Fidelity International has introduced two new active fixed income ETFs with a focus on sustainable investing, falling under SFDR Article 9.
The funds, which include the Fidelity Sustainable EUR Corporate Bond – Paris Aligned Multifactor UCITS ETF and the Fidelity Sustainable USD Corporate Bond – Paris Aligned Multifactor UCITS ETF, were listed today (23 October) on the London Stock Exchange and Xetra.
See also: Fidelity launches ‘climate aware’ government bond ETF
Fidelity said the aim for the funds is to follow the Paris Agreement goals for carbon emissions.
Both funds come with a 0.2% ongoing charges figure (OCF), rising to 0.25% for their respective currency hedged versions.
The USD fund will be benchmarked against the Solactive USD Corporate IG PAB Index, while the EUR fund will track the Solactive Euro Corporate IG PAB Index.
The Solactive funds have a self-decarbonisation trajectory of at least 7% each year, which is reviewed semi-annually in January and July.
Fidelity currently offers two other Article 9 ETFs, the Fidelity Sustainable Global Corporate Bond Paris-Aligned Multifactor UCITS ETF and Fidelity Sustainable Global High Yield Bond Paris-Aligned Multifactor UCITS ETF.
Stefan Kuhn, head of Europe ETF distribution, recognised the growth of ETF offerings in recent years, from $200bn (£164.6bn) globally in 2003 to $9.5trn (£7.8trn) in 2022.
“Since launch in 2021, our Sustainable Global Corporate Bond Multifactor UCITS ETF has proved popular with clients, utilising Fidelity’s active research platform and our sustainability expertise to identify best-in-class corporate bonds at an attractive price point,” Kuhn said.
“We are pleased to expand on this to include regional variations of the successful strategy, in line with client demand.”
As of June 2023, Fidelity managed $744.8bn (£612.77bn) assets. In September, the company also launched two active Article 9 funds, The Fidelity Funds Sustainable Global Equity fund and the Fidelity Funds Sustainable Asian Focus fund.
