Form 497

iShares^® Trust

Statement of Additional Information

Dated April 5, 2018
(as revised September 28, 2018)

This Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) is not a prospectus. It should be read in conjunction with the current prospectus (the “Prospectus”) for the following series of iShares Trust (the “Trust”):

Fund		Ticker		Listing Exchange
iShares MSCI USA Small-Cap ESG Optimized ETF (the “Fund”)		ESML		Cboe BZX

The Prospectus for the Fund is dated April 5, 2018, as amended and supplemented from time to time. Capitalized terms used herein that are not defined have the same meaning as in the Prospectus, unless otherwise noted. A copy of the Prospectus for the Fund may be obtained without charge by writing to the Trust’s distributor, BlackRock Investments, LLC (the “Distributor” or “BRIL”), 1 University Square Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540, calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) or visiting www.iShares.com. The Fund's Prospectus is incorporated by reference into this SAI.

References to the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act” or the “1940 Act”), or other applicable law, will include any rules promulgated thereunder and any guidance, interpretations or modifications by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), SEC staff or other authority with appropriate jurisdiction, including court interpretations, and exemptive, no action or other relief or permission from the SEC, SEC staff or other authority.

iShares^® and BlackRock^® are registered trademarks of BlackRock Fund Advisors and its affiliates.

General Description of the Trust and the Fund

The Trust currently consists of more than 280 investment series or portfolios. The Trust was organized as a Delaware statutory trust on December 16, 1999 and is authorized to have multiple series or portfolios. The Trust is an open-end management investment company registered with the SEC under the 1940 Act. The offering of the Trust’s shares is registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”). This SAI relates solely to the Fund.

The Fund is managed by BlackRock Fund Advisors (“BFA”), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc., and generally seeks to track the investment results of the specific benchmark index identified in the Fund's Prospectus (the “Underlying Index”).

The Fund offers and issues shares at their net asset value per share (“NAV”) only in aggregations of a specified number of shares (each, a “Creation Unit”), generally in exchange for a designated portfolio of securities (including any portion of such securities for which cash may be substituted) included in its Underlying Index (the “Deposit Securities”), together with the deposit of a specified cash payment (the “Cash Component”). Shares of the Fund are listed and trade on Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (the “Listing Exchange” or “Cboe BZX”) (formerly known as BATS Exchange, Inc.), a national securities exchange. Shares of the Fund are traded in the secondary market and elsewhere at market prices that may be at, above or below the Fund's NAV. Shares are redeemable only in Creation Units by Authorized Participants (as defined in the Portfolio Holdings Information section of this SAI), and, generally, in exchange for portfolio securities and a Cash Amount (as defined in the Redemption of Creation Units section of this SAI). Creation Units typically are a specified number of shares, generally 50,000 or multiples thereof.

The Trust reserves the right to permit or require that creations and redemptions of shares are effected fully or partially in cash and reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of Deposit Securities in lieu of cash. Shares may be issued in advance of receipt of Deposit Securities, subject to various conditions, including a requirement that the Authorized Participant maintain with the Trust a cash deposit equal to at least 105% and up to 115%, which percentage BFA may change from time to time, of the market value of the omitted Deposit Securities. The Trust may use such cash deposit at any time to purchase Deposit Securities. See the Creation and Redemption of Creation Units section of this SAI. Transaction fees and other costs associated with creations or redemptions that include a cash portion may be higher than the transaction fees and other costs associated with in-kind creations or redemptions. In all cases, conditions with respect to creations and redemptions of shares and fees will be limited in accordance with the requirements of SEC rules and regulations applicable to management investment companies offering redeemable securities.

Exchange Listing and Trading

A discussion of exchange listing and trading matters associated with an investment in the Fund is contained in the Shareholder Information section of the Fund's Prospectus. The discussion below supplements, and should be read in conjunction with, that section of the Prospectus.

Shares of the Fund are listed for trading, and trade throughout the day, on the Listing Exchange and in other secondary markets. Shares of the Fund may also be listed on certain non-U.S. exchanges. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Listing Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of shares of the Fund will continue to be met. The Listing Exchange may, but is not required to, remove the shares of the Fund from listing if, among other things: (i) following the initial 12-month period beginning upon the commencement of trading of Fund shares, there are fewer than 50 record and/or beneficial owners of shares of the Fund for 30 or more consecutive trading days, (ii) the value of the Underlying Index on which the Fund is based is no longer calculated or available, or (iii) any other event shall occur or condition shall exist that, in the opinion of the Listing Exchange, makes further dealings on the Listing Exchange inadvisable. The Listing Exchange will also remove shares of the Fund from listing and trading upon termination of the Fund or in the event the Fund does not comply with the continuous listing standards of the Listing Exchange, as described in the Fund’s prospectus.

As in the case of other publicly-traded securities, when you buy or sell shares of the Fund through a broker, you may incur a brokerage commission determined by that broker, as well as other charges.

In order to provide additional information regarding the indicative value of shares of the Fund, the Listing Exchange or a market data vendor disseminates information every 15 seconds through the facilities of the Consolidated Tape Association, or through other widely disseminated means, an updated indicative optimized portfolio value (“IOPV”) for the Fund as calculated by an information provider or market data vendor. The Trust is not involved in or responsible for any aspect of the calculation or dissemination of the IOPV and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the IOPV.

An IOPV has an equity securities component and a cash component. The equity securities values included in an IOPV are the values of the Deposit Securities for the Fund. While the IOPV reflects the current value of the Deposit Securities required to be deposited in connection with the purchase of a Creation Unit, it does not necessarily reflect the precise composition of the current portfolio of securities held by the Fund at a particular point in time because the current portfolio of the Fund may include securities that are not a part of the current Deposit Securities. Therefore, the Fund’s IOPV disseminated during the Listing Exchange trading hours should not be viewed as a real-time update of the Fund’s NAV, which is calculated only once a day.

The cash component included in an IOPV consists of estimated accrued interest, dividends and other income, less expenses. If applicable, each IOPV also reflects changes in currency exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the applicable currency.

The Trust reserves the right to adjust the share prices of the Fund in the future to maintain convenient trading ranges for investors. Any adjustments would be accomplished through stock splits or reverse stock splits, which would have no effect on the net assets of the Fund or an investor's equity interest in the Fund.

Investment Strategies and Risks

The Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing primarily in securities issued by issuers that comprise the Underlying Index and through transactions that provide substantially similar exposure to securities in the Underlying Index. The Fund operates as an index fund and is not actively managed. Adverse performance of a security in the Fund’s portfolio will ordinarily not result in the elimination of the security from the Fund’s portfolio.

The Fund engages in representative sampling, which is investing in a sample of securities selected by BFA to have a collective investment profile similar to that of the Fund's Underlying Index. Securities selected have aggregate investment characteristics (based on market capitalization and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability, earnings valuation and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of the Underlying Index. A fund that uses representative sampling generally does not hold all of the securities that are in its underlying index.

Although the Fund does not seek leveraged returns, certain instruments used by the Fund may have a leveraging effect as described below.

Borrowing. The Fund may borrow for temporary or emergency purposes, including to meet payments due from redemptions or to facilitate the settlement of securities or other transactions. Under normal market conditions, any borrowing by the Fund will not exceed 10% of the Fund’s net assets; however, the Fund generally does not intend to borrow money.

The purchase of securities while borrowings are outstanding may have the effect of leveraging the Fund. The incurrence of leverage increases the Fund’s exposure to risk, and borrowed funds are subject to interest costs that will reduce net income. Purchasing securities while borrowings are outstanding creates special risks, such as the potential for greater volatility in the net asset value of Fund shares and in the yield on the Fund’s portfolio. In addition, the interest expenses from borrowings may exceed the income generated by the Fund’s portfolio and, therefore, the amount available (if any) for distribution to shareholders as dividends may be reduced. BFA may determine to maintain outstanding borrowings if it expects that the benefits to the Fund’s shareholders will outweigh the current reduced return.

Certain types of borrowings by the Fund must be made from a bank or may result in the Fund being subject to covenants in credit agreements relating to asset coverage, portfolio composition requirements and other matters. It is not anticipated that observance of such covenants would impede BFA’s management of the Fund’s portfolio in accordance with the Fund’s investment objectives and policies. However, a breach of any such covenants not cured within the specified cure period may result in acceleration of outstanding indebtedness and require the Fund to dispose of portfolio investments at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so.

Diversification Status. The Fund is classified as “non-diversified.” A non-diversified fund is a fund that is not limited by the 1940 Act with regard to the percentage of its assets that may be invested in the securities of a single issuer. The securities of a particular issuer (or securities of issuers in particular industries) may constitute a significant percentage of the underlying index of such a fund and, consequently, the fund’s investment portfolio. This may adversely affect the fund’s performance or subject the fund’s shares to greater price volatility than that experienced by more diversified investment companies.

The Fund intends to maintain the required level of diversification and otherwise conduct its operations so as to qualify as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) for purposes of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”), and to relieve the Fund of any liability for U.S. federal income tax to the extent that its earnings are distributed to shareholders, provided that the Fund satisfies a minimum distribution requirement. Compliance with the diversification requirements of the Internal Revenue Code may limit the investment flexibility of the Fund and may make it less likely that the Fund will meet its investment objective.

Futures, Options on Futures and Securities Options. Futures contracts, options on futures and securities options may be used by the Fund to simulate investment in its Underlying Index, to facilitate trading or to reduce transaction costs. The Fund may enter into futures contracts and options on futures that are traded on a U.S. or non-U.S. futures exchange. The Fund will not use futures, options on futures or securities options for speculative purposes. The Fund intends to use futures and options on futures in accordance with Rule 4.5 of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) promulgated under the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”). BFA, with respect to the Fund, has claimed an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” in accordance with Rule 4.5 so that BFA, in respect of the Fund, is not subject to registration or regulation as a commodity pool operator under the CEA. See the Regulation Regarding Derivatives section of this SAI for more information.

Futures contracts provide for the future sale by one party and purchase by another party of a specified amount of a specific instrument or index at a specified future time and at a specified price. Stock index contracts are based on investments that reflect the market value of common stock of the firms included in the investments. The Fund may enter into futures contracts to purchase securities indexes when BFA anticipates purchasing the underlying securities and believes prices will rise before the purchase will be made. Upon entering into a futures contract, the Fund will be required to deposit with the broker an amount of cash or cash equivalents known as “initial margin,” which is similar to a performance bond or good faith deposit on the contract and is returned to the Fund upon termination of the futures contract if all contractual obligations have been satisfied. Subsequent payments, known as “variation margin,” will be made to and from the broker daily as the price of the instrument or index underlying the futures contract fluctuates, making the long and short positions in the futures contract more or less valuable, a process known as “marking-to-market.” At any time prior to the expiration of a futures contract, the Fund may elect to close the position by taking an opposite position, which will operate to terminate the Fund’s existing position in the contract. To the extent required by law, the Fund will segregate liquid assets in an amount equal to its delivery obligations under the futures contracts. An option on a futures contract, as contrasted with a direct investment in such a contract, gives the purchaser the right, but no obligation, in return for the premium paid, to assume a position in the underlying futures contract at a specified exercise price at any time prior to the expiration date of the option. Upon exercise of an option, the delivery of the futures position by the writer of the option to the holder of the option will be accompanied by delivery of the accumulated balance in the writer’s futures margin account that represents the amount by which the market price of the futures contract exceeds (in the case of a call) or is less than (in the case of a put) the exercise price of the option on the futures contract. The potential for loss related to the purchase of an option on a futures contract is limited to the premium paid for the option plus transaction costs. Because the value of the option is fixed at the point of sale, there are no daily cash payments by the purchaser to reflect changes in the value of the underlying contract; however, the value of the option changes daily and that change would be reflected in the NAV of the Fund. The potential for loss related to writing call options is unlimited. The potential for loss related to writing put options is limited to the agreed-upon price per share, also known as the “strike price,” less the premium received from writing the put. The Fund may purchase and write put and call options on futures contracts that are traded on an exchange as a hedge against changes in value of its portfolio securities or in anticipation of the purchase of securities, and may enter into closing transactions with respect to such options to terminate existing positions. There is no guarantee that such closing transactions can be effected.

Securities options may be used by the Fund to obtain access to securities in the Underlying Index or to dispose of securities in the Underlying Index at favorable prices, to invest cash in a securities index that offers similar exposure to that provided by the Underlying Index or otherwise to achieve the Fund’s objective of tracking the Underlying Index. A call option gives a holder the right to purchase a specific security at a specified price (“exercise price”) within a specified period of time. A put option gives a holder the right to sell a specific security at an exercise price within a specified period of time. The initial

purchaser of a call option pays the “writer” a premium, which is paid at the time of purchase and is retained by the writer whether or not such option is exercised. The Fund may purchase put options to hedge its portfolio against the risk of a decline in the market value of securities held and may purchase call options to hedge against an increase in the price of securities it is committed to purchase. The Fund may write put and call options along with a long position in options to increase its ability to hedge against a change in the market value of the securities it holds or is committed to purchase. The Fund may purchase or sell securities options on a U.S. or non-U.S. securities exchange or in the OTC market through a transaction with a dealer. Options on a securities index are typically settled on a net basis based on the appreciation or depreciation of the index level over the strike price. Options on single name securities may be cash- or physically-settled, depending upon the market in which they are traded. Options may be structured so as to be exercisable only on certain dates or on a daily basis. Options may also be structured to have conditions to exercise (i.e., “Knock-in Events”) or conditions that trigger termination (i.e., “Knock-out Events”). Investments in futures contracts and other investments that contain leverage may require the Fund to maintain liquid assets in an amount equal to its delivery obligations under these contracts and other investments. Generally, the Fund maintains an amount of liquid assets equal to its obligations relative to the position involved, adjusted daily on a marked-to-market basis. With respect to futures contracts that are contractually required to “cash-settle,” the Fund maintains liquid assets in an amount at least equal to the Fund’s daily marked-to-market obligation (i.e., the Fund’s daily net liability, if any), rather than the contracts’ notional value (i.e., the value of the underlying asset). By maintaining assets equal to its net obligation under cash-settled futures contracts, the Fund may employ leverage to a greater extent than if the Fund were required to set aside assets equal to the futures contracts’ full notional value. The Fund bases its asset maintenance policies on methods permitted by the SEC and its staff and may modify these policies in the future to comply with any changes in the guidance articulated from time to time by the SEC or its staff. Changes in SEC guidance regarding the use of derivatives by registered investment companies may adversely impact the Fund’s ability to invest in futures, options or other derivatives or make investments in such instruments more expensive.

Illiquid Securities. The Fund may invest up to an aggregate amount of 15% of its net assets in illiquid securities (calculated at the time of investment). Illiquid securities may include securities subject to contractual or other restrictions on resale and other instruments that lack readily available markets, as determined in accordance with SEC staff guidance. The liquidity of a security relates to the ability to readily dispose of the security and the price to be obtained upon disposition of the security, which may be lower than the price that would be obtained for a comparable, more liquid security. Illiquid securities may trade at a discount to comparable, more liquid securities and the Fund may not be able to dispose of illiquid securities in a timely fashion or at their expected prices.

Lending Portfolio Securities. The Fund may lend portfolio securities to certain borrowers that BFA determines to be creditworthy, including borrowers affiliated with BFA. The borrowers provide collateral that is maintained in an amount at least equal to the current market value of the securities loaned. No securities loan shall be made on behalf of the Fund if, as a result, the aggregate value of all securities loaned by the Fund exceeds one-third of the value of the Fund's total assets (including the value of the collateral received). The Fund may terminate a loan at any time and obtain the return of the securities loaned. The Fund receives, by way of substitute payment, the value of any interest or cash or non-cash distributions paid on the loaned securities that it would have received if the securities were not on loan.

With respect to loans that are collateralized by cash, the borrower may be entitled to receive a fee based on the amount of cash collateral. The Fund is typically compensated by the difference between the amount earned on the reinvestment of cash collateral and the fee paid to the borrower. In the case of collateral other than cash, the Fund is typically compensated by a fee paid by the borrower equal to a percentage of the market value of the loaned securities. Any cash collateral may be reinvested in certain short-term instruments either directly on behalf of the lending Fund or through one or more joint accounts or money market funds, including those affiliated with BFA; such investments are subject to investment risk.

The Fund conducts its securities lending pursuant to an exemptive order from the SEC permitting it to lend portfolio securities to borrowers affiliated with the Fund and to retain an affiliate of the Fund to act as securities lending agent. To the extent that the Fund engages in securities lending, BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A. (“BTC”) acts as securities lending agent for the Fund, subject to the overall supervision of BFA. BTC administers the lending program in accordance with guidelines approved by the Trust's Board of Trustees (the “Board” or the “Trustees”).

collateral or in recovering the loaned securities, or to a possible loss of rights in the collateral. In the event a borrower does not return the Fund’s securities as agreed, the Fund may experience losses if the proceeds received from liquidating the collateral do not at least equal the value of the loaned security at the time the collateral is liquidated, plus the transaction costs incurred in purchasing replacement securities. This event could trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund. The Fund could lose money if its short-term investment of the collateral declines in value over the period of the loan. Substitute payments for dividends received by the Fund for securities loaned out by the Fund will not be considered qualified dividend income. BTC will take into account the tax effects on shareholders caused by this difference in connection with the Fund’s securities lending program. Substitute payments received on tax-exempt securities loaned out will not be tax-exempt income.

Regulation Regarding Derivatives. The CFTC subjects advisers to registered investment companies to regulation by the CFTC if a fund that is advised by the adviser either (i) invests, directly or indirectly, more than a prescribed level of its liquidation value in CFTC-regulated futures, options and swaps (“CFTC Derivatives”), or (ii) markets itself as providing investment exposure to such instruments. The CFTC also subjects advisers to registered investment companies to regulation by the CFTC if the registered investment company invests in one or more commodity pools. To the extent the Fund uses CFTC Derivatives, it intends to do so below such prescribed levels and intends not to market itself as a “commodity pool” or a vehicle for trading such instruments.

BFA has claimed an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” under the CEA pursuant to Rule 4.5 under the CEA with respect to the Fund. BFA is not, therefore, subject to registration or regulation as a “commodity pool operator” under the CEA with respect to the Fund.

Derivative contracts, including, without limitation, swaps, currency forwards, and non-deliverable forwards, are subject to regulation under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”) in the U.S. and under comparable regimes in Europe, Asia and other non-U.S. jurisdictions. Swaps, non-deliverable forwards and certain other derivatives traded in the OTC market are subject to variation margin requirements and initial margining requirements will be phased in through 2020. Implementation of the margining and other provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act regarding clearing, mandatory trading, reporting and documentation of swaps and other derivatives have impacted and may continue to impact the costs to the Fund of trading these instruments and, as a result, may affect returns to investors in the Fund.

As a result of regulatory requirements under the 1940 Act, the Fund is required to maintain an amount of liquid assets, accrued on a daily basis, having an aggregate value at least equal to the value of the Fund’s obligations under the applicable derivatives contract. To the extent that derivatives contracts are settled on a physical basis, the Fund will generally be required to maintain an amount of liquid assets equal to the notional value of the contract. On the other hand, in connection with derivatives contracts that are performed on a net basis, the Fund will generally be required to maintain liquid assets, accrued daily, equal only to the accrued excess, if any, of the Fund’s obligations over those of its counterparty under the contract. Accordingly, reliance by the Fund on physically-settled derivatives contracts may adversely impact investors by requiring the Fund to set aside a greater amount of liquid assets than would generally be required if the Fund were relying on cash-settled derivatives contracts.

Repurchase Agreements. A repurchase agreement is an instrument under which the purchaser (i.e., the Fund) acquires the security and the seller agrees, at the time of the sale, to repurchase the security at a mutually agreed-upon time and price, thereby determining the yield during the purchaser’s holding period. Repurchase agreements may be construed to be collateralized loans by the purchaser to the seller secured by the securities transferred to the purchaser. If a repurchase agreement is construed to be a collateralized loan, the underlying securities will not be considered to be owned by the Fund but only to constitute collateral for the seller’s obligation to pay the repurchase price, and, in the event of a default by the seller, the Fund may suffer time delays and incur costs or losses in connection with the disposition of the collateral.

In any repurchase transaction, the collateral for a repurchase agreement may include: (i) cash items; (ii) obligations issued by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities; or (iii) obligations that, at the time the repurchase agreement is entered into, are determined to (A) have exceptionally strong capacity to meet their financial obligations and (B) are sufficiently liquid such that they can be sold at approximately their carrying value in the ordinary course of business within seven days.

Repurchase agreements pose certain risks for the Fund, should it decide to utilize them. Such risks are not unique to the Fund, but are inherent in repurchase agreements. The Fund seeks to minimize such risks, but because of the inherent legal uncertainties involved in repurchase agreements, such risks cannot be eliminated. Lower quality collateral and collateral with

a longer maturity may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality collateral and collateral with a shorter maturity. If the repurchase agreement counterparty were to default, lower quality collateral may be more difficult to liquidate than higher quality collateral. Should the counterparty default and the amount of collateral not be sufficient to cover the counterparty’s repurchase obligation, the Fund would likely retain the status of an unsecured creditor of the counterparty (i.e., the position the Fund would normally be in if it were to hold, pursuant to its investment policies, other unsecured debt securities of the defaulting counterparty) with respect to the amount of the shortfall. As an unsecured creditor, the Fund would be at risk of losing some or all of the principal and income involved in the transaction.

Reverse Repurchase Agreements. Reverse repurchase agreements involve the sale of securities with an agreement to repurchase the securities at an agreed-upon price, date and interest payment and have the characteristics of borrowing. Generally, the effect of such transactions is that the Fund can recover all or most of the cash invested in the portfolio securities involved during the term of the reverse repurchase agreement, while in many cases the Fund is able to keep some of the interest income associated with those securities. Such transactions are advantageous only if the Fund has an opportunity to earn a rate of interest on the cash derived from these transactions that is greater than the interest cost of obtaining the same amount of cash. Opportunities to realize earnings from the use of the proceeds equal to or greater than the interest required to be paid may not always be available, and the Fund intends to use the reverse repurchase technique only when BFA believes it will be advantageous to the Fund. The use of reverse repurchase agreements may exaggerate any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s assets. The Fund’s exposure to reverse repurchase agreements will be covered by liquid assets having a value equal to or greater than the Fund’s obligations under such commitments. The use of reverse repurchase agreements is a form of leverage, and the proceeds obtained by the Fund through reverse repurchase agreements may be invested in additional securities.

Securities of Investment Companies. The Fund may invest in the securities of other investment companies (including money market funds) to the extent permitted by law. Pursuant to the 1940 Act, the Fund’s investment in registered investment companies is generally limited to, subject to certain exceptions: (i) 3% of the total outstanding voting stock of any one investment company; (ii) 5% of the Fund’s total assets with respect to any one investment company; and (iii) 10% of the Fund’s total assets with respect to investment companies in the aggregate. To the extent allowed by law or regulation, the Fund intends from time to time to invest its assets in the securities of investment companies, including, but not limited to, money market funds, including those advised by or otherwise affiliated with BFA, in excess of the general limits discussed above. Other investment companies in which the Fund may invest can be expected to incur fees and expenses for operations, such as investment advisory and administration fees, which would be in addition to those incurred by the Fund. Pursuant to guidance issued by the SEC staff, fees and expenses of money market funds used for cash collateral received in connection with loans of securities are not treated as Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, which reflect the Fund’s pro rata share of the fees and expenses incurred by investing in other investment companies (as disclosed in the Prospectus, as applicable).

Short-Term Instruments and Temporary Investments. The Fund may invest in short-term instruments, including money market instruments, on an ongoing basis to provide liquidity or for other reasons. Money market instruments are generally short-term investments that may include, but are not limited to: (i) shares of money market funds (including those advised by BFA or otherwise affiliated with BFA); (ii) obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities (including government-sponsored enterprises); (iii) negotiable certificates of deposit (“CDs”), bankers’ acceptances, fixed-time deposits and other obligations of U.S. and non-U.S. banks (including non-U.S. branches) and similar institutions; (iv) commercial paper rated, at the date of purchase, “Prime-1” by Moody's^® Investors Service, Inc., “F-1” by Fitch Ratings, Inc., or “A-1” by Standard & Poor's^® Financial Services LLC, a subsidiary of S&P Global, Inc. (“S&P Global Ratings”), or if unrated, of comparable quality as determined by BFA; (v) non-convertible corporate debt securities (e.g., bonds and debentures) with remaining maturities at the date of purchase of not more than 397 days and that have been determined to present minimal credit risks, in accordance with the requirements set forth in Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act; (vi) repurchase agreements; and (vii) short-term U.S. dollar-denominated obligations of non-U.S. banks (including U.S. branches) that, in the opinion of BFA, are of comparable quality to obligations of U.S. banks that may be purchased by the Fund. Any of these instruments may be purchased on a current or forward-settled basis. Time deposits are non-negotiable deposits maintained in banking institutions for specified periods of time at stated interest rates. Bankers’ acceptances are time drafts drawn on commercial banks by borrowers, usually in connection with international transactions.

payments. The net amount of the excess, if any, of the Fund’s obligations over its entitlements with respect to each swap is accrued on a daily basis, and an amount of liquid assets having an aggregate value at least equal to the accrued excess will be maintained by the Fund.

The use of currency, interest rate and index swaps is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio security transactions. These transactions generally do not involve the delivery of securities or other underlying assets.

Tracking Stocks. A tracking stock is a separate class of common stock whose value is linked to a specific business unit or operating division within a larger company and is designed to “track” the performance of such business unit or division. The tracking stock may pay dividends to shareholders independent of the parent company. The parent company, rather than the business unit or division, generally is the issuer of tracking stock. However, holders of the tracking stock may not have the same rights as holders of the company’s common stock.

Future Developments. The Board may, in the future, authorize the Fund to invest in securities contracts and investments, other than those listed in this SAI and in the Prospectus, provided they are consistent with the Fund's investment objective and do not violate any of its investment restrictions or policies.

General Considerations and Risks

A discussion of some of the principal risks associated with an investment in the Fund is contained in the Prospectus.

An investment in the Fund should be made with an understanding that the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities may fluctuate in accordance with changes in the financial condition of the issuers of the portfolio securities, the value of stocks in general, and other factors that affect the market.

Borrowing Risk. Borrowing may exaggerate changes in the net asset value of Fund shares and in the return on the Fund’s portfolio. Borrowing will cost the Fund interest expense and other fees. The costs of borrowing may reduce the Fund’s return. Borrowing may cause the Fund to liquidate positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations.

Dividend Risk. There is no guarantee that issuers of the stocks held by the Fund will declare dividends in the future or that, if declared, they will either remain at current levels or increase over time.

Liquidity Risk Management Rule Risk. In October 2016, the SEC adopted a liquidity risk management rule requiring open-end funds, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) such as the Fund, to establish a liquidity risk management program and enhance disclosures regarding fund liquidity. There are exclusions from certain portions of the liquidity risk management program requirements for “in-kind” ETFs . The Fund will be required to comply with portions of the rule by December 1, 2018. The effect the rule will have on the Fund, including the Fund’s ability to rely on the exclusions, is not yet known, but the rule may impact the Fund’s performance and ability to achieve its investment objective.

Operational Risk. BFA and the Fund's other service providers may experience disruptions or operating errors such as processing errors or human errors, inadequate or failed internal or external processes, or systems or technology failures, that could negatively impact the Fund. While service providers are required to have appropriate operational risk management policies and procedures, their methods of operational risk management may differ from the Fund’s in the setting of priorities, the personnel and resources available or the effectiveness of relevant controls. BFA, through its monitoring and oversight of service providers, seeks to ensure that service providers take appropriate precautions to avoid and mitigate risks that could lead to disruptions and operating errors. However, it is not possible for BFA or the other Fund service providers to identify all of the operational risks that may affect the Fund or to develop processes and controls to completely eliminate or mitigate their occurrence or effects.

transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligations. Derivatives generally involve the incurrence of leverage. To address such leverage and to prevent the Fund from being deemed to have issued senior securities as a result of an investment in derivatives, the Fund will segregate liquid assets equal to its obligations under the derivatives throughout the life of the investment.

Risk of Equity Securities. An investment in the Fund should be made with an understanding of the risks inherent in an investment in equity securities, including the risk that the financial condition of issuers may become impaired or that the general condition of stock markets may deteriorate (either of which may cause a decrease in the value of the portfolio securities and thus in the value of shares of the Fund). Common stocks are susceptible to general stock market fluctuations and to increases and decreases in value as market confidence and perceptions of their issuers change. These investor perceptions are based on various and unpredictable factors, including expectations regarding government, economic, monetary and fiscal policies, inflation and interest rates, economic expansion or contraction, and global or regional political, economic or banking crises. Holders of common stocks incur more risks than holders of preferred stocks and debt obligations because common stockholders generally have rights to receive payments from stock issuers that are inferior to the rights of creditors, or holders of debt obligations or preferred stocks. Further, unlike debt securities, which typically have a stated principal amount payable at maturity (the value of which, however, is subject to market fluctuations prior to maturity), or preferred stocks, which typically have a liquidation preference and which may have stated optional or mandatory redemption provisions, common stocks have neither a fixed principal amount nor a maturity date. In addition, issuers may, in times of distress or at their own discretion, decide to reduce or eliminate dividends, which may also cause their stock price to decline.

Although most of the securities in the Underlying Index are listed on a securities exchange, the principal trading market for some of the securities may be in the OTC market. The existence of a liquid trading market for certain securities may depend on whether dealers will make a market in such securities. There can be no assurance that a market will be made or maintained or that any such market will be or remain liquid. The price at which securities may be sold and the value of the Fund’s shares will be adversely affected if trading markets for the Fund’s portfolio securities are limited or absent, or if bid/ask spreads are wide.

Risk of Futures and Options on Futures Transactions. There are several risks accompanying the utilization of futures contracts and options on futures contracts. A position in futures contracts and options on futures contracts may be closed only on the exchange on which the contract was made (or a linked exchange). While the Fund plans to utilize futures contracts only if an active market exists for such contracts, there is no guarantee that a liquid market will exist for the contract at a specified time. Futures contracts, by definition, project price levels in the future and not current levels of valuation; therefore, market circumstances may result in a discrepancy between the price of the stock index future and the movement in the Fund's Underlying Index. In the event of adverse price movements, the Fund would continue to be required to make daily cash payments to maintain its required margin. In such situations, if the Fund has insufficient cash, it may have to sell portfolio securities to meet daily margin requirements at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so. In addition, the Fund may be required to deliver the instruments underlying the futures contracts it has sold.

The risk of loss in trading futures contracts or uncovered call options in some strategies (e.g., selling uncovered stock index futures contracts) is potentially unlimited. The Fund does not plan to use futures and options contracts in this way. The risk of a futures position may still be large as traditionally measured due to the low margin deposits required. In many cases, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in immediate and substantial loss or gain to the investor relative to the size of a required margin deposit. The Fund, however, intends to utilize futures and options contracts in a manner designed to limit the risk exposure to levels comparable to a direct investment in the types of stocks in which it invests.

Utilization of futures and options on futures by the Fund involves the risk of imperfect or even negative correlation to the Underlying Index if the index underlying the futures contract differs from the Underlying Index. There is also the risk of loss of margin deposits in the event of bankruptcy of a broker with whom the Fund has an open position in the futures contract or option. The purchase of put or call options will be based upon predictions by BFA as to anticipated trends, which predictions could prove to be incorrect.

limit establishes the maximum amount by which the price of a futures contract may vary either up or down from the previous day’s settlement price at the end of a trading session. Once the daily limit has been reached in a particular type of contract, no trades may be made on that day at a price beyond that limit. It is possible that futures contract prices could move to the daily limit for several consecutive trading days with little or no trading, thereby preventing prompt liquidation of futures positions and subjecting the Fund to substantial losses. In the event of adverse price movements, the Fund would be required to make daily cash payments of variation margin.

Risk of Swap Agreements. The risk of loss with respect to swaps is generally limited to the net amount of payments that the Fund is contractually obligated to make. Swap agreements are subject to the risk that the swap counterparty will default on its obligations. If such a default occurs, the Fund will have contractual remedies pursuant to the agreements related to the transaction. However, such remedies may be subject to bankruptcy and insolvency laws, which could affect the Fund’s rights as a creditor (e.g., the Fund may not receive the net amount of payments that it is contractually entitled to receive).

The Fund is required to post and collect variation margin (comprised of specified liquid securities subject to haircuts) in connection with trading of OTC swaps. Implementation of regulations requiring posting of initial margin is being phased in through 2020. These requirements may raise the costs for the Fund’s investment in swaps.

Risk of Investing in Small-Capitalization Companies. Stock prices of small-capitalization companies may be more volatile than those of larger companies, and, therefore, the Fund's share price may be more volatile than that of funds that invest a larger percentage of their assets in stocks issued by large-capitalization or mid-capitalization companies. Stock prices of small-capitalization companies are generally more vulnerable than those of large-capitalization or mid-capitalization companies to adverse business and economic developments. The stocks of small-capitalization companies may be thinly traded, making it difficult for the Fund to buy and sell them. In addition, small-capitalization companies are typically less financially stable than larger, more established companies and may depend on a small number of essential personnel, making them more vulnerable to loss of personnel. Small-capitalization companies also normally have less diverse product lines than large-capitalization companies and are more susceptible to adverse developments concerning their products.

Risk of Investing in the Consumer Discretionary Sector. Companies engaged in the design, production or distribution of products or services for the consumer discretionary sector (including, without limitation, television and radio broadcasting, manufacturing, publishing, recording and musical instruments, motion pictures, photography, amusement and theme parks, gaming casinos, sporting goods and sports arenas, camping and recreational equipment, toys and games, apparel, travel-related services, automobiles, hotels and motels, and fast food and other restaurants) are subject to the risk that their products or services may become obsolete quickly. The success of these companies can depend heavily on disposable household income and consumer spending. During periods of an expanding economy, the consumer discretionary sector may outperform the consumer staples sector, but may underperform when economic conditions worsen. Moreover, the consumer discretionary sector can be significantly affected by several factors, including, without limitation, the performance of domestic and international economies, exchange rates, changing consumer preferences, demographics, marketing campaigns, cyclical revenue generation, consumer confidence, commodity price volatility, labor relations, interest rates, import and export controls, intense competition, technological developments and government regulation.

Risk of Investing in the Consumer Staples Sector. Companies in the consumer staples sector may be adversely affected by changes in the global economy, consumer spending, competition, demographics and consumer preferences, and production spending. Companies in the consumer staples sector may also be affected by changes in global economic, environmental and political events, economic conditions, the depletion of resources, and government regulation. For instance, government regulations may affect the permissibility of using various food additives and production methods of companies that make food products, which could affect company profitability. Companies in the consumer staples sector also may be subject to risks pertaining to the supply of, demand for and prices of raw materials. The prices of raw materials fluctuate in response to a number of factors, including, without limitation, changes in government agricultural support programs, exchange rates, import and export controls, changes in international agricultural and trading policies, and seasonal and weather conditions. Companies in the consumer staples sector may be subject to severe competition, which may also have an adverse impact on their profitability.

companies may also lack resources and have limited business lines. Energy companies may have relatively high levels of debt and may be more likely to restructure their businesses if there are downturns in certain energy markets or in the global economy. If an energy company in the Fund's portfolio becomes distressed, the Fund could lose all or a substantial portion of its investment.

The energy sector is cyclical and is highly dependent on commodity prices; prices and supplies of energy may fluctuate significantly over short and long periods of time due to, among other things, national and international political changes, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (“OPEC”) policies, changes in relationships among OPEC members and between OPEC and oil-importing nations, the regulatory environment, taxation policies, and the economy of the key energy-consuming countries. Commodity prices have recently been subject to increased volatility and declines, which may negatively affect companies in which the Fund invests.

Companies in the energy sector may be adversely affected by terrorism, natural disasters or other catastrophes. While the Fund seeks to invest in companies with positive or favorable environmental and social characteristics, companies in the energy sector are at risk of civil liability from accidents resulting in injury, loss of life or property, pollution or other environmental damage claims. Disruptions in the oil industry or shifts in fuel consumption may significantly impact companies in this sector. Significant oil and gas deposits are located in emerging markets countries where corruption and security may raise significant risks, in addition to the other risks of investing in emerging markets. Additionally, the Middle East, where many companies in the energy sector may operate, has historically and recently experienced widespread social unrest.

Companies in the energy sector may also be adversely affected by changes in exchange rates, interest rates, economic conditions, tax treatment, government regulation and intervention, negative perception, efforts at energy conservation and world events in the regions in which the companies operate (e.g., expropriation, nationalization, confiscation of assets and property or the imposition of restrictions on foreign investments and repatriation of capital, military coups, social unrest, violence or labor unrest). Because a significant portion of revenues of companies in this sector is derived from a relatively small number of customers that are largely composed of governmental entities and utilities, governmental budget constraints may have a significant impact on the stock prices of companies in this sector. The energy sector is highly regulated. Entities operating in the energy sector are subject to significant regulation of nearly every aspect of their operations by federal, state and local governmental agencies. Such regulation can change rapidly or over time in both scope and intensity. Stricter laws, regulations or enforcement policies could be enacted in the future which would likely increase compliance costs and may materially adversely affect the financial performance of companies in the energy sector.

Risk of Investing in the Financials Sector. Companies in the financials sector include regional and money center banks, securities brokerage firms, asset management companies, savings banks and thrift institutions, specialty finance companies (e.g., credit card, mortgage providers), insurance and insurance brokerage firms, consumer finance firms, financial conglomerates and foreign banking and financial companies.

Most financial companies are subject to extensive governmental regulation, which limits their activities and may affect their ability to earn a profit from a given line of business. Government regulation may change frequently and may have significant adverse consequences for companies in the financials sector, including effects not intended by the regulation. Direct governmental intervention in the operations of financial companies and financial markets may materially and adversely affect the companies in which the Fund invests, including legislation in many countries that may increase government regulation, repatriation and other intervention. The impact of governmental intervention and legislative changes on any individual financial company or on the financials sector as a whole cannot be predicted. The valuation of financial companies has been and continues to be subject to unprecedented volatility and may be influenced by unpredictable factors, including interest rate risk and sovereign debt default. Certain financial businesses are subject to intense competitive pressures, including market share and price competition. Financial companies in foreign countries are subject to market specific and general regulatory and interest rate concerns. In particular, government regulation in certain foreign countries may include taxes and controls on interest rates, credit availability, minimum capital requirements, bans on short sales, limits on prices and restrictions on currency transfers. In addition, companies in the financials sector may be the targets of hacking and potential theft of proprietary or customer information or disruptions in service, which could have a material adverse effect on their businesses.

value of securities issued by many types of companies in the financials sector generally goes down. In other words, financial companies may be adversely affected in certain market cycles, including, without limitation, during periods of rising interest rates, which may restrict the availability and increase the cost of capital, and during periods of declining economic conditions, which may cause, among other things, credit losses due to financial difficulties of borrowers.

In addition, general economic conditions are important to the operations of these companies, and financial difficulties of borrowers may have an adverse effect on the profitability of financial companies. Financial companies can be highly dependent upon access to capital markets, and any impediments to such access, such as adverse overall economic conditions or a negative perception in the capital markets of a financial company’s financial condition or prospects, could adversely affect its business. Deterioration of credit markets can have an adverse impact on a broad range of financial markets, causing certain financial companies to incur large losses. In these conditions, companies in the financials sector may experience significant declines in the valuation of their assets, take actions to raise capital and even cease operations. Some financial companies may also be required to accept or borrow significant amounts of capital from government sources and may face future government-imposed restrictions on their businesses or increased government intervention. In addition, there is no guarantee that governments will provide any such relief in the future. These actions may cause the securities of many companies in the financials sector to decline in value.

Risk of Investing in the Healthcare Sector. Companies in the healthcare sector are often issuers whose profitability may be affected by extensive government regulation, restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses, rising or falling costs of medical products and services, pricing pressure, an increased emphasis on outpatient services, a limited number of products, industry innovation, changes in technologies and other market developments. Many healthcare companies are heavily dependent on patent protection and the actual or perceived safety and efficiency of their products.

Patents have a limited duration, and, upon expiration, other companies may market substantially similar “generic” products that are typically sold at a lower price than the patented product, which can cause the original developer of the product to lose market share and/or reduce the price charged for the product, resulting in lower profits for the original developer. As a result, the expiration of patents may adversely affect the profitability of these companies.

In addition, because the products and services of many companies in the healthcare sector affect the health and well-being of many individuals, these companies are especially susceptible to extensive litigation based on product liability and similar claims. Healthcare companies are subject to competitive forces that may make it difficult to raise prices and, in fact, may result in price discounting. Many new products in the healthcare sector may be subject to regulatory approvals. The process of obtaining such approvals may be long and costly, which can result in increased development costs, delayed cost recovery and loss of competitive advantage to the extent that rival companies have developed competing products or procedures, adversely affecting the company’s revenues and profitability. In other words, delays in the regulatory approval process may diminish the opportunity for a company to profit from a new product or to bring a new product to market, which could have a material adverse effect on a company’s business. Healthcare companies may also be strongly affected by scientific biotechnology or technological developments, and their products may quickly become obsolete. Also, many healthcare companies offer products and services that are subject to governmental regulation and may be adversely affected by changes in governmental policies or laws. Changes in governmental policies or laws may span a wide range of topics, including cost control, national health insurance, incentives for compensation in the provision of healthcare services, tax incentives and penalties related to healthcare insurance premiums, and promotion of prepaid healthcare plans. In addition, a number of legislative proposals concerning healthcare have been considered by the U.S. Congress in recent years. It is unclear what proposals will ultimately be enacted, if any, and what effect they may have on companies in the healthcare sector.

Additionally, the expansion of facilities by healthcare-related providers may be subject to “determinations of need” by certain government authorities. This process not only generally increases the time and costs involved in these expansions, but also makes expansion plans uncertain, limiting the revenue and profitability growth potential of healthcare-related facilities operators and negatively affecting the prices of their securities. Moreover, in recent years, both local and national governmental budgets have come under pressure to reduce spending and control healthcare costs, which could both adversely affect regulatory processes and public funding available for healthcare products, services and facilities.

performance of companies in the industrials sector. The industrials sector may also be adversely affected by changes or trends in commodity prices, which may be influenced by unpredictable factors. For example, commodity price declines and unit volume reductions resulting from an over-supply of materials used in the industrials sector can adversely affect the sector. Furthermore, while the Fund seeks to invest in companies with positive or favorable environmental and social characteristics, companies in the industrials sector may be subject to liability for environmental damage, product liability claims, depletion of resources, and mandated expenditures for safety and pollution control.

Risk of Investing in the Information Technology Sector. Information technology companies face intense competition, both domestically and internationally, which may have an adverse effect on profit margins. Like other technology companies, information technology companies may have limited product lines, markets, financial resources or personnel. The products of information technology companies may face product obsolescence due to rapid technological developments and frequent new product introduction, unpredictable changes in growth rates and competition for the services of qualified personnel. Technology companies and companies that rely heavily on technology, especially those of smaller, less-seasoned companies, tend to be more volatile than the overall market. Companies in the information technology sector are heavily dependent on patent and intellectual property rights. The loss or impairment of these rights may adversely affect the profitability of these companies. Finally, while all companies may be susceptible to network security breaches, certain companies in the information technology sector may be particular targets of hacking and potential theft of proprietary or consumer information or disruptions in service, which could have a material adverse effect on their businesses. These risks are heightened for information technology companies in foreign markets.

Risk of Investing in the Materials Sector. Companies in the materials sector may be adversely affected by commodity price volatility, exchange rates, import controls, increased competition, depletion of resources, technical progress, labor relations and government regulations, and mandated expenditures for safety and pollution control, among other factors. While the Fund seeks to invest in companies with positive or favorable environmental and social characteristics, companies in the materials sector are also at risk of liability for environmental damage and product liability claims. Production of materials may exceed demand as a result of market imbalances or economic downturns, leading to poor investment returns. These risks are heightened for companies in the materials sector located in foreign markets.

Risk of Investing in the Real Estate Industry. Companies in the real estate industry include companies that invest in real estate, such as real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), real estate holding companies or real estate development companies (collectively, “Real Estate Companies”). Investing in Real Estate Companies exposes investors to the risks of owning real estate directly, as well as to risks that relate specifically to the way in which Real Estate Companies are organized and operated. The real estate industry is highly sensitive to general and local economic conditions and developments, and characterized by intense competition and periodic overbuilding. Investing in Real Estate Companies involves various risks. Some risks that are specific to Real Estate Companies are discussed in greater detail below.

Interest Rate Risk. Rising interest rates could result in higher costs of capital for Real Estate Companies, which could negatively impact a Real Estate Company’s ability to meet its payment obligations. Declining interest rates could result in increased prepayment on loans and require redeployment of capital in less desirable investments.

Leverage Risk. Real Estate Companies may use leverage (and some may be highly leveraged), which increases investment risk and could adversely affect a Real Estate Company’s operations and market value in periods of rising interest rates. Real Estate Companies are also exposed to the risks normally associated with debt financing. Financial covenants related to a Real Estate Company’s leverage may affect the ability of the Real Estate Company to operate effectively. In addition, real property may be subject to the quality of credit extended and defaults by borrowers and tenants. If the properties do not generate sufficient income to meet operating expenses, including, where applicable, debt service, ground lease payments, tenant improvements, third-party leasing commissions and other capital expenditures, the income and ability of a Real Estate Company to make payments of any interest and principal on its debt securities will be adversely affected.

Loan Foreclosure Risk. Real Estate Companies may foreclose on loans that the Real Estate Company originated or acquired. Foreclosure may generate negative publicity for the underlying property that affects its market value. In addition to length and expense, foreclosure proceedings may not fully uphold the validity of all of the terms of the applicable loan. Claims and defenses asserted by borrowers or other lenders may interfere with the enforcement of rights by a Real Estate Company. Parallel proceedings, such as bankruptcy, may also delay resolution and limit the amount of recovery on a foreclosed loan by a Real Estate Company even where the property underlying the loan is liquidated.

Property Risk. Real Estate Companies may be subject to risks relating to functional obsolescence or reduced desirability of properties; extended vacancies due to economic conditions and tenant bankruptcies; catastrophic events such as earthquakes, hurricanes and terrorist acts; and casualty or condemnation losses. Real estate income and values also may be greatly affected by demographic trends, such as population shifts or changing tastes and values, or increasing vacancies or declining rents resulting from legal, cultural, technological, global or local economic developments.

Distressed Investment Risk. Real Estate Companies may invest in distressed, defaulted or out-of-favor bank loans. Identification and implementation by a Real Estate Company of loan modification and restructure programs involves a high degree of uncertainty. Even successful implementation may still require adverse compromises and may not prevent bankruptcy. Real Estate Companies may also invest in other debt instruments that may become non-performing, including the securities of companies with higher credit and market risk due to financial or operational difficulties. Higher risk securities may be less liquid and more volatile than the securities of companies not in distress.

Underlying Investment Risk. Real Estate Companies make investments in a variety of debt and equity instruments with varying risk profiles. For instance, Real Estate Companies may invest in debt instruments secured by commercial property that have higher risks of delinquency and foreclosure than loans on single family homes due to a variety of factors associated with commercial property, including the tie between income available to service debt and productive use of the property. Real Estate Companies may also invest in debt instruments and preferred equity that are junior in an issuer’s capital structure and that involve privately negotiated structures. Subordinated debt investments, such as B-Notes and mezzanine loans, involve a greater credit risk of default due to the need to service more senior debt of the issuer. Similarly, preferred equity investments involve a greater risk of loss than conventional debt financing due to their non-collateralized nature and subordinated ranking. Investments in commercial mortgage-backed securities may also be junior in priority in the event of bankruptcy or similar proceedings. Investments in senior loans may be effectively subordinated if the senior loan is pledged as collateral. The ability of a holder of junior claims to proceed against a defaulting issuer is circumscribed by the terms of the particular contractual arrangement, which vary considerably from transaction to transaction.

Management Risk. Real Estate Companies are dependent upon management skills and may have limited financial resources. Real Estate Companies are generally not diversified and may be subject to heavy cash flow dependency, default by borrowers and voluntary liquidation. In addition, transactions between Real Estate Companies and their affiliates may be subject to conflicts of interest, which may adversely affect a Real Estate Company’s shareholders. A Real Estate Company may also have joint venture investments in certain of its properties, and, consequently, its ability to control decisions relating to such properties may be limited.

Liquidity Risk. Investing in Real Estate Companies may involve risks similar to those associated with investing in small-capitalization companies. Real Estate Company securities, like the securities of small-capitalization companies, may be more volatile than, and perform differently from, shares of large-capitalization companies. There may be less trading in Real Estate Company shares, which means that buy and sell transactions in those shares could have a magnified impact on share price, resulting in abrupt or erratic price fluctuations. In addition, real estate is relatively illiquid, and, therefore, a Real Estate Company may have a limited ability to vary or liquidate properties in response to changes in economic or other conditions.

Concentration Risk. Real Estate Companies may own a limited number of properties and concentrate their investments in a particular geographic region or property type. Economic downturns affecting a particular region, industry or property type may lead to a high volume of defaults within a short period.

U.S. Tax Risk. Certain U.S. Real Estate Companies are subject to special U.S. federal tax requirements. A REIT that fails to comply with such tax requirements may be subject to U.S. federal income taxation, which may affect the value of the REIT and the characterization of the REIT’s distributions. The U.S. federal tax requirement that a REIT distribute substantially all of its net income to its shareholders may result in a REIT having insufficient capital for future expenditures. A REIT that successfully maintains its qualification may still become subject to U.S. federal, state and local taxes, including excise, penalty, franchise, payroll, mortgage recording, and transfer taxes, both directly and indirectly through its subsidiaries.

Regulatory Risk. Real estate income and values may be adversely affected by such factors as applicable domestic and foreign laws (including tax laws). Government actions, such as tax increases, zoning law changes or environmental regulations, also may have a major impact on real estate. In addition, quarterly compliance with regulations limiting the proportion of asset types held by a U.S. REIT may force certain Real Estate Companies to liquidate or restructure otherwise attractive investments. Some countries may not recognize REITs or comparable structures as a viable form of real estate funds.

Risk of Investing in the Utilities Sector. The utilities sector may be adversely affected by changing commodity prices, government regulation stipulating rates charged by utilities, increased tariffs, changes in tax laws, interest rate fluctuations and changes in the cost of providing specific utility services. The utilities industry is also subject to potential terrorist attacks, natural disasters and severe weather conditions, as well as regulatory and operational burdens associated with the operation and maintenance of nuclear facilities. Government regulators monitor and control utility revenues and costs, and therefore may limit utility profits. In certain countries, regulatory authorities may also restrict a company’s access to new markets, thereby diminishing the company’s long-term prospects.

There are substantial differences among the regulatory practices and policies of various jurisdictions, and any regulatory agency may make major shifts in policy from time to time. There is no assurance that regulatory authorities will, in the future, grant rate increases. Additionally, existing and possible future regulatory legislation may make it even more difficult for utilities to obtain adequate relief. Certain of the issuers of securities held in the Fund's portfolio may own or operate nuclear generating facilities. Governmental authorities may from time to time review existing policies and impose additional requirements governing the licensing, construction and operation of nuclear power plants. Prolonged changes in climate conditions can also have a significant impact on both the revenues of an electric and gas utility as well as the expenses of a utility, particularly a hydro-based electric utility.

The rates that traditional regulated utility companies may charge their customers generally are subject to review and limitation by governmental regulatory commissions. Rate changes may occur only after a prolonged approval period or may not occur at all, which could adversely affect utility companies when costs are rising. The value of regulated utility debt securities (and, to a lesser extent, equity securities) tends to have an inverse relationship to the movement of interest rates. Certain utility companies have experienced full or partial deregulation in recent years. These utility companies are frequently more similar to industrial companies in that they are subject to greater competition and have been permitted by regulators to diversify outside of their original geographic regions and their traditional lines of business. As a result, some companies may be forced to defend their core business and may be less profitable. Deregulation may also permit a utility company to expand outside of its traditional lines of business and engage in riskier ventures.

Proxy Voting Policy

The Board has delegated the voting of proxies for the Fund’s securities to BFA pursuant to the Fund’s Proxy Voting Policy (the “iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy”), and BlackRock has adopted policies and procedures (the “BlackRock Proxy Voting Policies”) governing proxy voting by accounts managed by BlackRock, including the Fund, and supplemental guidelines applicable to environmental and social issues investing (the “Supplemental BlackRock Sustainable Proxy Voting Guidelines”) governing proxy voting by the iShares sustainable ETFs managed by BlackRock, including the Fund.

Under the BlackRock Proxy Voting Policies, BFA will vote proxies related to Fund securities in the best interests of the Fund and its shareholders. From time to time, a vote may present a conflict between the interests of the Fund’s shareholders, on the one hand, and those of BFA, or any affiliated person of a Fund or BFA, on the other. BFA maintains policies and procedures that are designed to prevent undue influence on BFA’s proxy voting activity that might stem from any relationship between the issuer of a proxy (or any dissident shareholder) and BFA, BFA’s affiliates, the Fund or the Fund’s affiliates. Most conflicts are managed through a structural separation of BFA’s Corporate Governance Group from BFA’s employees with sales and client responsibilities. In addition, BFA maintains procedures to ensure that all engagements with corporate issuers or dissident shareholders are managed consistently and without regard to BFA’s relationship with the issuer of the proxy or the dissident shareholder. In certain instances, BFA may determine to engage an independent fiduciary to vote proxies as a further safeguard to avoid potential conflicts of interest or as otherwise required by applicable law.

Under the Supplemental BlackRock Sustainable Proxy Voting Guidelines, the Fund maintains proxy voting guidelines consistent with the belief that well-managed companies will deal effectively with the material environmental and social (E&S) factors relevant to their businesses. BFA expects companies to identify and report on the material, business-specific E&S risks and opportunities and to explain how these are managed. BFA may vote against the election of directors where BFA has concerns that a company might not be dealing with E&S issues appropriately. For E&S shareholder proposals, BFA may vote differently for different funds based on BFA’s assessment of the materiality of the underlying issues in conjunction with an assessment that investors in the Fund may expect more urgent action be taken by the company.

Copies of the iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy, the BlackRock Proxy Voting Policies and the Supplemental BlackRock Sustainable Proxy Voting Guidelines are attached as Appendixes A1, A2, and A3, respectively.

Information with respect to how proxies relating to the Fund's portfolio securities were voted during the 12-month period ending June 30 will be available: (i) without charge, upon request, by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) or through the Fund's website at www.iShares.com; and (ii) on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Portfolio Holdings Information

The Board has adopted a policy regarding the disclosure of the Fund's portfolio holdings information that requires that such information be disclosed in a manner that: (i) is consistent with applicable legal requirements and in the best interests of the Fund’s shareholders; (ii) does not put the interests of BFA, the Distributor or any affiliated person of BFA or the Distributor, above those of Fund shareholders; (iii) does not advantage any current or prospective Fund shareholders over any other current or prospective Fund shareholders, except to the extent that certain Entities (as described below) may receive portfolio holdings information not available to other current or prospective Fund shareholders in connection with the dissemination of information necessary for transactions in Creation Units, as discussed below, and certain information may be provided to personnel of BFA and its affiliates who manage funds that invest a significant percentage of their assets in shares of the Fund for the purpose of facilitating risk management and hedging activities; and (iv) does not provide selective access to portfolio holdings information except pursuant to the procedures outlined below and to the extent appropriate confidentiality arrangements limiting the use of such information are in effect. The “Entities” referred to in sub-section (iii) above are generally limited to National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”) members, subscribers to various fee-based subscription services, large institutional investors (known as “Authorized Participants”) that have been authorized by the Distributor to purchase and redeem large blocks of shares pursuant to legal requirements and market makers and other institutional market participants and entities that provide information or transactional services.

Each business day, the Fund's portfolio holdings information will be provided to the Distributor or other agent for dissemination through the facilities of the NSCC and/or other fee-based subscription services to NSCC members and/or subscribers to those other fee-based subscription services, including market makers and Authorized Participants, and to entities that publish and/or analyze such information in connection with the process of purchasing or redeeming Creation Units or trading shares of the Fund in the secondary market or evaluating such potential transactions. This information typically reflects the Fund’s anticipated holdings on the following business day.

Daily access to information concerning the Fund's portfolio holdings is permitted: (i) to certain personnel of those service providers that are involved in portfolio management and providing administrative, operational, risk management, or other support to portfolio management; and (ii) to other personnel of BFA, the Distributor and their affiliates, and the administrator, custodian and fund accountant who deal directly with, or assist in, functions related to investment management, distribution, administration, custody, securities lending and fund accounting, as may be necessary to conduct business in the ordinary course in a manner consistent with federal securities laws and regulations thereunder. In addition, the Fund discloses its fixed-income and/or equity portfolio holdings daily at www.iShares.com. More information about this disclosure is available at www.iShares.com.

