The BetaShares Global Sustainability Leaders ETF is opening access to a portfolio of sustainable companies to target a growing number of investors who are increasingly looking for ethical investment options.
BetaShares managing director, Alex Vynokur, said that investors were keen for their money to make a positive impact.
“[This] is a simple, cost-effective and transparent option that allows Australians to invest in line with their ethical beliefs,” he said.
“Australians are increasingly using ethical investment options as they realise the impact their money can have on promoting positive environmental and social outcomes.”
The exchange traded fund (ETF) would screen companies to ensure no exposure to tobacco, armaments, fossil fuels and various human rights concerns. The ETHI would also look to continue its investment in global stocks from developed countries that were classed as ‘climate change leaders’, and had therefore passed a benchmark to be 60 per cent more carbon efficient than the average company.
Vynokur said the BetaShares offering would likely be a source of interest to younger investors, who were more strongly focused on ethical investing than previous generations.
“Forty-one per cent of millennials use ETFs, compared with 25 per cent of Gen Xers and only 17 per cent of baby boomers,” he said.
“ETHI will have particular appeal for the millennial generation, a demographic that is emerging as a driving force of both the ETF and the ethical investing industry,” Vynokur said.
“Millennials are twice as likely to invest in companies that seek to have positive environmental or social impacts.”
