Fidelity, iShares Boost Commission-Free ETF Lineup

Mutual fund giant Fidelity and BlackRock's BLK iShares unit, the world's largest ETF sponsor, announced today that Fidelity will more than double the amount of iShares ETFs it offers to its clients on a commission-free basis to 65 funds. The two firms have a commission-free ETF partnership that dates back to early 2010 when the Fidelity announced it would offer 26 iShares ETFs commission-free. That number was raised to 30 iShares in early 2011. The full, expansive list of iShares ETFs available on a commission-free basis to Fidelity clients can be seen here. Among the 65 iShares ETFs Fidelity clients can trade (sans commissions) are popular bond, broad market and emerging markets funds, as well more targeted offerings. The list of iShares ETFs in the Fidelity commission-free stable include the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF IEMG, the iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond Fund EMB, the iShares Barclays TIPS Bond Fund TIP, the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF IVV, the iShares Core Total U.S. Bond Market ETF AGG, the iShares Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond Fund LEMB, the iShares MSCI China Index Fund MCHI, the iShares Russell Micro-Cap Index Fund IWC, the iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund EWJ, the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond Fund HYG and the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond Fund LQD. Fidelity, which has filed plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer its own ETFs, said expanding its partnership with iShares is not a reaction to recent news from Charles Schwab SCHW. Last month, Schwab, the largest discount broker, unveiled its Schwab ETF OneSource Platform that allows clients to trade 105 ETFs from various issuers commission-free. In addition to its own ETFs, Schwab offers State Street Global Advisors, PowerShares and Guggenheim funds, among others, commission-free. TD Ameritrade AMTD offers over 100 ETFs commission-free as well, including some iShares funds. E*Trade ETFC and Vanguard are among the other firms that offer commission-free ETF trading to their clients. For more on ETFs, click here.