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Vanguard, BlackRock and Transamerica added new environmental, social and governance exchange-traded funds to their offerings, reflecting the growing interest in ESG investing.
The Vanguard ESG U.S. Corporate Bond ETF (VCEB, with a net expense ratio of 0.12%) is its first fixed income ESG ETF for U.S. investors. The fund provides investors access to the U.S. corporate bond market and widens Vanguard's current index and actively managed ESG offerings. The Vanguard ESG U.S. Corporate Bond ETF seeks to track the performance of Bloomberg Barclays MSCI U.S. Corporate SRI Select Index and is listed on the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
BlackRock's iShares, meanwhile, launched a new suite of ESG screened ETFs that the company said track underlying indexes from S&P Dow Jones Indices. iShares is the exclusive licensor of the indexess for use with ETFs in the U.S. The new suite includes: iShares ESG Screened S&P 500 ETF (XVV, 0.08%) tracking the S&P 500 Sustainability Screened Index; iShares ESG Screened S&P Mid-Cap ETF (XJH, 0.12%) tracking the S&P MidCap 400 Sustainability Screened Index; and iShares ESG Screened S&P Small-Cap ETF (XJR, 0.12%) tracking the S&P SmallCap 600 Sustainability Screened Index.
Transamerica launched the Transamerica High Yield ESG fund (TAJEX, 0.77%), as well as the Transamerica Sustainable Bond fund (TAPKX, 0.5%). The bond mutual funds aim to meet investors' growing demand for responsible investments that emphasize ESG in their principles and practices, the firm said. Transamerica Asset Management selected Aegon USA Investment Management as sub-advisor for both funds.
In other ESG news, Cboe Global Markets launched cash-settled options on the S&P 500 ESG Index (SPESG). The S&P 500 ESG Index was designed to align investment objectives with ESG values and the new index options are a potential tool for investors to implement hedging, risk management, income enhancement and asset allocation strategies, it said.
