BlackRock Inc. is going even bigger in Texas.

The world’s biggest asset manager applied for the iShares Texas Equity exchange-traded fund, according to a Friday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The planned ETF would be passively managed and invest in companies that are headquartered in Texas.

It’s the latest in a charm offensive of sorts in the state for the investing giant and founder Larry Fink after the firm’s embrace of environmental, social and governance investing drew the ire of Republican lawmakers. BlackRock, alongside Citadel Securities, is also an early backer of the upstart Texas Stock Exchange, which aims to begin trading in 2026. While declining to comment on the ETF beyond the filing, a BlackRock spokesperson said there’s client demand for Texas exposure.

“Our clients have expressed interest in accessing the Texas economy, which has a GDP of $2.6 trillion according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and would be the eighth largest economy in the world on a standalone basis,” a BlackRock spokesperson wrote in an email.

Nasdaq announced earlier this month that it would open a regional headquarters in Dallas, stating that it has about 800 clients in Texas. About 200 companies listed on Nasdaq are headquartered in the Lone Star state. The New York Stock Exchange said in February that it would launch a fully electronic exchange in Dallas and reincorporate its NYSE Chicago operations in Texas.

Fees and a ticker for the fund were not yet listed in the filing.

While many asset managers — including BlackRock — control single-country equity funds, state-specific stock funds are far less common. The Texas Capital Texas Equity Index ETF (ticker TXS) and the Texas Capital Texas Small Cap Equity Index ETF (TXSS), which both launched in 2023, have amassed about $28 million and $12 million, respectively.

“The rationale here is that Texas is a good environment for businesses, and a lot are moving there,” Bloomberg Intelligence senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said. “Anybody can buy this if it starts to crush it, and if it starts to crush it, then the narrative will kick in.”

Topics
Texas