Change in the climate for ETFs
The best performing global equity exchange traded fund (ETF) was focused on companies that were “climate change leaders”, proving strong returns could be generated from climate conscious funds.
BetaShares Global Sustainability Leaders returned 31.23%, over year to 29 November, 2019, which provided exposure to 100 large non-Australian global stocks which were climate change leaders based on their relative carbon efficiency, according to FE Analytics.
Other leading global equity ETFs were VanEck MSCI World ex Australia Quality (30.91%), BetaShares Global Quality Leaders (30.25%), State Street Global Advisers (SSGA) SPDR MSCI World Quality Mix (25.78%) and Vanguard Ethically Conscious International Shares Index (24.51%).
The total global equity sector within the Australian Core Strategies universe returned 21.01%.
BetaShares’ Global Sustainability Leaders ETF invested in companies that had a carbon impact which was at least 60% lower than the average for that company’s industry.
This was calculated based on the total greenhouse gas emissions from a company’s operations, fuel use, supply chain and business activities, divided by its market capitalisation.
Its top holdings were Apple (5.2%), Mastercard (4.3%), Visa (4%), UnitedHealth (4%), Roche Holding (4%), as at 31 December, 2019.
VanEck’s top holdings were Apple (5.51%), Microsoft (5.1%), Facebook (3.17%), Visa (2.99%), Johnson & Johnson (2.8%), as at 22 January, 2020.
SSGA’s top holdings were Apple (2.43%), Microsoft (2.14%), Johnson & Johnson (1.42%), Visa (1.3%) and Facebook (1.26%), as at 31 December, 2019.
Vanguard’s top holdings were Apple (3.57%), Microsoft (3.26%), Amazon (2.1%), Facebook (1.35%) and JP Morgan Chase (1.19%), as at 31 December, 2019.
Best performing global equity ETFs over the year to 29 November 2019
AUTHOR
Chris Dastoor
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