Article 6, 8 and 9 funds are the three classifications that are applied to all investment products sold within the EU under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), in effect since 2022. The regulation aims to create a more transparent playing field, partly to prevent greenwashing – where some financial firms claim that their products are sustainable when they are not.

Article 6, 8 and 9 funds compel asset managers to reveal the differing levels of sustainability integration that an investment strategy contains. According to the SFDR’s classification system, a fund will either be classified as an article 6,8 or 9 fund – depending on their characteristics and level of sustainability:

• Article 6: Funds without a sustainability scope 
• Article 8: Funds that promote environmental or social characteristics (light green)
• Article 9: Funds that have sustainable investment as their objective (dark green).