Six new ESG-focused ETFs launched by RBC iShares

Toronto-based RBC Global Asset Management Inc. and RBC iShares have launched a suite of sustainability-focused ETFs that will be managed by BlackRock Asset Management Canada Ltd., the firms announced Thursday.

The iShares Sustainable Core ETFs, expected to begin trading on the TSX on Thursday, March 21, are the first set of products launched as part of the strategic alliance between BlackRock Canada and RBC GAM.

The suite of six index ETFs are “environmental, social and governance (ESG)-oriented,” the firms said in a release. The suite includes four equity ETFs and two bond ETFs, and “offers broad Canadian, US, international and emerging market equity exposures, along with Canadian aggregate and short-term bond exposures.”

The funds are:

• iShares ESG MSCI Canada Index ETF (XESG), with a management fee of 0.20%
• iShares ESG MSCI USA Index ETF (XSUS), with a management fee of 0.25%
• iShares ESG MSCI EAFE Index ETF (XSEA), with a management of 0.30%
• iShares ESG MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF (XSEM), with a management fee of 0.35%
• iShares ESG Canadian Aggregate Bond Index ETF (XSAB), with a management fee of 0.18%
• iShares ESG Canadian Short Term Bond Index ETF (XSTB), with a management fee of 0.18%

The firms noted that the index each ETF tracks is “designed to emphasize exposure to issuers with positive ESG characteristics chosen from securities included in its respective parent index, while exhibiting risk and return characteristics similar to those of the relevant parent index for each market segment.”

The indices apply socially responsible investing screens that exclude securities of companies involved in tobacco, firearms and controversial weapons, as well as companies involved in “very severe business controversies.”

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