PGIM ESG Total Return Bond Fund
Prudential Investment Portfolios, Inc. 17
Expense ratio
Net assets1
$23.87M
Holdings1
205
Category
Allocation
Return

Investment objective & strategy

As of April 17, 2024 · prospectus

Objective. The investment objective of the Fund is to seek total return .

Strategy. The Fund seeks to achieve its objective through a mix of current income and capital appreciation as determined by the Fund's subadviser, while applying an environmental, social and governance (ESG) methodology developed by the Funds subadviser in the selection of portfolio investments. The Fund invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its investable assets in bonds that, at the time of investment, are included in the investable universe based on the subadvisers ESG methodology described below. For purposes of this policy, bonds include all fixed income securities, other than preferred stock, with a maturity at date of issue of greater than one year (including bonds acquired by the Fund with a maturity at date of issue of greater than … The Fund seeks to achieve its objective through a mix of current income and capital appreciation as determined by the Fund's subadviser, while applying an environmental, social and governance (ESG) methodology developed by the Funds subadviser in the selection of portfolio investments. The Fund invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its investable assets in bonds that, at the time of investment, are included in the investable universe based on the subadvisers ESG methodology described below. For purposes of this policy, bonds include all fixed income securities, other than preferred stock, with a maturity at date of issue of greater than one year (including bonds acquired by the Fund with a maturity at date of issue of greater than one year, but a remaining maturity of one year or less). In selecting the Funds portfolio investments, the subadviser incorporates proprietary ESG criteria and employs third-party screening services as described in more detail below. The term investable assets refers to the Fund's net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes. The Fund's investable assets will be less than its total assets to the extent that it has borrowed money for non-investment purposes, such as to meet anticipated redemptions. The Fund's subadviser allocates assets among different debt securities, including (but not limited to) U.S. Government securities, mortgage-related and asset-backed securities (including collateralized debt obligations and collateralized loan obligations), corporate debt securities and foreign debt securities. The Fund may invest up to 30% of its investable assets in speculative, high risk, below investment-grade securities. These securities are also known as high-yield debt securities or junk bonds. The Fund may invest up to 30% of its investable assets in foreign debt securities, including emerging market debt securities, of issuers located anywhere in the world. From time to time the Fund's investments may be concentrated in a geographic region or country. The subadvisers ESG methodology begins with exclusionary screening, and then applies a proprietary scoring methodology focusing on factors that impact the environment and society, which include governance factors (ESG Impact Ratings), to construct the Funds portfolio. First, the subadviser will use third-party screening agents to exclude from all potential portfolio investments issuers that do not meet the subadvisers investment criteria (which may be updated periodically). Such excluded issuers currently include: (i) those with exposure to controversial weapons (e.g., anti-personnel mines, biological and chemical weapons, cluster weapons, incendiary weapons, depleted uranium, nuclear weapons, and white phosphorus) and those with revenue above a certain threshold (as determined by the subadviser, which generally range from 5% to 20%, with the exception of gambling, which normally has a threshold of 50%) from conventional weapons (e.g., civilian firearms (such as guns, rifles, and pistols or components of these), military equipment, and service providers to civilian firearms and/or military equipment), tobacco, thermal coal generation and extraction, oil sands extraction and processing, arctic oil and gas extraction and gambling activities; (ii) issuers that have carbon emissions activities above a certain emission intensity as determined by the subadviser; and (iii) issuers that are non-compliant with UN Global Compact principles. When selecting securities for the Fund, the subadviser seeks to ensure that the weighted average carbon intensity score of the portfolio as a whole is lower than the weighted average carbon intensity score of the Bloomberg US Universal ex MBS ex Treasury Index (the Relevant Index). The carbon intensity scores are calculated by the third party screening agent, who may not provide a carbon intensity score for each security in the Fund and Relevant Index. The average carbon intensity score of the Fund and the Relevant Index includes only securities that have carbon intensity scores. The principles of the UN Global Compact represent a set of values that the UN believes responsible businesses should incorporate into their operations in order to meet fundamental responsibilities in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. To the extent an issuers status changes to meet the qualification for exclusion, the subadviser may take steps to divest its