Page 42 - Investment Advisor June 2022

ETF ADVISOR

By Jeff Berman

New BlackRock ETFs Target ‘Underestimated

Investment Opportunities’

Millennial consumers, automation and medical breakthroughs are creating

“permanent changes” in the market, according to the firm.

lackRock has expanded its ETF (IVEG) and iShares Blockchain and
line of iShares “megatrends” Tech ETF (IBLC), each with an expense
B exchange-traded funds with ratio of 0.47%.
two new ETFs that the asset manager IVEG offers investors access to com-
said Wednesday reflect “underestimat- panies that BlackRock said are “shap-
ed investment opportunities” that have ing the future of food by investing in
been created by new consumers and agricultural technologies and innovative
technologies resulting in “permanent food products and services.”
changes” to the market. Meanwhile, “IBLC seeks exposure to
Those trends were also the subject of a global companies at the forefront of
28-page report, “The Great Acceleration,” development, innovation, and utiliza-
that BlackRock released in late April. tion of blockchain and crypto technolo-
“We are just scratching the surface” gies,” the company said.
when it comes to thematic investing, Automation is a significant part of However, IBLC doesn’t invest
Armando Senra, head of Americas ETF the industrial renaissance, according to directly in cryptocurrencies or cryp-
and Index Investing at BlackRock, BlackRock. “Just as the leap to lock- to derivatives, Rachel Aguirre, head of
said during a roundtable briefing with downs drove virtual technologies, the U.S. iShares Product at BlackRock, told
reporters, held in New York and virtu- leap back will likely drive physical tech- reporters. “What we’re looking to do
ally concurrent with the report release. nologies,” the report said. “Global infla- here is really capture the companies and
This is still the “very early days” for tion and supply chain disruption could the equity securities of companies that
thematic investing, he said. After all, make industrial investments in automa- are involved in the entire ecosystem of
thematic ETFs account for “only 3% of tion, infrastructure, and the future of blockchain and the surrounding tech-
the total U.S. ETF industry,” he noted. So, transportation immediately critical.” nologies,” she explained. The new ETF
despite the “tremendous growth” seen Medical breakthroughs that “presents a very compelling entry point
so far, most of the expected thematic BlackRock pointed to were progress for investors,” she said.
ETF growth is “yet to come,” he added. made in genomics, immunology and pre- That makes it similar to the Fidelity
Senra pointed to three specific areas cision medicine technologies. Crypto Industry and Digital Payments
that he said are experiencing significant “We recognize that the future of ETF (FDIG) announced earlier this
permanent changes. healthcare has been transformed. month, which Fidelity said provides
Those areas are the new consumers, Pioneering mRNA vaccines used to fight an “opportunity to invest in companies
an “industrial renaissance” in technol- COVID could be applied to diseases that support the broader digital assets
ogy, and health/medical breakthroughs. from influenza to HIV,” the report said. ecosystem.”
New consumers include millennials, “The lessons learned through the speed The new ETFs increase BlackRock’s
who BlackRock said in the report are with which COVID vaccines came to iShares megatrends offerings to a total
“emerging from lockdowns as the major market could help accelerate precision of 20 index and active ETFs, Senra
spenders driving the global economy.” medicine treatments fighting cancer and told reporters.
Their ascendance “means their unique neurological disorders.” “We are at a very powerful inflec-
preferences for decentralized digi- tion point in the ETF industry,” Jay
tal ecosystems and greener goods will THE NEW ETFs Jacobs, U.S. head of Thematics and
transform commerce as we know it,” the The firm’s two new funds are the iShares Active Equity ETFs at BlackRock, Adobe Stock
report said. Emergent Food and AgTech Multisector told reporters.

40 INVESTMENT ADVISOR JUNE 2022 | ThinkAdvisor.com