The Factor ETF series consists of four products, each one offering exposure to “a specific factor that has historically provided enhanced risk adjusted returns”
The four funds are:
- The iShares MSCI World Value Factor UCITS ETF seeks to provide exposure to fundamentally undervalued stocks within the MSCI World Stocks index, BlackRock said.
- The iShares MSCI World Size Factor UCITS ETF provides exposure to smaller capitalization companies witin the MSCI World investment universe.
- The iShares MSCI World Momentum Factor UCITS ETF gives investors access to those companies that have recently outperformed on a risk-adjusted basis.
- And, the iShares MSCI World Quality Factor UCITS ETF provides investors with access to those companies within the index that have strong balance sheets and stable earnings, BlackRock said.
Factor investing is increasing in popularity, most recently with FTSE launching a number of new benchmarks targeting specific factors.
According to iShares, the four new funds complement its existing suite of smart beta funds, and are based on MSCI indices “to ensure each follows a transparent index methodology”.
Sara Shores, global head of smart beta for BlackRock, said: “Our Smart Beta strategies are simply the next step in the 40 year evolution of passive investing at BlackRock … Complementing our minimum volatility products, our new factor funds allow investors to emphasise specific, high conviction investment views or construct a broadly diversified portfolio along factor dimensions with the goal of outperforming the broad equity market.”
Each of the four funds are physically replicated ETFs and have a total expense ratio of 0.3%.
