Light on Carbon. Globally Diverse Exposure.

¹ Frequent trading of ETFs could significantly increase commissions and other costs such that they offset any savings from low fees or costs.

² All figures are in US dollars. Estimated and unaudited SSGA ESG assets under management as December 31, 2023 are $650billion as calculated by SSGA for ESG Accounts. SSGA defines an “ESG Account” as a client account (i.e., fund or separately managed account managed by SSGA) that utilizes an investment strategy that falls into one of the following three categories, which are not mutually exclusive: 

• Negative ESG Screen: A “Negative ESG Screen” (also known as an exclusionary screen) is a screen incorporated into the investment strategy utilized for the management of a portfolio that results in the exclusion from the portfolio of securities of issuers that fail to satisfy certain ESG criteria (e.g., because the issuers comprise part of a sector or industry). Negative ESG Screens include but are not limited to SSGA Point of View (“POV”) screens, norms-based screens, Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) screens, and screens provided by other third parties (including client-directed screens). Where a client’s investment agreement and/or investment guidelines specify , or the client otherwise communicates to SSGA that the application of a negative screen is to satisfy a purposes other than ESG ( e.g., diversification), such screens do not qualify as a Negative ESG Screen.
• Positive ESG Screen: A “Positive ESG Screen” is a screen incorporated into the investment strategy utilized for the management of a portfolio that Information Classification: Limited Access intentionally includes securities of issuers identified as having positive ESG characteristics (including positive characteristics of sub-components of ESG such as environmental, climate or social characteristics) relative to the issuer’s industry or sector peers. Positive ESG Screens include but are not limited to targeting an overall improvement of a portfolio’s ESG profile as compared to a benchmark or stated investment guideline, measured by an ESG score or an ESG metric, or investing only in issuers within an industry or sector that score higher within that industry or sector than the issuer’s peers.
• Third-Party ESG/Sustainable Index Investment Strategies: An index-tracking client account qualifies as an ESG Account if it tracks a Third-Party ESG/Sustainable Index. An index is deemed to be a “Third-Party ESG/Sustainable Index” if the index methodology incorporates ESG/Sustainable factors or characteristics that are utilized by the third-party index provider to determine which securities and/or how much in weight are included as index constituents. A client account that utilizes a Third-Party ESG/Sustainability Index as a reference benchmark for performance or reporting purposes, but does not seek to track such index as an investment strategy, does not qualify as an ESG Account unless it meets at least one of the first two prongs of the definition of “ESG Account” set forth above.

The methodology used by SSGA to identify ESG AUM may differ from the methodology used under certain classification and disclosure regulatory regimes. SSGA’s ESG AUM may include AUM of client accounts for which a negative screen is applied at the request of the client for regulatory or other purposes, which may not be disclosed to SSGA, that SSGA believes results in the exclusion from the client’s portfolio of securities based on ESG criteria.