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Vanguard Plans to Start Its First ETFs Tied to ESG Investing

  • One will track U.S. equities, the other international stocks
  • The funds won’t invest in alcohol, tobacco and weapons
The Vanguard Group headquarters are seen in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

The Vanguard Group headquarters are seen in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

Photographer: Mike Mergen/Bloomberg

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Vanguard Group plans to start its first set of exchange-traded funds that invest using environmental, social and governance criteria.

The company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to create a U.S. stock ETF and an international stock ETF that will screen for ESG factors, according to a statement Wednesday. The firm has an existing mutual fund tied to such strategies, the $4.4 billion Vanguard FTSE Social Index Fund, that was launched in 2000. That fund has gained 3.5 percent this year, trailing 89 percent of peers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.