BlackRock files to license nontransparent ETF structure
The asset manager will use Precidian Investments' ActiveShares model
BlackRock Inc. is moving ahead with plans to launch a new kind of exchange-traded fund that doesn’t report its holding on a daily basis.
The world’s largest asset manager filed to license the structure of Precidian Investments’ ActiveShares product, which requires funds to publish an indicative value of the holdings every second. The model also uses an agency broker to confidentially buy and sell securities to help money flow into or out of the fund.
Issuers across the $4 trillion ETF industry are unveiling active active funds that keep their portfolios hidden, known as nontransparent or semitransparent funds, in contrast to the daily disclosure of traditional ETFs. Money managers launching such products say that model wards off potential front-running or copycat strategies.
JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s asset management arm is among those that have decided to test the actively managed nontransparent model this year. Legg Mason kicked off a value-focused product last week.
[More: Fidelity rolls out three semitransparent ETFs]
BlackRock is also planning to launch three actively managed funds: a Future Health ETF, which will invest in equities in the health sciences industry; a Future Innovators ETF tracking mid- and small-cap companies with earnings growth potential; and a Future Tech ETF focused on firms with rapid and sustainable growth prospects.
Traditional active ETFs are also becoming increasingly popular in the industry, with a record number of new products launched so far this year.
[More: Goldman, Fidelity, Gabelli put new spin on semitransparent ETFs]
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