497K 1 d550874d497k.htm 497K 497K
December 1, 2012
(as revised July 1, 2013)
2012 Summary Prospectus
iShares MSCI EAFE Minimum Volatility ETF  |  EFAV |  NYSE ARCA
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s prospectus (including amendments and supplements) and other information about the Fund, including the Fund’s statement of additional information and shareholder report, online at http://us.ishares.com/prospectus. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) or by sending an e-mail request to iSharesETFs@blackrock.com, or from your financial professional. The Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated December 1, 2012, as amended and supplemented from time to time, are incorporated by reference into (legally made a part of) this Summary Prospectus.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.



iSHARES® MSCI EAFE MINIMUM VOLATILITY ETF
Ticker: EFAV
Stock Exchange: NYSE Arca
Investment Objective
The iShares MSCI EAFE Minimum Volatility ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of developed market equities that, in the aggregate, have lower volatility characteristics relative to the broader developed equity markets, excluding the U.S. and Canada.
Fees and Expenses
The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you own shares of the Fund. The investment advisory agreement between iShares Trust (the “Trust”) and BlackRock Fund Advisors (“BFA”) (the “ Investment Advisory Agreement”) provides that BFA will pay all operating expenses of the Fund, except interest expenses, taxes, brokerage expenses, future distribution fees or expenses, and extraordinary expenses. BFA, the investment adviser to the Fund, has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees in order to limit Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses to 0.20% of average daily net assets until December 31, 2014. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to December 31, 2014 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA.
You may also incur usual and customary brokerage commissions when buying or selling shares of the Fund, which are not reflected in the example that follows:
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(ongoing expenses that you pay each year as a
percentage of the value of your investments)1
Management
Fees
  Distribution and
Service (12b-1)
Fees
  Other
Expenses
  Total Annual
Fund
Operating
Expenses
  Fee Waiver   Total Annual
Fund
Operating
Expenses
After
Fee Waiver
0.34%   None   None   0.34%   (0.14)%   0.20%

1
The expense information in the table has been restated, as of the Fund’s most recent fiscal year end, to reflect current fees.
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Example. This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of owning shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
1 Year   3 Years   5 Years   10 Years
$20   $79   $161   $401
Portfolio Turnover. The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. From inception, October 18, 2011, to the most recent fiscal year end, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 25% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI EAFE Minimum Volatility Index (the “Underlying Index”), which has been developed by MSCI Inc. (“MSCI”) to measure the performance of international equity securities that in aggregate have lower volatility. The Underlying Index begins with the MSCI EAFE Index, which is a capitalization-weighted index, and then follows a rules-based methodology to determine weights for securities in the index that seeks to minimize total risk of the MSCI EAFE Index. The Underlying Index includes stocks from Europe, Australasia, the Middle East and the Far East and, as of June 30, 2012, consisted of the
following 19 developed market country indexes or regions: Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Components primarily include consumer staples, financial and healthcare companies. The components of the Underlying Index, and the degree to which these components represent certain industries, may change over time.
BFA uses a “passive” or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to “beat” the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Underlying Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by keeping portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy to manage the Fund. “Representative sampling” is an
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indexing strategy that involves investing in a representative sample of securities that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Underlying Index. The securities selected are expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as market capitalization and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of the Underlying Index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the securities in the Underlying Index.
The Fund generally invests at least 90% of its assets in securities of the Underlying Index or in depositary receipts representing securities in the Underlying Index. The Fund may invest the remainder of its assets in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents, including money market funds advised by BFA or its affiliates, as well as in securities not included in the Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Underlying Index before fees and expenses of the Fund.
The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund's total assets (including the value of the collateral received).
The Underlying Index is sponsored by an organization (the “Index Provider”) that is independent of the Fund and BFA. The Index Provider determines the composition and relative weightings of the securities in the Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index. The Fund’s Index Provider is MSCI.
Industry Concentration Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total
assets) in a particular industry or group of industries, which may include large-, mid- or small-capitalization companies, to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities) and repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities are not considered to be issued by members of any industry.
Summary of Principal Risks
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund's performance could trail that of other investments. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund's net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective.
Asset Class Risk. Securities in the Underlying Index or in the Fund's portfolio may underperform in comparison to the general securities markets or other asset classes.
Concentration Risk. To the extent that the Fund's investments are concentrated in a particular issuer, region, country, market, industry or asset class, the Fund may be susceptible to loss due to adverse occurrences affecting that issuer, region, country, market, industry or asset class.
Consumer Staples Sector Risk. The consumer staples sector may be affected by marketing campaigns, changes in consumer demands, government regulations and changes in commodity prices.
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Currency Risk. Because the Fund's NAV is determined in U.S. dollars, the Fund's NAV could decline if the currency of a non-U.S. market in which the Fund invests depreciates against the U.S. dollar.
Equity Securities Risk. Equity securities are subject to changes in value and their values may be more volatile than other asset classes.
Financial Sector Risk. Performance of companies in the financial sector may be adversely impacted by many factors, including, among others, government regulations, economic conditions, credit rating downgrades, changes in interest rates, and decreased liquidity in credit markets. This sector has experienced significant losses in the recent past, and the impact of more stringent capital requirements and of recent or future regulation on any individual financial company or on the sector as a whole cannot be predicted.
Geographic Risk. A natural or other disaster could occur in a geographic region in which the Fund invests, which could affect the economy or particular business operations of companies in the specific geographic region, causing an adverse impact on the Fund's investments in the affected region.
