DWS expands its Xtrackers ETF range with the launch of the Global Xtrackers Infrastructure ETF, a product that reflects the performance of infrastructure securities meeting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria. According to the asset manager, this is the first ETF to follow the ESG variant of a broad traditional infrastructure index.
With the Xtrackers Global Infrastructure ESG UCITS ETF, DWS aims to provide access to companies that deliver energy, transportation, and communication infrastructure, among others. The firm expects companies in these segments to experience comparatively minor fluctuations in fundamentals throughout the economic cycle. The ETF began trading last week on the London and German stock exchanges, with a fixed annual fee of 0.35%. The ETF seeks to closely track the Dow Jones Brookfield Global Green Infrastructure Index, calculated since 2016, reflecting the performance of 73 listed infrastructure companies, mostly based in industrialized countries and adhering to ESG criteria.
According to DWS, electric utility companies make up the largest part of the index, around 32%, followed by telecommunications infrastructure, mainly mobile tower REITs (19%), multi-business companies offering a wide range of products (11%), and construction and engineering firms (10%). The oil and gas storage and transportation sector, which is heavily represented in traditional infrastructure indexes, makes up less than 1% of the Dow Jones Brookfield Global Green Infrastructure Index.
DWS explains that, by country, the United States leads with 15 listed companies and a weighting exceeding 46%, followed by Spain, France, and the United Kingdom, each with five companies and a combined weighting of 29.5%. The index also includes 13 Chinese companies, with a total weighting of 2.6%. The largest individual holdings, according to DWS, are the U.S. transmission tower operator American Tower, with an index weighting of approximately 9.5%, and the French infrastructure and construction group Vinci, with 7.9%.
“The need for infrastructure beyond fossil fuels is growing rapidly as governments and companies worldwide work to develop more sustainable infrastructures focused on electrification and information technology. The index offers broad, global exposure to infrastructure but places particular emphasis on projects reliant on greener technologies,” says Michael Mohr, Head of Xtrackers Product at DWS.