Janus Debuts ESG ETF Suite

Janus Henderson entered the ESG space today with four actively managed funds focused on sustainability and one focused on decarbonization stocks. All five funds debuted on the NYSE Arca Thursday and are listed below:

Each of those expense ratios is applied to the first $250 million in assets in each fund. Every dollar in managed assets over that figure is charged a 5 basis point discount, according to the funds’ prospectuses.

The funds generally take on an ESG flavor, despite eschewing that label in their names. SXUS and SSPX both aim to invest in between 30 to 50 stocks outside and within the U.S., respectively, that are aligned with trends like climate change, resource management, and a growing and aging human population. 

Nick Cherney, Janus Henderson’s head of exchange-traded products, said in an interview that the funds are intended as an alternative to passive vehicles that mainly employ negative screens to justify their label rather than having analysts determine if a company is providing an environmental or social benefit.

“We see lots and lots of passive ESG ETFs launching that we view as relatively inadequate when it comes to their approach to ESG,” he said.

Both of the bond funds are limited to investment-grade products. SCRD invests in corporate debt from companies involved in health care, economic development, sustainable energy and “innovation” companies deemed to be developing products that can make other firms become more sustainable.

JIB has the same stated mission but is free to invest in a mix of government debt, corporate bonds and short-term vehicles.

The funds also ban a running list of industries from their investable universes, including but not limited to alcohol producers, weapons developers, genetic engineering, meat and dairy producers, and nuclear power generators.

JZRO is subject to that list but does not specifically exclude nuclear power generators or fossil fuel power generators from its investable universe.

“Should we own that company or not?” he said. “That's the kind of nuance that we're talking about.”

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