IndexIQ has launched two new ESG-focused exchange-traded funds on the NYSE Arca today: the IQ MacKay ESG High Income ETF (NYSE Arca: IQHI) and the IQ Candriam ESG U.S. Mid Cap Equity ETF (IQSM).
IQHI is an actively managed ESG-focused high yield strategy benchmarked to the Bloomberg Very Liquid High Yield Index, which seeks to maximize current income. The fund is sub-advised by the MacKay Shields’ Global Credit team, led by Eric Gold. With the fund, the team seeks strong risk-adjusted investment returns while eliminating uncompensated risk. The fund avoids companies with elevated ESG risks while favoring companies with strong and/or improving ESG attributes.
Kirk Lehneis, chief operating officer of New York Life Investment Management and president of IndexIQ ETFs, said in a news release that IQHI “can help investors and advisors manage two of today’s biggest portfolio challenges: finding ways to add yield potential while also seeking to avoid potential pitfalls tied to ESG-related risks.”
IQSM, meanwhile, is a passively managed ESG-focused strategy benchmarked to the IQ Candriam ESG U.S. Mid Cap Equity Index. The index strategy, designed in collaboration between IndexIQ and Candriam, leverages Candriam’s proprietary ESG evaluation framework with a broadly diversified U.S. mid-cap portfolio comprised of companies meeting ESG criteria developed by Candriam.
“IQSM brings a compelling ESG-focused lens to the U.S. mid-cap category, an area of the equity market that is often underrepresented in investors’ portfolios,” Lehneis added.
These new funds expand on IndexIQ’s ongoing partnerships and product team-ups with Candriam and MacKay Shields, respectively, including the IQ Candriam ESG U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF (IQSU), the IQ Candriam ESG International Equity ETF (IQSI), and the IQ MacKay ESG Core Plus Bond ETF (ESGB).
“We are increasingly seeing asset managers offer a broad range of ESG strategies to help advisors build asset allocation strategies for clients that want to align their values and their investments,” said Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi. “These new ETFs can pair well with ESGB and IQSU.”
IndexIQ also introduced its own thematic ESG suite of Dual Impact ETFs, which offer exposures and a way for investors to give back through their investments.
More information on the funds and IndexIQ’s full suite of ETF offerings can be found on the firm’s website.
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