"What ESG investing is, is very simply put, an incorporation of publicly available data into investment processes," Noack said. Small but controversialSome investors like Noack have pointed out that debates surrounding ESG investing may be getting more attention than they deserve. However, grouping all ESG funds into one classification is too wide-ranging, Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, said in the same segment. The SPDR S&P 500 ESG ETF (EFIV) tracks an index designed to select S&P 500 companies meeting ESG criteria, while the Xtrackers MSCI USA ESG Leaders Equity ETF (USSG) corresponds to the performance of its underlying index. The Xtrackers S&P 500 ESG ETF (SNPE) , for instance, doesn't target the 25% worst S&P 500 companies from an ESG perspective of each industry group.

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