Press Release Barclays Global Investors Announces the Launch of the First Style-Based International Exchange Traded Funds for U.S. Investors
San Francisco - August 5, 2005 - Barclays Global Investors announced today that the iShares® MSCI EAFE Value Index Fund (ticker: EFV) and the iShares® MSCI EAFE Growth Index Fund (ticker: EFG) began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Each fund's expense ratio is 0.40%. These exchange traded funds (ETFs) are the newest additions to the largest international ETF product line in the U.S. As of August 1, international iShares funds comprised 35 funds with total assets of over $43 billion, covering regions, single countries, broad market, and global sectors.
"Investors appear to be increasingly looking to iShares ETFs to fulfill their international diversification needs. For instance, from January through July of this year, the iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund alone has brought in $3.77 billion net new asset flows," said Lisa Chen, senior international portfolio manager at Barclays Global Investors. "With the addition of EFV and EFG, investors now have even greater flexibility when investing internationally combined with the asset allocation precision and cost efficiency of iShares ETFs."
The MSCI EAFE Value and Growth Indices are subsets of the MSCI EAFE Index and constituents include securities from Europe, Australasia and the Far East. The indexes each generally represent approximately 50% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization of the MSCI EAFE Index. MSCI uses a specialized framework to attribute both value and growth style factors to the MSCI EAFE Index constituents, which are then used to calculate a value score and growth score. Based upon these two scores, MSCI determines the extent to which each security is assigned to the value or growth style. It is possible for a single security to have representation in both the value and growth style indexes, however no more than 100% of a security's float-adjusted market capitalization will be included within the value and growth style indexes.
Barclays Global Investors is one of the world's largest asset managers¹ providing structured investment strategies such as risk-controlled active strategies and indexing. In the US, BGI is one of the largest active managers², set apart by its risk-controlled approach. BGI manages 65% of the world's 100 largest pension plans³ and is the global leader in assets and products in the exchange traded funds through its iShares® brand with more than 120 ETFs. The firm managed over $1.4 trillion in assets as of 6/30/05, for more than 2,600 clients in 48 countries around the world. BGI is an innovator in investment management, applying science and technology to the investment process. BGI is owned by Barclays PLC, one of the world's leading global financial services providers.
1. Source: "P&I/Watson Wyatt World 500," Pensions & Investments, September 6, 2004. 2. Source: "Special Reports: Money Manager Directory," Pensions & Investments, May 31, 2004. 3. Source: "P&I/Watson Wyatt World's 250 Largest Retirement Plans," Pensions & Investments, December 27, 2004. The iShares Funds are distributed by SEI Investments Distribution Co. (SEI). Barclays Global Fund Advisors (BGFA) serves as the investment advisor to the iShares Funds. Barclays Global Investor Services (BGIS) assists in the marketing of the iShares Funds. BGFA and BGIS are subsidiaries of Barclays Global Investors, N.A., none of which is affiliated with SEI Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. In addition to the normal risks associated with investing, the Fund may be subject to increased risk because the stocks in the index may under perform investments that track other markets or sectors. In addition, the index itself may under perform its benchmark index because it includes different constituents securities. iShares are distributed by SEI Investments Distribution Co. (SEI). Barclays Global Fund Advisors (BGFA) serves as an advisor to iShares. Barclays Global Investor Services (BGIS) assists in the marketing of iShares. BGFA and BGIS are subsidiaries of Barclays Global Investors, N.A., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Barclays Bank PLC, none of which is affiliated with SEI. Transactions in shares of the iShares Funds will result in brokerage commissions. The iShares Funds are not sponsored, endorsed, issued, sold or promoted by Morgan Stanley Capital International, nor does this company make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in the Funds. Neither SEI nor BGI, nor any of their affiliates, are affiliated with MSCI. ©2004 2005 All rights reserved. iShares is a registered trademark of Barclays Global Investors, N.A. All other trademarks, servicemarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. As of December 1, 2009, the former Barclays Global Investors entities referred to in this publication are owned and controlled ultimately by BlackRock Inc. and neither Barclays nor any Barclays affiliate is responsible for, or associated with, the contents of this publication. Help for Journalists iShares offers insights on ETFs and financial news topics. Journalists may request information, photos or media support by contacting the PR Group. Experts Members of the press can select from a list of investment categories to find iShares experts who can assist with stories. Please contact a member of Public Relations to speak with any of our experts. About iShares Learn more about the past, present and future of iShares. The Idea The Facts The Timeline The Growth |
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