L&G launches WTW Global Equity Diversified UCITS ETF

Legal & General has launched the L&G WTW Global Equity Diversified UCITS ETF. The fund tracks the WTW Global Equity Diversified Index, a custom index constructed by MSCI to specifications provided by WTW that applies multi-factor signals across value, quality and momentum.

The ETF aims to replicate a diversified multi-factor equity strategy that L&G says is used to manage about $25 billion across three institutional funds. The index enforces explicit limits on stock, sector and country exposure to control concentration and risk. The portfolio will be rebalanced quarterly and includes environmental, social and governance integration, with climate transition objectives incorporated into the strategy.

MSCI built the index using criteria supplied by WTW, reflecting a collaboration between the index provider and the investment consultant. L&G describes the ETF as a core equity building block offered in a UCITS format, a European regulatory structure that supports cross-border distribution and standardised investor protections.

David Barron, Global Head of Index & ETFs at L&G Asset Management, commented: “Providing access to highly sophisticated and cost-effective investment strategies is an important part of L&G’s global asset management offering. The ETF wrapper provides transparency, liquidity and easier access to a strategy already used in institutional assets.”

Sarah Hopkins, Head of Equity Solutions at WTW, added: “We are pleased to see the launch of the first GEDI ETF. Through our partnership with L&G and MSCI, this ETF offers a disciplined, diversified multi-factor approach that is transparent and cost-efficient.”

L&G said the ETF is the latest addition to its ETF range after a year in which its total ETF assets under management rose by about 50 percent. The firm noted that packaging the WTW/MSCI strategy in an ETF format is intended to make the rules-based approach available beyond institutional clients to a wider set of investors.

UCITS-format ETFs follow a European regulatory framework that facilitates distribution across jurisdictions that accept UCITS products. Multi-factor equity indices combine signals such as value, quality and momentum to seek diversification away from market-cap weighting; applying portfolio constraints and quarterly rebalancing aims to limit concentration risks while integrating ESG objectives.