Vanguard, the second-largest U.S. issuer of exchange traded funds, said Wednesday it filed plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to possibly list two new ETFs based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing strategies.
The ETFs Vanguard filed plans for are the Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF and Vanguard ESG International Stock ETF. The funds are expected to debut in September.
“The adoption of ESG investing has accelerated in recent years, and more investors are looking for opportunities to align their investment choices with their values,” said Jon Cleborne, head of Vanguard’s Portfolio Review Group, in a statement. “Our new ETFs marry Vanguard’s characteristic low-cost, diversified investment approach with a rigorous ESG screening process.”
Details On Vanguard’s ESG ETFs
Both new ETFs will track indexes from FTSE Russell, one of the largest providers of benchmarks for ETFs and index funds.
“Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF will seek to track the FTSE US All Cap Choice Index, a market-cap weighted benchmark comprising large-, mid-, and small-cap U.S. stocks screened on specific environmental, social, and governance criteria,” according to the statement.
The Vanguard ESG International Stock ETF will track the FTSE Global All Cap ex US Choice Index. That is a cap-weighted benchmark that tracks “stocks in developed and emerging international markets (excluding the U.S.) screened on specific environmental, social, and governance criteria,” according to Vanguard.