In Brief

Impact firm Newday adds ocean-focused ETF

The fund will donate 5% of its revenues to a nonprofit

San Francisco-based Newday Impact recently launched its first ETF, a fund that invests in companies it says are seeking to restore marine ecosystems.

The Newday Ocean Health ETF launched on June 7. Its top holdings include holding company Austevoll Seafood ASA, Tetra Tech Inc. and Hitachi Zosen Corporation.

The fund “seeks long-term capital appreciation through investments in companies that are diverting ocean-bound plastic waste, supporting sustainable fisheries, controlling ocean acidification caused by CO2 emissions and actively using other strategies to combat ocean pollution and other threats to marine health,” the firm said in its announcement.

The ETF’s holdings fit with UN Sustainable Development Goals, the firm stated.

Those include “hunger, clean water and sanitation, decent work and economic growth, responsible consumption and production, climate action and life below water.”

Newday is donating 5% of the ETF’s net revenue to EarthEcho International, which was founded by Philippe and Alexandra Cousteau, who are grandchildren of Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

Putnam plans five ESG fixed income ETFs

Will be underlying components for Putnam's ESG-focused target-date series

Putnam Investments is bringing five exchange-traded funds to the market that all have a focus on ESG investing.

Three of Putnam’s ETFs will be fixed income strategies built upon the capabilities and experience of Putnam’s internal fixed income team: ESG Core Bond, ESG High Yield and ESG Ultra Short.

The other two, ESG International Equity and ESG Emerging Markets Equity, are quantitative equity strategies that will be sub-advised by Putnam affiliate PanAgora Asset Management.

Putnam will be the sponsor and investment adviser on all five ETFs.

See also: – Green Dream with AB’s Bigley: Innovation in US green bonds

In addition to Putnam’s existing Sustainable Leaders ETF and Sustainable Future ETF, the five new active ETFs will serve as the underlying components of the company’s ESG-focused target-date series, the Putnam Sustainable Retirement Funds.

This new suite of TDFs will be implemented in the coming months through a repositioning of the firm’s existing RetirementReady Funds series.

“We believe in the value and importance of these strategies in building a long-term investment portfolio,” Robert Reynolds, president and CEO of Putnam Investments, said in a statement.

“We have seen growing interest from many corners of the marketplace for ESG investing across a range of asset classes — and are excited to introduce these new fixed income and quantitative equity ETFs to our lineup.”

This story first appeared on InvestmentNews.

Former Allianz exec has sustainability focus in new business

Bonsai announces a partnership with a Swiss wealthtech 3rd-eyes

A recently launched adviser-support firm is partnering with a Swiss wealthtech to provide a personalized advice service for clients that includes sustainable investing.

Boulder, Colorado-based Bonsai’s partnership with 3rd-eyes analytics will “allow advisors to leverage sustainable investing in all stages of the advisory process,” the company said in an announcement today. It will “hyper-personalize wealth planning and enable financial advisors to significantly enhance value to clients with a scenario-based asset/liability management methodology,” the company added.

Bonsai, which started about three months ago, provides consulting and other services to financial advisers through three different business units. Former Allianz Exchange president Robert DeChellis is CEO and founder of the new firm, and partners include former BlackRock head of US wealth advisory Frank Porcelli.

The company “empowers RIAs and hybrid advisers with innovative solutions and technology needed to manage the entirety of a client’s balance sheet, a model only historically available to institutional and ultra-high net worth investors,” the firm stated.

3rd-eyes uses a “novel climate change simulator” to gauge the potential impact of global warming on a client’s wealth in the future and create ESG allocations that fit different scenarios, according to a spokesperson. The firm is also in the process of “aligning the investment focus with the UN’s SDGs.”

RayJay appoints sustainable investing head

Samantha Trebesch previously led the firm's private client group strategy and planning team

Raymond James has named a head of sustainable investing, the firm announced today. Samantha Trebesch, who previously led Raymond James’ private client group strategy and planning team, has taken the role and will help build out the group’s sustainable investing options for financial advisers, the company stated.

Trebesch is also one of InvestmentNews’ 40 Under 40 advisers for 2022 and is the national co-chair of Raymond James’ women’s inclusion network.

She began working at the company in 2017 and co-founded its sustainable investing advisory council the follow year. Prior to her work at Raymond James, Trebesch taught at the United Nations International School in Hanoi, Vietnam, and co-led the establishment of a microfinance organization that teaches financial literacy, the firm noted.

“Samantha’s expertise and passion in the ESG space, paired with her proven success implementing key firm initiatives, make her a clear fit for this new role and I’m confident that she’ll continue to add immense value,” Kim Jenson, chief operating officer of the private client group, said in the announcement. “As preferences around values-based investing continue to evolve among advisors and their clients, we are committed to growing our capabilities in this important area and providing access to leading resources and technology.”

Demand for sustainable investing options has been increasing among the company’s clients, according to figures it cited from its 2021 corporate responsibility report. Between 2020 and 2021, the number of clients invested in sustainable funds and ETFs increased by 48%. Among its advisers, 84% said they use one or more sustainable investment funds.

Nasdaq to buy ESG data firm Metrio

The deal is expected to close in mid-June

Nasdaq is bolstering its ESG data service with the acquisition of Montreal-based firm Metrio, the company announced Thursday.

Metrio is a privately held firm that provides ESG data collection, analytics and reporting. Following the acquisition, which is slated to close in the coming weeks, Nasdaq will fold Metrio’s software as a service into its ESG services, the company stated.

“Metrio’s platform is complementary to Nasdaq’s end-to-end suite of sustainability reporting solutions and will accelerate our ability to support corporate clients who are looking for improved reporting technology across all three pillars of ESG,” Michael Bartels, senior vice president of IR and ESG services at Nasdaq, said in the company’s announcement. “We expect current and prospective clients to benefit from a flexible platform that collects, measures and analyzes corporate sustainability data, as well as generates investor-grade reports in real-time, which can be adapted for and shared with multiple stakeholders.”

Nasdaq’s existing ESG services include carbon marketplace Puro.Earth, a carbon marketplace, workflow and reporting service OneReport, and various options for corporate boards, the company noted.

Hartford Funds adds sustainable international fund

The fund will use Schroders' sustainability criteria to analyze companies

Hartford Funds has launched a sustainable international equities fund, the company announced Tuesday.

The Hartford Schroders Sustainable International Core Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation and will invest primarily in international and emerging markets equities that fit certain sustainability criteria, the company said in its announcement.

“The investment team aims to construct a diversified portfolio where stock selection is the primary driver of alpha, seeking mispriced opportunities across a multitude of industries and regions,” the company stated. “At the same time, the investment team strives to build a portfolio that has a positive impact on society by investing in companies that they believe have best-in-class stakeholder behaviors.”

Schroders’ sustainability measures will help the investment team understand the social impacts of different companies in the fund’s portfolio, the firm said.

The fund will use the MSCI Al Country World ex USA Index as its performance benchmark.

Managing the fund is Schroders’ Nicholette MacDonald-Brown, who will be supported by regional portfolio managers based in London, Hong Kong and Tokyo, the company noted.

Currently, there are seven other sustainable mutual funds and ETFs available from Hartford Funds.

The company also announced the launch of another product, the Hartford Schroders International Contrarian Value Fund. That fund, which focuses on identifying “out of favor stocks which have low valuations but are considered to have resilient earnings and/or misunderstood balance sheets,” integrates financially material ESG factors “such as climate change, environmental performance, labor standards and corporate governance,” the company stated.

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