BlackRock has launched two fixed income ETFs that are meant to provide investors with “greater granularity” in the US bond market.
One of the ETFs targets bonds, including investment grade corporates, sovereign and local authorities.
Called the iShares $ Intermediate Credit Bond Ucits ETF, BlackRock said the fund offered income potential relative to US treasuries with similar maturities of between one and ten years.
The second product, the iShares $ Tips 0-5 Ucits ETF, invests in short-term Treasury inflation-protected securities (Tips). It aims at providing an inflation hedge with lower interest rate risk, while offering growth potential.
BlackRock now offers 86 bond ETFs in Europe and the firm said the global bond ETF industry had achieved its best quarter on record in the first quarter this year with $44.5 billion inflows.
Brett Olson, regional head of iShares fixed income at BlackRock, said: “We expect bond ETFs to become more engrained as the tool investors – from fund buyers to bond buyers – look to form part, or in many cases the basis, of their bond allocations.”
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