BlackRock's exchange-traded funds (ETF) unit iShares has unveiled plans to launch four new Australian equities products on the local market.
The new ETFs planned include the iShares S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries, iShares S&P/ASX 20, iShares S&P/ASX High Dividend and iShares MSCI Australia 200.
The Small Ordinaries ETF will provide exposure to Australian small caps as represented by the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Index, while the S&P/ASX 20 product will invest in the 20 largest blue-chip companies in Australia.
The high dividend ETF will provide exposure to 50 large Australian corporations with a particular focus on high dividends, and the broader MSCI Australia fund will invest in the 200 largest companies.
iShares Australia director Tom Keenan said the firm expected the fees on the ETFs to be competitive.
He said iShares would manage the small-cap ETF for liquidity and intended it to be an optimised sample of the underlying S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Index.
"We expect the small-cap ETF to hold around 150-160 securities out of a possible 200 that are in the index," he said.
BlackRock Australia's chief executive Damien Frawley said the new offering was a response to increased investor demand for greater choice and flexibility when investing in Australia.
"We look forward to launching our first suite of Australian ETFs to the local sharemarket. We believe these new iShares ETFs will have broad appeal across investors, advisers and institutions," he said.
He said demand for ETFs in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region is currently increasing at a faster pace than the rest of the world.
The local ETF industry's funds under management jumped 44.8 per cent to $4.1 billion in the 12 months to October, and is nearly quadruple what it was four years ago, Australian Securities Exchange data showed.
