State Street Global Advisors debuted a new ETF on Tuesday that was developed to meet the demand for core fixed income ESG aware exposure, providing access to US dollar-denominated Investment Grade corporate bonds.
The SPDR Bloomberg SASB® Corporate Bond ESG Select ETF (RBND) began trading on the New York Stock Exchange today.
One of the durable trends reshaping the investment management industry over the past decade has been that investors want more choice. However, when it comes to ESG investing, equity ETFs have dominated the market, while choices for ESG-minded fixed income investors have been limited.
Noel Archard, global head of SPDR product at State Street Global Advisors, said investors’ increasing appetite for cost-effective ESG solutions is not exclusive to the equity allocations in their portfolios.
“With the launch of RBND, SPDR’s first fixed income ESG ETF publicly offered in the US, investors will now be able to better align their core fixed income exposures with their investment goals,” Archard said.
The SPDR Bloomberg SASB Corporate Bond ESG Select ETF seeks to track the Bloomberg SASB US Corporate ESG Ex-Controversies Select Index. The index was developed by Bloomberg in collaboration with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB).
The index measures the performance of investment grade corporate bonds issued by companies that demonstrate certain environmental, social and governance characteristics, while also exhibiting risk and return characteristics that are comparable to those of the Bloomberg Barclays US Corporate Index.
The index methodology excludes issuers from the Bloomberg Barclays US Corporate Index that are involved in, and/or which derive significant revenue from, operations related to extreme event controversies, controversial weapons, UN global compact violations, civilian firearms, thermal coal extraction, and tobacco.
“Overcoming the challenges created by the lack of standardization in ESG data requires access to quality data from multiple sources. RBND is designed to help investors cut through the noise and integrate material ESG factors at the core of their fixed income portfolios,” Archard continued.
A recognized leader in asset stewardship and corporate governance, State Street Global Advisors is committed to helping the world’s governments, institutions and financial advisors reach their ESG investing goals. State Street Global Advisors began managing its first ESG portfolio more than 35 years ago and today manage $350 billion of assets that use an ESG integration investment approach. As stewards of clients’ capital, State Street Global Advisors helps investors see that what is fair for people and sustainable for the planet can deliver long-term performance.
For more information on the SPDR ETF suite, visit www.ssga.com/etfs.