BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, plans to liquidate nine exchange-traded funds (ETFs), including the $401 million iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF (FM) Fund which had invested in Kenya.
The Fund aimed to provide exposure to frontier and select emerging market equities including Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain, Philippines, and other countries. It will stop investing and holding at least 80% of the value of its net assets in equity securities of issuers economically tied to frontier markets and emerging markets.The Fund cited persistent liquidity challenges with delays or limits on repatriation of local currency pointing to an extended liquidation period.“During the extended liquidation period, the Fund will not be managed in accordance with its investment objective and policies, as the fund will sell down its assets as determined by BlackRock Fund Advisors. where possible and hold the proceeds of such sales in cash and cash equivalents,” Shares,Inc, said in a statement on June 7th, “After the market close no earlier than August 12, 2024 but on a date as soon as practicable (the “Last Trading Date”), the fundwill cease trading and the creation and redemption of Creation Units.”
iShares is a collection of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) managed by BlackRock, which acquired the brand and business from Barclays in 2009. In Kenya, the Fund was invested in several bluechip stocks, including Safaricom, KCB Group and Equity Group. Its top exposure was to Kuwait at 28% of the fund, with 75% of the fund being invested in just seven countries, including Kenya, Nigeria, and Morocco.
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