The surge in popularity of environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing is sparking global investment firm BlackRock to call for globally-recognized standards. This would help provide a succinct framework for companies to follow standard ESG protocols that would in turn, help investors understand their ESG initiatives better.
“Investors and other stakeholders need a clearer picture of how companies are managing sustainability today and planning for the future,” said BlackRock, in a Financial Times article. “We believe that this could be resolved by aligning and converging to establish a globally recognised sustainability reporting framework and set of standards.”
For quality ESG exposure, here’s a quick look at some iShares ETFs to consider:
iShares ESG Aware MSCI EM ETF (ESGE ): seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI Emerging Markets Extended ESG Focus Index. The index is an optimized equity index designed to reflect the equity performance of companies that have favorable ESG characteristics, while exhibiting risk and return characteristics similar to those of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.
iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF (ESGU ): seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI USA Extended ESG Focus Index. The underlying index is optimized index designed to reflect the equity performance of U.S. companies that have favorable environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) characteristics, while exhibiting risk and return characteristics similar to those of the MSCI USA Index.
iShares ESG Aware MSCI EAFE ETF (ESGD ): seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI EAFE Extended ESG Focus Index. The underlying index is composed of large- and mid-capitalization developed market equities, excluding the U.S. and Canada that have positive environmental, social and governance characteristics as identified by the index provider while exhibiting risk and return characteristics similar to those of the parent index.
iShares ESG MSCI USA Leaders ETF (SUSL ): seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI USA Extended ESG Leaders Index. The underlying index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted equity index designed to reflect the equity performance of U.S. companies that have favorable environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) characteristics.
iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF (SUSA ): seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI USA Extended ESG Select Index composed of U.S. companies that have positive environmental, social and governance characteristics as identified by the index provider. The underlying index is an optimized index designed to maximize exposure to favorable environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) characteristics, while exhibiting risk and return characteristics similar to the MSCI USA Index.
iShares ESG MSCI EM Leaders ETF (LDEM ): seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI EM Extended ESG Leaders 5% Issuer Capped Index. The underlying index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to reflect the equity performance of emerging market companies with favorable environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) characteristics.
