On the heels of the success of its core suite of exchange traded funds, BlackRock’s (NYSE: BLK) iShares could increase the number of low-cost offerings currently in its stable.
“We really want to double down on international categories to offer the next level of exposure for investors,” Daniel Gamba, head of BlackRock’s institutional ETF business in the Americas, said in an interview with Christopher Condon of Bloomberg.
Gamba told Bloomberg iShares, the world’s largest ETF issuer, could add as many as 10 new international funds this year and that the products would be part of the company’s low-cost suite.
BlackRock introduced the iShares Core Series in October 2012 in an effort to provide investors with low-cost alternatives, territory previously dominated by other ETF issuers. The Core Series was designed to provide broad equity and fixed-income exposure for long-term investors. [BlackRock Celebrates Anniversary of iShares Core ETFs]
International offerings in the iShares Core Series currently include the $494.8 million iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF (NYSEArca: IXUS), the $1.3 billion iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (NYSEArca: IEFA) and the $3.2 billion iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: IEMG).
The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: IVV) is the largest of the core ETFs with over $51 billion in assets under management.
BlackRock also plans to introduce several reduced volatility ETFs in coming month as well as currency-hedged products, three of which will debut in early February, Bloomberg reported.
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