06 May 2026
RSMR fund ratings are more than just a badge of quality — they represent trust, due diligence, and a reputation built on rigorous research and expert analysis. Every month we study the universe of funds in the investment marketplace to assess whether they meet our exacting standards and should be given the RSMR seal of approval.
Here are the new rated funds from our April review:
The Royal London Investment Grade Short Dated Credit fund is one that sits within a series of funds run by the same team, many of which are rated by RSMR. This fund offers something slightly different to other corporate bond funds from the team as it is focused on shorter duration assets and is therefore less interest rate sensitive. The team aim to provide a robust, diversified portfolio which benefits from anomalies in the market. They believe that credit markets are inefficient, partly because most peers start with the benchmark as the universe, whereas Royal London believe that risk is not governed by the benchmark. Bonds not included in the benchmark are not necessarily bad or risky, in fact they can have attractive characteristics for client needs.
The approach taken with the portfolio is different to many in the sector. A factor behind running such diversified portfolios is that within corporate bonds, especially in investment grade, upside is modest whereas downside can be high. The team is prepared to invest outside the benchmark in less liquid names, because of their value orientated approach that looks for higher than average real yields within the universe. The fund is perhaps more specialist in nature and able to take higher risks with its shorter-term framework but is run in the same way as Short Duration Credit with a number of similar names. The manager will look across capital structures to find mispriced assets to give the fund a differentiated but slightly more volatile experience than other similar funds.
Click here to read the factsheet for the Royal London Investment Grade Short Dated Credit fund
The Royal London Sustainable Short Duration Corporate Bond fund primarily invests in companies or issuers that make a positive contribution to one or more of the sustainability themes identified – Clean, Healthy, Safe, Inclusive – through their products or services. Although the fund is predominantly positive-screened, there are exclusions in place that filter out businesses in contentious areas.
RSMR awarded the Royal London Sustainable Short Duration Corporate Bond fund with a Responsible rating as the fund has the same management team and investment process as the rated Royal London Sustainable Corporate Bond fund with the main differences surrounding the underlying benchmark index and duration parameters. This does lead to increased financials exposure in the fund as the index contains more banks. Although social housing is a small part of the index, the fund has greater exposure and is a favoured area of the team.
Click here to read the factsheet for the Royal London Sustainable Short Duration Corporate Bond fund
The EdenTree Global Sustainable Government Bond invests in sovereign bonds that have been screened via the proprietary EdenTree ‘Oppressive Regime’ screen. This screen is applied to the global sovereign debt universe to avoid bonds issued by regimes and governments that demonstrate oppressive practices.
RSMR have rated the fund acknowledging the long heritage EdenTree has in responsible and sustainable investment with this approach now applied to government bonds. This provides an interesting proposition that seeks to provide exposure to government and government-related green, social, sustainable or impact bonds with a low tracking error compared to the benchmark.
Click here to read the factsheet for the Edentree Global Sustainable Government Bond fund
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The value of investments and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amounts originally invested.