VSGX
Seeks to track the performance of the FTSE Global All Cap ex US Choice Index.Market cap weighted index composed of large-, mid-, and small-capitalization international stocks.Screened for certain environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) criteria.Specifically excludes stocks of certain companies related to the following: adult entertainment, alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, gambling, chemical and biological weapons, cluster munitions, anti-personnel landmines, nuclear weapons, conventional military weapons, civilian firearms, nuclear power, and coal, oil, or gas.Excludes stocks of companies that do not meet certain labor, human rights, environmental, and anti-corruption standards.Excludes companies that do not meet certain diversity criteria.Employs a passively managed, index-sampling strategy.Important note: The index excludes the stocks of companies that FTSE determines engage in, have a specified level of involvement in, and/or derive threshold amounts of revenue from one or more of the following activities: (i) produce adult entertainment; own/operate adult entertainment establishments; distribute adult entertainment materials; (ii) manufacture alcoholic beverages; supply alcohol-related products/services to alcoholic beverage manufacturers; involved in distribution and/or retail sale of alcoholic beverages; (iii) manufacture tobacco products; supply tobacco related products/services; involved in distribution and/or retail sale of tobacco products; (iv) engage in cannabis cultivation, cannabis distribution, the processing and distribution of cannabis plants, and the creation of cannabis derivative products per the Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB) standards; (v) own and/or operate a gambling establishment; manufacture specialized equipment used exclusively for gambling; provide supporting products/services to gambling operations; (vi) produce chemical or biological weapons and their components; (vii) produce (or produce specific and critical parts or services for) cluster munitions; (viii) produce (or produce specific and critical parts or services for) anti-personnel mines; (ix) produce nuclear weapons or their components; (x) manufacture military weapons systems and/or integral, tailor-made components of these weapons; provide tailor-made products and/or services that support military weapons; provide non-weapons related tailor-made products and/or services related to the military or defense industry; (xi) produce and sell assault weapons or small arms to civilian customers; produce and sell key components of small arms; involved in the retail and/or distribution of assault weapons or small arms; (xii) involved in the operation and supply of nuclear power generation, that harnesses the energy present within atomic nuclei or their components; engaged in the development, processing, production and distribution of equipment and facilities that are specifically designed for and critical to the generation of nuclear power; (xiii) own proved or probable reserves in coal, oil, or gas; (xiv) any company that FTSE determines per the ICB standards: (a) engages in the exploration for and drilling, production, and supply of crude oil on land or in offshore areas; (b) primarily engages in the refining and marketing of petroleum products; (c) supplies equipment and services to oil fields and offshore platforms; (d) operates pipelines carrying oil, gas or other forms of fuel; (e) engages in all three fields of petroleum production: extraction (upstream), transportation (midstream), and refining and marketing (downstream); or (f) mines, processes and markets coal per the ICB standards; (xv) generate electricity from oil and/or gas, or thermal coal; and (xvi) distribute gas to end users. The level or type of involvement in, or amount of revenue earned from, certain activities or business segments that lead to exclusion by FTSE can vary from one activity or business segment to another. The index methodology also excludes the stocks of companies that, as FTSE determines based on its internal assessment, do not meet certain labor, human rights, environmental, and anti-corruption standards, as well as companies that fail to meet two of the following three diversity criteria: (1) at least one woman on the board; (2) diversity policies in place; and (3) diversity management systems in place. FTSE uses internal methodologies to analyze various factors in determining whether a company meets the foregoing criteria and/or falls within a particular industry, including whether the company has a certain amount of revenue derived from an industry, the company’s level of involvement in an industry, and the severity of certain controversies (as determined by FTSE), which can vary from one company to another and from one activity to another.