ImpactAlpha, Jun. 14 – A new family of exchange-traded funds will align around companies that derive the bulk of their revenues from solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals.
Five ETFs from London-based investment platform CIRCA5000 will invest in companies targeting green energy and technology (ticker: C5KG), sustainable food and biodiversity (C5KF), clean water and waste (C5KW), social and economic empowerment (C5KE), and health and wellbeing (C5KH).
Underpinning the investment products are newly released indices from Montreal-based impact analytics firm impak.
Impak’s analysis, which aligns with the norms of the Impact Management Project, goes beyond ESG to assess a company’s contribution to solutions.
Impak says that investing five years ago in a basket of the most impactful companies would have yielded a total return of 93% versus a 55% return for the S&P 500. The CIRCA5000 ETFs launched on the London Stock Exchange last week for institutional investors.
Impact mutual fund
Separately, the Nia Impact Solutions Fund (NIAGX), a mutual fund launched last year to invest in companies that contribute to environmental sustainability and social justice, is now available at Charles Schwab.
Among its top three holdings: Danone, First Solar and Gilead Sciences. The fund returned 3.16% through Feb. 28, while the MSCI ACWI IMI index returned 2.60%.
Cut carbon notes
The proceeds of Cut Carbon Notes, a new investment-grade, fixed-income security from Calvert Impact, will provide low-cost, long-term funding for energy efficiency improvements to commercial, industrial, multi-family, and non-profit buildings with the goal of reducing carbon emissions.
The notes, which earn investors between 5% and 6.5%, are available to retail and institutional investors.
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