IShares, the range of exchange traded funds (ETFs) that is managed by Barclays Global Investors (BGI), will launch a series of European fixed income funds benchmarked to iBoxx indices from early next year.

The first of the new ETFs, which will allow institutional and retail investors an opportunity to diversify their portfolios through the purchase of a single security, is expected to be listed on the Deutsche Börse and the London Stock Exchange in early 2003.