Portfolio holdings information made available in connection with the creation/redemption process may be provided to other entities that provide services to the Fund in the ordinary course of business after it has been disseminated to the NSCC. From time to time, information concerning portfolio holdings other than portfolio holdings information made available in connection with the creation/redemption process, as discussed above, may be provided to other entities that provide services to the Fund, including rating or ranking organizations, in the ordinary course of business, no earlier than one business day following the date of the information.

The Fund will disclose its complete portfolio holdings schedule in public filings with the SEC within 70 days of the end of the second and fourth fiscal quarters and within 60 days of the end of the first and third fiscal quarters and will provide such information to shareholders as required by federal securities laws and regulations thereunder. The Fund may, however, voluntarily disclose all or part of its portfolio holdings other than in connection with the creation/redemption process, as discussed above, in advance of required filings with the SEC, provided that such information is made generally available to all shareholders and other interested parties in a manner that is consistent with the above policy for disclosure of portfolio

holdings information. Such information may be made available through a publicly available website or other means that make the information available to all likely interested parties contemporaneously.

The Trust's Chief Compliance Officer or his delegate may authorize disclosure of portfolio holdings information pursuant to the above policy and procedures, subject to restrictions on selective disclosure imposed by applicable law.

The Board reviews the policy and procedures for disclosure of portfolio holdings information at least annually.

Construction and Maintenance of the Underlying Index

A description of the Underlying Index is provided below.

The MSCI Indexes

The MSCI indexes were founded in 1969 by Capital International S.A. as international performance benchmarks constructed to facilitate comparison of world markets. The MSCI single country standard equity indexes have covered the world's developed markets since 1969 and in 1987 MSCI commenced coverage of emerging markets.

Local stock exchanges traditionally calculated their own indexes, which were generally not comparable with one another due to differences in the representation of the local market, mathematical formulas, base dates and methods of adjusting for capital changes. MSCI, however, applies the same calculation methodology to all markets for all single country standard equity indexes, both developed and emerging.

MSCI's Global Investable Market Indexes (the “MSCI GIMI”) provide coverage and non-overlapping market segmentation by market capitalization size and by style. The MSCI GIMI intend to target approximately 99% coverage of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each market of large-, mid- and small-cap securities.

•	MSCI Global Standard Indexes cover all investable large- and mid-cap securities by including the largest issuers comprising approximately 85% of each market's free float-adjusted market capitalization.
•	MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes provide coverage of companies with a market capitalization below that of the companies in the MSCI Global Standard Indexes.

MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes

Selection Criteria. MSCI's index construction process involves: (i) defining the equity universe; (ii) determining the market investable equity universe for each market; (iii) determining market capitalization size segments for each market; (iv) applying final size segment investability requirements; and (v) applying index continuity rules for the MSCI Global Standard Index.

Defining the Equity Universe. MSCI begins with securities listed in countries in the MSCI GIMI. As of October 31, 2017, 23 are classified as developed markets, 24 as emerging markets, and 22 as frontier markets. All listed equity securities and listed securities that exhibit characteristics of equity securities, except mutual funds, ETFs, equity derivatives, limited partnerships and most investment trusts, are eligible for inclusion in the equity universe. REITs in some countries and certain income trusts in Canada are also eligible for inclusion. Each company and its securities (i.e., share classes) are classified in only one country.

Determining the Market Investable Equity Universe for Each Market. The equity universe in any market is derived by applying investability screens to individual companies and securities in the equity universe of that market. Some investability requirements are applied at the individual security level and some at the overall company level, represented by the aggregation of individual securities of the company. As a result, the inclusion or exclusion of one security does not imply the automatic inclusion or exclusion of other securities of the same company.

Index and MSCI Global Small Cap Index. In order to create size components that can be meaningfully aggregated into composites, individual market size segments balance the following two objectives:

•	Achieving global size integrity by ensuring that companies of comparable and relevant sizes are included in a given size segment across all markets in a composite index; and
•	Achieving consistent market coverage by ensuring that each market's size segment is represented in its proportional weight in the composite universe.

Applying Final Size Segment Investability Requirements. In order to enhance replicability of the indexes, additional size segment investability requirements are set for the MSCI GIMI and MSCI Global Standard Index. These investability requirements include minimum free float-adjusted market capitalization, minimum liquidity, minimum foreign limits and minimum length of trading.

Applying Index Continuity Rules for the Standard Index. In order to achieve index continuity as well as provide some basic level of diversification within a market index, notwithstanding the effect of other index construction rules contained herein, a minimum number of five constituents will be maintained for a developed market Standard Index and a minimum number of three constituents will be maintained for an emerging market Standard Index.

Weighting. All indexes of the MSCI GIMI are free float weighted, i.e., companies are included in the indexes at the value of their free public float (free float multiplied by security price).

Regional Weights. Market capitalization-weighting, combined with a consistent target of approximately 99% of free float-adjusted market capitalization, helps ensure that each country's weight in regional and international indexes approximates its weight in the total universe of developing and emerging markets. A market is equivalent to a single country except for developed Europe, where all markets are aggregated into a single market for index construction purposes. Individual country indexes of the European developed markets are derived from the constituents of the MSCI GIMI Europe Index.

Free Float. MSCI defines the free float of a security as the proportion of shares outstanding that are deemed to be available for purchase in the public equity markets by international investors. In practice, limitations on free float available to international investors include: (i) strategic and other shareholdings not considered part of available free float; and (ii) limits on share ownership for foreigners.

Under MSCI's free float-adjustment methodology, a constituent's inclusion factor is equal to its estimated free float rounded-up to the closest 5% for constituents with free float equal to or exceeding 15%. For example, a constituent security with a free float of 23.2% will be included in the index at 25% of its market capitalization. For securities with a free float of less than 15%, the estimated free float is adjusted to the nearest 1%.

Price and Exchange Rates

Prices. The prices used to calculate all MSCI indexes are the official exchange closing prices or those figures accepted as such. MSCI reserves the right to use an alternative pricing source on any given day.

Exchange Rates. MSCI uses the World Markets/Reuters Closing Spot Rates taken at 4:00 p.m. London time. In case World Markets/Reuters does not provide rates for specific markets on given days (for example, Christmas Day and New Year's Day), the previous business day's rates are normally used. MSCI independently monitors the exchange rates on all its indexes. MSCI may under exceptional circumstances elect to use alternative sources of exchange rates if the World Markets/Reuters rates are not available, or if MSCI determines that the World Markets/Reuters rates are not reflective of market circumstances for a given currency on a particular day. In such circumstances, an announcement would be sent to clients with the related information. If appropriate, MSCI may conduct a consultation with the investment community to gather feedback on the most relevant exchange rate.

Changes to the Indexes. The MSCI GIMI are maintained with the objective of reflecting, on a timely basis, the evolution of the underlying equity markets. In maintaining the MSCI indexes, emphasis is also placed on continuity, replicability and minimizing turnover in the indexes. Maintaining the MSCI indexes involves many aspects, including: (i) additions to, and deletions from, the indexes; (ii) changes in number of shares; and (iii) changes in inclusion factors as a result of updated free float estimates.

Index maintenance can be described by three broad categories of changes:

•	Semi-Annual Index Reviews (“SAIRs”), conducted on a fixed semi-annual timetable that systematically reassess the various dimensions of the equity universe for all markets;
•	Quarterly Index Reviews (“QIRs”), aimed at promptly reflecting other significant market events; and
•	Ongoing event-related changes, such as mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, bankruptcies, reorganizations and other similar corporate events, which generally are implemented in the indexes as they occur.

Potential changes in the status of countries (stand-alone, frontier, emerging and developed) follow their own implementation time tables.

MSCI conducts SAIRs generally as of the close of the last business day of May and November. During the SAIRs, MSCI updates the investable equity universe and reassesses size segmentation investability requirements. MSCI also conducts QIRs generally as of the close of the last business day of February and August. During the QIRs, MSCI reflects changes in the index that were not captured at the time of their actual occurrence, but are significant enough to be included before the next SAIR. The results of the SAIR and QIR are generally announced at least ten business days in advance of implementation.

MSCI USA Small Cap Extended ESG Focus Index

Number of Components: approximately 895

Index Description. The Underlying Index, the MSCI USA Small Cap Extended ESG Focus Index, is designed to produce investment results comparable to the MSCI USA Small Cap Index, the parent index, while reflecting a higher allocation than that of the parent index to U.S. small-capitalization companies with favorable environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) profiles. The Underlying Index is constructed by selecting constituents from the parent index through an optimization process that aims to maximize exposure to ESG factors subject to a target tracking error constraint of 50 basis points relative to the parent index. In constructing the Underlying Index, the Fund’s 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). The index provider identifies key ESG controversies, including, among other things, issues involving: (i) the environment (e.g., biodiversity and land use, toxic emissions and waste, energy and climate change, water stress, non-hazardous operational waste, and supply chain management); (ii) human rights and communities (e.g., impact on local communities, human rights concerns, and civil liberties); (iii) labor rights and supply chains (e.g., child labor, collective bargaining and union, health and safety, discrimination and workforce diversity, and labor management relations); (iv) customers (e.g., anti-competitive practices, customer relations, privacy and data security, product safety and quality, and marketing and advertising); and (v) governance (e.g., bribery and fraud, governance structures, and controversial investments). The index provider then rates each company’s exposure to these ESG issues and evaluates the extent to which the company has created strategies and programs to manage ESG risks and opportunities. Companies are scored by the index provider based on both their risk exposure and risk management, and then ranked in comparison to their industry peers. The index provider then follows a quantitative process that is designed to determine optimal weights for securities in the Underlying Index to maximize exposure to companies with higher ESG ratings, subject to maintaining risk and return characteristics similar to those of the parent index. Optimization is a quantitative process that considers the market capitalization weights from the parent index, ESG scores and additional constraints, including constraints around predicted tracking error, constituent weights, sector weights, and risk aversion, to select and weight the constituents of the Underlying Index.

Calculation Methodology. The Fund utilizes the Underlying Index calculated with gross dividends reinvested. The use of gross dividends reflects the assumed reinvestment of the entire dividend distributed to holders of the underlying stock, without any adjustment for taxes or withholding. The Underlying Index is rebalanced on a quarterly basis coinciding with the regular Index Reviews of the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes.

Additional Information. “MSCI” and “MSCI USA Small Cap Extended ESG Focus Index” are servicemarks of MSCI Inc. and have been licensed for use by BFA or its affiliates. The Fund is neither sponsored, endorsed, sold nor promoted by MSCI Inc., and MSCI Inc. makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in the Fund.

Investment Restrictions

The Fund has adopted its investment objective as a non-fundamental investment policy. Therefore, the Fund may change its investment objective and its Underlying Index without shareholder approval. The Board has adopted as fundamental policies the following numbered investment restrictions, which cannot be changed without the approval of the holders of a majority of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities. A vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund is defined in the Investment Company Act as the lesser of (i) 67% or more of the voting securities present at a shareholder meeting, if the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund are present or represented by proxy, or (ii) more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund.

The Fund may not:

1.	Concentrate its investments in a particular industry, as that term is used in the Investment Company Act, except that the Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that its Underlying Index concentrates in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries.
2.	Borrow money, except as permitted under the Investment Company Act.
3.	Issue senior securities to the extent such issuance would violate the Investment Company Act.
4.	Purchase or hold real estate, except the Fund may purchase and hold securities or other instruments that are secured by, or linked to, real estate or interests therein, securities of REITs, mortgage-related securities and securities of issuers engaged in the real estate business, and the Fund may purchase and hold real estate as a result of the ownership of securities or other instruments.
5.	Underwrite securities issued by others, except to the extent that the sale of portfolio securities by the Fund may be deemed to be an underwriting or as otherwise permitted by applicable law.
6.	Purchase or sell commodities or commodity contracts, except as permitted by the Investment Company Act.
7.	Make loans to the extent prohibited by the Investment Company Act.

Notations Regarding the Fund's Fundamental Investment Restrictions

The following notations are not considered to be part of the Fund's fundamental investment restrictions and are subject to change without shareholder approval.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to concentration set forth in (1) above, the Investment Company Act does not define what constitutes “concentration” in an industry. The SEC staff has taken the position that investment of 25% or more of a fund’s total assets in one or more issuers conducting their principal activities in the same industry or group of industries constitutes concentration. It is possible that interpretations of concentration could change in the future. The policy in (1) above will be interpreted to refer to concentration as that term may be interpreted from time to time. The policy also will be interpreted to permit investment without limit in the following: securities of the U.S. government and its agencies or instrumentalities; securities of state, territory, possession or municipal governments and their authorities, agencies, instrumentalities or political subdivisions; and repurchase agreements collateralized by any such obligations. Accordingly, issuers of the foregoing securities will not be considered to be members of any industry. There also will be no limit on investment in issuers domiciled in a single jurisdiction or country. Finance companies will be considered to be in the industries of their parents if their activities are primarily related to financing the activities of the parents. Each foreign government will be considered to be a member of a separate industry. With respect to the Fund's industry classifications, the Fund currently utilizes any one or more of the industry sub-classifications used by one or more widely recognized market indexes or rating group indexes, and/or as defined by Fund management. The policy also will be interpreted to give broad authority to the Fund as to how to classify issuers within or among industries.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to borrowing money set forth in (2) above, the Investment Company Act permits the Fund to borrow money in amounts of up to one-third of the Fund’s total assets from banks for any purpose, and to borrow up to 5% of the Fund’s total assets from banks or other lenders for temporary purposes. (The Fund’s total assets include the amounts being borrowed.) To limit the risks attendant to borrowing, the Investment Company Act requires the Fund to maintain at all times an “asset coverage” of at least 300% of the amount of its borrowings. Asset coverage means the ratio that the value of the Fund's total assets (including amounts borrowed), minus liabilities other than borrowings, bears to the aggregate amount of all borrowings. Borrowing money to increase portfolio holdings is known as “leveraging.” Certain trading practices and investments, such as reverse repurchase agreements, may be considered to be borrowings or

involve leverage and thus are subject to the Investment Company Act restrictions. In accordance with SEC staff guidance and interpretations, when the Fund engages in such transactions, the Fund instead of maintaining asset coverage of at least 300%, may segregate or earmark liquid assets, or enter into an offsetting position, in an amount at least equal to the Fund’s exposure, on a mark-to-market basis, to the transaction (as calculated pursuant to requirements of the SEC). The policy in (2) above will be interpreted to permit the Fund to engage in trading practices and investments that may be considered to be borrowing or to involve leverage to the extent permitted by the Investment Company Act and to permit the Fund to segregate or earmark liquid assets or enter into offsetting positions in accordance with the Investment Company Act. Short-term credits necessary for the settlement of securities transactions and arrangements with respect to securities lending will not be considered to be borrowings under the policy. Practices and investments that may involve leverage but are not considered to be borrowings are not subject to the policy.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to underwriting set forth in (5) above, the Investment Company Act does not prohibit the Fund from engaging in the underwriting business or from underwriting the securities of other issuers; in fact, in the case of diversified funds, the Investment Company Act permits the Fund to have underwriting commitments of up to 25% of its assets under certain circumstances. Those circumstances currently are that the amount of the Fund's underwriting commitments, when added to the value of the Fund’s investments in issuers where the Fund owns more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of those issuers, cannot exceed the 25% cap. A fund engaging in transactions involving the acquisition or disposition of portfolio securities may be considered to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act. Although it is not believed that the application of the 1933 Act provisions described above would cause the Fund to be engaged in the business of underwriting, the policy in (5) above will be interpreted not to prevent the Fund from engaging in transactions involving the acquisition or disposition of portfolio securities, regardless of whether the Fund may be considered to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act or is otherwise engaged in the underwriting business to the extent permitted by applicable law.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to lending set forth in (7) above, the Investment Company Act does not prohibit the Fund from making loans (including lending its securities); however, SEC staff interpretations currently prohibit funds from lending more than one-third of their total assets (including lending its securities), except through the purchase of debt obligations or the use of repurchase agreements. In addition, collateral arrangements with respect to options, forward currency and futures transactions and other derivative instruments (as applicable), as well as delays in the settlement of securities transactions, will not be considered loans.

Under its non-fundamental investment restrictions, which may be changed by the Board without shareholder approval, the Fund may not:

Purchase securities of other investment companies, except to the extent permitted by the Investment Company Act. As a matter of policy, however, the Fund will not purchase shares of any registered open-end investment company or registered unit investment trust, in reliance on Section 12(d)(1)(F) or (G) (the “fund of funds” provisions) of the Investment Company Act, at any time the Fund has knowledge that its shares are purchased by another investment company investor in reliance on the provisions of subparagraph (G) of Section 12(d)(1).

Make short sales of securities or maintain a short position, except to the extent permitted by the Fund's Prospectus and SAI, as amended from time to time, and applicable law.

Unless otherwise indicated, all limitations under the Fund's fundamental or non-fundamental investment restrictions apply only at the time that a transaction is undertaken. Any change in the percentage of the Fund's assets invested in certain securities or other instruments resulting from market fluctuations or other changes in the Fund’s total assets will not require the Fund to dispose of an investment until BFA determines that it is practicable to sell or close out the investment without undue market or tax consequences.

The Fund has adopted a non-fundamental investment policy in accordance with Rule 35d-1 under the Investment Company Act to invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the value of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in the component securities of its Underlying Index. The Fund also has adopted a policy to provide its shareholders with at least 60 days’ prior written notice of any change in such policy. If, subsequent to an investment, the 80% requirement is no longer met, the Fund’s future investments will be made in a manner that will bring the Fund into compliance with this policy.

The Fund has adopted a non-fundamental limitation such that, under normal market conditions, any borrowings by the Fund will not exceed 10% of the Fund’s net assets.

Continuous Offering

The method by which Creation Units are created and traded may raise certain issues under applicable securities laws. Because new Creation Units are issued and sold by the Fund on an ongoing basis, at any point a “distribution,” as such term is used in the 1933 Act, may occur. Broker-dealers and other persons are cautioned that some activities on their part may, depending on the circumstances, result in their being deemed participants in a distribution in a manner that could render them statutory underwriters and subject them to the prospectus delivery requirement and liability provisions of the 1933 Act.

For example, a broker-dealer firm or its client may be deemed a statutory underwriter if it takes Creation Units after placing an order with the Distributor, breaks them down into constituent shares and sells such shares directly to customers or if it chooses to couple the creation of new shares with an active selling effort involving solicitation of secondary market demand for shares. A determination of whether one is an underwriter for purposes of the 1933 Act must take into account all of the facts and circumstances pertaining to the activities of the broker-dealer or its client in the particular case and the examples mentioned above should not be considered a complete description of all the activities that could lead to a categorization as an underwriter.

Broker-dealer firms should also note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are effecting transactions in shares, whether or not participating in the distribution of shares, generally are required to deliver a prospectus. This is because the prospectus delivery exemption in Section 4(a)(3) of the 1933 Act is not available in respect of such transactions as a result of Section 24(d) of the 1940 Act. Firms that incur a prospectus delivery obligation with respect to shares of the Fund are reminded that, pursuant to Rule 153 under the 1933 Act, a prospectus delivery obligation under Section 5(b)(2) of the 1933 Act owed to an exchange member in connection with a sale on the Listing Exchange generally is satisfied by the fact that the prospectus is available at the Listing Exchange upon request. The prospectus delivery mechanism provided in Rule 153 is available only with respect to transactions on an exchange.

Management

Trustees and Officers. The Board has responsibility for the overall management and operations of the Fund, including general supervision of the duties performed by BFA and other service providers. Each Trustee serves until he or she resigns, is removed, dies, retires or becomes incapacitated. Each officer shall hold office until his or her successor is elected and qualifies or until his or her death, resignation or removal. Trustees who are not “interested persons” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust are referred to as independent trustees (“Independent Trustees”).

The registered investment companies advised by BFA or its affiliates (the “BlackRock-advised Funds”) are organized into one complex of closed-end funds, two complexes of open-end funds and one complex of ETFs (“Exchange-Traded Fund Complex”) (each, a “BlackRock Fund Complex”). The Fund is included in the BlackRock Fund Complex referred to as the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex. Each Trustee also serves as a Director of iShares, Inc. and a Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust and, as a result, oversees a total of 356 funds within the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex. Drew E. Lawton, from October 2016 to June 2017, and Richard L. Fagnani, from April 2017 to June 2017, served as members of the advisory board (“Advisory Board,” members of which are “Advisory Board Members”) for the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust with respect to all funds within the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex. With the exception of Robert S. Kapito, Mark K. Wiedman, Charles Park, Martin Small and Benjamin Archibald, the address of each Trustee and officer is c/o BlackRock, Inc., 400 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. The address of Mr. Kapito, Mr. Wiedman, Mr. Park, Mr. Small and Mr. Archibald is c/o BlackRock, Inc., Park Avenue Plaza, 55 East 52^nd Street, New York, NY 10055. The Board has designated Cecilia H. Herbert as its Independent Board Chair. Additional information about the Fund's Trustees and officers may be found in this SAI, which is available without charge, upon request, by calling toll-free 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737).

Interested Trustees

Name (Age)	Position	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years	Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Robert S. Kapito¹ (61)	Trustee (since 2009).	President, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2006); Vice Chairman of BlackRock, Inc. and Head of BlackRock’s Portfolio Management Group (since its formation in 1998) and BlackRock, Inc.’s predecessor entities (since 1988); Trustee, University of Pennsylvania (since 2009); President of Board of Directors, Hope & Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund (since 2002).	Director of BlackRock, Inc. (since 2006); Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2009); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).
Mark K. Wiedman² (47)	Trustee (since 2013).	Senior Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2014); Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2007-2014); Global Head of BlackRock’s ETF and Index Investments Business (since 2016); Global Head of iShares (2011-2016); Head of Corporate Strategy, BlackRock, Inc. (2009-2011).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2013); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2013); Director of PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (since 2008).

¹	Robert S. Kapito is deemed to be an “interested person” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust due to his affiliations with BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates.
²	Mark K. Wiedman is deemed to be an “interested person” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust due to his affiliations with BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates.

Independent Trustees

Name (Age)		Position		Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years		Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Cecilia H. Herbert (69)		Trustee (since 2005); Independent Board Chair (since 2016).		Trustee and Member of the Finance, Technology and Quality Committee of Stanford Health Care (since 2016); Trustee and Member of the Investment Committee, WNET, a New York public media company (since 2011); Chair (1994-2005) and Member (since 1992) of the Investment Committee, Archdiocese of San Francisco; Director (1998-2013) and President (2007-2011) of the Board of Directors, Catholic Charities CYO; Trustee (2002-2011) and Chair of the Finance and Investment Committee (2006-2010) of the Thacher School.		Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011); Independent Board Chair of iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2016); Trustee of Forward Funds (14 portfolios) (since 2009); Trustee of Salient MF Trust (4 portfolios) (since 2015).

Name (Age)	Position	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years	Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Jane D. Carlin (62)	Trustee (since 2015); Risk Committee Chair (since 2016).	Consultant (since 2012); Managing Director and Global Head of Financial Holding Company Governance & Assurance and the Global Head of Operational Risk Management of Morgan Stanley (2006-2012).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2015); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2015); Director of PHH Corporation (mortgage solutions) (since 2012); Director of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (since 2016).
Richard L. Fagnani (63)	Trustee (since 2017); Equity Plus Committee Chair (since 2017).	Partner, KPMG LLP (2002-2016).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2017); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2017).
Charles A. Hurty (74)	Trustee (since 2005); Audit Committee Chair (since 2006).	Retired; Partner, KPMG LLP (1968-2001).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011); Director of SkyBridge Alternative Investments Multi-Adviser Hedge Fund Portfolios LLC (2 portfolios) (since 2002).
John E. Kerrigan (62)	Trustee (since 2005); Securities Lending Committee Chair (since 2016).	Chief Investment Officer, Santa Clara University (since 2002).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).
Drew E. Lawton (59)	Trustee (since 2017); 15(c) Committee Chair (since 2017).	Senior Managing Director of New York Life Insurance Company (2010-2015).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2017); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2017).
John E. Martinez (56)	Trustee (since 2003); Fixed Income Plus Committee Chair (since 2016).	Director of Real Estate Equity Exchange, Inc. (since 2005).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2003); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).
Madhav V. Rajan (53)	Trustee (since 2011); Nominating and Governance Committee Chair (since 2017).	Dean, and George Pratt Shultz Professor of Accounting, University of Chicago Booth School of Business (since 2017); Robert K. Jaedicke Professor of Accounting, Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2001-2017); Professor of Law (by courtesy), Stanford Law School (2005-2017); Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Head of MBA Program, Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2010-2016).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2011); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011); Director, Cavium, Inc. (since 2013).

Officers

Name (Age)	Position	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years
Martin Small (42)	President (since 2016).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2010); Head of U.S. iShares (since 2015); Co-Head of the U.S. Financial Markets Advisory Group, BlackRock, Inc. (2008-2014).
Jack Gee (58)	Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer (since 2008).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009); Senior Director of Fund Administration of Intermediary Investor Business, BGI (2009).
Charles Park (50)	Chief Compliance Officer (since 2006).	Chief Compliance Officer of BlackRock Advisors, LLC and the BlackRock-advised Funds in the Equity-Bond Complex, the Equity-Liquidity Complex and the Closed-End Complex (since 2014); Chief Compliance Officer of BFA (since 2006).
Benjamin Archibald (42)	Secretary (since 2015).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2014); Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2010-2013); Secretary of the BlackRock-advised mutual funds (since 2012).
Steve Messinger (55)	Executive Vice President (since 2016).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2007-2014 and since 2016); Managing Director, Beacon Consulting Group (2014-2016).
Scott Radell (49)	Executive Vice President (since 2012).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009); Head of Portfolio Solutions, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009).
Alan Mason (57)	Executive Vice President (since 2016).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009).

The Board has concluded that, based on each Trustee’s experience, qualifications, attributes or skills on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other Trustees, each Trustee should serve as a Trustee of the Board. Among the attributes common to all Trustees are their ability to review critically, evaluate, question and discuss information provided to them, to interact effectively with the Fund's investment adviser, other service providers, counsel and the independent registered public accounting firm, and to exercise effective business judgment in the performance of their duties as Trustees. A Trustee’s ability to perform his or her duties effectively may have been attained through the Trustee’s educational background or professional training; business, consulting, public service or academic positions; experience from service as a Board member of the Fund and the other funds in the Trust (and any predecessor funds), other investment funds, public companies, or non-profit entities or other organizations; and/or other life experiences. Also, set forth below is a brief discussion of the specific experience, qualifications, attributes or skills of each Trustee that led the Board to conclude that he or she should serve (or continue to serve) as a Trustee.

Inc. and BlackRock’s predecessor entities. Mr. Kapito serves as President of BlackRock, Inc., and is a member of the Global Executive Committee and Chairman of the Global Operating Committee. He is responsible for day-to-day oversight of BlackRock's key operating units, including Investment Strategies, Client Businesses, Technology & Operations, and Risk & Quantitative Analysis. Prior to assuming his current responsibilities in 2007, Mr. Kapito served as Vice Chairman of BlackRock, Inc. and Head of BlackRock's Portfolio Management Group. In that role, he was responsible for overseeing all portfolio management within BlackRock, including the Fixed Income, Equity, Liquidity, and Alternative Investment Groups. Mr. Kapito serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania and the Harvard Business School Board of Dean’s Advisors. He has also been President of the Board of Directors for the Hope & Heroes Children's Cancer Fund since 2002. Mr. Kapito earned a BS degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1979, and an MBA degree from Harvard Business School in 1983.

Mark K. Wiedman has been a Trustee of the Trust since 2013. Mr. Wiedman has served as a Director of iShares, Inc. since 2013 and a Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2013. Mr. Wiedman served as a Director of iShares MSCI Russia Capped ETF, Inc. from 2013 to 2015. Mr. Wiedman is the Global Head of BlackRock’s ETF and Index Investments Business and Senior Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. In addition, he is a member of BlackRock's Global Executive Committee. Prior to assuming his current responsibilities in 2016, Mr. Wiedman was the Global Head of iShares. Mr. Wiedman was previously the head of Corporate Strategy for BlackRock. Mr. Wiedman joined BlackRock in 2004 to help start the advisory business, which evolved into the Financial Markets Advisory Group in BlackRock Solutions. This group advises financial institutions and governments on managing their capital markets exposures and businesses. Prior to BlackRock, he served as senior advisor and chief of staff for the Under Secretary for Domestic Finance at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and also was a management consultant at McKinsey & Co., advising financial institutions in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. He has taught as an adjunct associate professor of law at Fordham University in New York and Renmin University in Beijing. Mr. Wiedman serves on the board of PennyMac Financial Services, Inc., a publicly-traded U.S. mortgage banking and investment management firm started in 2008, with BlackRock, Inc. as a sponsor. Mr. Wiedman earned an AB degree, Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude, in social studies from Harvard College in 1992 and a JD degree from Yale Law School in 1996.

Cecilia H. Herbert has been a Trustee of the Trust since 2005 and Chair of the Trust's Board since 2016. Ms. Herbert served as Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee of the Trust from 2012 to 2015 and from 2016 to 2017 and Chair of the Equity Plus Committee of the Trust from 2012 to 2015. Ms. Herbert has served as a Director of iShares, Inc. since 2005, Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee of iShares, Inc. from 2012 to 2015 and from 2016 to 2017, Chair of the Equity Plus Committee of iShares, Inc. from 2012 to 2015, Chair of the iShares, Inc.'s Board since 2016, a Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2011, Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust from 2012 to 2015 and from 2016 to 2017, Chair of the Equity Plus Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust from 2012 to 2015 and Chair of the iShares U.S. ETF Trust's Board since 2016. Ms. Herbert served as a Director of iShares MSCI Russia Capped ETF, Inc. from 2010 to 2015. In addition, Ms. Herbert has served as Trustee of the Forward Funds since 2009, which was purchased by Salient Partners in 2015, and has also served as Trustee of the Salient MF Trust since 2015. She has served since 1992 on the Investment Council of the Archdiocese of San Francisco and was Chair from 1994 to 2005. She has served as a Trustee of Stanford Health Care since 2016 and as a Trustee of WNET, New York’s public media station, since 2011. She was President of the Board of Catholic Charities CYO, the largest social services agency in the San Francisco Bay Area, from 2007 to 2011 and a member of that board from 1992 to 2013. She previously served as Trustee of the Pacific Select Funds from 2004 to 2005 and Trustee of the Montgomery Funds from 1992 to 2003. She worked from 1973 to 1990 at J.P. Morgan/Morgan Guaranty Trust doing international corporate finance and corporate lending, retiring as Managing Director and Head of the West Coast Office. Ms. Herbert has been on numerous non-profit boards, chairing investment and finance committees. She holds a double major in economics and communications from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Jane D. Carlin has been a Trustee of the Trust since 2015 and Chair of the Risk Committee since 2016. Ms. Carlin has served as a Director of iShares, Inc. since 2015, Chair of the Risk Committee of iShares, Inc. since 2016, a Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2015 and Chair of the Risk Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2016. Ms. Carlin has served as a consultant since 2012 and formerly served as Managing Director and Global Head of Financial Holding Company Governance & Assurance and the Global Head of Operational Risk Management of Morgan Stanley from 2006 to 2012. In addition, Ms. Carlin served as Managing Director and Global Head of the Bank Operational Risk Oversight Department of Credit Suisse Group from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, Ms. Carlin served as Managing Director and Deputy General Counsel of Morgan Stanley. Ms. Carlin has over 30 years of experience in the financial sector and has served in a number of legal, regulatory, and risk management positions. Ms. Carlin has served as an Independent Director on the Board of PHH Corporation since 2012 and as a Director of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. since 2016. She previously served as a Director on the Boards of Astoria Financial Corporation and Astoria Bank. Ms. Carlin was appointed by the United States Treasury to the Financial

Services Sector Coordinating Council for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Homeland Security, where she served as Chairperson from 2010 to 2012 and Vice Chair and Chair of the Cyber Security Committee from 2009 to 2010. Ms. Carlin has a BA degree in political science from State University of New York at Stony Brook and a JD degree from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

Richard L. Fagnani has been a Trustee of the Trust since 2017 and Chair of the Equity Plus Committee of the Trust since 2017. Mr. Fagnani served as an Advisory Board Member of the Trust from April 2017 to June 2017. Mr. Fagnani has served as a Director of iShares, Inc. since 2017, Chair of the Equity Plus Committee of iShares, Inc. since 2017, an Advisory Board Member of iShares, Inc. from April 2017 to June 2017, a Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2017, Chair of the Equity Plus Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2017 and an Advisory Board Member of iShares U.S. ETF Trust from April 2017 to June 2017. Mr. Fagnani served as a Senior Audit Partner at KPMG LLP from 2002 to 2016, most recently as the U.S. asset management audit practice leader responsible for setting strategic direction and execution of the operating plan for the asset management audit practice. In addition, from 1977 to 2002, Mr. Fagnani served as an Audit Partner at Andersen LLP, where he developed and managed the asset management audit practice. Mr. Fagnani served as a Trustee on the Board of the Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia from 2009 to 2014 and as a member of the School of Business Advisory Board at LaSalle University from 2006 to 2014. Mr. Fagnani has a BS degree in Accounting from LaSalle University.

Charles A. Hurty has been a Trustee of the Trust since 2005 and Chair of the Audit Committee of the Trust since 2006. Mr. Hurty has served as a Director of iShares, Inc. since 2005, Chair of the Audit Committee of iShares, Inc. since 2006 and a Trustee and Chair of the Audit Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2011. Mr. Hurty served as a Director of iShares MSCI Russia Capped ETF, Inc. from 2010 to 2015. In addition, Mr. Hurty has served as Director of the SkyBridge Alternative Investments Multi-Adviser Hedge Fund Portfolios LLC (formerly, Citigroup Alternative Investments Multi-Adviser Hedge Fund Portfolios LLC) since 2002. He was a Director of the GMAM Absolute Return Strategy Fund from 2002 to 2015 and was a Director of the CSFB Alternative Investment Funds from 2005 to December 2009, when the funds were liquidated. Mr. Hurty was formerly a Partner at KPMG, LLP from 1968 to 2001, where he held several leadership roles in KPMG, LLP’s Investment Management Practice. Prior to joining KPMG, LLP, Mr. Hurty was an officer in the United States Army. Mr. Hurty has a BS degree in accounting from the University of Kansas.

John E. Kerrigan has been a Trustee of the Trust since 2005 and Chair of the Securities Lending Committee of the Trust since 2016. Mr. Kerrigan served as Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee of the Trust from 2010 to 2012 and Chair of the Fixed Income Plus Committee of the Trust from 2012 to 2015. Mr. Kerrigan has served as a Director of iShares, Inc. since 2005, Chair of the Fixed Income Plus Committee of iShares, Inc. from 2012 to 2015, Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee of iShares, Inc. from 2010 to 2012, Chair of the Securities Lending Committee of iShares, Inc. since 2016, a Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2011, Chair of the Fixed Income Plus Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust from 2012 to 2015, Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust from 2011 to 2012 and Chair of the Securities Lending Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2016. Mr. Kerrigan served as a Director of iShares MSCI Russia Capped ETF, Inc. from 2010 to 2015. Mr. Kerrigan has served as Chief Investment Officer of Santa Clara University since 2002. Mr. Kerrigan was formerly a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch & Co., including the following responsibilities: Managing Director, Institutional Client Division, Western United States. Mr. Kerrigan has been a Director, since 1999, of The BASIC Fund (Bay Area Scholarships for Inner City Children). Mr. Kerrigan has a BA degree from Boston College and is a Chartered Financial Analyst Charterholder.

Drew E. Lawton has been a Trustee of the Trust since 2017 and Chair of the 15(c) Committee of the Trust since 2017. Mr. Lawton served as an Advisory Board Member of the Trust from 2016 to 2017. Mr. Lawton has served as a Director of iShares, Inc. since 2017, Chair of the 15(c) Committee of iShares, Inc. since 2017, an Advisory Board Member of iShares, Inc. from 2016 to 2017, a Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2017, Chair of the 15(c) Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2017 and an Advisory Board Member of iShares U.S. ETF Trust from 2016 to 2017. Mr. Lawton served as Director of Principal Funds, Inc., Principal Variable Contracts Funds, Inc. and Principal Exchange-Traded Funds from March 2016 through October 2016. Mr. Lawton served in various capacities at New York Life Insurance Company from February 2010 to December 2015, most recently as a Senior Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of New York Life Investment Management. From 2008 to 2010, Mr. Lawton was the President of Fridson Investment Advisors, LLC. Mr. Lawton previously held multiple roles at Fidelity Investments from 1997 to 2008. Mr. Lawton has a BA degree in Administrative Science from Yale University and an MBA from University of North Texas.

served as a Director of iShares, Inc. since 2003, Chair of the Securities Lending Committee of iShares, Inc. from 2012 to 2015, Chair of the Fixed Income Plus Committee of iShares, Inc. since 2016, a Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2011, Chair of the Securities Lending Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust from 2012 to 2015 and Chair of the Fixed Income Plus Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2016. Mr. Martinez served as a Director of iShares MSCI Russia Capped ETF, Inc. from 2010 to 2015. Mr. Martinez is a Director of Real Estate Equity Exchange, Inc., providing governance oversight and consulting services to this privately held firm that develops products and strategies for homeowners in managing the equity in their homes. Mr. Martinez currently serves as a Board member for the Cloudera Foundation, whose mission is to apply Cloudera’s data science expertise and discipline to solve global social problems. Mr. Martinez previously served as Director of Barclays Global Investors (“BGI”) UK Holdings, where he provided governance oversight representing BGI’s shareholders (Barclays PLC, BGI management shareholders) through oversight of BGI’s worldwide activities. Mr. Martinez also previously served as Co-Chief Executive Officer of the Global Index and Markets Group of BGI, Chairman of Barclays Global Investor Services and Chief Executive Officer of the Capital Markets Group of BGI. From 2003 to 2012, he was a Director and Executive Committee Member for Larkin Street Youth Services, providing governance oversight and strategy development to an agency that provides emergency and transitional housing, healthcare, education, job and life skills training to homeless youth. He now serves on the Larkin Street Honorary Board. From 2010 to 2016, Mr. Martinez served as a Director for Reading Partners, an organization committed to making all children literate through one-on-one tutoring of students in grades K-4 who are not yet reading at grade level. Mr. Martinez has an AB degree in economics from The University of California, Berkeley and holds an MBA degree in finance and statistics from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Madhav V. Rajan has been a Trustee of the Trust since 2011 and Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee of the Trust since 2017. Mr. Rajan served as Chair of the Equity Plus Committee of the Trust from 2016 to 2017, Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee of the Trust in 2016 and Chair of the 15(c) Committee of the Trust from 2012 to 2015 and from 2016 to 2017. Mr. Rajan has served as a Director of iShares, Inc. since 2011, Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee of iShares, Inc. since 2017, Chair of the Equity Plus Committee of iShares, Inc. from 2016 to 2017, Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee of iShares, Inc. in 2016, Chair of the 15(c) Committee of iShares, Inc. from 2012 to 2015 and from 2016 to 2017, a Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2011, Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2017, Chair of the Equity Plus Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust from 2016 to 2017, Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust in 2016 and Chair of the 15(c) Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust from 2012 to 2015 and from 2016 to 2017. Mr. Rajan served as a Director of iShares MSCI Russia Capped ETF, Inc. from 2011 to 2015. Mr. Rajan is the Dean and George Pratt Shultz Professor of Accounting at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. From 2001 to 2017, Mr. Rajan was the Robert K. Jaedicke Professor of Accounting at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. In April 2017, he received the school’s Robert T. Davis Award for Lifetime Achievement and Service. He has taught accounting for over 25 years to undergraduate, MBA and law students, as well as to senior executives. From 2010 to 2016, Mr. Rajan served as the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and head of the MBA Program at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Mr. Rajan served as editor of “The Accounting Review” from 2002 to 2008 and is co-author of “Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis,” a leading cost accounting textbook. Mr. Rajan holds MS and PhD degrees in Accounting from Carnegie Mellon University.

Board – Leadership Structure and Oversight Responsibilities

Overall responsibility for oversight of the Fund rests with the Board. The Board has engaged BFA to manage the Fund on a day-to-day basis. The Board is responsible for overseeing BFA and other service providers in the operations of the Fund in accordance with the provisions of the 1940 Act, applicable provisions of state and other laws and the Trust’s charter. The Board is currently composed of ten members, eight of whom are Independent Trustees. The Board currently conducts regular in person meetings four times a year. In addition, the Board frequently holds special in person or telephonic meetings or informal conference calls to discuss specific matters that may arise or require action between regular meetings. The Independent Trustees meet regularly outside the presence of management, in executive session or with other service providers to the Trust.

the Fund with respect to certain specified matters. The Chair of each standing Committee is an Independent Trustee. The role of the Chair of each Committee is to preside at all meetings of the Committee and to act as a liaison with service providers, officers, attorneys and other Trustees between meetings. Each standing Committee meets regularly to conduct the oversight functions delegated to the Committee by the Board and reports its finding to the Board. The Board and each standing Committee conduct annual assessments of their oversight function and structure. The Board has determined that the Board’s leadership structure is appropriate because it allows the Board to exercise independent judgment over management and it allocates areas of responsibility among committees of Independent Trustees and the full Board to enhance effective oversight.

Day-to-day risk management with respect to the Fund is the responsibility of BFA or other service providers (depending on the nature of the risk), subject to the supervision of BFA. The Fund is subject to a number of risks, including investment, compliance, operational, reputational, counterparty and valuation risks, among others. While there are a number of risk management functions performed by BFA and other service providers, as applicable, it is not possible to identify and eliminate all of the risks applicable to the Fund. The Trustees have an oversight role in this area, satisfying themselves that risk management processes and controls are in place and operating effectively. Risk oversight forms part of the Board’s general oversight of the Fund and is addressed as part of various Board and committee activities. In some cases, risk management issues are specifically addressed in presentations and discussions. For example, BFA has an independent dedicated Risk and Quantitative Analysis Group (“RQA”) that assists BFA in managing fiduciary and corporate risks, including investment, operational, counterparty credit and enterprise risk. Representatives of RQA meet with the Board to discuss their analysis and methodologies, as well as specific risk topics such as operational and counterparty risks relating to the Fund. The Board, directly or through a committee, also reviews reports from, among others, management and the independent registered public accounting firm for the Trust, as appropriate, regarding risks faced by the Fund and management’s risk functions. The Board has appointed a Chief Compliance Officer who oversees the implementation and testing of the Trust's compliance program, including assessments by independent third parties, and reports to the Board regarding compliance matters for the Trust and its principal service providers. In testing and maintaining the compliance program, the Chief Compliance Officer (and his or her delegates) assesses key compliance risks affecting the Fund, and addresses them in periodic reports to the Board. In addition, the Audit Committee meets with both the Fund's independent registered public accounting firm and BFA’s internal audit group to review risk controls in place that support the Fund as well as test results. Board oversight of risk is also performed as needed between meetings through communications between BFA and the Board. The Independent Trustees have engaged independent legal counsel to assist them in performing their oversight responsibilities. From time to time, the Board may modify the manner in which it conducts risk oversight. The Board’s oversight role does not make it a guarantor of the Fund's investment performance or other activities.

Committees of the Board of Trustees. The members of the Audit Committee are Charles A. Hurty (Chair), Richard L. Fagnani, John E. Kerrigan and Madhav V. Rajan, each of whom is an Independent Trustee. The purposes of the Audit Committee are to assist the Board (i) in its oversight of the Trust's accounting and financial reporting principles and policies and related controls and procedures maintained by or on behalf of the Trust; (ii) in its oversight of the Trust's financial statements and the independent audit thereof; (iii) in selecting, evaluating and, where deemed appropriate, replacing the independent accountants (or nominating the independent accountants to be proposed for shareholder approval in any proxy statement); (iv) in evaluating the independence of the independent accountants; (v) in complying with legal and regulatory requirements that relate to the Trust's accounting and financial reporting, internal controls, compliance controls and independent audits; and (vi) to assume such other responsibilities as may be delegated by the Board. The Audit Committee met five times during the fiscal year ended August 31, 2017.

The members of the Nominating and Governance Committee are Madhav V. Rajan (Chair), Jane D. Carlin, Drew E. Lawton and John E. Martinez, each of whom is an Independent Trustee. The Nominating and Governance Committee nominates individuals for Independent Trustee membership on the Board and recommends appointments to the Advisory Board. The Nominating and Governance Committee functions include, but are not limited to, the following: (i) reviewing the qualifications of any person properly identified or nominated to serve as an Independent Trustee; (ii) recommending to the Board and current Independent Trustees the nominee(s) for appointment as an Independent Trustee by the Board and current Independent Trustees and/or for election as Independent Trustees by shareholders to fill any vacancy for a position of Independent Trustee(s) on the Board; (iii) recommending to the Board and current Independent Trustees the size and composition of the Board and Board committees and whether they comply with applicable laws and regulations; (iv) recommending a current Independent Trustee to the Board and current Independent Trustees to serve as Board Chair; (v) periodic review of the Board's retirement policy; and (vi) recommending an appropriate level of compensation for the Independent Trustees for their services as Trustees, members or chairpersons of committees of the Board, Board Chair and

any other positions as the Nominating and Governance Committee considers appropriate. The Nominating and Governance Committee does not consider Board nominations recommended by shareholders (acting solely in their capacity as a shareholder and not in any other capacity). The Nominating and Governance Committee met four times during the fiscal year ended August 31, 2017.

Each Independent Trustee serves on the 15(c) Committee. The Chair of the 15(c) Committee is Drew E. Lawton. The principal responsibilities of the 15(c) Committee are to support, oversee and organize on behalf of the Board the process for the annual review and renewal of the Trust's advisory and sub-advisory agreements. These responsibilities include: (i) meeting with BlackRock, Inc. in advance of the Board meeting at which the Trust's advisory and sub-advisory agreements are to be considered to discuss generally the process for providing requested information to the Board and the format in which information will be provided; and (ii) considering and discussing with BlackRock, Inc. such other matters and information as may be necessary and appropriate for the Board to evaluate the investment advisory and sub-advisory agreements of the Trust. The 15(c) Committee met two times during the fiscal year ended August 31, 2017.

The members of the Securities Lending Committee are John E. Kerrigan (Chair), Jane D. Carlin, Richard L. Fagnani and Madhav V. Rajan, each of whom is an Independent Trustee. The principal responsibilities of the Securities Lending Committee are to support, oversee and organize on behalf of the Board the process for oversight of the Trust's securities lending activities. These responsibilities include: (i) requesting that certain information be provided to the Committee for its review and consideration prior to such information being provided to the Board; (ii) considering and discussing with BlackRock, Inc. such other matters and information as may be necessary and appropriate for the Board to oversee the Trust's securities lending activities and make required findings and approvals; and (iii) providing a recommendation to the Board regarding the annual approval of the Trust's Securities Lending Guidelines and the required findings with respect to, and annual approval of, the Trust's agreement with the securities lending agent. The Securities Lending Committee met three times during the fiscal year ended August 31, 2017.

The members of the Equity Plus Committee are Richard L. Fagnani (Chair), Charles A. Hurty, John E. Kerrigan and Madhav V. Rajan, each of whom is an Independent Trustee. The principal responsibilities of the Equity Plus Committee are to support, oversee and organize on behalf of the Board the process for oversight of Trust performance and related matters for equity funds. These responsibilities include: (i) reviewing quarterly reports regarding Trust performance, secondary market trading and changes in net assets to identify any matters that should be brought to the attention of the Board; and (ii) considering any performance or investment related matters as may be delegated to the Committee by the Board from time to time and providing a report or recommendation to the Board as appropriate. The Equity Plus Committee met four times during the fiscal year ended August 31, 2017.

The members of the Fixed Income Plus Committee are John E. Martinez (Chair), Jane D. Carlin and Drew E. Lawton, each of whom is an Independent Trustee. The principal responsibilities of the Fixed Income Plus Committee are to support, oversee and organize on behalf of the Board the process for oversight of Trust performance and related matters for fixed-income or multi-asset funds. These responsibilities include: (i) reviewing quarterly reports regarding Trust performance, secondary market trading and changes in net assets to identify any matters that should be brought to the attention of the Board; and (ii) considering any performance or investment related matters as may be delegated to the Committee by the Board from time to time and providing a report or recommendation to the Board as appropriate. The Fixed Income Plus Committee met four times during the fiscal year ended August 31, 2017.

The members of the Risk Committee are Jane D. Carlin (Chair), Charles A. Hurty, Drew E. Lawton and John E. Martinez, each of whom is an Independent Trustee. The principal responsibility of the Risk Committee is to consider and organize on behalf of the Board risk related matters of the Fund so the Board may most effectively structure itself to oversee them. The Risk Committee commenced on January 1, 2016. The Risk Committee met four times during the fiscal year ended August 31, 2017.

As the Chair of the Board, Cecilia H. Herbert may serve as an ex-officio member of each Committee.

The following table sets forth, as of December 31, 2017, the dollar range of equity securities beneficially owned by each Trustee in the Fund and in other registered investment companies overseen by the Trustee within the same family of investment companies as the Trust. If a fund is not listed below, the Trustee did not own any securities in that fund as of the date indicated above:

Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in Named Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee in Family of Investment Companies
Robert S. Kapito	None	None	None

Mark K. Wiedman	iShares Core Aggressive Allocation ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares National Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares New York Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Short Maturity Municipal Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000

Cecilia H. Herbert	iShares California Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares China Large-Cap ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares International Select Dividend ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares MSCI Japan ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares National Muni Bond ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Preferred Stock ETF	$10,001-$50,000

Jane D. Carlin	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Europe ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Global Tech ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares MSCI ACWI ETF	Over $100,000

Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in Named Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee in Family of Investment Companies
	iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Small-Cap ETF	$10,001-$50,000

Richard L. Fagnani	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Global Financials ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares iBonds Dec 2022 Term Corporate ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares MSCI Japan ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF	$10,001-$50,000

Charles A. Hurty	iShares China Large-Cap ETF	$10,001-$50,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core Growth Allocation ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core Moderate Allocation ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Global Energy ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Global Healthcare ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Global Tech ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	$10,001-$50,000

Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in Named Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee in Family of Investment Companies
	iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Energy ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Financials ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares U.S. Technology ETF	Over $100,000

John E. Kerrigan	iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000

Drew E. Lawton	iShares 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Exponential Technologies ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI Frontier 100 ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF	$10,001-$50,000

John E. Martinez	iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Global Consumer Staples ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares National Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 1000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF	$1-$10,000

Madhav V. Rajan	iShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000

Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in Named Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee in Family of Investment Companies
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Select Dividend ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares U.S. Preferred Stock ETF	Over $100,000

As of December 31, 2017, none of the Independent Trustees or their immediate family members owned beneficially or of record any securities of BFA (the Fund's investment adviser), the Distributor or any person controlling, controlled by or under common control with BFA or the Distributor.

Remuneration of Trustees and Advisory Board Members. Effective January 1, 2017, each current Independent Trustee is paid an annual retainer of $325,000 for his or her services as a Board member to the BlackRock-advised Funds in the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex, together with out-of-pocket expenses in accordance with the Board’s policy on travel and other business expenses relating to attendance at meetings. The annual retainer for services as an Advisory Board Member is the same as the annual retainer for services as a Board member. The Independent Chair of the Board is paid an additional annual retainer of $80,000 (prior to January 1, 2018, the additional annual retainer was $50,000). The Chair of each of the Equity Plus Committee, Fixed Income Plus Committee, Securities Lending Committee, Risk Committee, Nominating and Governance Committee and 15(c) Committee is paid an additional annual retainer of $25,000. The Chair of the Audit Committee is paid an additional annual retainer of $40,000. Cecilia H. Herbert waived the annual retainer for her service as the Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee. Each Independent Trustee that served as a director of subsidiaries of the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex is paid an additional annual retainer of $10,000 (plus an additional $1,772 paid annually to compensate for taxes due in the Republic of Mauritius in connection with such Trustee’s service on the boards of certain Mauritius-based subsidiaries).

The table below sets forth the compensation earned by each Independent Trustee and Interested Trustee for services to the Fund for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2017 and the aggregate compensation paid to them for services to the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex for the calendar year ended December 31, 2017.

Name	iShares MSCI USA Small-Cap ESG Optimized ETF	Pension or Retirement Benefits Accrued As Part of Trust Expenses¹	Estimated Annual Benefits Upon Retirement¹	Total Compensation From the Fund and Fund Complex²
Independent Trustees:

Jane D. Carlin	$0	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	$361,764
Richard L. Fagnani	0	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	256,250 ³
Cecilia H. Herbert	0	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	375,000
Charles A. Hurty	0	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	376,764
John E. Kerrigan	0	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	350,000
Drew E. Lawton	0	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	337,500 ⁴
John E. Martinez	0	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	350,000
Madhav V. Rajan	0	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	362,500

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$0	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	0

¹	No Trustee or officer is entitled to any pension or retirement benefits from the Trust.
²	Also includes compensation for service on the Board of Trustees or the Advisory Board of iShares U.S. ETF Trust and the Board of Directors or the Advisory Board of iShares, Inc.

Total compensation is shown for Richard L. Fagnani for his services as an Advisory Board Member for the period from April 1, 2017 (date of his appointment to the Advisory Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to June 18, 2017, and for his services as an Independent Trustee for the period from June 19, 2017 (date of his election to the Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to December 31, 2017.

⁴

Total compensation is shown for Drew E. Lawton for his services as an Advisory Board Member for the period from January 1, 2017 to June 18, 2017, and for his services as an Independent Trustee for the period from June 19, 2017 (date of his election to the Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to December 31, 2017.

Control Persons and Principal Holders of Securities. Ownership information is not provided for the Fund, as it has not commenced operations as of the date of this SAI.

Potential Conflicts of Interest. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (“PNC”) has a significant economic interest in BlackRock, Inc., the parent of BFA, the Fund's investment adviser. BlackRock, Inc. and PNC are considered to be affiliated persons of one another under the 1940 Act. Certain activities of BFA, BlackRock, Inc. and their affiliates (collectively, “BlackRock”) and PNC and its affiliates (collectively, “PNC” and together with BlackRock, “Affiliates”), with respect to the Fund and/or other accounts managed by BlackRock or PNC, may give rise to actual or perceived conflicts of interest such as those described below.

BlackRock is one of the world's largest asset management firms. PNC is a diversified financial services organization spanning the retail, business and corporate markets. BlackRock, PNC and their respective affiliates (including, for these purposes, their directors, partners, trustees, managing members, officers and employees), including the entities and personnel who may be involved in the investment activities and business operations of the Fund, are engaged worldwide in businesses, including managing equities, fixed-income securities, cash and alternative investments, and banking and other financial services, and have interests other than that of managing the Fund. These are considerations of which investors in the Fund should be aware, and which may cause conflicts of interest that could disadvantage the Fund and its shareholders. These businesses and interests include potential multiple advisory, transactional, financial and other relationships with, or interests in, companies and interests in securities or other instruments that may be purchased or sold by the Fund.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates have proprietary interests in, and may manage or advise with respect to, accounts or funds (including separate accounts and other funds and collective investment vehicles) that have investment objectives similar to those of the Fund and/or that engage in transactions in the same types of securities, currencies and instruments as the Fund. One or more Affiliates are also major participants in the global currency, equities, swap and fixed-income markets, in each case, for the accounts of customers and, in some cases, on a proprietary basis. As such, one or more Affiliates are or may be actively engaged in transactions in the same securities, currencies, and instruments in which the Fund invests. Such activities could affect the prices and availability of the securities, currencies, and instruments in which the Fund invests, which could have an adverse impact on the Fund's performance. Such transactions, particularly in respect of most proprietary accounts or client accounts, will be executed independently of the Fund's transactions and thus at prices or rates that may be more or less favorable than those obtained by the Fund.

When BlackRock and the other Affiliates seek to purchase or sell the same assets for their managed accounts, including the Fund, the assets actually purchased or sold may be allocated among the accounts on a basis determined in their good faith discretion to be equitable. In some cases, this system may adversely affect the size or price of the assets purchased or sold for the Fund. In addition, transactions in investments by one or more other accounts managed by BlackRock or the other Affiliates may have the effect of diluting or otherwise disadvantaging the values, prices or investment strategies of the Fund, particularly, but not limited to, with respect to small-capitalization, emerging market or less liquid strategies. This may occur when investment decisions regarding the Fund are based on research or other information that is also used to support decisions for other accounts. When BlackRock or the other Affiliates implement a portfolio decision or strategy on behalf of another account ahead of, or contemporaneously with, similar decisions or strategies for the Fund, market impact, liquidity constraints, or other factors could result in the Fund receiving less favorable trading results and the costs of implementing such decisions or strategies could be increased or the Fund could otherwise be disadvantaged. BlackRock or the other Affiliates may, in certain cases, elect to implement internal policies and procedures designed to limit such consequences, which may cause the Fund to be unable to engage in certain activities, including purchasing or disposing of securities, when it might otherwise be desirable for it to do so.

Conflicts may also arise because portfolio decisions regarding the Fund may benefit other accounts managed by BlackRock or the other Affiliates. For example, the sale of a long position or establishment of a short position by the Fund may impair the price of the same security sold short by (and therefore benefit) one or more Affiliates or their other accounts or funds,

and the purchase of a security or covering of a short position in a security by the Fund may increase the price of the same security held by (and therefore benefit) one or more Affiliates or their other accounts or funds.

