Unit trust investment

Please note that unit trusts are complex products and cannot generally be sold without advice. In particular, if you have limited knowledge on investment products, you are encouraged to seek advice from a Relationship Manager.  If you choose not to seek advice from a Relationship Manager, you should carefully consider whether the investment is suitable. Any transaction that you decide to make will be of your own choice and at your own risk.

In broad terms “ESG and sustainable investing” products include investment approaches or instruments which consider environmental, social, governance and/or other sustainability factors to varying degrees.  Certain instruments we classify as sustainable may be in the process of changing to deliver sustainability outcomes. There is no guarantee that ESG and Sustainable investing products will produce returns similar to those which don’t consider these factors.  ESG and Sustainable investing products may diverge from traditional market benchmarks.  In addition, there is no standard definition of, or measurement criteria for, ESG and Sustainable investing or the impact of ESG and Sustainable investing products.   ESG and Sustainable investing and related impact measurement criteria are (a) highly subjective and (b) may vary significantly across and within sectors.

HSBC may rely on measurement criteria devised and reported by third party providers or issuers.  HSBC does not always conduct its own specific due diligence in relation to measurement criteria. There is no guarantee: (a) that the nature of the ESG / sustainability impact or measurement criteria of an investment will be aligned with any particular investor’s sustainability goals; or (b) that the stated level or target level of ESG / sustainability impact will be achieved. ESG and Sustainable investing is an evolving area and new regulations are being developed which will affect how investments can be categorised or labelled. An investment which is considered to fulfil sustainable criteria today may not meet those criteria at some point in the future.

When we classify an investment product or service against our ESG and Sustainable Investing (SI) categories described in this document: ESG Enhanced, Thematic or Impact, this does not mean that all individual underlying holdings in the investment product or portfolio will meet the relevant SI criteria. As such, an SI classification does not mean that all underlying holdings in a fund or discretionary portfolio meet the relevant sustainable investment criteria.  Similarly, where an equity or fixed income investment is classified under an Enhanced, Thematic or Impact category this does not mean that the underlying issuer’s activities are fully sustainable. Not all investments, portfolios or services are classifiable under our SI categories. This may be because there is insufficient information available or because a particular investment product does not meet HSBC’s SI classifications criteria.