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NEWSLETTER | 12 May 2023

This week we brought you an interview with Tom McGillycuddy of CIRCA5000, a firm that focuses on impact investing, differentiated from ESG by, literally, its impactful nature. The firm’s new ETFs will be focused on its aim of channelling investment to companies solving the most pressing environmental and social challenges.

"Our assessment of the ETF landscape in the UK and Europe was that there were limited good quality genuine impact ETFs available," McGillycuddy says. "Funds that were built from scratch using high quality impact research that was transparent to the investor. There were very few that were built from a pure impact perspective, so we felt that there was a gap in the offering for the broader institutional investment management space and for us as well."

Cerulli Associates has published a new distribution report on Europe, which reveals the mixed messages on ESG investing coming out of Europe. In the passive sphere, 14 per cent of respondents to the Cerulli survey expect fast growth of ESG index fund assets over the next 12 to 24 months, 38 per cent expect moderate growth, and 43 per cent anticipate slow growth. In addition, 12 per cent expect fast growth of ESG ETF assets, 47 per cent anticipate moderate growth for such assets, and 34 per cent predict only slow growth.

Cerulli writes that its research shows that demand for ESG products is well established and that sustainable thematic products are set to experience high demand from retail clients over the next 12 to 24 months. Managers that can combine strong and diversified ESG processes with a robust track record, compliance attributes, and appealing narratives will be well placed to attract flows to their ESG products, the firm says. However, take a listen, if you haven’t already, to Jeff Prestridge, personal finance editor of The Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday, in our latest podcast with his views on ESG.

To listen to the podcast please click here.

The sixth of May also saw the Coronation of the UK’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla and we marked this with the note from eToro which showed that King Charles’ beloved British high-quality brands have produced an outperforming index. eToro created a basket of 10 UK heritage brands, publicly traded or part of larger listed businesses, which have received a Royal Warrant of Appointment from King Charles.

The result is that the ‘eToro King Charles Index’ has outperformed the FTSE 100 by 24 per cent over the last five years, and by 62 per cent over the past three years. The index has also beaten the FTSE 100 by 10 per cent year-to-date.

Voting is still open for the Canada ETF Express ETF awards. To place your votes please click here.

Beverly Chandler, Managing Editor

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Fineqia’s analysis of global ETPs with digital currencies as underlying assets, reveals the total AUM increased by 66 per cent, representing a 29 per cent rise in their value vis-à-vis the broader digital asset market, which grew 51 per cent in the four months this calendar year, the firm says.

Impact investment specialist CIRCA5000 recently announced that it was launching its own ETFs to support its aim of channelling investment to companies solving the most pressing environmental and social challenges.

To mark the coronation of King Charles III, ETF Express brings you eToro’s research, which suggests that retail investors could learn a thing or two from the new monarch’s taste in British brands.