Stockholm (NordSIP) – UBS Asset Management continues to raise the bar and expand its offering of innovative sustainable products to support equity investors’ efforts to reduce their climate risks. On August 9th, the asset manager launched a new suite of exchange-traded funds tracking the MSCI ESG Universal Low Carbon Select indexes, according to a press release.
In line with investors’ wishes to broaden traditional baseline exclusions, the funds will apply an additional set of activity-based exclusions and remove the 5% highest carbon emitters. The resulting ESG characteristics qualify the new group of ETFs as Article 8 products under the European Union’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
“This new suite of ETFs complements our existing sustainable product offering and provides an innovative solution for investors looking to take a first step into sustainable investing while maintaining a broad and diversified investment universe,” comments Florian Cisana, Head UBS ETFs & Index Funds Strategic Markets EMEA at UBS AM.
The MSCI ESG Universal Low Carbon Select indexes’ targeted climate-related exclusions and innovative weighting scheme are expected to lower their carbon footprint, while exhibiting a better ESG profile compared to the parent index. However, they do not deviate substantially from the standard features of the MSCI ESG Universal methodology, which makes them well-suited to serve as a core exposure replacement for investors willing to take the first step into sustainable investing.
For the time being, the UBS MSCI ESG Universal Low Carbon Select UCITS ETFs are available in four sub-funds covering various regional exposures. An additional sub-fund, offering exposure to Emerging Markets, will be launched in the coming months.
According to the press release, the asset manager will also change the benchmark of their existing UBS ETF (IE) MSCI ACWI ESG Universal ETF to reflect the new enhanced methodology.
“Sustainability is a key focus area at UBS Asset Management, and we are always looking to broaden our offering to meet the needs of our clients,” says Cisana.
Picture courtesy of UBS AM