Fund provider BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) finally announced some long-anticipated fee cuts to its iShares exchange-traded funds on Monday, but they were less than expected, giving a boost to BLK shares Tuesday morning.
The Wall Street Journal reported that BlackRock will cut fees on six ETFs — four stock and two bonds — as part of a movement into a new “Core Series” initiative, meant to help the company better compete against Vanguard and other rivals: The funds currently under that umbrella that will see lower fees:
- iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF (NYSE:ISI)*
- iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:IVV)
- iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (NYSE:IJH)
- iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (NYSE:IJR)
- iShares Core Total U.S. Bond Market ETF (NYSE:AGG)
- iShares Core Long-Term U.S. Bond ETF (NYSE:GLJ)**
* Will become ITOT ** Will become ILTB
The company also plans to roll out three international stock ETFs and a bond ETF on Oct. 22:
- iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF (IXUS)
- iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG)
- iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA)
- iShares Core Short-Term U.S. Bond ETF (ISTB)
An analyst at Bernstein Research told Reuters that “The fee cuts will lead to an annual revenue loss of $35 million to $40 million and reduce earnings per share by less than 1 percent,” which was well below estimates, and had investors bidding up BLK shares more than 2% in Tuesday morning trading.
Kyle Woodley is the Assistant Editor of InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Follow him on Twitter at @IPKyleWoodley.
