BlackRock to Offer ETF Share Classes on 5 Mutual Funds

Asset manager BlackRock is planning to add Exchange-Traded Fund share classes on five active mutual funds, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 

The five strategies that would offer ETF share classes include the $26.2 billion BlackRock High Yield Portfolio, $3.2 billion BlackRock Strategic Municipal Opportunities, $2.3 billion BlackRock California Municipal Opportunities, $1.1 billion BlackRock New York Municipal Opportunities and the $20.3 billion BlackRock Equity Dividend funds. 

BlackRock’s move comes as ETFs have increasingly become a preferred vehicle for investors, enabling them to gain additional access to the asset manager’s active investment strategies.

The BlackRock High Yield Portfolio, which is the largest of the five funds, invests roughly 80% in high-yield investment bonds, and aims to provide investors with maximized total returns. 

The BlackRock Strategic Municipal Opportunities seeks to invest about 80% of its assets in municipal bonds to shareholders. Also, the fund aims to provide shareholders with a relatively high level of income that would be exempted from Federal income taxes. 

The BlackRock Equity Dividend Fund targets U.S.-based companies that compensate dividends with the possibility of raising them periodically.

The BlackRock California Municipal Opportunities Fund retains about 87.25% of its portfolio in California bonds, while the BlackRock New York Municipal Opportunities Fund held 93.92% of its portfolio in New York bonds. 

BlackRock oversees $15.3 trillion in assets under management as of the second quarter of the year.