Latest Launches

Global X adds green-building ETF

Demand for new housing in urban areas will only rise, the company says

A new exchange-traded fund from Global X seeks to invest in the green-building market, the company announced Wednesday.

The need for lower-carbon dwellings is projected to ramp up in the coming years, with the world’s population on track to reach nearly 10bn people by 2050, most of whom will reside in urban areas, the company stated, citing data from the United Nations.

By that time, the housing stock will need to double in order to accommodate growing demands for place for people to live and work, Global X said.

The Global X Green Building ETF, which has an expense ratio of 45 basis points, will “invest in companies that are positioned to benefit from increased demand for buildings that reduce or eliminate negative impacts, and/or create positive impacts, on the natural environment, including green building development, green building management and green building technologies and materials.”

Some urban areas will be more affected by changing climate and rising sea levels, the firm noted. Buildings account for 38% of energy-related carbon emissions across the world as well as half of all extracted materials, making the area “key to reducing building-related emissions and improving urban resiliency in the face of climate change.”

Global X’s thematic growth line of 35 ETFs represent more than $19bn in assets under management, according to the firm.

Dimensional preps low-carbon ETFs

The products cover a range of asset classes

Dimensional Fund Advisors is preparing a line of four sustainability-themed ETFs to add to its product suite.

The Austin, Texas-based firm on April 7 filed with Securities and Exchange Commission for the ETFs, which could launch as soon as 75 days afterward. Those products include the Dimensional US Sustainability Core 1, International Sustainability Core 1, Emerging Markets Sustainability Core 1 and Global Sustainability Fixed Income ETFs.

A theme across the ETFs is lower emissions exposure than in comparable products, the company said in an announcement that accompanied the SEC registration. The ETFs “are designed to target measurable sustainability goals while seeking broad diversification, efficient cost management and higher expected returns”, the company stated.

“Our teams have conducted extensive research into ESG considerations and developed a measurable approach to systematically integrating sustainability data into our portfolios,” Dimensional co-CEO and chief investment officer Gerard O’Reilly said in the company’s announcement. “Our approach applies what we believe is the best available data to help investors incorporate their sustainability values in portfolios without sacrificing sound investment principles.”   

Total fees for the ETFs range from 18 basis points to 41 bps, according to initial prospectus filed with the SEC.

State Street launches active muni ESG fund

The fund will invest in investment-grade, tax-exempt municipal bonds

State Street Global Advisors has launched an actively managed exchange-traded fund that invests in municipal bonds according to environmental, social and governance standards, the SPDR Nuveen Municipal Bond ESG ETF.

The fund is designed to invest in municipal securities from issuers that are leaders in their sector at delivering environmental, social and governance outcomes or whose proceeds are used for positive environmental or social projects.

[More: MSRB ponders ESG disclosure for muni bonds]

The fund will trade under the ticker MBNE and will invest in investment-grade, tax-exempt municipal bonds that mature in two to 17 years.

SSGA Funds Management Inc. serves as investment adviser to the fund and Nuveen Asset Management serves as investment sub-adviser. Nuveen is a unit of TIAA.

[More: VanEck launches first sustainable muni ETF]

BNY adds sustainable bond ETF

Fourth sustainable ETF in the company's lineup

BNY Mellon has added a sustainable ETF to its line, with the product launching March 22 on NYSE Arca.

The BNY Mellon Responsible Horizons Corporate Bond ETF (RHCB) is subadvised by Insight North America, a subsidiary of BNY firm Insight Investment. That firm, which specializes in fixed income and risk management, has a total of $1.2trn in assets under management, according to the announcement from BNY.

The product is BNY’s fourth ETF to feature sustainable investment and its sixth actively managed ETF, the firm stated.

“The ETF seeks to emphasize what Insight believes to be the best, and avoid the worst, performers on ESG issues, and to carefully consider the approach taken to investments in environmentally sensitive industries,” the company said in its announcement.