BlackRock to Liquidate 15 Funds

BlackRock plans to liquidate 15 funds, including exchange-traded funds on the investment themes of sustainability and working from home, starting in mid-August, it announced last week.

“As we evolve our platform and launch new strategies, we also constantly assess the regulatory and operating environment as well as how our funds are meeting investors’ investment objectives,” the firm, which offers more than 600 mutual funds and ETFs in the United States, said in a statement.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is not the only firm pulling back on thematic funds. Investors have pulled billions of dollars from such funds in 2023 and 2024 after a pandemic-era boom, Bloomberg reported in May. The ETF provider Global X shuttered thematic funds earlier this year investing in cannabis, green building and the metaverse.

The funds being liquidated at BlackRock are:

Fund Name

Last Trading Date

Liquidation Date

BlackRock Future Climate and Sustainable Economy ETF (NYSE: BECO)

8/12/2024

8/15/2024

BlackRock Future Tech ETF (NYSE: BTEK)

8/12/2024

8/15/2024

BlackRock Liquid Environmentally Aware Fund

N/A

9/5/2024

TempFund

N/A

9/5/2024

BlackRock Sustainable Advantage CoreAlpha Bond Fund

N/A

8/13/2024

BlackRock Sustainable International Equity Fund

N/A

8/13/2024

BlackRock Sustainable Low Duration Bond Fund

N/A

8/13/2024

BlackRock Sustainable US Growth Equity Fund

N/A

8/13/2024

iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Germany ETF (Nasdaq: HWEG)

8/12/2024

8/15/2024

iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF (NYSE: FM)

3/31/2025 (est.)

iShares Gold Strategy ETF (Cboe: IAUF)

8/12/2024

8/15/2024

iShares International Developed Property ETF (NYSE: WPS)

8/12/2024

8/15/2024

iShares MSCI International Size Factor ETF (NYSE: ISZE)

8/12/2024

8/15/2024

iShares USD Systematic Bond ETF (Nasdaq: USBF)

8/12/2024

8/15/2024

iShares Virtual World and Life Multisector ETF (NYSE: IWFH)

8/12/2024

8/15/2024

BlackRock is unwinding the iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF because several countries have been upgraded to “emerging” from “frontier” market status, it said.