497K 1 d597894d497k.htm FORM 497K Form 497K
July 1, 2017
(as revised June 1, 2018)
2017 Summary Prospectus
►  iShares National Muni Bond ETF | MUB |  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 July 1, 2017, 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® NATIONAL MUNI BOND ETF
Ticker: MUB Stock Exchange: NYSE Arca
Investment Objective
The iShares National Muni Bond ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of investment-grade U.S. municipal bonds.
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 the management fees, interest expenses, taxes, expenses incurred with respect to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities and the execution of portfolio transactions, including brokerage commissions, distribution fees or expenses, litigation expenses and any extraordinary expenses. The Fund may incur “Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses.” Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses reflect the Fund's pro rata share of the fees and expenses incurred by investing in other investment companies. The impact of Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses is included in the total returns of the Fund. Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses are not included in the calculation of the ratio of expenses to average net assets shown in the Financial Highlights section of the Fund's prospectus (the “Prospectus”). BFA, the investment adviser to the Fund, has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees in an amount equal to the Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any, attributable to the Fund's investments in other series of the Trust and iShares, Inc. through June 30, 2026. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to June 30, 2026 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA. BFA has contractually agreed to waive its management fee by an additional amount such that the Fund’s total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver will not exceed 0.07% through May 30, 2023. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to May 30, 2023 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA.
You may also incur usual and customary brokerage commissions and other charges 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 		  Acquired Fund Fees
and Expenses 		  Total Annual
Fund
Operating
Expenses 		  Fee Waiver   Total Annual
Fund
Operating
Expenses
After
Fee Waiver
0.25%   None   None   0.00%   0.25%   (0.18)%   0.07%
1 The expense information in the table has been restated 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
$7   $23   $40   $219
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. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 8% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond IndexTM (the “Underlying Index”), which measures the performance of the investment-grade segment of the U.S. municipal bond market. As of December 31, 2016, there were 11,244 issues in the Underlying Index. As of December 31, 2016, a significant portion of the Underlying Index is represented by municipal bond issuers in the transportation and utilities sectors. The components of the Underlying Index, and the degree to which these components represent certain
industries, are likely to change over time.
The Underlying Index primarily includes municipal bonds from issuers that are state or local governments or agencies such that the interest on each such bond is exempt from U.S. federal income taxes and the federal alternative minimum tax (“AMT”). Each bond in the Underlying Index must have a rating of at least BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., or BBB- by Fitch Ratings, Inc. A bond must be rated by at least one of these three rating agencies in order to qualify for the Underlying Index, and the lowest rating will be used in determining if the bond is investment-grade. Each bond in the Underlying Index must be denominated in U.S. dollars, must be a constituent of an offering where the original offering amount was at least $100 million, and must have a minimum par amount of $25 million. To remain in the Underlying Index, bonds must maintain a minimum par amount greater than or equal to $25 million as of the next rebalancing date. In addition, each bond must have a minimum term to maturity and/or pre-refunded or call date greater than or equal to one calendar month plus one calendar day to be included in the Underlying Index. The Underlying Index is a market-value
 
 
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weighted index, and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated after the close on the last business day of each month.
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 indexing strategy that involves investing in a representative sample of securities that collectively has an investment profile similar to that of an applicable 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, duration, maturity, credit ratings and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of an applicable underlying index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the securities in an applicable underlying index.
The Fund generally will invest at least 90% of its assets in the component securities of the Underlying Index and may invest up to 10% of its assets in
certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents, including shares of money market funds advised by BFA or its affiliates (“BlackRock Cash Funds”), as well as in securities not included in the Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. From time to time when conditions warrant, however, the Fund may invest at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the Underlying Index and may invest up to 20% of its assets in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents, including shares of BlackRock Cash Funds, 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 will generally hold municipal bond securities issued by state and local municipalities whose interest payments are exempt from U.S. federal income tax, the federal AMT and the federal Medicare contribution tax of 3.8% on “net investment income.” In addition, the Fund intends to invest any cash assets in one or more affiliated municipal money market funds, which may be advised by BFA or its affiliates. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Underlying Index before fees and expenses of the Fund.
