The folks at an $11.584-trillion-AUM*, publicly traded, multinational asset manager's $4.3-trillion-AUM* ETF arm are adding an arms-industry-focused thematic fund to their $45-billion-AUM** active ETF platform.

Jonathan Aaron "Jay" Jacobs BlackRock Managing Director, U.S. Head of Equity ETFs

Last week, Jay Jacobs, U.S. head of equity ETFs at New York City-based BlackRock [profile], unveiled the launch of the iShares Defense Industrials Active ETF (IDEF on the Nasdaq). San Francisco-based BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA) serves as IDEF's investment advisor, while Edinburgh-based BlackRock International Limited (BIL) serves as the new ETF's subadvisor.

IDEF's inception date was May 19, and the fund comes with an expense ratio of 55 basis points. It now has $13.921 million in AUM***.

The new ETF's PM team, from BlackRock's multi-asset strategies & solutions (MASS) group, includes:

Yasmin Meissner, director, co-head of sustaintable investing at MASS, and portfolio manager on MASS' diversified strategy team;

Lucy Parker, vice president and PM; and

Simon Wan, managing director and Pm on MASS' global tactical asset allocation (GTAA) team.

Jacobs puts the launch of IDEF in the context of different countries' governments working to "rewird their economic and security strategies."

"An active investing approach offers a nuanced and nimble approach to navigating geopolitical fragmentation and a shifting global defense landscape," Jacobs states. "IDEF provides a dynamic way to target companies at the center of that transformation — from cybersecurity and advanced technologies to aerospace and strategic manufacturing."

IDEF is an actively managed, non-diversified series of the BlackRock ETF Trust. The new ETF's other service providers include:

BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A. as securities lending agent;

BlackRock Investments, LLC (BRIL) as distributor;

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as independent accounting firm;

Sidley Austin LLP as counsel; and

State Street Bank and Trust Company as administrator, custodian, and transfer agent.

*As of March 31, 2025.
**As of April 24, 2025.
***As of today (May 29, 2025). 

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