Engine No. 1, the activist firm that recently put three candidates on Exxon Mobil's (NYSE: XOM) board of directors, is bringing its climate change activism to other avenue with the launch of its own exchange-traded fund.
The Engine No.1 Transform 500 ETF (NYSE: VOTE) is a passively managed fund that invests in 500 of the largest companies in the United States and tracks the Morningstar U.S. Large Cap Select Index and encourages transformation change in public companies by apply proxy voting guidelines and engaging in dialogue with management.
Unlike other ETFs, which usually seek to buy companies that meet their investment criteria, VOTE is not trying to own companies that share in its beliefs or exclude companies that do not. Instead, VOTE plans to use that shares owned through the ETF to vote in favor of climate change proposals and other Engine No. 1 activist efforts.
VOTE's strategy is based on holding companies and leadership teams accountable while "focusing on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues that create value;" actively working with companies to "strengthen the investments they make in stakeholders to drive company performance;" and building a platform to "better serve investors' long-term interests," which enable then to be apart of Engine No. 1's overall mission.
VOTE is basically the combination of three hot investment themes in the current market climate: ETFs, ESG and activist investing.
"Our idea with this product was, let's be ESG investors, not by what we hold because we're just holding the 500 largest companies by market cap. Instead, let's be ESG by what we do as active owners," said Engine No.1 managing director Michael O'Leary, quoted by CNBC. "Because of this fund, we will now be long-term, nearly permanent owners of the 500 largest companies in America."
VOTE's top holdings include Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), with the ETF holding stakes primarily in technology, healthcare, consumer discretionary, communication services and financials sectors.
"Engine No.1 was founded in 2020 by a team of builders, investors, and creators who believe that you must engage to effect change," the firm said. "We launched the Engine No.1 Transform 500 ETF to harness the power of investors--the power to create good jobs, reverse climates change, fight gender and racial injustice, and bring greater accountability to the economy's largest companies."