Europe’s first gold mining ETF with an ESG conscious mandate, the AuAg ESG Gold Mining UCITS ETF (LON:ESGO) is to launch on the London Stock Exchange next month
The gold mining ETF tracks an index that ranks gold miners for ESG characteristics and only includes the sector's 25 'best in class' companies for ESG risk, based on screening from independent specialists Sustainalytics.
The EFT, which has a total expense ratio of 0.6%, will allow ESG-focused investors a unique opportunity to participate in the gold mining sector.
The fund is equally weighted, with each holding having an allocation of 4%. The equal-weighted design helps to avoid concentration risks in larger gold miners.
The possible underweighting of a few dominant mega-companies may also provide a beneficial return profile for the AuAg ESG Gold Mining UCITS ETF in a bull market for gold and gold miners.
It will track the Solactive AuAg Gold Mining Index, which ranks gold miners for ESG characteristics and excludes all but the 25 best-in-class ESG Risk companies in the sector
Using the HANetf white-label ETF platform, the ETF has been created in partnership with Sweden-based AuAg Funds, a boutique brand with a strong focus on precious metals and green-tech elements.
“We’re delighted to launch the AuAg ESG Gold Mining UCITS ETF (ESGO) which allows investment in the companies that extract precious metals, with an active ESG approach,” said AuAg chief executive Eric Strand.
“Mining is an industry that has seen vast improvements in all aspects of ESG, but standards vary across regions and companies. ESGO helps investors get exposure towards gold mining companies with the best ESG credentials and invest in the sector more responsibly.”
Hector McNeil, co-founder and co-CEO at HANetf, said: “ESG is very important for all types of investments and investors increasingly demand greater clarity and transparency from investment providers.”
“HANetf brought the Royal Mint Physical Gold ETC (RMAU) to market in March 2020, and it had the unique feature of being the first gold ETC to be launched with backing of 100% LBMA responsibly sourced bars. It has kept that standard since its launch and is uniquely independently audited. RMAU investors asked HANetf if we could do the same for gold miners, so we are very proud to do that with AuAg Funds with the launch of ESGO.”