Nuveen today introduced what it calls the first high-yield corporate bond exchange-traded fund with an environmental, social and governance (ESG) focus.
The Nuveen ESG High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (NUHY) starts with an investment universe found in the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. High Yield Very Liquid Index that captures the U.S. dollar-denominated, high-yield, fixed-rate corporate bond market. From there, MSCI and the responsible investing team at Nuveen choose securities conforming to ESG-focused criteria determined by MSCI ESG Research LLC. That criteria is measured on an industry-specific basis.
According to the prospectus, environmental assessment categories can include how a company addresses climate change, natural resource use, and waste management and emission management.
Social evaluation categories cover a company’s relations with employees and suppliers, product safety and sourcing practices. And governance assessment categories can include governance practices and business ethics.
The ESG criteria also consider how well a company adheres to national and international laws and regulations, along with commonly accepted global norms related to ESG matters.
The index generally excludes companies in the following industries: alcohol, tobacco, nuclear power, gambling, and firearms and other weapons. Corporate debt securities that meet a minimum ESG rating threshold are eligible to be included in the NUHY fund’s underlying Bloomberg Barclays MSCI U.S. High Yield Very Liquid ESG Select Index.
The fund’s net expense ratio is 0.35%.
Nuveen is the investment manager of TIAA. It has hung its ETF shingle predominately on ESG investing, with 10 of its 13 ETFs having an ESG mandate.