(each, a Fund and collectively, the Funds)
Supplement dated June 10, 2020
to the Statement of Additional Information of each Fund (each, an SAI)
Effective June 22, 2020, new and existing accounts directly with a Fund without an associated Financial Intermediary will not be eligible to hold Investor C Shares of the Fund, and any Investor C Shares of a Fund held in such accounts will be automatically converted to Investor A Shares of the Fund. In addition, front-end sales charges on Investor A Shares of each Fund will be waived for any purchases through accounts directly with the Fund.
Effective June 22, 2020, Part II of each SAI is amended as follows:
The first paragraph of the section entitled Purchase of Shares Reduced Initial Sales Charges Other is deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:
Other. The following persons may also buy Investor A or Investor P Shares without paying a sales charge: (a) certain employer-sponsored retirement plans (for purposes of this waiver, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs or SARSEPs); (b) rollovers of current investments through certain employer-sponsored retirement plans provided the shares are transferred to the same BlackRock Fund as either a direct rollover, or subsequent to distribution, the rolled-over proceeds are contributed to a BlackRock IRA through an account directly with the Fund; or purchases by IRA programs that are sponsored by financial intermediary firms provided the financial intermediary firm has entered into a Class A or Investor P NAV agreement, as applicable, with respect to such program with the Distributor; (c) insurance company separate accounts; (d) registered investment advisers, trust companies and bank trust departments exercising discretionary investment authority with respect to amounts to be invested in a Fund; (e) persons participating in a fee-based program (such as a wrap account) under which they pay advisory fees to a broker-dealer or other financial institution; (f) financial intermediaries who have entered into an agreement with the Distributor and have been approved by the Distributor to offer Fund shares to self-directed investment brokerage accounts that may or may not charge a transaction fee; (g) state sponsored 529 college savings plans; (h) with respect to Investor A Shares only, accounts opened directly with a Fund that do not have a financial intermediary associated with the account; and (i) persons involuntarily liquidated from a Fund, who within 60 days of liquidation buy new shares of another BlackRock Fund (but only up
2
to the amount that was liquidated). The following persons associated with the Funds, the Funds Manager, Sub-Advisers, Transfer Agent, Distributor, fund accounting agents, Barclays PLC and their affiliates may buy Investor A or Investor P Shares of each of the Funds without paying a sales charge to the extent permitted by these firms including: (a) officers, directors and partners; (b) employees and retirees; (c) employees or registered representatives of firms who have entered into selling agreements to distribute shares of BlackRock-advised funds; (d) immediate family members of such persons (immediate family members shall be defined as the investor, the investors spouse or domestic partner, children, parents and siblings); and (e) any trust, pension, profit-sharing or other benefit plan for any of the persons set forth in (a) through (d). Investors who qualify for any of these exemptions from the sales charge should purchase Investor A or Investor P Shares. In addition, a sales charge waiver may be available for investors exchanging Investor A Shares of one BlackRock Fund for Investor P Shares of another BlackRock Fund, or exchanging Investor P Shares of one BlackRock Fund for Investor A Shares of another BlackRock Fund, through an intermediary-processed exchange, provided that the investor had previously paid a sales charge with respect to such shares. The availability of Investor A or Investor P Shares sales charge waivers may depend upon the policies, procedures and trading platforms of your financial intermediary; consult your financial adviser.
The following is added as the second paragraph of the section entitled Purchase of Shares Deferred Sales Charge Alternative Investor C Shares:
Investor C Shares are not available in accounts opened or held directly with a Fund that do not have a financial intermediary associated with the account.
The following is added as the second sentence of the sixth paragraph of the section entitled Purchase of Shares Deferred Sales Charge Alternative Investor C Shares:
In addition, accounts that do not have a financial intermediary associated with them are not eligible to hold Investor C Shares, and any Investor C Shares held in such accounts will be automatically converted to Investor A Shares.
The section entitled Purchase of Shares Deferred Sales Charge Alternative Investor C Shares Conversion of Investor C Shares to Investor A Shares is deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:
Conversion of Investor C Shares to Investor A Shares
Effective November 8, 2018 (the Effective Date), approximately ten years after purchase, Investor C Shares of each Fund will convert automatically into Investor A Shares of that Fund (the Investor C 10-Year Conversion). Certain funds (the Predecessor Funds) were reorganized into new Funds (the Successor Funds) pursuant to reorganizations which occurred in September 2018. The holding period for Investor C Shares of Successor Funds includes the period such shares were held in the respective Predecessor Fund. It is the financial intermediarys responsibility to ensure that the shareholder is credited with the proper holding period. As of the Effective Date, certain Financial Intermediaries, including group retirement recordkeeping platforms, may not have been tracking such holding periods and therefore may not be able to process such conversions. In such instances, Investor C Shares held as of the Effective Date will automatically convert to Investor A Shares ten years after the Effective Date. If, as of November 8, 2028 (ten years after the Effective Date), a financial intermediary has not implemented systems or procedures to track holding periods commencing from the Effective Date, shareholders holding Investor C Shares through such financial intermediary will no longer be eligible to hold Investor C Shares and any such shares will convert to Investor A Shares as soon as reasonably practicable after such date.
In addition, accounts that do not have a financial intermediary associated with them are not eligible to hold Investor C Shares, and any Investor C Shares held in such accounts will be automatically converted into Investor A Shares (the Investor C Direct Accounts Conversion and together with the Investor C 10-Year Conversion, the Investor C Conversions).
3
The Investor C Conversions will occur at least once each month (on the Investor C Conversion Date) on the basis of the relative NAV of the shares of the two applicable classes on the Investor C Conversion Date, without the imposition of any sales load, fee or other charge. The Investor C Conversions will not be deemed a purchase or sale of the shares for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Shares acquired through reinvestment of dividends on Investor C Shares will also convert automatically to Investor A Shares, as set forth in each Funds Prospectus. The Investor C Conversion Date for dividend reinvestment shares will be calculated taking into account the length of time the shares underlying the dividend reinvestment shares were outstanding.
Shareholders should retain this Supplement for future reference.
SAI-INVC-0620SUP
4