Fidelity Investments announced today it will offer free trading on 25 widely held iShares exchange-traded funds, including some of the most popular ETFs in the world, including the iShares S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: IVV), iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (NYSEArca: EFA) and iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: EEM).
The brokerage giant said it has partnered with iShares’ sponsor BlackRock to offer free trades “for a period anticipated to be at least three years.”
The move comes just months after Fidelity’s arch competitor, Charles Schwab, launched its own family of ETFs and offered Schwab brokerage customers the opportunity to trade those funds for free. Schwab currently offers six such ETFs, and is planning to launch at least two more.
The Fidelity/BlackRock deal covers a much broader spectrum of ETFs, including ETFs covering most major equity and fixed-income categories. It covers 10 of the 25 largest ETFs in the
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International Equity |
Fixed Income |
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Total Market |
iShares MSCI EAFE |
EFA |
iShares Barclays Aggregate |
AGG |
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iShares Russell 3000 |
IWV |
iShares MSCI EAFE Small Cap |
SCZ |
iShares Barclays TIPS |
TIP |
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Large Cap |
iShares MSCI Emerging Markets |
EEM |
iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate |
LQD |
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iShares S&P 500 |
IVV |
iShares MSCI ACWI |
ACWI |
iShares JP Morgan USD Emerging Markets |
EMB |
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iShares S&P 500 Growth |
IVW |
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iShares S&P National AMT-Free Municipal |
MUB |
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iShares S&P 500 Value |
IVE |
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iShares Russell 1000 |
IWB |
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iShares Russell 1000 Growth |
IWF |
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iShares Russell 1000 Value |
IWD |
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Mid Cap |
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iShares S&P MidCap 400 |
IJH |
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iShares S&P MidCap 400 Growth |
IJK |
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iShares S&P MidCap 400 Value |
IJJ |
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Small Cap |
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iShares S&P SmallCap 600 |
IJR |
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iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Growth |
IJT |
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iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Value |
IJS |
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iShares Russell 2000 |
IWM |
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iShares Russell 2000 Growth |
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iShares Russell 2000 Value |
IWN |
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The move could help drive significant retail interest in ETFs. Commissions make retail strategies like dollar-cost-averaging unviable. By removing that barrier, brokerages like Schwab and Fidelity could help ETFs grab a larger share of the mutual fund marketplace.
