Two brand name firms are extending their exchange-traded fund distribution venture. Fidelity Investments and BlackRock has teamed again up to bring iShares ETFs to Fidelity’s army of investors.
“Through this groundbreaking alliance between two financial services leaders, we will leverage our complementary strengths to deliver leading ETF products and research that are unmatched to more than 10 million Fidelity customers,” stated Kathleen Murphy, president of Personal Investing at Fidelity Investments.
Fidelity is increasing the number of iShares ETFs that can be traded online commission-free on from 30 to 65. The new list includes all 10 iShares Core ETFs as well as a selection of international, domestic, and specialized equity; fixed income; and commodities.
Customers of registered investment advisors on the Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services platform will also benefit from the expanded line-up of 65 commission-free ETFs.
“We look forward to building a strong partnership with BlackRock to give RIAs on our platform new research tools and access to commission-free trading to help them more easily integrate ETFs in their clients’ portfolios,” stated Michael R. Durbin, president of Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services, Fidelity’s RIA custody unit.
Fidelity will also expand its managed account offerings by making available to customers new ETF managed portfolios using iShares as components within Portfolio Advisory Services. The ETF managed portfolios will complement Fidelity’s existing mutual fund and unified managed account offerings.
At December 31, 2012, BlackRock’s AUM was $3.792 trillion.
The two firms started the venture three years ago, according to Deborah Pont, a spokesperson for Fidelity.
