BlackRock Extends ETF Market Reach Into Switzerland With Acquisition

Tom Burroughes

1 July 2013

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 across equities, fixed income and gold funds.

BlackRock oversaw a total of $3.936 trillion of assets under management at March 31 this year.