BlackRock & Thomson Reuters launch inclusion & diversity fund
BlackRock has collaborated with Thomson Reuters to launch an exchange traded fund (ETF) to provide investors with a way to invest in companies across developed and emerging markets that promote diversity and inclusion practices, which have been shown to benefit companies’ long-term performance.
The iShares Thomson Reuters Inclusion & Diversity Ucits ETF tracks Thomson Reuters Global Large/Mid Diversity and Inclusion ex. Controversial Weapons Equal Weight Total Return Index, which is related to the Thomson Reuters Diversity & Inclusion index.
The index transparently and objectively ranks more than 2,000 publicly-traded companies globally, and consists of the top 100 companies with the most diverse and inclusive workplaces, as measured by 24 metrics across four key categories: Diversity, Inclusion, People Development and News & Controversies.
It embraces a broader spectrum of diversity dimensions and goes further than other indices in this segment which have tended to focus more narrowly on aspects such as gender.
The fund complements iShares’ 10-strong Ucits thematic ETF range – which aim to provide exposure to megatrends, or powerful, transformative forces that could change the global economy, business and society – and the 15-strong family of UCITS environmental, social and governance (ESG) ETFs. It carries a total expense ratio of 0.25%.
Thomson Reuters Financial & Risk business will be known as Refinitiv, following the closing of the strategic partnership transaction between Thomson Reuters and private equity funds managed by Blackstone.
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