In certain circumstances, BlackRock, on behalf of the Fund, may seek to buy from or sell securities to another fund or account advised by BlackRock or an Affiliate. BlackRock may (but is not required to) effect purchases and sales between BlackRock clients or clients of Affiliates (“cross trades”), including the Fund, if BlackRock believes such transactions are appropriate based on each party's investment objectives and guidelines, subject to applicable law and regulation. There may be potential conflicts of interest or regulatory issues relating to these transactions which could limit BlackRock’s decision to engage in these transactions for the Fund. BlackRock may have a potentially conflicting division of loyalties and responsibilities to the parties in such transactions. On any occasion when the Fund participates in a cross trade, BlackRock will comply with procedures adopted under applicable rules and SEC guidance.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates and their clients may pursue or enforce rights with respect to an issuer in which the Fund has invested, and those activities may have an adverse effect on the Fund. As a result, prices, availability, liquidity and terms of the Fund's investments may be negatively impacted by the activities of BlackRock or the other Affiliates or their clients, and transactions for the Fund may be impaired or effected at prices or terms that may be less favorable than would otherwise have been the case.

The results of the Fund’s investment activities may differ significantly from the results achieved by BlackRock and the other Affiliates for their proprietary accounts or other accounts (including investment companies or collective investment vehicles) managed or advised by them. It is possible that one or more Affiliate-managed accounts and such other accounts will achieve investment results that are substantially more or less favorable than the results achieved by the Fund. Moreover, it is possible that the Fund will sustain losses during periods in which one or more Affiliates or Affiliate-managed accounts achieve significant profits on their trading for proprietary or other accounts. The opposite result is also possible.

From time to time, the Fund may be restricted from purchasing or selling securities, or from engaging in other investment activities because of regulatory, legal or contractual requirements applicable to BlackRock or one or more Affiliates or other accounts managed or advised by BlackRock or the other Affiliates for clients worldwide, and/or the internal policies of BlackRock and the other Affiliates designed to comply with such requirements. As a result, there may be periods, for example, when BlackRock and/or one or more Affiliates will not initiate or recommend certain types of transactions in certain securities or instruments with respect to which BlackRock and/or one or more Affiliates are performing services or when position limits have been reached. For example, the investment activities of one or more Affiliates for their proprietary accounts and accounts under their management may limit the investment opportunities for the Fund in certain emerging and other markets in which limitations are imposed upon the amount of investment, in the aggregate or in individual issuers, by affiliated foreign investors.

In connection with its management of the Fund, BlackRock may have access to certain fundamental analysis and proprietary technical models developed by one or more Affiliates. BlackRock will not be under any obligation, however, to effect transactions on behalf of the Fund in accordance with such analysis and models. In addition, neither BlackRock nor any of the other Affiliates will have any obligation to make available any information regarding their proprietary activities or strategies, or the activities or strategies used for other accounts managed by them, for the benefit of the management of the Fund and it is not anticipated that BlackRock will have access to such information for the purpose of managing the Fund. The proprietary activities or portfolio strategies of BlackRock and the other Affiliates, or the activities or strategies used for accounts managed by them or other customer accounts could conflict with the transactions and strategies employed by BlackRock in managing the Fund.

The Fund may be included in investment models developed by BlackRock and the other Affiliates for use by clients and financial advisors. The price, availability and liquidity of the Fund may be impacted by purchases and redemptions of the Fund by model-driven investment portfolios.

In addition, certain principals and certain employees of BlackRock are also principals or employees of Affiliates. As a result, these principals and employees may have obligations to such other entities or their clients and such obligations to other entities or clients may be a consideration of which investors in the Fund should be aware.

BlackRock may enter into transactions and invest in securities, instruments and currencies on behalf of the Fund in which clients of BlackRock or the other Affiliates, or, to the extent permitted by the SEC and applicable law, BlackRock or another Affiliate, serves as the counterparty, principal or issuer. In such cases, such party's interests in the transaction will be adverse

to the interests of the Fund, and such party may have no incentive to assure that the Fund obtains the best possible prices or terms in connection with the transactions. In addition, the purchase, holding and sale of such investments by the Fund may enhance the profitability of BlackRock or the other Affiliates. One or more Affiliates may also create, write or issue derivatives for their clients, the underlying securities, currencies or instruments of which may be those in which the Fund invests or which may be based on the performance of the Fund. The Fund may, subject to applicable law, purchase investments that are the subject of an underwriting or other distribution by one or more Affiliates and may also enter into transactions with other clients of an Affiliate where such other clients have interests adverse to those of the Fund.

At times, these activities may cause departments of BlackRock or the other Affiliates to give advice to clients that may cause these clients to take actions adverse to the interests of the Fund. To the extent affiliated transactions are permitted, the Fund will deal with BlackRock and the other Affiliates (except with respect to BFA or affiliated sub-advisers of the Fund, as applicable) on an arms-length basis.

To the extent authorized by applicable law, one or more Affiliates may act as broker, dealer, agent, lender or adviser or in other commercial capacities for the Fund. It is anticipated that the commissions, markups, markdowns, financial advisory fees, underwriting and placement fees, sales fees, financing and commitment fees, brokerage fees, other fees, compensation or profits, rates, terms and conditions charged by an Affiliate will be in its view commercially reasonable, although each Affiliate, including its sales personnel, will have an interest in obtaining fees and other amounts that are favorable to the Affiliate and such sales personnel, which may have an adverse effect on the Fund.

Subject to applicable law, the Affiliates (and their personnel and other distributors) will be entitled to retain fees and other amounts that they receive in connection with their service to the Fund as broker, dealer, agent, lender, adviser or in other commercial capacities. No accounting to the Fund or its shareholders will be required, and no fees or other compensation payable by the Fund or its shareholders will be reduced by reason of receipt by an Affiliate of any such fees or other amounts.

When an Affiliate acts as broker, dealer, agent, adviser or in other commercial capacities in relation to the Fund, the Affiliate may take commercial steps in its own interests, which may have an adverse effect on the Fund. The Fund will be required to establish business relationships with its counterparties based on the Fund's own credit standing. Neither BlackRock nor any of the Affiliates will have any obligation to allow their credit to be used in connection with the Fund's establishment of its business relationships, nor is it expected that the Fund's counterparties will rely on the credit of BlackRock or any of the other Affiliates in evaluating the Fund's creditworthiness.

Lending on behalf of the Fund is done by BTC pursuant to SEC exemptive relief, enabling BTC to act as securities lending agent to, and receive a share of securities lending revenues from, the Fund. An Affiliate will also receive compensation for managing the reinvestment of the cash collateral from securities lending. There are potential conflicts of interest in managing a securities lending program, including but not limited to: (i) BTC as securities lending agent may have an incentive to increase or decrease the amount of securities on loan or to lend particular securities in order to generate additional risk-adjusted revenue for BTC and its affiliates; and (ii) BTC as securities lending agent may have an incentive to allocate loans to clients that would provide more revenue to BlackRock. As described further below, BlackRock seeks to mitigate this conflict by providing its securities lending clients with equal lending opportunities over time in order to approximate pro-rata allocation.

As part of its securities lending program, BlackRock indemnifies certain clients or funds against a shortfall in collateral in the event of borrower default. BlackRock’s RQA calculates, on a regular basis, BlackRock’s potential dollar exposure to the risk of collateral shortfall upon counterparty default (“shortfall risk”) under the securities lending program for both indemnified and non-indemnified clients. On a periodic basis, RQA also determines the maximum amount of potential indemnified shortfall risk arising from securities lending activities (“indemnification exposure limit”) and the maximum amount of counterparty-specific credit exposure (“credit limits”) BlackRock is willing to assume as well as the program’s operational complexity. RQA oversees the risk model that calculates projected shortfall values using loan-level factors such as loan and collateral type and market value as well as specific borrower counterparty credit characteristics. When necessary, RQA may further adjust other securities lending program attributes by restricting eligible collateral or reducing counterparty credit limits. As a result, the management of the indemnification exposure limit may affect the amount of securities lending activity BlackRock may conduct at any given point in time and impact indemnified and non-indemnified clients by reducing the volume of lending opportunities for certain loans (including by asset type, collateral type and/or revenue profile).

(i.e., indemnification exposure limit and counterparty credit limits); (ii) the lending portfolio must hold the asset at the time a loan opportunity arrives; and (iii) the lending portfolio must also have enough inventory, either on its own or when aggregated with other portfolios into one single market delivery, to satisfy the loan request. In doing so, BlackRock seeks to provide equal lending opportunities for all portfolios, independent of whether BlackRock indemnifies the portfolio. Equal opportunities for lending portfolios does not guarantee equal outcomes. Specifically, short and long-term outcomes for individual clients may vary due to asset mix, asset/liability spreads on different securities, and the overall limits imposed by the firm.

Purchases and sales of securities and other assets for the Fund may be bunched or aggregated with orders for other BlackRock client and fund accounts, including with accounts that pay different transaction costs due to the fact that they have different research payment arrangements. BlackRock, however, is not required to bunch or aggregate orders if portfolio management decisions for different accounts or funds are made separately, or if it determines that bunching or aggregating is not practicable or required, is not in the best interest of the Fund, or in cases involving client direction.

Prevailing trading activity frequently may make impossible the receipt of the same price or execution on the entire volume of securities purchased or sold. When this occurs, the various prices may be averaged, and the Fund will be charged or credited with the average price. Thus, the effect of the aggregation may operate on some occasions to the disadvantage of the Fund. In addition, under certain circumstances, the Fund will not be charged the same commission or commission equivalent rates in connection with a bunched or aggregated order.

BlackRock may select brokers (including, without limitation, Affiliates, to the extent permitted by applicable law) that furnish BlackRock, the Fund, other BlackRock client accounts or other Affiliates or personnel, directly or through correspondent relationships, with research or other appropriate services which provide, in BlackRock's view, appropriate assistance to BlackRock in the investment decision-making process (including with respect to futures, fixed-price offerings and OTC transactions). Such research or other services may include, to the extent permitted by law, research reports on companies, industries and securities; economic and financial data; financial publications; proxy analysis; trade industry seminars; computer data bases; research-oriented software and other services and products. Research or other services obtained in this manner may be used in servicing other BlackRock client accounts, including in connection with BlackRock client accounts other than those that pay commissions to the broker relating to the research or other service arrangements. Such products and services may disproportionately benefit other BlackRock client accounts relative to the Fund based on the amount of brokerage commissions paid by the Fund and such other BlackRock client accounts. For example, research or other services that are paid for through one client's commissions may not be used in managing that client's account. In addition, other BlackRock client accounts may receive the benefit, including disproportionate benefits, of economies of scale or price discounts in connection with products and services that may be provided to the Fund and to such other BlackRock client accounts. To the extent that BlackRock uses soft dollars, it will not have to pay for those products and services itself.

BlackRock does not currently enter into arrangements to use the Fund's assets for, or participate in, soft dollars, although BlackRock may receive research that is bundled with the trade execution, clearing, and/or settlement services provided by a particular broker-dealer. To the extent that BlackRock receives research on this basis, many of the same conflicts related to traditional soft dollars may exist. For example, the research effectively will be paid by client commissions that also will be used to pay for the execution, clearing, and settlement services provided by the broker-dealer and will not be paid by BlackRock.

BlackRock may endeavor to execute trades through brokers who, pursuant to such arrangements, provide research or other services in order to ensure the continued receipt of research or other services BlackRock believes are useful in its investment decision-making process. BlackRock may from time to time choose not to engage in the above described arrangements to varying degrees. BlackRock may also enter into commission sharing arrangements under which BlackRock may execute transactions through a broker-dealer, including, where permitted, an Affiliate, and request that the broker-dealer allocate a portion of the commissions or commission credits to another firm that provides research to BlackRock. To the extent that BlackRock engages in commission sharing arrangements, many of the same conflicts related to traditional soft dollars may exist.

charged to clients and, like commissions and markups/markdowns, would generally be included in the cost of the securities purchased. Access fees may be paid by BlackRock even though incurred in connection with executing transactions on behalf of clients, including the Fund. In certain circumstances, ECNs may offer volume discounts that will reduce the access fees typically paid by BlackRock. BlackRock will only utilize ECNs consistent with its obligation to seek to obtain best execution in client transactions.

BlackRock has adopted policies and procedures designed to prevent conflicts of interest from influencing proxy voting decisions that it makes on behalf of advisory clients, including the Fund, and to help ensure that such decisions are made in accordance with BlackRock's fiduciary obligations to its clients. Nevertheless, notwithstanding such proxy voting policies and procedures, actual proxy voting decisions of BlackRock may have the effect of favoring the interests of other clients or businesses of other divisions or units of BlackRock and/or the other Affiliates, provided that BlackRock believes such voting decisions to be in accordance with its fiduciary obligations. For a more detailed discussion of these policies and procedures, see the Proxy Voting Policy section of this SAI.

It is also possible that, from time to time, BlackRock or the other Affiliates may, subject to compliance with applicable law, purchase and hold shares of the Fund. Increasing the Fund’s assets may enhance liquidity, investment flexibility and diversification and may contribute to economies of scale that tend to reduce the Fund's expense ratio. BlackRock and the other Affiliates reserve the right, subject to compliance with applicable law, to sell into the market or redeem in Creation Units through an Authorized Participant at any time some or all of the shares of the Fund acquired for their own accounts. A large sale or redemption of shares of the Fund by BlackRock or the other Affiliates could significantly reduce the asset size of the Fund, which might have an adverse effect on the Fund's liquidity, investment flexibility, portfolio diversification, expense ratio or ability to comply with the listing requirements for the Fund. BlackRock seeks to consider the effect of redemptions on the Fund and other shareholders in deciding whether to redeem its shares but is not obligated to do so and may elect not to do so.

It is possible that the Fund may invest in securities of, or engage in transactions with, companies with which an Affiliate has developed or is trying to develop investment banking relationships as well as securities of entities in which BlackRock or the other Affiliates has significant debt or equity investments or other interests or in which an Affiliate makes a market. The Fund also may invest in securities of, or engage in transactions with, companies to which an Affiliate provides or may in the future provide research coverage. Such investments or transactions could cause conflicts between the interests of the Fund and the interests of BlackRock, other clients of BlackRock or the other Affiliates. In making investment decisions for the Fund, BlackRock is not permitted to obtain or use material non-public information acquired by any division, department or Affiliate of BlackRock in the course of these activities. In addition, from time to time, the activities of an Affiliate may limit the Fund's flexibility in purchases and sales of securities. When an Affiliate is engaged in an underwriting or other distribution of securities of an entity, BlackRock may be prohibited from purchasing or recommending the purchase of certain securities of that entity for the Fund. As indicated below, BlackRock or the other Affiliates may engage in transactions with companies in which BlackRock-advised funds or other clients of BlackRock or of an Affiliate have an investment.

BlackRock and Chubb Limited (“Chubb”), a public company whose securities are held by BlackRock-advised funds and other accounts, partially funded the creation of a re-insurance company (“Re Co”) pursuant to which each has approximately a 9.9% ownership interest and each has representation on the board of directors. Certain employees and executives of BlackRock have a less than ½ of 1% ownership interest in Re Co. BlackRock manages the investment portfolio of Re Co, which is held in a wholly-owned subsidiary. Re Co participates as a reinsurer with reinsurance contracts underwritten by subsidiaries of Chubb. An independent director of certain BlackRock-advised funds also serves as an independent director of Chubb and has no interest or involvement in the Re Co transaction.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates, their personnel and other financial service providers may have interests in promoting sales of the Fund. With respect to BlackRock and the other Affiliates and their personnel, the remuneration and profitability relating to services to and sales of the Fund or other products may be greater than remuneration and profitability relating to services to and sales of certain funds or other products that might be provided or offered. BlackRock and the other Affiliates and their sales personnel may directly or indirectly receive a portion of the fees and commissions charged to the Fund or its shareholders. BlackRock and its advisory or other personnel may also benefit from increased amounts of assets under management. Fees and commissions may also be higher than for other products or services, and the remuneration and profitability to BlackRock or the other Affiliates and such personnel resulting from transactions on behalf of or management of the Fund may be greater than the remuneration and profitability resulting from other funds or products.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates and their personnel may receive greater compensation or greater profit in connection with an account for which BlackRock serves as an adviser than with an account advised by an unaffiliated investment adviser. Differentials in compensation may be related to the fact that BlackRock may pay a portion of its advisory fee to its Affiliate, or relate to compensation arrangements, including for portfolio management, brokerage transactions or account servicing. Any differential in compensation may create a financial incentive on the part of BlackRock or the other Affiliates and their personnel to recommend BlackRock over unaffiliated investment advisers or to effect transactions differently in one account over another.

Third parties, including service providers to BlackRock or the Fund, may sponsor events (including, but not limited to, marketing and promotional activities and presentations, educational training programs and conferences) for registered representatives, other professionals and individual investors. There is a potential conflict of interest as such sponsorships may defray the costs of such activities to BlackRock, and may provide an incentive to BlackRock to retain such third parties to provide services to the Fund.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates may provide valuation assistance to certain clients with respect to certain securities or other investments and the valuation recommendations made for their clients' accounts may differ from the valuations for the same securities or investments assigned by the Fund's pricing vendors, especially if such valuations are based on broker-dealer quotes or other data sources unavailable to the Fund's pricing vendors. While BlackRock will generally communicate its valuation information or determinations to the Fund's pricing vendors and/or fund accountants, there may be instances where the Fund's pricing vendors or fund accountants assign a different valuation to a security or other investment than the valuation for such security or investment determined or recommended by BlackRock.

As disclosed in more detail in the Determination of Net Asset Value section of the Fund’s Prospectus and this SAI, when market quotations are not readily available or are believed by BlackRock to be unreliable, the Fund’s investments are valued at fair value by BlackRock in accordance with procedures adopted by the Board. When determining “fair value price,” BlackRock seeks to determine the price that the Fund might reasonably expect to receive from the current sale of that asset or liability in an arm’s-length transaction. The price generally may not be determined based on what the Fund might expect to receive for selling an asset or liability at a later time or if it holds the asset or liability to maturity. While fair value determinations will be based upon all available factors that BlackRock deems relevant at the time of the determination, and may be based on analytical values determined by BlackRock using proprietary or third-party valuation models, fair value represents only a good faith approximation of the value of an asset or liability. The fair value of one or more assets or liabilities may not, in retrospect, be the price at which those assets or liabilities could have been sold during the period in which the particular fair values were used in determining the Fund’s net asset value. As a result, the Fund’s sale or redemption of its shares at net asset value, at a time when a holding or holdings are valued by BlackRock (pursuant to Board-adopted procedures) at fair value, may have the effect of diluting or increasing the economic interest of existing shareholders and may affect the amount of revenue received by BlackRock with respect to services for which it receives an asset-based fee.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, the Fund may invest all or some of its short-term cash investments in any money market fund or similarly-managed private fund advised or managed by BlackRock. In connection with any such investments, the Fund, to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, may pay its share of expenses of a money market fund or other similarly-managed private fund in which it invests, which may result in the Fund bearing some additional expenses.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates and their directors, officers and employees, may buy and sell securities or other investments for their own accounts and may have conflicts of interest with respect to investments made on behalf of the Fund. As a result of differing trading and investment strategies or constraints, positions may be taken by directors, officers, employees and Affiliates that are the same, different from or made at different times than positions taken for the Fund. To lessen the possibility that the Fund will be adversely affected by this personal trading, the Fund, BFA and BlackRock, Inc. have each adopted a code of ethics in compliance with Section 17(j) of the 1940 Act that restricts securities trading in the personal accounts of investment professionals and others who normally come into possession of information regarding the Fund's portfolio transactions. Each code of ethics is available by contacting BlackRock or by accessing the EDGAR Database on the SEC's Internet site at http://www.sec.gov, and copies may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by e-mail at publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the SEC's Public Reference Room, Washington, DC 20549-1520. Information about accessing documents on the SEC’s website may be obtained by calling the SEC at (800) SEC-0330.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates will not purchase securities or other property from, or sell securities or other property to, the Fund, except that the Fund may in accordance with rules or guidance adopted under the 1940 Act engage in transactions

with accounts that are affiliated with the Fund as a result of common officers, directors, or investment advisers or pursuant to exemptive orders granted to the Fund and/or BlackRock by the SEC. These transactions would be effected in circumstances in which BlackRock determined that it would be appropriate for the Fund to purchase and another client of BlackRock to sell, or the Fund to sell and another client of BlackRock to purchase, the same security or instrument on the same day. From time to time, the activities of the Fund may be restricted because of regulatory requirements applicable to BlackRock or the other Affiliates and/or BlackRock's internal policies designed to comply with, limit the applicability of, or otherwise relate to such requirements. A client not advised by BlackRock would not be subject to some of those considerations. There may be periods when BlackRock may not initiate or recommend certain types of transactions, or may otherwise restrict or limit their advice in certain securities or instruments issued by or related to companies for which an Affiliate is performing investment banking, market making, advisory or other services or has proprietary positions. For example, when an Affiliate is engaged in an underwriting or other distribution of securities of, or advisory services for, a company, the Fund may be prohibited from or limited in purchasing or selling securities of that company. In addition, when BlackRock provides advisory or risk management services for a company, BlackRock may be prohibited from or limited in purchasing or selling securities of that company on behalf of the Fund, particularly where such services result in BlackRock obtaining material non-public information about the company (e.g., in connection with participation in a creditors’ committee). Similar situations could arise if personnel of BlackRock or the other Affiliates serve as directors of companies the securities of which the Fund wishes to purchase or sell. However, if permitted by applicable law, and where consistent with BlackRock’s policies and procedures (including the necessary implementation of appropriate information barriers), the Fund may purchase securities or instruments that are issued by such companies, are the subject of an underwriting, distribution or advisory assignment by an Affiliate, or are the subject of an advisory or risk management assignment by BlackRock, or where personnel of BlackRock or the other Affiliates are directors or officers of the issuer.

The investment activities of one or more Affiliates for their proprietary accounts and for client accounts may also limit the investment strategies and rights of the Fund. For example, in certain circumstances where the Fund invests in securities issued by companies that operate in certain regulated industries or in certain emerging or international markets, or is subject to corporate or regulatory ownership restrictions, or invests in certain futures or other derivative transactions, there may be limits on the aggregate amount invested by Affiliates (including BlackRock) for their proprietary accounts and for client accounts (including the Fund) that may not be exceeded without the grant of a license or other regulatory or corporate consent or, if exceeded, may cause BlackRock, the Fund or other client accounts to suffer disadvantages or business restrictions.

If certain aggregate ownership thresholds are reached or certain transactions are undertaken, the ability of BlackRock, on behalf of clients (including the Fund), to purchase or dispose of investments, or exercise rights or undertake business transactions, may be restricted by regulation or otherwise impaired. As a result, BlackRock, on behalf of clients (including the Fund), may limit purchases, sell existing investments, or otherwise restrict, forgo or limit the exercise of rights (including transferring, outsourcing or limiting voting rights or forgoing the right to receive dividends) when BlackRock, in its sole discretion, deems it appropriate in light of potential regulatory or other restrictions on ownership or other consequences resulting from reaching investment thresholds.

In those circumstances where ownership thresholds or limitations must be observed, BlackRock seeks to allocate limited investment opportunities equitably among clients (including the Fund), taking into consideration benchmark weight and investment strategy. When ownership in certain securities nears an applicable threshold, BlackRock may limit purchases in such securities to the issuer's weighting in the applicable benchmark used by BlackRock to manage the Fund. If client (including Fund) holdings of an issuer exceed an applicable threshold and BlackRock is unable to obtain relief to enable the continued holding of such investments, it may be necessary to sell down these positions to meet the applicable limitations. In these cases, benchmark overweight positions will be sold prior to benchmark positions being reduced to meet applicable limitations.

In addition to the foregoing, other ownership thresholds may trigger reporting requirements to governmental and regulatory authorities, and such reports may entail the disclosure of the identity of a client or BlackRock’s intended strategy with respect to such security or asset.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates may not serve as Authorized Participants in the creation and redemption of iShares ETFs, but may serve as authorized participants of third-party ETFs.

BlackRock may enter into contractual arrangements with third-party service providers to the Fund (e.g., custodians and administrators) pursuant to which BlackRock receives fee discounts or concessions in recognition of BlackRock’s overall relationship with such service providers. To the extent that BlackRock is responsible for paying these service providers out of its management fee, the benefits of any such fee discounts or concessions may accrue, in whole or in part, to BlackRock.

BlackRock or the other Affiliates own or have an ownership interest in certain trading, portfolio management, operations and/or information systems used by Fund service providers. These systems are, or will be, used by a Fund service provider in connection with the provision of services to accounts managed by BlackRock and funds managed and sponsored by BlackRock, including the Fund, that engage the service provider (typically the custodian). The Fund’s service provider remunerates BlackRock or the other Affiliates for the use of the systems. The Fund service provider’s payments to BlackRock or the other Affiliates for the use of these systems may enhance the profitability of BlackRock and the other Affiliates. BlackRock’s or the other Affiliates’ receipt of fees from a service provider in connection with the use of systems provided by BlackRock or the other Affiliates may create an incentive for BlackRock to recommend that the Fund enter into or renew an arrangement with the service provider.

Present and future activities of BlackRock and the other Affiliates, including BFA, in addition to those described in this section, may give rise to additional conflicts of interest.

Legal Proceedings. On June 16, 2016, investors (the “Plaintiffs”) in certain iShares funds (iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF, iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF, iShares Core S&P 500 ETF, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF, iShares Russell Mid-Cap ETF, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF, iShares Select Dividend ETF, iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF, iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF, iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF and iShares U.S. Preferred Stock ETF) filed a putative class action lawsuit against the Trust, BlackRock, Inc. and certain of its advisory affiliates, and certain directors/trustees and officers of the Trust (collectively, “Defendants”) in California State Court. The lawsuit alleges the Defendants violated federal securities laws by failing to adequately disclose in the prospectuses issued by the funds noted above the risks of using stop-loss orders in the event of a “flash crash,” such as the one that occurred on May 6, 2010. On September 18, 2017, the court issued a Statement of Decision holding that the Plaintiffs lack standing to assert their claims. On October 11, 2017, the court entered final judgment dismissing all of Plaintiffs’ claims with prejudice. Plaintiffs have appealed the court’s decision.

Investment Advisory, Administrative and Distribution Services

Investment Adviser. BFA serves as investment adviser to the Fund pursuant to an investment advisory agreement between the Trust, on behalf of the Fund, and BFA. BFA is a California corporation indirectly owned by BlackRock, Inc. and is registered as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. Under the investment advisory agreement, BFA, subject to the supervision of the Board and in conformity with the stated investment policies of the Fund, manages and administers the Trust and the investment of the Fund’s assets. BFA is responsible for placing purchase and sale orders and providing continuous supervision of the investment portfolio of the Fund.

Pursuant to the investment advisory agreement, BFA may, from time to time, in its sole discretion and to the extent permitted by applicable law, appoint one or more sub-advisers, including, without limitation, affiliates of BFA, to perform investment advisory or other services with respect to the Fund. In addition, BFA may delegate certain of its investment advisory functions under the investment advisory agreement to one or more of its affiliates to the extent permitted by applicable law. BFA may terminate any or all sub-advisers or such delegation arrangements in its sole discretion upon appropriate notice at any time to the extent permitted by applicable law.

BFA is responsible, under the investment advisory agreement, for substantially all expenses of the Fund, including the cost of transfer agency, custody, fund administration, legal, audit and other services. BFA is not responsible for, and the Fund will bear, 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 (as determined by a majority of the Independent Trustees).

For its investment advisory services to the Fund, BFA will be paid a management fee by the Fund, based on a percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets, at an annual rate of 0.17%.

The investment advisory agreement with respect to the Fund continues in effect for two years from its effective date, and thereafter is subject to annual approval by (i) the Board, or (ii) the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund, provided that in either event such continuance also is approved by a majority of the Board members who are not interested persons (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund, by a vote cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval.

The investment advisory agreement with respect to the Fund is terminable without penalty, on 60 days’ notice, by the Board or by a vote of the holders of a majority of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities (as defined in the 1940 Act). The investment advisory agreement is also terminable upon 60 days’ notice by BFA and will terminate automatically in the event of its assignment (as defined in the 1940 Act).

Portfolio Managers. As of August 31, 2017, the individuals named as Portfolio Managers in the Fund's Prospectus were also primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of other iShares funds and certain other types of portfolios and/or accounts as follows:

Diane Hsiung
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	260	$888,232,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	11	4,876,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Jennifer Hsui
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	281	$984,691,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	12	4,899,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Alan Mason
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	352	$1,054,470,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	302	676,584,000,000
Other Accounts	219	61,456,000,000

Greg Savage
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	343	$1,050,618,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	80	29,287,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Each of the portfolios or accounts for which the Portfolio Managers are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management seeks to track the rate of return, risk profile and other characteristics of independent third-party indexes by either replicating the same combination of securities and other financial instruments that constitute those indexes or through a representative sampling of the securities and other financial instruments that constitute those indexes based on objective criteria and data. Pursuant to BFA’s policy, investment opportunities are allocated equitably among the Fund and other portfolios and accounts. For example, under certain circumstances, an investment opportunity may be restricted due to limited supply in the market, legal constraints or other factors, in which event the investment opportunity will be allocated equitably among those portfolios and accounts, including the Fund, seeking such investment opportunity. As a consequence, from time to time the Fund may receive a smaller allocation of an investment opportunity than it would have if the Portfolio Managers and BFA and its affiliates did not manage other portfolios or accounts.

Like the Fund, the other portfolios or accounts for which the Portfolio Managers are primarily responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management generally pay an asset-based fee to BFA or its affiliates, as applicable, for its advisory services. One or more of those other portfolios or accounts, however, may pay BFA or its affiliates a performance-based fee in lieu of, or in

addition to, an asset-based fee for its advisory services. A portfolio or account with a performance-based fee would pay BFA or its affiliates a portion of that portfolio’s or account’s gains, or would pay BFA or its affiliates more for its services than would otherwise be the case if BFA or any of its affiliates meets or exceeds specified performance targets. Performance-based fee arrangements could present an incentive for BFA or its affiliates to devote greater resources, and allocate more investment opportunities, to the portfolios or accounts that have those fee arrangements, relative to other portfolios or accounts, in order to earn larger fees. Although BFA and each of its affiliates have an obligation to allocate resources and opportunities equitably among portfolios and accounts and intend to do so, shareholders of the Fund should be aware that, as with any group of portfolios and accounts managed by an investment adviser and/or its affiliates pursuant to varying fee arrangements, including performance-based fee arrangements, there is the potential for a conflict of interest, which may result in the Portfolio Managers favoring those portfolios or accounts with performance-based fee arrangements.

The tables below show, for each Portfolio Manager, the number of portfolios or accounts of the types set forth in the above tables and the aggregate of total assets in those portfolios or accounts with respect to which the investment management fees are based on the performance of those portfolios or accounts as of August 31, 2017:

Diane Hsiung
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	2	$26,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Jennifer Hsui
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	2	$26,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Alan Mason
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	0	N/A
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Greg Savage
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	1	$1,070,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

The discussion below describes the Portfolio Managers' compensation as of April 5, 2018.

Portfolio Manager Compensation Overview

include a base salary, a performance-based discretionary bonus, participation in various benefits programs and one or more of the incentive compensation programs established by BlackRock, Inc.

Base compensation. Generally, portfolio managers receive base compensation based on their position with the firm.

Discretionary Incentive Compensation. Discretionary incentive compensation is a function of several components: the performance of BlackRock, Inc., the performance of the portfolio manager's group within BlackRock, Inc. and the individual's performance and contribution to the overall performance of these portfolios and BlackRock, Inc.

Distribution of Discretionary Incentive Compensation. Discretionary incentive compensation is distributed to portfolio managers in a combination of cash and BlackRock, Inc. restricted stock units which vest ratably over a number of years. The BlackRock, Inc. restricted stock units, if properly vested, will be settled in BlackRock, Inc. common stock. Typically, the cash bonus, when combined with base salary, represents more than 60% of total compensation for the portfolio managers. Paying a portion of annual bonuses in stock puts compensation earned by a portfolio manager for a given year “at risk” based on BlackRock, Inc.'s ability to sustain and improve its performance over future periods.

Long-Term Incentive Plan Awards — From time to time, long-term incentive equity awards are granted to certain key employees to aid in retention, align their interests with long-term shareholder interests and motivate performance. Equity awards are generally granted in the form of BlackRock, Inc. restricted stock units that, once vested, settle in BlackRock, Inc. common stock.

Other Compensation Benefits. In addition to base compensation and discretionary incentive compensation, portfolio managers may be eligible to receive or participate in one or more of the following:

Incentive Savings Plans — BlackRock, Inc. has created a variety of incentive savings plans in which BlackRock, Inc. employees are eligible to participate, including a 401(k) plan, the BlackRock Retirement Savings Plan (“RSP”), and the BlackRock Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”). The employer contribution components of the RSP include a company match equal to 50% of the first 8% of eligible pay contributed to the plan capped at $5,000 per year, and a company retirement contribution equal to 3-5% of eligible compensation up to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) limit ($265,000 for 2015). The RSP offers a range of investment options, including registered investment companies and collective investment funds managed by the firm. BlackRock, Inc. contributions follow the investment direction set by participants for their own contributions or, absent participant investment direction, are invested into an index target date fund that corresponds to, or is closest to, the year in which the participant attains age 65. The ESPP allows for investment in BlackRock, Inc. common stock at a 5% discount on the fair market value of the stock on the purchase date. Annual participation in the ESPP is limited to the purchase of 1,000 shares of common stock or a dollar value of $25,000 based on its fair market value on the Purchase Date. Diane Hsiung, Jennifer Hsui, Alan Mason and Greg Savage are each eligible to participate in these plans.

As of April 5, 2018, the Portfolio Managers did not beneficially own shares of the Fund.

Codes of Ethics. The Trust, BFA and the Distributor have adopted codes of ethics pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act. The codes of ethics permit personnel subject to the codes of ethics to invest in securities, subject to certain limitations, including securities that may be purchased or held by the Fund. The codes of ethics are on public file with, and are available from, the SEC.

Anti-Money Laundering Requirements. The Fund is subject to the USA PATRIOT Act (the “Patriot Act”). The Patriot Act is intended to prevent the use of the U.S. financial system in furtherance of money laundering, terrorism or other illicit activities. Pursuant to requirements under the Patriot Act, the Fund may request information from Authorized Participants to enable it to form a reasonable belief that it knows the true identity of its Authorized Participants. This information will be used to verify the identity of Authorized Participants or, in some cases, the status of financial professionals; it will be used only for compliance with the requirements of the Patriot Act.

The Fund reserves the right to reject purchase orders from persons who have not submitted information sufficient to allow the Fund to verify their identity. The Fund also reserves the right to redeem any amounts in the Fund from persons whose identity it is unable to verify on a timely basis. It is the Fund's policy to cooperate fully with appropriate regulators in any investigations conducted with respect to potential money laundering, terrorism or other illicit activities.

Administrator, Custodian and Transfer Agent. State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”) serves as administrator, custodian and transfer agent for the Fund under the Master Services Agreement and related Service Schedule (the “Service Module”). State Street’s principal address is 1 Iron Street, Boston, MA 02210. Pursuant to the Service Module for Fund Administration and Accounting Services with the Trust, State Street provides necessary administrative, legal, tax and accounting and financial reporting services for the maintenance and operations of the Trust and the Fund. In addition, State Street makes available the office space, equipment, personnel and facilities required to provide such services. Pursuant to the Service Module for Custodial Services with the Trust, State Street maintains, in separate accounts, cash, securities and other assets of the Trust and the Fund, keeps all necessary accounts and records and provides other services. State Street is required, upon the order of the Trust, to deliver securities held by State Street and to make payments for securities purchased by the Trust for the Fund. State Street is authorized to appoint certain foreign custodians or foreign custody managers for Fund investments outside the U.S. Pursuant to the Service Module for Transfer Agency Services with the Trust, State Street acts as a transfer agent for the Fund’s authorized and issued shares of beneficial interest, and as dividend disbursing agent of the Trust. As compensation for these services, State Street receives certain out-of-pocket costs, transaction fees and asset-based fees which are accrued daily and paid monthly by BFA from its management fee.

Distributor. The Distributor's principal address is 1 University Square Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540. Shares are continuously offered for sale by the Fund through the Distributor or its agent only in Creation Units, as described in the Prospectus and below in the Creation and Redemption of Creation Units section of this SAI. Fund shares in amounts less than Creation Units are generally not distributed by the Distributor or its agent. The Distributor or its agent will arrange for the delivery of the Prospectus and, upon request, this SAI to persons purchasing Creation Units and will maintain records of both orders placed with it or its agents and confirmations of acceptance furnished by it or its agents. The Distributor is a broker-dealer registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “1934 Act”), and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”). The Distributor is also licensed as a broker-dealer in all 50 U.S. states, as well as in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia.

The Distribution Agreement for the Fund provides that it may be terminated at any time, without the payment of any penalty, on at least 60 days' prior written notice to the other party following (i) the vote of a majority of the Independent Trustees, or (ii) the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund. The Distribution Agreement will terminate automatically in the event of its assignment (as defined in the 1940 Act).

The Distributor may also enter into agreements with securities dealers (“Soliciting Dealers”) who will solicit purchases of Creation Units of Fund shares. Such Soliciting Dealers may also be Authorized Participants (as described below), DTC participants and/or investor services organizations.

BFA or its affiliates may, from time to time and from its own resources, pay, defray or absorb costs relating to distribution, including payments out of its own resources to the Distributor, or to otherwise promote the sale of shares.

Securities Lending. To the extent that the Fund engages in securities lending, the Fund conducts its securities lending pursuant to SEC exemptive relief, and BTC acts as securities lending agent for the Fund, subject to the overall supervision of BFA, pursuant to a written agreement (the “Securities Lending Agency Agreement”).

The Fund retains a portion of the securities lending income and remits the remaining portion to BTC as compensation for its services as securities lending agent. Securities lending income is generally equal to the total of income earned from the reinvestment of cash collateral (and excludes collateral investment fees as defined below), and any fees or other payments to and from borrowers of securities. As securities lending agent, BTC bears all operational costs directly related to securities lending. The Fund is responsible for fees in connection with the investment of cash collateral received for securities on loan in a money market fund managed by BFA; however, BTC has agreed to reduce the amount of securities lending income it receives in order to effectively limit the collateral investment fees the Fund bears to an annual rate of 0.04% (the “collateral investment fees”). Such money market fund shares will not be subject to a sales load, redemption fee, distribution fee or service fee.

Pursuant to the Securities Lending Agency Agreement:

(i) Domestic equity funds, such as the Fund, retain 71.5% of securities lending income (which excludes collateral investment fees) and (ii) this amount can never be less than 65% of the sum of securities lending income plus collateral investment fees.

Under the securities lending program, the Fund is categorized into one of several specific asset classes. The determination of the Fund’s asset class category (fixed-income, domestic equity, international equity or fund-of-funds), each of which may be subject to a different fee arrangement, is based on a methodology agreed to by the Trust and BTC.

In addition, commencing the business day following the date that the aggregate securities lending income (which includes, for this purpose, collateral investment fees) earned across the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex (as defined under “Management—Trustees and Officers”) in a calendar year exceeds the aggregate securities lending income earned across the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex in calendar year 2013 (the Hurdle Date), each applicable domestic equity fund, pursuant to the securities lending agreement, will receive for the remainder of that calendar year securities lending income as follows:

(i) 75% of securities lending income (which excludes collateral investment fees) and (ii) this amount can never be less than 65% of the sum of securities lending income plus collateral investment fees.

Because the Fund is newly launched, no services have been provided by BTC as the Fund’s securities lending agent, and the Fund had no income and fees/compensation related to its securities lending activities for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2017.

Payments by BFA and its Affiliates. BFA and/or its affiliates (“BFA Entities”) may pay certain broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, banks and other financial intermediaries (“Intermediaries”) for certain activities related to the Fund, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products in general. BFA Entities make these payments from their own assets and not from the assets of the Fund. Although a portion of BFA Entities’ revenue comes directly or indirectly in part from fees paid by the Fund, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products, these payments do not increase the price paid by investors for the purchase of shares of, or the cost of owning, the Fund, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products. BFA Entities make payments for Intermediaries’ participation in activities that are designed to make registered representatives, other professionals and individual investors more knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, including the Fund and other iShares funds, or for other activities, such as participation in marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems (“Education Costs”). BFA Entities also make payments to Intermediaries for certain printing, publishing and mailing costs or materials relating to the Fund, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products (“Publishing Costs”). In addition, BFA Entities make payments to Intermediaries that make shares of the Fund, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products available to their clients, develop new products that feature iShares or otherwise promote the Fund, other iShares funds and exchange-traded products. BFA Entities may also reimburse expenses or make payments from their own assets to Intermediaries or other persons in consideration of services or other activities that the BFA Entities believe may benefit the iShares business or facilitate investment in the Fund, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products. Payments of the type described above are sometimes referred to as revenue-sharing payments.

Payments to an Intermediary may be significant to the Intermediary, and amounts that Intermediaries pay to your salesperson or other investment professional may also be significant for your salesperson or other investment professional. Because an Intermediary may make decisions about which investment options it will recommend or make available to its clients or what services to provide for various products based on payments it receives or is eligible to receive, such payments may create conflicts of interest between the Intermediary and its clients and these financial incentives may cause the Intermediary to recommend the Fund, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products over other investments. The same conflicts of interest and financial incentives exist with respect to your salesperson or other investment professional if he or she receives similar payments from his or her Intermediary firm.

In addition to the payments described above, BFA Entities have developed proprietary tools, calculators and related interactive or digital content that is made available through the www.BlackRock.com website at no additional cost to Intermediaries. BlackRock may configure these tools and calculators and localizes the content for Intermediaries as part of its customary digital marketing support and promotion of the Fund, other iShares funds, exchange-traded products and BlackRock mutual funds.

certain Fidelity platforms and investment programs, in some cases at a waived or reduced commission rate or ticket charge, and to provide marketing data to BFA Entities. BFA Entities have agreed to facilitate the Marketing Program by, among other things, making certain payments to FBS and NFS for marketing and implementing certain brokerage and investment programs. Upon termination of the arrangement, the BFA Entities will make additional payments to FBS and/or NFS based upon a number of criteria, including the overall success of the Marketing Program and the level of services provided by FBS and NFS during the wind-down period.

In addition, BFA Entities may enter into other contractual arrangements with Intermediaries and certain other third parties that the BFA Entities believe may benefit the iShares business or facilitate investment in iShares funds. Such agreements may include payments by BFA Entities to such Intermediaries and third parties for data collection and provision, technology support, platform enhancement, or co-marketing and cross-promotional efforts. Payments made pursuant to such arrangements may vary in any year and may be different for different Intermediaries and third parties. In certain cases, the payments described in the preceding sentence may be subject to certain minimum payment levels. Such payments will not be asset- or revenue-based. As of the date of this SAI, the Intermediaries and other third parties receiving such contractual payments include: Commonwealth Equity Services, Inc., Dorsey Wright and Associates, LLC, E*Trade Securities LLC, FDx Advisors, Inc., Ladenburg Thalmann Advisor Network LLC, LPL Financial LLC, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, Orion Advisors Services, LLC, Pershing LLC, Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., TD Ameritrade, Inc. and UBS Financial Services Inc. Any additions, modifications, or deletions to Intermediaries and other third parties listed above that have occurred since the date noted above are not included in the list.

Further, BFA Entities make Education Costs and Publishing Costs payments to other Intermediaries that are not listed above. BFA Entities may determine to make such payments based on any number of metrics. For example, BFA Entities may make payments at year-end or other intervals in a fixed amount, an amount based upon an Intermediary’s services at defined levels or an amount based on the Intermediary’s net sales of one or more iShares funds in a year or other period, any of which arrangements may include an agreed-upon minimum or maximum payment, or any combination of the foregoing. As of the date of this SAI, BFA anticipates that the payments paid by BFA Entities in connection with the Fund, iShares funds and exchange-traded products in general will be immaterial to BFA Entities in the aggregate for the next year. Please contact your salesperson or other investment professional for more information regarding any such payments or financial incentives his or her Intermediary firm may receive. Any payments made, or financial incentives offered, by the BFA Entities to an Intermediary may create the incentive for the Intermediary to encourage customers to buy shares of the Fund, other iShares funds or other exchange-traded products.

The Fund may participate in certain market maker incentive programs of a national securities exchange in which an affiliate of the Fund would pay a fee to the exchange used for the purpose of incentivizing one or more market makers in the securities of the Fund to enhance the liquidity and quality of the secondary market of securities of the Fund. The fee would then be credited by the exchange to one or more market makers that meet or exceed liquidity and market quality standards with respect to the securities of the Fund. Each market maker incentive program is subject to approval from the SEC. Any such fee payments made to an exchange will be made by an affiliate of the Fund solely for the benefit of the Fund and will not be paid from any Fund assets. Other funds managed by BFA may also participate in such programs.

Determination of Net Asset Value

Valuation of Shares. The NAV for the Fund is generally calculated as of the close of business on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) (normally 4:00 p.m., Eastern time) on each business day the NYSE is open. Valuation of securities held by the Fund is as follows:

Equity Investments. Equity securities traded on a recognized securities exchange (e.g., NYSE), on separate trading boards of a securities exchange or through a market system that provides contemporaneous transaction pricing information (each, an “Exchange”) are valued using information obtained via independent pricing services, generally at the closing price on the Exchange on which the security is primarily traded, or if an Exchange closing price is not available, the last traded price on that Exchange prior to the time as of which the Fund’s assets or liabilities are valued. However, under certain circumstances, other means of determining current market value may be used. If an equity security is traded on more than one Exchange, the current market value of the security where it is primarily traded generally will be used. In the event that there are no sales involving an equity security held by the Fund on a day on which the Fund values such security, the prior day’s price will be used, unless, in accordance with valuation procedures approved by the Board (the “Valuation Procedures”), BlackRock

determines in good faith that such prior day’s price no longer reflects the fair value of the security, in which case such asset would be treated as a Fair Value Asset (as defined below).

Fixed-Income Investments. Fixed-income securities for which market quotations are readily available are generally valued using such securities’ current market value. The Fund values fixed-income portfolio securities using the last available bid prices or current market quotations provided by dealers or prices (including evaluated prices) supplied by the Fund’s approved independent third-party pricing services, each in accordance with the Valuation Procedures. The pricing services may use matrix pricing or valuation models that utilize certain inputs and assumptions to derive values, including transaction data (e.g., recent representative bids and offers), credit quality information, perceived market movements, news, and other relevant information and by other methods, which may include consideration of: yields or prices of securities of comparable quality, coupon, maturity and type; indications as to values from dealers; general market conditions; and/or other factors and assumptions. Pricing services generally value fixed-income securities assuming orderly transactions of an institutional round lot size, but the Fund may hold or transact in such securities in smaller, odd lot sizes. Odd lots often trade at lower prices than institutional round lots. The amortized cost method of valuation may be used with respect to debt obligations with sixty days or less remaining to maturity unless BlackRock determines in good faith that such method does not represent fair value. Loan participation notes are generally valued at the mean of the last available bid prices from one or more brokers or dealers as obtained from independent third-party pricing services. Certain fixed-income investments, including asset-backed and mortgage-related securities, may be valued based on valuation models that consider the estimated cash flows of each tranche of the entity, establish a benchmark yield and develop an estimated tranche-specific spread to the benchmark yield based on the unique attributes of the tranche.

Options, Futures, Swaps and Other Derivatives. Exchange-traded equity options for which market quotations are readily available are valued at the mean of the last bid and ask prices as quoted on the Exchange or the board of trade on which such options are traded. In the event that there is no mean price available for an exchange traded equity option held by the Fund on a day on which the Fund values such option, the last bid (long positions) or ask (short positions) price, if available, will be used as the value of such option. If no such bid or ask price is available on a day on which the Fund values such option, the prior day’s price will be used, unless BlackRock determines in good faith that such prior day’s price no longer reflects the fair value of the option, in which case such option will be treated as a Fair Value Asset (as defined below). OTC derivatives are valued using the last available bid prices or current market quotations provided by dealers or prices (including evaluated prices) supplied by the Fund’s approved independent third-party pricing services, each in accordance with the Valuation Procedures. OTC derivatives may be valued using a mathematical model which may incorporate a number of market data factors. Financial futures contracts and options thereon, which are traded on exchanges, are valued at their settle price as of the close of such exchanges. Swap agreements and other derivatives are generally valued daily based upon quotations from market makers or by a pricing service in accordance with the Valuation Procedures.

Underlying Funds. Shares of underlying ETFs will be valued at their most recent closing price on an Exchange. Shares of underlying money market funds will be valued at their NAV.

General Valuation Information. The price the Fund could receive upon the sale of any particular portfolio investment may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the investment, particularly for securities that trade in thin or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair valuation methodology or a price provided by an independent pricing service. As a result, the price received upon the sale of an investment may be less than the value ascribed by the Fund, and the Fund could realize a greater than expected loss or lesser than expected gain upon the sale of the investment. The Fund’s ability to value its investment may also be impacted by technological issues and/or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.

All cash, receivables and current payables are carried on the Fund’s books at their face value.

Prices obtained from independent third-party pricing services, broker-dealers or market makers to value the Fund’s securities and other assets and liabilities are based on information available at the time the Fund values its assets and liabilities. In the event that a pricing service quotation is revised or updated subsequent to the day on which the Fund valued such security or other asset or liability, the revised pricing service quotation generally will be applied prospectively. Such determination will be made considering pertinent facts and circumstances surrounding the revision.

as determined in good faith by the Board or by BlackRock (its delegate) pursuant to the Valuation Procedures. Any assets and liabilities that are denominated in a foreign currency are converted into U.S. dollars using prevailing market rates on the date of valuation as quoted by one or more data service providers.

Certain of the securities acquired by the Fund may be traded on foreign exchanges or OTC markets on days on which the Fund’s NAV is not calculated. In such cases, the NAV of the Fund’s shares may be significantly affected on days when Authorized Participants can neither purchase nor redeem shares of the Fund.

Generally, trading in non-U.S. securities, U.S. government securities, money market instruments and certain fixed-income securities is substantially completed each day at various times prior to the close of business on the NYSE. The values of such securities used in computing the NAV of the Fund are determined as of such times.

Use of fair value prices and certain current market valuations could result in a difference between the prices used to calculate the Fund’s NAV and the prices used in the Underlying Index, which, in turn, could result in a difference between the Fund’s performance and the performance of the Underlying Index.

Fair Value. When market quotations are not readily available or are believed in good faith by BlackRock to be unreliable, the Fund’s investments are valued at fair value (“Fair Value Assets”). Fair Value Assets are valued by BlackRock in accordance with the Valuation Procedures. BlackRock may reasonably conclude that a market quotation is not readily available or is unreliable if, among other things, a security or other asset or liability does not have a price source due to its complete lack of trading, if BlackRock believes in good faith that a market quotation from a broker-dealer or other source is unreliable (e.g., where it varies significantly from a recent trade, or no longer reflects the fair value of the security or other asset or liability subsequent to the most recent market quotation), or where the security or other asset or liability is only thinly traded or due to the occurrence of a significant event subsequent to the most recent market quotation. For this purpose, a “significant event” is deemed to occur if BlackRock determines, in its reasonable business judgment, that an event has occurred after the close of trading for an asset or liability but prior to or at the time of pricing the Fund’s assets or liabilities, and that the event is likely to cause a material change to the closing market price of the assets or liabilities held by the Fund. Non-U.S. securities whose values are affected by volatility that occurs in the markets or in related or highly correlated assets (e.g., American Depositary Receipts, Global Depositary Receipts or ETFs that invest in components of the Underlying Index) on a trading day after the close of non-U.S. securities markets may be fair valued. On any day the NYSE is open and a foreign market or the primary exchange on which a foreign asset or liability is traded is closed, such asset or liability will be valued using the prior day’s price, provided that BlackRock is not aware of any significant event or other information that would cause such price to no longer reflect the fair value of the asset or liability, in which case such asset or liability would be treated as a Fair Value Asset.

BlackRock, with input from the BlackRock Investment Strategy Group, will submit its recommendations regarding the valuation and/or valuation methodologies for Fair Value Assets to BlackRock’s Valuation Committee. The BlackRock Valuation Committee may accept, modify or reject any recommendations. In addition, the Fund’s accounting agent periodically endeavors to confirm the prices it receives from all third-party pricing services, index providers and broker-dealers, and, with the assistance of BlackRock, to regularly evaluate the values assigned to the securities and other assets and liabilities of the Fund. The pricing of all Fair Value Assets is subsequently reported to and, where appropriate, ratified by the Board.

When determining the price for a Fair Value Asset, the BlackRock Valuation Committee (or BlackRock’s Pricing Group) will seek to determine the price that the Fund might reasonably expect to receive upon the current sale of that asset or liability in an arm’s-length transaction on the date on which the assets or liabilities are being valued, and does not seek to determine the price that the Fund might expect to receive for selling the asset, or the cost of extinguishing a liability, at a later time or if it holds the asset or liability to maturity. Fair value determinations will be based upon all available factors that the BlackRock Valuation Committee (or BlackRock’s Pricing Group) deems relevant at the time of the determination, and may be based on analytical values determined by BlackRock using proprietary or third-party valuation models.

appropriate, an appraisal by a third-party experienced in the valuation of similar assets and/or liabilities, may also be used as a basis for establishing the fair value of an asset or liability. The fair value of one or more assets or liabilities may not, in retrospect, be the price at which those assets or liabilities could have been sold during the period in which the particular fair values were used in determining the Fund’s NAV. As a result, the Fund’s sale or redemption of its shares at NAV, at a time when a holding or holdings are valued at fair value, may have the effect of diluting or increasing the economic interest of existing shareholders.

The Fund’s annual audited financial statements, which are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“US GAAP”), follow the requirements for valuation set forth in Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures” (“ASC 820”), which defines and establishes a framework for measuring fair value under US GAAP and expands financial statement disclosure requirements relating to fair value measurements. Generally, ASC 820 and other accounting rules applicable to funds and various assets in which they invest are evolving. Such changes may adversely affect the Fund. For example, the evolution of rules governing the determination of the fair market value of assets or liabilities to the extent such rules become more stringent would tend to increase the cost and/or reduce the availability of third-party determinations of fair market value. This may in turn increase the costs associated with selling assets or affect their liquidity due to the Fund’s inability to obtain a third-party determination of fair market value.

Brokerage Transactions

Subject to policies established by the Board, BFA is primarily responsible for the execution of the Fund’s portfolio transactions and the allocation of brokerage. BFA does not execute transactions through any particular broker or dealer, but seeks to obtain the best net results for the Fund, taking into account such factors as price (including the applicable brokerage commission or dealer spread), size of order, difficulty of execution, operational facilities of the firm and the firm’s risk and skill in positioning blocks of securities. While BFA generally seeks reasonable trade execution costs, the Fund does not necessarily pay the lowest spread or commission available, and payment of the lowest commission or spread is not necessarily consistent with obtaining the best price and execution in particular transactions. Subject to applicable legal requirements, BFA may select a broker based partly upon brokerage or research services provided to BFA and its clients, including the Fund. In return for such services, BFA may cause the Fund to pay a higher commission than other brokers would charge if BFA determines in good faith that the commission is reasonable in relation to the services provided.

In selecting brokers or dealers to execute portfolio transactions, BFA seeks to obtain the best price and most favorable execution for the Fund and may take into account a variety of factors including: (i) the size, nature and character of the security or instrument being traded and the markets in which it is purchased or sold; (ii) the desired timing of the transaction; (iii) BFA’s knowledge of the expected commission rates and spreads currently available; (iv) the activity existing and expected in the market for the particular security or instrument, including any anticipated execution difficulties; (v) the full range of brokerage services provided; (vi) the broker’s or dealer’s capital; (vii) the quality of research and research services provided; (viii) the reasonableness of the commission, dealer spread or its equivalent for the specific transaction; and (ix) BFA’s knowledge of any actual or apparent operational problems of a broker or dealer. Brokers may also be selected because of their ability to handle special or difficult executions, such as may be involved in large block trades, less liquid securities, or other circumstances.

Section 28(e) of the 1934 Act (“Section 28(e)”) permits a U.S. investment adviser, under certain circumstances, to cause an account to pay a broker or dealer a commission for effecting a transaction in securities that exceeds the amount another broker or dealer would have charged for effecting the same transaction in recognition of the value of brokerage and research services provided by that broker or dealer. This includes commissions paid on riskless principal transactions in securities under certain conditions.

From time to time, the Fund may purchase new issues of securities in a fixed price offering. In these situations, the broker may be a member of the selling group that will, in addition to selling securities, provide BFA with research services. FINRA has adopted rules expressly permitting these types of arrangements under certain circumstances. Generally, the broker will provide research “credits” in these situations at a rate that is higher than that available for typical secondary market transactions. These arrangements may not fall within the safe harbor of Section 28(e).

