Invesco Powershares' Mellor: The difficulties faced in launching ETFs in the ESG space

Expanding range

Chris Mellor, head of equity and commodity products at Invesco Powershares, has said the group has aspirations to launch an ESG range of ETFs but faces a number of challenges due to the varying definitions.

Speaking to Investment Week, Mellor said the firm was looking to launch a suite of ESG products but said the task was much harder for ETF providers as the definition varied depending on the investor and ETF providers were yet to find a common ground that everyone can agree on. However, he predicted more and more ETF providers would look to launch a range in this space as it creeps up the list of investors' priorities. What has been driving the boom in passive ESG product launches? "It is a problem for ETF providers because most ESG investment is done through mandates. "The defin...