Amundi has expanded its responsible investment offering with the launch of a Japanese equity ETF that sits within its ‘ESG Universal’ product range.

Amundi has added a Japanese equity ETF to its ESG Universal product range.

The Paris-based issuer’s ESG Universal ETFs are linked to MSCI indices that offer broad market exposure with ESG-based exclusions and reweightings.

The Amundi MSCI Japan ESG Universal Select UCITS ETF has listed on Xetra in euros (JUPI GY) and is set to list on Euronext Paris (JUPI FP) in the near future.

The fund tracks the MSCI Japan ESG Universal Select Index which is derived from the MSCI Japan Index universe. This parent index consists of 301 large- and mid-cap stocks, covering approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in Japan.

The ESG Universal methodology first excludes producers of controversial weapons, tobacco, or thermal coal, violators of international norms, and companies embroiled in severe ESG-related controversies.

The remaining constituents are then assigned ESG scores from MSCI ESG Research. Scores reflect not only how well a company manages key ESG issues relative to industry peers but also whether the firm is actively seeking to improve its ESG profile.

Constituents are weighted using the product of float-adjusted market capitalization and MSCI ESG scores.

The index contains 300 stocks, indicating that just one company was removed through the initial screening steps. Sector allocations are very similar compared with the parent universe – the largest sector exposures are industrials (22.3% vs. 21.1% in the MSCI Japan Index), consumer discretionary (18.6% vs. 18.7%), information technology (14.3% vs. 13.7%), health care (10.0% vs. 10.0%), and communication services (9.7% vs. 9.6%). Notable positions include Sony (5.2%), Toyota (3.3%), SoftBank (2.6%), Tokyo Electron (2.5%), and Nintendo (2.5%).

The ETF comes with a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.15%.

Amundi debuted its first ESG Universal ETFs in June 2020. The suite includes a further five funds targeting global developed, US, European, eurozone, and emerging market equities:

Amundi MSCI World ESG Universal Select UCITS ETF (SBIW GY) (TER 0.18%)
Amundi MSCI USA ESG Universal Select UCITS ETF (SBIU GY) (TER 0.15%)
Amundi MSCI Europe ESG Universal Select UCITS ETF (SBIE GY) (TER 0.15%)
Amundi MSCI EMU ESG Universal Select UCITS ETF (SBIZ GY) (TER 0.15%)
Amundi MSCI Emerging ESG Universal Select UCITS ETF (SBIM GY) (TER 0.20%)