Paris-based Amundi has expanded its responsible investment line-up with the launch of eight new equity ETFs that incorporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria.
The new funds apply three different MSCI-designed ESG investment methodologies – Universal, Leaders, and SRI – to universes of stocks targeting large- and mid-cap companies within global developed, US, European, and eurozone markets.
The universes of eligible stocks are defined by the parent indices MSCI World, MSCI USA, MSCI Europe, and MSCI EMU.
The ETFs have listed on Xetra in euros and come with expense ratios ranging between 0.15% and 0.18%.
Income is accumulated within the portfolios.
ESG Universal
Four of the ETFs track ‘MSCI ESG Universal’ indices. The methodology excludes producers of controversial weapons, violators of international norms, and companies embroiled in severe ESG-related controversies.
The remaining constituents are then weighted using ratings from MSCI ESG Research that evaluates how well each company manages key ESG issues relative to industry peers. The approach increases the weight of firms with more robust ESG profiles while also favouring companies that have improved their profile since the previous evaluation.
The Amundi MSCI World ESG Universal Select UCITS ETF (SBIW GY) tracks the MSCI World ESG Universal Select Index and comes with an expense ratio of 0.18%.
The Amundi MSCI USA ESG Universal Select UCITS ETF (SBIU GY) tracks the MSCI USA ESG Universal Select Index and comes with an expense ratio of 0.15%.
The Amundi MSCI Europe ESG Universal Select UCITS ETF (SBIE GR) tracks the MSCI Europe ESG Universal Select Index and comes with an expense ratio of 0.15%.
The Amundi MSCI EMU ESG Universal Select UCITS ETF (SBIZ GY) tracks the MSCI EMU ESG Universal Select Index and comes with an expense ratio of 0.15%.
ESG Leaders
Three of the ETFs track ‘MSCI ESG Leaders’ indices. The indices first exclude firms with operations related to alcohol, gambling, tobacco, nuclear power, and weapons. The methodology then selects the firms with the highest MSCI ESG ratings while targeting a 50% country and sector representation versus the parent universe. Constituents are weighted by free float-adjusted market cap.
The Amundi MSCI World ESG Leaders Select UCITS ETF (SADW GY) tracks the MSCI World ESG Leaders Select 5% Issuer Capped Index and comes with an expense ratio of 0.18%.
The Amundi MSCI USA ESG Leaders Select UCITS ETF (SADU GY) tracks the MSCI USA ESG Leaders Select 5% Issuer Capped Index and comes with an expense ratio of 0.15%.
The Amundi MSCI Europe ESG Leaders Select UCITS ETF (SADE GY) tracks the MSCI Europe ESG Leaders Select 5% Issuer Capped Index and comes with an expense ratio of 0.15%.
SRI
The final ETF tracks an ‘MSCI SRI’ index. The index first excludes firms with operations in nuclear power, tobacco, alcohol, gambling, military weapons, civilian firearms, GMOs, thermal coal, and adult entertainment. The methodology then selects the firms with the highest MSCI ESG ratings while targeting a 25% country and sector representation versus the parent universe. Constituents are weighted by free float-adjusted market cap.
The Amundi Index MSCI EMU SRI UCITS ETF (SRHE GY) tracks the MSCI EMU SRI 5% Issuer Capped Index and comes with an expense ratio of 0.18%.
Fannie Wurtz, Head of Amundi ETF, Indexing and Smart Beta, commented, “We strongly believe that ETF & Index management has a critical role to play in the accelerating adoption of responsible investing among all types of investors. We have seen that there is no one size fits all approach to responsible investing and our ETF range reflects precisely that.
“As a trusted solutions provider, we want to offer investors simple and ready-to-use tools that will help them easily implement their ESG strategy depending on their objectives and constraints. We will continue expanding our responsible range with further ETF launches in the near future.”