Two exchange traded funds explicitly marketed as excluding fossil fuels are holding thousands of shares in mining and energy companies with significant coal operations, raising questions about fund managers’ marketing practices and the responsibility of regulators to clear confusion around what investments should count as green. One of the funds — the SPDR MSCI EAFE Fossil Fuel Reserves Free ETF — contains more than 3,000 shares of RWE, a German energy company that runs seven coal-fired power plants, including one in Aberthaw, Wales. The other fund — the SPDR MSCI Emerging Markets Fossil Fuel Reserves Free ETF — owns nearly 50,000 shares of Vale, a Brazilian mining company that produces 22m tonnes of coal ore, and 7,500 shares of Sasol, a South African miner which operates six coal mines.
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