BlackRock plans to liquidate 15 funds, including exchange-traded funds on the investment themes of sustainability and working from home, starting in mid-August, it announced last week.
"As we evolve our platform and launch new strategies, we also constantly assess the regulatory and operating environment as well as how our funds are meeting investors' investment objectives," the firm, which offers more than 600 mutual funds and ETFs in the United States, said in a statement.
BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, is not the only firm pulling back on thematic funds. Investors have pulled billions of dollars from such funds in 2023 and 2024 after a pandemic-era boom, Bloomberg reported in May. The ETF provider Global X shuttered thematic funds earlier this year investing in cannabis, green building and the metaverse.
The funds being liquidated at BlackRock are:
| Fund Name | Last Trading Date | Liquidation Date |
| BlackRock Future Climate and Sustainable Economy ETF (NYSE: BECO) | 8/12/2024 | 8/15/2024 |
| BlackRock Future Tech ETF (NYSE: BTEK) | 8/12/2024 | 8/15/2024 |
| BlackRock Liquid Environmentally Aware Fund | N/A | 9/5/2024 |
| TempFund | N/A | 9/5/2024 |
| BlackRock Sustainable Advantage CoreAlpha Bond Fund | N/A | 8/13/2024 |
| BlackRock Sustainable International Equity Fund | N/A | 8/13/2024 |
| BlackRock Sustainable Low Duration Bond Fund | N/A | 8/13/2024 |
| BlackRock Sustainable US Growth Equity Fund | N/A | 8/13/2024 |
| iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Germany ETF (Nasdaq: HWEG) | 8/12/2024 | 8/15/2024 |
| iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF (NYSE: FM) | 3/31/2025 (est.) | |
| iShares Gold Strategy ETF (Cboe: IAUF) | 8/12/2024 | 8/15/2024 |
| iShares International Developed Property ETF (NYSE: WPS) | 8/12/2024 | 8/15/2024 |
| iShares MSCI International Size Factor ETF (NYSE: ISZE) | 8/12/2024 | 8/15/2024 |
| iShares USD Systematic Bond ETF (Nasdaq: USBF) | 8/12/2024 | 8/15/2024 |
| iShares Virtual World and Life Multisector ETF (NYSE: IWFH) | 8/12/2024 | 8/15/2024 |