holdings of the issuer within a reasonable period of time after the issuers change in status. This screening criteria is subject to change over time at the subadvisers discretion. Next, the subadviser assigns each potential investment an ESG Impact Rating (where possible). The subadviser assesses the type of investment and structure, and the ESG Impact Ratings are developed based on research and due diligence, including review of publicly available information as well as information from alternative data sources (e.g., non-governmental organization (NGO) analyses, governmental and inter-governmental studies, etc.) and third-party research and tools. The subadviser may supplement this information and adjust a rating based on direct engagement with the issuer. The ESG Impact Rating is assigned by assessing the impact of the following factors: environmental (e.g., reduction of environmental pollution, waste management, water consumption and climate change mitigation) and social (e.g., human rights, employee rights, health and safety and community relations). Governance factors (e.g., effective management and business conduct) are integrated into the assessment of factors that impact the environment and society. Issuers that score well with respect to these factors generally receive higher ESG Impact Ratings. While the subadviser considers ESG factors when evaluating an issuer, only one or two of these categories may be considered with respect to a particular investment or sector, and categories may be weighted differently according to the type of investment being considered. The subadviser seeks to assign each investment opportunity an ESG Impact Rating on a 100-point scale in 5-point increments, with 0 as the lowest and 100 as the highest ESG Impact Rating. An overall aggregated, or composite, ESG Impact Rating is also calculated, with ESG factors weighted differently depending on the industry. The ESG Impact Ratings are determined prior to purchase and reviewed at least annually. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will not purchase securities of issuers that have ESG Impact Ratings that are below a threshold established by the subadviser, except that the Fund may purchase a Green Bond from certain issuers whose securities may otherwise be excluded based on ESG Impact Ratings. A Green Bond is a type of fixed income instrument specifically earmarked to raise money for climate and environmental projects. The subadviser will seek to divest within a reasonable period of time from investments for which the ESG Impact Rating falls below the thresholds established by the subadviser. The subadviser may determine that there is not sufficient information available to assign an ESG Impact Rating with respect to certain securities and/or issuers. Up to 5% of the Funds total assets may normally comprise investments without ESG Impact Ratings. The subadviser may periodically update its ESG Impact Rating methodology. After identifying the relevant investable universe based on its ESG methodology (i.e., screening and application of ESG Impact Ratings), the subadviser then selects securities for the Fund using a combination of top-down economic analysis and bottom-up research in conjunction with proprietary quantitative models and risk management systems. In the top-down economic analysis, the subadviser develops views on economic, policy and market trends by continually evaluating economic data that affect the movement of markets and securities prices. In its bottom-up research, the subadviser develops an internal rating and outlook on issuers. The rating and outlook are determined based on a thorough review of the financial health and trends of the issuer, which includes a review of the composition of revenue, profitability, cash flow margin, and leverage, as well as an assessment of the issuer's corporate governance (e.g., ownership structures and board effectiveness). The subadviser may also consider investment factors such as expected total return, yield, spread and potential for price appreciation as well as credit quality, maturity and risk. The Fund may invest in a security based upon the expected total return rather than the yield of such security. When selecting securities for the Fund, the subadviser seeks to ensure that the weighted average ESG Impact Rating of the portfolio as a whole is higher than the weighted average ESG Impact Rating of the Relevant Index. The subadviser may not provide ESG Impact Ratings for certain securities in the Relevant Index, which under normal market conditions may be up to 10% of the Relevant Index. The average ESG Impact Rating of the Relevant Index includes only securities that have been rated. The Fund may use derivatives to manage its duration, as well as to manage its foreign currency exposure, to hedge against losses, and to try to improve returns.

Top holdings

As of Jan. 31, 2025 · N-PORT

Allocation by sector

As of January 31, 2025 · N-PORT
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Portfolio moves

Oct 31, 2024 → Jan 31, 2025
Opened
14
Exited
32
Increased
4
Decreased
40
Unchanged
152

How 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.

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Advisers

As of October 31, 2024 · N-CEN
FirmRole
PGIM INVESTMENTS LLC Adviser
PGIM Limited Sub-adviser
PGIM, INC. Sub-adviser

Footnotes

  1. Net assets and holdings count as of January 31, 2025, from the fund's N-PORT filing.

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