How the first nonprofit ETF issuer can change socially responsible investing
A nonprofit investment manager is teaming up with the nation’s oldest and largest nonpartisan civil rights organization to issue its own exchange-trade fund (ETF).
Impact Shares, the first 501(c)(3) nonprofit ETF platform, collaborated with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to launch the Impact Shares NAACP Minority Empowerment ETF.
Trading began Thursday on the NYSE Arca with ticker symbol NACP.
It was designed to reflect NAACP’s values and is the first of the firm’s planned ETFs that focus on single social issues rather than all-encompassing strategies that focus on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) principles.
“You get your financial beta still, but you get what we call social alpha, which is superior corporate social outcomes relative to your social priorities,” Impact Shares President Ethan Powell told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on “Mornings with Maria” on Thursday.
The NAACP’s fund adds another layer to socially responsible investing, he said, and provides a “roadmap for corporate America to engage on these issues.”
Unlike other ETFs, Impact Shares will donate the net advisory profits from each ETF it sponsors back to the collaborating partner nonprofit, according to the company’s press release.