BlackRock has added three products to its range of sustainable exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for investors looking to manage long-term risks related to ESG factors.
According to the firm, the launches represent the latest development in its commitment to put sustainability at the core of its investment process.
Earlier this year, the US fund giant pledged to make sustainability a standard for investing following a number of reports claiming it had so far been lagging in the field, alongside other asset managers.
Stephen Cohen, regional head of iShares at BlackRock, said: “Just as investors have embraced index investing for efficient, transparent and scalable market exposures in traditional portfolios, ETFs are enabling investors to actively pursue sustainability objectives and take control of their investment outcomes.”
Two of the new ETFs are ESG equivalents of existing flagship iShares Ucits ETFs, while a third product combines exposure to megatrends shaping the global economy using ESG – or environmental, social and governance – criteria.
The three new products are:
- iShares MSCI EMU SRI Ucits ETF (SMUA)
- iShares $ Corp Bond ESG Ucits ETF (SUOU)
- iShares Smart City Infrastructure Ucits ETF (CITY)
The fund house – which manages around $7.4 trillion (€6.6 trillion) of assets – said that investors have been turning to its iShares ETF range in order to make portfolio allocations “quickly and cost-effectively amid market uncertainty”.
In February this year, the global sustainable ETF industry attracted $5.7 billion, according to BlackRock.
Carolyn Weinberg, global head of iShares product, said: “The transparency of sustainable indexing methodologies empowers portfolio builders to articulate their ESG goals, as the demand for sustainable portfolios grows. Investors are taking different routes to embed ESG criteria within their portfolios using ETFs.”
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