BlackRock files to convert Advantage Large Cap Growth into a 0.22% ETF
BlackRock ETF Trust filed on September 28, 2026 to reorganize BlackRock Advantage Large Cap Growth Fund into the proposed iShares Enhanced Large Cap Growth Active ETF, ENHG, at a 0.22% fee.
Key takeaways
BlackRock has asked shareholders of its Advantage Large Cap Growth Fund to approve a move into a new ETF that would charge 0.22% a year. The proposed fund is the iShares Enhanced Large Cap Growth Active ETF, ENHG, and it would hold large-cap growth stocks. Filed on Monday, September 28, the paper is a registration statement, not a launch.
If holders approve, the mutual fund would hand its investments to the new ETF, holders would receive ETF shares, and the mutual fund would then be closed.
The proposed 0.22% would be a cut from every class of the mutual fund. It would still sit 0.04 percentage points above two funds a holder might set beside it. IWF, the iShares fund that holds the Russell 1000 Growth Index, charges 0.18%. So does FELG, Fidelity's enhanced large-cap growth ETF, which invests mainly in stocks from that same index and had $5.66 billion as of Tuesday, September 29.
BlackRock already charges 0.22% on ENHU, the iShares Enhanced Large Cap Core Active ETF, which tries to beat the Russell 1000 Index. Advantage Large Cap Growth is not the only Advantage fund being moved.
In a May supplement, BlackRock said the board had approved converting Advantage Large Cap Value into the iShares Enhanced Large Cap Value Active ETF, ENHV, meant to hold large-cap value stocks, with a close expected on Friday, November 20. A prospectus dated July 14 lists a 0.22% fee for that fund too. On our reading, 0.22% is the price BlackRock has set for these enhanced funds, not a number chosen only for this conversion.
The proposed 0.22% is both the management fee and the total annual expenses. BlackRock Fund Advisors, which would advise the ETF, would pay its ordinary operating costs, and it has agreed, through Friday, June 30, 2028, to waive its fee by the amount of any fees from other funds the ETF holds. That amount is shown at 0.00%, so the total stays 0.22%.
The mutual fund's management fee is 0.56%. Its adviser, not the fund, has agreed to limit expenses through the same date.
The mutual fund figures below are annual expenses after those waivers. The ETF figure is the proposed total.
Most of the money is not in the class with the biggest cut. As of Sunday, May 31, the fund had about $1.93 billion, and Institutional shares were $1.08 billion of it, about 56%. They would save 0.40 percentage points. Investor C, whose fee would fall by 1.40 percentage points, held $39 million.
The ETF would not charge a sales load. Investor A shares, sold as BMCAX, can cost up to 5.25% to buy today.
What the ETF would try to do
The mutual fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. It already uses the Russell 1000 Growth Index as its benchmark, and it invests mainly in stocks in that index or of a similar size. The ETF would try to beat that index and keep a low tracking error to it, which is how far a fund's returns stray from an index, and it could also hold stocks that are not in the index.
The paper calls the objectives different and the strategies similar. In the view of fund management, keeping a low tracking error may mean a lower risk profile than the mutual fund has now. Raffaele Savi, Travis Cooke and Richard Mathieson run the mutual fund, and they would run the combined fund.
BlackRock says the benefits would include "lower net expenses, additional trading flexibility, increased transparency, and the potential for increased tax efficiency." An ETF can be bought and sold through the day on a stock exchange. This mutual fund is priced once, at the end of the day.
The vote, and who gets cash
The board, including the independent trustees, unanimously recommends a yes. Holders of record at the close of business on Friday, October 23 can vote at an online-only meeting on Friday, December 18, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time.
More than half of all shares must be represented for the meeting to do business. To pass, the yes votes must clear the lower of two tests in the filing: 67% or more of the shares represented, or more than half of all shares outstanding.
Abstentions and broker non-votes count as present, and they count as votes against. A broker non-vote is a share held at a brokerage with no instructions. A share that never shows up is not counted that way.
The mutual fund would pay about $472,000 of the cost, whether or not the conversion goes through.
If holders approve, BlackRock Fund Advisors expects to close the move at the end of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, May 21, 2027. The ETF would be expected to start trading on or about Monday, May 24, 2027. Those dates can change, and any change would be sent to shareholders.
New purchases would stop on Friday, May 14, 2027, and on Friday, April 30, 2027 for existing direct accounts and direct IRAs. The last day to redeem mutual fund shares would be Thursday, May 20, 2027.
If a brokerage account cannot hold ETF shares, the investment would be sold for cash on Friday, May 14, 2027, unless the holder moves it to an account that can. Shares held directly with the fund would be sold that same day, unless the adviser agrees otherwise in advance. A direct IRA that does nothing would be exchanged that day for shares of the BlackRock Summit Cash Reserves Fund, not paid out in cash.
The exchange is expected to be tax-free for holders who receive ETF shares, apart from cash, including cash for a fraction of a share. The filing says the May 14 cash sale is expected to be taxable in an ordinary taxable account.
Closing depends on an opinion from Ropes & Gray that the deal qualifies. That opinion would not bind the Internal Revenue Service, and it does not cover the cash.
Frequently asked
Has this ETF launched?
The September 28 filing is a registration statement, not a launch.
How does 0.22% compare with the mutual fund?
The 0.22% would be a cut from every class, whose annual expenses after waivers range from 0.57% for Class K to 1.62% for Investor C.
When would the conversion happen?
If holders approve, the close is expected on May 21, 2027, with the ETF expected to start trading on or about May 24, 2027.
Is the exchange tax-free?
The exchange is expected to be tax-free for holders who receive ETF shares, apart from cash, and the May 14 cash sale is expected to be taxable in an ordinary taxable account.
