How broad of a following can a country-specific ETF garner? BGI's new EPU is about to get a $300 million shot in the arm.

How broad-based of an audience can an exchange-traded fund focused solely on companies based in Peru attract?

Since launching a little more than a month ago, the seemingly narrow-focused iShares MSCI All Peru Capped Index Fund (NYSEArca: EPU) has seen its assets top $33 million. That’s actually down a bit from a week ago when that number surpassed $35 million. (See related story here.)

So what’s driving such growth? Performance is one factor. In the past month, EPU’s returns have shot up by nearly 4 percentage points. More significantly to longer-term investors, the country has produced the best gross domestic product growth rate in the region—or near the top, depending on periods studied and data used—for more than a decade now.

And even more assets figure to start flowing

BlackRock will buy BGI for $13.5 billion in a mega-merger sure to send shock waves throughout the industry.

In perhaps one of the worst-kept secrets in exchange-traded funds industry history, giant asset manager BlackRock Inc. said late Thursday it had finalized a $13.5 billion deal to buy Barclays Global Investors.

The combined company, to be called BlackRock Global Investors, will represent nearly $3 trillion in assets under management.

Interestingly, Barclays will keep about a 20% stake in the new BGI. BlackRock will only have to fork over about half of the estimated deal amount in cash; according to reports, BlackRock is exchanging shares of its common stock to complete roughly the other half of the mega-merger.

Officially, Barclays' original buyer (CVC Capital Partners ) has about a week to try to match BlackRock's offer. But the private equity firm would face a big upgrade in terms. CVC Capital  almost had a deal for all

A deal that's been kicking around for some time in the rumor mills just got some press coverage.

ATTENTION: This is NOT an April Fool's joke. Though at first blush it may seem more implausible than the April 1 blog I posted about the "Street Shares and iDRS" (a blog that got me into so much trouble in certain circles), the word is that the Vanguard bid for iShares and/or BGI is actually for real.

Well, I'll believe it when I see it. Matt and I have been kicking this around today, and as Matt says, "You have to assume that iShares is less valuable in Vanguard's arms than someone else's. For starters, coming in, you would expect it to slash expense ratios. For instance, EEM would have to be folded into VWO, since those are essentially the same fund. But because VWO's expense ratio is about one-third of EEM's, that means you are taking a fund that made $19

What do iShares, Formula One, Tower Records and the Belgian Post Office have in common? Sometime next week, they'll probably all be owned by the same private equity firm.

That's right, it's (almost) official: Barclays issued a statement this morning confirming reports in the FT and elsewhere that its iShares unit was likely being sold to CVC Capital Partners. The Barclays statement read:

Barclays notes recent press comment regarding a possible sale of iShares. As announced on 16 March, Barclays has held discussions with a number of potentially interested parties.

We now have a preferred bidder, CVC Capital Partners. If these negotiations reach a satisfactory conclusion, it would lead to a sale of Barclays iShares business without the attributable securities lending business. Earlier speculation assumed the sale of both iShares and securities lending.

A further announcement will be made in due course.

So much for Jim Wiandt's recent

Reports are listing a San Francisco-based private equity firm as the leading candidate in the bidding war over ETF leader BGI.

That shouldn't come as a big surprise to those following the next evolution of a changing iShares brand.

In case you missed it, weekend stories in papers ranging from the Wall Street Journal to the Sunday Times reported that a list of finalists has emerged in the auction of Barclays Global Investors by its parent London bank. Insiders are indicating that Hellman & Friedman LLC could wind up as the leading candidate to assume control of BGI.

As pointed out in the WSJ, that's a private equity firm also based in San Francisco with a history of past relations with the asset manager. Other possibilities, according to the paper, are Bain Capital and other private equity rivals such as TPG and Apax Partners LLP.

Although we've heard some industry

BGI taps longtime Smith Barney executive Longley for key role in expanding asset manager’s distribution reach. 

As bloggers across the Internet were talking up a potential sale of exchange-traded funds leader Barclays Global Investors, some real news was taking place at the San Francisco-based asset management giant. 

The $1.5 trillion asset manager said on Thursday it had hired longtime Citi/Smith Barney executive John Longley as its new head of national accounts in the U.S.

In that role,

…

The head of BGI's iShares business gives his views on slumping market share numbers, ETFs still in registration, spreads and fund expenses.

Lee Kranefuss, chief executive officer of BGI's iShares business, recently took time to discuss with IndexUniverse's Murray Coleman the future of exchange-traded funds and recent developments relating to the industry's dominant product line.

IU:  Barclays recently renamed the Lehman-based bond indexes to the Barclays Capital moniker. Will the iShares Lehman ETFs change?

Kranefuss:  Barclays Capital completed its acquisition of Lehman Brothers' North American Investment Banking and Capital Markets businesses. As part of the transaction, Lehman Brothers' indices have become part of Barclays Capital. The Lehman indexes are now Barclays Capital indexes. iShares will be renaming those ETFs. It's our practice to include the index provider in the name of the funds; we think that transparency is important for investors. People ought to know which index a fund is following.

The head of BGI's iShares business gives his views on slumping market share numbers, ETFs still in registration, spreads and fund expenses.

Lee Kranefuss, chief executive officer of BGI's iShares business, recently took time to discuss with IndexUniverse's Murray Coleman the future of exchange-traded funds and recent developments relating to the industry's dominant product line.

IU:  Barclays recently renamed the Lehman-based bond indexes to the Barclays Capital moniker. Will the iShares Lehman ETFs change?

Kranefuss:  Barclays Capital completed its acquisition of Lehman Brothers' North American Investment Banking and Capital Markets businesses. As part of the transaction, Lehman Brothers' indices have become part of Barclays Capital. The Lehman indexes are now Barclays Capital indexes. iShares will be renaming those ETFs. It's our practice to include the index provider in the name of the funds; we think that transparency is important for investors. People ought to know which index a fund is following.

The head of BGI's iShares business discusses the company's slumping market share numbers, ETFs still in registration, spreads and fund fees.

Lee Kranefuss, chief executive officer of BGI's iShares business, recently took time to discuss with IndexUniverse's Murray Coleman the future of exchange-traded funds and recent developments relating to the industry's dominant product line.

IU:  Barclays recently renamed the Lehman-based bond indexes to the Barclays Capital moniker. Will the iShares Lehman ETFs change?

Kranefuss:  Barclays Capital completed its acquisition of Lehman Brothers' North American Investment Banking and Capital Markets businesses. As part of the transaction, Lehman Brothers' indices have become part of Barclays Capital. The Lehman indexes are now Barclays Capital indexes. iShares will be renaming those ETFs. It's our practice to include the index provider in the name of the funds; we think that transparency is important for investors. People ought to know which index a fund is following.

IU:

The veteran ETF analyst says new job with BGI will give her even more resources to track such an expanding and complex marketplace. 

Barclays Global Investors caught the attention of the market last week with its hiring of Deborah Fuhr, arguably the most well-known among analysts tracking global exchange- traded funds markets.

The former Morgan Stanley strategist announced September 7 that she's moving from one of the world's largest brokerages to Barclays Global Investors, the ETF industry's biggest player. (See related story.)

Fuhr started her new job this week as BGI's global head of ETFs research and implementation strategy. Even though she has been busy  assembling a new staff and preparing for her new position, Fuhr took time out from her busy schedule recently to talk to IndexUniverse.com's Eric Rosenbaum about the move to BGI and its implications.

IndexUniverse.com (IU): Will you be moving to BGI's headquarters in San