Pax World Enters 'Sustainable' ETF Space with ESG Shares

Pax World Funds, a sustainable- investing firm, announced Wednesday, May 19, that it launched ESG Shares, what it claims is the first family of exchange traded funds devoted exclusively to a “sustainable investing approach.” The new ETFs will track indexes that integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into index design and construction.

The three ESG Shares ETFs to be launched by Pax World are:

• – ESG Shares North America Sustainability Index ETF (Ticker: NASI), launched May 19, seeks to track the performance of the FTSE KLD North America Sustainability Index, a broadly diversified, sector-neutral index of American and Canadian companies with superior ESG performance as rated by KLD Research & Analytics, Inc.
• – ESG Shares FTSE Environmental Technologies (ET50) Index ETF (Ticker: ETFY), which Pax World intends to launch on May 21, seeks to track the performance of the FTSE ET50 Index, comprised of the 50 largest pure-play environmental companies globally by full market capitalization. The companies in the index have a primary business focus in the areas of alternative energy and energy efficiency, water technologies and pollution control and waste technologies and resource management.
• – ESG Shares Europe Asia Pacific Sustainability Index ETF (Ticker: EAPS), which Pax World intends to launch on May 25, seeks to track the performance of the FTSE KLD Europe Asia Pacific Sustainability Index, a broadly diversified, sector-neutral index of companies in Europe and Asia-Pacific with superior ESG performance as rated by KLD Research & Analytics, Inc.

According to the company, ESG Shares are at the intersection of two powerful investment trends: The increasing popularity of ETFs, and the fast-growing interest in sustainable investing – the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG ) factors into investment analysis and decision making