The addition of these funds complements BlackRock’s local suite of portfolio building blocks and assists Australian investors to embed sustainability considerations into their portfolios.

The three funds are the iShares Core MSCI Australia ESG Leaders ETF (IESG), iShares Core MSCI World Ex Australia ESG Leaders ETF (IWLD) and iShares Core MSCI World ex Australia ESG Leaders (AUD Hedged) ETF (IHWL).

Leveraging MSCI’s Leaders ESG best-in-class methodology coupled with its rigorous ethical, climate and governance-based exclusions, the iShares Core MSCI Australia ESG Leaders ETF (IESG) seeks to provide investors with targeted exposures to companies with improved sustainability credentials relative to their sector peers within the small, mid-, and large-cap segments of the Australian market. Priced competitively at 9 basis points (bps), IESG is designed for Australian investors seeking Australian equity index exposure with an ESG focus.

Similarly, the ESG enhancements made to the iShares Core MSCI World ex Australia ESG Leaders ETFs –IWLD and IHWL aim to provide investors with broadly diversified international equity exposure as well as improved sustainability credentials relative to their peers. Additionally, the change to the structures of IWLD and IHWL seeks to minimise tracking error. The management fee of both funds is unchanged at 9bps and 12bps (for the AUD hedged version) respectively, in line with BlackRock’s commitment to make investing in sustainability more accessible and affordable for all Australians.

In further endorsement of the iShares Core MSCI World ex Australia ESG Leaders ETFs –IWLD and IHWL, both funds maintained their Recommended ratings from Zenith Investment Partners.

James Kingston, Head of iShares Australasia, said: “ESG is becoming a critical consideration for our clients in constructing portfolios, including incorporating their sustainability goals as well as improving overall portfolio resilience.

“ETFs have a pivotal role to play in being the foundational building blocks for investors to integrate sustainability into their portfolios in a cost-effective manner.

“Our local iShares ESG ETF suite aims to assist more Australian investors in fulfilling both their financial and sustainability-related investment goals and is part of BlackRock’s broader commitment to make sustainability our standard of investing.”

About MSCI Custom ESG Leaders Indexes

The funds are benchmarked to the MSCI Australia IMI Custom ESG Leaders Index and the MSCI World ex Australia Custom ESG Leaders Index which are designed to represent the performance of companies with high ESG ratings relative to their sector peers, while excluding companies associated with controversial businesses or exposed to climate risk.

These two indexes respectively achieved a 9% and 11% improvement in ESG Score, driven by the best-in-class approach to ESG selection; and a 56% and 60% reduction in carbon emissions, driven by excluding companies exposed to climate risk.

Simone Bouch, Head of Australia and New Zealand Client Coverage at MSCI, said: “In the transition towards a sustainable economy, it is imperative that all investors have access to ESG and climate solutions, empowering them to make better investment decisions. MSCI is very proud to work with BlackRock to play a critical role in making sustainability more accessible to Australian investors.”

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