Guardian Capital LP
Guardian Capital LP is a trusted steward of capital with a longstanding institutional pedigree1. They believe that active management is a crucial approach within investment portfolios to better meet the needs of investors and to help seek to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns over the long term. Guardian Capital incorporates responsible investing principles across each and every portfolio they manage. As part of analyzing companies or underlying funds in which to invest, they strongly believe that proper due diligence is not complete without careful consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks.
Coast Capital members looking to invest responsibly can consider the Sustainable Funds lineup, offered and managed by Guardian Capital LP.
The Sustainable Funds’ portfolio management team employs sophisticated techniques to build and maintain the Sustainable Funds’ portfolio. They seek to deliver results through the utilization of underlying funds whose portfolio managers are signatories to the United Nations-supported Principles of Responsible Investment and which have “Above-Average” Morningstar® Sustainability Ratings™2, as well as by focusing on ESG-specific and thematic underlying funds, such as those focused on clean energy or green bonds.
Each Sustainable Fund aims to stay true to its strategic asset allocation target through regular rebalancing. The manager has some flexibility to deviate slightly from the target mix based on their view of other opportunities or near-term risks.
The manager performs in-depth due diligence on the shortlist of underlying funds derived from the screening process, to ensure they have confidence that each underlying fund is suitable for inclusion in the Sustainable Funds before investing.
Once the asset allocation is set, the manager screens the investable universe for underlying funds that best meet high sustainability standards, along with prospects for attractive risk-adjusted returns. Underlying Fund managers must be signatories to the United Nations-supported Principles of Responsible Investment in order to quality for inclusion in the Sustainable Funds.
Beyond looking at the individual merits of each underlying fund, the manager seeks to incorporate underlying funds that work well together. For example, incorporating underlying funds with low correlations to one another helps to smooth out potential volatility.
1. Guardian Capital LP is the Manager and Portfolio Manager of the Sustainable Funds. Guardian Capital LP is a wholly owned subsidiary of Guardian Capital Group Limited and the successor to its original investment management business, which was founded in 1962.
2. 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.
The Morningstar® ESG Risk Rating™ is intended to measure how well the issuing companies of the securities within a fund’s portfolio are managing their environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) risks and opportunities relative to the fund’s Morningstar category peers, and is updated monthly. The Morningstar ESG Risk Rating is depicted by globe icons where 5 globes equals High ranking (lowest ESG Risk) and 1 globe equals Low ranking (highest ESG Risk) compared to category peers, based off each fund’s Morningstar® Portfolio ESG Risk Score™. A ESG Risk Rating is assigned to any fund that has more than half of its underlying assets receiving an ESG Risk Rating from Sustainalytics, and is within a Morningstar Category with at least 10 scored funds; therefore, the rating it is not limited to funds with explicit sustainable or responsible investment mandates. Please refer to http://corporate1.morningstar.com/SustainableInvesting/ for more detailed information about the Morningstar ESG Risk Rating and its calculation. Sustainalytics is an ESG and corporate governance research, ratings, and analysis company affiliated with Morningstar, Inc.
© 2025 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. Morningstar is an independent organization that groups investment funds with generally similar investment objectives for comparison purposes and ranks them on a historical basis. Ratings and/or ranking information is portfolio-based, not performance-based and is subject to change monthly. 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. They should not be the sole basis for an investment decision.
Please read the prospectus before investing. Important information about the Sustainable Funds including a summary of the risks about each Fund, is contained in their prospectus and Fund Facts. Contact your Coast Capital advisor or visit the Sustainable Funds’ website at: www.guardiancapital.com/investmentsolutions or www.sedar.com to obtain a copy of the Fund's prospectus and Fund Facts. Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with investments in mutual funds. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Mutual funds are not guaranteed or insured by any financial institution, government or other deposit insurer. The Sustainable Funds described on this webpage are sponsored by Guardian Capital LP and are only qualified for sale in Canada. This communication is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment or financial advice or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security, and shall under no circumstances be considered an offer or solicitation to deal in any product or service mentioned herein.
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 LP’s Responsible Investing policies are publicly available on their website at: https://www.guardiancapital.com/investmentsolutions/responsible-investing/.
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. A Fund’s ESG characteristics and performance may change from time to time. Certain prospect used 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. 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 Coast Capital advisor or other financial professional prior to investing.
Coast Capital Savings Federal Credit Union provides advice and service related to deposit, loan and mortgage products, and its affiliate, Coast Capital Wealth Management Ltd., provides investment and financial planning services (collectively “Coast Capital”). Worldsource Financial Management Inc. (“Worldsource”) provides advice and service relating to the Sustainable Funds and is a Principal Distributor of the funds. Certain advisors employed by Coast Capital are also registered as dealing representatives of Worldsource and act as agent in the distribution of mutual funds securities. Worldsource pays commissions generated from the sale of the Sustainable Funds to Coast Capital, which in turn pays compensation to the applicable advisor. Guardian Capital LP (“GCLP”) is the Manager and Portfolio Manager of the Sustainable Funds, and has entered into a corporate strategic alliance agreement with Coast Capital, pursuant to which Coast Capital may receive payments directly from GCLP. GCLP is a subsidiary of Guardian Capital Group Limited (“GCGL”), a publicly traded firm, the shares of which are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. For further information on GCGL and its subsidiaries and affiliates, please visit www.guardiancapital.com.
Trademarks and logos belong to their respective owners and are used under license. All Guardian trademarks, registered and unregistered, are owned by Guardian Capital Group Limited and are used under license. Coast Capital and the Coast Capital logo are trademarks of Coast Capital Savings Federal Credit Union. All rights reserved.
This material is sponsored in part by Guardian Capital LP. Updated: March 31, 2025