Vanguard's recent shift from MSCI to FTSE may benefit BlackRock, according to analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Barron's reporter Brendan Conway write that KBW analysts Robert Lee and Alison Heffernan issued a note saying that "to some extent Vanguard’s decision to jettison MSCI indices can work to BLK’s advantage, at least over the intermediate term."

The analysts also said that the move "means certain Vanguard ETFs and Index products will be less directly comparable to certain BLK products." They added that "for some of these investors, moving to a different index, even if it has a somewhat lower fee structure, might not be an option."

The same analysts predicted a fee cut for BlackRock's funds, which they called the "assumed new fee."

Some of these predictions: that iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index will cut from 0.67 percent to 0.30 and iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund will slash its expense ratio from 0.34 percent to 0.25 percent. They also predict that theiShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index fund will cut its expense ratio in half. 

Edited by: HFD


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