Is the world ready for a vegan-focused exchange-traded fund? Critics might scoff and ask where’s the beef, but the stunning success of faux-meat maker Beyond Meat Inc.'s stock price since the company's initial public offering in May indicates investors are hungry for such products.
In that vein, it was announced today that the US Vegan Climate Exchange Traded ETF (VEGN) is set to begin trading on September 10 with a listing on the New York Stock Exchange. The fund is sponsored by Beyond Investing, a Florida-based registered investment advisor owned by three investment professionals who follow a vegan lifestyle.
According to the prospectus, this fund aims to address the concerns of vegans, animal lovers and environmentalists by avoiding investments in companies whose activities directly contribute to animal suffering, destruction of the natural environment and climate change.
The product will track the US Vegan Climate Index, which starts with the Solactive US Large Cap Index comprised of roughly the 500 largest U.S. companies and excludes those that get more than a “de minimus” proportion of total revenue (defined as “generally less than 2%”) from products or services directly related to certain activities pertaining to animals, the planet and people.
Regarding animals, no-no activities including animal testing; animal-derived products, animal farming and other exploitation activities; animals in sport and entertainment; and involvement with genetically engineered animals.
Proscribed activities within the planet category pertain to fossil fuels extraction, refining or burning for energy. It also includes a range of other activities with potential negative environmental impacts “unless the applicable company undertakes positive initiatives that effectively mitigate those impacts.”
Within the people realm, the index excludes tobacco products, armaments and other products geared toward military and defense purposes, and anything contributing to human rights abuses.
The fund will have an expense ratio of 0.60%, which is pricey for a large-cap index fund. In the press release announcing the fund’s upcoming launch, Beyond Investing said the fee reflects the cost of the research and proprietary data behind the underlying index.