BlackRock Introduces new ETF for European Investors to Customize Exposure to U.S. Large Caps

The increasing prominence of mega-cap stocks in recent years underscores the opportunity for European investors to enhance the way they capture growth of some of the world’s most well-known companies. Today, BlackRock announced the launch of a new ETF to empower European investors with a simple solution to express more granular views on the largest companies listed in the U.S.

The U.S. capital market has undergone significant transformation in the past two decades, but there are limited new solutions to help investors better manage their market cap exposure. In 2000, the entire U.S. stock market was valued at $15 trillion. Fast forward to today, the largest eight companies alone are worth $15 trillion. More importantly, the top 20 largest companies in the S&P 500 Index have contributed more than two-thirds (68%) of the Index’s return over the past three years, demonstrating their ability to drive outsized stock market returns.

Brett Pybus, Head of iShares EMEA Product Strategy said, “Now is the time for investors to rethink their market exposure. With this ETF, European investors are now able harness the power of growth and innovation within the largest U.S. companies in a targeted way. The performance dispersion within the S&P 500 has created a need for precise exposure to US equities.”

The ability to easily access or customize U.S. market cap exposure in an ETF is pertinent to various investor types – including first-time investors, portfolio builders, institutional investors, and financial advisors.