Tangerine’s Socially Responsible Funds Clinch Top Honours, Validating the Power of Values-Based Investing

TORONTO, ON – February 06, 2026 – In a significant validation for the growing field of ethical finance, Tangerine Investment Funds has secured three prestigious 2025 FundGrade A+® Awards for its Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) portfolios. The accolades, presented by the independent analysis firm Fundata Canada Inc., recognize consistent, top-tier, risk-adjusted performance, challenging the outdated notion that investors must choose between their conscience and their returns.

The awards highlight a pivotal moment for both Tangerine and the Canadian investment landscape. As more investors seek to align their money with their values, the strong performance of these funds provides compelling evidence that financial success and positive social impact can be pursued simultaneously.

"It's meaningful to have our responsible investment options recognized for their strong performance by Fundata Canada Inc.," said Aharon Kagedan, Managing Director of Digital Wealth at Tangerine, in a statement. "We remain committed to offering effortless investment solutions that reflect our clients' values and support their long-term goals."

The three award-winning portfolios—the Tangerine Balanced SRI Portfolio, Tangerine Balanced Growth SRI Portfolio, and Tangerine Equity Growth SRI Portfolio—successfully outperformed the vast majority of their peers in highly competitive categories, demonstrating a powerful combination of prudent management and ethical screening.

Decoding the A+ Grade: A Mark of Consistent Excellence

For investors navigating a crowded market, the FundGrade A+® Award serves as a crucial beacon of quality. Unlike awards based on subjective opinions, the FundGrade A+® is rooted in a rigorous, quantitative methodology that evaluates a fund's performance over the entire calendar year. It is not a recognition for a brief period of high returns, but a testament to sustained, risk-managed excellence.

Fundata’s system begins by assigning a monthly grade from 'A' to 'E' to every eligible fund in Canada based on its risk-adjusted performance relative to its peers. This evaluation uses a combination of key industry metrics, including the Sharpe Ratio, Sortino Ratio, and Information Ratio, which measure returns against volatility and risk. Only the top 10% of funds in a category earn an 'A' grade in any given month.

To achieve the annual A+® Award, a fund must maintain an exceptional record of these monthly grades. Using a GPA-style calculation where an 'A' is worth 4 points and an 'E' is worth 0, a fund must achieve an average score of 3.5 or higher for the entire year. This means the fund had to consistently rank among the best of the best, month after month. The exclusivity of the award is notable; historically, only about six percent of all Canadian investment funds qualify for this top honour each year, making Tangerine's triple win in the SRI space particularly significant.

A Green Leap for Digital-First Investing

While major financial institutions like RBC, TD, and BMO have also developed robust responsible investing platforms, Tangerine's success underscores the unique advantages of its digital-first model. By operating primarily online, the bank has carved out a niche by making sophisticated investment products, including SRI portfolios, accessible and straightforward for the average Canadian.

For years, values-based investing was often perceived as a complex or niche strategy reserved for high-net-worth individuals or institutional investors. Tangerine's platform demystifies the process, offering low-cost, easy-to-understand portfolios that can be managed entirely online. This approach resonates strongly with a new generation of tech-savvy investors who demand transparency, simplicity, and alignment with their personal ethics.

The awards validate that this accessible model does not compromise on quality or performance. By providing award-winning SRI options, Tangerine is effectively democratizing responsible investing, empowering a broader audience to participate in a financial strategy that seeks to build a better world while building long-term wealth.

The Rising Tide of Responsible Investing in Canada

Tangerine's achievement is not happening in a vacuum. It reflects a powerful and accelerating trend across Canada. According to the Responsible Investment Association (RIA) of Canada's most recent market report, responsible investment assets now account for a substantial portion of the country's total investment industry, totaling trillions of dollars. Furthermore, surveys consistently show that an overwhelming majority of Canadian retail investors are interested in responsible investing.

This groundswell of interest is driven by a growing awareness of global challenges like climate change and social inequality, coupled with an understanding that companies with strong Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices are often more resilient and better managed for the long term. This shift is dismantling the old myth that SRI is a philanthropic act that sacrifices financial gain.

However, this popularity has also given rise to concerns about "greenwashing," where funds may overstate their ethical credentials. This makes objective, data-driven verification more critical than ever. Prestigious, third-party awards like the FundGrade A+® serve as a vital tool for investors, helping them cut through the marketing noise and identify funds that have truly delivered on both their ethical mandate and their performance promises. Tangerine's wins provide a clear, vetted example of SRI done right, signaling a maturing market where doing good is increasingly synonymous with investing well.