The New York-headquartered investment giant is offering European investors direct exposure to the national Israeli index.

BlackRock has launched the first exchange-traded fund to invest in the 25 largest companies listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE).

The iShares TA-25 Israel UCITS ETF (TASE) will be subject to an upper limit so that no single company accounts for more than 10 per cent of the TA-25 index, which is is rebalanced semi-annually. The fund has a total expense ratio of 0.6 per cent.

“Israel’s equity market was one of the fastest developed economies to rebound after the financial crisis, and our fund is a cost-effective way to invest in this resilient market and one of the world’s leading technology centres,” said Alex Pollak, head of Israel at BlackRock.

“This is the first exchange traded product that allows investors to invest directly in Israel’s national index in a UCITS framework using their domestic sterling, dollar or euro currencies. This innovation will provide investors based outside of Israel with targeted portfolio exposure to the country.”

Yossi Beinart, TASE's chief executive, said the launch will boost the exchange's exposure to international investors. He added that TASE will continue to partner with leading international financial institutions while developing new products.