The two, physically-replicated funds, the iShares MSCI Europe ex-UK GBP Hedged UCITS ETF and the iShares JPX-NIKKEI 400 EUR Hedged UCITS ETF have a total expense ratio of 0.45 and 0.4% respectively and form part of the firm’s broader currency-hedged range of ETFs.
The Europe ex-UK GBP Hedged fund aims to provide sterling investors with access to large and mid-cap companies across 14 European markets, while the JPX Nikkei-400 EUR Hedged fund provides access to “an index of Japanese companies with attractive fundamentals.”
While not launched to take advantage of recent currency moves, a spokesman for BlackRock said, the launch was rather timely.
Tom Fekete, head of product for iShares in EMEA, said: “We continue to see positive data out of Europe, helped by QE, while Japan remains one of the best performing markets year-to-date, supported by recent corporate reform. The newly launched products complement our suite of ETFs that investors can use to access positive market sentiment or to express longer term views, while minimising currency risk.”
