Jacques Cousteau’s grandson is the newest member of the exchange-traded-fund world. Philippe Cousteau, the grandson of the famed conservationist, has teamed up with ETF provider AdvisorShares Investments LLC to launch an actively managed socially conscious ETF.

Mr. Cousteau won’t have anything to do with managing the newly minted AdvisorShares Global Echo ETF (GIVE). Forty basis points of the ETF’s 1.7% expense ratio, however, will go directly toward funding the Global Echo Foundation. Mr. Cousteau co-founded the group to provide resources for supporting women and children, microlending and environmental sustainability. AdvisorShares will donate an extra 25 basis points of its management fee to the foundation, as well.

Noah Hamman, chief executive of AdvisorShares, said the goal is to keep shareholders up-to-date on how the donations are being used so they can see the impact they are making. “We want to make the charitable part as transparent as the ETF,” he said.

Management of the assets will be left up to four socially conscious institutional money managers. The ETF will allocate among fixed-income, equities and long/short strategies to target an absolute return and a low correlation with the S&P 500. Continue reading →