FlexShares, the ETF platform of investments giant Northern Trust, has announced that assets within its ETF range have surpassed $1 billion.
Launched less than one year ago in September 2011, FlexShares has become one of the fastest-growing ETF providers in the competitive US marketplace.
“The demands of investors and the advisors who serve them continue to drive the evolution in the ETF landscape,” said Shundrawn Thomas, head of Northern Trust’s Exchange Traded Funds Group. “Passing the $1 billion mark is an important milestone for us and affirms that our focus on distinctive products is valued by investors.”
In January earlier this year the company announced that assets had surpassed the $500m mark. Speaking then Mr Thomas said: “To exceed the half-billion-dollar watermark in less than four months is an exciting milestone. The market has responded positively to our focus on distinctive products that address real investor needs.”
The FlexShares ETFs have been designed to make it easier to construct and manage portfolios that seek to achieve investor goals, while offering all the traditional benefits of ETFs. Listed on the NYSE Arca, the ETFs are based on indices created and maintained by Morningstar and Markit (iBoxx).
The range is as follows:
The FlexShares Morningstar Global Upstream Natural Resources Index ETF (GUNR) seeks to offer balanced exposure to rising global demand for natural resources, emphasising companies with business interests in early stages of the resource supply chain.
The FlexShares Morningstar US Market Factor Tilt Index ETF (TILT) strives to offer an alternative exposure to the broad US stock market by tilting the portfolio toward small cap and value stocks.
The FlexShares iBoxx 3-Year Target Duration TIPS ETF (TDTT) and the FlexShares iBoxx 5-Year Target Duration TIPS Index ETF (TDTF) seek to provide investors access to Treasury inflation-protected securities with stable duration exposure through changing interest-rate and economic cycles. The funds’ secondary goal of income generation also may help diversify portfolios.