BlackRock (NYSE: BLK), the world’s largest asset manager, will list an S&P 500 exchange traded fund in Brazil.
The ETF, the iShares S&P 500 FIC FI Investimento no Exterior, will be the first Brazilian-listed ETF to offer exposure to equities outside of Latin America’s largest economy, Bloomberg news reported. BlackRock’s iShares, the world’s largest ETF issuer, currently offers eight ETFs in Brazil.
Exchange operator BM&FBovespa told Bloomberg Brazilian pension plans and hedge funds showed demand for the iShares S&P 500 offering. The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: IVV) is the iShares S&P 500 offering available in the U.S. It is the second-largest U.S. ETF with $56 billion in assets under management, according to iShares data.
U.S. ETF issuers are increasingly turning to Latin America as a new avenue for gaining assets.
Earlier this week, WisdomTree (NasdaqGS: WETF), the fifth-largest U.S. sponsor of exchange traded funds, announced Mexico’s pension funds investment regulator, La Comisión Nacional del Sistema de Ahorro para el Retiro (CONSAR), approved six WisdomTree ETFs for sale to Mexican pension plans. [WisdomTree Expands in Latin America]
WisdomTree ETFs are also available to pensioners in Chile and Peru.
In November 2013, Global X became the first U.S. ETF sponsor to list ETFs in Colombia. The New York-based issuer has three ETFs trading in South America’s second-largest economy. [Global X Lists Three ETFs in Colombia]
ETF Trends editorial team contributed to this post.