How Sector Inversting Is Going Global

Commentary July 28, 2010 at 08:00 PM

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Nine international industry sector exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were launched by BlackRock. The new funds are linked to MSCI All Country World ex-US sector indexes, which do not include U.S.-based companies.

By design, the new iShares sector ETFs have equity exposure to both developed and emerging markets.

The new funds are:

— iShares MSCI ACWI ex US Consumer Discretionary Sector Index Fund (AXDI)

– iShares MSCI ACWI ex US Consumer Staples Sector Index Fund (AXSL)

– iShares MSCI ACWI ex US Energy Sector Index Fund (AXEN)

– iShares MSCI ACWI ex US Health Care Sector Index Fund (AXHE)

– iShares MSCI ACWI ex US Industrials Sector Index Fund (AXID)

– iShares MSCI ACWI ex US Information Technology Sector Index Fund (AXIT)

– iShares MSCI ACWI ex US Materials Sector Index Fund (AXMT)

– iShares MSCI ACWI ex US Telecommunication Services Sector Index Fund (AXTE)

– iShares MSCI ACWI ex US Utilities Sector Index Fund (AXUT)

"We are expanding our international sector offering with the iShares MSCI ACWI ex-US sector funds because as financial advisors increasingly fine tune their clients' international exposure and institutional investors become more tactical internationally, we can make it easier for them to access the markets more efficiently," said Noel Archard, Head of iShares Product Research and Development at BlackRock in a statement.

According to the prospectus, the new sector ETFs have annual expense ratios of 0.48 percent.

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