DWS Transforms $2.5M ESG ETF into Something Much Different

It’s not that unusual to change one’s appearance: Just ask all the bros who can’t wait to stop shaving in Movember.

But if a fund got a different name, ticker, benchmark and investment process, is it still the same fund, or just a way of seeding a new product? One DWS Xtrackers ETF is having something of an identity crisis, going from a value ESG mandate to being an S&P 100 fund that simply cuts out the biggest names in the index. And that’s after a name change the fund already had earlier this year. On Dec. 19, the Xtrackers S&P 500 Value Scored & Screened ETF (SNPV), which until February had been the S&P 500 Value ESG ETF, will become the S&P 100 Ex Top 20 ETF (XOEX). Whew.

This One Is Not Like the Other

It’s common for asset managers to change funds’ names and investment strategies. That has all but been the norm amid a pullback in the US from sustainable and ESG mandates, with many products removing any hint of those labels. The trend was in the opposite direction a few years ago, when seemingly every fund shop wanted in on ESG, and many existing products saw slight modifications to reflect that. This year, however, the Janus Henderson Responsible International Dividend Fund dropped “Responsible” from its name, and the BlackRock Sustainable Balanced Fund scrapped “Sustainable.” Both of those funds backed off from ESG-related goals, according to a Morningstar analysis. Other products, such as the Sprott Critical Materials ETF and Cromwell Foresight Global Infrastructure Fund, had name changes but retained their investment strategies. 

Assets have been pouring out of US sustainable and ESG-themed products in recent years, and small funds have been closing :

• 39 such products shut down in the first half of 2025, while 55 closed in all of 2024, Morningstar data show.
• Last week, Fidelity announced five ETFs will close and liquidate next month, four of which are sustainable or ESG-specific funds: the Sustainable Core Plus Bond, Sustainable Low Duration Bond, Sustainable US Equity and Women’s Leadership ETFs.

The move by DWS to morph its ETF into essentially a different product stands out from the more measured changes many issuers have made in repurposing funds. Nonetheless, SNPV’s metamorphosis won’t affect too many investors, as it represents just $2.5 million in assets. DWS, through a PR firm, declined to comment. However, the fund’s new strategy aligns it somewhat with others this year that have addressed the extreme concentration in market-cap-weighted indexes of just a few companies, like Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon.

What Are Sustainable Investors to Do? Clearly, there are fewer ESG-related funds on the market today than just a few years ago. But investors still have choices, as asset managers dedicated to the space aren’t leaving. “There are big players out there like Parnassus, Calvert, etc., who are starting to offer ETFs. This is a huge shift and helps open the space to investors who want a more tax-friendly approach and lower investment minimums,” said Justin Horowitz, owner of Just Advising, which offers an ethical investing option. “Other mainstream names, like BlackRock, still offer their ESG funds, but it does seem harder to find them through their website nowadays.”