With more than 1,400 ETFs listed for trading in the U.S., there are bound to be a few you never heard of. There is a good chance Pax MSCI North America ESG Index ETF (NASI) fits that description. Launched in May 2010, NASI was the first ETF of the ESG Shares lineup from Pax World. Last month, Pax announced the last day of trading for NASI will be March 13. It has been a consistent member of ETF Deathwatch since December 2010, when it first became eligible.
Pax World states “the proportionate interests of the shareholders in the net assets of the fund will be fixed on the basis of their respective share holdings at the close of business on March 13, 2013.” In other words, any remaining shareholders who elect to go through the liquidation process should not have to bear any of the expenses of the fund’s closure. Even so, we believe it is in the best interest of shareholders to dispose of their shares prior to delisting as opposed to waiting for final distributions on March 22.
“We haven’t been able to achieve satisfactory trading volume or asset growth, so we have decided to close the fund,” said Pax World President and CEO Joe Keefe, of the ETF, which employs a passive management strategy seeking to track the performance of the MSCI North America ESG Index. The closure will result in just one ETF remaining from Pax World, the Pax MSCI EAFE ESG Index ETF (EAPS) with about $20 million in assets.