A New Analytics Tool For ESG Investing

State Street Global Exchange, the data and analytics arm of State Street Corp., debuted a systematic tool that assesses environmental, social and governance products. The new analytics tool, called ESGX, allows clients to invest more responsibly.

State Street said that global ESG assets rose close to $23 trillion in 2016, yet transparent, standardized and quality data remain an obstacle for investors. The ESG tool will give investors daily updates, multi-asset class coverage and the option to choose data that suits investor needs.

The ESGX platform was designed to offer clients transparency and standardization with data from providers such as Arabesque and TruValue Labs.

“Having a view into a company’s non-financial profile is increasingly important to the growing number of investors and regulators who understand the impact of ESG factors on risk and returns,” said John Plansky, global head of State Street Global Exchange.

ESGX will feature Arabesque S-Ray, a tool that uses quantitative models to evaluate the sustainability of the world’s largest corporations.

Some of the ESGX tool’s key features include its ability to compare ESG risks across portfolios; tools to assess the affects of negative and positive screens and ESG tilts on portfolio returns. The platform will also benchmark portfolios against marketplace ESG indices and focus on the trends and evolution of portfolio-level risk and performance.

 

The MainStay Candriam Emerging Markets Equity Fund

New York Life Investments, a global asset management firm, has launched a new emerging markets equity fund, the MainStay Candriam Emerging Market Equity Fund (MCYAX).

The fund will seek long-term growth through investments in equity securities of attractively valued companies with strong sustainable growth and profitability. The companies will be located in (or economically tied to) developing market countries.

Jan Boudewijns, head of emerging equity management at Candriam, said in a statement: “With volatility at historically low levels and corporate valuations remaining reasonable across developing regions, we see considerable long-term value opportunities within emerging-market equities. This new fund brings our time-tested investment approach and global capabilities to financial advisors and investors in the United States.”

 

Jackson National Life Insurance’s New Annuity

Jackson National Life Insurance Company has expanded its retirement product suite with a fee-based variable annuity called Perspective Advisory II (PAII). The product carries no surrender period and no withdrawal charges. It is fee-based rather than commission-based.

The PAII annuity provides institutionally priced sub-account structures—a feature that offers transparency and matches the fee-based services within advisors’ account platforms.

The annuity also features more than 130 investment options and a host of living benefits and death benefits (for an additional charge) allowing for the growth of retirement assets and a lifetime income stream.

 

A New Donor-Advised Fund Option

The U.S. Charitable Gift Trust, a public charity, has added new sustainable investing fund options to its donor-advised funds. The new options are managed by Calvert Research and Management, a subsidiary of Eaton Vance.

The three options include the Calvert Responsible Investing Conservative Fund, the Calvert Responsible Investing Moderate Fund and the Calvert Responsible Investing Growth Fund.

The conservative fund gives current income and capital preservation along with capital appreciation over the long term. The moderate fund gives moderate long-term capital appreciation, and the growth fund offers high long-term appreciation and current income as a secondary objective.

 

Vert’s First U.S. Sustainable Real Estate Mutual Fund

The Vert Global Sustainable Real Estate Fund (VGSRX) is designed to achieve long-term capital appreciation. The open-end fund buys listed real estate investment trusts (REITs) around the world using environmental, social and governance metrics.

“With Vert, individual investors and their advisors will now have access to the real estate asset class on an ESG basis,” said Dan Wheeler, an advisory board member of Vert.

Vert created the mutual fund to appeal to advisors seeking to balance their asset allocations through ESG funds, the firm said. The mutual fund uses academic research, suitable industry practices and third-party data to assess a company’s sustainability.

 

RBC Introduces End-Of-The-Year Changes

The U.S. arm of RBC Global Asset Management (GAM) announced a few improvements to its services. The firm will reduce its U.S. mutual fund fees and alter two RBC BlueBay funds. It will also launch two funds for U.S. investors: the RBC Emerging Markets Value Equity Fund and the RBC Impact Bond Fund.

RBC’s fee reduction applies to 90% of its product suite, or eight mutual funds, and it is below the industry median.

“As we continue to grow our presence in the U.S. market, our teams continually seek to align our product offerings with changing industry dynamics and needs,” said Mike Lee, the CEO of RBC Global Asset Management in the U.S.