OTC issues, including most fixed-income securities such as corporate debt and U.S. Government securities, are normally traded on a “net” basis without a stated commission, through dealers acting for their own account and not as brokers. The Fund will primarily engage in transactions with these dealers or deal directly with the issuer unless a better price or execution could be obtained by using a broker. Prices paid to a dealer with respect to both foreign and domestic securities will generally include a “spread,” which is the difference between the prices at which the dealer is willing to purchase and sell the specific security at the time, and includes the dealer’s normal profit.

Under the 1940 Act, persons affiliated with the Fund and persons who are affiliated with such affiliated persons are prohibited from dealing with the Fund as principal in the purchase and sale of securities unless a permissive order allowing such transactions is obtained from the SEC. Since transactions in the OTC market usually involve transactions with the dealers acting as principal for their own accounts, the Fund will not deal with affiliated persons and affiliated persons of such affiliated persons, including PNC and its affiliates, in connection with such transactions. The Fund will not purchase securities during the existence of any underwriting or selling group relating to such securities of which BFA, PNC, BRIL or any affiliated person (as defined in the 1940 Act) thereof is a member except pursuant to procedures adopted by the Board in accordance with Rule 10f-3 under the 1940 Act.

Purchases of money market instruments by the Fund are made from dealers, underwriters and issuers. The Fund does not currently expect to incur any brokerage commission expense on such transactions because money market instruments are generally traded on a “net” basis with dealers acting as principal for their own accounts without a stated commission. The price of the security, however, usually includes a profit to the dealer.

BFA may, from time to time, effect trades on behalf of and for the account of the Fund with brokers or dealers that are affiliated with BFA, in conformity with Rule 17e-1 under the 1940 Act and SEC rules and regulations. Under these provisions, any commissions paid to affiliated brokers or dealers must be reasonable and fair compared to the commissions charged by other brokers or dealers in comparable transactions.

Securities purchased in underwritten offerings include a fixed amount of compensation to the underwriter, generally referred to as the underwriter’s concession or discount. When securities are purchased or sold directly from or to an issuer, no commissions or discounts are paid.

Investment decisions for the Fund and for other investment accounts managed by BFA and the other Affiliates are made independently of each other in light of differing conditions. A variety of factors will be considered in making investment allocations. These factors include: (i) investment objectives or strategies for particular accounts, including sector, industry, country or region and capitalization weightings; (ii) tax considerations of an account; (iii) risk or investment concentration parameters for an account; (iv) supply or demand for a security at a given price level; (v) size of available investment; (vi) cash availability and liquidity requirements for accounts; (vii) regulatory restrictions; (viii) minimum investment size of an account; (ix) relative size of account; and (x) such other factors as may be approved by BlackRock’s general counsel. Moreover, investments may not be allocated to one client account over another based on any of the following considerations: (i) to favor one client account at the expense of another; (ii) to generate higher fees paid by one client account over another or to produce greater performance compensation to BlackRock; (iii) to develop or enhance a relationship with a client or prospective client; (iv) to compensate a client for past services or benefits rendered to BlackRock or to induce future services or benefits to be rendered to BlackRock; or (v) to manage or equalize investment performance among different client accounts. BFA and the other Affiliates may deal, trade and invest for their own respective accounts in the types of securities in which the Fund may invest.

IPOs of securities may be over-subscribed and subsequently trade at a premium in the secondary market. When BFA is given an opportunity to invest in such an initial offering or “new” or “hot” issue, the supply of securities available for client accounts is often less than the amount of securities the accounts would otherwise take. In order to allocate these investments fairly and equitably among client accounts over time, each portfolio manager or a member of his or her respective investment team will indicate to BFA’s trading desk their level of interest in a particular offering with respect to eligible clients’ accounts for which that team is responsible. IPOs of U.S. equity securities will be identified as eligible for particular client accounts that are managed by portfolio teams who have indicated interest in the offering based on market capitalization of the issuer of the security and the investment mandate of the client account and in the case of international equity securities, the country where the offering is taking place and the investment mandate of the client account. Generally, shares received during the IPO will be allocated among participating client accounts within each investment mandate on a pro rata basis. This pro rata allocation may result in the Fund receiving less of a particular security than if pro-rating had not

occurred. All allocations of securities will be subject, where relevant, to share minimums established for accounts and compliance constraints. In situations where supply is too limited to be allocated among all accounts for which the investment is eligible, portfolio managers may rotate such investment opportunities among one or more accounts so long as the rotation system provides for fair access for all client accounts over time. Other allocation methodologies that are considered by BFA to be fair and equitable to clients may be used as well.

Because different accounts may have differing investment objectives and policies, BFA may buy and sell the same securities at the same time for different clients based on the particular investment objective, guidelines and strategies of those accounts. For example, BFA may decide that it may be entirely appropriate for a growth fund to sell a security at the same time a value fund is buying that security. To the extent that transactions on behalf of more than one client of BFA or the other Affiliates during the same period may increase the demand for securities being purchased or the supply of securities being sold, there may be an adverse effect on price. For example, sales of a security by BlackRock on behalf of one or more of its clients may decrease the market price of such security, adversely impacting other BlackRock clients that still hold the security. If purchases or sales of securities arise for consideration at or about the same time that would involve the Fund or other clients or funds for which BFA or another Affiliate act as investment manager, transactions in such securities will be made, insofar as feasible, for the respective funds and clients in a manner deemed equitable to all.

In certain instances, BFA may find it efficient for purposes of seeking to obtain best execution, to aggregate or “bunch” certain contemporaneous purchases or sale orders of its advisory accounts and advisory accounts of affiliates. In general, all contemporaneous trades for client accounts under management by the same portfolio manager or investment team will be bunched in a single order if the trader believes the bunched trade would provide each client with an opportunity to achieve a more favorable execution at a potentially lower execution cost. The costs associated with a bunched order will be shared pro rata among the clients in the bunched order. Generally, if an order for a particular portfolio manager or management team is filled at several different prices through multiple trades, all accounts participating in the order will receive the average price (except in the case of certain international markets where average pricing is not permitted). While in some cases this practice could have a detrimental effect upon the price or value of the security as far as the Fund is concerned, in other cases it could be beneficial to the Fund. Transactions effected by BFA or the other Affiliates on behalf of more than one of its clients during the same period may increase the demand for securities being purchased or the supply of securities being sold, causing an adverse effect on price. The trader will give the bunched order to the broker-dealer that the trader has identified as being able to provide the best execution of the order. Orders for purchase or sale of securities will be placed within a reasonable amount of time of the order receipt and bunched orders will be kept bunched only long enough to execute the order.

The Fund's purchase and sale orders for securities may be combined with those of other investment companies, clients or accounts that BlackRock manages or advises. If purchases or sales of portfolio securities of the Fund and one or more other accounts managed or advised by BlackRock are considered at or about the same time, transactions in such securities are allocated among the Fund and the other accounts in a manner deemed equitable to all by BlackRock. In some cases, this procedure could have a detrimental effect on the price or volume of the security as far as the Fund is concerned. However, in other cases, it is possible that the ability to participate in volume transactions and to negotiate lower transaction costs will be beneficial to the Fund. BlackRock may deal, trade and invest for its own account in the types of securities in which the Fund may invest. BlackRock may, from time to time, effect trades on behalf of and for the account of the Fund with brokers or dealers that are affiliated with BFA, in conformity with the 1940 Act and SEC rules and regulations. Under these provisions, any commissions paid to affiliated brokers or dealers must be reasonable and fair compared to the commissions charged by other brokers or dealers in comparable transactions. The Fund will not deal with affiliates in principal transactions unless permitted by applicable SEC rules or regulations, or by SEC exemptive order.

Portfolio turnover may vary from year to year, as well as within a year. High turnover rates may result in comparatively greater brokerage expenses.

Additional Information Concerning the Trust

Shares. The Trust currently consists of more than 280 separate investment series or portfolios called funds. The Trust issues shares of beneficial interests in the funds with no par value. The Board may designate additional iShares funds.

Each share issued by a fund has a pro rata interest in the assets of that fund. Shares have no preemptive, exchange, subscription or conversion rights and are freely transferable. Each share is entitled to participate equally in dividends and distributions declared by the Board with respect to the relevant fund, and in the net distributable assets of such fund on liquidation.

Each share has one vote with respect to matters upon which the shareholder is entitled to vote. In any matter submitted to shareholders for a vote, the fund shall hold a separate vote, provided that shareholders of all affected funds will vote together when: (i) required by the 1940 Act, or (ii) the Trustees determine that the matter affects the interests of more than one fund.

Under Delaware law, the Trust is not required to hold an annual meeting of shareholders unless required to do so under the 1940 Act. The policy of the Trust is not to hold an annual meeting of shareholders unless required to do so under the 1940 Act. All shares (regardless of the fund) have noncumulative voting rights in the election of members of the Board. Under Delaware law, Trustees of the Trust may be removed by vote of the shareholders.

Following the creation of the initial Creation Unit(s) of shares of a fund and immediately prior to the commencement of trading in the fund’s shares, a holder of shares may be a “control person” of the fund, as defined in Rule 0-1 under the 1940 Act. The fund cannot predict the length of time for which one or more shareholders may remain a control person of the fund.

Shareholders may make inquiries by writing to iShares Trust, c/o BlackRock Investments, LLC, 1 University Square Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540.

Absent an applicable exemption or other relief from the SEC or its staff, beneficial owners of more than 5% of the shares of a fund may be subject to the reporting provisions of Section 13 of the 1934 Act and the SEC’s rules promulgated thereunder. In addition, absent an applicable exemption or other relief from the SEC or its staff, officers and trustees of a fund and beneficial owners of 10% of the shares of the fund (“Insiders”) may be subject to the insider reporting, short-swing profit and short sale provisions of Section 16 of the 1934 Act and the SEC’s rules promulgated thereunder. Beneficial owners and Insiders should consult with their own legal counsel concerning their obligations under Sections 13 and 16 of the 1934 Act and existing guidance provided by the SEC staff.

In accordance with the Trust's current Agreement and Declaration of Trust (the “Declaration of Trust”), the Board may, without shareholder approval (unless such shareholder approval is required by the Declaration of Trust or applicable law, including the 1940 Act), authorize certain funds to merge, reorganize, consolidate, sell all or substantially all of their assets, or take other similar actions with, to or into another fund. The Trust or the Fund may be terminated by a majority vote of the Board, subject to the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders of the Trust or the Fund entitled to vote on termination; however, in certain circumstances described in the Declaration of Trust, only a majority vote of the Board is required. Although the shares are not automatically redeemable upon the occurrence of any specific event, the Declaration of Trust provides that the Board will have the unrestricted power to alter the number of shares in a Creation Unit. Therefore, in the event of a termination of the Trust or the Fund, the Board, in its sole discretion, could determine to permit the shares to be redeemable in aggregations smaller than Creation Units or to be individually redeemable. In such circumstance, the Trust or the Fund may make redemptions in-kind, for cash or for a combination of cash or securities. Further, in the event of a termination of the Trust or the Fund, the Trust or the Fund might elect to pay cash redemptions to all shareholders, with an in-kind election for shareholders owning in excess of a certain stated minimum amount.

DTC as Securities Depository for Shares of the Fund. Shares of the Fund are represented by securities registered in the name of DTC or its nominee and deposited with, or on behalf of, DTC.

DTC was created in 1973 to enable electronic movement of securities between its participants (“DTC Participants”), and NSCC was established in 1976 to provide a single settlement system for securities clearing and to serve as central counterparty for securities trades among DTC Participants. In 1999, DTC and NSCC were consolidated within The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (“DTCC”) and became wholly-owned subsidiaries of DTCC. The common stock of DTCC is owned by the DTC Participants, but NYSE and FINRA, through subsidiaries, hold preferred shares in DTCC that provide them with the right to elect one member each to the DTCC board of directors. Access to the DTC system is available to entities, such as banks, brokers, dealers and trust companies, that clear through or maintain a custodial relationship with a DTC Participant, either directly or indirectly (“Indirect Participants”).

referred to herein as “Beneficial Owners”) is shown on, and the transfer of ownership is effected only through, records maintained by DTC (with respect to DTC Participants) and on the records of DTC Participants (with respect to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners that are not DTC Participants). Beneficial Owners will receive from or through the DTC Participant a written confirmation relating to their purchase of shares. The laws of some jurisdictions may require that certain purchasers of securities take physical delivery of such securities in definitive form. Such laws may impair the ability of certain investors to acquire beneficial interests in shares of the Fund.

Conveyance of all notices, statements and other communications to Beneficial Owners is effected as follows. Pursuant to the Depositary Agreement between the Trust and DTC, DTC is required to make available to the Trust upon request and for a fee to be charged to the Trust a listing of the shares of the Fund held by each DTC Participant. The Trust shall inquire of each such DTC Participant as to the number of Beneficial Owners holding shares, directly or indirectly, through such DTC Participant. The Trust shall provide each such DTC Participant with copies of such notice, statement or other communication, in such form, number and at such place as such DTC Participant may reasonably request, in order that such notice, statement or communication may be transmitted by such DTC Participant, directly or indirectly, to such Beneficial Owners. In addition, the Trust shall pay to each such DTC Participant a fair and reasonable amount as reimbursement for the expenses attendant to such transmittal, all subject to applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

Share distributions shall be made to DTC or its nominee, Cede & Co., as the registered holder of all shares of the Trust. DTC or its nominee, upon receipt of any such distributions, shall credit immediately DTC Participants’ accounts with payments in amounts proportionate to their respective beneficial interests in shares of the Fund as shown on the records of DTC or its nominee. Payments by DTC Participants to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners of shares held through such DTC Participants will be governed by standing instructions and customary practices, as is now the case with securities held for the accounts of customers in bearer form or registered in a “street name,” and will be the responsibility of such DTC Participants.

The Trust has no responsibility or liability for any aspect of the records relating to or notices to Beneficial Owners, or payments made on account of beneficial ownership interests in such shares, or for maintaining, supervising or reviewing any records relating to such beneficial ownership interests, or for any other aspect of the relationship between DTC and the DTC Participants or the relationship between such DTC Participants and the Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners owning through such DTC Participants. DTC may decide to discontinue providing its service with respect to shares of the Trust at any time by giving reasonable notice to the Trust and discharging its responsibilities with respect thereto under applicable law. Under such circumstances, the Trust shall take action to find a replacement for DTC to perform its functions at a comparable cost.

Distribution of Shares. In connection with the Fund's launch, the Fund will be seeded through the sale of one or more Creation Units by the Fund to one or more initial investors. Initial investors participating in the seeding may be Authorized Participants, a lead market maker or other third party investor or an affiliate of the Fund or the Fund’s adviser. Each such initial investor may sell some or all of the shares underlying the Creation Unit(s) held by them pursuant to the registration statement for the Fund (each, a “Selling Shareholder”), which shares have been registered to permit the resale from time to time after purchase. The Fund will not receive any of the proceeds from the resale by the Selling Shareholders of these shares.

Selling Shareholders may sell shares owned by them directly or through broker-dealers, in accordance with applicable law, on any national securities exchange on which the shares may be listed or quoted at the time of sale, through trading systems, in the OTC market or in transactions other than on these exchanges or systems at fixed prices, at prevailing market prices at the time of the sale, at varying prices determined at the time of sale, or at negotiated prices. These sales may be effected through brokerage transactions, privately negotiated trades, block sales, entry into options or other derivatives transactions or through any other means authorized by applicable law. Selling Shareholders may redeem the shares held in Creation Unit size by them through an Authorized Participant.

Any Selling Shareholder and any broker-dealer or agents participating in the distribution of shares may be deemed to be “underwriters” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(11) of the 1933 Act, in connection with such sales.

Any Selling Shareholder and any other person participating in such distribution will be subject to applicable provisions of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.

Creation and Redemption of Creation Units

General. The Trust issues and sells shares of the Fund only in Creation Units on a continuous basis through the Distributor or its agent, without a sales load, at a price based on the Fund's NAV next determined after receipt, on any Business Day (as defined below), of an order received by the Distributor or its agent in proper form. On days when the Listing Exchange closes earlier than normal, the Fund may require orders to be placed earlier in the day. The following table sets forth the number of shares of the Fund that constitute a Creation Unit for the Fund and the value of such Creation Unit as of April 5, 2018:

Shares Per Creation Unit		Value Per Creation Unit (U.S.$)
50,000		$1,250,000

In its discretion, the Trust reserves the right to increase or decrease the number of the Fund’s shares that constitute a Creation Unit. The Board reserves the right to declare a split or a consolidation in the number of shares outstanding of the Fund, and to make a corresponding change in the number of shares constituting a Creation Unit, in the event that the per share price in the secondary market rises (or declines) to an amount that falls outside the range deemed desirable by the Board.

A “Business Day” with respect to the Fund is any day on which the Listing Exchange on which the Fund is listed for trading is open for business. As of the date of this SAI, the Listing Exchange observes the following holidays, as observed: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

Fund Deposit. The consideration for purchase of Creation Units of the Fund generally consists of Deposit Securities and the Cash Component computed as described below. Together, the Deposit Securities and the Cash Component constitute the “Fund Deposit,” which, when combined with the Fund's portfolio securities is designed to generate performance that has a collective investment profile similar to that of the Underlying Index. The Fund Deposit represents the minimum initial and subsequent investment amount for a Creation Unit of the Fund.

The Cash Component is an amount equal to the difference between the NAV of the shares (per Creation Unit) and the “Deposit Amount,” which is an amount equal to the market value of the Deposit Securities, and serves to compensate for any differences between the NAV per Creation Unit and the Deposit Amount. Payment of any stamp duty or other similar fees and expenses payable upon transfer of beneficial ownership of the Deposit Securities are the sole responsibility of the Authorized Participant purchasing the Creation Unit.

BFA makes available through the NSCC on each Business Day prior to the opening of business on the Listing Exchange, the list of names and the required number of shares of each Deposit Security and the amount of the Cash Component to be included in the current Fund Deposit (based on information as of the end of the previous Business Day for the Fund). Such Fund Deposit is applicable, subject to any adjustments as described below, to purchases of Creation Units of shares of the Fund until such time as the next-announced Fund Deposit is made available.

The identity and number of shares of the Deposit Securities change pursuant to changes in the composition of the Fund's portfolio and as rebalancing adjustments and corporate action events are reflected from time to time by BFA with a view to the investment objective of the Fund. The composition of the Deposit Securities may also change in response to adjustments to the weighting or composition of the component securities constituting the Underlying Index.

The Fund reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of a “cash in lieu” amount to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security that may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery or that may not be eligible for transfer through DTC or the clearing process (as discussed below) or that the Authorized Participant is not able to trade due to a trading restriction. The Fund also reserves the right to permit or require a “cash in lieu” amount in certain circumstances, including circumstances in which the delivery of the Deposit Security by the Authorized Participant would be restricted under applicable securities or other local laws or in certain other situations.

Cash Purchase Method. Although the Trust does not generally permit partial or full cash purchases of Creation Units of its funds, when partial or full cash purchases of Creation Units are available or specified for the Fund, they will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind purchases thereof. In the case of a partial or full cash purchase, the Authorized Participant must pay the cash equivalent of the Deposit Securities it would otherwise be required to provide through an in-kind purchase, plus the same Cash Component required to be paid by an in-kind purchaser.

Procedures for Creation of Creation Units. To be eligible to place orders with the Distributor and to create a Creation Unit of the Fund, an entity must be: (i) a “Participating Party,” i.e., a broker-dealer or other participant in the clearing process through the Continuous Net Settlement System of the NSCC (the “Clearing Process”), a clearing agency that is registered with the SEC, or (ii) a DTC Participant, and must have executed an agreement with the Distributor, with respect to creations and redemptions of Creation Units (“Authorized Participant Agreement”) (discussed below). A Participating Party or DTC Participant who has executed an Authorized Participant Agreement is referred to as an “Authorized Participant.” All shares of the Fund, however created, will be entered on the records of DTC in the name of Cede & Co. for the account of a DTC Participant.

Role of the Authorized Participant. Creation Units may be purchased only by or through a DTC Participant that has entered into an Authorized Participant Agreement with the Distributor (an “Authorized Participant”). Such Authorized Participant will agree, pursuant to the terms of such Authorized Participant Agreement and on behalf of itself or any investor on whose behalf it will act, to certain conditions, including that such Authorized Participant will make available in advance of each purchase of shares an amount of cash sufficient to pay the Cash Component, once the net asset value of a Creation Unit is next determined after receipt of the purchase order in proper form, together with the transaction fees described below. An Authorized Participant, acting on behalf of an investor, may require the investor to enter into an agreement with such Authorized Participant with respect to certain matters, including payment of the Cash Component. Investors who are not Authorized Participants must make appropriate arrangements with an Authorized Participant. Investors should be aware that their particular broker may not be a DTC Participant or may not have executed an Authorized Participant Agreement and that orders to purchase Creation Units may have to be placed by the investor's broker through an Authorized Participant. As a result, purchase orders placed through an Authorized Participant may result in additional charges to such investor. The Trust does not expect to enter into an Authorized Participant Agreement with more than a small number of DTC Participants. A list of current Authorized Participants may be obtained from the Distributor. The Distributor has adopted guidelines regarding Authorized Participants’ transactions in Creation Units that are made available to all Authorized Participants. These guidelines set forth the processes and standards for Authorized Participants to transact with the Distributor and its agents in connection with creation and redemption transactions. In addition, the Distributor may be appointed as the proxy of the Authorized Participant and may be granted a power of attorney under its Authorized Participant Agreement.

Purchase Orders. To initiate an order for a Creation Unit, an Authorized Participant must submit to the Distributor or its agent an irrevocable order to purchase shares of the Fund, in proper form, generally before 4:00 p.m., Eastern time on any Business Day to receive that day’s NAV. The Distributor or its agent will notify BFA and the custodian of such order. The custodian will then provide such information to any appropriate sub-custodian. Procedures and requirements governing the delivery of the Fund Deposit are set forth in the procedures handbook for Authorized Participants and may change from time to time. Investors, other than Authorized Participants, are responsible for making arrangements for a creation request to be made through an Authorized Participant. The Distributor or its agent will provide a list of current Authorized Participants upon request. Those placing orders to purchase Creation Units through an Authorized Participant should allow sufficient time to permit proper submission of the purchase order to the Distributor or its agent by the Cutoff Time (as defined below) on such Business Day.

The Authorized Participant must also make available on or before the contractual settlement date, by means satisfactory to the Fund, immediately available or same day funds estimated by the Fund to be sufficient to pay the Cash Component next determined after acceptance of the purchase order, together with the applicable purchase transaction fees. Those placing orders should ascertain the deadline for cash transfers by contacting the operations department of the broker or depositary institution effectuating the transfer of the Cash Component. This deadline is likely to be significantly earlier than the Cutoff Time of the Fund. Investors should be aware that an Authorized Participant may require orders for purchases of shares placed with it to be in the particular form required by the individual Authorized Participant.

The Authorized Participant is responsible for any and all expenses and costs incurred by the Fund, including any applicable cash amounts, in connection with any purchase order.

Timing of Submission of Purchase Orders. An Authorized Participant must submit an irrevocable order to purchase shares of the Fund generally before 4:00 p.m., Eastern time on any Business Day in order to receive that day's NAV. Creation Orders must be transmitted by an Authorized Participant in the form required by the Fund to the Distributor or its agent pursuant to procedures set forth in the Authorized Participant Agreement. Economic or market disruptions or changes, or telephone or other communication failure, may impede the ability to reach the Distributor or its agent or an Authorized Participant. The Fund's deadline specified above for the submission of purchase orders is referred to as the Fund's “Cutoff Time.” The Distributor or its agent, in their discretion, may permit the submission of such orders and requests by or through an Authorized Participant at any time (including on days on which the Listing Exchange is not open for business) via communication through the facilities of the Distributor's or its agent's proprietary website maintained for this purpose. Purchase orders and redemption requests, if accepted by the Trust, will be processed based on the NAV next determined after such acceptance in accordance with the Fund's Cutoff Times as provided in the Authorized Participant Agreement and disclosed in this SAI.

Acceptance of Orders for Creation Units. Subject to the conditions that (i) an irrevocable purchase order has been submitted by the Authorized Participant (either on its own or another investor's behalf) and (ii) arrangements satisfactory to the Fund are in place for payment of the Cash Component and any other cash amounts which may be due, the Fund will accept the order, subject to the Fund's right (and the right of the Distributor and BFA) to reject any order until acceptance, as set forth below.

Once the Fund has accepted an order, upon the next determination of the net asset value of the shares, the Fund will confirm the issuance of a Creation Unit, against receipt of payment, at such net asset value. The Distributor or its agent will then transmit a confirmation of acceptance to the Authorized Participant that placed the order.

The Fund reserves the absolute right to reject or revoke a creation order transmitted to it by the Distributor or its agent if (i) the order is not in proper form; (ii) the investor(s), upon obtaining the shares ordered, would own 80% or more of the currently outstanding shares of the Fund; (iii) the Deposit Securities delivered do not conform to the identity and number of shares specified, as described above; (iv) acceptance of the Deposit Securities would have certain adverse tax consequences to the Fund; (v) acceptance of the Fund Deposit would, in the opinion of counsel, be unlawful; (vi) acceptance of the Fund Deposit would, in the discretion of the Fund or BFA, have an adverse effect on the Fund or the rights of beneficial owners; or (vii) circumstances outside the control of the Fund, the Distributor or its agent and BFA make it impracticable to process purchase orders. The Distributor or its agent shall notify a prospective purchaser of a Creation Unit and/or the Authorized Participant acting on behalf of such purchaser of its rejection of such order. The Fund, State Street, the sub-custodian and the Distributor or its agent are under no duty, however, to give notification of any defects or irregularities in the delivery of Fund Deposits nor shall any of them incur any liability for failure to give such notification.

Issuance of a Creation Unit. Except as provided herein, a Creation Unit will not be issued until the transfer of good title to the Fund of the Deposit Securities and the payment of the Cash Component have been completed. When the sub-custodian has confirmed to the custodian that the securities included in the Fund Deposit (or the cash value thereof) have been delivered to the account of the relevant sub-custodian or sub-custodians, the Distributor or its agent and BFA shall be notified of such delivery and the Fund will issue and cause the delivery of the Creation Unit. Creation Units are generally issued on a “T+2 basis” (i.e., two Business Days after trade date). The Fund reserves the right to settle Creation Unit transactions on a basis other than T+2, including a shorter settlement period, if necessary or appropriate under the circumstances and compliant with applicable law.

To the extent contemplated by an Authorized Participant Agreement with the Distributor, the Fund will issue Creation Units to such Authorized Participant, notwithstanding the fact that the corresponding Fund Deposits have not been received in part or in whole, in reliance on the undertaking of the Authorized Participant to deliver the missing Deposit Securities as soon as possible, which undertaking shall be secured by such Authorized Participant's delivery and maintenance of collateral having a value at least equal to 105% and up to 115%, which percentage BFA may change at any time, in its sole discretion, of the value of the missing Deposit Securities in accordance with the Fund's then-effective procedures. The Trust may use such cash deposit at any time to buy Deposit Securities for the Fund. The only collateral that is acceptable to the Fund is cash in U.S. dollars. Such cash collateral must be delivered no later than the time specified by the Fund or its custodian on the contractual settlement date. The cash collateral posted by the Authorized Participant may be invested at the risk of the Authorized Participant, and income, if any, on invested cash collateral will be paid to that Authorized Participant. Information concerning the Fund's current procedures for collateralization of missing Deposit Securities is available from the Distributor or its agent. The Authorized Participant Agreement will permit the Fund to buy the missing Deposit Securities at any time and

will subject the Authorized Participant to liability for any shortfall between the cost to the Fund of purchasing such securities and the cash collateral including, without limitation, liability for related brokerage, borrowings and other charges.

In certain cases, Authorized Participants may create and redeem Creation Units on the same trade date and in these instances, the Fund reserves the right to settle these transactions on a net basis or require a representation from the Authorized Participants that the creation and redemption transactions are for separate beneficial owners. All questions as to the number of shares of each security in the Deposit Securities and the validity, form, eligibility and acceptance for deposit of any securities to be delivered shall be determined by the Fund and the Fund's determination shall be final and binding.

Costs Associated with Creation Transactions. A standard creation transaction fee is imposed to offset the transfer and other transaction costs associated with the issuance of Creation Units. The standard creation transaction fee is charged to the Authorized Participant on the day such Authorized Participant creates a Creation Unit, and is the same, regardless of the number of Creation Units purchased by the Authorized Participant on the applicable Business Day. If a purchase consists solely or partially of cash, the Authorized Participant may also be required to cover (up to the maximum amount shown below) certain brokerage, tax, foreign exchange, execution, price movement and other costs and expenses related to the execution of trades resulting from such transaction (which may, in certain instances, be based on a good faith estimate of transaction costs). Authorized Participants will also bear the costs of transferring the Deposit Securities to the Fund. Certain fees/costs associated with creation transactions may be waived in certain circumstances. Investors who use the services of a broker or other financial intermediary to acquire Fund shares may be charged a fee for such services.

The following table sets forth the Fund's standard creation transaction fees and maximum additional charge (as described above):

Standard Creation Transaction Fee		Maximum Additional Charge*
$2,450		3.0%

*	As a percentage of the net asset value per Creation Unit.

Redemption of Creation Units. Shares of the Fund may be redeemed by Authorized Participants only in Creation Units at their NAV next determined after receipt of a redemption request in proper form by the Distributor or its agent and only on a Business Day. The Fund will not redeem shares in amounts less than Creation Units. There can be no assurance, however, that there will be sufficient liquidity in the secondary market at any time to permit assembly of a Creation Unit. Investors should expect to incur brokerage and other costs in connection with assembling a sufficient number of shares to constitute a Creation Unit that could be redeemed by an Authorized Participant. Beneficial owners also may sell shares in the secondary market.

The Fund generally redeems Creation Units for Fund Securities (as defined below). Please see the Cash Redemption Method section below and the following discussion summarizing the in-kind method for further information on redeeming Creation Units of the Fund.

BFA makes available through the NSCC, prior to the opening of business on the Listing Exchange on each Business Day, the designated portfolio of securities (including any portion of such securities for which cash may be substituted) that will be applicable (subject to possible amendment or correction) to redemption requests received in proper form (as defined below) on that day (“Fund Securities”), and an amount of cash (the “Cash Amount,” as described below). Such Fund Securities and the corresponding Cash Amount (each subject to possible amendment or correction) are applicable, in order to effect redemptions of Creation Units of the Fund until such time as the next announced composition of the Fund Securities and Cash Amount is made available. Fund Securities received on redemption may not be identical to Deposit Securities that are applicable to creations of Creation Units. Procedures and requirements governing redemption transactions are set forth in the handbook for Authorized Participants and may change from time to time.

Unless cash redemptions are available or specified for the Fund, the redemption proceeds for a Creation Unit generally consist of Fund Securities, plus the Cash Amount, which is an amount equal to the difference between the net asset value of the shares being redeemed, as next determined after the receipt of a redemption request in proper form, and the value of Fund Securities, less a redemption transaction fee (as described below).

The Trust may, in its sole discretion, substitute a “cash in lieu” amount to replace any Fund Security. The Trust also reserves the right to permit or require a “cash in lieu” amount in certain circumstances, including circumstances in which: (i) the delivery of a Fund Security to the Authorized Participant would be restricted under applicable securities or other local laws; or (ii) the delivery of a Fund Security to the Authorized Participant would result in the disposition of the Fund Security by the Authorized Participant due to restrictions under applicable securities or other local laws, or in certain other situations. The amount of cash paid out in such cases will be equivalent to the value of the substituted security listed as a Fund Security. In the event that the Fund Securities have a value greater than the NAV of the shares, a compensating cash payment equal to the difference is required to be made by or through an Authorized Participant by the redeeming shareholder. The Fund generally redeems Creation Units for Fund Securities, but the Fund reserves the right to utilize a cash option for redemption of Creation Units. The Fund may, in its sole discretion, provide such redeeming Authorized Participant a portfolio of securities that differs from the exact composition of the Fund Securities, but does not differ in NAV.

Cash Redemption Method. Although the Trust does not generally permit partial or full cash redemptions of Creation Units of its funds, when partial or full cash redemptions of Creation Units are available or specified for the Fund, they will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind redemptions thereof. In the case of partial or full cash redemption, the Authorized Participant receives the cash equivalent of the Fund Securities it would otherwise receive through an in-kind redemption, plus the same Cash Amount to be paid to an in-kind redeemer.

Costs Associated with Redemption Transactions. A standard redemption transaction fee is imposed to offset transfer and other transaction costs that may be incurred by the Fund. The standard redemption transaction fee is charged to the Authorized Participant on the day such Authorized Participant redeems a Creation Unit, and is the same regardless of the number of Creation Units redeemed by an Authorized Participant on the applicable Business Day. If a redemption consists solely or partially of cash, the Authorized Participant may also be required to cover (up to the maximum amount shown below) certain brokerage, tax, foreign exchange, execution, price movement and other costs and expenses related to the execution of trades resulting from such transaction (which may, in certain instances, be based on a good faith estimate of transaction costs). Authorized Participants will also bear the costs of transferring the Fund Securities from the Fund to their account on their order. Certain fees/costs associated with redemption transactions may be waived in certain circumstances. Investors who use the services of a broker or other financial intermediary to dispose of Fund shares may be charged a fee for such services.

The following table sets forth the Fund's standard redemption transaction fees and maximum additional charge (as described above):

Standard Redemption Transaction Fee		Maximum Additional Charge*
$2,450		2.0%

*	As a percentage of the net asset value per Creation Unit, inclusive of the standard redemption transaction fee.

Placement of Redemption Orders. Redemption requests for Creation Units of the Fund must be submitted to the Distributor or its agent by or through an Authorized Participant. An Authorized Participant must submit an irrevocable request to redeem shares of the Fund generally before 4:00 p.m., Eastern time on any Business Day in order to receive that day's NAV. On days when the Listing Exchange closes earlier than normal, the Fund may require orders to redeem Creation Units to be placed earlier that day. Investors, other than Authorized Participants, are responsible for making arrangements for a redemption request to be made through an Authorized Participant. The Distributor or its agent will provide a list of current Authorized Participants upon request.

The Authorized Participant must transmit the request for redemption in the form required by the Fund to the Distributor or its agent in accordance with procedures set forth in the Authorized Participant Agreement. Investors should be aware that their particular broker may not have executed an Authorized Participant Agreement and that, therefore, requests to redeem Creation Units may have to be placed by the investor's broker through an Authorized Participant who has executed an Authorized Participant Agreement. At any time, only a limited number of broker-dealers will have an Authorized Participant Agreement in effect. Investors making a redemption request should be aware that such request must be in the form specified by such Authorized Participant. Investors making a request to redeem Creation Units should allow sufficient time to permit proper submission of the request by an Authorized Participant and transfer of the shares to the Fund's transfer agent; such

investors should allow for the additional time that may be required to effect redemptions through their banks, brokers or other financial intermediaries if such intermediaries are not Authorized Participants.

A redemption request is considered to be in “proper form” if: (i) an Authorized Participant has transferred or caused to be transferred to the Fund's transfer agent the Creation Unit redeemed through the book-entry system of DTC so as to be effective by the Listing Exchange closing time on any Business Day on which the redemption request is submitted; (ii) a request in form satisfactory to the Fund is received by the Distributor or its agent from the Authorized Participant on behalf of itself or another redeeming investor within the time periods specified above; and (iii) all other procedures set forth in the Authorized Participant Agreement are properly followed.

Upon receiving a redemption request, the Distributor or its agent shall notify the Fund and the Fund's transfer agent of such redemption request. The tender of an investor's shares for redemption and the distribution of the securities and/or cash included in the redemption payment made in respect of Creation Units redeemed will be made through DTC and the relevant Authorized Participant to the Beneficial Owner thereof as recorded on the book-entry system of DTC or the DTC Participant through which such investor holds, as the case may be, or by such other means specified by the Authorized Participant submitting the redemption request.

A redeeming Authorized Participant, whether on its own account or acting on behalf of a Beneficial Owner, must maintain appropriate security arrangements with a qualified broker-dealer, bank or other custody providers in each jurisdiction in which any of the portfolio securities are customarily traded, to which account such portfolio securities will be delivered.

Deliveries of redemption proceeds by the Fund are generally made within two Business Days (i.e., “T+2”). The Fund reserves the right to settle redemption transactions on a basis other than T+2 but by T+7, if necessary or appropriate under the circumstances and compliant with applicable law.

To the extent contemplated by an Authorized Participant's agreement with the Distributor or its agent, in the event an Authorized Participant has submitted a redemption request in proper form but is unable to transfer all or part of the Creation Unit to be redeemed to the Fund, at or prior to 10:00 a.m., Eastern time on the Listing Exchange business day after the date of submission of such redemption request, the Distributor or its agent will accept the redemption request in reliance on the undertaking by the Authorized Participant to deliver the missing shares as soon as possible. Such undertaking shall be secured by the Authorized Participant's delivery and maintenance of collateral consisting of cash, in U.S. dollars in immediately available funds, having a value at least equal to 105% and up to 115%, which percentage BFA may change at any time, in its sole discretion, of the value of the missing shares. Such cash collateral must be delivered no later than the time specified by the Fund or its custodian on the day after the date of submission of such redemption request and shall be held by State Street and marked-to-market daily. The fees of State Street and any sub-custodians in respect of the delivery, maintenance and redelivery of the cash collateral shall be payable by the Authorized Participant. The cash collateral posted by the Authorized Participant may be invested at the risk of the Authorized Participant, and income, if any, on invested cash collateral will be paid to that Authorized Participant. The Authorized Participant Agreement permits the Fund to acquire shares of the Fund at any time and subjects the Authorized Participant to liability for any shortfall between the aggregate of the cost to the Fund of purchasing such shares, plus the value of the Cash Amount, and the value of the cash collateral together with liability for related brokerage and other charges.

The right of redemption may be suspended or the date of payment postponed with respect to the Fund: (i) for any period during which the Listing Exchange is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings); (ii) for any period during which trading on the Listing Exchange is suspended or restricted; (iii) for any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which disposal of the shares of the Fund's portfolio securities or determination of its net asset value is not reasonably practicable; or (iv) in such other circumstance as is permitted by the SEC.

Taxation on Creations and Redemptions of Creation Units. An Authorized Participant generally will recognize either gain or loss upon the exchange of Deposit Securities for Creation Units. This gain or loss is calculated by taking the market value of the Creation Units purchased over the Authorized Participant’s aggregate basis in the Deposit Securities exchanged therefor. However, the IRS may apply the wash sales rules to determine that any loss realized upon the exchange of Deposit Securities for Creation Units is not currently deductible. Authorized Participants should consult their own tax advisors.

Current U.S. federal income tax laws dictate that capital gain or loss realized from the redemption of Creation Units will generally create long-term capital gain or loss if the Authorized Participant holds the Creation Units for more than one year, or short-term capital gain or loss if the Creation Units were held for one year or less, if the Creation Units are held as capital assets.

Taxes

The following is a summary of certain material U.S. federal income tax considerations regarding the purchase, ownership and disposition of shares of the Fund. This summary does not address all of the potential U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be applicable to the Fund or to all categories of investors, some of which may be subject to special tax rules. Current and prospective shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisors with respect to the specific U.S. federal, state, local and non-U.S. tax consequences of investing in the Fund. The summary is based on the laws and judicial and administrative interpretations thereof in effect on the date of this SAI, all of which are subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect.

Tax reform legislation commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) was enacted on December 22, 2017. The Tax Act makes significant changes to the U.S. federal income tax rules for individuals and corporations, generally effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017. Most of the changes applicable to individuals are temporary and, without further legislation, will not apply after 2025. The application of certain provisions of the Tax Act is uncertain, and the changes in the act may have indirect effects on the Fund, its investments and its shareholders that cannot be predicted. In addition, legislative, regulatory or administrative changes could be enacted or promulgated at any time, either prospectively or with retroactive effect. Prospective investors should consult their tax advisors regarding the implications of the Tax Act on their investment in the Fund.

Regulated Investment Company Qualifications. The Fund intends to qualify for treatment as a separate RIC under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code. To qualify for treatment as a RIC, the Fund must annually distribute at least 90% of its investment company taxable income (which includes dividends, interest and net short-term capital gains) and meet several other requirements. Among such other requirements are the following: (i) at least 90% of the Fund’s annual gross income must be derived from dividends, interest, payments with respect to securities loans, gains from the sale or other disposition of stock or securities or non-U.S. currencies, other income (including, but not limited to, gains from options, futures or forward contracts) derived with respect to its business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies, and net income derived from interests in qualified publicly-traded partnerships (i.e., partnerships that are traded on an established securities market or tradable on a secondary market, other than partnerships that derive at least 90% of their income from interest, dividends, capital gains and other traditionally permitted RIC income); and (ii) at the close of each quarter of the Fund's taxable year, (a) at least 50% of the market value of the Fund’s total assets must be represented by cash and cash items, U.S. government securities, securities of other RICs and other securities, with such other securities limited for purposes of this calculation in respect of any one issuer to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the Fund’s assets and not greater than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer, and (b) not more than 25% of the value of the Fund's total assets may be invested in the securities (other than U.S. government securities or the securities of other RICs) of any one issuer, of two or more issuers of which 20% or more of the voting stock is held by the Fund and that are engaged in the same or similar trades or businesses or related trades or businesses, or the securities of one or more qualified publicly-traded partnerships.

The Fund may be able to cure a failure to derive at least 90% of its income from the sources specified above or a failure to diversify its holdings in the manner described above by paying a tax and/or by disposing of certain assets. If, in any taxable year, the Fund fails one of these tests and does not timely cure the failure, the Fund will be taxed in the same manner as an ordinary corporation and distributions to its shareholders will not be deductible by the Fund in computing its taxable income.

Although, in general, the passive loss rules of the Internal Revenue Code do not apply to RICs, such rules do apply to a RIC with respect to items attributable to interests in qualified publicly-traded partnerships. The Fund's investments in partnerships, including in qualified publicly-traded partnerships, may result in the Fund being subject to state, local, or non-U.S. income, franchise or withholding tax liabilities.

Taxation of RICs. As a RIC, the Fund will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the portion of its taxable investment income and capital gains that it distributes to its shareholders, provided that it satisfies a minimum distribution requirement. To satisfy the minimum distribution requirement, the Fund must distribute to its shareholders at least the sum of (i) 90% of

its “investment company taxable income” (i.e., income other than its net realized long-term capital gain over its net realized short-term capital loss), plus or minus certain adjustments, and (ii) 90% of its net tax-exempt income for the taxable year. The Fund will be subject to income tax at regular corporate rates on any taxable income or gains that it does not distribute to its shareholders. If the Fund fails to qualify for any taxable year as a RIC or fails to meet the distribution requirement, all of its taxable income will be subject to tax at regular corporate income tax rates without any deduction for distributions to shareholders, and such distributions generally will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary dividends to the extent of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits. In such event, distributions to individuals should be eligible to be treated as qualified dividend income and distributions to corporate shareholders generally should be eligible for the dividends received deduction. Although the Fund intends to distribute substantially all of its net investment income and its capital gains for each taxable year, the Fund will be subject to U.S. federal income taxation to the extent any such income or gains are not distributed. If the Fund fails to qualify as a RIC in any year, it must pay out its earnings and profits accumulated in that year in order to qualify again as a RIC. If the Fund fails to qualify as a RIC for a period greater than two taxable years, the Fund may be required to recognize any net built-in gains with respect to certain of its assets (i.e., the excess of the aggregate gains, including items of income, over aggregate losses that would have been realized with respect to such assets if the Fund had been liquidated) if it qualifies as a RIC in a subsequent year.

Excise Tax. The Fund will be subject to a 4% excise tax on certain undistributed income if it does not distribute to its shareholders in each calendar year at least 98% of its ordinary income for the calendar year plus at least 98.2% of its capital gain net income for the 12 months ended October 31 of such year. For this purpose, however, any ordinary income or capital gain net income retained by the Fund that is subject to corporate income tax will be considered to have been distributed by year-end. In addition, the minimum amounts that must be distributed in any year to avoid the excise tax will be increased or decreased to reflect any underdistribution or overdistribution, as the case may be, from the previous year. The Fund intends to declare and distribute dividends and distributions in the amounts and at the times necessary to avoid the application of this 4% excise tax.

Net Capital Loss Carryforwards. Net capital loss carryforwards may be applied against any net realized capital gains in each succeeding year, until they have been reduced to zero.

In the event that the Fund were to experience an ownership change as defined under the Internal Revenue Code, the loss carryforwards and other favorable tax attributes of the Fund, if any, may be subject to limitation.

Taxation of U.S. Shareholders. Dividends and other distributions by the Fund are generally treated under the Internal Revenue Code as received by the shareholders at the time the dividend or distribution is made. However, any dividend or distribution declared by the Fund in October, November or December of any calendar year and payable to shareholders of record on a specified date in such a month shall be deemed to have been received by each shareholder on December 31 of such calendar year and to have been paid by the Fund not later than such December 31, provided such dividend is actually paid by the Fund during January of the following calendar year.

The Fund intends to distribute annually to its shareholders substantially all of its investment company taxable income and any net realized long-term capital gains in excess of net realized short-term capital losses (including any capital loss carryovers). However, if the Fund retains for investment an amount equal to all or a portion of its net long-term capital gains in excess of its net short-term capital losses (including any capital loss carryovers), it will be subject to a corporate tax (at a flat rate of 21%) on the amount retained. In that event, the Fund will designate such retained amounts as undistributed capital gains in a notice to its shareholders who (a) will be required to include in income for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as long-term capital gains, their proportionate shares of the undistributed amount, (b) will be entitled to credit their proportionate shares of the tax paid by the Fund on the undistributed amount against their U.S. federal income tax liabilities, if any, and to claim refunds to the extent their credits exceed their liabilities, if any, and (c) will be entitled to increase their tax basis, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, in their shares by an amount equal to the excess of the amount in clause (a) over the amount in clause (b). Organizations or persons not subject to U.S. federal income tax on such capital gains will be entitled to a refund of their pro rata share of such taxes paid by the Fund upon filing appropriate returns or claims for refund with the IRS.

Distributions of net realized long-term capital gains, if any, that the Fund reports as capital gains dividends are taxable as long-term capital gains, whether paid in cash or in shares and regardless of how long a shareholder has held shares of the Fund. All other dividends of the Fund (including dividends from short-term capital gains) from its current and accumulated earnings and profits (“regular dividends”) are generally subject to tax as ordinary income, subject to the discussion of

qualified dividend income below. Long-term capital gains are eligible for taxation at a maximum rate of 20% for non-corporate shareholders, depending on whether their income exceeds certain threshold amounts.

If an individual receives a regular dividend qualifying for the long-term capital gains rates and such dividend constitutes an “extraordinary dividend,” and the individual subsequently recognizes a loss on the sale or exchange of stock in respect of which the extraordinary dividend was paid, then the loss will be long-term capital loss to the extent of such extraordinary dividend. An “extraordinary dividend” on common stock for this purpose is generally a dividend (i) in an amount greater than or equal to 10% of the taxpayer’s tax basis (or trading value) in a share of stock, aggregating dividends with ex-dividend dates within an 85-day period, or (ii) in an amount greater than 20% of the taxpayer’s tax basis (or trading value) in a share of stock, aggregating dividends with ex-dividend dates within a 365-day period.

Distributions in excess of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits will, as to each shareholder, be treated as a tax-free return of capital to the extent of a shareholder’s basis in shares of the Fund, and as a capital gain thereafter (if the shareholder holds shares of the Fund as capital assets). Distributions in excess of the Fund’s minimum distribution requirements, but not in excess of the Fund’s earnings and profits, will be taxable to shareholders and will not constitute nontaxable returns of capital. Shareholders receiving dividends or distributions in the form of additional shares should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as receiving a distribution in an amount equal to the amount of money that the shareholders receiving cash dividends or distributions will receive and should have a cost basis in the shares received equal to such amount. Dividends paid by the Fund that are attributable to dividends received by the Fund from domestic corporations may qualify for the U.S. federal dividends received deduction for corporations, although such amounts are not expected to be significant for this Fund.

A 3.8% U.S. federal Medicare contribution tax is imposed on net investment income, including, but not limited to, interest, dividends, and net gain from investments, of U.S. individuals with income exceeding $200,000 (or $250,000 if married and filing jointly) and of estates and trusts.

Investors considering buying shares just prior to a dividend or capital gain distribution should be aware that, although the price of shares purchased at that time may reflect the amount of the forthcoming distribution, such dividend or distribution may nevertheless be taxable to them. If the Fund is the holder of record of any security on the record date for any dividends payable with respect to such security, such dividends will be included in the Fund’s gross income not as of the date received but as of the later of (a) the date such security became ex-dividend with respect to such dividends (i.e., the date on which a buyer of the security would not be entitled to receive the declared, but unpaid, dividends); or (b) the date the Fund acquired such security. Accordingly, in order to satisfy its income distribution requirements, the Fund may be required to pay dividends based on anticipated earnings, and shareholders may receive dividends in an earlier year than would otherwise be the case.

In certain situations, the Fund may, for a taxable year, defer all or a portion of its net capital loss (or if there is no net capital loss, then any net long-term or short-term capital loss) realized after October and its late-year ordinary loss (defined as the sum of (i) the excess of post-October foreign currency and passive foreign investment company (“PFIC”) losses over post-October foreign currency and PFIC gains and (ii) the excess of post-December ordinary losses over post-December ordinary income) until the next taxable year in computing its investment company taxable income and net capital gain, which will defer the recognition of such realized losses. Such deferrals and other rules regarding gains and losses realized after October (or December) may affect the tax character of shareholder distributions.

Sales of Shares. Upon the sale or exchange of shares of the Fund, a shareholder will realize a taxable gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized and the shareholder’s basis in shares of the Fund. A redemption of shares by the Fund will be treated as a sale for this purpose. Such gain or loss will be treated as capital gain or loss if the shares are capital assets in the shareholder’s hands and will be long-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for more than one year and short-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for one year or less. Any loss realized on a sale or exchange will be disallowed to the extent the shares disposed of are replaced, including replacement through the reinvesting of dividends or capital gains distributions, or by an option or contract to acquire substantially identical shares, within a 61-day period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the disposition of the shares. In such a case, the basis of the shares acquired will be increased to reflect the disallowed loss. Any loss realized by a shareholder on the sale of Fund shares held by the shareholder for six months or less will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any distributions or deemed distributions of long-term capital gains received by the shareholder with respect to such share. The Medicare contribution tax described above will apply to the sale of Fund shares.

If a shareholder incurs a sales charge in acquiring shares of the Fund, disposes of those shares within 90 days and then, on or before January 31 of the following calendar year, acquires shares in a mutual fund for which the otherwise applicable sales charge is reduced by reason of a reinvestment right (e.g., an exchange privilege), the original sales charge will not be taken into account in computing gain/loss on the original shares to the extent the subsequent sales charge is reduced. Instead, the disregarded portion of the original sales charge will be added to the tax basis of the newly acquired shares. Furthermore, the same rule also applies to a disposition of the newly acquired shares made within 90 days of the second acquisition. This provision prevents shareholders from immediately deducting the sales charge by shifting their investments within a family of mutual funds.

Backup Withholding. In certain cases, the Fund will be required to withhold at a 24% rate and remit to the U.S. Treasury such amounts withheld from any distributions paid to a shareholder who: (i) has failed to provide a correct taxpayer identification number; (ii) is subject to backup withholding by the IRS; (iii) has failed to certify to the Fund that such shareholder is not subject to backup withholding; or (iv) has not certified that such shareholder is a U.S. person (including a U.S. resident alien). Backup withholding is not an additional tax and any amount withheld may be credited against a shareholder's U.S. federal income tax liability.

Sections 351 and 362. The Trust, on behalf of the Fund, has the right to reject an order for a purchase of shares of the Fund if the purchaser (or group of purchasers) would, upon obtaining the shares so ordered, own 80% or more of the outstanding shares of the Fund and if, pursuant to Sections 351 and 362 of the Internal Revenue Code, the Fund would have a basis in the securities different from the market value of such securities on the date of deposit. If the Fund’s basis in such securities on the date of deposit was less than market value on such date, the Fund, upon disposition of the securities, would recognize more taxable gain or less taxable loss than if its basis in the securities had been equal to market value. It is not anticipated that the Trust will exercise the right of rejection except in a case where the Trust determines that accepting the order could result in material adverse tax consequences to the Fund or its shareholders. The Trust also has the right to require information necessary to determine beneficial share ownership for purposes of the 80% determination.

Taxation of Certain Derivatives. The Fund’s transactions in zero coupon securities, non-U.S. currencies, forward contracts, options and futures contracts (including options and futures contracts on non-U.S. currencies), to the extent permitted, will be subject to special provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (including provisions relating to “hedging transactions” and “straddles”) that, among other consequences, may affect the character of gains and losses realized by the Fund (i.e., may affect whether gains or losses are ordinary or capital), accelerate recognition of income to the Fund and defer Fund losses. These rules could therefore affect the character, amount and timing of distributions to shareholders. These provisions also (a) will require the Fund to mark-to-market certain types of the positions in its portfolio (i.e., treat them as if they were closed out at the end of each year) and (b) may cause the Fund to recognize income without receiving cash with which to pay dividends or make distributions in amounts necessary to satisfy the distribution requirements for avoiding income and excise taxes. The Fund will monitor its transactions, will make the appropriate tax elections and will make the appropriate entries in its books and records when it acquires any zero coupon security, non-U.S. currency, forward contract, option, futures contract or hedged investment in order to mitigate the effect of these rules and prevent disqualification of the Fund as a RIC.

The Fund’s investments in so-called “Section 1256 contracts,” such as regulated futures contracts, most non-U.S. currency forward contracts traded in the interbank market and options on most security indexes, are subject to special tax rules. All Section 1256 contracts held by the Fund at the end of its taxable year are required to be marked to their market value, and any unrealized gain or loss on those positions will be included in the Fund’s income as if each position had been sold for its fair market value at the end of the taxable year. The resulting gain or loss will be combined with any gain or loss realized by the Fund from positions in Section 1256 contracts closed during the taxable year. Provided such positions were held as capital assets and were not part of a “hedging transaction” nor part of a “straddle,” 60% of the resulting net gain or loss will be treated as long-term capital gain or loss, and 40% of such net gain or loss will be treated as short-term capital gain or loss, regardless of the period of time the positions were actually held by the Fund.

As a result of entering into swap contracts, the Fund may make or receive periodic net payments. The Fund may also make or receive a payment when a swap is terminated prior to maturity through an assignment of the swap or other closing transaction. Periodic net payments will generally constitute ordinary income or deductions, while termination of a swap will generally result in capital gain or loss (which will be a long-term capital gain or loss if the Fund has been a party to the swap for more than one year). With respect to certain types of swaps, the Fund may be required to currently recognize income or loss with respect to future payments on such swaps or may elect under certain circumstances to mark such swaps to market annually for tax purposes as ordinary income or loss.

Qualified Dividend Income. Distributions by the Fund of investment company taxable income (including any short-term capital gains), whether received in cash or shares, will be taxable either as ordinary income or as qualified dividend income, which is eligible to be taxed at long-term capital gain rates to the extent the Fund receives qualified dividend income on the securities it holds and the Fund reports the distribution as qualified dividend income. Qualified dividend income is, in general, dividend income from taxable U.S. corporations (but generally not from U.S. REITs) and certain non-U.S. corporations (e.g., non-U.S. corporations that are not PFICs and which are incorporated in a possession of the U.S. or in certain countries with a comprehensive tax treaty with the U.S., or the stock of which is readily tradable on an established securities market in the U.S. (where the dividends are paid with respect to such stock)). Under current IRS guidance, the U.S. has appropriate comprehensive income tax treaties with the following countries: Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China (but not with Hong Kong, which is treated as a separate jurisdiction for U.S. tax purposes), Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Venezuela. Substitute payments received by the Fund for securities lent out by the Fund will not be qualified dividend income.

A dividend from the Fund will not be treated as qualified dividend income to the extent that: (i) the shareholder has not held the shares on which the dividend was paid for 61 days during the 121-day period that begins on the date that is 60 days before the date on which the shares become ex-dividend with respect to such dividend or the Fund fails to satisfy those holding period requirements with respect to the securities it holds that paid the dividends distributed to the shareholder (or, in the case of certain preferred stocks, the holding requirement of 91 days during the 181-day period beginning on the date that is 90 days before the date on which the stock becomes ex-dividend with respect to such dividend); (ii) the Fund or the shareholder is under an obligation (whether pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to substantially similar or related property; or (iii) the shareholder elects to treat such dividend as investment income under Section 163(d)(4)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code. Dividends received by the Fund from a REIT or another RIC may be treated as qualified dividend income only to the extent the dividend distributions are attributable to qualified dividend income received by such REIT or other RIC. In addition, the Tax Act permits a direct REIT shareholder to claim a 20% “qualified business income” deduction for ordinary REIT dividends, but does not permit a RIC paying dividends attributable to such income to pass through this special treatment to its shareholders. Unless future legislation or regulations provide for a pass-through, investors in such a RIC will treat such distributions as ordinary dividend income, as under prior law, whereas a direct REIT investor would benefit from the special treatment. It is expected that dividends received by the Fund from a REIT and distributed to a shareholder generally will be taxable to the shareholder as ordinary income. Distributions by the Fund of its net short-term capital gains will be taxable as ordinary income.

