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Surprising Holdings In The “Socially Responsible” ETF

Michael Johnston — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:05:36 +0000

Socially responsible investing is by no means a new concept; mutual funds that limit holdings deemed to companies deemed to be good corporate citizens have been around for nearly 40 years. Socially responsible or “sustainable” investing has been slow to make its way into the ETF industry, but there are signs of that changing; last week ESG Shares launched its North America Sustainability Index ETF (NASI). Meanwhile, two funds from iShares, the FTSE KLD Select Social Index Fund (KLD) and FTSE KLD 400 Social Index Fund (DSI), now have more than $200 million in aggregate assets. Look Under The Hood There are some misconceptions about socially responsible investing. This investment strategy generally consists of identifying stocks deemed to have positive environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) factors. In addition to the moral aspect, there may be some nice perks to this selective process; there is a fair amount of evidence suggesting [...]

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Pax World Launches ETFs Focused On Sustainable Investing

Eric Dutram — Wed, 19 May 2010 19:00:44 +0000

Earlier today, Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based Pax World announced the launch of ESG Shares, the first group of ETFs focused exclusively on sustainable investing. The name “ESG” stands for environmental, social, and governance, which are the three main factors that the line of funds will focus on when determining investment choices. Pax World has been at the forefront of sustainable investing ideas for decades; the company launched the first socially responsible mutual fund in 1971 and currently offers a number of sustainable investing mutual funds for a variety of asset classes and investment strategies. The three ETFs to be launched include: ESG Shares North America Sustainability Index ETF (NASI): This ETF launched today, and seeks to track the performance of the FTSE KLD North America Sustainability Index, a broadly diversified, sector-neutral index of American and Canadian companies with superior ESG performance as rated by KLD Research & Analytics, Inc. ESG Shares [...]

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This Week In ETFs: February 5th Edition

Eric Dutram — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:35:03 +0000

ETFs started February on a down note, with most equities slumping to finish the week. The euro sank to a new eight-month low against the dollar as sovereign debt concerns, specifically from Greece, continue to hang over the economic bloc. Meanwhile in the U.S., the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 9.7% despite losing 20,000 jobs in January. Below, we offer our picks for the week’s most important and interesting ETF stories from around the Web: If Consumption Is King, India ETFs May Reign Supreme at ETF Expert: With over 300 million people in its middle-class, India is fast becoming a consumer powerhouse. In addition to having more than twice as many people in its middle-class than China, Indian businesses are owned by Indians instead of state-run corporations as is usually the case in China. So for investors who are bullish on the growing consumer power of people in the BRICs, [...]

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Beyond SPY: Five Outperforming Large Cap ETFs

Michael Johnston — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:08:19 +0000

At the core of many investor portfolios is an allocation to large cap, U.S.-listed equities. With market capitalizations usually exceeding $10 billion, large cap stocks generally have long operating histories, stable operations, and large amounts of cash on hand, making them less risky investments than small and mid cap firms. Moreover, although domestic large caps are headquartered in the U.S., they are often multinational companies that generate significant portions of revenue and earnings from overseas, providing some degree of geographic diversification with the efficiency and liquidity that comes with U.S. exchanges. One of the most widely-followed benchmarks in the world is the S&P 500, a collection of the 500 largest publicly-traded U.S. companies (with a few exceptions). And one of the most popular ways to gain exposure to the companies included in this index is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY). SPY is one of the largest and most heavily-traded [...]

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iShares Planning “Genocide-Free ETF”

Michael Johnston — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:31:24 +0000

Barclays Global Investors is planning to develop and introduce an iShares Genocide-Free ETF, offering an alternative to investors who are uneasy about holding securities of companies associated with genocide. According to a press release, the company plans to partner with an index provider to identify and screen out companies around the world that they believe are strongly connected to genocide. “We believe there is investor interest in genocide-free investing and that belief was reinforced through recent conversations with Investors Against Genocide, among others,” said Noel Archard, head of iShares product research and development. “As a result, we intend to develop an extension of our iShares socially responsible ETF offering with an iShares genocide-free ETF.” While the details of the Genocide-Free ETF are yet to be determined, it seems likely a central component would be avoiding companies that are either directly or indirectly linked to the human rights abuses in Darfur. [...]

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…Including U.S. Carbon Efficient ETF

Michael Johnston — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:16:08 +0000

Among the 30 new exchange-traded products Deutsche Bank plans to launch through its db x-trackers unit in 2009 is a proposed fund that would track the S&P Carbon Efficient Index, a benchmark based on the performance of large-cap U.S. companies with relatively low carbon emissions while seeking to replicate the return of the S&P 500. “This is the first time that investors have had the opportunity to track the S&P 500 with a 50% lower Carbon Footprint and 60% lower greenhouse gas emissions,” said Db x-trackers UK head Manooj Mistry. The index weightings for the new ETF will be based on a methodology that determines the carbon footprint of each company. The index is being developed and maintained by S&P and Deutsche Bank in connection with TruCost, a provider of carbon footprint analysis. As environmentally-friendly corporate policies and actions have become increasingly important to consumers and investors, ETF issuers have flooded the markets [...]

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Size Does Matter (To a Point): Study of ETF Liquidity

Michael Johnston — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 07:00:36 +0000

As the ETF industry has exploded on to the scene in recent years, sponsors have aggressively launched funds in an attempt to gain market share. While many of these new ETFs have attracted sufficient investor funds to justify continued operation, some have failed to garner a level of investment necessary to support an active, liquid market and been shuttered. And then there are those that remain in business but are cited as having “insufficient liquidity.” Although there are certain rules of thumb – assets under management (AUM) of $25 million and daily volume of 25,000 are often cited as “liquidity thresholds” – there is no hard evidence to support these guidelines. In an effort to determine where illiquidity ends and an active market begins, I analyzed the impact of size and daily volume on the liquidity of various ETFs. To start, I divided ETFs into six baskets based on three-month average daily [...]

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The Socially Responsible ETF Guide (Five Minute Edition)

Michael Johnston — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:00:58 +0000

As the ETF industry has exploded and investors have poured cash from traditional mutual funds into these investments, a number of interesting ETFs have popped up attempting to establish market share. One interesting sector consists of socially responsible ETFs, which generally invest in companies with positive and ethical environmental and social policies. These funds will often avoid companies engaged in alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and gambling. A number of socially responsible ETFs have been launched and have attracted significant investment dollars, indicating there is a market for investors looking to gain exposure to environmental and other socially responsible securities. Here’s a quick summary of a few of the socially responsible ETFs on the market. iShares KLD Select Social Index Fund (KLD): KLD seeks to mimic the performance of the KLD Select Social Index, which maximizes exposure to positive environmental, social, and governance factors while exhibiting risk and return characteristics similar to the S&P 500. [...]

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ETF Database » DSI

Surprising Holdings In The “Socially Responsible” ETF

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Pax World Launches ETFs Focused On Sustainable Investing

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This Week In ETFs: February 5th Edition

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Beyond SPY: Five Outperforming Large Cap ETFs

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iShares Planning “Genocide-Free ETF”

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…Including U.S. Carbon Efficient ETF

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Size Does Matter (To a Point): Study of ETF Liquidity

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The Socially Responsible ETF Guide (Five Minute Edition)

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