Sage Advisory Seeks Transparency from ETF Providers
April 2, 2019 By Sage Advisory
AUSTIN, Texas – Sage Advisory Services, a fixed income and ETF strategy manager, conducted a survey of ETF providers to evaluate their dedication to higher standards of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance among the companies in which they are invested.
Sage sent the 26-question survey to 20 U.S. domiciled ETFs sponsors, with 14 of them completing the survey. Emma Smith, an ESG research analyst at Sage, led the ESG team in designing the survey and reviewing the ETF provider responses.
“We sent the survey because we believe that we need to be good fiduciary managers,” Smith said. “We are looking under the hood to make sure that [ETF providers] are doing in fact what they say they are doing in terms of their stewardship responsibilities.”
Sage designed this survey to measure engagement among ETF providers and to create more transparency for our clients. In analyzing the survey results, Sage found that most ETF providers have policies in place for corporate governance, proxy voting, and ESG evaluation.
Sage’s survey found that 50% of the Sponsors scored well on most of the stewardship issues and achieved a solid overall grade of “A.”
However, the survey results also suggested that the majority of ETF sponsors need to place a much higher priority on and dedicate more resources to corporate engagement to better fulfill their stewardship roles. By shining a light on these issues, Sage hopes that transparency in this field will improve.
“Transparency is key,” Smith said. “Investors want to know that these providers are doing what they are doing to truly affect their companies within their portfolios.”
Investors are demanding more information around ESG mandates, and Sage is dedicated to improving the understanding behind the various management decisions and governance policies that determine ETF investment choices.
Sage’s ESG team hopes that this survey will serve as a resource for investors to better understand the quality and breadth of fiduciary responsibility among ETF providers.
More on the survey results can be found here:
https://www.sageadvisory.com/media-assets/esg-perspectives-etf-sponsor-stewardship-survey/
https://www.sageadvisory.com/podcasts/the-results-of-sages-esg-stewardship-survey/
For more information, please contact
Jessica McHugh, Director of Marketing Communications
512-895-4173
media@sageadvisory.com