Corporate Dividends Received Deduction. Dividends paid by the Fund that are attributable to dividends received by the Fund from U.S. corporations may qualify for the U.S. federal dividends received deduction for corporations. A 46-day minimum holding period during the 90-day period that begins 45 days prior to ex-dividend date (or 91-day minimum holding period during the 180 period beginning 90 days prior to ex-dividend date for certain preference dividends) during which risk of loss may not be diminished is required for the applicable shares, at both the Fund and shareholder level, for a dividend to be eligible for the dividends received deduction. Restrictions may apply if indebtedness, including a short sale, is attributable to the investment.

Excess Inclusion Income. Under current law, the Fund serves to block unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”) from being realized by its tax-exempt shareholders. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a tax-exempt shareholder could realize UBTI by virtue of its investment in the Fund if shares in the Fund constitute debt-financed property in the hands of the tax-exempt shareholder within the meaning of Section 514(b) of the Internal Revenue Code. Certain types of income received by the Fund from REITs, real estate mortgage investment conduits, taxable mortgage pools or other investments may cause the Fund to report some or all of its distributions as “excess inclusion income.” To Fund shareholders, such excess inclusion income may: (i) constitute taxable income, as UBTI for those shareholders who would otherwise be tax-exempt such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) accounts, Keogh plans, pension plans and certain charitable entities; (ii) not be offset by otherwise allowable deductions for tax purposes; (iii) not be eligible for reduced U.S. withholding for non-U.S. shareholders even from tax treaty countries; and (iv) cause the Fund to be subject to tax if certain “disqualified organizations,” as defined by the Internal Revenue Code, are Fund shareholders. If a charitable remainder annuity trust or a charitable remainder unitrust (each as defined in Section 664 of the Internal Revenue Code) has UBTI for a taxable year, a 100% excise tax on the UBTI is imposed on the trust.

Reporting. If a shareholder recognizes a loss with respect to the Fund’s shares of $2 million or more for an individual shareholder or $10 million or more for a corporate shareholder, the shareholder must file with the IRS a disclosure statement on IRS Form 8886. Direct shareholders of portfolio securities are in many cases exempted from this reporting requirement, but under current guidance, shareholders of a RIC are not exempted. The fact that a loss is reportable under these regulations does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances.

Other Taxes. Dividends, distributions and redemption proceeds may also be subject to additional state, local and non-U.S. taxes depending on each shareholder’s particular situation.

Taxation of Non-U.S. Shareholders. Dividends paid by the Fund to non-U.S. shareholders are generally subject to withholding tax at a 30% rate or a reduced rate specified by an applicable income tax treaty to the extent derived from investment income and short-term capital gains. Dividends paid by the Fund from net tax-exempt income or long-term capital gains are generally not subject to such withholding tax. In order to obtain a reduced rate of withholding, a non-U.S. shareholder will be required to provide an IRS Form W-8BEN or IRS Form W-8BEN-E certifying its entitlement to benefits under a treaty. The withholding tax does not apply to regular dividends paid to a non-U.S. shareholder who provides an IRS Form W-8ECI, certifying that the dividends are effectively connected with the non-U.S. shareholder’s conduct of a trade or business within the U.S. Instead, the effectively connected dividends will be subject to regular U.S. income tax as if the non-U.S. shareholder were a U.S. shareholder. A non-U.S. corporation receiving effectively connected dividends may also be subject to additional “branch profits tax” imposed at a rate of 30% (or lower treaty rate). A non-U.S. shareholder who fails to provide an IRS Form W-8BEN, IRS Form W-8BEN-E or other applicable form may be subject to backup withholding at the appropriate rate.

Properly-reported dividends are generally exempt from U.S. federal withholding tax where they (i) are paid in respect of the Fund’s “qualified net interest income” (generally, the Fund’s U.S. source interest income, other than certain contingent interest and interest from obligations of a corporation or partnership in which the Fund is at least a 10% shareholder or partner, reduced by expenses that are allocable to such income) or (ii) are paid in respect of the Fund’s “qualified short-term capital gains” (generally, the excess of the Fund’s net short-term capital gain over the Fund’s long-term capital loss for such taxable year). However, depending on its circumstances, the Fund may report all, some or none of its potentially eligible dividends as such qualified net interest income or as qualified short-term capital gains and/or treat such dividends, in whole or in part, as ineligible for this exemption from withholding. In order to qualify for this exemption from withholding, a non-U.S. shareholder will need to comply with applicable certification requirements relating to its non-U.S. status (including, in general, furnishing an IRS Form W-8BEN, IRS Form W-8BEN-E or substitute Form). In the case of shares held through an intermediary, the intermediary may withhold even if the Fund reports the payment as qualified net interest income or qualified short-term capital gain. Non-U.S. shareholders should contact their intermediaries with respect to the application of these rules to their accounts.

The rules laid out in the previous paragraph, other than the withholding rules, will apply notwithstanding the Fund’s participation in a wash sale transaction or its payment of a substitute dividend.

Distributions that the Fund reports as “short-term capital gain dividends” or “long-term capital gain dividends” will not be treated as such to a recipient foreign shareholder if the distribution is attributable to gain received from the sale or exchange of U.S. real property or an interest in a U.S. real property holding corporation and the Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property exceeded certain levels. Instead, if the foreign shareholder has not owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of the Fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of distribution, such distributions will be subject to 30% withholding by the Fund and will be treated as ordinary dividends to the foreign shareholder; if the foreign shareholder owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of the Fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of the distribution, such distribution will be treated as real property gain subject to 21% withholding tax and could subject the foreign shareholder to U.S. filing requirements. Additionally, if the Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property were to exceed certain levels, a foreign shareholder realizing gains upon redemption from the Fund could be subject to the 21% withholding tax and U.S. filing requirements unless more than 50% of the Fund’s shares were owned by U.S. persons at such time or unless the foreign person had not held more than 5% of the Fund’s outstanding shares throughout either such person’s holding period for the redeemed shares or, if shorter, the previous five years.

interest paid after December 31, 2018, to: (i) foreign financial institutions, including non-U.S. investment funds, unless they agree to collect and disclose to the IRS information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. account holders; and (ii) certain other foreign entities, unless they certify certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners. To avoid withholding, foreign financial institutions will need to: (i) enter into agreements with the IRS that state that they will provide the IRS information, including the names, addresses and taxpayer identification numbers of direct and indirect U.S. account holders; comply with due diligence procedures with respect to the identification of U.S. accounts; report to the IRS certain information with respect to U.S. accounts maintained; agree to withhold tax on certain payments made to non-compliant foreign financial institutions or to account holders who fail to provide the required information; and determine certain other information concerning their account holders, or (ii) in the event an intergovernmental agreement and implementing legislation are adopted, provide local revenue authorities with similar account holder information. Other foreign entities may need to report the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of each substantial U.S. owner or provide certifications of no substantial U.S. ownership unless certain exceptions apply.

Shares of the Fund held by a non-U.S. shareholder at death will be considered situated within the U.S. and subject to the U.S. estate tax.

The foregoing discussion is a summary of certain material U.S. federal income tax considerations only and is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Purchasers of shares should consult their own tax advisors as to the tax consequences of investing in such shares, including consequences under state, local and non-U.S. tax laws. Finally, the foregoing discussion is based on applicable provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, regulations, judicial authority and administrative interpretations in effect on the date of this SAI. Changes in applicable authority could materially affect the conclusions discussed above, and such changes often occur.

Financial Statements

Financial statements for the Fund are not available because, as of the date of this SAI, the Fund has no financial information to report.

Miscellaneous Information

Counsel. Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, located at 787 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019, is counsel to the Trust.

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, located at Three Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA 94111, serves as the Trust's independent registered public accounting firm, audits the Fund's financial statements, and may perform other services.

Shareholder Communications to the Board. The Board has established a process for shareholders to communicate with the Board. Shareholders may contact the Board by mail. Correspondence should be addressed to iShares Board of Trustees, c/o BlackRock Fund Advisors, iShares Fund Administration, 400 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. Shareholder communications to the Board should include the following information: (i) the name and address of the shareholder; (ii) the number of shares owned by the shareholder; (iii) the Fund(s) of which the shareholder owns shares; and (iv) if these shares are owned indirectly through a broker, financial intermediary or other record owner, the name of the broker, financial intermediary or other record owner. All correspondence received as set forth above shall be reviewed by the Secretary of the Trust and reported to the Board.

Investors’ Rights. The Fund relies on the services of BFA and its other service providers, including the Distributor, administrator, custodian and transfer agent. Further information about the duties and roles of these service providers is set out in this SAI. Investors who acquire shares of the Fund are not parties to the relevant agreement with these service providers and do not have express contractual rights against the Fund or its service providers, except certain institutional investors that are Authorized Participants may have certain express contractual rights with respect to the Distributor under the terms of the relevant Authorized Participant Agreement. Investors may have certain legal rights under federal or state law against the Fund or its service providers. In the event that an investor considers that it may have a claim against the Fund, or against any service provider in connection with its investment in the Fund, such investor should consult its own legal advisor.

Appendix A1 – iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy

BlackRock U.S. Registered Funds

iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy

Procedures Governing Delegation of Proxy Voting to Fund Adviser

September 28, 2018

The Boards of Trustees/Directors (“Directors”) of Funds listed in Appendix A (the ‘‘iShares Sustainable ETFs’’), advised by BlackRock Fund Advisors (“BlackRock”), have the responsibility for the oversight of voting proxies relating to portfolio securities of the iShares Sustainable ETFs, and have determined that it is in the best interests of the iShares Sustainable ETFs and their shareholders to delegate the responsibility to vote proxies to BlackRock, subject to the principles outlined in this Policy, as part of BlackRock’s authority to manage, acquire and dispose of account assets, all as contemplated by the iShares Sustainable ETFs’ respective investment management agreements.

BlackRock has adopted guidelines and procedures and supplemental guidelines applicable to environmental and social issues investing (together and as from time to time amended, the “BlackRock Sustainable Voting Guidelines”) governing proxy voting by the iShares Sustainable ETFs managed by BlackRock.

BlackRock will cast votes on behalf of each of the iShares Sustainable ETFs on specific proxy issues in respect of securities held by each such iShares Sustainable ETF(or may refrain from voting) in accordance with the BlackRock Sustainable Voting Guidelines.

BlackRock will report on an annual basis to the Directors on (1) a summary of all proxy votes that BlackRock has made on behalf of the iShares Sustainable ETFs in the preceding year together with a representation that all votes were in accordance with the BlackRock Sustainable Voting Guidelines, and (2) any changes to the BlackRock Sustainable Voting Guidelines that have not previously been reported.

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INTRODUCTION TO BLACKROCK

BlackRock is one of the world’s leading asset management firms. We manage assets on behalf of institutional and individual clients worldwide, across equity, fixed income, liquidity, real estate, alternatives, and multi-asset strategies. Our client base includes pension plans, endowments, foundations, charities, official institutions, insurers and other financial institutions, as well as individuals around the world.

PHILOSOPHY ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

BlackRock’s Investment Stewardship program is focused on protecting and enhancing the economic value of the companies in which it invests on behalf of clients. We do this through engagement with boards and management of investee companies and, for those clients who have given us authority, through voting at shareholder meetings.

We believe that there are certain fundamental rights attached to share ownership. Companies and their boards should be accountable to shareholders and structured with appropriate checks and balances to ensure that they operate in shareholders’ interests. Effective voting rights are central to the rights of ownership and there should be one vote for one share. Shareholders should have the right to elect, remove and nominate directors, approve the appointment of the auditor and to amend the corporate charter or by-laws. Shareholders should be able to vote on matters that are material to the protection of their investment including but not limited to changes to the purpose of the business, dilution levels and pre-emptive rights, the distribution of income and the capital structure. In order to exercise these rights effectively, we believe shareholders have the right to sufficient and timely information to be able to take an informed view of the proposals, and of the performance of the company and management.

Our focus is on the board of directors, as the agent of shareholders, which should set the company’s strategic aims within a framework of prudent and effective controls, which enables risk to be assessed and managed. The board should provide direction and leadership to management and oversee management’s performance. Our starting position is to be supportive of boards in their oversight efforts on our behalf and we would generally expect to support the items of business they put to a vote at shareholder meetings. Votes cast against or withheld from resolutions proposed by the board are a signal that we are concerned that the directors or management have either not acted in the interests of shareholders or have not responded adequately to shareholder concerns regarding strategy or performance.

These principles set out our approach to engaging with companies, provide guidance on our position on corporate governance and outline how our views might be reflected in our voting decisions. Corporate governance practices vary internationally and our expectations in relation to individual companies are based on the legal and regulatory framework of each market. However, as noted above, we do believe that there are some overarching principles of corporate governance that apply globally. We assess voting matters on a case-by-case basis and in light of each company’s unique circumstances. We are interested to understand from the company’s reporting its approach to corporate governance, particularly where it is different from the usual market practice, and how it benefits shareholders.

BlackRock also believes that shareholders have responsibilities in relation to monitoring and providing feedback to companies, sometimes known as stewardship. These ownership responsibilities include, in our view, engaging with management or board members on corporate governance matters, voting proxies in the best long-term economic interests of shareholders and engaging with regulatory bodies to ensure a sound policy framework consistent with promoting long-term shareholder value creation. Institutional shareholders also have responsibilities to their clients to have appropriate resources and oversight structures. Our own approach is set out in the section below titled “BlackRock’s oversight of its investment stewardship activities”.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, ENGAGEMENT AND VOTING

We recognize that accepted standards of corporate governance differ between markets but we believe that there are sufficient common threads globally to identify an overarching set of principles. The primary objective of our investment stewardship activities is the protection and enhancement of the value of our clients’ investments in public corporations. Thus, these principles focus on practices and structures that we consider to be supportive of long-term value creation. We discuss below the principles under six key themes. In our regional and market-specific voting guidelines we explain how these principles inform our voting decisions in relation to specific resolutions that may appear on the agenda of a shareholder meeting in the relevant market.

The six key themes are:

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•	Boards and directors;
•	Auditors and audit-related issues;
•	Capital structure, mergers, asset sales and other special transactions;
•	Remuneration and benefits;
•	Environmental and social issues; and
•	General corporate governance matters.

At a minimum, we would expect companies to observe the accepted corporate governance standard in their domestic market or to explain why doing so is not in the interests of shareholders. Where company reporting and disclosure is inadequate or the approach taken is inconsistent with our view of what is in the best interests of shareholders, we will engage with the company and/or use our vote to encourage a change in practice. In making voting decisions, we take into account research from proxy advisors, other internal and external research, information published by the company or provided through engagement and the views of our equity portfolio managers.

BlackRock views engagement as an important activity; engagement provides BlackRock with the opportunity to improve our understanding of investee companies and their governance structures, so that our voting decisions may be better informed. Engagement also allows us to share our philosophy and approach to investment and corporate governance with companies to enhance their understanding of our objectives. There are a range of approaches we may take in engaging companies depending on the nature of the issue under consideration, the company and the market.

Boards and directors

The performance of the board is critical to the economic success of the company and to the protection of shareholders’ interests. Board members serve as agents of shareholders in overseeing the strategic direction and operation of the company. For this reason, BlackRock focuses on directors in many of its engagements and sees the election of directors as one of its most important responsibilities in the proxy voting context.

We expect the board of directors to promote and protect shareholder interests by:

•	establishing an appropriate corporate governance structure;
•	supporting and overseeing management in setting strategy;
•	ensuring the integrity of financial statements;
•	making decisions regarding mergers, acquisitions and disposals;
•	establishing appropriate executive compensation structures; and
•	addressing business issues including environmental and social issues when they have the potential to materially impact company reputation and performance.

There should be clear definitions of the role of the board, the committees of the board and senior management such that the responsibilities of each are well understood and accepted. Companies should report publicly the approach taken to governance (including in relation to board structure) and why this approach is in the interest of shareholders. We will engage with the appropriate directors where we have concerns about the performance of the board or the company, the broad strategy of the company or the performance of individual board members. Concerns about directors may include their role on the board of a different company where that board has performed poorly and failed to protect shareholder interests.

BlackRock believes that directors should stand for re-election on a regular basis. We assess directors nominated for election or re-election in the context of the composition of the board as a whole. There should be detailed disclosure of the relevant credentials of the individual directors in order that shareholders can assess the caliber of an individual nominee. We expect there to be a sufficient number of independent directors on the board to ensure the protection of the interests of all shareholders. Common impediments to independence may include but are not limited to:

•	current employment at the company or a subsidiary;
•	former employment within the past several years as an executive of the company;
•	providing substantial professional services to the company and/or members of the company’s management;
•	having had a substantial business relationship in the past three years;

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•	having, or representing a shareholder with, a substantial shareholding in the company;
•	being an immediate family member of any of the aforementioned; and
•	interlocking directorships.

BlackRock believes that the operation of the board is enhanced when there is a clearly independent, senior non-executive director to lead it or, where the chairman is also the CEO or is otherwise not independent, an independent lead director. The role of this director is to enhance the effectiveness of the independent members of the board through shaping the agenda, ensuring adequate information is provided to the board and encouraging independent participation in board deliberations. The lead independent board director should be available to shareholders if they have concerns that they wish to discuss.

To ensure that the board remains effective, regular reviews of board performance should be carried out and assessments made of gaps in skills or experience amongst the members. BlackRock believes it is beneficial for new directors to be brought onto the board periodically to refresh the group’s thinking and to ensure both continuity and adequate succession planning. In identifying potential candidates, boards should take into consideration the diversity of experience and expertise of the current directors and how that might be augmented by incoming directors. We believe that directors are in the best position to assess the optimal size for the board, but we would be concerned if a board seemed too small to have an appropriate balance of directors or too large to be effective.

There are matters for which the board has responsibility that may involve a conflict of interest for executives or for affiliated directors. BlackRock believes that shareholders’ interests are best served when the board forms committees of fully independent directors to deal with such matters. In many markets, these committees of the board specialize in audit, director nominations and compensation matters. An ad hoc committee might also be formed to decide on a special transaction, particularly one with a related party.

Auditors and audit-related issues

BlackRock recognizes the critical importance of financial statements which should provide a complete and accurate picture of a company’s financial condition. We will hold the members of the audit committee or equivalent responsible for overseeing the management of the audit function. We take particular note of cases involving significant financial restatements or ad hoc notifications of material financial weakness.

The integrity of financial statements depends on the auditor being free of any impediments to being an effective check on management. To that end, we believe it is important that auditors are, and are seen to be, independent. Where the audit firm provides services to the company in addition to the audit, the fees earned should be disclosed and explained. Audit committees should also have in place a procedure for assuring annually the independence of the auditor.

Capital structure, mergers, asset sales and other special transactions

The capital structure of a company is critical to its owners, the shareholders, as it impacts the value of their investment and the priority of their interest in the company relative to that of other equity or debt investors. Pre-emptive rights are a key protection for shareholders against the dilution of their interests.

In assessing mergers, asset sales or other special transactions, BlackRock’s primary consideration is the long-term economic interests of shareholders. Boards proposing a transaction need to clearly explain the economic and strategic rationale behind it. We will review a proposed transaction to determine the degree to which it enhances long-term shareholder value. We would prefer that proposed transactions have the unanimous support of the board and have been negotiated at arm’s length. We may seek reassurance from the board that executives’ and/or board members’ financial interests in a given transaction have not adversely affected their ability to place shareholders’ interests before their own. Where the transaction involves related parties, we would expect the recommendation to support it to come from the independent directors and would prefer non-conflicted shareholders to vote separately on the proposal.

BlackRock believes that shareholders have a right to dispose of company shares in the open market without unnecessary restriction. In our view, corporate mechanisms designed to limit shareholders’ ability to sell their shares are contrary to basic property rights. Such mechanisms can serve to protect and entrench interests other than those of the shareholders. We believe that shareholders are broadly capable of making decisions in their own best interests. We would expect any so-called ‘shareholder rights plans’ being proposed by a board to be subject to shareholder approval on introduction and periodically thereafter for continuation.

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Remuneration and benefits

BlackRock expects a company’s board of directors to put in place a compensation structure that incentivizes and rewards executives appropriately and is aligned with shareholder interests, particularly long-term shareholder returns. We would expect the compensation committee to take into account the specific circumstances of the company and the key individuals the board is trying to incentivize. We encourage companies to ensure that their compensation packages incorporate appropriate and challenging performance conditions consistent with corporate strategy and market practice. We use third party research, in addition to our own analysis, to evaluate existing and proposed compensation structures. We hold members of the compensation committee or equivalent accountable for poor compensation practices or structures.

BlackRock believes that there should be a clear link between variable pay and company performance as reflected in returns to shareholders. We are not supportive of one-off or special bonuses unrelated to company or individual performance. We support incentive plans that foster the sustainable achievement of results. The vesting timeframes associated with incentive plans should facilitate a focus on long-term value creation. We believe consideration should be given to building clawback provisions into incentive plans such that executives would be required to repay rewards where they were not justified by actual performance. Compensation committees should guard against contractual arrangements that would entitle executives to material compensation for early termination of their contract. Finally, pension contributions should be reasonable in light of market practice.

Non-executive directors should be compensated in a manner that does not risk compromising their independence or aligning their interests too closely with those of the management, whom they are charged with overseeing.

Environmental and social issues

Our fiduciary duty to clients is to protect and enhance their economic interest in the companies in which we invest on their behalf. It is within this context that we undertake our investment stewardship activities. We believe that well-managed companies will deal effectively with the environmental and social (“E&S”) aspects of their businesses.

BlackRock expects companies to identify and report on the material, business-specific E&S risks and opportunities and to explain how these are managed. This explanation should make clear how the approach taken by the company best serves the interests of shareholders and protects and enhances the long-term economic value of the company. The key performance indicators in relation to E&S matters should also be disclosed and performance against them discussed, along with any peer group benchmarking and verification processes in place. This helps shareholders assess how well management is dealing with the E&S aspects of the business. Any global standards adopted should also be disclosed and discussed in this context.

We may vote against the election of directors where we have concerns that a company might not be dealing with E&S issues appropriately. Sometimes we may reflect such concerns by supporting a shareholder proposal on the issue, where there seems to be either a significant potential threat or realized harm to shareholders’ interests caused by poor management of E&S matters. In deciding our course of action, we will assess whether the company has already taken sufficient steps to address the concern and whether there is a clear and material economic disadvantage to the company if the issue is not addressed.

More commonly, given that E&S matters are often not voting issues, we will engage directly with the board or management. The trigger for engagement on a particular E&S concern is our assessment that there is potential for material economic ramifications for shareholders.

We do not see it as our role to make social or political judgments on behalf of clients. We expect investee companies to comply, at a minimum, with the laws and regulations of the jurisdictions in which they operate. They should explain how they manage situations where such laws or regulations are contradictory or ambiguous.

General corporate governance matters

BlackRock believes that shareholders have a right to timely and detailed information on the financial performance and viability of the companies in which they invest. In addition, companies should also publish information on the governance structures in place and the rights of shareholders to influence these. The reporting and disclosure provided by companies helps shareholders assess whether the economic interests of shareholders have been protected and the quality of the board’s oversight of management. BlackRock Investment Stewardship believes shareholders should have the right to vote on key

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corporate governance matters, including on changes to governance mechanisms, to submit proposals to the shareholders’ meeting and to call special meetings of shareholders.

BLACKROCK’S OVERSIGHT OF ITS INVESTMENT STEWARDSHIP ACTIVITIES

Oversight

BlackRock holds itself to a very high standard in its investment stewardship activities, including in relation to executing proxy votes. This function is executed by a team of dedicated BlackRock employees without sales responsibilities (“Investment Stewardship Group”), and which is considered an investment function. BlackRock maintains three regional advisory committees (“Stewardship Advisory Committees”) for (a) the Americas; (b) Europe, the Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”); and (c) Asia-Pacific, generally consisting of senior BlackRock investment professionals and/or senior employees with practical boardroom experience. The regional Stewardship Advisory Committees review and advise on amendments to the proxy voting guidelines covering markets within each respective region (“Guidelines”). The Investment Stewardship Global Oversight Committee (“Global Committee”), which is a risk-focused committee, is generally composed of senior representatives of the active and index equity investment businesses, the Deputy General Counsel, the senior executive to whom the Investment Stewardship Group reports, the Global Head of Investment Stewardship (“Global Head”), and other senior representatives of relevant functions, as appropriate. The Global Head, a dedicated BlackRock employee without sales responsibilities, has primary oversight of the activities of the Investment Stewardship Group, including voting in accordance with the Guidelines, which requires the application of professional judgment and consideration of each company’s unique circumstances. The Global Committee reviews and approves amendments to these Global Corporate Governance & Engagement Principles. The Global Committee also reviews and approves amendments to the Guidelines, as proposed by the regional Stewardship Advisory Committees. The Global Committee also receives and reviews periodic reports regarding the votes cast by the Investment Stewardship Group and regular updates on material process issues, procedural changes and other matters of concern to the Global Committee. The Global Committee reviews these reports in an oversight capacity and as informed by BlackRock’s corporate governance engagement program and Guidelines, which set forth each Stewardship Advisory Committees’ views with respect to certain corporate governance and other issues that typically arise in the proxy voting context. In addition, the Investment Stewardship Group carries out engagement with companies (including in conjunction with portfolio managers in discussions of significant governance issues), monitors and executes proxy votes, and conducts vote operations (including maintaining records of votes cast) in a manner consistent with the relevant Guidelines. The Investment Stewardship Group also conducts research on corporate governance issues and participates in industry discussions to keep abreast of important developments in the corporate governance field. The Investment Stewardship Group may utilize vendors for certain of the foregoing activities and performs oversight of those vendors. The Investment Stewardship Group may raise complicated or particularly controversial matters for internal discussion with the appropriate investors (generally, those with relevant knowledge or experience) and/or refer such matters to the appropriate regional Stewardship Advisory Committees for their review, discussion and guidance prior to making a voting decision. BlackRock’s Equity Policy Oversight Committee (“EPOC”) is informed of certain aspects of the work of the Global Committee and the Investment Stewardship Group.

Vote execution

BlackRock carefully considers proxies submitted to funds and other fiduciary accounts (“Funds”) for which it has voting authority. BlackRock votes (or refrains from voting) proxies for each Fund for which it has voting authority based on BlackRock’s evaluation of the best long-term economic interests of shareholders, in the exercise of its independent business judgment, and without regard to the relationship of the issuer of the proxy (or any shareholder proponent or dissident shareholder) to the Fund, the Fund’s affiliates (if any), BlackRock or BlackRock’s affiliates, or BlackRock employees (see “Conflicts management policies and procedures”, below).

When exercising voting rights, BlackRock will normally vote on specific proxy issues in accordance with its Guidelines for the relevant market. The Guidelines are reviewed regularly and are amended consistent with changes in the local market practice, as developments in corporate governance occur, or as otherwise deemed advisable by BlackRock’s Stewardship Advisory Committees. The Investment Stewardship Group may, in the exercise of their professional judgment, conclude that the Guidelines do not cover the specific matter upon which a proxy vote is required or that an exception to the Guidelines would be in the best long-term economic interests of BlackRock’s clients.

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In the uncommon circumstance of there being a vote with respect to fixed income securities or the securities of privately held issuers, the decision generally will be made by a Fund's portfolio managers and/or the Investment Stewardship Group based on their assessment of the particular transactions or other matters at issue.

In certain markets, proxy voting involves logistical issues which can affect BlackRock’s ability to vote such proxies, as well as the desirability of voting such proxies. These issues include but are not limited to: (i) untimely notice of shareholder meetings; (ii) restrictions on a foreigner’s ability to exercise votes; (iii) requirements to vote proxies in person; (iv) “share- blocking” (requirements that investors who exercise their voting rights surrender the right to dispose of their holdings for some specified period in proximity to the shareholder meeting); (v) potential difficulties in translating the proxy; (vi) regulatory constraints; and (vii) requirements to provide local agents with unrestricted powers of attorney to facilitate voting instructions. We are not supportive of impediments to the exercise of voting rights such as shareblocking or overly burdensome administrative requirements.

As a consequence, BlackRock votes proxies only on a “best-efforts” basis. In addition, the Investment Stewardship Group may determine that it is generally in the best interests of BlackRock’s clients not to vote proxies if the costs (including but not limited to opportunity costs associated with shareblocking constraints) associated with exercising a vote are expected to outweigh the benefit the client would derive by voting on the issuer’s proposal.

While it is expected that BlackRock, as a fiduciary, will generally seek to vote proxies over which BlackRock exercises voting authority in a uniform manner for all BlackRock clients, the Investment Stewardship Group, in conjunction with the portfolio manager of an account, may determine that the specific circumstances of such an account require that such account’s proxies be voted differently due to such account’s investment objectives or other factors that differentiate it from other accounts. In addition, portfolio managers may from time to time reach differing but equally valid views on how best to maximize economic value in respect of a particular investment. Accordingly, portfolio managers retain full discretion to vote the shares in the Funds they manage based on their analysis of the economic impact of a particular ballot item.

Conflicts management policies and procedures

The Investment Stewardship Group maintains the following policies and procedures that seek to prevent undue influence on BlackRock’s proxy voting activity. Such influence might stem from any relationship between the issuer of a proxy (or any shareholder proponent or dissident shareholder) and BlackRock, BlackRock’s affiliates, a Fund or a Fund’s affiliates, or BlackRock employees. The following are examples of sources of perceived or potential conflicts of interest:

•	BlackRock clients who may be issuers of securities or proponents of shareholder resolutions
•	BlackRock business partners or vendors who may be issuers of securities or proponents of shareholder resolutions
•	BlackRock employees who may sit on the boards of public companies held in BlackRock portfolios
•	Significant BlackRock, Inc. investors who may be issuers of securities held in BlackRock portfolios
•	Securities of BlackRock, Inc. or BlackRock investment funds held in BlackRock portfolios
•	BlackRock, Inc. board members who actively serve as senior executives of public companies held in BlackRock portfolios

BlackRock has taken certain steps to mitigate perceived or potential conflicts including, but not limited to, the following:

•

Adopted the Guidelines which are designed to protect and enhance the economic value of the companies in which BlackRock invests on behalf of clients.

•

Established a reporting structure that separates the Global Head and Investment Stewardship Group from employees with sales, vendor management or business partnership roles. In addition, BlackRock seeks to ensure that all engagements with corporate issuers, dissident shareholders or shareholder proponents are managed consistently and without regard to BlackRock’s relationship with such parties. Clients or business partners are not given special treatment or differentiated access to the Investment Stewardship Group, which seeks to treat equally all issuers and other market participants wishing to engage with BlackRock on corporate governance matters. The Investment Stewardship Group prioritizes based on factors including but not limited to its need for additional information to make a voting decision or its view on the likelihood that an engagement could lead to positive outcomes over time for the economic value of securities held in client portfolios. Within the normal course of business, the Global Head or Investment Stewardship Group may engage directly with BlackRock clients, business partners and/or vendors, and/or with employees with sales, vendor management or business partnership roles, in discussions regarding general corporate governance policy matters, and/or to otherwise ensure that proxy-related client service levels are met.

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•

Determined to engage, in certain instances, an independent fiduciary to vote proxies as a further safeguard to avoid potential conflicts of interest, to satisfy regulatory compliance requirements, or as may be otherwise required by applicable law. In such circumstances, the independent fiduciary provides BlackRock’s proxy voting agent with instructions, in accordance with the Guidelines, as to how to vote such proxies, and BlackRock’s proxy voting agent votes the proxy in accordance with the independent fiduciary’s determination. BlackRock uses an independent fiduciary to vote proxies of (i) any company that is affiliated with BlackRock, Inc., (ii) any public company that includes BlackRock employees on its board of directors, (iii) The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., (iv) any public company of which a BlackRock, Inc. board member serves as a senior executive, and (v) companies when legal or regulatory requirements compel BlackRock to use an independent fiduciary. In selecting an independent fiduciary, we assess several characteristics, including but not limited to: independence, an ability to analyze proxy issues and vote in the best economic interest of our clients, reputation for reliability and integrity, and operational capacity to accurately deliver the assigned votes in a timely manner. We may engage more than one independent fiduciary, in part in order to mitigate potential or perceived conflicts of interest at an independent fiduciary. The Global Committee appoints and reviews the performance of the independent fiduciar(ies), generally on an annual basis.

With regard to the relationship between securities lending and proxy voting, BlackRock’s approach is driven by our clients’ economic interests. The evaluation of the economic desirability of recalling loans involves balancing the revenue producing value of loans against the likely economic value of casting votes. Based on our evaluation of this relationship, we believe that, generally, the likely economic value of casting most votes is less than the securities lending income, either because the votes will not have significant economic consequences or because the outcome of the vote would not be affected by BlackRock recalling loaned securities in order to ensure they are voted. Periodically, BlackRock analyzes the process and benefits of voting proxies for securities on loan, and will consider whether any modification of its proxy voting policies or procedures is necessary in light of future conditions. In addition, BlackRock may in its discretion determine that the value of voting outweighs the cost of recalling shares, and thus recall shares to vote in that instance.

Voting guidelines

The issue-specific Guidelines published for each region/country in which we vote are intended to summarize BlackRock’s general philosophy and approach to issues that may commonly arise in the proxy voting context in each market where we invest. These Guidelines are not intended to be exhaustive. The Investment Stewardship Group applies the Guidelines on a case-by-case basis, in the context of the individual circumstances of each company and the specific issue under review. As such, these Guidelines do not provide a guide to how the Investment Stewardship Group will vote in every instance. Rather, they share our view about corporate governance issues generally, and provide insight into how we typically approach issues that commonly arise on corporate ballots.

Reporting

We report our proxy voting activity directly to clients and publicly as required. In addition, we publish on the BlackRock website more detailed reports of our stewardship activities, including engagement with companies and with other relevant parties.

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Appendix A3 – Supplemental BlackRock Sustainable Proxy Voting Guidelines

September 28, 2018

Environmental and social issues

Our fiduciary duty to clients is to protect and enhance their economic interest in the companies in which we invest on their behalf. It is within this context that BlackRock Investment Stewardship (BIS) undertake our corporate governance activities. We believe that well-managed companies will deal effectively with the material environmental and social (“E&S”) factors relevant to their businesses.

BIS expects companies to identify and report on the material, business-specific E&S risks and opportunities and to explain how these are managed. This explanation should make clear how the approach taken by the company best serves the interests of shareholders and protects and enhances the long-term economic value of the company. The key performance indicators in relation to E&S matters should also be disclosed and performance against them discussed, along with any peer group benchmarking and verification processes in place. This helps shareholders assess how well management is dealing with the material E&S factors relevant to the business. Any global standards adopted should also be disclosed and discussed in this context.

We may vote against the election of directors where we have concerns that a company might not be dealing with E&S issues appropriately. Sometimes we may reflect such concerns by supporting a shareholder proposal on the issue, where there seems to be either a significant potential threat or realized harm to shareholders’ interests caused by poor management of material E&S matters. In deciding our course of action, we will assess the nature of our engagement with the company on the issue over time, including whether:

•	The company has already taken sufficient steps to address the concern
•	The company is in the process of actively implementing a response
•	There is a clear and material economic disadvantage to the company in the near-term if the issue is not addressed in the manner requested by the shareholder proposal

BIS may vote against shareholder proposals that, in our assessment, are too prescriptive or narrowly focused, deal with issues we consider to be the purview of the board or management, or where the company is already reporting in the spirit of the shareholder proposals even if not in its exact format.

In certain instances, BIS may instruct E&S shareholder proposals differently for different funds. This “split vote” will be based on BIS’ assessment of the materiality of the underlying issues in conjunction with an assessment that clients invested in the ESG funds may expect more urgent action be taken by the company. In our view, it is reasonable to expect that clients invested in ESG funds may be less patient with regard to evolution in corporate policies on material E&S matters and therefore wish to send a stronger signal to the company by supporting a shareholder proposal.

Environmental shareholder proposals:

Climate risks and opportunities:

Within the framework laid out above, as well as our guidance on “How BlackRock Investment Stewardship engages on climate risk”, we believe that climate presents significant investment risks and opportunities to many companies. We believe that the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate- Related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (“SASB”) sector-specific disclosure standards provide useful guidance to companies on identifying, managing, and reporting on climate-related risks and opportunities. We expect companies to help their investors understand how the company may be impacted by climate change and to convey their governance around this issue through their corporate disclosures. For companies in sectors that are significantly exposed to climate-related risk, we expect the whole board to have demonstrable fluency in how climate risk affects the business, and how management mitigates that risk. Shareholder proposals related to climate risk, include, but are not limited to: the need for greater reporting on GHG

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emissions; how the company’s strategy would fare under a 2 degree scenario;¹ the transition to a lower carbon economy (including greater integration of renewable energy etc.); and the company’s management of methane or other GHG emissions.

¹	As envisioned by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCC”) Conference of the Parties to the Paris Climate Accord in 2015.

In assessing these proposals, we take into consideration the factors laid out above, as well as the robustness of the company’s existing disclosures and our understanding of its management of the issues as revealed through our engagements with the company and board members over time.

Sustainability Disclosures

As set forth above, BIS expects companies to identify and report on the material, business-specific E&S risks and opportunities and to explain how these are managed. This includes how the company is assessing risks to the natural environment as a result, directly, or indirectly, of its operations. This may include impacts to forests, species, water, air, as well as the impact of waste, and of product life-cycle management. We believe that SASB’s sector-specific disclosure standards provide useful guidance to companies on identifying, managing, and reporting on material sector-specific sustainability issues. Using SASB as a guide, where necessary, we will engage with companies to understand their oversight and management of material sustainability factors. Where there is a shareholder proposal related to a matter of environmental sustainability, we will assess the quality of the company’s existing disclosures, the information gleaned through engagement, and the fund’s timeframe for change in reaching a decision on how to vote.

Social and political shareholder proposals:

Data Privacy and cybersecurity:

BIS views cybersecurity as a significant enterprise-wide risk that can impact all levels of a company’s operational activities. Managing this risk is essential to preserving corporate value over time. We assess cybersecurity risk as one component of a company’s broader risk management and oversight responsibility. In any engagement related to risk, we seek to understand a company’s governance and strategy around the issue; the board’s oversight of management and the company’s processes; and the company’s disclosures regarding its preparedness to manage a risk-related event if and when one occurs. Where a company receives a shareholder proposal related to cybersecurity and data privacy accountability, we will review the company’s existing disclosures and take into account our understanding of its management of the issues as revealed through our engagements with the company and board members over time.

Human Capital Management:

A company’s approach to human capital management – employee development, diversity and a commitment to equal employment opportunity, health and safety, labor relations, and supply chain labor standards, amongst other things – will vary across sectors but are a factor in business continuity and success. In light of evolving market trends like shortages of skilled labor, uneven wage growth, and technology that is transforming the labor market, many companies and investors consider having a high standard of human capital management a competitive advantage. In our engagement on these factors, we seek to ensure companies are adopting the sound business practices likely to create an engaged and stable workforce. As part of the engagement, we are interested to know if, and how, boards oversee and work with management to improve performance in these areas. Such engagement also provides a lens into the company’s culture, long-term operational risk management practices, and, more broadly, the quality of the board’s oversight.

BIS is aware that disclosure of information on HCM is still evolving and that the way HCM risks manifest themselves may vary by industry and market. We are members of the Investor Advisory Group of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), which provides industry-specific HCM metrics. We encourage companies to aim over time to go beyond commentaries and provide more transparency on their practices. Investors recognize that most companies are already in possession of HCM data on their workforce, but are cautious of disclosing this information. We believe that both qualitative and quantifiable indicators can help effectively distinguish companies that are managing this important driver of value in their business. Where a company receives a shareholder proposal related to reporting on Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), board diversity or pay disparity, we will take into account the company’s current disclosures as well as any insight we receive through our engagements with the company and board members in reaching a decision on how to vote.

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Human Rights

BIS believes that companies with strong corporate governance practices are more likely to manage the material environmental and social risks facing the company. To that end, we expect management and the board to oversee the health and safety of its workers, their working conditions, adherence to applicable labor and anti-discrimination laws, work day length and minimum wage best practices. Companies should also understand and manage their impact on communities, including lower income and indigenous populations. We expect companies and board to be able to explain their oversight of human rights-related issues. We expect that companies have policies in place to review their practices and supply chains and to have processes to institute corrective action where necessary. We also expect companies to be in compliance with international standards such as the UN Global Compact, where applicable, and we will take into account any violations thereof in the context of our engagement and voting decisions.

Opioids:

Companies involved in the manufacture and distribution of opioids have come under increasing scrutiny over their ability to manage the financial and reputational risks associated with their products. We believe financial and reputational consequences of litigation, adverse publicity, and regulatory actions and investigations have the potential to impact these companies’ long-term financial performance. Through engagement with such companies, we assess the robustness of management’s approach to setting strategy around drug pricing, drug access, marketing, supply chain management, and public education around controlled substances. We also evaluate board oversight of reputational and legal risks facing the company, as well as the process and frequency by which the board is informed about corporate policies and procedures related to oversight of opioid-related risks. Where a company receives a shareholder proposal related to reporting or overseeing opioid-related risk, or proposals related to reviewing drug pricing or distribution practices, our assessment will take into account factors discussed above, and any knowledge gained from our engagement with the company and board members, as well as the time frame needed for change.

Product safety, supply chains and distribution channels:

Companies in certain industries, such as the food and pharmaceutical sectors, may need to mitigate financial risks associated with their products, supply chains and/or their distribution channels. Where appropriate, BIS expects companies to disclose how they are addressing these risks for themselves and for their distributors, for example, by their participation in industry groups and/or initiatives or through certification by reputable organizations. Where a company receives a shareholder proposal on topics such as: animal welfare, animal testing, removal of antibiotic or genetically modified organism use in the supply chain or use of non-recycling packaging, we will assess the materiality of the issue to the company’s business, review the company’s existing disclosure, and if appropriate, engage the company’s board and management team to enhance our understanding of their processes and oversight.

Corporate political activities:

When presented with shareholder proposals requesting increased disclosure on corporate political activities, we may consider the political activities of that company and its peers, the existing level of disclosure, and our view of the associated risks. We generally believe that it is the duty of boards and management to determine the appropriate level of disclosure of all types of corporate activity, and we are generally not supportive of proposals that are overly prescriptive in nature. We may determine to support a shareholder proposal requesting additional reporting of corporate political activities where there seems to be either a significant potential threat or actual harm to shareholders’ interests and where we believe the company has not already provided shareholders with sufficient information to assess the company’s management of the risk. Finally, we believe that it is not the role of shareholders to suggest or approve corporate political activities; therefore we generally do not support proposals requesting a shareholder vote on political activities or expenditures.

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iShares^® Trust

Statement of Additional Information

Dated June 29, 2018
(as revised September 28, 2018)

This combined Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) is not a prospectus. It should be read in conjunction with the current prospectuses (each, a “Prospectus” and collectively, the “Prospectuses”) for the following series of iShares Trust (the “Trust”):

Fund	Ticker	Listing Exchange
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF	SHY	NASDAQ
iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF	IEI	NASDAQ
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF	IEF	NASDAQ
iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF	TLH	NYSE Arca
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	TLT	NASDAQ
iShares Agency Bond ETF	AGZ	NYSE Arca
iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	USIG	NASDAQ
iShares California Muni Bond ETF	CMF	NYSE Arca
iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF	IMTB	NYSE Arca
iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF	ILTB	NYSE Arca
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	AGG	NYSE Arca
iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF	SUSB	NASDAQ
iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF	SUSC	NASDAQ
iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF	GBF	NYSE Arca
iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	HYG	NYSE Arca
iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	LQD	NYSE Arca
iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF	GVI	Cboe BZX
iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF	IGIB	NASDAQ
iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF	IGLB	NYSE Arca
iShares MBS ETF	MBB	NASDAQ
iShares National Muni Bond ETF	MUB	NYSE Arca
iShares New York Muni Bond ETF	NYF	NYSE Arca
iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF	IGSB	NASDAQ
iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF	SUB	NYSE Arca
iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF	SHV	NASDAQ

The Prospectuses for the above-listed funds (each, a “Fund” and collectively, the “Funds”) are dated June 29, 2018, as amended and supplemented from time to time. Capitalized terms used herein that are not defined have the same meaning as in the applicable Prospectus, unless otherwise noted. The Financial Statements and Notes contained in the applicable Annual Report and Semi-Annual Report of the Trust for the Funds are incorporated by reference into and are deemed to be part of this SAI. A copy of each Fund's Prospectus, Annual Report and Semi-Annual Report may be obtained without charge by writing to the Trust's distributor, BlackRock Investments, LLC (the “Distributor” or “BRIL”), 1 University Square Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540, calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) or visiting www.iShares.com. Each Fund's Prospectus is incorporated by reference into this SAI.

iShares^® and BlackRock^® are registered trademarks of BlackRock Fund Advisors and its affiliates.

General Description of the Trust and its Funds

•	iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF
•	iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF
•	iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF
•	iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF
•	iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF
•	iShares Agency Bond ETF
•	iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF¹
•	iShares California Muni Bond ETF
•	iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF
•	iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF
•	iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF
•	iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF
•	iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF
•	iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF
•	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF
•	iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF
•	iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF
•	iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF²
•	iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF³
•	iShares MBS ETF
•	iShares National Muni Bond ETF
•	iShares New York Muni Bond ETF
•	iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF⁴
•	iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF
•	iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF

¹	On August 1, 2018, the name of the Fund changed from the iShares U.S. Credit Bond ETF to the iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF and the Fund’s Underlying Index changed from the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Credit Bond Index to the ICE BofAML US Corporate Index.
²	On August 1, 2018, the name of the Fund changed from the iShares Intermediate Credit Bond ETF to the iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF and the Fund’s Underlying Index changed from the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Intermediate Credit Bond Index to the ICE BofAML 5-10 Year US Corporate Index.
³	On August 1, 2018, the name of the Fund changed from the iShares 10+ Year Credit Bond ETF to the iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF and the Fund’s Underlying Index changed from the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Long Credit Index to the ICE BofAML 10+ Year US Corporate Index.
⁴	On August 1, 2018, the name of the Fund changed from the iShares 1-3 Year Credit Bond ETF to the iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF and the Fund’s Underlying Index changed from the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. 1-3 Year Credit Bond Index to the ICE BofAML 1-5 Year US Corporate Index.

Each Fund is managed by BlackRock Fund Advisors (“BFA”), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc., and generally seeks to track the investment results of the specific benchmark index identified in the applicable Prospectus for that Fund (each, an “Underlying Index”).

Each Fund offers and issues shares at their net asset value per share (“NAV”) only in aggregations of a specified number of shares (each, a “Creation Unit”), generally in exchange for a designated portfolio of securities (including any portion of such securities for which cash may be substituted) included in its Underlying Index (the “Deposit Securities”), together with the deposit of a specified cash payment (the “Cash Component”). Shares of the Funds are listed for trading on national securities exchanges such as Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (“Cboe BZX”) (formerly known as BATS Exchange, Inc.), The Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC (“NASDAQ”) or NYSE Arca, Inc. (“NYSE Arca”) (each a “Listing Exchange”). Shares of each Fund are traded in the secondary market and elsewhere at market prices that may be at, above or below the Fund's NAV. Shares are redeemable only in Creation Units by Authorized Participants (as defined in the Portfolio Holdings Information section of this SAI), and, generally, in exchange for portfolio securities and a Cash Amount (as defined in the Redemption of Creation Units section of this SAI). Creation Units typically are a specified number of shares, generally ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 shares or multiples thereof.

Exchange Listing and Trading

A discussion of exchange listing and trading matters associated with an investment in each Fund is contained in the Shareholder Information section of each Fund's Prospectus. The discussion below supplements, and should be read in conjunction with, that section of the applicable Prospectus.

Shares of each Fund are listed for trading, and trade throughout the day, on the applicable Listing Exchange and in other secondary markets. Shares of certain Funds may also be listed on certain non-U.S. exchanges. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Listing Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of shares of any Fund will continue to be met. The Listing Exchange may, but is not required to, remove the shares of a Fund from listing if, among other things: (i) following the initial 12-month period beginning upon the commencement of trading of Fund shares, there are fewer than 50 record and/or beneficial owners of shares of a Fund for 30 or more consecutive trading days, (ii) the value of the Underlying Index on which a Fund is based is no longer calculated or available, or (iii) any other event shall occur or condition shall exist that, in the opinion of the Listing Exchange, makes further dealings on the Listing Exchange inadvisable. The Listing Exchange will also remove shares of a Fund from listing and trading upon termination of such Fund or in the event a Fund does not comply with the continuous listing standards of the Listing Exchange, as described in the Fund’s Prospectus.

As in the case of other publicly-traded securities, when you buy or sell shares of a Fund through a broker, you may incur a brokerage commission determined by that broker, as well as other charges.

In order to provide additional information regarding the indicative value of shares of the Funds, the Listing Exchange or a market data vendor disseminates information every 15 seconds through the facilities of the Consolidated Tape Association, or through other widely disseminated means, an updated indicative optimized portfolio value (“IOPV”) for the Funds as calculated by an information provider or market data vendor. The Trust is not involved in or responsible for any aspect of the calculation or dissemination of the IOPV and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the IOPV.

An IOPV has a fixed-income securities component and a cash component. The fixed-income securities values included in an IOPV are the values of the Deposit Securities for a Fund. While the IOPV reflects the current value of the Deposit Securities required to be deposited in connection with the purchase of a Creation Unit, it does not necessarily reflect the precise composition of the current portfolio of securities held by the Fund at a particular point in time because the current portfolio of the Fund may include securities that are not a part of the current Deposit Securities. Therefore, a Fund’s IOPV

disseminated during the Listing Exchange trading hours should not be viewed as a real-time update of the Fund’s NAV, which is calculated only once a day.

The Trust reserves the right to adjust the share prices of the Funds in the future to maintain convenient trading ranges for investors. Any adjustments would be accomplished through stock splits or reverse stock splits, which would have no effect on the net assets of the Funds or an investor's equity interest in the Funds.

Investment Strategies and Risks

Each Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing primarily in both fixed-income securities that comprise its relevant Underlying Index and through transactions that provide substantially similar exposure to securities in the Underlying Index. Each Fund operates as an index fund and is not actively managed. Adverse performance of a security in a Fund’s portfolio will ordinarily not result in the elimination of the security from the Fund’s portfolio.

Each Fund engages in representative sampling, which is investing in a sample of securities selected by BFA to have a collective investment profile similar to that of the Fund's Underlying Index. Securities selected have aggregate investment characteristics (based on market capitalization and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as yield, credit rating, maturity and duration) and liquidity measures similar to those of the Underlying Index. A fund that uses representative sampling generally does not hold all of the securities that are in its underlying index.

Although the Funds do not seek leveraged returns, certain instruments used by the Funds may have a leveraging effect as described below.

Each of the iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF, iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF, iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF, iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF and iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF (the “Treasury Bond Funds”) generally invests at least 90% of its assets in the bonds of its Underlying Index and at least 95% of its assets in U.S. government bonds. Each Treasury Bond Fund may invest up to 10% of its assets in U.S. government bonds not included in its Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Treasury Bond Fund track its Underlying Index. For example, a Treasury Bond Fund may invest in bonds not included in its Underlying Index in order to reflect changes in the relevant Underlying Index (such as reconstitutions, additions and deletions). Each Treasury Bond Fund also may invest up to 5% of its assets in repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government obligations and in cash and cash equivalents, including shares of money market funds advised by BFA or its affiliates (“BlackRock Cash Funds”).

Each of the iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF, iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF, iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF and iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF generally invests at least 90% of its assets in the securities of its Underlying Index. For example, a Fund may invest in bonds not included in its Underlying Index in order to reflect changes in its Underlying Index (such as reconstitutions, additions and deletions). Each of the iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF, iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF, iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF and iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF may invest the remainder 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 its Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track its Underlying Index.

Each of the iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF, iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF, iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF, iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF, iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF and iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF 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 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 iShares Agency Bond ETF 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 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. For example, the Fund may invest in securities not included in the Underlying Index in order to reflect various corporate actions (such as mergers) and other changes in the Underlying Index (such as reconstitutions, additions and deletions).

The iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF generally seeks to track the performance of its Underlying Index by investing at least 90% of its net assets in component securities of its Underlying Index and in investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of the component securities of its Underlying Index (i.e., TBAs). The Fund may invest up to 10% of its portfolio in bonds not included in its Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track its Underlying Index, as well as in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and high-quality, liquid short-term instruments, including shares of BlackRock Cash Funds. For example, the Fund may invest in securities not included in the Underlying Index in order to reflect various corporate actions (such as mergers) and other changes in the Underlying Index (such as reconstitutions, additions and deletions).

The iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF generally invests at least 90% of its assets in component securities of its Underlying Index and at least 95% of its assets in investment-grade corporate bonds. However, the Fund may at times invest up to 20% of its assets in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents as well as bonds not included in its relevant Underlying Index but which BFA believes will help the Fund track its Underlying Index and which are either: (i) included in the broader index upon which the Underlying Index is based (i.e., the Markit iBoxx USD Index); or (ii) new issues which BFA believes are entering or about to enter the Underlying Index or the Markit iBoxx USD Index. The Fund may invest up to 5% of its assets in repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government obligations and in cash and cash equivalents, including shares of BlackRock Cash Funds.

The iShares MBS ETF seeks to track the performance of its Underlying Index by investing at least 90% of its assets in the securities of its Underlying Index and in investments that provide substantially similar exposure to 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 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.

Each of the iShares California Muni Bond ETF, iShares National Muni Bond ETF, iShares New York Muni Bond ETF and iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF (the “Municipal Bond Funds”) 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 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. For example, each Municipal Bond Fund may invest in municipal bonds not included in its Underlying Index in order to reflect prospective changes in its Underlying Index (such as index reconstitutions, additions and deletions). Each of the iShares California Muni Bond ETF and iShares New York Muni Bond ETF generally holds municipal bond securities issued by its respective state and local municipalities whose interest payments are exempt from U.S. federal and state income tax, the federal alternative minimum tax (“AMT”), and the federal Medicare contribution tax of 3.8% on “net investment income.” Each of the iShares National Muni Bond ETF and iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF 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, each Municipal Bond 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.

Asset-Backed and Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities. Certain of the Funds may invest in asset-backed securities (“ABS”) and commercial mortgage-backed securities (“CMBS”). ABS are securities backed by installment contracts, credit-card receivables or other assets. CMBS are securities backed by commercial real estate properties. Both ABS and CMBS

represent interests in “pools” of assets in which payments of both interest and principal on the securities are made on a regular basis. The payments are, in effect, “passed through” to the holder of the securities (net of any fees paid to the issuer or guarantor of the securities). The average life of ABS and CMBS varies with the maturities of the underlying instruments and, as a result of prepayments, can often be less than the original maturity of the assets underlying the securities. For this and other reasons, the stated maturity of an ABS or CMBS may be shortened, and the security’s total return may be difficult to predict precisely.

Beginning in the second half of 2007 through 2009, the market for ABS and mortgage-backed pass-through securities (“MBS”) experienced substantially, often dramatically, lower valuations and reduced liquidity. These instruments continue to be subject to liquidity constraints, price volatility, credit downgrades and increases in default rates and, therefore, may be more difficult to value and more difficult to dispose of than previously.

Bonds. Each Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in U.S. dollar-denominated bonds. A bond is an interest-bearing security issued by a U.S. or non-U.S. company, or U.S. or non-U.S. governmental unit. The issuer of a bond has a contractual obligation to pay interest at a stated rate on specific dates and to repay principal (the bond’s face value) periodically or on a specified maturity date. Bonds generally are used by corporations and governments to borrow money from investors.

An issuer may have the right to redeem or “call” a bond before maturity, in which case a fund may have to reinvest the proceeds at lower market rates. Similarly, a fund may have to reinvest interest income or payments received when bonds mature, sometimes at lower market rates. Most bonds bear interest income at a “coupon” rate that is fixed for the life of the bond. The value of a fixed-rate bond usually rises when market interest rates fall, and falls when market interest rates rise. Accordingly, a fixed-rate bond’s yield (income as a percent of the bond’s current value) may differ from its coupon rate as its value rises or falls. When an investor purchases a fixed-rate bond at a price that is greater than its face value, the investor is purchasing the bond at a premium. Conversely, when an investor purchases a fixed-rate bond at a price that is less than its face value, the investor is purchasing the bond at a discount. Fixed-rate bonds that are purchased at a discount pay less current income than securities with comparable yields that are purchased at face value, with the result that prices for such fixed-rate securities can be more volatile than prices for such securities that are purchased at face value. Other types of bonds bear interest at an interest rate that is adjusted periodically. Interest rates on “floating rate” or “variable rate” bonds may be higher or lower than current market rates for fixed-rate bonds of comparable quality with similar final maturities. Because of their adjustable interest rates, the value of “floating rate” or “variable rate” bonds fluctuates much less in response to market interest rate movements than the value of fixed-rate bonds, but their value may decline if their interest rates do not rise as much, or as quickly, as interest rates in general. Each Fund may treat some of these bonds as having a shorter maturity for purposes of calculating the weighted average maturity of its investment portfolio. Generally, prices of higher quality issues tend to fluctuate less with changes in market interest rates than prices of lower quality issues and prices of longer maturity issues tend to fluctuate more than prices of shorter maturity issues. Bonds may be senior or subordinated obligations. Senior obligations generally have the first claim on a corporation’s earnings and assets and, in the event of liquidation, are paid before subordinated obligations. Bonds may be unsecured (backed only by the issuer’s general creditworthiness) or secured (backed by specified collateral).

