BlackRock Inc. is feeding the beast: investors who have more of an appetite for ETFs than mutual funds.
The world’s biggest asset manager has converted the BlackRock International Dividend mutual fund into an ETF, after revealing plans in April to change its structure.
The $765 million fund has a new name — the BlackRock International Dividend Active ETF — and a fresh ticker, “BIDD,” for its Monday debut on the New York Stock Exchange.
BIDD is actively managed and invests in dividend-paying companies in developed and emerging markets.
Its five-year average annual return as a mutual fund was 6.9%, roughly in line with a basket of peer funds compiled by Bloomberg. The new ETF’s expense ratio, 0.61%, is five basis points lower in its new form.
With its first mutual fund-to-ETF conversion, BlackRock has joined the likes of asset managers including Dimensional Fund Advisors and Fidelity Investments, which have flipped funds into the generally cheaper, more tax-efficient wrapper.
Since the first flip in 2021, asset managers have converted more than 70 mutual funds into ETFs as investors increasingly flock to exchange-traded options.
