Today's new ETF listings from around the world.
USA
Hartford lists actively manage municipal bond ETF
Hartford Funds is listing a new bond ETF that poaches municipal debts, the Hartford Municipal Opportunities ETF (HMOP). HMOP mops up investment grade and junk grade municipal bonds that its sub-adviser, Wellington Management, have higher yields compared to their risk levels.
Under its primary investment strategy, at least 80% of HMOP's assets will be invested in municipal bonds, and up to 35% of its assets may be invested in junk municipal bonds. HMOP will generally hold bonds across states and sectors, although "it is not required to invest in all states and sectors at all times," the prospectus says. Wellington will research the municipal bonds by looking at relative value among sectors, within sectors, and between individual securities. It may also consider ESG factors during its assessment, the prospectus says, but makes no binding commitment to do so.
As part of its "secondary investment strategy," HMOP can also buy a vast array of other things that aren't municipal bonds. These other things include: ETFs and ETN, derivatives and inverse floating rate notes.
Switzerland
UBS lists ESG and SRI ETFs for next year
UBS is falling in line with one of the year's biggest ETF trends and bringing a suite of socially responsible funds to Switzerland. They are:
UBS ETF - Bloomberg Barclays MSCI Euro Area Liquid Corporates Sustainable UCITS ETF (CBSEUA, CBSEUS, CBSEUT)
The UBS (Irl) ETF plc - Global Gender Equality UCITS ETF (GENDES, GENDET, GENDEE, GENDEW, GENDER)
The UBS (Irl) ETF plc - MSCI ACWI ESG Universal UCITS ETF (AWESGS, AWESGT, AWESGE, AWESGW)
The UBS (Irl) ETF plc - MSCI ACWI Socially Responsible UCITS ETF (AWSRIS, AWSRIT, AWSRIE, AWSRIH, AWSRIW)
CBSEUA will track the Bloomberg Barclays MSCI Euro Area Liquid Corporates Sustainable Index. The various tickers indicate that the product will be offered in euros, Swiss francs and dollars. UBS already has a product listed in Germany tracking this index (UIMC).
GENDER will track the Solactive Equileap Global Gender Equality 100 Leaders Net Total Return Index, which ranks companies by their commitment to gender diversity. Lyxor has a product tracking this index (ELLE). The different tickers illustrate different currency offerings.
AWESGS will track the MSCI ACWI ESG Universal 5% Issuer Capped, which tracks global companies weighted by how well they perform as well as how well they do in fitting MSCI's ESG criteria. Each company is capped at 5% of the index weighting.
AWSRIS will do something similar to the ETF above, while also providing currency hedging into euros.