The purchase of securities while borrowings are outstanding may have the effect of leveraging a Fund. The incurrence of leverage increases a Fund’s exposure to risk, and borrowed funds are subject to interest costs that will reduce net income. Purchasing securities while borrowings are outstanding creates special risks, such as the potential for greater volatility in the net asset value of Fund shares and in the yield on a Fund’s portfolio. In addition, the interest expenses from borrowings may exceed the income generated by a Fund’s portfolio and, therefore, the amount available (if any) for distribution to shareholders as dividends may be reduced. BFA may determine to maintain outstanding borrowings if it expects that the benefits to a Fund’s shareholders will outweigh the current reduced return.

Certain types of borrowings by a Fund must be made from a bank or may result in a Fund being subject to covenants in credit agreements relating to asset coverage, portfolio composition requirements and other matters. It is not anticipated that observance of such covenants would impede BFA’s management of a Fund’s portfolio in accordance with a Fund’s investment objectives and policies. However, a breach of any such covenants not cured within the specified cure period may

result in acceleration of outstanding indebtedness and require a Fund to dispose of portfolio investments at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so.

Brady Bonds. Certain of the Funds may invest in Brady bonds. Brady bonds are securities created through the exchange of existing commercial bank loans to public and private entities in certain emerging markets for new bonds in connection with debt restructurings. Brady bonds have been issued since 1989. In light of the history of defaults of countries issuing Brady bonds on their commercial bank loans, investments in Brady bonds may be viewed as speculative and subject to the same risks as emerging market securities. Brady bonds may be fully or partially collateralized or uncollateralized, are issued in U.S. dollars and are actively traded in over-the-counter (“OTC”) secondary markets. Incomplete collateralization of interest or principal payment obligations results in increased credit risk. U.S. dollar-denominated collateralized Brady bonds, which may be either fixed-rate or floating rate bonds, are generally collateralized by U.S. Treasury securities.

Corporate Bonds. Each Fund (other than the Treasury Bond Funds and the Municipal Bond Funds) may invest in investment-grade and/or high yield corporate bonds. High yield corporate bonds may be deemed speculative and more volatile than higher rated securities of similar maturity. The investment return of corporate bonds reflects interest earned on the security and changes in the market value of the security. The market value of a corporate bond may be affected by changes in the market rate of interest, the credit rating of the corporation, the corporation’s performance and perceptions of the corporation in the marketplace. There is a risk that the issuers of the securities may not be able to meet their obligations on interest or principal payments at the time called for by an instrument.

Diversification Status. The following table sets forth the diversification status of each Fund:

Diversified Funds		Non-Diversified Funds
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF		iShares California Muni Bond ETF
iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF		iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF		iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF
iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF		iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF		iShares New York Muni Bond ETF
iShares Agency Bond ETF
iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF
iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF
iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF
iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF
iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF
iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF
iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF
iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF
iShares MBS ETF
iShares National Muni Bond ETF
iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF
iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF
iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF

securities of that issuer or (b) the fund would hold more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of that issuer. With respect to the remaining 25% of its total assets, the fund may invest more than 5% of its assets in one issuer. Under the 1940 Act, a fund cannot change its classification from diversified to non-diversified without shareholder approval.

A “non-diversified” fund is a fund that is not limited by the 1940 Act with regard to the percentage of its assets that may be invested in the securities of a single issuer. The securities of a particular issuer (or securities of issuers in particular industries) may constitute a significant percentage of the underlying index of such a fund and, consequently, the fund’s investment portfolio. This may adversely affect a fund’s performance or subject the fund’s shares to greater price volatility than that experienced by more diversified investment companies.

Each Fund (whether diversified or non-diversified) intends to maintain the required level of diversification and otherwise conduct its operations so as to qualify as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) for purposes of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”), and to relieve the Fund of any liability for U.S. federal income tax to the extent that its earnings are distributed to shareholders, provided that the Fund satisfies a minimum distribution requirement. Compliance with the diversification requirements of the Internal Revenue Code may limit the investment flexibility of certain Funds and may make it less likely that the Funds will meet their respective investment objectives.

Futures, Options on Futures and Securities Options. Futures contracts, options on futures and securities options may be used by a Fund to simulate investment in its Underlying Index, to facilitate trading or to reduce transaction costs. Each Fund may enter into futures contracts and options on futures that are traded on a U.S. or non-U.S. futures exchange. Each Fund will not use futures, options on futures or securities options for speculative purposes. Each Fund intends to use futures and options on futures in accordance with Rule 4.5 of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) promulgated under the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”). BFA, with respect to certain Funds, has claimed an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” in accordance with Rule 4.5 so that BFA, with respect to such Funds, is not subject to registration or regulation as a commodity pool operator under the CEA. See the Regulation Regarding Derivatives section of this SAI for more information.

Futures contracts provide for the future sale by one party and purchase by another party of a specified amount of a specific instrument or index at a specified future time and at a specified price. Stock index contracts are based on investments that reflect the market value of common stock of the firms included in the investments. Each Fund may enter into futures contracts to purchase securities indexes when BFA anticipates purchasing the underlying securities and believes prices will rise before the purchase will be made. Upon entering into a futures contract, a Fund will be required to deposit with the broker an amount of cash or cash equivalents known as “initial margin,” which is similar to a performance bond or good faith deposit on the contract and is returned to the Fund upon termination of the futures contract if all contractual obligations have been satisfied. Subsequent payments, known as “variation margin,” will be made to and from the broker daily as the price of the instrument or index underlying the futures contract fluctuates, making the long and short positions in the futures contract more or less valuable, a process known as “marking-to-market.” At any time prior to the expiration of a futures contract, each Fund may elect to close the position by taking an opposite position, which will operate to terminate the Fund’s existing position in the contract. To the extent required by law, each Fund will segregate liquid assets in an amount equal to its delivery obligations under the futures contracts. An option on a futures contract, as contrasted with a direct investment in such a contract, gives the purchaser the right, but no obligation, in return for the premium paid, to assume a position in the underlying futures contract at a specified exercise price at any time prior to the expiration date of the option. Upon exercise of an option, the delivery of the futures position by the writer of the option to the holder of the option will be accompanied by delivery of the accumulated balance in the writer’s futures margin account that represents the amount by which the market price of the futures contract exceeds (in the case of a call) or is less than (in the case of a put) the exercise price of the option on the futures contract. The potential for loss related to the purchase of an option on a futures contract is limited to the premium paid for the option plus transaction costs. Because the value of the option is fixed at the point of sale, there are no daily cash payments by the purchaser to reflect changes in the value of the underlying contract; however, the value of the option changes daily and that change would be reflected in the NAV of each Fund. The potential for loss related to writing call options is unlimited. The potential for loss related to writing put options is limited to the agreed-upon price per share, also known as the “strike price,” less the premium received from writing the put. Certain of the Funds may purchase and write put and call options on futures contracts that are traded on an exchange as a hedge against changes in value of their portfolio securities or in anticipation of the purchase of securities, and may enter into closing transactions with respect to such options to terminate existing positions. There is no guarantee that such closing transactions can be effected.

Securities options may be used by a Fund to obtain access to securities in its Underlying Index or to dispose of securities in its Underlying Index at favorable prices, to invest cash in a securities index that offers similar exposure to that provided by its Underlying Index or otherwise to achieve the Fund’s objective of tracking its Underlying Index. A call option gives a holder the right to purchase a specific security at a specified price (“exercise price”) within a specified period of time. A put option gives a holder the right to sell a specific security at an exercise price within a specified period of time. The initial purchaser of a call option pays the “writer” a premium, which is paid at the time of purchase and is retained by the writer whether or not such option is exercised. Each Fund may purchase put options to hedge its portfolio against the risk of a decline in the market value of securities held and may purchase call options to hedge against an increase in the price of securities it is committed to purchase. Each Fund may write put and call options along with a long position in options to increase its ability to hedge against a change in the market value of the securities it holds or is committed to purchase. Each Fund may purchase or sell securities options on a U.S. or non-U.S. securities exchange or in the OTC market through a transaction with a dealer. Options on a securities index are typically settled on a net basis based on the appreciation or depreciation of the index level over the strike price. Options on single name securities may be cash- or physically-settled, depending upon the market in which they are traded. Options may be structured so as to be exercisable only on certain dates or on a daily basis. Options may also be structured to have conditions to exercise (i.e., “Knock-in Events”) or conditions that trigger termination (i.e., “Knock-out Events”). Investments in futures contracts and other investments that contain leverage may require each Fund to maintain liquid assets in an amount equal to its delivery obligations under these contracts and other investments. Generally, each Fund maintains an amount of liquid assets equal to its obligations relative to the position involved, adjusted daily on a marked-to-market basis. With respect to futures contracts that are contractually required to “cash-settle,” each Fund maintains liquid assets in an amount at least equal to the Fund’s daily marked-to-market obligation (i.e., each Fund’s daily net liability, if any), rather than the contracts’ notional value (i.e., the value of the underlying asset). By maintaining assets equal to its net obligation under cash-settled futures contracts, each Fund may employ leverage to a greater extent than if the Fund were required to set aside assets equal to the futures contracts’ full notional value. Each Fund bases its asset maintenance policies on methods permitted by the SEC and its staff and may modify these policies in the future to comply with any changes in the guidance articulated from time to time by the SEC or its staff. Changes in SEC guidance regarding the use of derivatives by registered investment companies may adversely impact a Fund’s ability to invest in futures, options or other derivatives or make investments in such instruments more expensive.

High Yield Securities. Certain Funds may invest in non-investment grade securities. Non-investment grade or “high yield” fixed-income or convertible securities, commonly known to investors as “junk bonds” or “high yield bonds,” are generally debt securities that are rated below investment grade by one or more of the major rating agencies or are unrated securities that BFA believes are of comparable quality. While generally providing greater income and opportunity for gain, non-investment grade debt securities may be subject to greater risks than securities that have higher credit ratings, including a high risk of default, and their yields will fluctuate over time. High yield securities will generally be in the lower rating categories of recognized rating agencies (rated below Baa3 by Moody's Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody's”) and below BBB- by Standard & Poor's^® Financial Services LLC, a subsidiary of S&P Global (“S&P Global Ratings”) or Fitch Ratings, Inc. (“Fitch”)) or be unrated. The credit rating of a high yield security does not necessarily address its market value risk, and ratings may from time to time change, positively or negatively, to reflect developments regarding the issuer’s financial condition. High yield securities are considered to be speculative with respect to the capacity of the issuer to timely repay principal and pay interest in accordance with the terms of the obligation and may have more credit risk than higher rated securities.

The major risks of high yield bond investments include the following:

•	High yield bonds may be issued by less creditworthy companies. These securities are vulnerable to adverse changes in the issuer’s industry and to general economic conditions. Issuers of high yield bonds may be unable to meet their interest or principal payment obligations because of an economic downturn, specific issuer developments or the unavailability of additional financing.
•	The issuers of high yield bonds may have a larger amount of outstanding debt relative to their assets than issuers of investment grade bonds. If the issuer experiences financial stress, it may be unable to meet its debt obligations. The issuer’s ability to pay its debt obligations also may be lessened by specific issuer developments, or the unavailability of additional financing. Issuers of high yield securities are often in the growth stage of their development and/or involved in a reorganization or takeover.
•	High yield bonds are frequently ranked junior to claims by other creditors. If the issuer cannot meet its obligations, the senior obligations are generally paid off before the junior obligations, which will potentially limit a Fund’s ability

	to fully recover principal, to receive interest payments when senior securities are in default or to receive restructuring benefits paid to holders of more senior classes of debt. Thus, investors in high yield securities frequently have a lower degree of protection with respect to principal and interest payments than do investors in higher rated securities.
•	High yield bonds frequently have redemption features that permit an issuer to repurchase the security from a Fund before it matures. If an issuer redeems the high yield bonds, a Fund may have to invest the proceeds in bonds with lower yields and may lose income.
•	Prices of high yield bonds are subject to extreme fluctuations. Negative economic developments may have a greater impact on the prices of high yield bonds than on those of other higher rated fixed-income securities.
•	High yield bonds may be less liquid than higher rated fixed-income securities even under normal economic conditions. Under certain economic and/or market conditions, a Fund may have difficulty disposing of certain high yield securities due to the limited number of investors in that sector of the market. There are fewer dealers in the high yield bond market, and there may be significant differences in the prices quoted for high yield bonds by dealers, and such quotations may not be the actual prices available for a purchase or sale. Because high yield bonds are less liquid, judgment may play a greater role in the prices and values generated for such securities than in the case of securities trading in a more liquid market.
•	The secondary markets for high yield securities generally are not as liquid as the secondary markets for higher rated securities. The secondary markets for high yield securities generally are concentrated in relatively few market makers and participants in the markets are mostly institutional investors, including insurance companies, banks, other financial institutions and mutual funds. In addition, the trading volume for high yield securities is generally lower than that for higher rated securities and the secondary markets could contract under adverse market or economic conditions independent of any specific adverse changes in the condition of a particular issuer. Under certain economic and/or market conditions, a Fund may have difficulty disposing of certain high yield securities due to the limited number of investors in that sector of the market. A less liquid secondary market may adversely affect the market price of the high yield security, which may result in increased difficulty selling the particular issue and obtaining accurate market quotations on the issue when valuing a Fund’s assets. Market quotations on high yield securities are available only from a limited number of dealers, and such quotations may not be the actual prices available for a purchase or sale. When the secondary market for high yield securities becomes more illiquid, or in the absence of readily available market quotations for such securities, the relative lack of reliable objective data makes it more difficult to value such securities, and judgment plays a more important role in determining such valuations.
•	A Fund may incur expenses to the extent necessary to seek recovery upon default or to negotiate new terms with a defaulting issuer.
•	The high yield bond markets may react strongly to adverse news about an issuer or the economy, or to the perception or expectation of adverse news, whether or not it is based on fundamental analysis. Additionally, prices for high yield securities may be affected by legislative and regulatory developments. These developments could adversely affect a Fund’s net asset value and investment practices, the secondary market for high yield securities, the financial condition of issuers of these securities and the value and liquidity of outstanding high yield securities, especially in a thinly traded market. For example, federal legislation requiring the divestiture by federally insured savings and loan associations of their investments in high yield bonds and limiting the deductibility of interest by certain corporate issuers of high yield bonds adversely affected the market in the past.

Illiquid Securities. Each Fund may invest up to an aggregate amount of 15% of its net assets in illiquid securities (calculated at the time of investment). Illiquid securities may include securities subject to contractual or other restrictions on resale and other instruments that lack readily available markets, as determined in accordance with SEC staff guidance. The liquidity of a security relates to the ability to readily dispose of the security and the price to be obtained upon disposition of the security, which may be lower than the price that would be obtained for a comparable, more liquid security. Illiquid securities may trade at a discount to comparable, more liquid securities and a Fund may not be able to dispose of illiquid securities in a timely fashion or at their expected prices.

assets (including the value of the collateral received). A Fund may terminate a loan at any time and obtain the return of the securities loaned. Each Fund receives, by way of substitute payment, the value of any interest or cash or non-cash distributions paid on the loaned securities that it would have received if the securities were not on loan.

With respect to loans that are collateralized by cash, the borrower may be entitled to receive a fee based on the amount of cash collateral. The Funds are typically compensated by the difference between the amount earned on the reinvestment of cash collateral and the fee paid to the borrower. In the case of collateral other than cash, a Fund is typically compensated by a fee paid by the borrower equal to a percentage of the market value of the loaned securities. Any cash collateral may be reinvested in certain short-term instruments either directly on behalf of each lending Fund or through one or more joint accounts or money market funds, including those affiliated with BFA; such investments are subject to investment risk.

Each Fund conducts its securities lending pursuant to an exemptive order from the SEC permitting it to lend portfolio securities to borrowers affiliated with the Fund and to retain an affiliate of the Fund to act as securities lending agent. To the extent that a Fund engages in securities lending, BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A. (“BTC”) acts as securities lending agent for the Fund, subject to the overall supervision of BFA. BTC administers the lending program in accordance with guidelines approved by the Trust's Board of Trustees (the “Board,” the trustees of which are the “Trustees”).

Securities lending involves exposure to certain risks, including operational risk (i.e., the risk of losses resulting from problems in the settlement and accounting process), “gap” risk (i.e., the risk of a mismatch between the return on cash collateral reinvestments and the fees a Fund has agreed to pay a borrower), and credit, legal, counterparty and market risk. If a securities lending counterparty were to default, a Fund would be subject to the risk of a possible delay in receiving collateral or in recovering the loaned securities, or to a possible loss of rights in the collateral. In the event a borrower does not return a Fund’s securities as agreed, the Fund may experience losses if the proceeds received from liquidating the collateral do not at least equal the value of the loaned security at the time the collateral is liquidated, plus the transaction costs incurred in purchasing replacement securities. This event could trigger adverse tax consequences for a Fund. A Fund could lose money if its short-term investment of the collateral declines in value over the period of the loan. Substitute payments for dividends received by a Fund for securities loaned out by the Fund will not be considered qualified dividend income. BTC will take into account the tax effects on shareholders caused by this difference in connection with a Fund’s securities lending program. Substitute payments received on tax-exempt securities loaned out will not be tax-exempt income.

Mortgage-Backed Pass-Through Securities. A significant portion of the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index and the entire Bloomberg Barclays U.S. MBS Index represent the U.S. agency mortgage-backed pass-through segment of the U.S. investment-grade bond market. Therefore, a substantial portion of each of the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF's and iShares MBS ETF's assets is invested to seek exposure to a representative sample of U.S. agency MBS included in such indexes. The iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF may invest in MBS issued by Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”) and the Federal Home Loan Bank System (“FHLB”). The term “U.S. agency mortgage-backed pass-through security” refers to a category of pass-through securities backed by pools of mortgages and issued by one of several U.S. government-sponsored enterprises, such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the Government National Mortgage Association (“Ginnie Mae”). In the basic mortgage-backed pass-through structure, mortgages with similar issuer, term and coupon characteristics are collected and aggregated into a “pool” consisting of multiple mortgage loans. The pool is assigned a CUSIP number and undivided interests in the pool are traded and sold as pass-through securities. The holder of the security is entitled to a pro rata share of principal and interest payments (including unscheduled prepayments) from the pool of mortgage loans.

An investment in a specific pool of pass-through securities requires an analysis of the specific prepayment risk of mortgages within the covered pool (since mortgagors typically have the option to prepay their loans). The level of prepayments on a pool of MBS is difficult to predict and can impact the subsequent cash flows, value and yield of the mortgage pool. In addition, when trading specific mortgage pools, precise execution, delivery and settlement arrangements must be negotiated for each transaction. These factors combine to make trading in mortgage pools somewhat cumbersome.

For these and other reasons, the iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF, iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF and iShares MBS ETF seek to obtain exposure to the fixed-rate portion of the U.S. agency MBS, which represent a significant portion of their respective Underlying Indexes, in whole or in part through the use of to-be-announced (“TBA”) transactions. “TBA” refers to a commonly used mechanism for the forward settlement of U.S. agency MBS, and not to a separate type of MBS. Most transactions in fixed-rate MBS occur through the use of TBA transactions. TBA transactions generally are conducted in accordance with widely-accepted guidelines which establish commonly observed terms and conditions for execution,

settlement and delivery. In a TBA transaction, the buyer and seller decide on general trade parameters, such as agency, settlement date, par amount, and price. The actual pools delivered generally are determined two days prior to settlement date. Each of the iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF, iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF and iShares MBS ETF may use TBA transactions in several ways. For example, each Fund may regularly enter into TBA agreements and “roll over” such agreements prior to the settlement date stipulated in such agreements. This type of TBA transaction is sometimes known as a “TBA roll.” In a TBA roll, each Fund generally will sell the obligation to purchase the pools stipulated in the TBA agreement prior to the stipulated settlement date and will enter into a new TBA agreement for future delivery of pools of MBS. In addition, each Fund may enter into TBA agreements and settle such transactions on the stipulated settlement date by accepting actual receipt or delivery of the pools of MBS stipulated in the TBA agreement. The iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF, iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF and iShares MBS ETF are not required to use TBA transactions to gain exposure to mortgage pools, and each Fund may choose to purchase those interests in any manner believed by BFA to be in the best interest of the Fund. Each Fund’s use of TBA rolls may cause the Fund to experience higher portfolio turnover, higher transaction costs, and to pay higher capital gain distributions to shareholders (which may be taxable) than other Funds described in this SAI that do not use TBA rolls.

The iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF, iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF and iShares MBS ETF intend to invest cash pending settlement of any TBA transactions in money market instruments, repurchase agreements or other high-quality, liquid short-term instruments, including money market funds advised by BFA. Each Fund will assume its pro rata share of fees and expenses of any money market fund that it may invest in, in addition to each Fund's own fees and expenses.

Municipal Insurance. A municipal security may be covered by insurance that guarantees the bond’s scheduled payment of interest and repayment of principal. This type of insurance may be obtained by either (i) the issuer at the time the bond is issued (primary market insurance), or (ii) another party after the bond has been issued (secondary market insurance).

Both primary and secondary market insurance guarantee timely and scheduled repayment of all principal and payment of all interest on a municipal security in the event of default by the issuer, and cover a municipal security to its maturity, enhancing its credit quality and value.

Municipal security insurance does not insure against market fluctuations or fluctuations in each of the Municipal Bond Funds' share price. In addition, a municipal security insurance policy will not cover: (i) repayment of a municipal security before maturity (redemption), (ii) nonpayment of principal or interest caused by negligence or bankruptcy of the paying agent, or (iii) prepayment or payment of an acceleration premium (except for a mandatory sinking fund redemption) or any other provision of a bond indenture that advances the maturity of the bond. A mandatory sinking fund redemption may be a provision of a municipal security issue whereby part of the municipal security issue may be retired before maturity.

Because a significant portion of the municipal securities issued and outstanding are insured by a small number of insurance companies, an event involving one or more of these insurance companies could have a significant adverse effect on the value of the securities insured by that insurance company and on the municipal markets as a whole.

Certain significant providers of insurance for municipal securities have recently incurred significant losses as a result of exposure to sub-prime mortgages and other lower credit quality investments that have experienced recent defaults or otherwise suffered extreme credit deterioration. As a result, such losses have reduced the insurers’ capital and called into question their continued ability to perform their obligations under such insurance if they are called upon to do so in the future. While an insured municipal security will typically be deemed to have the rating of its insurer, if the insurer of a municipal security suffers a downgrade in its credit rating or if the market discounts the value of the insurance provided by the insurer, the value of the municipal security would be more, if not entirely, dependent on the rating of the municipal security independent of insurance.

Municipal Securities. Certain of the Funds may invest in municipal securities, the interest payments of which are subject to U.S. federal income tax. Certain of the Funds invest in securities issued in the U.S. market by U.S. states and territories, municipalities and other political subdivisions, agencies, authorities and instrumentalities of states and multi-state agencies or authorities. The municipal securities which the Funds may purchase include general obligation bonds and limited obligation bonds (or revenue bonds), including industrial development bonds issued pursuant to former U.S. federal tax law. General obligation bonds are obligations involving the credit of an issuer possessing taxing power and are payable from such issuer’s general revenues and not from any particular source. Limited obligation bonds are payable only from the revenues derived from a particular facility or class of facilities or, in some cases, from the proceeds of a special excise or other specific revenue source. Industrial development bonds generally are also revenue bonds and thus are not payable from the issuer’s

general revenues. The credit and quality of industrial development bonds are usually related to the credit of the corporate user of the facilities. Payment of interest on and repayment of principal of such bonds is the responsibility of the corporate user (and/or any guarantor). The Funds may invest in private activity bonds, which are bonds issued by or on behalf of public authorities to obtain funds to provide privately operated housing facilities, airport, mass transit or port facilities, sewage disposal, solid waste disposal or hazardous waste treatment or disposal facilities and certain local facilities for water supply, gas or electricity. Other types of private activity bonds, the proceeds of which are used for the construction, equipment, repair or improvement of privately operated industrial or commercial facilities, may constitute municipal securities, although the current U.S. federal tax laws place substantial limitations on the size of such issues.

Municipal notes are shorter-term municipal debt obligations. They may provide interim financing in anticipation of tax collection, receipt of grants, bond sales or revenue receipts. If there is a shortfall in the anticipated proceeds, repayment on a municipal note may be delayed or the note may not be fully repaid, and the Funds may lose money.

Municipal commercial paper is generally unsecured and issued to meet short-term financing needs. The lack of security presents some risk of loss to the Funds since, in the event of an issuer’s bankruptcy, unsecured creditors are repaid only out of the assets, if any, that remain after secured creditors are repaid.

Tender option bonds are synthetic floating rate or variable rate securities issued when long-term bonds are purchased in the primary or secondary market and then deposited into a trust. Custodial receipts are then issued to investors, such as the Funds, evidencing ownership interests in the trust. The remarketing agent for the trust sets a floating or variable rate on typically a weekly basis. The sponsor of a highly leveraged tender option bond trust generally will retain a liquidity provider to purchase the short-term floating rate interests at their original purchase price upon the occurrence of certain specified events. However, the liquidity provider may not be required to purchase the floating rate interests upon the occurrence of certain other events, for example, the downgrading of the municipal bonds owned by the tender option bond trust below investment-grade or certain events that indicate the issuer of the bonds may be entering bankruptcy. The general effect of these provisions is to pass to the holders of the floating rate interests the most severe credit risks associated with the municipal bonds owned by the tender option bond trust and to leave with the liquidity provider the interest rate risk (subject to a cap) and certain other risks associated with the municipal bonds. Tender option bonds may be considered derivatives, and may expose the Funds to the same risks as investments in derivatives, as well as risks associated with leverage, especially the risk of increased volatility. To the extent the Funds invest in tender option bonds, they also are exposed to credit risk associated with the liquidity provider retained by the sponsor of a tender bond option trust.

Variable rate demand obligations (“VRDOs”) are tax-exempt obligations that contain a floating or variable interest rate adjustment formula and a right of demand on the part of the holder thereof to receive payment of the unpaid principal balance plus accrued interest upon a short notice period not to exceed seven days. There is the possibility that because of default or insolvency the demand feature of VRDOs may not be honored. The interest rates are adjustable at intervals (ranging from daily to up to one year) to some prevailing market rate for similar investments, such adjustment formula being calculated to maintain the market rate of the VRDOs at approximately the par value of the VRDOs on the adjustment date. The adjustments typically are based upon the Public Securities Association Index or some other appropriate interest rate adjustment index.

Because of the interest rate adjustment formula, VRDOs are not comparable to fixed-rate securities. During periods of declining interest rates, a Fund’s yield on a VRDO will decrease and its shareholders will forego the opportunity for capital appreciation. During periods of rising interest rates, however, a Fund’s yield on a VRDO will increase and its shareholders will have a reduced risk of capital depreciation.

The market for municipal bonds may be less liquid than for taxable bonds. This means that it may be harder to buy and sell municipal securities, especially on short notice, than non-municipal securities. In addition, the municipal securities market is generally characterized as a buy and hold investment strategy. As a result, the accessibility of municipal securities in the market is generally greater closer to the original date of issue of the securities and lessens as the securities move further away from such issuance date.

Some longer-term municipal securities give the investor the right to “put” or sell the security at par (face value) within a specified number of days following the investor's request - usually one to seven days. This demand feature enhances a security's liquidity by shortening its effective maturity and enables it to trade at a price equal to or very close to par. If a demand feature terminates prior to being exercised, a Fund would hold the longer-term security, which could experience substantially more volatility.

Municipal securities are subject to credit and market risk. Generally, prices of higher quality issues tend to fluctuate more with changes in market interest rates than prices of lower quality issues and prices of longer maturity issues tend to fluctuate more than prices of shorter maturity issues.

Prices and yields on municipal securities are dependent on a variety of factors, including general money-market conditions, the financial condition of the issuer, general conditions of the municipal security market, the size of a particular offering, the maturity of the obligation and the rating of the issue. A number of these factors, including the ratings of particular issues, are subject to change from time to time. Information about the financial condition of an issuer of municipal securities may not be as extensive as that which is made available by corporations whose securities are publicly-traded. As a result, municipal securities may be more difficult to value than securities of public corporations.

Obligations of issuers of municipal securities are subject to insolvency concerns and, unlike obligations of corporate issuers, may not be subject to resolution in the event of insolvency or default through a bankruptcy proceeding. The U.S. Congress or state legislatures may seek to extend the time for payment of principal or interest, or both, or to impose other constraints upon enforcement of such obligations. In addition, municipal securities are subject to the risk that their tax treatment could be changed, thereby affecting the value of outstanding municipal securities. There is also the possibility that as a result of litigation or other conditions, such as passing of a referendum, the power or ability of issuers to meet their obligations for the payment of interest and principal on their municipal securities may be materially affected or their obligations may be found to be invalid or unenforceable. Such litigation or conditions may from time to time have the effect of introducing uncertainties in the market for municipal securities or certain segments thereof, or of materially affecting the credit risk with respect to particular bonds. Adverse economic, business, legal or political developments might affect all or a substantial portion of a Fund’s municipal securities in the same manner.

Non-U.S. Securities. Certain of the Funds may invest in certain obligations or securities of non-U.S. issuers. An issuer of a security may be deemed to be located in a particular country if: (i) the principal trading market for the security is in such country, (ii) the issuer is organized under the laws of such country, (iii) the issuer derives at least 50% of its revenues or profits from such country or has at least 50% of its assets situated in such country or, (iv) the issuer is the government of the particular country.

Privately-Issued Securities. The iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF and iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF may not invest in private placements, but may invest in certain bonds registered with the SEC or exempt from registration at the time of issuance, or offered pursuant to Rule 144A under the 1933 Act with or without registration rights (“Rule 144A Bonds”).The iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF, iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF, iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF, iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF, iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF, iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF and iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF may invest in privately-issued securities, including those that may be resold only in accordance with Rule 144A or Regulation S under the 1933 Act (“Restricted Securities”). Rule 144A Bonds and Restricted Securities are not publicly-traded and are subject to a variety of restrictions, which limit a purchaser's ability to acquire or resell such securities. Accordingly, the liquidity of the market for specific Rule 144A Bonds and Restricted Securities may vary. Delay or difficulty in selling such securities may result in a loss to a Fund.

Ratings. An investment-grade rating generally means the security or issuer is rated investment-grade by one or more of Moody’s, S&P Global Ratings, Fitch, or another credit rating agency designated as a nationally-recognized statistical rating organization by the SEC, or is unrated but considered to be of equivalent quality by BFA. Generally, bonds rated Baa3 or above by Moody’s or BBB- or above by S&P Global Ratings and Fitch are considered “investment-grade” securities, bonds rated Baa are considered medium grade obligations subject to moderate credit risk and may possess certain speculative characteristics, while bonds rated BBB are regarded as having adequate capacity to meet financial commitments.

Subsequent to purchase by a Fund, a rated security may cease to be rated or its rating may be reduced below an investment-grade rating. Bonds rated lower than Baa3 by Moody’s or BBB- by S&P Global Ratings or Fitch are considered below investment-grade quality and are obligations of issuers that are generally considered predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal according to the terms of the obligation and, therefore, carry greater investment risk, including the possibility of issuer default and bankruptcy and increased market price volatility. Such lower-rated securities are commonly referred to as “junk bonds” and are subject to a substantial degree of credit risk. Please

see Appendix B of this SAI for a description of each rating category of Moody's, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch and BFA's treatment of investments that are not rated by any of the rating agencies.

Regulation Regarding Derivatives. The CFTC subjects advisers to registered investment companies to regulation by the CFTC if a fund that is advised by the adviser either (i) invests, directly or indirectly, more than a prescribed level of its liquidation value in CFTC-regulated futures, options and swaps (“CFTC Derivatives”), or (ii) markets itself as providing investment exposure to such instruments. The CFTC also subjects advisers to registered investment companies to regulation by the CFTC if the registered investment company invests in one or more commodity pools. To the extent a Fund uses CFTC Derivatives, it intends to do so below such prescribed levels and intends not to market itself as a “commodity pool” or a vehicle for trading such instruments.

BFA has claimed an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” under the CEA pursuant to Rule 4.5 under the CEA with respect to the iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF, iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF, iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF, iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF, iShares Agency Bond ETF, iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, iShares California Muni Bond ETF, iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF, iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF, iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF, iShares National Muni Bond ETF, iShares New York Muni Bond ETF, iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF and iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF. BFA is not, therefore, subject to registration or regulation as a “commodity pool operator” under the CEA with respect to the Funds.

Derivative contracts, including, without limitation, swaps, currency forwards, and non-deliverable forwards, are subject to regulation under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”) in the U.S. and under comparable regimes in Europe, Asia and other non-U.S. jurisdictions. Swaps, non-deliverable forwards and certain other derivatives traded in the over-the-counter (“OTC”) market are subject to variation margin requirements, and initial margining requirements will be phased in through 2020. Implementation of the margining and other provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act regarding clearing, mandatory trading, reporting and documentation of swaps and other derivatives have impacted and may continue to impact the costs to a Fund of trading these instruments and, as a result, may affect returns to investors in a Fund.

As a result of regulatory requirements under the 1940 Act, each Fund is required to maintain an amount of liquid assets, accrued on a daily basis, having an aggregate value at least equal to the value of a Fund’s obligations under the applicable derivatives contract. To the extent that derivatives contracts are settled on a physical basis, a Fund will generally be required to maintain an amount of liquid assets equal to the notional value of the contract. On the other hand, in connection with derivatives contracts that are performed on a net basis, a Fund will generally be required to maintain liquid assets, accrued daily, equal only to the accrued excess, if any, of a Fund’s obligations over those of its counterparty under the contract. Accordingly, reliance by a Fund on physically-settled derivatives contracts may adversely impact investors by requiring a Fund to set aside a greater amount of liquid assets than would generally be required if a Fund were relying on cash-settled derivatives contracts.

The iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF, iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF, iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF, iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF, iShares MBS ETF and iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF (the “No-Action Letter Funds”) may also have investments in “underlying funds” (and such underlying funds themselves may invest in underlying funds) not advised by BFA (which for purposes of the no-action letter referenced below may include certain securitized vehicles, mortgage real estate investment trusts and/or investment companies that may invest in CFTC Derivatives), and therefore may be viewed by the CFTC as commodity pools. BFA has no transparency into the holdings of these underlying funds because they are not advised by BFA. To address this issue of lack of transparency, the CFTC staff issued a no-action letter on November 29, 2012 permitting the adviser of a fund that invests in such underlying funds and that would otherwise have filed a claim of exclusion pursuant to CFTC Rule 4.5 to delay registration as a “commodity pool operator” until six months from the date on which the CFTC issues additional guidance on the treatment of CFTC Derivatives held by underlying funds. BFA, the adviser of the No-Action Letter Funds, has filed a claim with the CFTC for such Funds to rely on this no-action relief. Accordingly, BFA is not currently subject to registration or regulation as a “commodity pool operator” under the CEA in respect of such Funds.

agreement is construed to be a collateralized loan, the underlying securities will not be considered to be owned by a Fund but only to constitute collateral for the seller’s obligation to pay the repurchase price, and, in the event of a default by the seller, the Fund may suffer time delays and incur costs or losses in connection with the disposition of the collateral.

Repurchase agreements pose certain risks for a Fund that utilizes them. Such risks are not unique to the Funds, but are inherent in repurchase agreements. The Funds seek to minimize such risks, but because of the inherent legal uncertainties involved in repurchase agreements, such risks cannot be eliminated. Lower quality collateral and collateral with a longer maturity may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality collateral and collateral with a shorter maturity. If the repurchase agreement counterparty were to default, lower quality collateral may be more difficult to liquidate than higher quality collateral. Should the counterparty default and the amount of collateral not be sufficient to cover the counterparty’s repurchase obligation, a Fund would likely retain the status of an unsecured creditor of the counterparty (i.e., the position a Fund would normally be in if it were to hold, pursuant to its investment policies, other unsecured debt securities of the defaulting counterparty) with respect to the amount of the shortfall. As an unsecured creditor, a Fund would be at risk of losing some or all of the principal and income involved in the transaction.

Reverse Repurchase Agreements. Reverse repurchase agreements involve the sale of securities with an agreement to repurchase the securities at an agreed-upon price, date and interest payment and have the characteristics of borrowing. Generally, the effect of such transactions is that a Fund can recover all or most of the cash invested in the portfolio securities involved during the term of the reverse repurchase agreement, while in many cases the Fund is able to keep some of the interest income associated with those securities. Such transactions are advantageous only if a Fund has an opportunity to earn a rate of interest on the cash derived from these transactions that is greater than the interest cost of obtaining the same amount of cash. Opportunities to realize earnings from the use of the proceeds equal to or greater than the interest required to be paid may not always be available, and a Fund intends to use the reverse repurchase technique only when BFA believes it will be advantageous to the Fund. The use of reverse repurchase agreements may exaggerate any increase or decrease in the value of a Fund’s assets. A Fund’s exposure to reverse repurchase agreements will be covered by liquid assets having a value equal to or greater than the Fund’s obligations under such commitments. The use of reverse repurchase agreements is a form of leverage, and the proceeds obtained by a Fund through reverse repurchase agreements may be invested in additional securities.

Securities of Investment Companies. Each Fund may invest in the securities of other investment companies (including money market funds) to the extent permitted by law, regulation, exemptive order or SEC staff guidance. Under the 1940 Act, a fund’s investment in investment companies is limited to, subject to certain exceptions, (i) 3% of the total outstanding voting stock of any one investment company, (ii) 5% of the fund’s total assets with respect to any one investment company, and (iii) 10% of the fund’s total assets with respect to investment companies in the aggregate. To the extent allowed by law or regulation, the Funds intend from time to time to invest their assets in securities of investment companies, including, but not limited to, money market funds, including those advised by BFA or otherwise affiliated with BFA, in excess of the limits discussed above. Other investment companies in which a Fund invests can be expected to incur fees and expenses for operations, such as investment advisory and administration fees, which would be in addition to those incurred by a Fund. Pursuant to guidance issued by the SEC staff, fees and expenses of money market funds used for cash collateral received in connection with loans of securities are not treated as Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, which reflect a Fund’s pro rata share of the fees and expenses incurred by investing in other investment companies (as disclosed in the Prospectus, as applicable). The iShares National Muni Bond ETF may invest in shares of other iShares funds that provide substantially similar exposure to the securities in its Underlying Index. BFA will not charge advisory fees on that portion of the iShares National Muni Bond ETF’s assets invested in shares of other iShares funds. The iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF may invest in shares of other registered investment companies advised by BFA, or its affiliates that provide substantially similar exposure to the securities in its Underlying Index. BFA will not charge advisory fees on that portion of the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF's assets invested in shares of other registered investment companies advised by BFA, or its affiliates.

Short-Term Instruments and Temporary Investments. Each Fund may invest in short-term instruments, including variable rate demand notes, short-term municipal securities, short-term municipal money market funds and money market instruments, on an ongoing basis to provide liquidity or for other reasons. Money market instruments are generally short-term investments that may include, but are not limited to: (i) shares of money market funds (including those advised by BFA or otherwise affiliated with BFA); (ii) obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities (including government-sponsored enterprises); (iii) negotiable certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances, fixed-time deposits and other obligations of U.S. and non-U.S. banks (including non-U.S. branches) and similar institutions; (iv) commercial paper rated, at the date of purchase, “Prime-1” by Moody's, “F-1” by Fitch or “A-1” by S&P Global Ratings, or if unrated, of comparable quality as determined by BFA; (v) non-convertible corporate debt securities (e.g., bonds and debentures) with remaining maturities at the date of purchase of not more than 397 days and that have been determined to present minimal credit risks, in accordance with the requirements set forth in Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act; (vi) repurchase agreements; and (vii) short-term U.S. dollar-denominated obligations of non-U.S. banks (including U.S. branches) that, in the opinion of BFA, are of comparable quality to obligations of U.S. banks that may be purchased by a Fund. Any of these instruments may be purchased on a current or forward-settled basis. Time deposits are non-negotiable deposits maintained in banking institutions for specified periods of time at stated interest rates. Bankers’ acceptances are time drafts drawn on commercial banks by borrowers, usually in connection with international transactions.

Sovereign and Quasi-Sovereign Obligations. Certain of the Funds may invest in sovereign and quasi-sovereign obligations. An investment in sovereign debt obligations involves special risks not present in corporate debt obligations. Sovereign debt includes securities issued or guaranteed by a foreign sovereign government. Quasi-sovereign debt includes securities issued or guaranteed by an entity affiliated with or backed by a sovereign government. Quasi-sovereign debt obligations are typically less liquid and less standardized than sovereign debt obligations. The issuer of the sovereign debt that controls the repayment of the debt may be unable or unwilling to repay principal or interest when due, and a Fund may have limited recourse in the event of a default. Similar to other issuers, changes to the financial condition or credit rating of a non-U.S. government may cause the value of a sovereign debt to decline. During periods of economic uncertainty, the market prices of sovereign debt obligations may be more volatile than prices of U.S. debt obligations, which may affect a Fund's NAV. In the past, certain emerging market countries have encountered difficulties in servicing their debt obligations, withheld payments of principal and interest and declared moratoria on the payment of principal and interest on their sovereign debts. Several sovereign issuers have experienced volatility and adverse trends due to concerns about rising government debt levels, including Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. In the past, sovereign issuers have also defaulted on their debt obligations, including Russia, Argentina, Indonesia and Uruguay.

A sovereign debtor's willingness or ability to repay principal and pay interest in a timely manner may be affected by, among other factors, its cash flow situation, the extent of its non-U.S. currency reserves, the availability of sufficient foreign exchange, the relative size of the debt service burden, the sovereign debtor's policy toward principal international lenders and local political constraints. Sovereign debtors may also be dependent on expected disbursements from foreign governments, multilateral agencies and other entities to reduce principal and interest arrears on their debt. The failure of a sovereign debtor to implement economic reforms, achieve specified levels of economic performance or repay principal or interest when due may result in the cancellation of third-party commitments to lend funds to the sovereign debtor, which may further impair such debtor's ability or willingness to service its debts. Quasi-sovereign debt obligations are typically less liquid and less standardized than government debt.

Swap Agreements. Swap agreements are contracts between parties in which one party agrees to make periodic payments to the other party based on the change in market value or level of a specified rate, index or asset. In return, the other party agrees to make periodic payments to the first party based on the return of a different specified rate, index or asset. Swap agreements will usually be performed on a net basis, with a Fund receiving or paying only the net amount of the two payments. The net amount of the excess, if any, of a Fund’s obligations over its entitlements with respect to each swap is accrued on a daily basis, and an amount of liquid assets having an aggregate value at least equal to the accrued excess will be maintained by the Fund.

Certain of the Funds may enter into currency, interest rate or index swaps. The use of currency, interest rate and index swaps is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio security transactions. These transactions generally do not involve the delivery of securities or other underlying assets.

U.S. Government Obligations. Certain of the Funds may invest in various types of U.S. government obligations. U.S. government obligations are a type of bond and include securities issued or guaranteed as to principal and interest by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities. Payment of principal and interest on U.S. government obligations (i) may be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. or (ii) may be backed solely by the issuing or guaranteeing agency or instrumentality itself (as with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Federal Home Loan Bank notes). In the latter case, each Fund must look principally to the agency or instrumentality issuing or guaranteeing the obligation for ultimate repayment, which agency or instrumentality may be privately owned. There can be no assurance that the U.S. government would provide financial support to its agencies or instrumentalities where it is not obligated to do so. As a general matter, the value of debt instruments, including U.S. government obligations, declines when market interest rates increase and rises when market interest rates decrease. Certain types of U.S. government obligations are subject to fluctuations in yield or value due to their structure or contract terms.

U.S.-Registered Securities of Non-U.S. Issuers. The Funds (other than the iShares Agency Bond ETF, iShares MBS ETF, Municipal Bond Funds and Treasury Bond Funds) may invest in U.S.-registered, U.S. dollar-denominated bonds of non-U.S. governments, agencies, supranational entities and corporate issuers. The iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF, iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF, iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, iShares ESG 1-5 Year Corporate Bond ETF, iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF, iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF, iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF, iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF and iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF may invest in Restricted Securities issued by non-U.S. issuers. Investing in U.S.-registered, U.S. dollar-denominated bonds or Restricted Securities issued by non-U.S. issuers involves some risks and considerations not typically associated with investing in U.S. issuers. These include differences in accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards; the possibility of expropriation or confiscatory taxation; adverse changes in investment or exchange control regulations; political instability, which could affect U.S. investments in foreign countries; and potential restrictions of the flow of international capital. Non-U.S. issuers may be subject to less governmental regulation than U.S. issuers. In addition, the risk that the issuer may fail to meet its obligations on these securities may be affected by fluctuations in non-U.S. currency exchange rates between the issuer's local currency and the U.S. dollar. Moreover, individual non-U.S. economies may differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in such respects as growth of gross domestic product (“GDP”), rate of inflation, capital reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency and balance of payment positions.

Future Developments. The Board may, in the future, authorize each Fund to invest in securities contracts and investments other than those listed in this SAI and in the applicable Prospectus, provided they are consistent with each Fund's investment objective and do not violate any investment restrictions or policies.

General Considerations and Risks

A discussion of some of the principal risks associated with an investment in a Fund is contained in each Fund's Prospectus. An investment in a Fund should be made with an understanding that the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities may fluctuate in accordance with changes in the financial condition of the issuers of the portfolio securities, the value of bonds in general, and other factors that affect the market.

Agency Debt Risk. Certain of the Funds may invest in unsecured bonds or debentures issued by U.S. government agencies, including Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Bonds or debentures issued by U.S. government agencies, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are generally backed only by the general creditworthiness and reputation of the government agency issuing the bond or debenture and are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Ginnie Mae securities are generally backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

Some government agencies, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, purchase and guarantee residential mortgages and form MBS that they issue to the market. These agencies also hold their own MBS as well as those of other institutions with funding from the agency debentures they issue. Recent events in the markets for MBS have adversely affected the value of those MBS held and/or issued by these agencies.

Borrowing Risk. Borrowing may exaggerate changes in the net asset value of Fund shares and in the return on a Fund’s portfolio. Borrowing will cost a Fund interest expense and other fees. The costs of borrowing may reduce a Fund’s return. Borrowing may cause a Fund to liquidate positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations.

Call Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of a callable bond held by certain Funds may “call” or repay the security before its stated maturity, and a 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.

Custody Risk. Custody risk refers to the risks inherent in the process of clearing and settling trades and to the holding of securities, cash and other assets by local banks, agents and depositories. Low trading volumes and volatile prices in less developed markets make trades harder to complete and settle, and governments or trade groups may compel local agents to hold securities in designated depositories that may not be subject to independent evaluation. Local agents are held only to the standards of care of their local markets, and thus may be subject to limited or no government oversight. Communications between the U.S. and emerging market countries may be unreliable, increasing the risk of delayed settlements or losses of security certificates. In general, the less developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the likelihood of custody problems. Practices in relation to the settlement of securities transactions in emerging markets involve higher risks than those in developed markets, in part because of the use of brokers and counterparties that are often less well capitalized, and custody and registration of assets in some countries may be unreliable. The possibility of fraud, negligence or undue influence being exerted by the issuer or refusal to recognize ownership exists in some emerging markets, and, along with other factors, could result in ownership registration being lost. In addition, the laws of certain countries may put limits on a Fund’s ability to recover its assets if a foreign bank or depository or issuer of a security or an agent of any of the foregoing goes bankrupt. A Fund would absorb any loss resulting from such custody problems and may have no successful claim for compensation.

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 a Fund’s income and potentially in the value of a Fund’s investments.

Issuer Insolvency Risk. Each Fund's potential exposure to financially or operationally troubled issuers involves a high degree of credit and market risk, which may be heightened during an economic downturn or recession. Should an issuer of securities held by a Fund become involved in a bankruptcy proceeding, reorganization or financial restructuring, a wide variety of considerations make an evaluation of the outcome of a Fund’s exposure to the issuer uncertain.

During the period of a bankruptcy proceeding, reorganization or financial restructuring, it is unlikely that each Fund will receive any interest payments on the securities of the issuer. Each Fund will be subject to significant uncertainty as to whether the reorganization or restructuring will be completed, and each Fund may bear certain extraordinary expenses to protect and recover its investment. Each Fund will also be subject to significant uncertainty as to when and in what manner and for what value the obligations evidenced by the securities of the issuer held by each Fund will eventually be satisfied. Even if a plan of reorganization or restructuring is adopted with respect to the securities of the issuer held by each Fund, there can be no assurance that the securities or other assets received by each Fund in connection with such plan of reorganization or restructuring will not have a lower value or income potential than may have been anticipated or no value. A Fund may be unable to enforce its claims or rights in any collateral or may have its claims or security interest in any collateral challenged, disallowed or subordinated to the claims or security interests of other creditors. In addition, amendments to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code or other relevant laws could alter the expected outcome or introduce greater uncertainty regarding the outcome of each Fund’s securities holdings in the issuer. In a bankruptcy proceeding, a reorganization or restructuring, the securities of the issuer held by each Fund could be re-characterized or each Fund may receive different securities or other assets, including equity securities. These types of equity securities include, but are not limited to: common stock; preferred stock (including convertible preferred stock); bonds, notes and debentures convertible into common or preferred stock; stock purchase warrants and rights; equity interests in trusts; and depositary receipts. Equity securities are subject to changes in value, and their value may be more volatile than those of other asset classes. Holders of equity securities are subject to more risk than holders of debt securities because the status of equity holders is subordinate to debtholders in an issuer's capital structure. The value of equity securities received by each Fund could decline if the financial condition of the issuer deteriorates or if overall market and economic conditions, or conditions within the issuer’s region or industry, deteriorate. Equity securities received by a Fund through a bankruptcy proceeding, reorganization or restructuring of an issuer would not be component securities of a Fund’s Underlying Index, which could subject a Fund to additional tracking error risk.

To the extent that each Fund receives other assets in connection with a bankruptcy proceeding, reorganization or financial restructuring, each Fund may also be subject to additional risks associated with the assets received. One example of assets

that each Fund could receive is an interest in one or more loans made to the issuer as part of a workout agreed to by a consortium of lienholders and creditors of the issuer. Each Fund may receive such interests in loans to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act.

Securities or other assets received in a reorganization or restructuring typically entail a higher degree of risk than investments in securities of issuers that have not undergone a reorganization or restructuring and may be subject to heavy selling or downward pricing pressure after completion of the reorganization or restructuring. The post-reorganization/restructuring assets and securities may also be illiquid and difficult to sell or value. If each Fund participates in negotiations with respect to a plan of reorganization or restructuring with respect to securities of the issuer held by each Fund, each Fund also may be restricted from disposing such securities for a period of time. If each Fund becomes involved in such proceedings, each Fund may have more active participation in the affairs of the issuer than that assumed generally by an investor.

Liquidity Risk Management Rule Risk. In October 2016, the SEC adopted a liquidity risk management rule requiring open-end funds, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) such as the Funds, to establish a liquidity risk management program and enhance disclosures regarding fund liquidity. There are exclusions from certain portions of the liquidity risk management program requirements for “in-kind” ETFs . The Funds will be required to comply with portions of the rule by December 1, 2018. The effect the rule will have on the Funds, including a Fund’s ability to rely on the exclusions, is not yet known, but the rule may impact a Fund’s performance and ability to achieve its investment objective.

Municipal Market Disruption Risk. The value of municipal securities may be affected by uncertainties in the municipal market related to legislation or litigation involving the taxation of municipal securities or the rights of municipal securities holders in the event of a bankruptcy. Proposals to restrict or eliminate the U.S. federal income tax exemption for interest on municipal securities are introduced before the U.S. Congress from time to time. Proposals also may be introduced before state legislatures that would affect the state tax treatment of a municipal fund’s distributions. If such proposals were enacted, the availability of municipal securities and the value of a Municipal Bond Fund’s holdings would be affected, and the Trustees would reevaluate the Fund’s investment objective and policies. Municipal bankruptcies are relatively rare, and certain provisions of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code governing such bankruptcies are unclear and remain untested. Further, the application of state law to municipal issuers could produce varying results among the states or among municipal securities issuers within a state. These legal uncertainties could affect the municipal securities market generally, certain specific segments of the market, or the relative credit quality of particular securities. Any of these effects could have a significant impact on the prices of some or all of the municipal securities held by a Municipal Bond Fund.

Operational Risk. BFA and a Fund's other service providers may experience disruptions or operating errors such as processing errors or human errors, inadequate or failed internal or external processes, or systems or technology failures, that could negatively impact the Funds. While service providers are required to have appropriate operational risk management policies and procedures, their methods of operational risk management may differ from a Fund’s in the setting of priorities, the personnel and resources available or the effectiveness of relevant controls. BFA, through its monitoring and oversight of service providers, seeks to ensure that service providers take appropriate precautions to avoid and mitigate risks that could lead to disruptions and operating errors. However, it is not possible for BFA or the other Fund service providers to identify all of the operational risks that may affect a Fund or to develop processes and controls to completely eliminate or mitigate their occurrence or effects.

Prepayment Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, issuers of certain debt obligations may repay principal prior to the security’s maturity, which may cause a Fund to have to reinvest in securities with lower yields or higher risk of default, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income or return potential. Also, if a security subject to prepayment had been purchased at a premium, the value of the premium would be lost in the event of prepayment.

Repurchase Agreement Risk. A repurchase agreement is an instrument under which the purchaser (i.e., a Fund) acquires a security and the seller agrees, at the time of the sale, to repurchase the security at a mutually agreed upon time and price. Repurchase agreements may be construed to be collateralized loans by the purchaser to the seller secured by the securities transferred to the purchaser. If a repurchase agreement is construed to be a collateralized loan, the underlying securities will not be considered to be owned by a Fund but only to constitute collateral for the seller’s obligation to pay the repurchase price. If the seller defaults on its obligation under the agreement, a Fund may suffer delays and incur costs or lose money in exercising its rights under the agreement. If the seller fails to repurchase the security and the market value of the security declines, a Fund may lose money.

Risk of Derivatives. A derivative is a financial contract, the value of which depends on, or is derived from, the value of an underlying asset, such as a security, a commodity (such as gold or silver), a currency or an index (a measure of value or rates, such as the S&P 500 or the prime lending rate). Each Fund may invest in variable rate demand notes and obligations, and tender option bonds, which may be considered derivatives. Compared to conventional securities, derivatives can be more sensitive to changes in interest rates or to sudden fluctuations in market prices and thus a Fund's losses may be greater if it invests in derivatives than if it invests only in conventional securities. Derivatives are also subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the other party in the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligations. Derivatives generally involve the incurrence of leverage. To address such leverage and to prevent a Fund from being deemed to have issued senior securities as a result of an investment in derivatives, such Fund will segregate liquid assets equal to its obligations under the derivatives throughout the life of the investment.

When a derivative is used as a hedge against a position that a Fund holds or is committed to purchase, any loss generated by the derivative generally should be substantially offset by gains on the hedged investment, and vice versa. While hedging can reduce or eliminate losses, it can also reduce or eliminate gains, and in some cases, hedging can cause losses that are not offset by gains, and the Fund will recognize losses on both the investment and the hedge. Hedges are sometimes subject to imperfect matching between the derivative and the underlying security, and there can be no assurance that a Fund’s hedging transactions, which entail additional transaction costs, will be effective.

Risk of Futures and Options on Futures Transactions. There are several risks accompanying the utilization of futures contracts and options on futures contracts. A position in futures contracts and options on futures contracts may be closed only on the exchange on which the contract was made (or a linked exchange). While each Fund plans to utilize futures contracts only if an active market exists for such contracts, there is no guarantee that a liquid market will exist for the contract at a specified time. Furthermore, because, by definition, futures contracts project price levels in the future and not current levels of valuation, market circumstances may result in a discrepancy between the price of the bond index future and the movement in the relevant Underlying Index. In the event of adverse price movements, a Fund would continue to be required to make daily cash payments to maintain its required margin. In such situations, if a Fund has insufficient cash, it may have to sell portfolio securities to meet daily margin requirements at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so. In addition, a Fund may be required to deliver the instruments underlying the futures contracts it has sold.

The risk of loss in trading futures contracts or uncovered call options in some strategies (e.g., selling uncovered bond index futures contracts) is potentially unlimited. Each Fund does not plan to use futures and options contracts in this way. The risk of a futures position may still be large as traditionally measured due to the low margin deposits required. In many cases, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in immediate and substantial loss or gain to the investor relative to the size of a required margin deposit. Each Fund, however, intends to utilize futures and options contracts in a manner designed to limit its risk exposure to levels comparable to a direct investment in the types of bonds in which it invests.

