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BlackRock Extends ETF Market Reach Into Switzerland With Acquisition
BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager and owner of
the iShares exchange traded funds brand, has completed its
purchase of Credit
Suisse’s ETF business.
The acquisition “extends BlackRock’s footprint in Switzerland
and
brings a broader range of opportunities to Swiss investors
through BlackRock’s
ETF platform iShares,” the US-listed firm said in a statement
today.
The transaction is designed to complement the existing
iShares ETF range with funds domiciled in Switzerland,
Ireland and Luxembourg, it
said.
As of today, the combined firm will operate under the
iShares name. All 58 of Credit Suisse’s ETFs will be re-branded
and re-named
and begin trading as iShares ETFs on the exchanges where such
funds are listed.
ISIN codes and identifiers of the ETFs will not change.
iShares has operated in the Swiss market and served local
investors since 2003 and says the acquisition means it now
provides the
broadest range of ETF exposures domiciled in Switzerland. At the
end of May,
this range of Swiss domiciled products had assets of SFr7.7
billion ($8.1
billion) across equities, fixed income and gold funds.
BlackRock oversaw a total of $3.936 trillion of assets under
management at March 31 this year.
