State Street Global Advisors, the asset management business of State Street Corporation, has launched an Article 8 fund investing in US Dollar-denominated emerging market government bonds.
The fund, State Street Emerging Markets ESG Hard Currency Government Bond Index Fund, tracks the performance of the J.P.Morgan ESG EMBI Global Diversified Index, which applies an ESG scoring and screening methodology to tilt toward issuers ranked higher on ESG criteria and green bond issues, and to underweight and remove issuers ranking lower.
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The fund is a part of State Street Global Advisors’ lineup of emerging market debt funds, including hard and local currency sovereign funds with Article 6 and Article 8 designation.
According to the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, Article 6 funds do not integrate sustainability into the investment process, Article 8 funds promote environmental or social characteristics, and Article 9 funds have sustainable investment as their objective.
The fund is domiciled in Luxembourg and was seeded with an initial investment of approximately US$50 million.
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Jennifer Taylor, head of emerging market debt at State Street Global Advisors, commented: “We have seen continued growth in our EM Debt business, and with this launch, we aim to meet an increasing demand for Article 8 products in this growing market.”
