Three European metaverse ETFs launch in two days

Legal & General Investment Management, the UK’s largest asset manager, has become the third major provider to roll out a metaverse-focused exchange traded fund for European investors in the same week.

The new L&G Metaverse ESG Exclusions Ucits ETF is one of four Dublin-domiciled ETFs that the asset management arm of insurer Legal & General listed in London, Frankfurt, Milan and Zurich on September 7.

The metaverse strategy is part of Legal & General IM’s newly created Access range of ETFs, while the L&G Optical Technology & Photonics ESG Exclusions, L&G Emerging Cyber Security ESG Exclusions and L&G Global Thematic ESG Exclusions Ucits vehicles sit within the firm’s flagship thematic range.

The new Access range aims to “provide exposures that are designed to serve as a tactical or strategic tool for investors seeking access to non-traditional investment opportunities”, according to the £1.29tn asset manager.

LGIM said it had “identified multiple investment opportunities related to the development still required, across hardware provision, software advances, networks and digital payments to augment human policing of the metaverse”.

Benchmarked against the iStoxx Access Metaverse Index, the metaverse ETF has a total expense ratio of 0.39 per cent.

Its launch comes on the same day that Legal & General IM’s US rival, Franklin Templeton, brought to market a metaverse-focused ETF for European investors that has a total expense ratio of just 0.3 per cent.

Fidelity International also rolled out a metaverse Ucits ETF just a day earlier on September 6 with an ongoing charges figure of 0.5 per cent.

LGIM said its three new thematic strategies, meanwhile, combine “active research and rules-based transparent implementation to create custom thematic indices that aim to offer investors purer exposure to themes, and underlying positions that are differentiated from traditional portfolios”.

Aanand Venkatramanan, head of ETFs for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at LGIM, said “thematic investment strategies have seen strong investor interest over recent years, thanks to their ability to capitalise on structural and foundational changes in the way we live and work”.

“Three of the funds launched today capture some of the most innovative and disruptive companies shaping global economies, while the Global Thematic fund will seek to allow investors to gain exposure to multiple themes, in an easily accessible format.”

LGIM said its new Optical Technology & Photonics ESG Exclusions ETF is the first of its kind in Europe.

Commenting on its new cyber security ETF, the manager added that it had been “at the forefront” of investing in cyber security since it launched Europe’s first ETF focused on this theme back in 2015.

Both ETFs have a TER of 0.49 per cent, while the global thematics ESG exclusions vehicle comes with a TER of 0.6 per cent.

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