(Reuters) – The iShares ESG MSCI EM Leaders ETF suffered heavy outflows this week, according to public data, leading to a tenfold drop in the assets managed by the exchange-traded fund focused on sustainable emerging-market companies.
The number of outstanding shares in the fund, which has underperformed its benchmark and whose top three holdings are Taiwan Semi, Tencent and Alibaba, fell over 91% to 1.2 million as of Monday from 13.9 million as of Dec. 22.
The fund now manages around $74 million worth of net assets, compared to ten times more earlier this month.
BlackRock, the world’s biggest money manager which owns iShares, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to Refinitiv, Finland’s Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company owned 13 million shares in the ETF in September, making it the No.1 investor in the fund at the time.
The fund rose 0.9% by 1516 GMT on Thursday. It has lost 3.5% so far this year, while its benchmark, the MSCI EM Extended ESG Leaders 5% Issuer Capped index, is down 0.6%.
(Reporting by Danilo Masoni; Editing by Alden Bentley and Chizu Nomiyama)
