BlackRock Canada has announced that all iShares products traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) will feature Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRIPs) for clients who wish to automatically reinvest their distributions.

Mary Anne Wiley, Head of iShares, BlackRock Canada.

The move affects the entire product line of 88 iShares exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

“There continues to be a thirst for income but many investors also want the flexibility to simply and swiftly redirect yield back into their ETF investments. DRIPs will give them exactly that flexibility,” said Mary Anne Wiley, Managing Director, Head of iShares, BlackRock Canada.

With 76% market share and $41 billion in assets under management, iShares is the market leader in ETFs in Canada, a position cemented with its acquisition of rival Claymore seven months ago. [See BlackRock acquires Claymore Canada in ETF expansion].

Under BlackRock management, and carrying the iShares brand, aggregate sales inflows across all former Claymore funds have increased by 25% from March to September 2012 when compared to aggregate sales inflows during the same time period last year ($795 million in 2011 versus $1,061 million in 2012).

“Roughly 70 per cent of corporate mergers fail after announcement. We have beaten those odds and succeeded in our vision to bring these two great Canadian ETF providers together under one roof, to best service the needs of investors,” added Wiley.

“Currently, ETFs only make up seven per cent of the overall fund assets in Canada but they are growing at an explosive rate and are set to continue to grow in popularity. Given the market conditions, and our ambition, I see no reason why ETFs can’t grow to the point where the iShares business stands alongside the largest mutual fund providers in the country,” concluded Wiley.