Amundi has expanded its suite of socially responsible investing (SRI) ETFs with the launch of a fund providing exposure to the euro aggregate bond market.
The fund is the first ETF to offer SRI-screened exposure to the euro aggregate bond market.
The Amundi Index Euro Agg SRI UCITS ETF DR – EUR (EGRI FP) has listed on Euronext Paris and comes with an expense ratio of 0.16%.
It has been seeded with €55 million.
Fannie Wurtz, Head of Amundi ETF, Indexing and Smart Beta, commented, “This new listing demonstrates our commitment to meeting investors’ increasing demand for ESG passive solutions.
“The Euro Aggregate exposure is an essential building block that strengthens our existing SRI range, offering investors the opportunity to build a diversified responsible investing portfolio tailored to their individual objectives.”
The ETF is linked to the Bloomberg Barclays MSCI Euro Aggregate Sustainable SRI Sector Neutral Index which is based upon the parent Bloomberg Barclays Euro Aggregate Index.
The parent index covers fixed-rate investment-grade bonds denominated in euros and issued from government, government-related, and corporate sectors.
The methodology first screens out any issuer with activities related to alcohol, tobacco, gambling, military weapons, nuclear power, adult entertainment, civilian firearms, genetically modified organisms, and thermal coal.
Each issuer is then assigned an ESG rating from MSCI ESG Research that evaluates how well it manages key ESG issues relative to industry peers. Issuers scoring below BBB (average) are excluded.
The remaining constituents are weighted by market value with sector weights aligned to match those of the parent index, resulting in a tracking error under 1%. Rebalancing occurs on a monthly basis.
Amundi’s existing SRI range includes three fixed income ETFs offering exposure to US dollar corporate, euro corporate, and short-term euro corporate indices. The funds come with expense ratios between 0.12% and 0.16% and collectively house over €800m in assets under management.