The iShares 2012 S&P AMT-Free Municipal Series ETF will mature on 15 August, 2012.
Individual bonds in the exchange traded fund (ETF) have begun to mature and the fund will transition into short-term, tax-exempt instruments and cash until 15 August, when the ETF will close and cease trading at the end of the day. Remaining shareholders will receive the entire amount of their proceeds in cash on or after 21 August, subject to their brokerage processes.
The iShares 2012 S&P AMT-Free Municipal Series ETF is the first iShares Municipal Series ETF to mature. The other five iShares ETFs in the series have end dates ranging from 2013 to 2017. iShares has filed registration statements with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that would expand the suite of iShares S&P AMT-Free Municipal Series ETFs to include funds with 2018 and 2019 end dates. These funds are pending SEC review and therefore are not yet available to the public.
“The iShares S&P AMT-Free Muni Series was created to offer investors a bond-like experience, via a tradable ETF. Fund shareholders receive monthly income distributions and a maturity distribution with the added benefits found in the ETF structure, such as a diversified portfolio of bonds, transparency of holdings and pricing, and trading flexibility,” says Matthew Tucker, Head of iShares Fixed Income Strategy at BlackRock. “As the iShares 2012 Municipal Series ETF is the first of the series to reach maturity, we plan to introduce additional ETFs to the iShares series.”
