iShares has filed paperwork with the SEC for a “iShares Human Rights Index Fund.”
Principal Investment Strategies
The Underlying Index aims to exclude companies that have economic associations with countries or regimes that are implicated in certain serious human rights violations, including, but not limited to, acts that result in widespread death, torture, rape, slavery, forced labor, and forced displacement of communities.
In addition, companies with substantial economic associations with repressive regimes with poor human rights records, such as Sudan, Iran and Burma, are excluded.
Further violations may also include, but are not limited to, actions taken by company employees, local military, security personnel, private military, or civilian contractors.
The selection universe for the Underlying Index is the MSCI All Country World Index. The Underlying Index is comprised only of equity securities. Companies are then excluded from this list based on MSCI ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) research data as of the end of January, April, July and October. As of December 31, 2011, the Underlying Index consisted of companies in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States (together, the “ACWI countries”).
Social Justice: Current Affairs, Business, Politics, and all the reasons in the world to Thrive on Creative Discontent!
Showing posts with label World. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World. Show all posts
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
I double dare you....
The real question becomes will the world not see the need to shift its dependence on US economics? The subprime fiasco cratered the world. Now the US freakeconomics threatens the world. Seems the world might be thinking about a more reliable counter-party…but whom? Yep, that’s what I think to …. No alternatives.
The International Monetary Fund said Monday that a downgrade of the U.S. government's credit rating would be "extremely damaging" for the global economy.
The IMF stressed that it is difficult to predict the consequences of a downgrade, since the United States has never had its top-tier rating lowered before.
"As we have said before, a downgrade will be very damaging for both the U.S. economy and the rest of the world," said Rodrigo Valdes, a senior advisor at the IMF. "But there is a lot of uncertainty; nobody really knows what would be the true effects would be."
The IMF's latest staff report on the U.S. came after talks over the weekend between Congress and the White House failed to resolve the dangerous impasse over the U.S. debt ceiling.
Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill have been deadlocked for weeks over a budget plan that is crucial to raising the nation's borrowing limit. The Treasury Department has warned that if Congress fails to raise the $14 trillion debt ceiling is not raised by Aug. 2, the government could have trouble paying some of its bills.
The main credit rating agencies stated last week that they are considering a downgrade of the nation's debt. That could roil global financial markets, which have widespread exposure to U.S. Treasury debt.
After the latest breakdown, lawmakers from opposing parties are now working on separate proposals.
The IMF said U.S. policy makers need to come up with a credible plan to reduce the nation's debt over the long term. But the fund also warned that cutting back too far and too fast could hurt the fragile U.S. economy.
A gradual consolidation of U.S. debt would help reduce the risk of "a global bond market event where investors would lose confidence in the ability of the United States to respond decisively to its looming fiscal challenges," the report states. "Such a loss in confidence would generate major negative spillovers to the rest of the world given the role of U.S. government bond yields as global benchmarks."
The International Monetary Fund said Monday that a downgrade of the U.S. government's credit rating would be "extremely damaging" for the global economy.
The IMF stressed that it is difficult to predict the consequences of a downgrade, since the United States has never had its top-tier rating lowered before.
"As we have said before, a downgrade will be very damaging for both the U.S. economy and the rest of the world," said Rodrigo Valdes, a senior advisor at the IMF. "But there is a lot of uncertainty; nobody really knows what would be the true effects would be."
The IMF's latest staff report on the U.S. came after talks over the weekend between Congress and the White House failed to resolve the dangerous impasse over the U.S. debt ceiling.
Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill have been deadlocked for weeks over a budget plan that is crucial to raising the nation's borrowing limit. The Treasury Department has warned that if Congress fails to raise the $14 trillion debt ceiling is not raised by Aug. 2, the government could have trouble paying some of its bills.
The main credit rating agencies stated last week that they are considering a downgrade of the nation's debt. That could roil global financial markets, which have widespread exposure to U.S. Treasury debt.
After the latest breakdown, lawmakers from opposing parties are now working on separate proposals.
The IMF said U.S. policy makers need to come up with a credible plan to reduce the nation's debt over the long term. But the fund also warned that cutting back too far and too fast could hurt the fragile U.S. economy.
A gradual consolidation of U.S. debt would help reduce the risk of "a global bond market event where investors would lose confidence in the ability of the United States to respond decisively to its looming fiscal challenges," the report states. "Such a loss in confidence would generate major negative spillovers to the rest of the world given the role of U.S. government bond yields as global benchmarks."
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