Although ETF fee reductions often spark talk of competition from Vanguard, a familiar to iShares in the U.S., Canada and, to a lesser extent, the U.K., the next largest ETF issuers in Europe after iShares are Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale’s Lyxor. European growth has lagged behind that seen in the U.S., but other U.S. issuers, including WisdomTree (NasdaqGS: WETF) and First Trust, are looking to bolster their European footprints. [First Trust Eyes Europe Expansion]
Nine of the 10 iShares core European ETFs will be global equity funds while five will be bond ETFs, Bloomberg reported.
While lower cost ETFs are thought to be aimed at retail investors, the U.S-listed iShares core funds have gained a following among institutional investors. For example, the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: IEMG) and the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (NYSEArca: IEFA) have pulled in $4.5 billion and $2.2 billion, respectively, in less than two years of trading. [iShares Core ETFs Gain Institutional Following]
ETF Trends editorial team contributed to this post. Tom Lydon’s clients own shares of IEMG.