IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING CHANGE IN INVESTMENT POLICY iShares® iShares Trust Supplement dated March 16, 2018 to the Summary Prospectus and Prospectus, each dated December 29, 2017, and Statement of Additional Information (the “SAI”), dated December 29, 2017 (as revised March 6, 2018) for the iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF (ESGD) (the “Fund”) The information in this Supplement updates information in, and should be read in conjunction with, the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and the SAI for the Fund. The following changes are expected to take effect for the Fund on or around May 23, 2018: | | | | | | | | Current | | New | Underlying Index | | MSCI EAFE ESG Focus Index | | MSCI EAFE Extended ESG Focus Index |
Change in the Fund’s “Principal Investment Strategies” The first paragraph on pages S-2 and S-3 of the section of the Summary Prospectus and Prospectus entitled “Principal Investment Strategies” is deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following: The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI EAFE Extended ESG Focus Index (the “Underlying Index”), which has been developed by MSCI Inc. (the “Index Provider” or “MSCI”). The Underlying Index is an optimized equity index designed to reflect the equity performance of companies that have favorable environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) characteristics (as determined by the Index Provider), while exhibiting risk and return characteristics similar to those of the MSCI Market Cap Weighted Index (the “Parent Index”). The Index Provider begins with the Parent Index, excludes securities of companies involved in the business of tobacco, companies involved with controversial weapons, producers and retailers of civilian firearms, as well as companies involved in very severe business controversies (in each case as determined by the Index Provider), and then follows a quantitative process that is designed to determine optimal weights for securities to maximize exposure to securities of companies with higher ESG ratings, subject to maintaining risk and return characteristics similar to the Parent Index. For each industry, the Index Provider identifies key ESG issues that can turn into unexpected costs for companies in the medium to long term. The Index Provider then calculates the size of each company’s exposure to each key issue based on the company’s business segment and geographic risk and analyzes the extent to which companies have developed robust strategies and programs to manage ESG risks and opportunities. Using a sector-specific key issue weighting model, companies are rated and ranked in comparison to their industry peers. As of March 6, 2018, the Underlying Index consisted of securities from the following 21 developed market countries or regions: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (the “U.K.”). The Underlying Index may include large- and mid-capitalization companies. As of March 6, 2018, a significant portion of the Underlying Index is represented by securities of companies in the financials and industrials sectors. The components of the Underlying Index, and the degree to which these components represent certain industries or sectors and countries, are likely to change over time. If you have any questions, please call 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737). iShares® is a registered trademark of BlackRock Fund Advisors and its affiliates.
IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING CHANGE IN INVESTMENT POLICY iShares® iShares Trust Supplement dated March 16, 2018 to the Summary Prospectus and Prospectus, each dated December 29, 2017 and Statement of Additional Information (the “SAI”), dated December 29, 2017 (as revised March 6, 2018), for the iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF (ESGU) (the “Fund”) The information in this Supplement updates information in, and should be read in conjunction with, the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and the SAI for the Fund. The following changes are expected to take effect for the Fund on or around May 23, 2018: | | | | | | | | Current | | New | Underlying Index | | MSCI USA ESG Focus Index | | MSCI USA Extended ESG Focus Index |
Change in the Fund’s “Principal Investment Strategies” The first and second paragraphs on page S-2 of the section of the Summary Prospectus and Prospectus entitled “Principal Investment Strategies” are deleted in their entirety and replaced with the following: The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI USA Extended ESG Focus Index (the “Underlying Index”), which has been developed by MSCI Inc. (the “Index Provider” or “MSCI”). The Underlying Index is an optimized equity index designed to reflect the equity performance of U.S. companies that have favorable environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) characteristics (as determined by the Index Provider), while exhibiting risk and return characteristics similar to those of the MSCI USA Index (the “Parent Index”). The Index Provider begins with the Parent Index, excludes securities of companies involved in the business of tobacco, companies involved with controversial weapons, producers and retailers of civilian firearms, as well as companies involved in very severe business controversies (in each case as determined by the Index Provider), and then follows a quantitative process that is designed to determine optimal weights for securities to maximize exposure to securities of companies with higher ESG ratings, subject to maintaining risk and return characteristics similar to the Parent Index. For each industry, the Index Provider identifies key ESG issues that can lead to unexpected costs for companies in the medium- to long-term. The Index Provider then calculates the size of each company’s exposure to each key issue based on the company’s business segment and geographic risk and analyzes the extent to which companies have developed robust strategies and programs to manage ESG risks and opportunities. Using a sector-specific key issue weighting model, companies are rated and ranked in comparison to their industry peers. The Underlying Index may include large- or mid-capitalization companies. As of March 6, 2018, a significant portion of the Underlying Index is represented by securities of companies in the information technology sector. The components of the Underlying Index, and the degree to which these components represent certain industries or sectors, are likely to change over time. If you have any questions, please call 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737). iShares® is a registered trademark of BlackRock Fund Advisors and its affiliates.
IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING CHANGE IN INVESTMENT POLICY iShares® iShares Trust Supplement dated March 16, 2018 to the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (the “SAI”), each dated September 1, 2017, for the iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF (SUSA) (the “Fund”) The information in this Supplement updates information in, and should be read in conjunction with, the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and the SAI for the Fund. The following changes are expected to take effect for the Fund on or around May 23, 2018: | | | | | | | | Current | | New | Underlying Index | | MSCI USA ESG Select Index | | MSCI USA Extended ESG Select Index |
Change in the Fund’s “Principal Investment Strategies” The first paragraph on page S-2 of the section of the Summary Prospectus and Prospectus entitled “Principal Investment Strategies” is deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following: The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI USA Extended ESG Select Index (the “Underlying Index”), which is an optimized index designed to maximize exposure to favorable environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) characteristics, while exhibiting risk and return characteristics similar to the MSCI USA Index. As of March 6, 2018, the Underlying Index consisted of 104 companies included in the MSCI USA Index. MSCI Inc. (the “Index Provider” or “MSCI”) analyzes each eligible company’s ESG performance using proprietary ratings covering ESG and ethics criteria. The index methodology is designed so that companies with relatively high overall ratings have a higher representation in the Underlying Index than in the MSCI USA Index; and companies with relatively low overall ratings have a lower representation in the Underlying Index than in the MSCI USA Index. Exceptions may result from the Underlying Index’s objective of having risk and return characteristics similar to the MSCI USA Index. Securities of companies that the Index Provider determines are involved in tobacco, companies involved with controversial weapons, producers and retailers of civilian firearms, as well as major producers of alcohol, gambling, conventional weapons, military weapons and nuclear power, are excluded from the Underlying Index. The Underlying Index may include large or mid-capitalization companies. As of March 6, 2018, a significant portion of the Underlying Index is represented by securities of companies in the information technology sector. The components of the Underlying Index, and the degree to which these components represent certain industries or sectors, are likely to change over time. Change in the Fund’s “Summary of Principal Risks” The section of the Summary Prospectus and Prospectus entitled “Summary of Principal Risks” is amended to delete “Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk.” If you have any questions, please call 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737). iShares® is a registered trademark of BlackRock Fund Advisors and its affiliates.
| 