Investment Product and Service Launches

Art by Jackson Epstein

BNY Mellon Investment Management Launches Active Sustainable ETFs

BNY Mellon Investment Management has announced the launch of three actively managed sustainable exchange-traded funds (ETFs): the BNY Mellon Sustainable U.S. Equity ETF (BKUS), the BNY Mellon Sustainable International Equity ETF (BKIS) and the BNY Mellon Sustainable Global Emerging Markets ETF (BKES).

All three ETFs are sub-advised by Newton Investment Management Limited, a BNY Mellon investment firm with a long track record of sustainable and responsible investing experience. The ETFs were listed on December 15 on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Each of the ETFs in this new suite is designed to deliver a range of solutions to investors seeking long-term growth potential, with options for exposure to U.S. domestic portfolios, as well as international and emerging markets. The fully transparent, active ETFs also build upon Newton’s responsible investment heritage, seeking the following long-term capital appreciation opportunities:

• The BNY Mellon Sustainable US Equity ETF typically invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of U.S. companies that demonstrate attractive investment attributes and sustainable business practices. Charles French and Yuko Takano are the fund’s primary portfolio managers.
• The BNY Mellon Sustainable International Equity ETF typically invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of foreign companies that demonstrate attractive investment attributes and sustainable business practices. Paul Markham and Yuko Takano are the fund’s primary portfolio managers.
• The BNY Mellon Sustainable Global Emerging Markets ETF typically invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of companies listed on exchanges in, organized in, with their principal place of business in, or having a majority of assets or business in emerging market countries and that demonstrate attractive investment attributes and sustainable business practices. Paul Birchenough and Ian Smith are the fund’s primary portfolio managers.

Northern Trust Enhances Digitization of Unstructured Data for Alternative Asset Investors

Northern Trust has enhanced the depth and range of alternative asset data it can provide to asset owner clients through a collaboration with Accelex, a data acquisition, analytics and reporting provider focused on the alternative investment space.

The new capability for unstructured data complements other artificial intelligence (AI)-powered data extraction capabilities that Northern Trust has developed in-house for its alternative asset servicing business and for clients of Northern Trust’s Front Office Solutions platform. 

According to the firm, limited partners (LPs) in private equity and other alternative investments are pushing for greater insights from the mountain of unstructured data they receive from investment managers. Increasingly, LPs seek data beyond basic performance and exposure metrics to analyze their investments. Leveraging Accelex technology, Northern Trust can provide asset owners with a broader, more timely range of insights as the solution expands data granularity and automates the extraction process to provide cleaner inputs to the Northern Trust Front Office Solutions system.

Ninety One Rolls Out International Franchise Fund

Ninety One has launched the Ninety One International Franchise Fund, available to U.S. domestic advised and institutional investors.

Managed by portfolio manager Elias Erickson, the International Franchise Fund has a differentiated investment philosophy, implemented through a high-conviction portfolio with an experienced, well-resourced and globally integrated investment team. By identifying companies likely to be more immune to global economic cycles, the fund seeks long-term outperformance of the MSCI ACWI ex-US, smaller drawdowns in down markets and lower than average volatility. Erickson has managed a similar strategy for the firm for three years.

Erickson says the fund will invest in “durably differentiated businesses with strong balance sheets, sustainably high returns and significant growth opportunities.”

“Our investment approach seeks to compound shareholder wealth over the long term by protecting capital during periods of market stress,” he adds.

Northern Trust Enhances Suite of ESG Analytics

Northern Trust has enhanced its suite of environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment analytics to deliver new climate risk reporting for global institutional investor clients.

The Climate Focus Report, part of Northern Trust’s ESG Insights suite of reporting solutions, offers clients a range of carbon metrics, physical risk and transition risk detail at the portfolio level. These include detailed emissions information, carbon intensity measures and forward-looking scenario pathway analysis.

The resulting information supports institutional investors, such as pension funds, helping them assess key climate change risk factors against investments in their portfolio and compare them against representative benchmarks for absolute and relative analysis over time. It also supports clients’ internal oversight and external disclosure obligations through its alignment with the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) reporting recommendations.

Northern Trust’s Climate Focus Report is generated by combining global custody asset information with data provided in partnership with ISS ESG, the responsible investment arm of Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), a global provider of investment stewardship solutions and the owner of PLANSPONSOR and PLANADVISER magazines.

Maximilian Horster, head of ISS ESG, says ISS ESG is “delighted to provide climate data to support Northern Trust’s Climate Focus Report at this critical time for institutional investors, who require the highest levels of transparency and data quality to meet rapidly evolving climate risk assessment and reporting obligations.”