Hartford Funds on Thursday rolled out an impact investing-type product based on the NextShares exchange-traded managed fund structure.
The Hartford Global Impact NextShares Fund (HFGIC) is the company’s first NextShares ETMF product. The ETMF structure is licensed by NextShares Solutions LLC, a unit of Eaton Vance Corp. NextShares funds are non-transparent, actively managed products that trade during the day relative to their end-of-day net asset value. That means orders for a NextShares fund made during the day don’t execute until the fund’s NAV is determined at the closing bell. The ETMF format was specifically designed for active managers who don’t want to disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
The HFGIC fund invests in companies globally that address major social and environmental challenges in such areas as sustainable agriculture and nutrition, health, clean water and sanitation, affordable housing, education and training, financial inclusion, narrowing the digital divide, alternative energy, resource stewardship and efficiency.
HFGIC has a net expense ratio of 0.85 percent.
The product’s sub-adviser is Wellington Management Company LLP. HFGIC will operate as a feeder fund under a master-feeder structure along with the Hartford Global Impact mutual fund. Both funds invest all of their assets in shares of the Global Impact Master Portfolio.
In a press statement, NextShares president Stephen Clarke noted that HFGIC is the first NextShares offering to invest in companies whose core businesses address global social and environmental challenges.