iShares, a provider of exchange traded funds managed by Barclays Global Investors, has launched two new fixed income ETFs, offering investors the opportunity to diversify their exposure to new markets. 

The iShares Global Inflation-Linked Bond provides investors with exposure to the Barclays World Government Inflation-Linked Bond index and gives investors a degree of protection against global inflation in a single trade.  The index currently consists of 90 bonds representing 10 different countries and seven different currencies.

The iShares  Covered Bond provides investors with liquid exposure to a range of European covered bonds based on the Markit iBoxx  Covered index.  There are currently 448 bonds in the index, 93 per cent of which are AAA-rated, with an average annual yield of 5.25 per cent and duration of 4.25 years (as at 30 June 2008).  Covered bonds are securities issued by financial institutions which have a "cover pool" of collateral to act as a credit enhancement giving them a higher rating than standard bonds of the same institution.

These launches take the total number of iShares ETFs listed on the London Stock Exchange to 64 and boosts the number of iShares ETFs available throughout Europe to 144.