State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) is launching two ETFs focused on investment grade corporate bonds and sustainability.
The two ETFs invest in either European or US investment grade corporate bonds, with each tracking a proprietary index developed by Bloomberg Indices and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB).
The ETFs are called the SPDR Bloomberg SASB Euro Corporate ESG Ucits ETF and the SPDR Bloomberg SASB US Corporate ESG Ucits ETF. The first has launched and the latter launches Monday, October 26.
The ETFs track the Bloomberg SASB Euro Corporate and US Corporate ESG Ex-Controversies Select indices, which exclude issuers tagged with issues such as controversial weapons, UNGC violations, civilian firearms, thermal coal extraction and tobacco production. Securities are weighted to reflect risk return characteristics of the parent indices.
Antoine Lesné, regional head of research and strategy for SSGA’s ETF business SPDR, said “With the launch of our two new investment grade ESG focused ETFs, we are providing investors with a new and innovative approach to positively screen in a transparent and ‘best in class’ way. By also providing a similar risk/return profile to the two broad parent indices, investors can use our new ETFs to complement their core asset allocation or use them as replacement strategies.”
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