TORONTO, Sept. 17, 2020 /CNW/ - Today, TD Asset Management Inc. (TDAM) announced the launch of two new mutual funds to its sustainability suite: TD North American Sustainability Equity Fund and TD North American Sustainability Balanced Fund. With responsible investment growing rapidly in Canada and globally, creating access to sustainable investment funds for investors has been a priority for TDAM as it continues to support best-in-class companies that demonstrate positive contributions that drive change.

"We know an investment strategy that includes environmental, social and or corporate governance factors are important to Canadians and is something that they want to actively hold in their portfolios," says Robert Vanderhooft, Chief Investment Officer, TDAM. "Incorporating sustainability into our investment decisions has been a long-standing commitment for us. We are proud to offer these two new funds to help investors achieve their financial goals while aligning their investments with their values to make a positive impact."

TD North American Sustainability Equity Fund is an active North American equity solution that combines TDAM's fundamental research process with experience in ESG integration (the integration of Environment, Social, and Governance criteria when selecting investments) to invest primarily in a diversified portfolio of North American securities. Security selection will focus on an issuer's ability to profitably generate and grow free cash flow and its efficiency at allocating capital, while also demonstrating positive contributions towards the Sustainable Development Goals as set out by the United Nations. This fund offers active fundamental management, a robust investment process and disciplined integrated ESG approach with fundamental risk diversification.

TD North American Sustainability Balanced Fund is a core North American balanced fund, which seeks to earn income with the potential for capital appreciation while following a socially responsible approach to investing. This fund will focus on investing in a combination of common share and bond investments that demonstrate positive contributions towards the Sustainable Development Goals as set out by the United Nations. The common share investments will tend to focus on industry leaders that, in our view, have sustainable competitive advantages evidenced by the high returns on capital, strong balance sheets and management teams that are able to manage capital efficiently. The bond investments will focus on a combination of ESG screened bonds that leverage TDAM's proprietary ESG scoring system to select issuers with below average ESG risks across the fixed income universe and ESG designed bonds, which include bonds issued under a Green, Sustainable or Transition bond framework.

"We've also recently formed a dedicated ESG Research and Engagement team that will work to ensure that we have consistency in our ESG approach across all asset classes," adds Vanderhooft. "As one of the first Canadian bank-owned asset managers to a be signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, we have a long history of responsibly managing the environmental, social and community impacts of our business and we are excited to continue leading in this space."

TDAM integrates an ESG analysis within its investment process to provide an additional lens for a more robust investment analysis and many of TDAM's actively managed funds have ESG factors integrated into the investment decision-making. When assessing company risk, TDAM employs a three-pronged approach that includes investment analysis, engagement with companies across a broad range of industries and proxy voting.

TDAM is also furthering its commitment to sustainable investing with the TDAM Sustainable Investment Approach. This new philosophy further articulates the Bank's dedication to investing responsibly and serves as a guidepost for how each of TDAM's investment teams' approach ESG integration. You can read more about the TDAM Sustainable Investment Approach here.

For more information on sustainable and responsible investing, visit the TDAM Sustainable Investing page and view the TD Bank Group 2019 ESG Report.

About TD Asset Management Inc.
TD Asset Management Inc., a member of TD Bank Group, is a North American investment management firm. Operating through TD Asset Management Inc. (TDAM) in Canada and TDAM USA Inc. in the U.S. TDAM brings new thinking to investors' most important challenges. TDAM offers investment solutions to corporations, pension funds, endowments, foundations and individual investors. Additionally, TDAM manages assets on behalf of almost 2 million retail investors and offers a broadly diversified suite of investment solutions including mutual funds, professionally managed portfolios and corporate class funds. Asset management businesses at TD manage $359 billion in assets as at June 30, 2020. Assets under management include TDAM, TDAM USA Inc. and Epoch Investment Partners Inc. (Epoch). All entities are wholly-owned subsidiaries of The Toronto-Dominion Bank.

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the fund facts and prospectus, which contain detailed investment information, before investing. Mutual funds are not covered by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation or by any other government deposit insurer. There can be no assurances that the fund will be able to maintain its net asset value per unit at a constant amount or that the full amount of your investment in the fund will be returned to you. Past performance may not be repeated. Mutual fund strategies and current holdings are subject to change. TD Asset Management Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank. ^®The TD logo and other trademarks are the property of The Toronto-Dominion Bank or its subsidiaries.

SOURCE TD Asset Management Inc.