BlackRock’s iShares exchange-traded funds ( ETFs ) have surpassed US$5 trillion in assets under management globally, a milestone that the asset management giant says it has achieved through “continuous innovation, global experience, and local expertise”.

Today, iShares serves clients in over 25 markets, offering more than 1,600 ETFs, the broadest range in the industry.

Stephen Cohen, chief product officer and global head of iShares at BlackRock, says: “ETFs have become the technology of choice to access markets, build better portfolios, and manage risk with transparency and scale. We believe that indexing will continue to be the predominant growth driver for ETFs, but innovation is opening new frontiers – from more granular indices, to fixed income, active, and digital strategies – and we believe this is just the beginning.”

At US$15 trillion, ETFs currently represent just 6% of the global capital markets. But Cohen predicts that the ETF industry will nearly double to US$27 trillion in the next five years.

For iShares, inflows reached a record high of US$192 billion in the first half, powered by global growth across multiple areas, including:

• Fixed income ETFs – the iShares bond franchise has more than US$1 trillion in AUM globally, representing approximately 40% market share;
• Digital asset ETPs – more than US$100 billion in combined AUM, with iShares products ranking among the top five fastest-growing ETPs in industry’s history; and
• Active ETFs – iShares manages more than US$78 billion across more than 100 active ETFs globally, reflecting strong investor demand for alpha and targeted outcomes. 

In Asia-Pacific, iShares has introduced 27 ETFs in the past two years alone, bringing the total to 112 across markets including Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and soon in Taiwan. It now has 16 APAC-domiciled ETFs with AUM of over US$1 billion, including two above US$10 billion.

“Across Asia Pacific, ETFs are providing investors with better choice, more convenient access and increased affordability – a powerful proposition that is driving a wave of ETF adoption throughout the region,” says Aarti Angara, head of global product solutions, APAC, at BlackRock.

“From institutional investors using bond ETFs to access ever-more precise areas of global bond markets, to wealth and retail users using ETFs as core building blocks to build diversified portfolios, these powerful tools are empowering investors of all types to realize their goals.”