iShares has announced a new fund aimed at giving investors access to Eurozone equities while sidestepping volatile financial stocks.
The iShares EURO STOXX 50® ex-Financials Ucits ETF, listed on the London Stock Exchange, is designed to strip out financial exposures, for example to banks and insurance companies.
Tom Fekete, head of product development for iShares EMEA, said: "Eurozone financial stocks are likely to exhibit volatility in 2014 and this iShares provides a building block for investors to express their views, by either side-stepping the sector or specifically targeting it by adding other financials-focused funds or single stocks to their portfolios."
iShares, an IFP corporate member, said investor appetite for Europe has surged in recent months and it believes this new fund allows investors access to a broad, but potentially less volatile, Eurozone equity exposure.
This fund is believed to be Europe's first ETF to come to market with an international security structure. The launch is the result of a partnership between BlackRock and Euroclear Bank, first announced in June 2013.
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Stephan Pouyat, global head of international markets, at Euroclear, said: "Simplifying the issuance process and providing uniform settlement practices regardless of trading venue will make it easier for investors to trade these ETFs. "This will ultimately improve liquidity in the market, which should have a positive effect on processing costs for the end investor."
The iShares EURO STOXX 50® ex-Financials Ucits ETF is a physically replicating fund which invests in blue chip stocks from 12 Eurozone countries, while excluding companies from the financial sector, potentially providing investors with a less volatile exposure to Eurozone equities.
The fund has a total expense ratio of 20 basis points.