BlackRock's iShares [profile] is facing flak from Chuck Jaffe over an exchange-traded fund that hasn't even hit the shelves yet. The MarketWatch columnist says the proposed iShares Human Rights Index Fund "needs to be cried out against" because it barely excludes any countries or companies and won't satisfy the very market it's meant to cater to.

Jaffe calls the ETF "one of the most ridiculous ideas ever turned into a mutual fund." The fund will not invest in Iran, Myanmar (Burma) or Sudan, but Jaffe notes that human rights activists might say they should have excluded China, Egypt and Russia. The fund also did not eliminate major multinational companies that operate all over the world.

Jaffe said this fund will "disappoint the activists it is trying to serve." He expects that it will lead a "short inglorious life and is put out of its misery within the next three years." 

Edited by: HFD


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