Citi has been appointed administrator, custodian, transfer agent and creation agent for the first exchange traded fund (ETF) in Colombia. The iShares COLCAP ETF tracks the COLCAP Index, a market cap weighted index of the 20 most liquid stocks listed on the Colombia Securities Exchange, Bolsa de Valores de Colombia (BVC). The fund was launched as part of the strategy to develop the Colombian Capital Markets and to introduce ETF products.
Citi provides custody, asset servicing, fund administration, fund accounting, valuation, performance and compliance monitoring, transfer agency as well as creation agent services and BlackRock performs the portfolio management and marketing functions.
“We were pleased to partner with Citi to help us define regulatory changes required for developing a successful ETF market in Colombia,” says Juan Pablo Cordoba, President of Bolsa de Valores de Colombia. “With Citi’s knowledge of the specialized needs of ETFs and local market presence, we readily had the infrastructure in place to support the launch of the first ETF product in Colombia.”
Daniel Gamba, CEO of BlackRock Latin America and Iberia, says: “We are excited that iShares COLCAP ETF furthers the collaboration between Citi and BlackRock in providing investors access to Latin America markets.”
As well as in Colombia, Citi supports ETF’s globally and in the Latin American markets of Brazil and Mexico.
“We were truly pleased to be selected to deliver our local and global capabilities in execution, custody and fund administration to support the launch of the first ETF in Colombia by BlackRock,” says Chandresh Iyer (pictured), Global Head of Investment Administration and Custody Services, Citi. “Through Citi’s more than 3,400 employees and local presence in Colombia since 1929, we are well-positioned to support the growth of the market with a full suite of industry-leading services.”
