BlackRock is set to shut five ETFs after failing to gather significant assets under management (AUM) since launching, ETF Stream can reveal.
The five ETFs are:
iShares Euro Total Market Value Large UCITS ETF (IDJV)
iShares EURO STOXX 50 ex-Financials UCITS ETF (IUSR)
iShares US Equity Buyback Achievers UCITS ETF (BACK)
iShares Edge MSCI EMU Multifactor UCITS ETF (EDMF)
iShares TA-35 Israel UCITS ETF (TASE)
The ETFs are set to close on 18 March following an annual review which determined the AUM had decreased below the minimum level for the strategies to be run “in an economically efficient manner”.
IUSR was the most successful of the ETFs capturing $52.3m assets since launch in November 2014, as at 19 February, while IDJV and TASE currently have $39.6m and $28.7m AUM, respectively.
Meanwhile, BACK and EDMF saw just $4.6m and $8.1m inflows highlighting the issue of looking to capture significant AUM in more niche areas of the market.
A spokesperson said in a statement: “BlackRock continually reviews its range of products to ensure that we are meeting the evolving needs of our clients. Based on ongoing reviews and client feedback, iShares will be closing five Irish-domiciled ETFs on 18 March.”
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Investors in the ETFs will be automatically redeemed on 18 March with the expected settlement date on 1 April.
BlackRock said if investors do not want to be automatically redeemed then they can sell the shares at any time up until 18 March.
