OneAscent Investment Solutions has launched two new exchange traded funds: the OneAscent International Equity ETF (OAIM), and the OneAscent Emerging Markets ETF (OAEM). Both trade on the NYSE Arca.
OAIM and OAEM target companies around the world that provide goods or services that advance the flourishing of society. Through a proprietary process, the fund’s investment team uses extensive fundamental analysis to dive deep into a company’s business model, stakeholder policies, and overall community impact to eliminate those companies that don’t share OneAscent’s values. According to the funds’ prospectus, this means avoiding companies whose principal business activities and practices include:
- The involvement in abortion (including producing or distributing abortifacients, medical facilities that perform abortions, or consistently and proactively promoting abortion through philanthropy).
- The production or distribution of addictive products (including adult entertainment, pornography, gambling, and tobacco).
- Predatory lending practices.
- Human rights violations.
- Patterns of severe ethics controversies.
The adviser then seeks to identify companies that it believes promote flourishing for their stakeholders. This means exhibiting such qualities and characteristics as:
- Addressing unmet and underserved needs in the marketplace.
- Providing purposeful vocations and add meaning to work.
- Fostering vibrant communities.
- Embracing a partnership and a spirit of collaboration.
- Cultivating our natural resources.
- Enhancing our well-being and corporate human experience.
“The investment team believes companies go through a natural corporate ‘Life Cycle’ and understanding where a company lies along that spectrum is central to the fundamental investment process,” the issuer stated on its website. “With the help of quantitative tools, the team is able to segregate the investment universe into life cycle stages and attempt to more accurately identify a company’s real asset growth and return on invested capital. Using this lens, the team applies a rigorous fundamental analysis process to help identify those companies more likely to create ongoing shareholder value.”
OAIM and OAEM join OneAscent’s suite of ETFs that include the OneAscent Core Plus Bond ETF (NYSE Arca: OACP), which launched in April, and the OneAscent Large Cap Core ETF (NYSE Arca: OALC), which launched in November 2021.
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