iShares announces plans for a genocide-free ETF - November 12, 2009

  • iShares announced plans for a new ETF which would utilize a third-party index provider to identify companies around the world that they believe are strongly connected to genocide to screen out of an established, broad-based international benchmark.
  • Investors Against Genocide commended iShares for its announcement that it will develop an iShares Genocide-Free Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). 
  • Read the IAG press release welcoming plans for iShares genocide-free ETF

    "We consider this announcement by iShares an important step forward in the effort to advance the practice of genocide-free investing."

    "While most US mutual fund companies have declined to take any action, iShares has listened to the marketplace and has taken a significant step forward by announcing plans to develop the first international genocide-free fund for retail investors."

    "For the many millions of American families who do not want their hard-earned savings to be invested in companies that help support genocide, the introduction of this new fund by iShares will make it easier to find genocide-free investment alternatives. We hope experience with this new fund will further encourage development of genocide-free alternatives for all fund types in the future."
     - Eric Cohen
  • Read some of the press coverage
    - BGI plans genocide-free ETF, Financial Advisor
    - iShares caters to 'genocide-free' options, Mutual Fund Wire
    - BGI to develop genocide-free ETF, Reuters
    - iShares planning “genocide-free ETF”, ETFdb
    - Yes, now a genocide-free ETF, CNBC
    - iShares files for a genocide-free ETF, ETF Trends
    - BGI developing genocide-free ETF, Ignites 
  • At the time of the announcement, iShares was part of Barclays, but is now owned by Blackrock.
  • IAG will be watching developments with iShares closely.

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Barclays' holdings


Barclays worldwide holdings of PetroChina were $1.6 billion, as of approximately September 30, 2008, counting NYSE and Hong Kong Stock Exchange holdings.
  • Barclays' NYSE holdings of PetroChina, as of September 30, 2008, totaled $1.164 billion from two filings:
    - $1.164 billion from the SEC 13F filing for     Barclays PLC
    - $6.616 milliion from     the SEC 13F filing for Barclays Global Investors UK Holding1,133,454,000
  • Barclays holds over 1.1 billion H-share equivalents of PetroChina (as of 9/30/08).  These holdings include:
    • $132,678 from 177,900 H-share equivalents in iSHARES® NYSE COMPOSITE INDEX FUND, noted in this fund filing from October 31, 2008
    • $6,457,711 from 6,286,100 H-share equivalents in iSHARES®  S&PGLOBAL ENERGY SECTOR INDEX FUND, noted in this fund filing from September 30, 2008
    • Yahoo finance calculated Barclays' NYSE holdings as 5.37% of the outstanding shares of PetroChina.
    • Note that Barclay's SEC filing on July 31, 2008, should be disregarded.  It incorrectly showed NYSE holdings totaled $13.0 billion, from 10,120,746,000 H-share equivalents.  That error was corrected in later filings.
  • Additional PetroChina holdings by Barclays, as of August 31, 2008,on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange:
    - $3,005,021 from 2,336,000 H-shares in iSHARES® MSCI BRIC INDEX FUND
    - $176,714,805 from 137,372,000 H-shares in iSHARES® MSCI EMERGING MARKETS INDEX FUND
  • Additional PetroChina holdings by Barclays, as of September 30, 2008, on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange:
    - $1,110,718 from 1,078,000 H-shares in iSHARES® S&P ASIA 50 INDEX FUND
  • Additional PetroChina holdings by Barclays, as of October 31, 2008, on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange:
    - $164,739 from 224,000 H-shares in iSHARES®FTSE CHINA (HK LISTED) INDEX FUND
    - $319,299,138 from 364,716,000 H-shares in iSHARES® FTSE/XINHUA CHINA 25 INDEX FUND
    -     $132,379 from 180,000 H-shares in iSHARES® MSCI ACWI INDEX FUND
    - $    726,616 from 988,000 H-shares in iSHARES®MSCI ALL COUNTRY ASIA EX JAPAN INDEX FUND
  • Barclays' holdings of PetroChina as of August 1, 2007, worldwide, were worth $704 million, estimated based on information accessed by the Sudan Divestment Task Force through Bloomberg LP and market-valued as of August 1, 2007.