales communication is not an online sales communication, language explaining how to easily access, free of charge, the full methodology of the fund-level ESG rating or score (or in the case of a fund-level ESG ranking, the fund-level ESG rating or score on which the ranking is based);
(n) if applicable, a statement indicating that other providers may also prepare fund-level ESG ratings or scores (or in the case of fund-level ESG rankings, the fund-level ESG ratings or scores on which the rankings are based) using their own methodologies, which may differ from the methodology used by the provider;
(o) if the sales communication is online, a link to the fund’s website containing the same type of fund-level ESG ratings , scores or rankings for the fund on the same periodic basis as updated by the provider over the past 12 months;
(p) if the sales communication is not an online sales communication, language explaining how to easily access, free of charge, the same type of fund-level ESG ratings , scores or rankings for the fund on the same periodic basis as updated by the provider over the past 12 months; and
(q) a cross-reference to the fund’s prospectus for further information about the fund’s investment objectives and strategies.