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June 01, 2020 at 09:10 AM
BlackRock launched an iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) to add to its existing suite of 19 iShares Treasury bond ETFs, which represented $139.1 billion in assets.
The new exchange-traded fund, with a net expense ratio of 0.07%, tracks the i ICE 0-3 Month US Treasury Securities Index and trades on the NYSE Arca.
The index is composed of U.S. Treasury bills, notes and bonds with maturities of three months or less, including only fixed-coupon securities.
The “importance” of providing investors with the tools they need to build resilient bond portfolios… has been reinforced as investors sought safe havens in recent volatile markets,” according to Steve Laipply, U.S. head of iShares Fixed Income ETFs for BlackRock. “The addition of SGOV to our U.S. Treasury and shorter maturity suites offers precise exposure for increased stability, liquidity and cash management,” he said in the announcement.
Separately, BlackRock Advisors declared a special distribution of $0.083000 for the BlackRock Muni New York Intermediate Duration Fund (MNE) in relation to the fund’s previously announced merger with BlackRock New York Municipal Opportunities Fund (NYMO). NYMO will be the surviving fund. The special distribution will be payable June 12.
J.P. Morgan Asset Management Teams With Calastone
J.P. Morgan Asset Management partnered with global funds network Calastone to introduce new levels of automation to money market funds via the Morgan Money enhanced trading and analytics platform.
The COVID-19 pandemic has only increased the need to adopt greater levels of automation amongst fund providers and their investors, the companies said.
J.P. Morgan will initially use Calastone to enhance its entire settlements process, bringing automated settlements to the platform, the companies said in a joint announcement. Morgan Money will be the first platform to offer automated settlements to its users via Calastone’s technology, they said.
The announcement strengthens the relationship between the two firms. Calastone, which digitizes the investment and reporting process for money market portals, fund providers and investors, has already been enabling trade automation for J.P, Morgan funds globally. The new partnership enables Morgan Money to leverage new features, including automated settlements that the companies said enhance the service available to its users.
