AdvisorShares has partnered with environmental advocate Philippe Cousteau, Jr. to launch an actively managed exchange traded fund that focuses on sustainable investment themes, with a philanthropic objective.
On Thursday, the AdvisorShares Global Echo ETF (NYSEArca: GIVE) began trading, according to a press release. [AdvisorShares to Launch Sustainable ETF]
GIVE has a high expense ratio of 1.7%, of which 0.40% will go directly to Cousteau’s Global Echo Foundation – the foundation provides resources to ameliorate social issues like those that impact women and children, for environmental conservation and to support social entrepreneurship.
The fund will try to generate long-term capital appreciation with an emphasis on absolute positive returns and a low correlation to traditional financial market indices. The ETF will include a focus on U.S. fixed-income, long-only global equity and alternative long/short trend following strategies.
As of May 23, top holdings include cash 27.3%, ProShares Short MSCI EAFE (NYSEArca: EFZ) 2.5%, Cohen & Company 2.1%, ProShares Short MSCI Emerging (NYSEArca: EUM) 2.1% and ProShares Short DOW30 (NYSEArca: DOG) 1.7%.
The fund has four portfolio managers allocating to sustainable fixed-income, long-only equity and alternative long/short trend-following strategies over a full market cycle. Asset weightings include cash 27%, fixed-income 5%, domestic equities 33%, foreign equities 19% and short exposure 15%.
For more information on new products, visit our new ETFs category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.