Utilization of futures and options on futures by a Fund involves the risk of imperfect or even negative correlation to its Underlying Index if the index underlying the futures contract differs from the Underlying Index. There is also the risk of loss by a Fund of margin deposits in the event of bankruptcy of a broker with whom a Fund has an open position in the futures contract or option. The purchase of put or call options will be based upon predictions by BFA as to anticipated trends, which predictions could prove to be incorrect.

Because the futures market generally imposes less burdensome margin requirements than the securities market, an increased amount of participation by speculators in the futures market could result in price fluctuations. Certain financial futures exchanges limit the amount of fluctuation permitted in futures contract prices during a single trading day. The daily limit establishes the maximum amount by which the price of a futures contract may vary either up or down from the previous day's settlement price at the end of a trading session. Once the daily limit has been reached in a particular type of contract, no trades may be made on that day at a price beyond that limit. It is possible that futures contract prices could move to the daily limit for several consecutive trading days with little or no trading, thereby preventing prompt liquidation of futures positions and subjecting each Fund to substantial losses. In the event of adverse price movements, each Fund would be required to make daily cash payments of variation margin.

Risk of Investing in Non-U.S. Agency Debt Securities. Certain of the Funds invest in uncollateralized bonds issued by agencies, subdivisions or instrumentalities of foreign governments. Bonds issued by these foreign government agencies, subdivisions or instrumentalities are generally backed only by the creditworthiness and reputation of the entities issuing the

bonds and may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the foreign government. Moreover, a foreign government that explicitly provides its full faith and credit to a particular entity may be, due to changed circumstances, unable or unwilling to actually provide that support. If a non-U.S. agency is unable to meet its obligations, the performance of a Fund will be adversely impacted. A non-U.S. agency’s operations and financial condition are influenced by the foreign government’s economic and other policies. Changes to the financial condition or credit rating of a foreign government may cause the value of debt issued by that particular foreign government’s agencies, subdivisions or instrumentalities to decline. During periods of economic uncertainty, the trading of non-U.S. agency bonds may be less liquid while market prices may be more volatile than prices of U.S. agency bonds. Additional risks associated with non-U.S. agency investing include differences in accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, adverse changes in investment or exchange control regulations, political instability, which could affect U.S. investments in foreign countries and cause restrictions on the flow of international capital.

Risk of Investing in Non-U.S. Debt Securities. Certain of the Funds may invest in non-U.S. debt securities as determined by the respective index provider. An investment in a Fund involves risks associated with investing in a portfolio of debt securities traded on foreign exchanges and OTC in the respective countries covered by a Fund. These risks typically include market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic and political developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in bond prices. Investing in a fund whose portfolio contains securities of non-U.S. issuers involves certain risks and considerations not typically associated with investing in the securities of U.S. issuers. These risks include generally less liquid and less efficient securities markets; generally greater price volatility; less publicly available information about issuers; the imposition of withholding or other taxes; the imposition of restrictions on the expatriation of funds or other assets of a Fund; higher transaction and custody costs; delays and risks attendant in settlement procedures; difficulties in enforcing contractual obligations; lower liquidity and significantly smaller market capitalization of most non-U.S. securities markets; different accounting and disclosure standards; lower levels of regulation of the securities markets; more substantial government interference with the economy; higher rates of inflation; greater social, economic, and political uncertainty; the risk of nationalization or expropriation of assets; and different bankruptcy and insolvency regimes which may stay or prevent recovery in the event of an issuer’s default.

The U.S. and the Economic and Monetary Union (the “EMU”) of the European Union (the “EU”), along with the regulatory bodies of a number of countries including Japan, Australia, Norway, Switzerland and Canada (collectively, “Sanctioning Bodies”), have imposed economic sanctions, which can consist of prohibiting certain securities trades, prohibiting certain private transactions in the energy sector, asset freezes and prohibition of all business, against certain Russian individuals and Russian corporate entities. The Sanctioning Bodies could also institute broader sanctions on Russia. These sanctions, or even the threat of further sanctions, may result in the decline of the value and liquidity of Russian securities, a weakening of the ruble or other adverse consequences to the Russian economy. These sanctions could also result in the immediate freeze of Russian securities and/or funds invested in prohibited assets, impairing the ability of a Fund to buy, sell, receive or deliver those securities and/or assets. Additional sanctions against Russia have been, and may in the future be, imposed by the U.S. or other countries.

The sanctions against certain Russian issuers include prohibitions on transacting in or dealing in issuances of debt or equity of such issuers. Compliance with each of these sanctions may impair the ability of a Fund to buy, sell, hold, receive or deliver the affected securities or other securities of such issuers. If it becomes impracticable or unlawful for a Fund to hold securities subject to, or otherwise affected by, sanctions (collectively, “affected securities”), or if deemed appropriate by BFA, a Fund may prohibit in-kind deposits of the affected securities in connection with creation transactions and instead require a cash deposit, which may also increase a Fund's transaction costs. A Fund may also be legally required to freeze assets in a blocked account.

Also, if an affected security is included in a Fund's Underlying Index, a Fund may, where practicable, seek to eliminate its holdings of the affected security by employing or augmenting its representative sampling strategy to seek to track the investment results of its Underlying Index. The use of (or increased use of) a representative sampling strategy may increase a Fund’s tracking error risk. If the affected securities constitute a significant percentage of the Underlying Index, a Fund may not be able to effectively implement a representative sampling strategy, which may result in significant tracking error between a Fund’s performance and the performance of its Underlying Index.

Current or future sanctions may result in Russia taking counter measures or retaliatory actions, which may further impair the value and liquidity of Russian securities. These retaliatory measures may include the immediate freeze of Russian assets held by a Fund. In the event of such a freeze of any Fund assets, including depositary receipts, a Fund may need to liquidate non-restricted assets in order to satisfy any Fund redemption orders. The liquidation of Fund assets during this time may also result in a Fund receiving substantially lower prices for its securities.

These sanctions may also lead to changes in a Fund’s Underlying Index. A Fund’s index provider may remove securities from its Underlying Index or implement caps on the securities of certain issuers that have been subject to recent economic sanctions. In such an event, it is expected that a Fund will rebalance its portfolio to bring it in line with its Underlying Index as a result of any such changes, which may result in transaction costs and increased tracking error. These sanctions, the volatility that may result in the trading markets for Russian securities and the possibility that Russia may impose investment or currency controls on investors may cause a Fund to invest in, or increase a Fund’s investments in, depositary receipts that represent the securities of its Underlying Index. These investments may result in increased transaction costs and increased tracking error.

Risk of Swap Agreements. The risk of loss with respect to swaps is generally limited to the net amount of payments that a Fund is contractually obligated to make. Swap agreements are subject to the risk that the swap counterparty will default on its obligations. If such a default occurs, a Fund will have contractual remedies pursuant to the agreements related to the transaction. However, such remedies may be subject to bankruptcy and insolvency laws, which could affect such Fund’s rights as a creditor (e.g., a Fund may not receive the net amount of payments that it is contractually entitled to receive).

A Fund is required to post and collect variation margin (comprised of specified liquid securities subject to haircuts) in connection with trading of OTC swaps. Implementation of regulations requiring posting of initial margin is being phased in through 2020. These requirements may raise the costs for a Fund’s investment in swaps.

Securities Lending Risk. A Fund may engage in securities lending. Securities lending involves the risk that a Fund may lose money because the borrower of the loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. A Fund could also lose money in the event of a decline in the value of 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 a Fund.

Special Considerations Regarding Investments in California Municipal Securities

Following is a brief summary of some of the factors that may affect the financial condition of the State of California (referred to herein as the “State” or “California”) and its political subdivisions. The summary is neither a complete nor a comprehensive description of these factors or an analysis of financial conditions and may not be indicative of the financial condition of issuers of obligations or any particular projects financed with the proceeds of such obligations. Many factors not included in the summary, such as the national economy, changes in federal tax law as well as federal policies related to health care and immigration, social and environmental policies and conditions, developments in municipal bankruptcies and the national and international markets for products produced in California, could have an adverse impact on the financial condition of California and its political subdivisions. It is not possible to predict whether and to what extent those factors may affect the financial condition of California and its political subdivisions.

The following summary is based upon the most recent publicly available budget documents and offering statements relating to public debt offerings of the State. This summary has not been updated nor will it be updated during the year. Neither the Fund nor its legal counsel has independently verified this information.

Overview

The State labor market conditions have improved significantly since the depths of the recession. California’s unemployment rate increased from 6.1 percent at the start of 2008 to a high of 12.5 percent in the last four months of 2010. As of March 2018, the State’s unemployment rate was preliminarily estimated to be 4.3 percent, approximately 0.2 percent higher than the national average of 4.1 percent, representing one of the lowest monthly unemployment rates for the State since the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics began reporting such numbers in 1976.

California’s budget position continues to be strong. Although the State has faced serious budgetary problems in the past resulting from structural imbalances, the State significantly improved its general fiscal condition with the approval by the voters in November 2012 of a seven-year personal income tax increase and a four-year sales tax increase (collectively known

as “Proposition 30”). In November 2016, voters approved an extension of the Proposition 30 personal income tax increases but the sales tax increase expired on December 31, 2016. See “The State Budget — Proposition 30 and Proposition 55” below.

The State’s fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30 of the following year. The annual budget is proposed by the Governor by January 10 of each year for the next fiscal year (the “Governor’s Budget”). State law also requires the Governor to update the Governor’s Budget projections and budgetary proposals by May 14 of each year (the “May Revision”). The 2018-19 May Revision (the “2018-19 May Revision”) was released by the Governor on May 11, 2018. The State’s General Fund (as defined below) budget has achieved structural balance for the last several fiscal years, while also building up reserves. The 2018-19 May Revision projects a Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties (“SFEU”) balance of approximately $7.3 billion as of June 30, 2018 and an SFEU balance of approximately $3.3 billion as of June 30, 2019 if proposed budget solutions are adopted. See “The State Budget—Status of State General Fund; 2018-19 Governor’s Budget; 2018-19 May Revision” below. The 2018-19 May Revision funds the Budget Stabilization Account (“BSA”) to 100% of its constitutional target ($13.8 billion) through an optional $2.6 billion deposit to that fund in addition to the $1.7 billion mandatory deposit. Overall, the State’s combined discretionary and mandatory budget reserves are proposed to grow to almost $17 billion which is approximately 12.7% of estimated State General Fund revenues. General fiscal impacts of the changes in federal tax law were briefly addressed in the 2018-19 May Revision. The 2018-19 May Revision reflects the anticipated receipt of $8 billion in higher revenues through Fiscal Year 2018-19 compared to the proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget. See “The State Budget— Status of State General Fund; 2018-19 Governor’s Budget; 2018-19 May Revision” below.

Many local governments continue to face budget constraints due to limited taxing powers, among other factors. Unfunded pension and other post-retirement liabilities also weigh heavily upon the State as well as many local jurisdictions, and have been the principal cause of several well-publicized municipal bankruptcy filings.

Economic Factors

California is by far the most populous state in the nation, almost 40 percent larger than Texas, the second-ranked state, according to the most recent population estimates released by the United States Census Bureau. The January 2018 estimate of the State’s population is 39.8 million, which represents over 12 percent of the total United States population.

California’s economy, the largest among the 50 states and one of the largest and most diverse in the world, has major components in high technology, trade, entertainment, agriculture, manufacturing, government, tourism, construction and services. The relative proportion of the various components of the California economy closely resembles the make-up of the national economy.

State total personal income has made substantial gains since the end of the financial crisis in 2009, during which the State experienced the first decline in total personal income on a year-over-year basis since 1938. From 2009 through 2017, State total personal income grew by an average annual rate of approximately 5.0%. In January 2018, the Department of Finance reported that total personal income increased approximately 3.1 percent in 2016 and estimated that it increased approximately 4.1 percent in 2017. In the forecasts included in the proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget, the State projected personal income to grow by 3.9 percent in 2018 and 4.8 percent in 2019.

State taxable sales have also grown steadily since 2009, at an average annual rate of 5.6% through 2015. However, the expiration of the Proposition 30 sales tax increase and increased percentages diverted to local governments have reduced the amount of sales tax available to the State’s General Fund. See “The State Budget — Proposition 30 and Proposition 55,” and “Local Governments—Realigning Services to Local Governments” below. Nevertheless, sales and use taxes remain a principal source of General Fund revenues. See “Recent Financial Results” below for a discussion of the percentage of State General Fund revenues that are derived from sales and use taxes. Total taxable transactions for the State were estimated at $649 billion for 2016 by the California State Board of Equalization, an increase of 2.4 percent over the prior year. Annual taxable sale transactions for the State for 2017 are not yet available. As of January 2018, the State projected taxable sales to grow by 4.6 percent in fiscal year 2017-18 and 4.0 percent in fiscal year 2018-19.

The statewide median home price for existing single-family homes fell to a low of approximately $300,000 in calendar year 2011. In October 2017, the statewide median home price was $549,560, which was an increase of 7.6 percent from a year earlier and well above the statewide median home price for calendar year 2016 of $501,560. This statewide median home price remains lower than the pre-recession peak median price of $594,530, however, the Department of Finance reported in December 2017 that the gap between U.S. and California home prices has widened from 7 percent in 1970 to more than 120 percent in October 2017.

Residential building permitting, which suffered a long, steady decline from calendar years 2006 through 2009, has increased steadily over the years since, from 44,762 in 2010 (approximately $13.7 billion valuation) to 100,961 in 2016 (approximately $31.2 billion valuation), reflecting an average annual growth rate of 15.5%, but still down from a pre-recession figure of 164,187 (approximately $38.2 billion valuation) in 2006.

After slowing sharply in 2009, nonresidential construction increased steadily over the past several years, from a total valuation of approximately $11.2 billion in 2010 to $27.4 billion in 2016, reflecting an average annual growth rate of 16.9% and surpassing the pre-recession high of $22.5 billion in 2007. Annual nonresidential construction data for 2017 is not yet available.

Constitutional Limitations on Taxes, Other Charges, Appropriations and General Fund Revenues

Over the years, a number of constitutional amendments have been enacted, often through voter initiatives, which have increased the difficulty of raising State taxes or restricted the use of State Treasury General Fund (the “General Fund”) revenues. Some of the more significant of these approved constitutional amendments are described below. Because of the complex nature of these initiatives and the ambiguities and possible inconsistencies in their terms, it is not possible to predict with certainty the impact on California debt obligations or on the ability of the State or local governments to pay debt service on such California debt obligations. Further initiatives or legislative changes in laws or the California Constitution may also affect the ability of the State or local issuers to repay their obligations.

Limitation on Property Taxes. Certain California debt obligations may be obligations of issuers that rely in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, on ad valorem property taxes as a source of revenue. The taxing powers of California local governments and districts are limited by Article XIIIA of the California Constitution (“Article XIIIA”), enacted by the voters in 1978 and commonly known as “Proposition 13.” Briefly, Article XIIIA limits the rate of ad valorem property taxes to 1 percent of full cash value of real property and generally restricts the reassessment of property to 2 percent per year, except upon new construction or change of ownership (subject to a number of exemptions).

Taxing entities, however, may raise ad valorem taxes above the 1 percent limit to pay debt service on voter-approved bonded indebtedness.

Under Article XIIIA, the basic 1 percent ad valorem tax levy is applied against the assessed value of property as of the owner’s date of acquisition (or as of March 1, 1975, if acquired earlier), subject to certain adjustments. This system has resulted in widely varying amounts of tax on similarly situated properties. Several lawsuits were filed challenging the acquisition-based assessment system of Proposition 13, but it was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1992.

Article XIIIA prohibits local governments from raising revenues through ad valorem taxes above the 1 percent limit; it also requires voters of any governmental units to give two-thirds approval to levy certain taxes. For further discussion on Proposition 13, see “Local Governments — Constitutional and Statutory Limitations on Local Government” below. For further discussion on voter approval requirements under Article XIIIA, see “— Voter Requirements for Taxes and Fees” below.

Limitations on Other Taxes, Fees and Charges. On November 5, 1996, the voters of the State approved Proposition 218, called the “Right to Vote on Taxes Act.” Proposition 218 added Article XIIIC (“Article XIIIC”) and Article XIIID (“Article XIIID”) to the State Constitution, which contain a number of provisions affecting the ability of local agencies to levy and collect both existing and future taxes, assessments, fees and charges.

Article XIIIC requires that all new or increased local taxes be submitted to the voters before they become effective. Proposition 26, discussed below under the caption entitled “— Voter Requirements for Taxes and Fees,” amended Article XIIIC by adding an expansive definition of “taxes” to include many regulatory fees currently imposed by the State and its municipalities. Taxes for general governmental purposes require a majority vote and taxes for specific purposes require a two-thirds vote.

Article XIIID contains several provisions making it generally more difficult for local agencies to levy and maintain “assessments” for municipal services and programs. Article XIIID also contains several provisions affecting “fees” and “charges,” defined for purposes of Article XIIID to mean “any levy other than an ad valorem tax, a special tax, or an assessment, imposed by a local government upon a parcel or upon a person as an incident of property ownership, including a user fee or charge for a property related service.” All new and existing property related fees and charges must conform to requirements prohibiting, among other things, fees and charges that generate revenues exceeding the funds required to

provide the property related service or are used for unrelated purposes. Article XIIID imposes notice, hearing and protest procedures for levying or increasing property related fees and charges, and, except for fees or charges for sewer, water and refuse collection services (or fees for electrical and gas service, which are not treated as “property related” for purposes of Article XIIID), no property related fee or charge may be imposed or increased without majority approval by the property owners subject to the fee or charge or, at the option of the local government, two-thirds voter approval by the electorate residing in the affected area.

In addition to the provisions described above, Article XIIIC removes limitations on the initiative power in matters of local taxes, assessments, fees and charges. Consequently, local voters, by future initiative, could repeal, reduce or prohibit the future imposition or increase of any local tax, assessment, fee or charge. It is unclear how this right of local initiative may be used in cases where taxes or charges have been or will be specifically pledged to secure debt issues.

Limitations on the State’s Ability to Transfer Funds from Local Agencies. On November 2, 2010, voters in the State approved Proposition 22, a Constitutional initiative. Proposition 22, known as the “Local Taxpayer, Public Safety, and Transportation Protection Act of 2010,” eliminated or reduced the State’s authority to (i) temporarily shift property taxes from cities, counties and special districts to schools, (ii) use vehicle license fee revenues to reimburse local governments for state-mandated costs (the State will have to use other revenues to reimburse local governments), (iii) redirect property tax increment from redevelopment agencies (which have since been dissolved, see “Obligations of Other Issuers—Tax Increment and the Dissolution of Redevelopment Agencies” below) to any other local government, (iv) use State fuel tax revenues to pay debt service on State transportation bonds, or (v) borrow or change the distribution of State fuel tax revenues.

Voter Requirements for Taxes and Fees. Proposition 26, known as the “Supermajority Vote to Pass New Taxes and Fees Act” was approved by State voters on November 2, 2010. Proposition 26 amended provisions of Article XIIIA and Article XIIIC governing the imposition of taxes. Proposition 26 requires a two-thirds supermajority vote in the California State Legislature (the “State Legislature”) prior to the imposition of any change in State statute which results in any taxpayer paying a higher tax. This requirement eliminated the prior practice that allowed, via majority vote, one tax to be increased if another tax is lowered by an equivalent amount. Furthermore, any increase in a fee beyond the amount needed to provide the specific service or benefit is deemed a “tax,” and thus would require two-thirds vote of any governmental units for passage. Finally, Proposition 26 applies retroactively to any measures passed on or after January 1, 2010. Thus, any tax or fee that was adopted after January 1, 2010 with a majority vote that would have required a two-thirds vote were Proposition 26 in place, was repealed on November 2, 2011, unless readopted by the necessary two-thirds vote.

Appropriations Limits. The State and its local governments are subject to an annual “appropriations limit” imposed by Article XIIIB of the California Constitution (“Article XIIIB”), enacted by the voters in 1979 and significantly amended by Propositions 98 and 111 in 1988 and 1990, respectively. Article XIIIB prohibits the State or any covered local government from spending “appropriations subject to limitation” in excess of the appropriations limit imposed. “Appropriations subject to limitation” are authorizations to spend “proceeds of taxes,” which consist of tax revenues and certain other funds, including proceeds from regulatory licenses, user charges or other fees, to the extent that such proceeds exceed the cost of providing the product or service, but “proceeds of taxes” exclude most State subventions to local governments. No limit is imposed on appropriations of funds which are not “proceeds of taxes,” such as reasonable user charges or fees, and certain other non-tax funds, including bond proceeds.

Among the expenditures not included in the Article XIIIB appropriations limit are (i) the debt service cost of bonds issued or authorized prior to January 1, 1979, or subsequently authorized by the voters, (ii) appropriations to comply with mandates of courts or the federal government, (iii) appropriations for certain capital outlay projects, (iv) appropriations by the State of post-1989 increases in gasoline taxes and vehicle weight fees, and (v) appropriations made in certain cases of emergency.

The appropriations limit for each year is adjusted annually to reflect changes in cost of living and population, and any transfers of service responsibilities between government units.

“Excess” revenues are measured over a two year cycle. Local governments must return any excess to taxpayers by rate reductions. The State must refund 50 percent of any excess, with the other 50 percent paid to schools and community colleges.

With more liberal annual adjustment factors since 1988, and depressed revenues in the early 1990s because of a recession, few governments have been operating near their spending limits, but this condition may change over time. Local governments may by voter approval exceed their spending limits for up to four years. The Department of Finance estimated

in January 2018 that the State was $16.2 billion under the limit in fiscal year 2016-17 and projected the State would be approximately $11.7 billion and $12.0 billion under its limit in fiscal years 2017-18 and 2018-19, respectively.

Dedication of General Fund Revenues to Schools. The single largest portion of the State budget is support for K-12 public schools and community college districts. Proposition 98, an initiative measure adopted originally in 1988, mandates that a set percentage of General Fund revenues be spent for K-14 schools, with the balance of school funding provided by a share of local property taxes. Proposition 98 is extremely complex, and results in significant fiscal problems when, General Fund revenues fall short of the projections on which the original appropriations to schools were made. For further discussion regarding Proposition 98, see “Proposition 98 and K-14 Funding” below.

Obligations of the State

The State has always paid when due the principal of and interest on its general obligation bonds, general obligation commercial paper notes, lease-revenue obligations and short-term obligations, including revenue anticipation notes and revenue anticipation warrants. The State Constitution prohibits the creation of general obligation indebtedness of the State unless a bond measure is approved by a majority of the electorate voting at a general election or a direct primary.

Capital Facilities Financing. The State builds and acquires capital facilities primarily through the use of general obligation bonds and lease-purchase borrowing. Under the State Constitution, debt service on outstanding general obligation bonds is the second charge to the General Fund after support of the public school system and public institutions of higher education. Since 2006, the voters and/or the State Legislature have authorized a significant amount of new general obligation bonds, lease revenue bonds and other General Fund-supported debt. From July 1, 2006 to February 1, 2018, the State aggregate principal amount of outstanding obligations primarily supported by the General Fund rose from $44.8 billion to approximately $83.0 billion. This outstanding debt consists of approximately $73.8 billion of general obligation bonds and approximately $9.2 billion of lease-revenue bonds. Moreover, as of February 1, 2018, the State had approximately $36.3 billion of authorized and unissued General Fund-supported general obligation bonds ($32.1 billion) and lease revenue bonds ($4.2 billion).

Based upon estimates included in the State’s most recent general obligation bond disclosure, debt service on General Fund-supported general obligation bonds and lease-revenue debt is estimated to equal approximately 6.3 percent of General Fund revenues in fiscal year 2017-18 and 6.3 percent of General Fund revenues in fiscal year 2018-19. This amount fluctuates as assumptions for future debt issuance and revenue projections are updated from time to time. This debt service cost is net of reimbursement from various special funds and subsidy payments from the federal government for taxable “Build America Bonds.”

Future Bond Issuance Plans. The amount of outstanding General Fund-supported debt, primarily general obligation bonds, may increase in coming years given the amount of authorized and unissued General Fund-supported bonds the State can issue. See “— Capital Facilities Financing” above. Based upon estimates included in the proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget, approximately $3.9 billion of such obligations will be issued in fiscal year 2017-18 (consisting of approximately $3.2 billion of new money general obligation bonds and approximately $707 million of lease revenue bonds). However, the exact amount that may be issued will depend on market conditions, overall budget constraints and other factors. The State also expects to issue refunding bonds as markets warrant.

Cash Management. As part of its cash management program, the State has regularly issued short-term obligations to meet cash flow needs. External borrowing is typically done with revenue anticipation notes that are payable later in the fiscal year in which they are issued. The State issued $2.8 billion of revenue anticipation notes for fiscal year 2014-15, all of which have been repaid. The State did not issue revenue anticipation notes in fiscal year 2015-16 or fiscal year 2016-17 and is not expected to issue revenue anticipation notes in fiscal year 2017-18 or 2018-19.

The State is also authorized under certain circumstances to issue revenue anticipation warrants that are payable in the succeeding fiscal year, as well as registered refunding warrants issued to refund revenue anticipation warrants. The State has issued revenue anticipation warrants to bridge short-term cash flow shortages in five years since 1992. From time to time, the State Legislature has deferred various payments due under State statute, in order to more closely align the State’s revenues with its expenditures. This technique has been used in past budgets, in order to reduce the State’s need for external borrowing to bridge any cash flow deficit. Further, State law gives the State Controller some flexibility to delay payments to various payees, including State vendors, when the State Controller foresees a relatively short-term cash flow shortage. In

addition, the State issued IOUs in lieu of cash payments in July and August 2009, the second such issuance since the 1930s. For information regarding the State’s recent cash management programs, see “Recent Financial Results” below.

Obligations of State Agencies

A number of State agencies and authorities issue obligations secured or payable from specified revenue streams. These obligations are not payable from the General Fund and carry different ratings than the State’s general obligation bonds. None of these revenue bonds are backed by the State’s faith and credit or taxing power. As of December 31, 2017, the various State revenue bond financing programs had approximately $33.8 billion in outstanding bonds and the various State financing authorities had approximately $31.7 billion of outstanding revenue bonds. The Regents of the University of California has been one of the largest issuers of revenue bonds in recent years, with approximately $18.3 billion of outstanding revenue bonds secured by certain revenues of the University of California, as of December 31, 2017. Other State agencies and authorities with significant bond programs include the State Department of Water Resources which had approximately $6.4 billion of outstanding revenue bonds secured by power and water users, and the California Housing Finance Agency had approximately $1.6 billion of outstanding revenue bonds secured by mortgage loans made for single family and multi-family housing units, as of December 31, 2017.

Recent Financial Results

Historically, the principal sources of General Fund revenues are personal income tax, sales and use tax and corporation tax. Based on the most recent figures provided in the proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget, these sources are expected to contribute approximately 69.4 percent, 19.4 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively, of total General Fund revenues and transfers in fiscal year 2018-19. The State’s personal income tax structure is highly progressive. In the State’s general obligation bond disclosure in November 2017, the State noted that the top 1 percent of taxpayers paid approximately 47.6 percent of the total personal income tax in tax year 2015. The personal income tax was made even more progressive with the passage of Proposition 30, which imposed additional taxes on earnings over $250,000, resulting in an income tax of 12.3 percent on earnings over $1 million. In November 2016 the voters in the State approved an extension of this portion of Proposition 30 through the end of calendar year 2030. A large portion of personal income tax receipts is derived from capital gains realizations and stock option income. These revenue sources can be particularly volatile.

Along with personal income taxes, sales and use taxes and corporation taxes are subject to economic fluctuations as well, and were adversely affected during the financial crisis that ended in 2009. However, total personal income taxes, sales and use taxes and corporation taxes have grown steadily since 2009, from $76.7 billion in fiscal year 2008-09 to an estimated $128.6 billion in fiscal year 2017-18 according to the 2018-19 May Revision, reflecting an average annual growth rate of 6.0%. Moreover, compared to the rest of the nation, California relies less on the property tax as a source of revenues, because of Proposition 13. See “Constitutional Limitations on Taxes, Other Charges, Appropriations and General Fund Revenues – Limitation on Property Taxes” above.

The State is required to maintain the SFEU, derived from General Fund revenues, as a reserve to meet cash needs of the General Fund, but the SFEU is required to be replenished as soon as sufficient revenues are available. Year-end balances in the SFEU are included for financial reporting purposes in the General Fund balance. As of June 30, 2011 and 2012, recurring cash flow shortfalls resulted in SFEU deficits of approximately $3.9 billion and $3.6 billion, respectively. SFEU balances have improved with higher than expected capital gains revenue in recent years. The 2018-19 May Revision projects an SFEU balance of approximately $7.3 billion as of June 30, 2018 and an SFEU balance of approximately $3.2 billion as of June 30, 2019 if proposed budget solutions are adopted. See “The State Budget—Status of State General Fund; 2018-19 Governor’s Budget; 2018-19 May Revision” below. The 2018-19 May Revision funds the BSA to 100% of its constitutional target through an optional $2.6 billion deposit to that fund in addition to the $1.5 billion mandatory deposit. Overall, the State’s combined discretionary and mandatory budget reserves are proposed to grow to almost $17 billion which is about 12.7% of estimated State General Fund revenues. The proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget also includes a pay down of accumulated debts and liabilities to counter the potential fiscal impact of federal policy changes on California and the potential end of an economic expansion that has surpassed historical averages.

The last seven budget acts were each enacted timely, a process whereby the Governor’s Budget is revised and finalized according to the schedule outlined below (the “Budget Act”). See “The State Budget— Overview” below.

Proposition 98 and K-14 Funding

Throughout the 1980s, State spending increased rapidly as the State population and economy also grew rapidly. Such spending included increased spending for many assistance programs to local governments, which were constrained by Proposition 13 and other laws. The largest State assistance program is to local public school districts. In 1988, the voters of the State approved Proposition 98, a combined initiative constitutional amendment and statute, which (subject to suspension by a two-thirds vote of the State Legislature and the Governor) guarantees local school districts and community college districts a minimum share of General Fund revenues (the “Proposition 98 Guarantee”). The Proposition 98 Guarantee is calculated each fiscal year using one of three “tests” that apply under varying fiscal and economic conditions. The 2017-18 Budget Act provides that approximately 42 percent of General Fund revenues in fiscal year 2017-18 were directed to K-14 programs covered by the Proposition 98 Guarantee. For fiscal year 2017-18, the Proposition 98 Guarantee is $74.5 billion, of which $52.6 billion is payable from the General Fund, although the proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget revises such estimates to be approximately $75.2 billion and $53.5 billion, respectively. The 2017-18 Budget Act Proposition 98 Guarantee level was an increase of $3.1 billion over the 2016-17 Budget Act level. For further information on the limitations on General Fund revenues imposed by Proposition 98, see “Constitutional Limitations on Taxes, Other Charges, Appropriations and General Fund Revenues — Dedication of General Fund Revenues to Schools” above.

State and Local Pension and Post-Retirement Liabilities

State. The financial condition of the State and its localities is also subject to pension and other post-retirement benefit risks. The pension funds managed by the State’s retirement systems, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (“CalPERS”) and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (“CalSTRS”), sustained significant investment losses during the financial crisis and currently have substantial unfunded liabilities which will require increased contributions from the General Fund in future years. Fiscal year 2017-18 General Fund contributions to CalPERS and CalSTRS (as of April 2018) are estimated to be approximately $3.4 billion and $2.8 billion, respectively. The combined contributions which include contributions for California State University (“CSU'') represent approximately 5.0 percent of all General Fund expenditures for fiscal year 2017-18. The combined contributions to CalPERS and CalSTRS which include contributions for CSU in fiscal year 2018-19, represent about 5.1 percent of all proposed General Fund expenditures in fiscal year 2018-19. In addition to the combined contributions, the State will also be making a one-time $6 billion supplemental payment to CalPERS in fiscal year 2017-18 by borrowing from other internal funds. The General Fund share of the repayment of this supplemental payment ($3.6 billion) will come from Proposition 2 revenues allocated for supplemental payments to pay down long-term liabilities. See “The State Budget — Constraints on the Budget Process — Revisions to Balanced Budget Amendment.” As of the proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget, total savings over the next two decades for the General Fund and the special funds that contribute to CalPERS, net of principal of an interest payments on the loan, is estimated to be $4.8 billion assuming actuarial and investment assumptions are realized.

The State also provides other post-employment health care and dental benefits to its employees and certain of their spouses and dependents (hereinafter referred to as “OPEB”), which benefits utilize a “pay-as-you-go” funding policy. Fiscal year 2017-18 General Fund contributions to OPEB (as of April 2018) were estimated to be approximately $2.1 billion or approximately 1.7 percent of all General Fund expenditures for fiscal year 2017-18.

The recent economic recession called into question the reliability of assumed rates of return used to determine actuarial unfunded pension liabilities. Prior to 2012, CalPERS and CalSTRS had used an assumed 7.75 percent rate of return to calculate their respective unfunded liabilities. However, at meetings in 2012, the CalSTRS Board and the CalPERS Board, respectively, voted to lower the investment earnings assumption to 7.50 percent (a reduction of 0.25 percent) commencing for actuarial valuations dated June 30, 2011. These assumption changes resulted in significant increases in unfunded liability. The assumption changes for CalPERS also increased retirement contributions for many local agencies which contract with CalPERS to manage their pension programs. In December of 2016 the CalPERS Board voted to lower the investment earnings assumptions for 2017-18 to 7.375%, for 2018-19 to 7.25%, for 2019-20 to 7.0% and for 2020-21 to 7.0%. These assumption changes will result in additional increases of unfunded liabilities for the systems.

The most recent CalPERS and CalSTRS investment returns have varied widely and their respective 10-year time weighted average returns are below even the lower assumed rates of return adopted by their Boards. CalPERS reported an 11.2 percent return on investments for the twelve months ended June 30, 2017 compared to investment returns of 18.4 percent, 2.4 percent and 0.6 percent in fiscal years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16, respectively. CalSTRS reported a 13.4 percent return on investments for the twelve months ended June 30, 2017 in its comprehensive annual financial report for fiscal year 2016-17 compared to investment returns of 18.7 percent, 4.8 percent and 1.4 percent in fiscal years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16, respectively. Based on those expected returns for the twelve months ended June 30, 2017, CalPERS estimated 3-year, 5-year

and 10-year time weighted average returns of 4.6, 8.8 and 4.4 percent, respectively, and CalSTRS reported 3-year, 5-year and 10-year time weighted average returns of 6.3, 10.1 and 5.0 percent, respectively.

The CalPERS Board reported an unfunded accrued liability allocable to state employees (excluding judges and elected officials), as of June 30, 2016, of $59.5 billion on a market value of assets (“MVA”) basis. CalPERS no longer measures on an actuarial value of assets (“AVA”) basis. CalSTRS reported the unfunded accrued actuarial liability of its Defined Benefit Plan as of June 30, 2016 at $96.7 billion on an AVA basis, and $101.6 billion on an MVA basis, reflecting new investment return assumptions adopted by CalSTRS in February 2017.

In April 2013, CalPERS approved new actuarial policies that are aimed at returning the CalPERS system to fully-funded status within 30 years. These new policies include a rate-smoothing method with a 30-year fixed amortization period for gains and losses (rather than the current 30-year rolling amortization method). CalPERS delayed the implementation of the new policy until fiscal year 2015-16 for the State, schools and all public agencies. In February 2014, the CalPERS Board approved new demographic assumptions that take into account increased life expectancies (2.1 years for men; 1.6 years for women) and to fully phase in the resulting increased costs to the State (of approximately $1.2 billion per year) within 3 years. All of these policies have or are projected to increase required State and local contributions to CalPERS. See “—Local” below for a discussion of steps taken to eliminate the current CalSTRS unfunded liability.

The State’s most recent OPEB actuarial accrued liability report estimated an approximately $91.5 billion actuarial accrued liability (virtually all unfunded) as of June 30, 2017 (compared to $76.7 billion estimated as of June 30, 2016). Government Accounting Standards Board (“GASB”) Statements 74 and 75, each of which affects OPEB financial reporting, were issued in June 2015. As a result, there is an increased focus on OPEB liability as GASB Statement No. 74 became effective for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2016 and GASB Statement No. 75 becomes effective for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2017. In January 2016, the State Controller noted that, if OPEB funding is left unchanged, the OPEB actuarial accrued liability could rise to more than $100 billion by fiscal year 2020-21 and to more than $300 billion by fiscal year 2047-48. The Governor has proposed prefunding the entire unfunded liability by fiscal year 2044-45. Statutory language passed as part of the 2015-16 Budget Act contains the framework designed to support the elimination of the unfunded OPEB actuarial accrued liability through the use of a prefunding trust fund to pay for future retiree health benefits. As of April 2018, the State had approximately $570 million set aside in the prefunding trust fund. By the end of fiscal year 2017-18, the State projects the trust fund balance will approach $1 billion.

In the future the State may be forced to significantly increase its pension fund and post-retirement benefit contributions, reducing discretionary funds available for other State programs. In addition, the State’s credit ratings may be adversely affected if the State does not reduce or manage these unfunded liabilities. See “Bond Ratings” below.

Local. Many local governments in the State, many of which are current members of CalPERS, face similar and, in many cases, more severe issues relating to unfunded pension and post-retirement benefit (OPEB) liabilities. The credit ratings, and even solvency of these local governments may be at risk in the future if these liabilities are not appropriately addressed through wage concessions and restructuring of benefits. Cities are particularly at risk because one of their primary missions is safety, and safety personnel labor and retirement benefit costs are significantly greater than labor and retirement costs of general municipal employees. Three cities, Vallejo, Stockton and San Bernardino, entered bankruptcy under Chapter 9 of the Federal bankruptcy code, largely as a result of escalating labor cost and unfunded pension and post-retirement liabilities. All three of these cities have agreements with CalPERS to administer their pension obligation, and their respective obligations to CalPERS have proven to be a pivotal reason for their insolvency. Other cities (including other cities that contract with CalPERS) and counties have expressed public concerns about their ability to meet their unfunded pension and other post-retirement liabilities, and a willingness to entertain bankruptcy as an option to resolve their fiscal problems. One federal bankruptcy judge stated that obligations to CalPERS could be adjusted in federal bankruptcy proceedings; however, the plan of adjustment in those proceedings was confirmed without reducing such obligations to CalPERS. Any definitive ruling that allowed obligations to CalPERS to be adjusted downward might encourage other financially-stressed municipalities to explore a Chapter 9 bankruptcy. There can be no assurance that the fiscal stress and cash pressures currently facing certain of the State’s localities will not continue or become more difficult, particularly if the economic recovery falters.

School districts in the State are required to make contributions to CalSTRS for their teachers and staff. In June 2014, the Governor signed Chapter 47, Statutes of 2014 (“AB 1469”), which increased statutorily required contributions to CalSTRS from the State, school districts, and teachers beginning July 1, 2014. The AB 1469 funding plan includes additional increases in contribution rates for the State, school districts, and teachers over the next several years in order to eliminate the current

CalSTRS unfunded liability by 2045-46. The increased funding requirements imposed upon local school districts will continue to increase through fiscal year 2020-21 and may have an adverse effect on their financial condition.

Pension Reform. In September 2012, the Governor signed into law a comprehensive pension reform package affecting State and local government known as California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (“PEPRA”), which became effective January 1, 2013. PEPRA implements lower defined-benefit formulas with higher retirement ages for new State employees hired on or after January 1, 2013, and includes provisions to increase employee contributions. The State Legislature passed and the Governor signed AB 1469 in June 2014 to increase required State contributions to CalSTRS. See “— Local” above. OPEB costs were not addressed in PEPRA; however, the State has disclosed that the higher retirement ages included in PEPRA will reduce OPEB liabilities in the long term.

The Legislative Analyst’s Office’s (the “LAO”) analysis of PEPRA concluded that the legislation would have little or no immediate effect on State finances. However, in a 2012 actuarial analysis of PEPRA, CalPERS projected total savings to the State of between $10.3 billion and $12.6 billion over the next 30 years due primarily to increased employee contributions and, as the workforce turns over, lower benefit formulas that will gradually reduce normal costs. Total savings to the State and local governments combined have been reported at between $40 billion and $60 billion over the next 30 years. See also “State and Local Pension and Post-Retirement Liabilities—State” for discussion of the $6 billion supplemental payment to be made to CalPERs in fiscal year 2017-18.

California courts have been largely supportive of the vested or earned pension rights of State and local employees. Thus, pension reform efforts have been focused largely on limitations on future benefits for new employees, bringing limited, if any, immediate financial relief. Both constitutional initiatives and State legislation have been circulated or proposed attempting to reform the State’s pension systems on the State and local basis.

The State Budget

Overview. The State’s fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30 of the following year. The Governor’s Budget is proposed by the Governor by January 10 of each year for the next fiscal year. Under State law, the Governor’s Budget cannot provide for projected expenditures in excess of projected revenues for the ensuing fiscal year. State law also requires the Governor to produce the May Revision by May 14 of each year. The May Revision updates the Governor’s Budget projections and budgetary proposals. The May Revision is generally the basis for final negotiations between the Governor and the State Legislature to reach agreement on appropriations and other legislation to fund State government and thus finalizing the Budget Act for upcoming fiscal year. The budget must be balanced, as required by Proposition 58 (discussed below) and pursuant to Proposition 25, enacted on November 2, 2010, must be approved by a majority (instead of two-thirds, under prior law) of each house of the State Legislature. State law requires the Governor to sign the budget by the start of the fiscal year on July 1, a requirement that, prior to Proposition 25’s enactment, had only been met 12 times in the preceding three decades. Following enactment of Proposition 25, the State Legislature has approved and Governor Brown has signed Budget Acts before the start of each such fiscal year.

Constraints on the Budget Process. Recent State Constitutional amendments approved by State voters have affected the budget process. Several such amendments are described below.

Balanced Budget Amendment (Proposition 58 and Proposition 2). On March 2, 2004, voters approved Proposition 58; a constitutional amendment called the “Balanced Budget Amendment,” which requires the State to enact a balanced budget and establish a special reserve and restricts future borrowing to cover fiscal year-end deficits. As a result of the provisions requiring the enactment of a balanced budget and restricting borrowing, the State would in some cases have to take more immediate actions to correct budgetary shortfalls. Proposition 58 requires the State Legislature to pass a balanced budget and provides for mid-year adjustments in the event that the budget falls out of balance and the Governor calls a special legislative session to address the shortfall. The balanced budget determination is made by subtracting expenditures from all available resources, including prior-year balances.

Under Proposition 58, if the Governor determines that the State is facing substantial revenue shortfalls or spending increases, the Governor is authorized to declare a fiscal emergency. The Governor would then be required to propose legislation to address the emergency and call the State Legislature into special session for that purpose. If the State Legislature fails to pass and send to the Governor legislation to address the fiscal emergency within 45 days, the State Legislature would be prohibited from acting on any other bills or adjourning in joint recess until such legislation is passed.

Proposition 58 also established the BSA, a special reserve account funded by annual transfers of specified amounts from the General Fund, unless suspended or reduced by the Governor or until a specified maximum amount has been deposited. Until the 2014-15 Budget Act, the Governor had suspended the annual transfer of money from the General Fund to the BSA every year since 2007. In November 2014, voters approved a constitutional amendment (“Proposition 2”) intended to strengthen the BSA by, among other things, basing deposits on when capital gains revenues rise above 8 percent, creating a Proposition 98 reserve and doubling the maximum size of the BSA from 5 percent to 10 percent of General Fund revenues. Funding for the BSA is estimated by the proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget to be approximately $8.4 billion as of June 30, 2018 and approximately $13.5 billion as of June 30, 2019 or 100 percent of its constitutional target. Certain other provisions of Proposition 58 relating to the BSA were replaced by the provisions of Proposition 2. See “— Revisions to Balanced Budget Amendment” below.

Proposition 58 also prohibits certain future borrowing to cover fiscal year-end deficits. This restriction applies to general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, and certain other forms of long-term borrowing. The restriction does not apply to certain other types of borrowing, such as short-term borrowing to cover cash shortfalls in the General Fund (including revenue anticipation notes or revenue anticipation warrants currently used by the State), or inter-fund borrowings.

Additional Revisions to Balanced Budget Amendment (Proposition 2). In addition to the provisions described above, other provisions of Proposition 58 relating to the BSA were replaced by the provisions of Proposition 2. Proposition 2 requires that 1.5 percent of annual General Fund revenues be deposited each year into the BSA until the BSA balance reaches an amount equal to 10 percent of General Fund revenues. Proposition 2 also requires that half of the revenues that otherwise would have been deposited into the BSA through fiscal year 2030-31 be used for supplemental payments to pay down long-term liabilities. After fiscal year 2030-31 that half of the revenues that otherwise would have been deposited into the BSA may be used for either supplemental debt payments or savings. Proposition 2 further requires that withdrawal of funds from the BSA be only for a disaster or if spending remains at or below the highest level of spending from the prior three years. Proposition 2 limits the maximum amount that could be withdrawn in the first year of a recession to half of the BSA’s balance. It also requires the State to provide a multiyear budget forecast to help better manage the State’s longer term finances and to create a Proposition 98 reserve, whereby spikes in funding are to be saved for future years to smooth school spending and minimize future cuts.

State-Local Fiscal Relations. The enactment of Proposition 1A in November 2004 (“Proposition 1A of 2004”) and Proposition 22, or the “Local Taxpayer, Public Safety, and Transportation Protection Act of 2010” (“Proposition 22”), in November 2010, significantly changed the fiscal relationship between the State and local governments by severely limiting the State’s access to local funding sources.

Specifically, Proposition 1A of 2004 amended the State Constitution to, among other things, reduce the State’s access to property tax, sales tax and vehicle license fee revenues raised by local governments. Proposition 1A of 2004 also prohibits the State from mandating activities on cities, counties or special districts without providing funding to comply with the mandates. If the State does not provide funding for the activity that has been mandated, the requirement to abide by the mandate is suspended.

In addition, Proposition 22 prohibits the State Legislature, among other things, from taking or reallocating money raised by local governments for local purposes, from making changes in the allocation of property taxes among local governments designed to aid State finances, from using State fuel tax revenues to pay debt service on State transportation bonds, from borrowing or changing the distribution of State fuel tax revenues, and from using vehicle licensing fee revenues to reimburse local governments for State-mandated costs. The inability of the State to borrow or redirect funds from these sources, as it has in recent fiscal years, will reduce the State’s flexibility in reaching budget solutions in the future. On the other hand, both Proposition 1A and Proposition 22 made the allocation of revenues to local jurisdictions more predictable.

Proposition 30 and Proposition 55. On November 6, 2012, voters approved “The Schools and Local Public Safety Protection Act of 2012” (also known as “Proposition 30”), which provided temporary increases in personal income tax rates for high-income taxpayers and a temporary increase in the State’s sales tax rate. A portion of the tax increases has been and will be used to pay for the State’s Proposition 98 school funding obligations. See “Proposition 98 and K-14 Funding” above. The sales tax portion of Proposition 30 expired on December 31, 2016. In November 2016 voters approved Proposition 55 which extends the personal income tax portion of Proposition 30 until December 31, 2030.

The State estimates that the additional revenue from the personal income tax increase in Proposition 30/55 was $7.0 billion in fiscal year 2016-17 and the State projects that revenue from the personal income tax increase in Proposition 30/55 will be

$7.3 billion for fiscal year 2017-18, $7.4 billion in fiscal year 2018-19, $7.5 billion in fiscal year 2019-20 and $7.7 billion in fiscal year 2020-21. The 2018-19 May Revision includes a brief overview of the projected effects of this federal tax reform on the state’s General Fund. See “The State Budget—Status of State General Fund; 2018-19 Governor’s Budget; 2018-19 May Revision” below.

Health Care Reform. The federal Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”) may continue to result in a significant net increase of General Fund program costs. The federal administration and leaders in Congress continue to consider and propose numerous changes to health and human services programs. Many of the proposals could have far-reaching impacts on health care in California with significant impacts to Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California). Medi-Cal is a federal program that provides comprehensive health care to nearly 13.5 million Californians.

A complete repeal of the ACA, without a companion replacement program, would not only affect millions of Californians’ health benefits and the state and local health care delivery system, but would also disrupt the private insurance market in California. The potential economic impacts of any repeal or replacement of the ACA as proposed by the Trump Administration are unpredictable and may have an adverse overall fiscal impact on the State and its instrumentalities. The actual fiscal impact will depend on final enacted legislation, if any, and may also be materially affected by policy choices made by the State to address any proposed or enacted federal legislation. However, in 2017, Congress attempted several times to repeal the ACA and consequently drop health care coverage for millions of Californians. The proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget noted that such actions, if successful, would have cost the General Fund tens of billions of dollars annually—more than doubling the cost of Medi-Cal when fully implemented.

It is not clear whether any of these federal proposals will ultimately be approved or when they would take effect. As such, the proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget continues to reflect existing state and federal law. The State continues to implement the ACA through the State’s insurance exchange (Covered California) and through the two part (mandatory and optional) expansion of Medi-Cal. As of January 1, 2018, California is responsible for 6 percent of these costs with California’s contribution generally increasing each fiscal year until fiscal year 2020-21, when the State will pay 10 percent of the total costs. The federal government committed to pay nearly 100 percent of the costs of this optional expansion for the first three years. The State’s estimated share of the costs of the optional expansion are approximately $22.9 billion ($1.6 billion from the General Fund) for fiscal year 2018-19. By fiscal year 2020-21, the General Fund share for the optional expansion is projected to be $2.5 billion.

The ACA also required individuals to buy health insurance or pay a tax penalty as an incentive for younger and healthier people to sign up for health care and make it more affordable. Covered California, the State’s health insurance marketplace, has provided individual health insurance through private plans supported by federally funded tax subsidies and products for individuals and small businesses since 2014. It is a self-sustaining entity funded through fees assessed on the participating health plans. The federal tax reform bill, passed in December 2017, eliminated penalties for the individual mandate starting in 2019. Repeal of the individual mandate may result in disruptions to the health care market in California.

The net impact of the ACA on the General Fund continues to depend on a variety of factors, including the nature and extent of any repeal or replacement, levels of individual and employer participation, changes in insurance premiums, and expected savings from the reform as beneficiaries in current State-only programs receive coverage through Medi-Cal or Covered California.

Status of State General Fund; 2018-19 Governor’s Budget; 2018-19 May Revision

On January 10, 2018, the Governor proposed a state budget for fiscal year 2018-19. The proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget projected a healthy one-time surplus for the State while also warning of uncertain times including the ramifications of the recently enacted federal tax bill. Amongst other uses of this one-time surplus, the proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget proposed to fund the BSA (also known as the State’s “rainy day fund”) to 100 percent of its constitutional target.

The proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget noted that California’s fiscal stability could easily be overwhelmed by actions of the federal government and that California’s relationship with the federal government has never been more uncertain. Notably, the economic and revenue forecasts of the proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget were finalized prior to the federal tax law changes enacted in December 2017. The proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget forecasts assumed no federal tax law changes. While there are some aspects of the federal tax law changes that could temporarily benefit the national economy, millions of Californians will be hurt by the limitation of the ability to deduct state and local taxes from their federal filings. The 2018-19 May Revision includes a brief overview of the projected impact of the changes on the state economy and revenues, but notes

that the effect from changed behavior of businesses and wealthy individuals will only be apparent after 2018 taxes are filed in early calendar year 2019 (see “—2018-19 May Revision” below).

A summary of the condition of the State’s General Fund, including revised results from fiscal year 2016-17 and the 2018-19 May Revision numbers for fiscal years 2017-18 and 2018-19 are set forth below.

General Fund Condition
(Dollars in Millions)

		2018-2019 May Revision
	Revised 2016-17	Revised 2017 18¹	Percent Change	Proposed 2018-19¹	Percent Change
Prior-year General Fund balance	$ 5,029	$ 5,672		$ 5,351
Revenues and transfers	118,669	129,825	8.6%	133,518	2.8%
Expenditures	(119,087)	(127,046)	6.3%	(137,662)	7.8%
Ending General Fund Balance	$ 4,611	$ 8,451		$ 4,402
Encumbrances	(1,165)	(1,165)		(1,165)
SFEU balance	$ 3,445	$ 7,286		$ 3,273
BSA balance	$ 6,713	$ 9,410		$ 13,767
Total Reserves	$ 10,158	$ 16,696		$ 17,004

¹	From 2018-19 May Revision

LAO Overview of 2018-19 Governor’s Budget. In its report on the proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget, the LAO observed that the proposed budget “places a high priority on building reserves” including an optional $3.5 billion deposit to the BSA which brings that reserve fund to 100 percent of its constitutional target. However, the LAO observed that certain of the new infrastructure proposals in the proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget may carry “growing and significant costs” in later years despite the relatively small spending amounts included in the proposed budget. The LAO also correctly predicted that the State may have higher revenue estimates by the time of the 2018-19 May Revision. The LAO also thought at the time of the proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget that General Fund savings could be realized through the extension of certain federal programs being debated in Congress. The LAO also noted that although California state income taxes generally do not automatically conform to changes in federal tax law, the changes in federal tax law will result in various changes in state taxpayer liabilities and behavior including indirect and unintended changes.

2018-19 May Revision. The 2018-19 May Revision reflects the anticipated receipt of $8 billion in higher revenues through Fiscal Year 2018-19 compared to the proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget. From this amount, the State must pay for substantially higher program costs and ongoing commitments made by it and expanded in recent years, such as Medi-Cal, Cal Grants, child care, In-Home Supportive Services and foster care reform. With the remaining funds, the 2018-19 May Revision proposes almost $4 billion in one-time General Fund spending, focused in the areas of infrastructure ($2 billion), homelessness ($359 million) and mental health ($312 million). The 2018-19 May Revision assumes the federal tax law changes will provide a temporary boost to the national economy and provide fiscal gains to many, especially the wealthiest, however, the 2018-19 May Revision projects that this boost is likely to come at a long-term cost as it will take economic growth from future years and increase income inequality. The 2018-19 May Revision notes that the full implications of federal tax law changes for the State’s taxpayers and on federal-state programs will not be known for many years.

LAO Overview of May Revision. In its report on the 2018-19 May Revision, the LAO observed that, since the proposed 2018-19 Governor’s Budget, the Governor’s revenue estimates increased substantially, but that a large portion of these revenue increases are offset by formula-driven constitutional spending requirements and other increases resulting from caseload changes and federal requirements. After satisfying these higher spending requirements, the LAO estimates that the Governor had $4.1 billion in discretionary resources to allocate in the 2018-19 May Revision. The LAO’s initial assessment of the 2018-19 May Revision proposals suggests that there are reasons to believe the bottom line condition of the General Fund could be considerably better than the administration currently suggests by $2.6 billion over a three-year period ending June 30, 2019, largely stemming from the LAO’s higher estimates of personal income tax revenue in 2017 18 and 2018 19 (reflecting the LAO’s higher projections of capital gains in 2017 and 2018 and higher wages and salaries in 2019). The LAO believes that the

Governor’s budget proposals provide for the State to be well-prepared to weather a mild recession, however, the LAO notes that the level of reserves would not be sufficient to fully cover the costs of a moderate or a severe recession which, if faced in the coming years, would require the State Legislature to take many billions of dollars in actions over a multiyear period to bring the budget back into balance.

Future Budgets

The State’s ability to balance its budget going forward may be affected by budget pressures, including particularly potential significant increases in required State contributions to pension funds or other post-employment benefits, increased debt service payments, potential adverse decisions in litigation, impact of federal tax legislation and deferred obligations to schools and local governments.

Pending Litigation

There are currently numerous legal proceedings pending against the State, that if determined adversely against the State, could affect the State’s expenditures, and in some cases, its revenues and cash flow. Information regarding some of the more significant litigation pending against the State would ordinarily be included in various public documents issued by the State, such as the official statements prepared in connection with the issuance of general obligation bonds of California. See “Additional Information” below for information on how to obtain such official statements.

Bond Ratings

As of May 18, 2018, the following ratings for the State’s general obligation bonds have been received from Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), S&P Global Ratings, a Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC business (“S&P”) and Fitch, Inc. (“Fitch”):

Moody’s		S&P		Fitch
Aa3		AA-		AA-

These ratings apply only to the State’s general obligation bonds and are not indicative of the ratings assigned to bonds issued by local governments, such as counties, cities, school districts and other local agencies of the State.

Any explanation of the significance of such ratings may be obtained only from the rating agency furnishing such ratings. There is no assurance that such ratings will continue for any given period of time or that they will not be revised downward or withdrawn entirely if, in the judgment of the particular rating agency, circumstances so warrant.

Additional Information

Information regarding the State’s financial condition is included in various public documents issued by the State, such as the official statements prepared in connection with the issuance of general obligation bonds of California. Such official statements may be obtained by contacting the State Treasurer’s Office at (800) 900-3873 or at www.buycaliforniabonds.com.

