Nuveen today launched two exchange-traded funds that boost its ETF suite to a total of 18 funds with $4.8 billion in assets under management.
The firm also said it is slashing expense ratios on seven of its enhanced index-tracking equity ESG ETFs by 10 basis points and cutting costs on two enhanced index-tracking fixed-income ESG ETFs by five points.
The Nuveen Growth Opportunities ETF (NUGO) is the firm’s first alpha-seeking strategy to debut solely as an ETF. It seeks to outperform the Russell 1000 Growth Index by investing in 40 to 65 high-conviction securities making up roughly 10% of the broader index, according to a news release from Nuveen.
“The security selection strategy focuses on high-quality companies that exhibit potential for attractive earnings growth, strong relative valuation, attractive cash flows and significant long-term returns,” the release noted.
The fund’s lead portfolio manager is Karen Hiatt, managing director and equities portfolio manager, and the fund's co-portfolio manager is Terrence Kontos, managing director and equities portfolio manager.
The release further noted that the fund features the same tax efficiency and intraday liquidity benefits as an index-tracking ETF, adding that its holdings will be disclosed monthly.
The second fund, the Nuveen ESG Dividend ETF (NUDV), is the industry’s only environmental, social and governance dividend ETF to incorporate a low-carbon criteria, the release said, explaining that the fund focuses on providing yield and seeks to provide exposure to high-dividend paying U.S. equities. It also aims to have a lower carbon profile than the MSCI USA Index.
Like the other funds in Nuveen's suite of 10 ESG-oriented index-tracking ETFs, “the underlying holdings of NUDV will be rebalanced quarterly and will incorporate a customized set of eligibility criteria," the company said. These criteria for underlying holdings take into account a company's ESG rating, any controversial business involvement, its fossil fuel reserves and carbon emissions levels. The company says the last one "is a key differentiator of Nuveen’s custom methodology.”
Nuveen said the enhanced index construction was developed by its Responsible Investing team of more than 25 members working in partnership with MSCI.
Nuveen, the investment manager of TIAA, oversees more than $41 billion in ESG-focused investment strategies, and applies its responsible investing principles across its $1.2 trillion in AUM, the company said.