iShares announces launch of six new BlackRock-sponsored iShares ETFs

By Toni Weeks

San Diego, Feb. 1 - iShares Trust announced it has launched six new exchange-traded funds that are sponsored by BlackRock, Inc., according to separate N-1A filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The portfolio managers for all six funds will be James Mauro and Scott Radell.

San Francisco-based BlackRock Fund Advisors, the funds' investment adviser, has contractually agreed to pay all operating expenses of the fund except for interest expenses, taxes, brokerage expenses, future distribution fees or expenses and extraordinary expenses. The expected operating expenses for each fund differ from each other.

The iShares Utilities Sector Bond Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Barclays Capital U.S. Utility Bond Index, which measures the performance of dollar-denominated publicly issued investment-grade corporate bonds in the utility sector. The fund will generally invest at least 90% of its assets in the securities of the index and in investments that provide similar exposure to the securities in the index. The fund will trade on the NYSE Arca under the symbol "AMPS." The expected total annual operating expenses for the fund is 0.3%.

The iShares Industrials Sector Bond Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Barclays Capital U.S. Industrial Bond Index, which measures the performance of dollar-denominated publicly issued investment-grade U.S. corporate bonds in the industrial sector. The fund will generally invest at least 90% of its assets in the securities of the index and in investments that provide similar exposure to the securities in the index. The fund will trade on the NYSE Arca under the symbol "ENGN." The expected total annual operating expenses for the fund is 0.3%.

The iShares Financials Sector Bond Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Barclays Capital U.S. Financial Institutions Capped Bond Index, which measures the performance of dollar-denominated publicly issued investment-grade corporate bonds in the financial sector. The fund will generally invest at least 90% of its assets in the securities of the index and in investments that provide similar exposure to the securities in the index. The fund will trade on the NYSE Arca under the symbol "MONY." The expected total annual operating expenses for the fund is 0.3%.

The iShares Barclays U.S. Treasury Bond Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Barclays Capital U.S. Treasury Bond Index, which is a market capitalization-weighted index that measures the performance of public obligations of the U.S. Treasury that have a remaining maturity of one year or more. The fund will generally invest at least 90% of its assets in the securities of the index and in investments that provide similar exposure to the securities in the index. The fund will trade on the NYSE Arca under the symbol "GOVT." The expected total annual operating expenses for the fund is 0.15%.

The iShares Aaa - A Rated Corporate Bond Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Barclays Capital U.S. Corporate Aaa - A Capped Index, which measures the performance of the Aaa - A-rated range of the fixed-rate, dollar-denominated taxable corporate bond market. The index is market capitalization-weighted with a 3% cap on any one issuer and a pro rata distribution of any excess weight across the remaining issuers in the index. It includes dollar-denominated securities publicly issued by U.S. and non-U.S. industrial, utility and financial corporate issuers. The securities have a maturity of one year or more and an outstanding face value of at least $500 million. The fund will trade on the NYSE Arca under the symbol "QLTA." The expected total annual operating expenses for the fund is 0.15%.

The iShares Barclays CMBS Bond Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Barclays Capital U.S. CMBS (ERISA Only) Index, which measures the performance of investment-grade commercial mortgage-backed securities. The index includes only securities that, among other conditions, are ERISA eligible, have an outstanding transaction size of at least $300 million, an original aggregate transaction of at least $500 million and a tranche size of at least $25 million. The fund will generally invest at least 90% of its assets in the securities of the index and in investments that provide similar exposure to the securities in the index. The fund will trade on the NYSE Arca under the symbol "CMBS." The expected total annual operating expenses for the fund is 0.25%.

San Francisco-based BlackRock Fund Advisors is the investment adviser to the funds.

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