The Justice Company has joined forces with HANetf to launch one of the first ETFs built around a specialist human rights-based screening framework.
JURY Global High Dividend UCITS ETF, which has the ticker ‘JURY’, is classified as Article 8 under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.
It aims to provide investors diversified access to global equities, which offer attractive dividend pay-outs, but which have also been screened using human rights boundaries. These companies will typically be either large or mid caps, with the ETF aiming to achieve higher dividend payouts than the wider market.
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Independent research firm Ethical Screening has developed the ETF’s framework, which will exclude companies involved in violations of international humanitarian law including genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, apartheid, and occupation-related human rights abuse.
The firm will use the Geneva Conventions, UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and OECD guidelines to ensure the vehicle’s holdings are appropriate.
Alongside launching the ETF, The Justice Company – which is an initiative focused on applying human rights standards to investments – will donate 10% of the ETF’s total expense ratio to initiatives helping communities which are suffering conflict, oppression and displacement. This will also include scholarships for students whose education has been disrupted by conflict or human rights abuses.
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When discussing the launch of the ETF, Mike Head, senior adviser at The Justice Company, said: “What we could not find in the market was a professional, rules-based investment platform that treats certain violations as genuinely non-negotiable while still meeting institutional standards of diversification, transparency and performance. The ETF was created to close that gap.”
Hector McNeil, co-founder and co-CEO of HANetf, added he is “delighted to be partnering with The Justice Company to launch JURY Global High Dividend UCITS ETF”.
“The ETF is a unique offering, allowing investors to gain exposure to high dividend equities without compromising on principles. At HANetf, we are committed to continuing to bring unique and innovative strategies to investors in Europe and beyond,” he said.
Available on the London Stock Exchange, Xetra and Borsa Italiana, the ETF has a total expense ratio of 0.6%.
