iShares

If people talk about the largest investment company in the world - it's BlackRock. If they talk about ETFs, they are primarily associated with iShares (a division of BlackRock) - a family of more than 800 different, all kinds of, passive or active funds.

iShares is the largest department, the world leader and provider of the most famous and popular ETFs, which the company already has more than 800 units with $2 trillion in assets.

iShares Inc. is a world leader in the field of exchange traded funds (ETFs). It was founded in 2000, the initial iShares offerings were made on such large exchanges as the NYSE, Euronext, Chicago Board Options Exchange, Nasdaq.

In general, iShares ETFs are a flexible and inexpensive way for any investor to get access to different market segments, including fixed income as well as exposure to emerging markets and indexes on a wide basis with minimal commissions.

For example, the iShares S&P 500 (IVV) fund is aimed to track the efficiency of the S&P 500, while the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM) tracks the progress of large- and mid-cap stocks in developing countries - Brazil, China, Australia, Russia and many others.

By combining low fees with tax efficiency, funds tend to match the indexes they follow.

In addition to savings, most ETFs seek to match the productivity of the benchmark index, which means less frequent fund turnover and, therefore, lower commissions. This is not due to productivity, although, in fact, iShares Core ETFs have exceeded more than 75% of comparable mutual funds over a 5-year period on average.

Nowadays almost all major global trading platforms have iShares funds; the London, Hong Kong and Toronto Stock Exchanges are among other well-known exchanges. Funds from BlackRock (iShares) represent more than 50% of the entire ETF market.

iShares ETFs offer products for different asset classes, regions and market segments. Asset class-based products tend to track the investment progress of stocks, fixed income, commodities and real estate, while regions and market segments monitor developing markets as well as selected countries in Europe and Asia. In addition, iShares ETFs use popular smart beta strategies such as dividend income, minimum volatility, momentum and quality to generate higher volatility-adjusted return.

Popular ETFs from iShares

1. iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF ticker (EEM). The fund seeks to track the dynamics of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index accurately. It's an index that tracks the dynamics of developing countries - China, Taiwan, South Korea, India, Brazil and even Russia. The 2019 EEM ETF has returned more than 10% in dollars with a 2% dividend. There is a comparatively low cost of servicing - 0.66% per year. The cost per ETF is $43.

2. iShartes Core S&P 500 ETF ticker (IVV). The fund tracks the dynamics of the S&P 500 Index with an accuracy of 0.01%. It is the U.S. wide market index that covers 75% of the U.S. economy. By investing in this index, you buy the major companies that represent the U.S. economy. The fund brought to its investors the return without reinvestment of dividends 28% per annum. At the same time, it has a minimum commission - only 0.04% per year.

3. iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF ticker (IEFA). The main purpose of the fund is to track the dynamics of an index of developed markets excluding the U.S. and Canada - the MSCI EAFE IMI Index. The index mainly consists of European countries - Germany, England, Holland, Sweden, Spain as well as Australia and Japan. Fund's profitability for the year amounted to 10%. Commission for fund management is also a miserable 0.07% per year. Cost of one ETF is 64$.

4. iShares Select Dividend ETF ticker (DVY). The fund's task is to track the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index SM, an index of U.S. stocks that pay high dividends. Dividends are a stable and regular source of passive income. It is suitable for those who want to receive good and regular payments.

Although the index is quite conservative, it achieved an excellent return of almost 19% for 2019, and that's without considering the 3.4% dividend payout. Thus, the total return of the fund, taking into account the reinvestment of dividends, was over 23% annually!

The cost of ownership of the fund is much higher than previous ones, but it's worth it - 0.69%. The cost of one ETF is $104.