Toronto-based BlackRock Asset Management Canada Ltd. announced that, effective immediately, all iShares products traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange will feature dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs) for clients who wish to efficiently and automatically reinvest their distributions.

The move affects the entire product line of 88 iShares exchange traded funds (ETFs).

“There continues to be a thirst for income but many investors also want the flexibility to simply and swiftly redirect yield back into their ETF investments. DRIPs will give them exactly that flexibility,” says Mary Anne Wiley, managing director, head of iShares, BlackRock Canada. “When we acquired Claymore earlier this year, we committed to build on our record of innovation and client responsiveness. Today’s announcement is just one example of ways in which we’re making good on that promise.”

BlackRock Canada notes that the Canadian iShares business remains the market leader in ETFs with 76 per cent market share and $41 billion in assets under management. Since the close of the Claymore acquisition, flows for most of the former Claymore funds have also increased. Under BlackRock management, and carrying the iShares brand, aggregate sales inflows across all former Claymore funds have increased by 25% from March – September 2012 when compared to aggregate sales inflows during the same time period last year ($795 million in 2011 versus $1,061 million in 2012).

“We knew the strength of the Claymore products under the iShares brand was going to be a success. The results to date have exceeded even my expectation,” says Wiley.