Amundi has unveiled a comprehensive and cost-competitive suite of ten socially responsible global sector ETFs on Deutsche Börse Xetra.
Arnaud Llinas, Head of ETF, Indexing & Smart Beta at Amundi.
The range covers most of the GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) market segments including Communication Services, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Energy, Financials, Health Care, Industrials, Information Technology, Materials, and Utilities.
Each fund has been listed in US dollars and euros with both accumulating and distributing share classes available for each currency listing.
According to Amundi, the range will gather more than €600 million in the upcoming days due to the support of an unnamed Dutch investor.
Each ETF comes with an expense ratio of 0.18% and is classified as an Article 8 product under the European Union’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
The funds’ price tag is seven basis points cheaper than BlackRock’s limited line-up of ESG-focused global sector ETFs which cost 0.25%.
Arnaud Llinas, Head of ETF, Indexing & Smart Beta at Amundi, said: “Investors are increasingly looking for simple, transparent, and cost-effective investment tools to switch their core allocation into ESG equivalents and for some, that core includes sectors. We’re delighted to launch the lowest-cost range of global ESG sector UCITS ETFs available in the market.”
Methodology
The funds are linked to ‘Sustainability Enhanced’ sector-specific indices from S&P Dow Jones Indices which are derived from the parent S&P Developed Ex-Korea LargeMidCap Index, a reference for large and mid-cap companies from developed market countries worldwide.
Stocks are first assigned to specific sectors according to the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS).
The ESG methodology then removes violators of international norms, companies embroiled in severe ESG-related controversies, and firms with significant exposure to tobacco, weapons, thermal coal, oil & gas, tar sands, and shale gas.
The remaining constituents are then weighted using an optimization technique that seeks to increase each index’s weighted average ESG score by at least 10%, increase their weighted average environmental score by at least 10%, and reduce their carbon intensity by at least 30%.
The full suite is outlined below:
Amundi S&P Global Communication Services ESG UCITS ETF
Amundi S&P Global Consumer Discretionary ESG UCITS ETF
Amundi S&P Global Consumer Staples ESG UCITS ETF
Amundi S&P Global Energy Carbon Reduced UCITS ETF
Amundi S&P Global Financials ESG UCITS ETF
Amundi S&P Global Health Care ESG UCITS ETF
Amundi S&P Global Industrials ESG UCITS ETF
Amundi S&P Global Information Technology ESG UCITS ETF
Amundi S&P Global Materials ESG UCITS ETF
Amundi S&P Global Utilities ESG UCITS ETF