BLK BlackRock Inc

By Maitane Sardon

BlackRock Inc.(BLK) said Thursday that it has launched two sustainable high-yield bond exchange-traded funds in Europe as part of its goal to meet investors' growing demand for funds that integrate environmental, social and governance factors.

BlackRock said the two new funds, the iShares € High Yield Corp Bond ESG UCITS ETF and the iShares $ High Yield Corp Bond ESG UCITS ETF, will track the Bloomberg Barclays MSCI Euro Corporate High Yield SRI and Sustainable BB+ Bond Index and the Bloomberg Barclays MSCI US Corporate High Yield SRI and Sustainable BB+ Bond Index respectively. They will have an expense ratio of 0.50%.

The investment giant said the ETFs will enable investors to achieve a more sustainable high-yield exposure through debt issued by companies with the strongest commitment to ESG, while also screening out companies involved in controversial business activities.

"As evidence increasingly shows that sustainability-related factors can help investors build more resilient portfolios, we are moving into an era where sustainable investing will be the standard way to invest," said Meaghan Muldoon, head of sustainable investing EMEA at BlackRock.

Write to Maitane Sardon at maitane.sardon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 14, 2019 04:32 ET (09:32 GMT)

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