How to charge more

It can be hard to tell the difference between exchange-traded funds (etfs) with an esg focus and those without one. Take three iShares etfs all managed by BlackRock: the Core s&p 500 (ivv), which has no esg focus; the esg Screened s&p 500 (xvv); and the esg Aware msci usa (esgu). The top equity holdings in all three funds are Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet a & c shares and Tesla. Their biggest sectoral exposures are to tech, health care, financial services and consumer goods. Two of the three have ExxonMobil, an oil giant, as one of their top 20 holdings. ivv also has exposure to “sin” stocks, such as arms and tobacco firms, but they are a tiny fraction of its overall portfolio. All three funds have performed pretty much in lockstep this year: down by a little over 20%.