BGI Adds ETF Data to Advisor Tool

BGI’s Asset Class Illustrator, an online research and analysis tool for financial advisors, will now include historical data on the four fixed income indices that comprise iShares’ new bond ETFs.

This tool, available at www.ishares.com , will allow financial advisors to view a historical analysis of how an index (or a hypothetical portfolio of up to 15 indexes) would have behaved over different time periods.

Additionally, Illustrator will allow advisors to generate several charts:

• Risk/return scatter gram showing annualized standard deviations and average annual total returns of an index
• Line chart depicting cumulative index returns; and
• Table with summary data.

Fixed Income iShares are portfolios of bonds that can be bought and sold throughout the trading day like shares of stock, at prices determined by the market. Like traditional open-ended mutual funds, these bond-based ETFs allow investors to purchase a basket of bonds with one simple transaction.

In addition, whereas mutual funds are required to disclose their holdings semi-annually, iShares holdings are available daily, according to BGI.

Shortly, iShares’ Core/Satellite tool, which allows advisors to run a series of index and active management “what ifs” for their clients, will also incorporate indices tracked by the fixed income iShares, according to the firm.