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Thursday, October 23, 2014

CORRECTED-TAKEOVERCHATTER-As ETF M&A heats up, industry wonders who is next, (NYSE: BLK), (NYSE: JNS)

When it comes to expanding in the $1.9 trillion U.S. exchange-traded fund market, which some forecasts say will pass the traditional mutual fund industry in size within 10 years, some companies have concluded it's better to purchase than to build.ETFs are baskets of securities, like mutual funds, but trade on exchanges, like individual securities. They are cheaper than mutual funds and allow investors to trade throughout the day, with simultaneous pricing, unlike mutual funds, which price at the end of the day.They are also profitable: In the third quarter, BlackRock Inc, the biggest provider of the funds, made $850 million in fees from its iShares ETFs, 30 percent of the $2.8 billion in revenue it reported.Facing shrinking margins from their traditional businesses, asset managers are under pressure to offer ETFs. Last week, Janus Capital Group announced the acquisition of exchange-traded fund provider VelocityShares and Reuters exclusively reported last week that Goldman Sachs in talks to buy IndexIQ, another ETF firm. Now, industry executives wonder who will be next.

BlackRock, Inc. (BlackRock) is an investment management firm. Shares of BLK traded higher by 1.92% or $6.08/share to $321.96. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $284.78 and as high as $337.65. On average, 603375 shares of BLK exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 454536.

Janus Capital Group Inc., and its subsidiaries (JCG) provide investment management, administration, distribution and related services to financial advisors, individuals and institutional clients through mutual funds, other pooled investment vehicles, separate accounts and sub advised relationships (collectively referred to as investment products) in both domestic and international markets. Shares of JNS traded higher by 1.12% or $0.16/share to $14.43. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $9.12 and as high as $15.95. On average, 6778600 shares of JNS exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 11829036.



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