How home bias hurts European investors

By Tony Campos, director of ESG Americas, FTSE Russell

Record assets flowed into ETFs that provide exposure to stocks based on ESG considerations in 2019, reflecting a growing desire on the part of investors to add sustainability considerations to their investment portfolio.

And investors entering this asset class have been rewarded in recent years in terms of performance, as reflected by the FTSE US All Cap Choice Index, part of the FTSE Global Choice Index Series, which rose 33.5% for the year relative to a 31.3% return for the FTSE USA All Cap Index on which it is based.

Tony Campos, director of ESG Americas, FTSE Russell:

“The FTSE Global Choice Index Series can be an efficient way for investors to begin adding a sustainability screen to a broad investment portfolio. The indexes measure the impact of a company’s products and its conduct, excluding companies that manufacture vice products or weapons and screening for conduct issues such as corruption or environmental scandals.”

Rich Powers, head of ETF product management, The Vanguard Group:

“ESG and sustainable investment strategies are an increasing focus for many of our investors. ETFs tracking rules-based, broad market indexes screened for ESG criteria can serve as core portfolio building blocks for investors seeking to integrate ESG into their long-term investment strategies.”

Pioneer
The FTSE Global Choice Indexes serve as the basis for ESG ETFs. FTSE Russell has been a pioneer and leader in ESG and sustainable investing since introducing the FTSE4Good Index nearly 20 years ago.

Go to the FTSE Russell website for more information about the growing world of sustainable investment.

This article first appeared on January 28 on the FTSE Russell blog

Photo Credit: Hannes Flo via Flickr Creative Commons

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