BlackRock Unveils First Active Equity ETFs in Europe
BlackRock Inc., the world's biggest asset manager, has launched its first active equity exchange-traded funds in Europe amid the boom in demand for active management within the ETF wrapper.
The iShares World Equity High Income UCITS ETF (WINC) and iShares US Equity High Income UCITS ETF (INCU) are listed on Euronext Amsterdam and Deutsche Boerse with a total expense ratio of 0.35%.
WINC and INCU adopt a systematic approach to stock selection by investing in a basket of dividend-paying equities.
They aim to generate additional income by selling call options and buying futures on developed market large and mid-cap indices.
Both ETFs are managed by BlackRock's systematic and the iShares ETF platform teams.
BlackRock's managing directors Raffaele Savi, Robert Fisher and Anna Hawley will manage WINC while the firm's managing directors Savi, Fisher and Travis Cooke will manage INCU.
The ETFs are labelled Article 8 under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
Jane Sloan EMEA head of global product solutions at BlackRock, said: "Our clients’ business models in Europe are rapidly changing."
"A shift to centralized investment propositions, a focus on whole portfolio outcomes, a rise in digital wealth platforms and a new market regime all mean our clients require a broader set of investment strategies across index and active, including the wrappers they are delivered in," she said. “That is why we are excited to bring active ETF strategies to Europe, creating an important new avenue of choice and further access to investing."
Assets in active UCITS ETFs have increased five-fold since the start of 2015, from $6.1 billion to $32.9 billion by the end of 2023, according to data from ETFbook.
JP Morgan Asset Management has the largest market share in active ETFs, with $14bn assets under management (AUM).
BlackRock's iShares business is the world's largest ETF issuer. In the U.S. it manages $2.75 trillion in 411 funds.
This article was first published in etf.com sister publication etfstream: BlackRock unveils first active equity ETFs in Europe (etfstream.com)
