UBS Asset Management has teamed-up with S&P Dow Jones Indices and RobecoSAM to launch an S&P 500 ETF that implements environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.
The UBS S&P 500 ESG UCITS ETF (5ESG) is listed on the London Stock Exchange, Borsa Italiana, Xetra and SIX Swiss Exchange with a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.12%.
5ESG offers investors exposure to the S&P 500 while screening for companies that score poorly on ESG criteria or are tobacco or controversial weapons producers.
Furthermore, it omits companies that exhibit a poor adherence to the United Nations Global Compact Principles.
The index, which tracks 329 securities, aims for 75% of the market cap of the parent index by excluding the weakest quartile in terms of ESG profiles. It seeks to deliver a tracking error of below 100 basis points versus the S&P 500.
The ETF is available in USD as well as currency hedged share classes in CHF, EUR and GBP, which have TERs of 0.22%.
ETF Insight: Grey area around governance scores in ESG is cause for concern
Clemens Reuter, head of ETF and passive investment specialists at UBS AM, commented: "This new product is the result of close collaboration between UBS AM and SPDJI.
“5ESG offers investors a core ESG exposure based on the largest and most important equity index globally.”
