Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) ETFs and ETPs listed globally gathered net inflows of USD856 million during November. Total assets invested ESG ETFs and ETPs increased by 6.64 per cent from USD21.77 bn at the end of October, to USD23.22 billion, according to ETFGI’s November 2018 ETF and ETP ESG industry landscape insights report.
Year-to-date, ESG ETFs/ETPs assets have increased 33.8 per cent compared to 4.6 per cent for all ETFs/ETPs listed globally.
“While trade talks continue to make noise in the headlines, the very real prospect of slowing global growth appears to be filtering into market sentiment. A seemingly more reposed approach to monetary policy along with the China-US trade truce provided enough of a tailwind to lift US markets to finish in the green by the end of November, with the S&P 500 gaining 2.04 per cent over the month bringing the year-to-date gain to 5.11 per cent. Apart from the Eurozone, where various domestic issues continue to dominate, most developed markets closed the month with marginal gains, the S&P developed ex-US BMI was up 0.17 per cent in November with year-to-date declines of 9.66 per cent. EM and Frontier markets bounced back from the October fall, finishing up 4.61 per cent and 1.94 per cent respectively, softening year-to-date declines to 11.15 per cent and 8.95 per cent,” says Deborah Fuhr, managing partner and a founder of ETFGI.
At the end of November 2018, there were 204 ESG classified ETFs/ETPs, with 473 listings, assets of USD23.22 Bn, from 62 providers listed on 25 exchanges in 23 countries. Following net inflows of USD856 Mn and market moves during the month, assets invested in ESG ETFs/ETPs listed globally increased by 6.64 per cent, from USD21.77 Bn at the end of October 2018, to USD23.22 Bn.
Since the launch of the first ESG ETF/ETP in 2002, the iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF, the number and diversity of products has increased steadily, with 205 ESG ETFs/ETPs listed globally at the end of November. 66 new ESG ETFs/ETPs have launched during 2018, with four during November alone.
Substantial inflows during November can be attributed to the top 20 ESG ETFs/ETPs by net new assets, which collectively gathered USD873 million in during November. The UBS ETF (LU) MSCI World Socially Responsible UCITS ETF (UIMM GY) gathered USD140 million, the largest net inflow in November.
