BlackRock has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a new ETF that tracks the Nasdaq-100 index. The move puts the world’s largest asset manager in direct competition with Invesco, which has long dominated Nasdaq-100 tracking products in the U.S. through its QQQ franchise.
New iShares Fund Targeting the Nasdaq-100
BlackRock’s first prospectus labels the product the iShares Nasdaq 100 ETF. It will use the “IQQ” symbol for trading. The fund would strive to follow the Nasdaq-100, which is a list of the 100 biggest non-financial corporations on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Many people think of it as a stand-in for important U.S. tech and growth stocks.
BlackRock’s proposal says that the ETF will be housed in the present BlackRock ETF Trust structure, which already has various iShares products registered in the US. The documents don’t say what the management fee is yet, so it’s not obvious how much BlackRock wants to charge for the fund compared to other funds.
Many investors have been exposed to the Nasdaq-100 through Invesco’s QQQ Trust for decades, which has contributed to the product’s growth to approximately 374–376 billion dollars in assets. Additionally, Invesco manages a sizable Nasdaq-100 ETF, strengthening its position in this portion of the $13.7 trillion US ETF market.
BlackRock’s proposed IQQ would become one of only a few U.S.-listed ETFs that track the Nasdaq-100 directly. It would be the first such fund managed by a firm other than Invesco.
Nasdaq has historically been cautious about licensing its flagship index. This caution helps explain why there have been so few competing products.
Fits into BlackRock’s Global Nasdaq Strategy
Although this would be BlackRock’s first U.S.-listed ETF that directly tracks the Nasdaq-100, the company already runs similar products in other regions. Its iShares Nasdaq 100 UCITS ETF in Europe seeks to follow the same benchmark of large non-financial Nasdaq names. Its Canadian iShares Nasdaq 100 Index ETF also targets that same group of large non-financial Nasdaq companies.
In recent years, BlackRock has also built out themed and “outcome” ETFs tied to technology-heavy indexes. These strategies include products that slice the Nasdaq-100 or overlay options on the index.
Adding a straightforward U.S. tracker fills a gap in its lineup. It gives the firm a direct answer to QQQ in its home market.
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