The Swiss wealth management giant has added to its range of ETFs for socially responsible investments.

UBS Global Asset Management has listed an exchange-traded fund on the London Stock Exchange to offer socially responsible investments in the Japanese equity market.

The UBS ETF MSCI Japan Socially Responsible UCITS ETF (JPY) provides exposure to companies whose business concepts and products adhere to areas of environmental protection, social responsibility and corporate governance. 

The fund replicates a single benchmark in the MSCI Global SRI Index family, which uses both negative and positive screening to identify companies with the highest ESG ratings in their own sectors.

“Investors are increasingly looking at companies whose business activities are in harmony with social values and whose approach to managing environmental, social and corporate governance risks is first-rate. It follows that deciding to invest in a sustainable way isn’t about following a trend. On the contrary, the investment decision is primarily about striving for long-term values and sustainability,” said the head of UBS ETF sales UK & Ireland, Andrew Walsh.

UBS Global Asset Management's invested assets totalled around £442 billion ($677.8 billion) as of the end of June.