iShares Advances ESG Lineup with $800 Million from Ilmarinen

iShares ESG MSCI USA Leaders ETF (SUSL) launched yesterday with more than $800 million in investment from Ilmarinen, Finland’s largest pension insurance company. Ilmarinen is making this investment by moving assets from its S&P 500 equity exposure into SUSL, a strategy that offers exposure to the top environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performers within a broad U.S. equity solution.

Established in 1961, Ilmarinen has more than EUR 47 billion in investment assets (as of March 31, 2019) and has made sustainability an integral aspect of its overall company philosophy and investment strategy for more than five decades.

“We’re focused on integrating ESG characteristics throughout our investment strategy, so funds like this help us mirror our values as a company while adding investment value in the process,” said Anna Hyrske, head of responsible investing at Ilmarinen.

SUSL offers exposure to top ESG performers within U.S. large- and mid-capitalization stocks of companies relative to their sector peers as determined by MSCI, the index provider. SUSL is designed to track the market cap-weighted MSCI USA Extended ESG Leaders Index, which builds from the MSCI USA ESG Leaders Index framework. Companies involved in tobacco, alcohol, gambling, nuclear power, nuclear and conventional weapons, controversial weapons, and civilian firearms as well as companies involved in severe controversies are excluded from the index.(1)

“Working with Ilmarinen has been a shining example of collaboratingwith a forward thinking client to enable them to meet their own sustainable investment goals while creating a solution for other similar minded investors around the world,”saidSarah Kjellberg, head of U.S. iShares sustainable ETFsat BlackRock.

ESG Metrics: Going Beyond Products

The process for analyzing ESG metrics and understanding the sustainability profile of companies has improved with growing availability and access to data.

In October 2018, BlackRock introduced ESG and carbon intensity metrics alongside existing portfolio characteristics on all of our iShares Sustainable ETFs. And in April, we expanded availability of these metrics to 261 iShares ETFs.

All of this is part of a firm-wide initiative to expand access to ESG data and sustainability-related insights for clients and across our investment processes globally.

“Technological innovations and growing access to data are making it easier to integrate ESG characteristics into investing strategies, which means more companies will be evaluated–and invested in–according to their ability to implement sustainable business practices,” said Brian Deese, global head of sustainable investing at BlackRock. “It’s our belief that sustainability-related issues should be increasingly integrated into all aspects of investing.”

iShares sustainable investing platform is focused on offering choices for investors, and has grown to more than $9 billion in iShares ESG ETF assets globally (as of March 31, 2019).

About iShares

iShares unlocks opportunity across markets to meet the evolving needs of investors. With more than twenty years of experience, a global line-up of 800+ exchange traded funds (ETFs) and $1.9 trillion in assets under management as of March 31, 2019, iShares continues to drive progress for the financial industry. iShares funds are powered by the expert portfolio and risk management of BlackRock, trusted to manage more money than any other investment firm.(2)