Barclays Global Investors has announced today the launch of four new iShares exchange-traded funds on the Nasdaq Stock Market offering investors exposure to clean energy, nuclear power and
Barclays Global Investors has announced today the launch of four new iShares exchange-traded funds on the Nasdaq Stock Market offering investors exposure to clean energy, nuclear power and timber stocks, as well as to Hong Kong-listed Chinese companies.
Three iShares S&P Global Funds, the iShares S&P Global Clean Energy Index Fund, iShares S&P Global Nuclear Energy Index Fund and iShares S&P Global Timber & Forestry Index Fund, offer access to non-traditional segments of the global equity markets in co-operation with leading index provider Standard & Poor’s. Each has an expense ratio of 0.48 per cent.
The iShares FTSE China (HK Listed) Index Fund, which provides broad exposure to the China market, has an expense ratio of 0.74 per cent. It currently holds around 90 large- and mid-cap companies through H shares or Red Chip stocks. Following the launch of the new funds, iShares offers 65 global, international and emerging market ETFs to US investors.
‘As our world becomes more global and borders have less meaning, investors are increasingly interested in diversifying their portfolios into ETFs that help them capitalise on macro trends such as urbanisation, population growth and the need for alternative energy sources,’ says Noel Archard, head of US iShares product development.
‘Since we launched the first pure mainland China ETF for US investors in 2005, some investors have become interested in deeper access to the country, so we developed the new iShares FTSE China (HK Listed) Index Fund.’
‘We plan to continue to expand our international iShares product line to respond to our clients’ need for precise allocation and by leveraging BGI’s institutional global markets experience.’
Barclays Global Investors is one of the world’s largest asset managers and a leading global provider of investment management products and services, with more than 2,900 institutional clients and USD2trn in assets under management. Creator of the first index strategy in 1971 and the first quantitative active strategy in 1979, BGI is the global leader in ETFs with more than 320 iShares funds for institutions and individuals worldwide.