Healthcare Sector Risk. The healthcare sector may be affected by government regulations and government healthcare programs, increases or decreases in the cost of medical products and services and product liability claims, among other factors. Many healthcare companies are heavily dependent on patent protection and the expiration of a patent may adversely affect their profitability. Healthcare companies are subject to competitive forces that may result in price discounting, and may be
thinly capitalized and susceptible to product obsolescence.
Index-Related Risk. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the Underlying Index and therefore achieve its investment objective. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track the Underlying Index. Errors in index data may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected for a period of time, and may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its Shareholders.
Issuer Risk. Fund performance depends on the performance of individual securities to which the Fund has exposure. Changes in the financial condition or credit rating of an issuer of those securities may cause the value of the securities to decline.
Management Risk. As the Fund may not fully replicate the Underlying Index, it is subject to the risk that BFA's investment management strategy may not produce the intended results.
Market Risk. The Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during market downturns.
Market Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruption in the creation/redemption process of the Fund. ANY OF THESE FACTORS, AMONG OTHERS, MAY LEAD TO THE
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FUND'S SHARES TRADING AT A PREMIUM OR DISCOUNT TO NAV.
Non-Diversification Risk. The Fund may invest a large percentage of its assets in securities issued by or representing a small number of issuers. As a result, the Fund's performance may depend on the performance of a small number of issuers.
Non-U.S. Securities Risk. Investments in the securities of non-U.S. issuers are subject to the risks associated with investing in those non-U.S. markets, such as heightened risks of inflation or nationalization. The Fund may lose money due to political, economic and geographic events affecting a non-U.S. issuer or market. The Fund is specifically exposed to Asian Economic Risk and European Economic Risk.
Passive Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively managed and BFA does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets.
Privatization Risk. Some countries in which the Fund invests have privatized, or have begun the process of privatizing, certain entities and industries. Privatized entities may lose money or be re-nationalized.
Reliance on Trading Partners Risk. The Fund invests in countries whose economies are heavily dependent upon trading with key partners. Any reduction in this trading may have an adverse impact on the Fund's investments. The Fund is specifically exposed to Asian Economic Risk, European Economic Risk and U.S. Economic Risk.
Risk of Investing in Japan. The Japanese economy may be subject to considerable degrees of economic,
political and social instability, which could have a negative impact on Japanese securities. In addition, Japan is subject to the risk of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, volcanoes, typhoons and tsunamis, which could negatively affect the value of the Fund’s investments.
Risk of Investing in the United Kingdom. The Fund’s investment in British issuers may subject the Fund to regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risk specific to the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom has one of the largest economies in Europe, and the United States and other European countries are substantial trading partners of the United Kingdom. As a result, the British economy may be impacted by changes to the economic health of the United States and other European countries. The British economy, along with certain other European Union (“EU”) economies, experienced a significant economic slowdown during the recent financial crisis; certain British financial institutions were severely under-capitalized and required government intervention to survive.
Securities Lending Risk. The Fund may engage in securities lending. Securities lending involves the risk that the Fund may lose money because the borrower of the Fund's loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. The Fund could also lose money in the event of a decline in the value of the collateral provided for loaned securities or a decline in the value of any investments made with cash collateral. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund.
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Security Risk. Some countries and regions in which the Fund invests have experienced security concerns. Incidents involving a country's or region's security may cause uncertainty in these markets and may adversely affect their economies and the Fund's investments.
Tracking Error Risk. Tracking error is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the Underlying Index. Tracking error may occur because of differences between the securities held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index, pricing differences, transaction costs, the Fund’s holding of cash, differences in timing of the accrual of dividends, changes to the Underlying Index or the need to meet various regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the Underlying Index does not.
Valuation Risk. The sale price the Fund could receive for a security may differ from the Fund's valuation of the security and may differ from the value used by the Underlying Index, particularly for securities that trade in
low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology. In addition, the value of the securities in the Fund's portfolio may change on days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or sell the Fund's shares.
Volatility Risk. Although the Underlying Index was created by the Index Provider to seek lower volatility than the MSCI EAFE Index, there is no guarantee that these strategies will be successful. The Fund's name reflects the name of the Underlying Index as provided by the Index Provider. However, the Index Provider may be unsuccessful in creating an index that minimizes volatility, and there is a risk that the Fund may experience more than minimum volatility. Securities in the Fund's portfolio may be subject to price volatility and the prices may not be any less volatile than the market as a whole and could be more volatile.
Performance Information
As of the date of the Fund's prospectus (the “Prospectus”), the Fund has been in operation for less than one full calendar year and therefore does not report its performance information.
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Management
Investment Adviser. BlackRock Fund Advisors.
Portfolio Managers. Rene Casis, Diane Hsiung, Jennifer Hsui and Greg Savage (the “Portfolio Managers”) are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Each Portfolio Manager supervises a portfolio management team. Ms. Hsui has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since 2012. Mr. Casis, Ms. Hsiung and Mr. Savage have been Portfolio Managers of the Fund since 2011.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund is an exchange-traded fund (commonly referred to as an “ETF”). Individual Fund shares may only be purchased and sold on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. The price of Fund shares is based on market price, and because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). The Fund will only issue or redeem shares that have been aggregated into blocks of 100,000 shares or multiples thereof (“Creation Units”) to authorized participants who have entered into agreements with the Fund's distributor. The Fund generally will issue or redeem Creation Units in return for a designated portfolio of securities (and an amount of cash) that the Fund specifies each day.
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account (“IRA” ).
Payments to Broker-Dealers and other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), BFA or other related companies may pay the intermediary for marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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For more information visit www.iShares.com or call 1-800-474-2737
IS-SP-EFAV-0713
Investment Company Act file No.: 811-09729