The Fund may invest in shares of other iShares funds that provide substantially similar exposure to the securities in the Underlying Index. BFA will waive a portion of its management fees in an amount equal to the acquired fund fees and expenses, if any, attributable to the Fund's investment in other iShares funds.
The Underlying Index is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (the “Index Provider” or “SPDJI”), which
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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.
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 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), repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities, and securities of state or municipal governments and their political subdivisions 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 certain risks, including 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 and other assets in the Underlying Index or in the Fund's portfolio may underperform in comparison to the general financial markets, a particular financial market or other asset classes.
Assets Under Management (AUM) Risk. From time to time, an Authorized Participant (as defined in the Creations and Redemptions section of this Prospectus), a third party investor, the
Fund’s adviser or an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, or a fund may invest in the Fund and hold its investment for a specific period of time in order to facilitate commencement of the Fund’s operations or for the Fund to achieve size or scale. There can be no assurance that any such entity would not redeem its investment or that the size of the Fund would be maintained at such levels, which could negatively impact the Fund.
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units (as defined in the Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares section of the Prospectus), Fund shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting.
California and New York Municipal Securities Risk. Because the Fund invests substantially in California and New York municipal instruments, it is more exposed to the impact of negative political, economic and statutory factors within California and New York than a fund that invests more widely.
Call Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of a callable bond held by the Fund may “call” or repay the security before its stated
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maturity, and the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds in securities with lower yields, which would result in a decline in the Fund's income, or in securities with greater risks or with other less favorable features.
Concentration Risk. The Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund's investments are concentrated in the securities of a particular issuer or issuers, in a particular country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, project types, group of project types, sector or asset class.
Credit Risk. Debt issuers and other counterparties may be unable or unwilling to make timely interest and/or principal payments when due or otherwise honor their obligations. Changes in an issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also adversely affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer. The degree of credit risk depends on the issuer’s or counterparty’s financial condition and on the terms of the securities.
Cyber Security Risk. Failures or breaches of the electronic systems of the Fund, the Fund's adviser, distributor, and other service providers, market makers, Authorized Participants or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests have the ability to cause disruptions and negatively impact the Fund’s business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders. While the Fund has established business continuity plans and risk management systems seeking to address system breaches or
failures, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems. Furthermore, the Fund cannot control the cyber security plans and systems of the Fund’s service providers, the Index Provider, market makers, Authorized Participants or issuers of securities in which the Fund invests.
Extension Risk. During periods of rising interest rates, certain debt obligations may be paid off substantially more slowly than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income and potentially in the value of the Fund’s investments.
Income Risk. The Fund's income may decline when interest rates fall. This decline can occur because the Fund may subsequently invest in lower-yielding bonds as bonds in its portfolio mature, are near maturity, bonds in the Underlying Index are substituted, or the Fund otherwise needs to purchase additional bonds.
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, index computations and/or the construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index Provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders.
Interest Rate Risk. An increase in interest rates may cause the value of
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securities held by the Fund to decline, may lead to heightened volatility in the fixed-income markets and may adversely affect the liquidity of certain fixed-income investments. The historically low interest rate environment increases the risks associated with rising interest rates.
Issuer Risk. The performance of the Fund 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.
Liquidity Risk. Liquidity risk exists when particular investments are difficult to purchase or sell. This can reduce the Fund's returns because the Fund may be unable to transact at advantageous times or prices. The Fund invests a significant portion of its portfolio in municipal securities, which may be less liquid than comparable taxable bonds.
Management Risk. As the Fund may not fully replicate the Underlying Index, it is subject to the risk that BFA's investment 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 more prolonged 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 disruptions in the creation/redemption process. ANY OF THESE FACTORS, AMONG OTHERS, MAY LEAD TO THE FUND'S SHARES TRADING AT A PREMIUM OR DISCOUNT TO NAV.
Municipal Securities Risk. Municipal securities can be significantly affected by political or economic changes as well as uncertainties in the municipal market related to taxation, legislative changes or the rights of municipal security holders, including in connection with an issuer insolvency. Municipal securities backed by current or anticipated revenues from a specific project or specific assets can be negatively affected by the inability to collect revenues from the project or the assets.
