Investment objective & strategy
As of May 28, 2025 · prospectusObjective. The Funds investment objective is to seek high current income.
Strategy. The Fund pursues its investment objective by investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of sustainable, lower-rated fixed-income investments (i.e., BB or lower). These investments include lower-rated corporate bonds (also known as junk bonds) which include debt securities issued by U.S. or foreign businesses (including emerging market debt securities). The Funds investment adviser or sub-adviser (as applicable, the Adviser) does not target an average maturity for the Funds portfolio. The Advisers securities selection process includes a focus on sustainable investments and the avoidance of issuers with high environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk as determined in accordance with the Advisers sustainable investment methodology, which includes a proprietary analysis of a companys creditworthiness, ESG risks and sustainability credentials. The Adviser assigns an … The Fund pursues its investment objective by investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of sustainable, lower-rated fixed-income investments (i.e., BB or lower). These investments include lower-rated corporate bonds (also known as junk bonds) which include debt securities issued by U.S. or foreign businesses (including emerging market debt securities). The Funds investment adviser or sub-adviser (as applicable, the Adviser) does not target an average maturity for the Funds portfolio. The Advisers securities selection process includes a focus on sustainable investments and the avoidance of issuers with high environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk as determined in accordance with the Advisers sustainable investment methodology, which includes a proprietary analysis of a companys creditworthiness, ESG risks and sustainability credentials. The Adviser assigns an ESG Rating to individual securities based on a proprietary assessment of material ESG risks. The Adviser determines these ratings based on research and due diligence, including a review of information that may be publicly available, company provided and/or from third party sources. The ESG Rating is determined by the Advisers view of risks including: environmental (e.g., temperature alignment, carbon intensity, water usage, waste reduction); social (e.g., human rights, employee rights, health/safety concerns, data privacy); and governance (e.g., management effectiveness and board composition). Additionally, issuers will be evaluated based on their approach to addressing greenhouse gas emissions based on the Advisers proprietary Climate Change Impact Score (CCI) methodology. These scores are determined by combining a review of data on greenhouse gas emissions, publicly available or company-disclosed information, third-party opinions and information derived from engagement with issuers. The Adviser may invest up to 15% of the Funds net assets in companies that have not been subject to sustainability analysis. The Fund will generally not purchase securities with ESG Ratings or CCI Scores below certain thresholds as determined by the Adviser. However, the Fund may purchase a Green Bond, Social Bond or Sustainability-Linked Bond (collectively, GSS Bonds) from certain issuers whose securities may otherwise be excluded based on ESG Ratings or CCI Scores. The Adviser will exclude companies that generate greater than 5% of their revenue from the manufacture of tobacco or controversial weapons, or that, in the Advisers view, are in violation of the UN Global Compact principles. For purposes of this strategy, examples of controversial weapons include cluster munitions, anti-personnel mines, biological weapons and chemical weapons. The Adviser also targets a lower weighted-average carbon intensity compared to that of the Bloomberg US Corporate High Yield 2% Issuer Capped Index. The Fund may invest in derivative contracts, in particular, futures contracts, option contracts and swap contracts, and/or hybrid instruments to implement elements of its investment strategy. For example, the Fund may use derivative contracts and/or hybrid instruments to increase or decrease the portfolios exposure to the investment(s) underlying the derivative contracts or hybrid instruments in an attempt to benefit from changes in the value of the underlying investment(s). There can be no assurance that the Funds use of derivative contracts or hybrid instruments will work as intended. Derivative investments made by the Fund are included within the Funds 80% policy (as described below) and are calculated at market value. The Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in sustainable, lower-rated fixed-income investments. The Fund will notify shareholders at least 60 days in advance of any change in its investment policy to invest, under normal circumstances, less than 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in sustainable, lower-rated fixed-income investments. For the purposes of this policy, the Adviser will consider sustainable investments as those that are selected in accordance with its sustainable investment methodology, which is based on a materiality assessment of a companys carbon intensity and incorporates a proprietary scoring methodology focusing on the overall sustainability credentials of issuers.
Top holdings
As of March 31, 2026 · N-PORT| Security | Ticker | Value | % of fund |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federated Hermes Government Obligations Tax-Managed Fund, Institutional Class | GOFXX | $11.66M | 2.39% |
| Medline Borrower, L.P. | — | $6.30M | 1.29% |
| ARDONAGH GRP. FIN. 8.875% | ARDGRP | $5.93M | 1.22% |
| BROPAR 5.875 04/15/29 144A | BROPAR | $5.76M | 1.18% |
| MADISON IAQ LLC SR UNSECURED 144A 06/29 5.875 | MADIAQ | $4.73M | 0.97% |
| 1261229 BC Ltd | — | $4.48M | 0.92% |
| McAfee Corp | — | $4.38M | 0.90% |
| Restaurant Brands International Limited Partnership | BCULC | $4.02M | 0.82% |
| USI INC/NY SR UNSECURED 144A 01/32 7.5 | COMINV | $3.96M | 0.81% |
| ROCSOF 6.5 02/15/29 144A | ROCSOF | $3.81M | 0.78% |
Portfolio moves
Dec 31, 2025 → Mar 31, 2026How many positions this fund opened, exited, grew, trimmed, or left unchanged between its two most recent N-PORT snapshots — net changes between point-in-time reports, not a trade log.
Similar funds
Funds whose portfolios most overlap this one, by weight| Fund | Overlap | Net exp. |
|---|---|---|
| High Yield Bond Core Fund | 73% | — |
| High Yield Bond Portfolio | 69% | 0.46% |
| Federated Hermes Institutional High Yield Bond Fund · FIHBX, FIHLX, FIHAX, FIHCX | 67% | 0.49% |
Advisers
| Firm | Role |
|---|---|
| Hermes Investment Management Ltd | Sub-adviser |
| Federated Advisory Services Company | Adviser |
| Federated Investment Management Company | Adviser |
Footnotes
- Expense ratio as of May 28, 2025, from the fund's prospectus.
- Net assets and holdings count as of March 31, 2026, from the fund's N-PORT filing.
- Total return for calendar year 2025, before tax and after fund expenses. Computed by compounding the twelve monthly total returns the fund reported in its SEC N-PORT filings for 2025 (the latest prospectus does not yet chart this year).
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