SFDR (Articles 6, 8 and 9)
SFDR is the EU disclosure regulation under which funds are classified as Article 6, 8 or 9 depending on whether and how they promote sustainability characteristics or objectives.The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) requires EU financial market participants to disclose how they consider sustainability risks and impacts, both at entity level and per product. In practice the regulation is known for its three product categories:
- Article 6: funds that integrate sustainability risk into decisions but make no sustainability claims.
- Article 8: funds that promote environmental or social characteristics, often called "light green".
- Article 9: funds with a sustainable investment objective, often called "dark green".
The articles were designed as disclosure obligations, but the market has treated them as labels, which is one reason the European Commission has proposed replacing them with clearer product categories. Until any reform takes effect, the article numbers remain what fund documents print.
Why it matters
Distributors and advisers in the EU must capture client sustainability preferences under MiFID II and match them to products, so the SFDR classification is a hard filter in many fund screeners and compliance workflows. A fund using ESG or sustainability terms in its name is also expected to meet minimum standards.
In the API
FundFacts API does not currently return a dedicated SFDR field. The classification is stated in the fund's prospectus and pre-contractual annex, and the sustainability wording often appears in the objective the API returns.
json
Example values, paraphrased. Confirm the article classification against the prospectus before displaying it.
Common pitfalls
- Article 8 covers a very broad range of approaches; two Article 8 funds can have almost nothing in common.
- Classifications change. A fund can be reclassified between articles when its documents are updated.