Of the fund's total management fee of 1.10%, 40 basis points helps finance the Global Echo Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation co-founded by Philippe Cousteau Jr., grandson of famed the famed French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau.
Thus far, the fund has attracted $5 million in assets.
The two largest ETFs with a green and/or socially responsible investing bent are the iShares MSCI USA ESG Select Social Index Fund (KLD) and the iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social Index Fund (DSI). Both funds follow indexes that track the performance of companies that have positive environmental, social, and governance (ESG) characteristics. And both also have modest expense ratios of 0.50%.
KLD began trading in January 2005 and has accumulated $178 million in assets. DSI, which has traded since November 2006, has $163 million in assets. Both have generally underperformed the S&P 500 index since their inceptions, according to Morningstar.
Joining them in the ESG space are two newer funds with limited track records--the Pax MSCI EAFE ESG Index ETF (EAPS) and the Pax MSCI North American ESG Index ETF (NASI). NASI launched in May 2010 and recently had assets of slightly more than $10 million. EAPS, which started trading in January 2011, has attracted just $2 million in assets. Both have reasonable expense ratios of 0.50%.
--Jeff Schlegel