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A previous looks at some of 2011s new ETFs focused on some of the smaller ETF issuers, but today were heading in the opposite direction.

BlackRocks (BLK ) iShares is the worlds largest ETF issuer. In the U.S. iShares had 220 ETFs with almost $444 billion in assets under management at the end of October. Thats well above the firms closest rival, State Street (STT ) State Street Global Advisors, which had just 104 ETFs and $264.5 billion in assets under management (AUM) at the end of last month.

Part of the recipe for retaining the throne as the worlds largest ETF issuer is the introduction of new ETFs. iShares did plenty of that in 2011 and did so across an array of assets classes – stocks, bonds, forex, etc.

With that, lets look at five of the better new iShares that debuted in 2011.

1. iShares High Dividend Equity Fund (HDV )

Inception date: March 31

Year-to-date performance: 10%

Average daily volume: 227,600

Investor Appeal Grade: A

HDV doesnt do anything noticeably different than a lot of other dividend ETFs that are older, but investors want dividends and they want them badly. That much is highlighted by the fact that HDV is just nine months old and has almost $908 million in AUM. On the basis of performance and its AUM total, HDV is clearly one of 2011s best new ETFs. Period.

2. iShares S&P Intl Preferred Stock Index Fund (IPFF )

Inception date: November 15

Year-to-date performance: 0.5%

Average daily volume: 11,200

Investor Appeal Grade: B+

Like so many ETFs tracking preferred issues, IPFF is heavily allocated to financials. In this case, over 84% of the ETFs weight is devoted to that sector. The newest member of this list, IPFF isnt even two months old, but an AUM total of almost $6.2 million in that time is impressive.

3. iShares Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond ETF (LEMB )

Inception date: October 18

Year-to-date performance: -2.7%

Average daily volume: 1,800

Investor Appeal Grade: A

The non-dollar theme has proven prevalent with international bond ETFs in 2011 and LEMB has been no exception, raking in almost $29 million in AUM. As I previously noted. LEMB has a long way to go to challenge the WisdomTree Emerging Markets Local Debt ETF (ELD ). A distribution yield of 3.7% is nice.

4. iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Minimum Volatility Index Fund (EEMV )

Inception date: October 18

Year-to-date performance: 1.8%

Average volume: 14,780

Investor Appeal Grade: B+

Investors love emerging markets, but that doesnt mean they have to love volatility. EEMV provides an outlet for the volatility-shy among us to still get a slice of emerging markets growth. This ETF is off to a decent start, but 2012 could see EEMVs validation or repudiation.

5. iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Small Cap Index Fund (EEMS )

Inception date: August 16

Year-to-date performance: -17.2%

Average daily volume: 1,770

Investor Appeal Grade: B

That grade is quite a feat given the ETFs performance, as is $32.5 million in AUM in what has been a miserable year for the combination of small-caps and emerging markets. Three countries – Taiwan, South Korea and India – account for 47% of the weight of this ETF. EEMS is clearly a survivor, but it has a lot of competition in this market niche.

Editors Note: This content was originally published on Benzinga.com by The ETF Professor.

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