In core equity-based strategies, index-tracking ETFs are often seen as commodities with many investors and financial advisors choosing individual funds based on cost.
“Price becomes more dominant because competitors have equal liquidity, equal tracking error,” Fink said.
In U.S.-listed ETFs, iShares has gathered $16.2 billion of net inflows year to date as of June 30, compared with $29.6 billion for Vanguard, according to ETF Industry Association data.
The global iShares business captured $6.1 billion in net inflows in the second quarter, Fink said Wednesday.
The BlackRock CEO said iShares grabbed over 50% of the market share of fixed-income flows for the quarter with $11.7 billion, while “de-risking” is impacting its equity ETFs.
“And when you see risk-off globally, our iShares ETF platform will probably be more harmed in outflows because we have a multitude of products that are international-based that I would call more aggressive type of strategies than the core indexed, fundamental strategies,” Fink said.