FlexShares Real Assets Allocation Index Fund (ASET) is an exchange-traded fund that seeks investment results corresponding generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Northern Trust Real Assets Allocation Index. The fund provides investors with a packaged global real asset strategy focused on inflation-sensitive securities in global infrastructure, global real estate, and global natural resources; it employs a proprietary optimization methodology to reduce volatility while maintaining diversification among eligible securities. The underlying index comprises three FlexShares ETFs optimized using modern portfolio theory principles, with annual rebalancing to ensure exposure to each underlying fund remains between 10% and 50%, targeting inflation hedging, income generation, and long-term capital appreciation.
Launched on November 23, 2015, and domiciled in the United States with management by Northern Trust Investments, Inc., the fund is headquartered at FlexShares Trust, 50 South LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois. It targets long-term investors seeking diversified real asset exposure across global markets, with a net expense ratio of 0.49% and total net assets of approximately $7.36 million prior to closure. The fund operated within the global large-stock value category, offering daily pricing on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
In a significant operational change announced on October 2, 2025, FlexShares initiated the liquidation and termination of ASET, with trading suspended prior to the market open on October 21, 2025, and final shareholder distributions expected around October 27, 2025. The fund ceased accepting creation unit purchases after 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on October 17, 2025, marking the closure of this real assets allocation vehicle as of October 20, 2025. No recent partnerships, acquisitions, funding rounds, or new product launches were reported in the period leading up to liquidation.