Lovells

Barclays Global Investors (BGI) was appointed as investment manager and sponsor of two exchange traded funds (ETFs) on 15 September 2003.  The STOXX 50 LDRS and Euro STOXX 50 LDRS ETFs (the "Funds") were previously sponsored by Merrill Lynch International.  BGI was advised by Lovells in its discussions with Merrill Lynch and the Funds.  

The Funds are established as Irish investment companies.  They have assets under management of approximately €2billion, and track Dow Jones STOXX indices.  BGI, the investment manager of the iShares range of ETFs, has now rebranded the Funds 'iShares DJ Euro STOXX 50' and 'iShares DJ STOXX 50'.

The appointment establishes iShares as the largest player in the European ETF market, with assets under management increasing by €2 billion to approximately €4 billion. Globally, BGI has over €45 billion in ETF assets, and is one of the largest ETF providers in the world.  The Funds will further enhance iShares’ European range of ETFs, which offer exposure to the core broad market indices, covering the major UK, European and US markets.
 
The team was led by head of Lovells' funds and financial services practice, Richard Stones, together with assistant Nicholas Holman.  Further specialist advice was provided by partner Karen Hughes and assistant Dominique Dobinson (tax), partner Lesley Ainsworth (competition) and assistant Louise Zafer (IP). Dublin-based solicitors William Fry advised on Irish law.

Richard Stones, speaking for the Lovells team today, said:  

"We advised BGI on the establishment of its first European ETF, iShares, and also on a number of other recent fund related projects. It was a pleasure to continue our work with the BGI team on this transaction.

Barclays Global Investors 
Barclays Global Investors (BGI) is a group of companies within the Barclays group specialising in investment management. 
Barclays Global Investors is one of the world’s largest investment management companies with assets of more than €700 billion.
 
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading financial management and advisory companies with offices in 36 countries and total client assets of approximately $1.4 trillion.
Merrill Lynch has a global presence in the trading and research of Exchange Traded Funds.  In April 2000, Merrill Lynch launched the first ETFs in Europe, under the name of LDRS (pronounced 'leaders').  
Merrill Lynch is a leading market maker in the European ETF  market acting as an official or designated market maker on many ETFs across Europe.  For more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com.

iShares 
iShares is a range of exchange traded funds managed by Barclays Global Investors. 
iShares has over 100 ETFs listed around the world with assets under management of over €45 billion.
 
iShares are listed on the following exchanges in Europe: Borsa Italiana, Deutsche Börse, Euronext Amsterdam, Euronext Paris, London Stock Exchange, virt-X and SWX.