BNP Paribas has launched a new ETF providing ESG-screened exposure to developed market equities while maintaining a risk profile similar to its total market benchmark.
BNP Paribas’ ‘ESG Filtered’ range is designed for ethically minded investors who wish to avoid “over-engineered” sustainability approaches.
The BNP Paribas Easy MSCI World ESG Filtered Min TE UCITS ETF has been listed on Euronext Paris (WEMTE FP) and Borsa Italiana (WEMT2 IM) in euros.
The fund is linked to the MSCI World ESG Filtered Min TE Index which is based on the parent MSCI World universe of large and mid-cap equities from 23 developed market countries.
Companies embroiled in severe ESG-related controversies or with business activities linked to controversial weapons, fossil fuel extraction, thermal coal power, civilian weapons, and tobacco are removed from the selection pool.
Additionally, the methodology eliminates any firm with an overall ESG score that ranks in the bottom 20% of the total universe.
The remaining constituents are weighted using an optimization process that aims to minimize the ex-ante tracking error relative to the parent MSCI World Index.
The fund’s investment approach has been designed to appeal to ethically minded investors who prefer a straightforward approach of excluding firms with very poor ESG profiles and those from controversial industries compared to some of the more complex, “over-engineered” ESG products on the market.
The ETF comes with an expense ratio of 0.15% and is classified as an Article 8 product under the European Union’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
BNP Paribas offers a further six ETFs within its ‘ESG Filtered’ range. The funds target equities listed in North America, Europe, the eurozone, Japan, Asia Pacific ex-Japan, and emerging markets.