This new fund excludes certain industries that may harm people or the planet

This new fund excludes certain industries that may harm people or the planet

A new exchange-traded fund aims to give investors a way to turn corporate transparency into tangible returns. The Ark Transparency ETF, which trades under the ticker CTRU, is the newest product from Ark Investment Management, led by CEO and chief investment officer Cathie Wood. The fund reflects an emphasis on transparency already in place at Ark, Wood told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Thursday. "Ark Invest has gone viral as a brand because we're willing to share and engage with our clients," Wood said. "The return from transparency has been huge for us." However, the transparency ETF is different from Ark's investment lineup as it relies on a passive index. That index — called the Transparency Index — aims to track the 100 most transparent companies in the world. It was developed by Transparency Invest, a company founded by Paul Pagnato, a financial advisor who also serves as co-chairman of Cresset, a wealth management firm with around $22 billion in assets. The index's major distinction is its methodology, Pagnato said. Out of roughly 58,000 publicly traded companies, 152 meet the company's criteria for transparency. From there, the list is whittled down to 100. Just .3% of all of the companies in