Exxon-Beating Activist Engine No. 1 Plans ETF to Prod Boards (1)

The tiny activist fund that recently won at least two seats on Exxon Mobil Corp.’s board is setting its sights on a new challenge -- the $6.3 trillion ETF industry.

Engine No. 1, which shocked investors and analysts last week by taking the board positions at Exxon’s annual shareholder meeting, is now planning to launch its first exchange-traded fund. The Transform 500 ETF’s goal is to encourage changes at the companies it holds through proxy voting, according to a regulatory filing.

“Some people think of ETFs as run by asset managers that passively track indexes and rubber stamp ...