iShares Grows Megatrend ETF Family

Today, BlackRock expanded its “Megatrends” ETF family to include four more funds, three of which are actively managed. The funds and their expense ratios are as follows:

• BlackRock Future Health ETF (BMED), 0.85%
• BlackRock Future Tech ETF (BTEK), 0.88%
• BlackRock Future Innovators ETF (BFTR), 0.80%
• iShares Virtual Work and Life Multisector ETF (IWFH), 0.47%

All four ETFs list on the NYSE Arca.

A BlacRock press release says that to differentiate its passive lineup from its active ETFs, the former will carry the iShares brand, while the latter will bear the BlackRock name going forward.  

“Megatrends are driving the world’s economic, social and technological transformation, presenting tremendous investment opportunities and investor demand. We are still in the early days of growth for these funds. iShares projects that the megatrend category is projected to grow 500% to $250 billion by 2024,” said Head of iShares Americas Armando Senra.

The Funds

The three actively managed funds—BMED, BTEK and BFTR—all take a global perspective and can invest in securities of any market capitalization size. They can also shift their portfolios entirely into short-term, high-quality securities when their managers determine it necessary, their prospectuses say.

BMED and BTEK are described by BlackRock as covering “innovative and emerging technologies” in the health care and technology spaces. Meanwhile BFTR focuses on innovative small-cap and midcap companies.

IWFH tracks a global cap-weighted index of companies that make remote work and a remote “lifestyle” possible. They are drawn from the information technology, communication services, consumer discretionary, health care and consumer staples sectors. As of mid-June there were 71 companies in the index, all of which had to have at least $300 million in market capitalization to be eligible for inclusion in addition to meeting liquidity requirements, the prospectus indicates.

BlackRock already had a family of eight megatrend ETFs, and with the new launches, that number now stands at 12.

Contact Heather Bell at [email protected]