iShares files for an international quality GARP ETF, fee still blank

iShares Trust filed a post-effective amendment to its registration statement on Friday for a new fund, the proposed iShares MSCI Intl Quality GARP ETF, and left the management fee blank. In the Nov. 6 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, GARP means growth at a reasonable price.

The prospectus says its information is not complete and may be changed, and that the shares may not be sold until the registration statement becomes effective. This is not a launch.

iShares proposed that the filing become effective 75 days after Nov. 6, which falls on Jan. 20, 2027. That is a proposed date for the registration to take effect, not a day the shares could be bought. The ticker and the listing exchange are still blank, and the fee would still have to be filled in.

Other expenses are estimated at 0.00% for the current fiscal year. The filing says BlackRock Fund Advisors, the trust's adviser, would pay the fund's operating costs except the management fee and a short list the fund still bears, including interest, taxes, brokerage and extraordinary expenses. The blank management fee is a blank expense ratio.

What iShares already charges

The proposed fund is the international version of a fund iShares already runs. The iShares MSCI USA Quality GARP ETF GARP seeks U.S. large- and mid-cap growth stocks with favorable value and quality characteristics, tracking the MSCI USA Quality GARP Select Index.

Its July 31 summary prospectus puts the expense ratio at 0.15%. iShares reported net assets of $3.3 billion as of Nov. 6 on its product page.

iShares already offers an international quality fund, the iShares MSCI Intl Quality Factor ETF IQLT. On its product page, iShares says the fund seeks international developed-market stocks with high return on equity, stable earnings and low debt, tracking the MSCI World ex USA Sector Neutral Quality Index. The same page puts the expense ratio at 0.30% and net assets at $13.5 billion as of Nov. 6.

The filing does not say whether the new expense ratio would look like the 0.15% on GARP or the 0.30% on IQLT.

What the new fund would track

The proposed fund would track the MSCI World ex USA Quality GARP Select Index. The filing says that index looks for stronger growth in the MSCI World ex USA Index, then weights those stocks for relatively favorable value and quality characteristics.

The MSCI World ex USA Index holds large- and mid-cap stocks in 22 developed markets outside the United States, covering about the top 85% of each country's equity market capitalization. MSCI keeps the higher-growth names until they reach about 50% of the aggregate market capitalization of each country in that index.

In the new index, no issuer can account for more than 5%, and it is rebalanced quarterly. As of Sept. 30, 2026, it held 736 securities.

For a holder of GARP, this would apply that approach outside the United States. For a holder of IQLT, it would start with a growth screen and then weight toward value and quality, rather than the quality screen IQLT uses.