BlackRock Targets $26 Billion Mexican Assets

(June 17, 2010) — As institutional and foreign investors continue to show interest in exchange-traded funds, BlackRock is aiming to reach $26 billion in Mexican assets within the next three years.

According to the Wall Street Journal, BlackRock, the world’s largest money-management firm by assets, currently has a $13 billion portfolio in Mexico.

BlackRock’s main business in Mexico is the iShares family of ETFs. Late last year, the money management firm acquired Barclays Global Investors and its popular iShares ETFs from Barclays PLC for $13.5 billion.

BlackRock offers 133 ETFs through the Mexican Stock Exchange’s international system of quotations and the firm listed nine new ETFs on the exchange’s international segment last week. Additionally, it has 12 ETFs listed directly on the exchange — six Mexican government and corporate-bond ETFs and six Mexican equities ETFs, including the iShares Naftrac ETF that tracks the benchmark IPC stock index and is a major investment vehicle for local pension funds, the WSJ reported.

ETF providers hope to harness the demand for investment options by Mexico’s mandatory pension system. Isaac Volin, who became BlackRock’s Mexico country head earlier this month, said to the WSJ that he expects Mexico’s economic rebound and close relationship with the US to make the economy a target for foreign investment in the years ahead, some of which will be channeled through ETFs.