ETF Odds & Ends: Sprott Launches ESG Gold Fund

The week ending Aug. 5 saw a handful of ETFs launch. They included the Horizon Kinetics Blockchain Development ETF (BCDF) and the Sprott ESG Gold ETF (SESG) on Tuesday, as well as the Touchstone Dividend Select ETF (DVND) and the Schwab Crypto Thematic ETF (STCE) on Thursday. 

SESG caters to investors who want physical gold exposure without the negative environmental and social impact that gold mining is known for. This ETF will “source gold from companies and mines that meet Sprott’s ESG screening criteria,” the company said.  

“We created SESG to fill a gap in the marketplace with a gold fund focused on trust, transparency and traceability,” said Sprott CEO John Ciampaglia about the launch. “Our goal is to answer a number of key questions for investors: Where does my gold come from, who produced it and was it produced sustainably by recognized ESG leaders?” 

Barclays Resumes Creations  

Along with these launches, this week brought a few notable closures. The iShares Currency Hedged JPX-Nikkei 400 ETF (HJPX), which has $3 million in assets under management, will be liquidated. Trading in the ETF will be halted starting on Aug. 23. 

Meanwhile, Barclays announced that it has resumed creations on 27 exchange-traded notes, most of them commodity ETNs, after suspending them earlier this year. 

That includes the iPath Select MLP ETN (ATMP), the iPath Shiller CAPE ETN (CAPD) and the iPath Series B Bloomberg Agriculture Subindex Total Return ETN (JJA). 

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