Strict climate ETF launched by Impact Shares and members of the Global Investors for Sustainable Development to support UN climate goals

New York – November 3, 2021 – Impact Shares, the nonprofit ETF sponsor backed by The Rockefeller Foundation, is pleased to announce the launch of the Impact Shares MSCI Global Climate Select ETF (NYSE Arca: NTZO) in collaboration with the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the UN agency that makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 46 Least Developed Countries (LDCs). NTZO is based on an index licensed by MSCI (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community.

The new ETF, based on the MSCI ACWI Climate Pathway Select Index, was co-created by Impact Shares and a working group of the Global Investors for Sustainable Development (GISD) Alliance. In 2019, UN Secretary General António Guterres established the GISD, a group of 30 of the world’s top business leaders, to arrive at solutions that scale up private finance and investment necessary to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“The GISD Alliance was convened to help move money behind the SDGs,” said Investec CEO Fani Titi, a GISD member. “With this climate ETF aimed at tackling SDG 13, we have created a real opportunity for investors to finance greater good. It is exciting to see our work with the United Nations and other partners to develop standards and tools to mobilize investment in sustainable development paying off in this investment product.”

The NTZO ETF includes UN values in its methodology: companies in the index must abide by the UN Global Compact, and entities that profit from weapons, guns, alcohol, tobacco, or palm oil are excluded. Recognizing the urgency of moving to a Net Zero economy during the UN Conference of Parties (COP) meeting and beyond, the index also excludes companies that own or profit from any form of fossil fuel.

“The need to address climate change impacts has never been clearer, especially for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries,” said Preeti Sinha, Executive Secretary of UNCDF. “We at UNCDF are very proud to support the GISD by issuing our second ETF with Impact Shares [after the 2018 launch of SDGA, which includes companies that create positive economic benefits in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)]. NTZO demonstrates UNCDF’s ability to create innovative financial products that appeal to investors and continue to raise impact standards. And the fee donation will help the UN build climate resilience in the world’s LDCs.”

Stuart Doole, Managing Director, Research at MSCI, comments: “We are pleased to work with Impact Shares as the index provider for this launch. The MSCI ACWI Climate Pathway Select Index was constructed through an approach that targets companies with climate transition opportunities, minimizes climate transition risks, reduces carbon emitters using Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions criteria, and includes companies with carbon reduction targets following an annualized 7% year-on-year decarbonization trajectory. The index also targets an improved ESG profile as compared to its parent market capitalization weighted index, the MSCI ACWI Index.”

Impact Shares, a nonprofit fund manager, will donate the net management fee on NTZO to UNCDF to build climate resilience and adaptation in the LDCs. This fee donation gives the investing public an innovative new way to support the work of the United Nations.

"Extreme weather events and intensifying climate volatility are a stark reminder of the urgency of accelerating the carbon transition," said Ethan Powell, CEO of Impact Shares. "Broad collaboration among key organizations such as the UNCDF and GISD are crucial in moving investors to decarbonize their portfolios and support the transition to a more sustainable economy."

NTZO was launched November 3 in Glasgow at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) and will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange the same day.

About Impact Shares

Impact Shares is a nonprofit fund sponsor and investment manager that is creating a new and innovative platform for clients seeking maximum social impact with market returns. Impact Shares' goal is to build a capital markets bridge between leading nonprofits, investors and corporate America to direct capital and social engagement on societal priorities. Impact Shares is a tax-exempt non-profit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. For more information about Impact Shares, visit impactetfs.org.

About UNCDF

The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 47 least developed countries. With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development. UNCDF’s financing models work through two channels: financial inclusion that expands the opportunities for individuals, households, and small businesses to participate in the local economy, providing them with the tools they need to climb out of poverty and manage their financial lives; and by showing how localized investments—through fiscal decentralization, innovative municipal finance, and structured project finance—can drive public and private funding that underpins local economic expansion and sustainable development. By strengthening how finance works for poor people at the household, small enterprise, and local infrastructure levels, UNCDF contributes to SDG 1 on eradicating poverty and SDG 17 on the means of implementation. By identifying those market segments where innovative financing models can have transformational impact in helping to reach the last mile and address exclusion and inequalities of access, UNCDF contributes to a number of different SDGs. Visit us at www.uncdf.org, follow @UNCDF and subscribe for updates at bit.ly/2wwDiqs.

Sales Contact:

Impact Shares

844-GIVE-ETF

info@impactetfs.org

Media Contact:

Caitlyn Foster, Gregory FCA for Impact Shares

484-798-7730

impactshares@gregoryfca.com

UNCDF

Esther Pan Sloane, Head, Partnerships, Policy and Communications

(212) 906-6522

esther.pan.sloane@uncdf.org

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