BlackRock has launched four fixed maturity iShares ETFs holding government bond exposure, bringing its total number of fixed maturity iShares UCITS ETFs to 13.
The new ETFs will hold exposure to the US Treasury and the Italian government bond markets with terminations ranging from 2026 to 2029.
The funds include the iShares iBonds Dec 2027 Term $ Treasury UCITS ETF, iShares iBonds Dec 2029 Term $ Treasury UCITS ETF, iShares iBonds Dec 2026 Term € Italy Govt Bond UCITS ETF, and iShares iBonds Dec 2028 Term € Italy Govt Bond UCITS ETF.
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The December 2027 US Treasury iBond has an index yield maturity of 4.8% while the December 2029 expects 4.67%. The Italian iBonds have index yields to maturity of 3.44% for 2026 and 3.41% for 2028.
The launch of the Italian ETFs will be the first foray into the European bond market for BlackRock’s iShares iBonds. BlackRock noted that Italian government bonds currently return the highest yields across Eurozone Bonds.
iBonds are ETFs which have a fixed maturity and act similarly to bonds by holding a range of bonds with set maturity dates.
Brett Pybus, global co-head of iShares fixed income ETFs at BlackRock, said: “iBonds ETFs are designed to mature like a bond, trade like a stock and diversify like a fund, all in a cost-efficient and transparent ETF wrapper. As the pool of iBonds UCITS ETFs grows, investors will be able to enjoy additional versatility, enabling them to curate portfolios to meet their needs.
“Building on the success of Treasury iBonds in the US, these new iBonds ETFs provide additional choice and expand access for Europeans to the income provided by both US and Italian government bonds.”
BlackRock has now managed iBonds for over 13 years and has 86 iBonds ETFS. Its iBonds UCITS ETFs have raised over $3bn since August 2023 for the original nine products.
