Global and European Sustainability Screened funds offer investors precise access to ‘best-in-class’ sustainable companies.…
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An ETF issuer launched two sustainable equity ETFs on the London Stock Exchange in response to demand for funds which invest according to environmental, social and governance criteria.
The iShares Dow Jones Global Sustainability Screened fund and the iShares Dow Jones Europe Sustainability Screened fund are physically backed products and the first London listed ETFs to offer regional access to the sustainable sector.
The Dow Jones indexes family uses a best-in-class approach for selecting companies that are performing best against sustainable criteria based on the Sustainable Asset Management‘s (SAM) Corporate Sustainability Assessment. This assessment analyses the world’s largest companies based on economic, environmental and social criteria, with a focus on industryspecific criteria. Additionally, there is an element of negative screening, choosing to exclude companies with involvement in alcohol, tobacco, gambling, armaments & firearms and adult entertainment.
The selection process allows iShares investors cost efficient and liquid access to best in class European and Global companies which operate in a sustainable manner. Axel Lomholt, Head of Product Development for iShares EMEA, commented: “We have seen growing demand from clients for ways in which they can incorporate environmental, social and governance considerations into their investments. Sustainable responsible investing is a fast growing market, with €5 trillion in assets under management in Europe at the end of 2009, an increase of 87% on 2007.(1)
“Many funds in this space focus on individual sectors, such as clean energy, climate or water and operate on a pure sector exclusion basis. Our new European and Global Sustainability Screened ETFs take a more sophisticated approach, combining positive screening and sector exclusion to provide exposure to a broad universe of stocks. They are also physically backed and as with all iShares ETFs, investors have full transparency on the underlying holdings, and can see which stocks they are invested in at any time.”
“Dow Jones Indexes welcomes the opportunity to contribute its experience and proficiency in sustainability indexing to support iShares’ launch of two sustainable ETFs,” said Michael A. Petronella, president of Dow Jones Indexes. “By acknowledging demand in this space, iShares’ ETFs offer the market a reliable way to invest in long-term, sustainable opportunities.”
Michael Baldinger, CEO, SAM, commented: “We are pleased to see our longstanding expertise in Sustainability Investing is being incorporated into iShares’ ETFs. We believe these well engineered products will meet investor’s needs.”
(1) Source; figures from the European Sustainable Investment Forum ((Eurosif) SRI 2010 Study.
Source: ETFWorld – iShares
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