iShares files for three more ‘ESG aware’ ETFs

The world’s biggest asset manager keeps rolling out sustainability themed products.

BlackRock’s iShares is prepping three new “ESG Aware” ETFs, regulatory filings show.

The forthcoming products include the iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Value, MSCI USA Growth and ICE-HIP Muni Bond ETFs. Those add to a handful of other ETFs in the company’s ESG-aware line, which are “funds that balance seeking a similar risk and return to the relevant broad market while seeking a more sustainable outcome”, according to iShares.

The firm currently has seven ETFs in that category, the biggest of which being the iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF, which represents $2 billion in assets. That fund was the largest passively managed sustainable fund in the U.S. last year and had raked in $8.2 billion, more than double that of any other sustainable fund saw in new money, according to data from Morningstar Direct. The second-biggest sustainable fund by net new flows, at $3.5 billion, was the iShares ESG Aware MSCI EAFE ETF.

The ETF provider puts its sustainable products into four categories: screened, broad ESG, thematic ESG and impact. Broad ESG includes the most products — 22 — and those are spread across five product suites: ESG aware, ESG advanced, ESG leaders, ESG aware allocation and factors plus ESG.

The iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Value ETF will seek to track performance of the similarly named index, investing in large- and mid-cap US stocks with value and positive ESG characteristics, according to the filing.

Meanwhile, the iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Growth ETF would hold large- and mid-cap U.S. stocks with growth potential and good ESG traits.

The iShares ESG Aware ICE-HIP Muni Bond ETF would track the ICE HIP ESG US National Municipal Index, which includes investment-grade muni bonds, favoring higher ESG ratings.

Expense ratios for the ETFs were not listed on the initial prospectuses filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Portfolio managers on the value and growth ETFs are Jennifer Hsui, Greg Savage, Paul Whitehead and Amy Whitelaw.

James Mauro and Karen Uyehara are the portfolio managers on the muni bond ETF.

This story was originally published on ESG Clarity.