Calamos Investments, in partnership with NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo, has announced the listing of the Calamos Antetokounmpo Global Sustainable Equities ETF (ticker: SROI) on NYSE ARCA.
SROI seeks to deliver long-term capital appreciation through a professionally managed portfolio of high quality and growth-oriented ESG-principled companies. The investment adviser for SROI, Calamos Antetokounmpo Asset Management LLC, is structured as a joint venture and seeks to donate a portion of its profits to charities, as determined by its Board of Directors. The Board aims to review and consider charities in areas such as economic empowerment, financial education, and the development of young people in underserved communities.
“We’re excited to be in the ETF marketplace with the listing of the Calamos Antetokounmpo Global Sustainable Equities ETF,” says Matt Kaufman, Head of ETFs at Calamos. “We’re confident the partnership forged between Calamos and Giannis Antetokounmpo will allow for the greatest opportunity for societal return on investment on a global scale and will become a cornerstone for future growth in the ETF space at the firm.”
“The principles of family, community, and economic empowerment are tremendously important to the Antetokounmpo family,” Antetokounmpo says. “I’m excited to join with Calamos to bring an ETF to market that invests for growth, and to form a partnership that gives back to the community in a meaningful way.”
The Calamos Antetokounmpo Global Sustainable Equities ETF (SROI) is an active ETF managed by long-standing ESG portfolio managers Tony Tursich, James Madden, and Beth Williamson, who, the firm writes, established one of the first sustainable research platforms in the world and helped set the standards for many of today’s ESG portfolios. The portfolio will consist predominantly of developed – (including US) and emerging market-stocks that the adviser believes have above average growth potential and meet the team’s proprietary ESG rating system.
The proprietary ESG rating system developed and used by the fund’s managers considers both quantitative and qualitative factors in an effort to identify growth-focused companies that, in Calamos’s opinion, are also deemed to be “responsible and engaged” (i.e., companies that demonstrate awareness and action surrounding the material ESG issues facing their businesses and industries).
Calamos believes that a company’s understanding of ESG principles demonstrates the qualities of innovation and leadership that create a distinct competitive advantage and build long-term value for a company. The firm writes that the portfolio management team considers a company’s position on various factors such as ecological limits, environmental stewardship, environmental strategies, stance on human rights and equality, societal impact as well as its corporate governance practices. Through core fundamental research, Calamos combines traditional investment information with its proprietary three-pronged ESG process to identify investments that it believes promote certain environmental and/or social characteristics. Calamos believes that this creates a complete picture of how each company behaves commercially and how it deals with existing and emerging ESG risks and opportunities. The three- pronged ESG process consists of: 1) exclusionary screens; 2) materiality assessments and 3) environmental and social impact scoring.
SROI is listed on the NYSE ARCA and carries an annual expense ratio of 0.95 per cent.
