iShares, the Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) platform of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK), launched two sustainable equity ETFs on the London Stock Exchange.
The iShares Dow Jones Global Sustainability Screened fund and the iShares Dow Jones Europe Sustainability Screened fund are physically backed products and the first London listed ETFs to offer regional access to the sustainable sector.
The Dow Jones indexes family uses a best-in-class approach for selecting companies that are performing best against sustainable criteria based on the Sustainable Asset Management‘s (SAM) Corporate Sustainability Assessment. This assessment analyses the world’s largest companies based on economic, environmental and social criteria, with a focus on industry- specific criteria.
Additionally, there is an element of negative screening, choosing to exclude companies with involvement in alcohol, tobacco, gambling, armaments & firearms and adult entertainment.
“We have seen growing demand from clients for ways in which they can incorporate environmental, social and governance considerations into their investments," Axel Lomholt, Head of Product Development for iShares EMEA, said. "Sustainable responsible investing is a fast growing market, with EUR 5 trillion in assets under management in Europe at the end of 2009, an increase of 87% on 2007.
“Many funds in this space focus on individual sectors, such as clean energy, climate or water and operate on a pure sector exclusion basis. Our new European and Global Sustainability Screened ETFs take a more sophisticated approach, combining positive screening and sector exclusion to provide exposure to a broad universe of stocks,” Lomholt added.
More information on the indices and ETFs are available at the link below.
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