Operational Risk. The Fund is exposed to operational risks arising from a number of factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund and BFA seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.
Passive Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively managed, and BFA generally does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets.
Risk of Investing in the United States. The Fund has significant exposure to U.S. issuers. Certain changes in the U.S. economy, such as when the U.S. economy weakens or when its financial markets decline, may have an adverse effect on the securities to which the Fund has exposure.
Tax Risk. There is no guarantee that the Fund's income will be exempt from U.S. federal income taxes, the federal AMT or the federal Medicare contribution tax of 3.8% on “net investment income.”
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Tracking Error Risk. Tracking error is the divergence of a fund’s performance from that of the applicable underlying index. Tracking error may occur because of differences between the securities and other instruments held in the fund’s portfolio and those included in the applicable underlying index, pricing differences, differences in transaction costs, the fund’s holding of uninvested cash, differences in timing of the accrual of or the valuation of distributions, tax gains or losses, changes to the applicable underlying index or the costs to the fund of complying with various new or existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error also may result because a fund incurs fees and expenses, while the applicable underlying index does not.
Transportation Infrastructure Industry Risk. The transportation
infrastructure industry may be adversely affected by economic changes, increases in fuel and operating costs, labor relations, insurance costs and government regulation and oversight. Municipal securities that are issued to finance a particular transportation infrastructure project (e.g., toll roads) often depend on revenues from that project to make principal and interest payments.
Utilities Sector Risk. Municipal securities that are issued to finance a particular utility project often depend on revenues from that project to make principal and interest payments. The utilities sector is subject to significant government regulation and oversight, and may be adversely affected by increases in fuel and operating costs, rising costs of financing capital construction and the cost of complying with U.S. federal and state regulations, among other factors.
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Performance Information
The bar chart and table that follow show how the Fund has performed on a calendar year basis and provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. Both assume that all dividends and distributions have been reinvested in the Fund. Past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Supplemental information about the Fund’s performance is shown under the heading Total Return Information in the Supplemental Information section of the Prospectus. If BFA had not waived certain Fund fees during certain periods, the Fund's returns would have been lower.
Year by Year Returns1 (Years Ended December 31)
1 The Fund’s year-to-date return as of March 31, 2017 was 1.15%.
The best calendar quarter return during the periods shown above was 7.04% in the 3rd quarter of 2009; the worst was -4.85% in the 4th quarter of 2010.
Updated performance information is available at www.iShares.com or by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) (toll free).
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Average Annual Total Returns
(for the periods ended December 31, 2016)
  One Year   Five Years   Since Fund
Inception
(Inception Date: 9/7/2007)          
Return Before Taxes 0.06%   2.82%   3.97%
Return After Taxes on Distributions1 0.05%   2.82%   3.96%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares1 0.98%   2.80%   3.80%
S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond IndexTM (Index returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses, or taxes) 0.36%   3.06%   4.12%
1 After-tax returns in the table above are calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state or local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after-tax returns shown are not relevant to tax-exempt investors or investors who hold shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”). Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares are calculated assuming that an investor has sufficient capital gains of the same character from other investments to offset any capital losses from the sale of Fund shares. As a result, Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares may exceed Fund returns before taxes and/or returns after taxes on distributions.
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Management
Investment Adviser. BlackRock Fund Advisors.
Portfolio Managers. James Mauro and Scott Radell (the “Portfolio Managers”) are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Each Portfolio Manager supervises a portfolio management team. Mr. Mauro and Mr. Radell have been Portfolio Managers of the Fund since 2011 and 2010, respectively.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund is an exchange-traded fund (commonly referred to as an “ETF”). Individual shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities exchange. Most investors will buy and sell shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer. The price of Fund shares is based on market price, and because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at 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 primarily from net tax-exempt income, although distributions of taxable capital gains may also occur. The Fund is generally not an appropriate investment for a 401(k) plan or an IRA. Please consult your personal tax adviser.
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-MUB-0618
Investment Company Act file No.: 811-09729