By Sam Dickens, assistant portfolio manager at IG.

If you are looking to invest in the stock market but also want to make a positive impact on environmental and social issues, then socially responsible investing may be for you. In this piece we take a look at six of the best ETFs that facilitate socially responsible investing.

After registering dynamic growth in the first half of the year, demand for Europe-listed ETFs slowed considerably in August, according to Morningstar’s monthly ETF asset flows analysis.

UBS has launched the UBS MSCI Switzerland IMI SRI ETF (CHSRI) on SIX Exchange, providing total market exposure to Swiss-listed equities while avoiding those companies which are perceived to be negatively impacting society.

ETFs and ETPs listed in Europe gathered $4.3bn in net new assets during August, marking 35 consecutive months of positive net inflows and a record level of $78.3bn in year-to-date (YTD) net gatherings, according to ETF industry consultant ETFGI. This figure is significantly higher than the $39.9bn in net inflows recorded at this point last year, and $22.6bn more than the $55.7bn gathered during the whole of 2016.

Twelve new ETFs were listed on London Stock Exchange in August 2017, bringing the number of new listings year-to-date to 89. ETF issuers bringing new funds to market in London during August included First Trust, BlackRock, Deutsche Asset Management, Source and UBS.

UBS has listed three share classes of the UBS MSCI USA Select Factor Mix ETF on Switzerland’s SIX Exchange, providing currency-hedged multifactor exposure to US equities. The three share classes offer investors the choice of currency hedging between the US dollar and sterling, euros, or swiss francs.

Exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded products listed in Europe gathered net inflows of $10.2bn in July, marking the 33rd month of consecutive inflows for the region, according to data from ETF industry consultant ETFGI.

Europe-listed ETFs saw net inflows of €7.8 billion in July 2017, bringing the total for 2017 to €65bn, according to data from Morningstar. While flows into Europe-listed equity ETFs posted a solid reading of €4.9bn, fixed income ETFs saw tepid demand during the month, recording flows of just €1.6bn, the second lowest monthly flows this year.

UBS has cross-listed six ETFs on SIX Swiss Exchange, providing currency-hedged exposure to the performance of equities listed in the US, the eurozone or Japan. The ETFs track broad-market indices created by MSCI and offer either accumulating or distributing treatment of income generated within their portfolios.

Deutsche Asset Management has cross-listed the db x-trackers MSCI Emerging Markets Index UCITS ETF (XMME) on SIX Exchange. Introduced as part of Deutsche’s ‘core’ range of ETFs – low-cost, diversified funds designed to act as foundational building blocks for portfolio construction – the fund comes with a price tag of just 0.20%.