Periodic reports on revenues and/or expenditures during the fiscal year are issued by the Administration, the State Controller’s Office and the LAO. The Department of Finance issues a monthly bulletin, which reports the most recent revenue receipts as reported by State departments, comparing those receipts to budget projections. The State Controller issues a monthly report on General Fund cash receipts and disbursements. These reports are normally released on the 10th day of every calendar month for the period ended on the last day of the prior month. The Administration also formally updates its budget projections three times during each fiscal year — in January, May and at the time of budget enactment. Currently, many of these bulletins and reports are available on the State’s investor relations website (www.buycaliforniabonds.com) or on the internet at websites maintained by the agencies and by contacting the agencies at their offices in Sacramento, California. Investors are cautioned that interim financial information is not necessarily indicative of results for a fiscal year.

Publications from the LAO can be read in full by accessing the LAO’s website (www.lao.ca.gov) or by contacting the LAO at (916) 445-4656.

Complete text of the Budget Acts may be found at the Electronic Budget website of the Department of Finance (www.ebudget.ca.gov).

Complete text of the State Controller’s monthly Summary Analysis may be accessed at the State Controller’s website (www.sco.ca.gov).

None of the information on the above websites is incorporated herein by reference.

Local Governments

General. The primary units of local government in California are the 58 counties, which range in population from approximately 1,200 in Alpine County to approximately 10 million in Los Angeles County.

Counties are responsible for the provision of many basic services, including indigent health care, welfare, jails, and public safety in unincorporated areas. As of July 1, 2011, the California League of Cities reported that there are 482 incorporated cities in California and thousands of special districts formed for education, utilities, and other services.

To the extent the State is constrained by its obligation to schools under Proposition 98, or other fiscal considerations, the absolute level (or the rate of growth) of State assistance to local governments may be affected. Any such reductions in State aid could compound the serious fiscal constraints already experienced by many local governments, particularly counties and schools.

Many local governments are also facing substantial increases in pension liabilities and health care costs for retirees, as a result of generous retirements benefits granted during prior economic boom times. For more information regarding pension liabilities, see “State and Local Pension and Post-Retirement Liabilities” above. At the same time that local governments are facing rising labor and benefit costs, local governments are limited in their ability to levy and raise property taxes and other forms of taxes, fees or assessments, due to State Constitutional as well as (in some cases) local initiatives. In the case of school districts, contributions to CalSTRS are determined by the State legislature, and the State has enacted legislation to increase required contributions to pay rising pension costs. See “State and Local Pension and Post-Retirement Liabilities — Pension Reform” above. To the extent such increases exceed increases in State funding, school district finances have been and will continue to be adversely affected. As a consequence of these factors, local governments may increasingly be forced to cut local services to address budget shortfalls or to take even more drastic actions, such as a bankruptcy filing.

A Trump administration order that threatened to cut off federal funding to “sanctuary cities”, many of which are located in California, was temporarily enjoined in April 2017. Although that order may be permanently enjoined, any similar proposal could have a material adverse impact on the financial condition of the affected cities, and potentially the State as a whole.

Constitutional and Statutory Limitations on Local Government. The fiscal condition of local governments was changed when Proposition 13, which added Article XIII A to the State Constitution, was approved by California voters in 1978. Proposition 13 reduced and limited the future growth of property taxes and limited the ability of local governments to impose “special taxes” (those devoted to a specific purpose) without two-thirds voter approval. Although Proposition 13 limited property tax growth rates, it also has had a smoothing effect on property tax revenues, ensuring greater stability in annual revenues than existed before Proposition 13 passed. For further information on Proposition 13, see “Constitutional Limitations on Taxes, Other Charges, Appropriations and General Fund Revenues — Limitation on Property Taxes” above.

Proposition 218, another constitutional amendment enacted by initiative in 1996, further limited the ability of local governments to raise taxes, fees, and other exactions. See “Constitutional Limitations on Taxes, Other Charges, Appropriations and General Fund Revenues — Limitations on Other Taxes, Fees and Charges” above. Proposition 62, a statutory initiative adopted by the voters on November 4, 1986, includes limitations on the ability of local governments to raise taxes that are similar to those included in the later constitutional amendments of Proposition 218.

In the aftermath of Proposition 13, the State provided aid to local governments from the General Fund to make up some of the loss of property tax moneys, including assuming principal responsibility for funding K-12 schools and community colleges. During the recession of the early 1990s, the State Legislature reduced the post-Proposition 13 aid to local government entities other than K-12 schools and community colleges by requiring cities and counties to transfer some of their property tax revenues to school districts. However, the State Legislature also provided additional funding sources, such as sales taxes, and reduced certain mandates for local services funded by cities and counties.

Beginning in 2000, and in part caused by the “internet bubble,” the State was faced with increasing financial stress and began to divert local revenue resources, including sales tax, vehicle license fees and redevelopment moneys, to the State coffers. The 2004-05 Budget Act, related legislation and the enactment of Proposition 1A in 2004 and Proposition 22 in 2010 dramatically changed the State-local fiscal relationship.

Proposition 1A of 2004 amended the State Constitution to, among other things, reduce the State Legislature’s authority over local government revenue sources by placing restrictions on the State’s access to local governments’ property, sales, and vehicle license fee revenues as of November 3, 2004. Proposition 22 supersedes Proposition 1A of 2004 and completely prohibits any future borrowing by the State from local government funds, and generally prohibits the State Legislature from making changes in local government funding sources. For further discussion regarding Proposition 22 and Proposition 1A of 2004, see “The State Budget — Constraints on the Budget Process — State-Local Fiscal Relations” above.

Realigning Services to Local Governments. Commencing with the 2011-12 Budget Act, the State implemented a realignment plan to shift certain State program costs to counties and provided a comparable amount of funds to support these new county commitments. Under the realignment plan, a total of $6.3 billion in fiscal year 2011-12 was, and ongoing funds for such programs thereafter are required to be, provided to counties for court security, corrections and public safety, mental health services, substance abuse treatment, child welfare programs, adult protective services, and CalWORKS. Consequently, local governments, particularly counties, have borne an increased part of the financial burden of providing program services, including the risks of cost overruns, revenue declines and insufficient revenue growth. The State reported in April 2018 that, during fiscal year 2018-19, it expected to transfer approximately $7.3 billion in sales tax revenues and $700 million in vehicle license fee revenue to local governments under the realignment plan.

Obligations of Other Issuers

Other Issuers of California Debt Obligations. There are a number of State agencies, instrumentalities and political subdivisions of the State that issue municipal obligations, some of which may be conduit revenue obligations payable from payments from private borrowers. These entities are subject to various economic risks and uncertainties, and the credit quality of the securities issued by them may vary considerably from the credit quality of obligations backed by the full faith and credit of the State. For example, assessment bonds may be adversely affected by a general decline in real estate values or a slowdown in real estate sales activity.

California Long-Term Lease Obligations. Based on a series of court decisions, certain long-term lease obligations, though typically payable from the General Fund or a municipality, are not considered “indebtedness” requiring voter approval. Such leases, however, are subject to “abatement” in the event the facility being leased is unavailable for beneficial use and occupancy by the municipality during the term of the lease. Abatement is not a default, and there may be no remedies available to the holders of the certificates evidencing the lease obligation in the event abatement occurs. The most common cases of abatement are failure to complete construction of the facility before the end of the period during which lease payments have been capitalized and uninsured casualty losses to the facility (e.g., due to earthquake). In the event abatement occurs with respect to a lease obligation, lease payments may be interrupted (if all available insurance proceeds and reserves are exhausted) and the certificates may not be paid when due. Further, lease obligations may represent executory contracts which could be rejected in a bankruptcy proceeding under Chapter 9 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. In recent bankruptcy proceedings involving the City of Stockton, the confirmed plan of adjustment included the discharge of lease obligations at significant discounts from their face value.

Statutory Lien Securing General Obligation Bonds. Certain local governments, particularly school districts, issue general obligation bonds secured by ad valorem property taxes. Effective January 1, 2016, provisions were added to the California Education Code and the California Government Code to provide that general obligation bonds issued and sold by local governments in California are secured by a statutory lien on the ad valorem property taxes levied and collected to pay the principal and interest on such general obligation bonds. A statutory lien provides bondholders with a security interest in ad valorem property taxes intended to survive a bankruptcy of the local government. It is unclear whether these provisions apply to bonds issued prior to the effective date.

Tax Increment and the Dissolution of Redevelopment Agencies. Until 2011, local redevelopment agencies throughout the State issued “tax allocation” bonds or similar obligations secured by the increase in assessed valuation of a redevelopment project area after the start of redevelopment activity. Throughout the years, redevelopment agencies issued billions of dollars of tax allocation bonds. In addition, the State has regularly borrowed or appropriated redevelopment tax increments to address its budget shortfalls.

In December 2011, the State Supreme Court upheld the validity of legislation, enacted earlier in 2011, that eliminated redevelopment agencies (as well as the issuance of tax allocation bonds) in the State. On February 1, 2012, all redevelopment agencies in California were dissolved and the process of unwinding their financial affairs began.

The legislation dissolving redevelopment agencies preserved the pledge of tax increment revenues to the payment of tax allocation bonds or tax allocation supported obligations. In addition, the passage of “clean-up” legislation has clarified many outstanding issues relating to the implementation of the legislation, and in particular the mechanics of assuring the payment of outstanding tax allocation obligations. In addition, the clean-up legislation has enabled many jurisdictions to refinance outstanding tax increment bonds.

Many jurisdictions (largely cities) with redevelopment agencies subsidized their general fund operations through the use of tax increment revenues. Consequently, the dissolution of redevelopment agencies and the reallocation of tax increment revenue to other taxing entities has resulted in additional fiscal stress for many of these local jurisdictions. Over time, however, the elimination of redevelopment agencies and the redirection of tax increment revenues to local taxing entities will provide additional discretionary revenues to the State as well as the local taxing entities.

Other Considerations. The repayment of industrial development securities or single family mortgage revenue bonds secured by real property may be affected by California laws limiting foreclosure rights of creditors. Under California law, mortgage loans secured by single family homes can be prepaid at any time without penalty, except in the first five years of the loan, and subject to limits on the size of the penalty. Such prepayments may affect the ability of the issuer of single family mortgage bonds to repay the bonds. Securities backed by health care and hospital revenues may be affected by changes in State regulations governing cost reimbursements to health care providers under Medi-Cal (the State’s Medicaid program), including risks related to the policy of awarding exclusive contracts to certain hospitals. See “Obligations of State Agencies” and “Obligations of Other Issuers — Other Issuers of California Debt Obligations” above.

Other Factors

Earthquake Risk. Substantially all of California is within an active geologic region subject to major seismic activity. Northern California in 1989 and Southern California in 1994 experienced major earthquakes causing billions of dollars in damages. The federal government provided more than $13 billion in aid for both earthquakes, and neither event has had any long-term negative economic impact. Any obligation in the California Fund could be affected by an interruption of revenues because of damaged facilities, or, consequently, income tax deductions for casualty losses or property tax assessment reductions. Compensatory financial assistance could be constrained by the inability of (i) an issuer to have obtained earthquake insurance coverage; (ii) an insurer to perform on its contracts of insurance in the event of widespread losses; or (iii) the federal or State government to appropriate sufficient funds within their respective budget limitations.

Risk of Sea Level Changes and Flooding. In May 2009, the California Climate Change Center released a study, for informational purposes only, which was funded by various state agencies and the California Ocean Protection Council. The study posited that increases in sea level will be a significant consequence of climate change over the next century. The study evaluated the population, infrastructure, and property at risk from projected sea-level rise if no actions are taken to protect the coast. The study concluded that significant property in the State is at risk of flooding from 100-year flood events and estimated that the replacement value of this property would total nearly $100 billion (in 2000 dollars). Since this study was released several municipalities in the State have conducted assessments of climate change vulnerability specific to their areas. These more specific local assessments of risks and potential mitigation strategies may be publicly available. A wide range of critical infrastructure in the State, such as roads, airports, hospitals, schools, emergency facilities, wastewater treatment plants, power plants, and wetlands is vulnerable to varying degrees depending on location and the feasibility of mitigation strategies. Continued development in vulnerable areas will put additional assets at risk and raise protection costs.

Special Considerations Regarding Investments in New York Municipal Securities

The following information is a brief summary of factors affecting the economy of New York City (the “City” or “New York City”) or New York State (the “State”, ”New York State”, “New York” or “NYS”) and does not purport to be a complete description of such factors. Other factors will affect issuers. The summary is based primarily upon the most recent publicly available offering statements relating to debt offerings of state and local issuers and other financial and demographic information, as of June 21, 2018 with respect to the City and February 28, 2018 with respect to the State, and it does not reflect recent developments since the dates of such offering statements and other information. The Fund has not independently verified this information.

The State, some of its agencies, instrumentalities and public authorities and certain of its municipalities have sometimes faced serious financial difficulties that could have an adverse effect on the sources of payment for or the market value of the New York municipal bonds in which the Fund invests.

New York City

General. The City, with an estimated population of approximately 8.6 million, is an international center of business and culture. Its non-manufacturing economy is broadly based, with the banking, securities, insurance, technology, information, publishing, fashion, design, retailing, education and health care industries accounting for a significant portion of the City’s total employment earnings. Additionally, the City is a leading tourist destination. Manufacturing activity in the City is conducted primarily in apparel and printing.

For each of the 1981 through 2017 fiscal years, the City’s General Fund had an operating surplus, before discretionary and other transfers, and achieved balanced operating results as reported in accordance with then applicable generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), after discretionary and other transfers and except for the application of Governmental Accounting Standards Board (“GASB”) Statement No. 49 (“GASB 49”), as described below. City fiscal years end on June 30 and are referred to by the calendar year in which they end. The City has been required to close substantial gaps between forecast revenues and forecast expenditures in order to maintain balanced operating results. There can be no assurance that the City will continue to maintain balanced operating results as required by State law without proposed tax or other revenue increases or reductions in City services or entitlement programs, which could adversely affect the City’s economic base.

As required by the New York State Financial Emergency Act For The City of New York (the “Financial Emergency Act”) and the New York City Charter, the City prepares a four-year annual financial plan, which is reviewed and revised on a quarterly basis and which includes the City’s capital, revenue and expense projections and outlines proposed gap-closing programs for years with projected budget gaps. The City’s current financial plan projects budget balance in the 2018 and 2019 fiscal years in accordance with GAAP except for the application of GASB 49. In 2010, the Financial Emergency Act was amended to waive the budgetary impact of GASB 49 by enabling the City to continue to finance with bond proceeds certain pollution remediation costs. The City’s current financial plan projects budget gaps for the 2020 through 2022 fiscal years. A pattern of current year balance and projected future year budget gaps has been consistent through the entire period since 1982, during which the City has achieved an excess of revenues over expenditures, before discretionary transfers, for each fiscal year.

For its normal operations, the City depends on aid from the State both to enable the City to balance its budget and to meet its cash requirements. There can be no assurance that there will not be delays or reductions in State aid to the City from amounts currently projected; that State budgets for future State fiscal years will be adopted by the April 1 statutory deadline, or interim appropriations will be enacted; or that any such reductions or delays will not have adverse effects on the City’s cash flow or expenditures. In addition, the City has made various assumptions with respect to federal aid. Future federal actions or inactions could have adverse effects on the City’s cash flow or revenues.

The Mayor is responsible for preparing the City’s financial plan which relates to the City and certain entities that receive funds from the City. The financial plan is modified quarterly. The City’s projections set forth in the financial plan are based on various assumptions and contingencies which are uncertain and which may not materialize. Such assumptions and contingencies include the condition of the international, national, regional and local economies, the provision of State and federal aid, the impact on City revenues and expenditures of any future federal or State legislation and policies affecting the City and the cost of pension structures and healthcare.

Implementation of the financial plan is dependent on the City’s ability to market successfully its bonds and notes. Implementation of the financial plan is also dependent upon the ability to market the securities of other financing entities including the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority (the “Water Authority”) and the New York City Transitional Finance Authority (“TFA”). The success of projected public sales of City, Water Authority, TFA and other bonds and notes will be subject to prevailing market conditions. Future developments in the financial markets generally, as well as future developments concerning the City, and public discussion of such developments, may affect the market for outstanding City general obligation bonds and notes.

The City Comptroller and other agencies and public officials, from time to time, issue reports and make public statements which, among other things, state that projected revenues and expenditures may be different from those forecast in the City’s financial plans.

City Financial Plan. For the 2017 fiscal year, the City’s General Fund had a total surplus of $4.185 billion, before discretionary and other transfers, and achieved balanced operating results in accordance with GAAP, except for the application of GASB 49 as described above, after discretionary and other transfers. The 2017 fiscal year is the thirty-seventh consecutive year that the City has achieved balanced operating results when reported in accordance with GAAP, except for the application of GASB 49.

On June 7, 2017, the City submitted to the Control Board the financial plan for the 2018 through 2021 fiscal years (the “June 2017 Financial Plan”), which was consistent with the City’s capital and expense budgets as adopted for the 2018 fiscal year. Subsequently, the June 2017 Financial Plan was modified during the 2018 fiscal year. On June 14, 2018, the City submitted to the Control Board the financial plan for the 2019 through 2022 fiscal years, which is consistent with the City’s capital and expense budgets as adopted for the 2019 fiscal year, and a modification to the June 2017 Financial Plan with respect to the 2018 fiscal year (together, the “Financial Plan”).

The Financial Plan projects revenues and expenses for the 2018 and 2019 fiscal years balanced in accordance with GAAP, except for the application of GASB 49, and projects gaps of approximately $3.26 billion, $2.89 billion and $2.29 billion in fiscal years 2020 through 2022, respectively. The June 2017 Financial Plan had projected revenues and expenses for the 2018 fiscal year balanced in accordance with GAAP, except for the application of GASB 49, and had projected gaps of approximately $3.47 billion, $2.81 billion and $2.33 billion in fiscal years 2019 through 2021, respectively.

The Financial Plan reflects, since the June 2017 Financial Plan, increases in projected net revenues of $2.61 billion, $626 million, $100 million and $180 million in fiscal years 2018 through 2021, respectively. Changes in projected revenues include: (i) increases in real property tax revenues of $402 million, $250 million, $390 million and $683 million in fiscal years 2018 through 2021, respectively (inclusive of increases of $53 million in fiscal years 2019 through 2021, respectively, which are included in the Citywide savings program described below); (ii) increases in personal income tax revenues of $1.52 billion, $305 million, $345 million and $224 million in fiscal years 2018 through 2021, respectively; (iii) decreases in business tax revenues of $414 million, $360 million, $397 million and $507 million in fiscal years 2018 through 2021, respectively; (iv) an increase in sales tax revenues of $92 million in fiscal year 2018 and decreases in sales tax revenues of $119 million, $78 million and $101 million in fiscal years 2019 through 2021, respectively; (v) increases in real estate transaction taxes of $178 million and $38 million in fiscal years 2018 and 2019, respectively, and decreases in real estate transaction taxes of $103 million and $73 million in fiscal years 2020 and 2021, respectively; (vi) decreases in State School Tax Relief Program (“STAR Program”) revenues of $13 million, $15 million, $16 million and $16 million in fiscal years 2018 through 2021, respectively; (vii) increases in hotel tax revenues of $14 million, $14 million, $6 million and $7 million in fiscal years 2018 through 2021, respectively; and (viii) a decrease in other tax revenues of $10 million in fiscal year 2018 and increases in other tax revenues of $122 million, $117 million and $108 million in fiscal years 2019 through 2021, respectively. Changes in projected revenues also include: (i) increases in tax audit revenues of $449 million and $335 million in fiscal years 2018 and 2019, respectively; and (ii) net increases in other revenues of $395 million and $56 million in fiscal years 2018 and 2019, respectively, and net decreases in other revenues of $164 million and $145 million in fiscal years 2020 and 2021, respectively (inclusive of additional increases of $24 million, $29 million, $14 million and $13 million in fiscal years 2018 through 2021, respectively, which are included in the Citywide Savings Program described below).

The Financial Plan also reflects, since the June 2017 Financial Plan, a decrease in projected net expenditures of $1.96 billion in fiscal year 2018 and increases in projected net expenditures of $1.73 billion, $553 million and $739 million in fiscal years 2019 through 2021, respectively. Changes in projected expenditures include: (i) increases in agency expenses of $871 million, $1.74 billion, $1.23 billion and $1.33 billion in fiscal years 2018 through 2021, respectively; (ii) an increase of $388 million in fiscal year 2019 as a result of City Council initiatives; (iii) an increase of $106 million in fiscal year 2019 reflecting funding for the Fair Fares program through the City’s Human Resources Administration to provide reduced fares to low income subway and bus riders for the period from January through June 2019; (iv) decreases in debt service of $91 million, $37 million and $47 million in fiscal years 2018, 2020 and 2021, respectively, and an increase in debt service of $24 million in fiscal year 2019, in addition to debt service reductions in the Citywide Savings Program described below; (v) decreases in the labor reserve of $40 million in fiscal year 2018 and $75 million in each of fiscal years 2019 through 2021; (vi) increases in pension contributions of $61 million and $156 million in fiscal years 2018 and 2021, respectively, and decreases in pension contributions of $20 million and $39 million in fiscal years 2019 and 2020, respectively, primarily as a result of strong investment earnings in fiscal year 2017 offset by establishment of a reserve for potential costs associated with future audit recommendations; (vii) a decrease of $1 million in fiscal year 2018 and increases of $531 million, $295 million and $296 million in fiscal years 2019 through 2021, respectively, primarily reflecting the impact of the State Enacted Budget (as defined below); (viii) a decrease in the general reserve of $1.18 billion in fiscal year 2018 and an increase in the general reserve of $125 million in fiscal year 2019; (ix) a decrease in the capital stabilization reserve of $250 million in fiscal year 2018; (x) a

decrease of $400 million in fiscal year 2018 reflecting a re-estimate of prior years’ expenses and receivables; and (xi) an increase of $100 million in contributions to the Retiree Health Benefits Trust in fiscal year 2018. Changes in projected net expenditures also include decreases in net expenditures (which reflect certain increases in revenues described above) of $1.03 billion, $1.09 billion, $817 million and $925 million in fiscal years 2018 through 2021, respectively, as a result of the Citywide Savings Program.

The Financial Plan also reflects the financial impact of a recent Consent Decree relating to lead-based paint and other health and safety concerns in New York City Housing Authority (“NYCHA”) properties. The Consent Decree, which has been agreed to by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, NYCHA and the City but has not yet been entered by the court, includes the appointment of a monitor to oversee NYCHA’s progress toward complying with regulations relating to such health and safety concerns. In addition, the Consent Decree includes the City’s commitment to provide a total of $1 billion of capital funds in fiscal years 2019 through 2022, and $200 million in capital funds in each subsequent fiscal year until such health and safety concerns have been addressed. Such funds are in addition to funding previously provided in the City’s financial plan and Capital Commitment Plan. The Consent Decree also contemplates that $550 million of funding from the State will be available to NYCHA to address such health and safety concerns.

The Financial Plan reflects, since the June 2017 Financial Plan, provision for $4.58 billion for the prepayment in fiscal year 2018 of fiscal year 2019 expenses and an expenditure reduction of $4.58 billion in fiscal year 2019.

Contracts with unions for the 2010-2017 round of collective bargaining, including with the District Council 37 of AFSME (“DC37”) and the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (“PBA”), representing approximately 50% of the City’s workforce, have expired. Nearly all remaining contracts will have expired by the end of fiscal year 2019. The Financial Plan includes a reserve for collective bargaining containing funding for the settlements from the period beyond the 2010-2017 round of collective bargaining, assuming annual increases of 1% per year.

The Financial Plan does not reflect potential increases to City tax revenues as a direct result of the recently enacted Federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“TCJA”) which, among other provisions, lowered corporate and personal income tax rates but limited the deductibility of state and local taxes and mortgage interest. Similarly, the Financial Plan does not reflect the impact of tax reform legislation included in the State Enacted Budget in response to the TCJA which is expected to offset, in whole or in part, potential increases in tax revenues to the City described above. Such legislation includes decoupling certain linkages between federal and local income tax and corporate taxes, increasing the opportunities for charitable contributions, and providing an option to employers to shift to an employer compensation tax and reduce State personal income taxes.

The Financial Plan does not currently include funding for the Fair Fares program beyond fiscal year 2019; however, it is expected that, prior to its expiration, funding sources will be identified for the continuation of the program.

The Financial Plan does not reflect future increases in the charter school per-pupil tuition rate, which if not offset by changes to State education aid to the City that occur each year during the State budget process, are preliminarily estimated to have no cost to the City in fiscal year 2019 and to cost the City $119 million in fiscal year 2020, $281 million in fiscal year 2021 and $478 million in fiscal year 2022. These figures are based on preliminary data. Final figures that would determine the actual costs to the City will not be finalized until the time of the State budget process for the applicable year.

The Financial Plan assumes that the City’s direct costs (including costs of New York City Health and Hospitals (“NYCHH”) and the New York City Housing Authority (“NYCHA”)) as a result of Superstorm Sandy (“Sandy”) will largely be paid from non-City sources, primarily the federal government.

The City receives significant funding from the federal government for community development, social services, education and other purposes pursuant to various federal programs. The federal government has made and discussed a number of proposals which would lead to reductions in existing federal spending programs, including Medicaid, the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), reduction of funding for housing, including public housing, and changes to regulations affecting numerous industries in the City, including the financial services industry. The TCJA and other federal actions and proposed legislation could also affect the State budget and economy, which could have an impact on the City. It is not possible at this time to predict the form such proposals will ultimately take and, when taken as a whole, the effect they will have on the City’s economy and the Financial Plan.

From time to time, the City Comptroller, the Control Board staff, the Office of the State Deputy Comptroller for the City of New York (“OSDC”), the Independent Budget Office (“IBO”) and others issue reports and make public statements regarding

the City’s financial condition, commenting on, among other matters, the City’s financial plans, projected revenues and expenditures and actions by the City to eliminate projected operating deficits. It is reasonable to expect that reports and statements will continue to be issued and may contain different perspectives on the City’s budget and economy and may engender public comment. For information on reports issued on the April 2018 Financial Plan (the “April Financial Plan”) and reports to be issued on the Financial Plan by the City Comptroller and others reviewing, commenting on and identifying various risks therein, see “Certain Reports” herein.

Job Growth. The City is a leading center for the banking and securities industry, life insurance, communications, fashion design, health care, education, technology, information services, hospitality and retail fields. Over the past two decades the City has experienced a number of business cycles. From 1992 to 2000, the City added 456,700 private sector jobs (growth of 17%). From 2000 to 2003, the City lost 173,100 private sector jobs (decline of 5%). From 2003 to 2008, the City added 257,400 private sector jobs (growth of 9%). From 2008 to 2009, the City lost 103,000 private sector jobs (decline of 3%). From 2009 to 2016, the City added 648,700 private sector jobs (growth of 21%). All such changes are based on average annual employment levels through and including the years referenced.

As of May 2018, total employment in the City was 4,508,500 compared to 4,431,000 in May 2017, an increase of 1.7% based on data provided by the New York State Department of Labor, which is not seasonally adjusted.

Assumptions. The Financial Plan is based on numerous assumptions, including the condition of the City’s and the region’s economies and the concomitant receipt of economically sensitive tax revenues in the amounts projected. The Financial Plan is subject to various other uncertainties and contingencies relating to, among other factors, the extent, if any, to which wage increases for City employees exceed the annual wage costs assumed; realization of projected earnings for pension fund assets and current assumptions with respect to wages for City employees affecting the City’s required pension fund contributions; the willingness and ability of the State to provide the aid contemplated by the Financial Plan and to take various other actions to assist the City; the ability of NYCHH and other such entities to maintain balanced budgets; the willingness of the federal government to provide the amount of federal aid contemplated in the Financial Plan; the impact on City revenues and expenditures of federal and State legislation affecting Medicare or other entitlement programs; adoption of the City’s budgets by the City Council in substantially the forms submitted by the Mayor; the ability of the City to implement cost reduction initiatives, and the success with which the City controls expenditures; the impact of conditions in the real estate market on real estate tax revenues; and the ability of the City and other financing entities to market their securities successfully in the public credit markets. Certain of these assumptions are reviewed in reports issued by the City Comptroller and other public officials. See “Certain Reports” herein.

The projections and assumptions contained in the Financial Plan are subject to revision, which may be substantial. No assurance can be given that these estimates and projections, which include actions the City expects will be taken but are not within the City’s control, will be realized.

Real Estate Tax. Projections of real estate tax revenues are based on a number of assumptions, including, among others, assumptions relating to the tax rate, the assessed valuation of the City’s taxable real estate, the delinquency rate, debt service needs, a reserve for uncollectible taxes and the operating limit.

Projections of real estate tax revenues include net revenues from the sale of real property tax liens of $95 million in fiscal year 2018 and $80 million in each of fiscal years 2019 through 2022. Projections of real estate tax revenues include the effects of the STAR Program which will reduce the real estate tax revenues by an estimated $189 million in fiscal year 2018. Projections of real estate tax revenues reflect the estimated cost of extending the current tax reduction for owners of cooperative and condominium apartments amounting to $528 million, $546 million, $577 million, $606 million and $631 million in fiscal years 2018 through 2022, respectively.

The delinquency rate was 1.5% in fiscal year 2013, 1.4% in fiscal year 2014, 1.6% in fiscal year 2015, 1.4% in fiscal year 2016 and 1.3% in fiscal year 2017. The Financial Plan projects delinquency rates of 1.3% in fiscal year 2018, 1.6% in fiscal year 2019 and 1.8% in each of fiscal year 2020 and 2021, respectively, and 1.9% in fiscal year 2022.

On April 24, 2017, a lawsuit was filed challenging the City’s real property tax system and valuation methodology. The action alleges that the City’s real property tax system violates the State and federal constitutions as well as the Fair Housing Act. The action further alleges the valuation methodology as mandated by certain provisions of the State Real Property Tax Law results in a disparity and inequality in the amount of taxes paid by black and hispanic Class 1 property owners and renters. The City plans to mount a vigorous defense against all claims made in the action.

Other Taxes. The Financial Plan reflects the following assumptions regarding projected baseline revenues from Other Taxes: (i) with respect to the personal income tax, high growth in fiscal year 2018 reflecting the impact of changes in State law, stronger than expected bonus growth, and continued employment and wage gains, revenue declines in fiscal year 2019 reflecting a return to more typical levels, and growth in fiscal years 2020 through 2022 reflecting steady economic growth; (ii) with respect to the business corporation tax, a decline in growth in fiscal year 2018 resulting from lower than expected collections through April, rebounding growth in fiscal year 2019 supported by increasing corporate profits and high levels of Wall Street profitability, and weak and/or nearly flat growth for fiscal years 2020 through 2022 reflecting a slowdown in corporate profits; (iii) with respect to the unincorporated business tax, strong growth in fiscal year 2018 reflecting the continued high levels of hedge funds assets under management and a positive business environment, nearly flat growth in fiscal year 2019 reflecting the continued healthy levels of tax payments in both the finance and non-finance sectors, and trend growth for fiscal year 2020 through fiscal year 2022 reflecting steady economic growth; (iv) with respect to the sales tax, moderate growth in fiscal year 2018 reflecting employment and wage growth reduced by the payment to the State of $200 million in sales tax otherwise payable to the City in order to provide the State with the benefit of savings from the refinancing of debt by STAR Corp., moderate growth in fiscal year 2019 reflecting employment gains and wage growth reduced by the payment to the State of $150 million in sales tax otherwise payable to the City in order to provide the State with the benefit of savings from the refinancing of debt by STAR Corp., and moderate growth in fiscal years 2020 through 2022 reflecting employment gains and wage growth as well as continued healthy levels of tourist consumption; (v) with respect to the real property transfer tax, a slight decline in fiscal year 2018, as the volume of large commercial transactions drops from the high levels seen in the prior years and returning growth in fiscal years 2019 through 2022 reflecting steady economic growth; (vi) with respect to the mortgage recording tax, declines in fiscal years 2018 through 2020 as the volume of large commercial transactions drops from the high levels seen in the prior years and the commercial loan refinancing activity wanes, and growth in fiscal years 2021 through 2022 reflecting steady economic growth; and (vii) with respect to the commercial rent tax, growth in fiscal year 2018 reflecting employment gains and slower growth in fiscal year 2019 reflecting a recently enacted tax program that increased the base rent subject to tax providing relief for taxpayers and growth in fiscal years 2020 through 2022, as the local office market improves with employment gains.

Intergovernmental Aid. For its normal operations, the City depends on aid from the State both to enable the City to balance its budget and to meet its cash requirements. There can be no assurance that there will not be delays or reductions in State aid to the City from amounts currently projected; that State budgets for future State fiscal years will be adopted by the April 1 statutory deadline, or interim appropriations will be enacted; or that any such reductions or delays will not have adverse effects on the City’s cash flow or expenditures. In addition, the City has made various assumptions with respect to federal aid. Future federal actions or inactions could have adverse effects on the City’s cash flow or revenues.

Personal Service Costs and Other Post-Employment Benefits. The Financial Plan projects that the authorized number of City-funded full-time and full-time equivalent employees will increase from an estimated level of 278,440 as of June 30, 2018 to an estimated level of 281,449 by June 30, 2022.

Other Fringe Benefits includes $2.405 billion, $2.503 billion, $2.661 billion, $2.832 billion and $2.975 billion in fiscal years 2018 through 2022, respectively, for post-employment benefits other than pensions (“OPEB”) expenditures for current retirees, which costs are currently paid by the City on a pay-as-you-go basis.

The City has now reached settlements with all of its uniformed unions and over 99% of its workforce through the 2010-2017 round of collective bargaining. The Financial Plan reflects funding to cover the cost of settling the remaining unsettled unions through the 2010-2017 round of collective bargaining based on the pattern set by the settled contracts. Certain contracts with unions for the 2010-2017 round of collective bargaining, including with DC37 and the PBA, representing approximately 50% of the City’s workforce, have expired. Nearly all remaining contracts will have expired by the end of fiscal year 2019. For the period beyond the 2010-2017 round of collective bargaining. Negotiations with municipal unions concerning the next round of contracts are ongoing. The PBA has already filed for arbitration with the City over new contract terms. The Financial Plan includes a reserve for collective bargaining containing funding for the period beyond the 2010- 2017 round of collective bargaining, assumed to be 1% per year.

The amounts in the Financial Plan reflect the offsets from health insurance savings of $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2018 and thereafter. The City achieved $1 billion of health insurance savings in fiscal year 2017. These savings are pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement between the City and the Municipal Labor Committee (“MLC”). The City has the right to enforce the agreement through a binding arbitration process. If total health insurance savings through fiscal year 2018 are greater than $3.4 billion, the first $365 million of such additional savings is payable to union members as a one-time bonus or

may be used for other purposes subject to negotiation. Any additional savings beyond such $365 million is to be divided equally between the City and the unions.

Administrative Other Than Personal Services Costs (“OTPS”) and Energy. The Financial Plan contains estimates of the City’s administrative OTPS expenditures for general supplies and materials, equipment and selected contractual services, and the impact of agency gap-closing actions relating to such expenditures in the 2018 fiscal year. Thereafter, to account for inflation, administrative OTPS expenditures are projected to rise by 2.5% annually in fiscal years 2019 through 2022. Energy costs for each of the 2018 through 2022 fiscal years are assumed to vary annually, with total energy expenditures projected at $907 million in fiscal year 2018 and increasing to $974 million by fiscal year 2022.

Public Assistance. Of total cash assistance expenditures in the City, the City-funded portion is projected to be $699 million, $713 million in fiscal years 2018 and 2019, respectively, and $719 million in each of fiscal years 2020 through 2022.

Medical Assistance. Medical assistance payments projected in the Financial Plan consist of payments to voluntary hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, home care providers, pharmacies, managed care organizations, physicians and other medical practitioners. The City-funded portion of medical assistance payments is estimated at $5.8 billion for the 2018 fiscal year.

The City-funded portion of medical assistance payments is expected to be $5.8 billion in each of fiscal years 2019 through 2022. Such payments include the City’s capped share of local Medicaid expenditures as well as Supplemental Medicaid payments to NYCHH.

NYCHH. NYCHH operates under its own section of the Financial Plan as a Covered Organization. NYCHH, which provides essential services to over 1.1 million New Yorkers annually, faces substantial near- and long-term financial challenges resulting from, among other things, changes in hospital reimbursement under the ACA and the statewide transition to managed care. On April 26, 2016, the City released “One New York: Health Care for Our Neighborhoods,” a report outlining the City’s plan to address NYCHH’s financial shortfall.

In May 2018, NYCHH released a cash-based financial plan, which projected City-funded expenditures of $666 million, $917 million, $919 million, $920 million and $920 million in fiscal years 2018 through 2022, respectively, in addition to the forgiveness of debt service and the City’s contribution to supplemental Medicaid payments. The financial plan projected, before implementation of a gap closing program, total receipts of $7.6 billion, $7.1 billion, $6.8 billion, $6.6 billion and $6.6 billion and total disbursements of $8.5 billion, $8.2 billion, $8.4 billion, $8.3 billion, and $8.4 billion in fiscal years 2018 through 2022, respectively, resulting in projected operating gaps of $900 million, $1.1 billion, $1.6 billion, $1.7 billion and $1.8 billion in those respective fiscal years. The financial plan also projects gap-closing initiatives that both generate revenue and reduce expenses. Revenue-generating initiatives total $617 million, $628 million, $890 million, $1.0 billion, and $1.0 billion and expense-reducing initiatives total $345 million, $430 million, $530 million, $585 million and $585 million in fiscal years 2018 through 2022, respectively.

Other. The projections set forth in the Financial Plan for OTPS-Other include the City’s contributions to New York City Transit (“NYCT”), NYCHA, City University of New York (“CUNY”) and subsidies to libraries and various cultural institutions. They also include projections for the cost of future judgments and claims which are discussed below under “Judgments and Claims.” In the past, the City has provided additional assistance to certain Covered Organizations which had exhausted their financial resources prior to the end of the fiscal year. No assurance can be given that similar additional assistance will not be required in the future.

New York City Transit. NYCT operates under its own section of the Financial Plan as a Covered Organization. The financial plan for NYCT covering its 2017 through 2021 fiscal years was prepared in February 2018. The NYCT fiscal year coincides with the calendar year. The NYCT financial plan projects City assistance to the NYCT operating budget of $350.4 million in 2017, increasing to $403.4 million in 2021, in addition to real estate transfer tax revenue dedicated for NYCT use of $602.8 million in 2017, increasing to $623.0 million in 2021.

The NYCT financial plan includes additional revenues from a fare increase in 2019, the impact of labor settlements, updated inflation assumptions and initiatives to improve maintenance/operations and customer experience, including the Subway Action Plan, the MTA’s emergency plan to address subway delays. After reflecting such revenues and changes, the NYCT financial plan projects $10.3 billion in revenues and $13.4 billion in expenses for 2017, leaving a budget gap of $3.1 billion.

After accounting for accrual adjustments and cash carried over from 2016, NYCT projects an operating budget surplus of $47.2 million in 2017, and operating budget gaps of $550.1 million in 2018, $1.3 billion in 2019, $2.4 billion in 2020 and $3.9 billion in 2021.

In 2009, a Payroll Mobility Tax (“PMT”) was enacted into State law to provide $0.34 for every $100 of payroll in the MTA’s twelve-county service area. The PMT is currently expected to raise revenues for the MTA in the amount of $1.0 billion in 2017, declining to $878.8 million in 2021.

In September 2014, the MTA proposed the 2015-2019 Capital Program. The proposed plan included $32.0 billion for all MTA agencies, including $17.1 billion to be invested in the NYCT core system, and $1.5 billion for NYCT network expansion. On October 2, 2014, the Capital Program Review Board (“CPRB”) vetoed the proposed program without prejudice to permit additional time to resolve issues related to fully funding the program. On October 28, 2015, the MTA Board voted on and approved a revised 2015-2019 Capital Program. The revised plan included $29.0 billion for all MTA agencies, including $15.8 billion to be invested in the NYCT core system and $535 million for NYCT network expansion. On April 20, 2016, the MTA Board voted on and approved another revised 2015-2019 Capital Program, which included $29.5 billion for all MTA agencies, including $15.8 billion to be invested in the NYCT core system and $1.0 billion for NYCT network expansion. The additional City capital funding will be provided concurrently with the additional State capital funding. On May 24, 2017, the MTA Board voted on and approved a revised 2015-2019 Capital Program. The revised plan includes $32.5 billion for all MTA agencies, including $16.3 billion to be invested in the NYCT core system and $1.7 billion for NYCT network expansion. This amendment was approved by the CPRB in July 2017. On December 13, 2017 the MTA Board voted on and approved a further revised 2015-2019 Capital Program. The revised plan includes $32.8 billion for all MTA agencies, including $16.7 billion to be invested in the NYCT core system and $1.7 billion for NYCT network expansion. This amendment was not subject to CPRB approval. The 2015-2019 Capital Program expects $8.5 billion from the State. On April 25, 2018 the MTA Board voted on and approved a further revised 2015-2019 Capital Program. The revised plan includes $33.3 billion for all MTA agencies, including $16.7 billion to be invested in the NYCT core system and $1.7 billion for NYCT network expansion. This amendment was approved by the CPRB in May 2018.

The State has agreed to contribute $8.6 billion towards the 2015-2019 Capital Program, which has not yet been fully reflected in the State’s capital plan. The City has agreed to contribute $2.7 billion (which has not yet been fully reflected in the City’s capital plan), including $164 million for the Subway Action Plan. The additional City capital funding will be provided concurrently with the additional State capital funding.

On June 29, 2017 Governor Cuomo announced the State would be increasing its contribution to the 2015- 2019 Capital Program by $1 billion and signed an Executive Order declaring a State-wide disaster emergency related to the MTA. The Order temporarily suspends provisions of Public Authority, State Finance, and Environmental Conservation Laws if compliance “would prevent, hinder or delay action necessary to cope with the disaster.” The Governor has not provided additional details or identified additional funding for the $1 billion.

Various actions have been taken to increase funding to the MTA for NYCT. The State Enacted Budget, adopted on March 30, 2018, includes a requirement for the City to provide payments totaling an additional $418 million to the MTA through calendar year 2018 to fund the Subway Action Plan described above, which is reflected in the Financial Plan, including $164 million in capital funding, as discussed above, and $254 million in expense funding. The State Enacted Budget also imposes an additional surcharge, starting in January 2019, on for-hire vehicles and taxis traveling below 96th Street in Manhattan, to be used to fund the Subway Action Plan and other MTA projects.

Department of Education. State law requires the City to provide City funds for the Department of Education (“DOE”) each year in an amount not less than the amount appropriated for the preceding fiscal year, excluding amounts for debt service and pensions for the DOE. Such City funding must be maintained, unless total City funds for the fiscal year are estimated to be lower than in the preceding fiscal year, in which case the mandated City funding for the DOE may be reduced by an amount up to the percentage reduction in total City funds.

Judgments and Claims. In the fiscal year ended on June 30, 2017, the City expended $750.3 million for judgments and claims. The Financial Plan includes provisions for judgments and claims of $711.6 million, $697.0 million, $711.9 million, $727.1 million and $742.3 million for the 2018 through 2022 fiscal years, respectively. These projections incorporate a substantial amount of claims costs attributed to NYCHH, estimated to be $140 million in each year of the Financial Plan, for which NYCHH reimburses the City unless otherwise forgiven by the City, which was the case in fiscal years 2013 and 2016. The City is a party to numerous lawsuits and is the subject of numerous claims and investigations. The City has estimated that its

potential future liability on account of outstanding claims against it as of June 30, 2017 amounted to approximately $6.9 billion. This estimate was made by categorizing the various claims and applying a statistical model, based primarily on actual settlements by type of claim during the preceding ten fiscal years, and by supplementing the estimated liability with information supplied by the City’s Corporation Counsel.

In addition to the above claims, numerous real estate tax certiorari proceedings involving allegations of inequality of assessment, illegality and overvaluation are currently pending against the City. The City’s Financial Statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017 include an estimate that the City’s liability in the certiorari proceedings, as of June 30, 2017, could amount to approximately $1,073 million. Provision has been made in the Financial Plan for estimated refunds of $383 million in fiscal year 2018 and $400 million in fiscal years 2019 through 2022, respectively.

Certain Reports. Set forth below are the summaries of the most recent reports of the City Comptroller, OSDC and the staff of the Control Board. These summaries do not purport to be comprehensive or definitive.

On May 24, 2018, the City Comptroller released a report entitled “Comments on New York City’s Fiscal Year 2019 Executive Budget,” commenting on the April Financial Plan. In the report, the City Comptroller projects net additional resources of $636 million, $213 million and $52 million in fiscal years 2018, 2019 and 2022, respectively, and net risks of $270 million and $128 million in fiscal years 2020 and 2021, respectively, which, when added to the results projected in the April Financial Plan, would result in surpluses of approximately $636 million and $213 million in fiscal years 2018 and 2019, respectively, and gaps of approximately $3.49 billion, $2.99 billion and $2.2 billion in fiscal years 2020 through 2022, respectively.

The differences from the April Financial Plan projections result in part from the City Comptroller’s net expenditure projections, which are higher than the April Financial Plan projections by $70 million, $411 million, $498 million, $660 million and $857 million in fiscal years 2018 through 2022, respectively, as a result of: (i) additional overtime expenditures of $100 million in fiscal year 2018, $153 million in fiscal year 2019, and $150 million in each of fiscal years 2020 through 2022; (ii) increased expenditures associated with increases in charter school tuition rates of $119 million, $281 million and $478 million in fiscal years 2020 through 2022, respectively; (iii) uncertainty of federal Medicaid reimbursement for special education services of $50 million in each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022; (iv) increased expenditures associated with payments to parents who legally seek reimbursement for placing special needs children in non-public schools of $60 million in each of fiscal years 2019 through 2022; (v) increased homeless shelter operation expenditures of $33 million in fiscal year 2019 and $42 million in each of fiscal years 2020 through 2022; and (vi) increased expenditures to support NYCHH of $165 million in each of fiscal years 2019 through 2022. The report also projects (i) anticipated savings of $38 million in each of fiscal years 2020 through 2022 due to expanded participation in the federal Community Eligibility Provision school food program; (ii) anticipated debt service savings from low interest rates on variable rate bonds of $30 million in fiscal year 2018 and $50 million in each of fiscal years 2019 through 2022; and (iii) decreased expenditures of $50 million in fiscal year 2018 due to the assumption that the $50 million fiscal year 2018 general reserve in the April Financial Plan will not be needed for budget balance.

The differences from the April Financial Plan projections also result from the City Comptroller’s net revenue projections, which are higher than the April Financial Plan projections by $706 million, $624 million, $228 million, $532 million and $909 million in fiscal years 2018 through 2022, respectively. The report identifies certain offsets to projected revenues: (i) property tax revenues will be higher by $76 million, $303 million, $785 million and $883 million in fiscal years 2019 through 2022, respectively; (ii) personal income tax revenues will be higher by $730 million and $182 million in fiscal years 2018 and 2019, respectively; (iii) business tax revenues will be higher by $169 million, $20 million, $44 million and $53 million in fiscal years 2019 through 2022, respectively; (iv) sales tax revenues will be higher by $91 million, $179 million, $149 million and $85 million in fiscal years 2019 through 2022, respectively; (v) real estate-related tax revenues will be higher by $26 million in fiscal year 2018; (vi) revenues from audit collections will be higher by $100 million in fiscal year 2019 and $200 million in each of fiscal years 2020 through 2022; (vii) Environmental Control Board fine revenues will be higher by $20 million in each of fiscal years 2019 through 2022; (viii) Department of Buildings penalty revenues will be higher by $4 million in each of fiscal years 2019 through 2022; and (ix) motor vehicle fine revenues will be higher by $5 million in fiscal year 2019 and $3 million in each of fiscal years 2020 through 2022. The report also identifies certain risks to projected revenues: (i) personal income tax revenues will be lower by $117 million, $190 million and $260 million in fiscal years 2020 through 2022, respectively; (ii) real estate-related tax revenues will be lower by $23 million, $384 million, $483 million and $79 million in fiscal years 2019 through 2022, respectively; and (iii) revenues from audit collections will be lower by $50 million in fiscal year 2018.

The City Comptroller expects to issue a report on the Financial Plan in July 2018.

On June 1, 2018, the OSDC released a report on the April Financial Plan. The report states that projected outyear budget gaps are larger than those projected in February, primarily due to higher agency spending and State actions, but are still relatively small as a share of City fund revenue. The report notes that the City’s economy is strong and the outyear budget gaps appear manageable under current conditions, but there are budgetary risks over the next few years. The outyear budget gaps assume uninterrupted economic growth and do not reflect the potential impact of future federal or State budget cuts; growing federal deficits may increase pressure to cut federal programs during the April Financial Plan period, which would adversely affect City residents and the City budget; the City has set aside resources to fund annual wage increases of 1 percent after expiration of current labor agreements but the actual cost will be determined through negotiation or arbitration; and the City could be called upon to increase financial support of NYCHH or provide additional funding for NYCHA for emergency repairs and other costs.

The OSDC report quantifies certain risks and offsets to the April Financial Plan. The report identifies net offsets of $567 million and $154 million in fiscal years 2018 and 2019, respectively, and net risks of $99 million in each of fiscal years 2020 through 2022. When combined with the results projected in the April Financial Plan, the report estimates budget surpluses of $567 million and $154 million in fiscal years 2018 and 2019, respectively, and budget gaps of $3.32 billion, $2.96 billion and $2.35 billion in fiscal years 2020 through 2022, respectively. The risks to the April Financial Plan identified in the report include: (i) increased homeless shelter operation expenditures of $33 million in each of fiscal years 2019 through 2022; (ii) decreased federal Medicaid reimbursement for special education services of $63 million in each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022; and (iii) increased uniformed services overtime costs of $125 million in each of fiscal years 2019 through 2022. The report also identifies: (i) increased personal income tax revenues of $525 million and $200 million in fiscal years 2018 and 2019, respectively; (ii) increased business tax revenues of $75 million in fiscal year 2018; (iii) increased real estate-related tax revenues of $30 million in fiscal year 2018; (iv) additional debt service savings of $75 million in fiscal year 2019 and $22 million in each of fiscal years 2020 through 2022; and (v) additional miscellaneous revenues (including recurring resources such as fines and fees and nonrecurring resources such as proceeds from the sale of taxi medallions or City property) of $100 million in each of fiscal years 2019 through 2022.

The OSDC expects to issue a report on the Financial Plan in July 2018.

On May 30, 2018, the staff of the Control Board issued a report reviewing fiscal year 2018 and examining changes in the City’s budget during the fiscal year. The report states that since the adoption of the fiscal year 2018 budget, the forecast for City fund revenues increased by $1.8 billion, with growth in nearly all major revenue components. The report notes that some of this unexpected growth is potentially nonrecurring due to behavioral reactions to federal tax reform and further notes that the City continues to use conservative revenue forecasts for fiscal years 2019 through 2022. With respect to expenditures, the City has identified over $1 billion in savings since the adoption of the fiscal year 2018 budget, mostly from cost efficiencies and cost reestimates. Expenditures have increased by just over $1 billion during fiscal year 2018 to fund new needs, the largest being in homeless services. The report also identifies certain risks. It states that the projected budget gaps of $3.2 billion, $2.9 billion and $2.3 billion in fiscal years 2020 through 2022, respectively, could be understated if costs from the next round of collective bargaining are higher than assumed. Uncertainties in federal and State aid and continued pressure to support non-City agencies such as NYCHH, NYCHA and the New York City Transit Authority could also increase the outyear gaps. The report recommends that the City should continue its conservative revenue estimates and high level of reserves, continue to implement agency savings programs, limit new needs as much as possible, and, to the extent revenues continue to grow, make an additional contribution to the Retiree Health Benefits Trust.

The Control Board expects to issue a report on the Financial Plan on or about July 20, 2018.

Outstanding General Obligation Indebtedness. As of March 31, 2018, approximately $37.65 billion of City general obligation bonds were outstanding.

As of March 31, 2018, $2.72 billion aggregate principal amount of HYIC bonds were outstanding. Such bonds were issued to finance the extension of the Number 7 subway line and other public improvements. They are secured by and payable from payments in lieu of taxes and other revenues generated by development in the Hudson Yards area. To the extent such payments in lieu of taxes and other revenues are insufficient to pay interest on the HYIC bonds, the City has agreed to pay the amount of any shortfall in interest on such bonds, subject to appropriation. The Financial Plan provides $0 in fiscal years 2018 through 2022 for such interest support payments. The City has no obligation to pay the principal of such bonds.

Water and Sewer. The City’s financing program includes the issuance of water and sewer revenue bonds by the Water Authority which is authorized to issue bonds to finance capital investment in the City’s water and sewer system. Pursuant to

State law, debt service on Water Authority indebtedness is secured by water and sewer fees paid by users of the water and sewer system. Such fees are revenues of the Water Board, which holds a lease interest in the City’s water and sewer system. After providing for debt service on obligations of the Water Authority and certain incidental costs, the revenues of the Water Board are paid to the City to cover the City’s costs of operating the water and sewer system and as rental for the system. Beginning in fiscal year 2017, the City has not requested the rental payment due to the City from the Water Board. The City’s Ten-Year Capital Strategy applicable to the City’s water and sewer system covering fiscal years 2018 through 2027, projects City-funded water and sewer investment (which is expected to be financed with proceeds of Water Authority debt) at approximately $19.2 billion. The 2018-2022 Capital Commitment Plan reflects total anticipated City-funded water and sewer commitments of $14.0 billion which are expected to be financed with the proceeds of Water Authority debt.

New York City Transitional Finance Authority. The TFA is authorized to have outstanding $13.5 billion of Future Tax Secured Bonds (excluding Recovery Bonds). The TFA may have outstanding Future Tax Secured Bonds in excess of $13.5 billion provided that the amount of the Future Tax Secured Bonds, together with the amount of indebtedness contracted by the City, do not exceed the debt limit of the City. Future Tax Secured Bonds are issued for general City capital purposes and are secured by the City’s personal income tax revenues and, to the extent such revenues do not satisfy specified debt ratios, sales tax revenues. In addition, the TFA is authorized to have outstanding $9.4 billion of Building Aid Revenue Bonds to pay for a portion of the City’s five-year educational facilities capital plan. Building Aid Revenue Bonds are secured by State building aid, which the Mayor has assigned to the TFA. The TFA expects to issue $500 million, $78 million, $168 million and $104 million of Building Aid Revenue Bonds in fiscal years 2019 through 2022, respectively.

Implementation of the financing program is dependent upon the ability of the City and other financing entities to market their securities successfully in the public credit markets which will be subject to prevailing market conditions at the times of sale. No assurance can be given that the credit markets will absorb the projected amounts of public bond sales. A significant portion of bond financing is used to reimburse the City’s General Fund for capital expenditures already incurred. If the City and such other entities are unable to sell such amounts of bonds, it would have an adverse effect on the City’s cash position. In addition, the need of the City to fund future debt service costs from current operations may also limit the City’s capital program. The Ten-Year Capital Strategy for fiscal years 2018 through 2027 totals $95.8 billion, of which approximately 93% is to be financed with funds borrowed by the City and such other entities. Congressional developments affecting federal taxation generally could reduce the market value of tax-favored investments and increase the debt-service costs of carrying out the major portion of the City’s capital plan which is currently eligible for tax-exempt financing.

Litigation. The City has estimated that its potential future liability on account of outstanding claims against it as of June 30, 2017 amounted to approximately $6.9 billion.

NEW YORK STATE

The New York Economy. New York is the fourth most populous state in the nation¹ and has a relatively high level of personal wealth. The State’s economy is diverse, with a comparatively large share of the nation’s financial activities, information, education, and health services employment, and a very small share of the nation’s farming and mining activity. The State’s location and its air transport facilities and natural harbors have made it an important link in international commerce. Travel and tourism constitute an important part of the economy. Like the rest of the nation, New York has a declining proportion of its workforce engaged in manufacturing, and an increasing proportion engaged in service industries.

¹	Based on 2015 U.S. Census Bureau data, New York is the fourth most populous state in the nation, after California, Texas and Florida.

Manufacturing employment continues to decline as a share of total State employment, as in most other states, and as a result New York’s economy is less reliant on this sector than in the past. However, it remains an important sector of the State economy, particularly for the upstate region, which hosts high concentrations of manufacturers of transportation and other types of equipment. As defined under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector accounts for the second largest component of State nonagricultural employment, but only the fifth largest when measured by wage share. This sector accounts for less proportional employment and wages for the State than for the nation as a whole. New York City is the nation’s leading center of banking and finance and, as a result, this is a far more important sector in the State than in the nation as a whole. Although this sector accounts for under one-tenth of all nonagricultural jobs in the State, it contributes about one-fifth of total wages. The remaining service-producing sectors include information, professional and business services, private education and healthcare, leisure and hospitality services, and other services. These industries combined account for half of all nonagricultural jobs in New York. Information,

education and health, and other services account for a higher proportion of total State employment than for the nation as a whole. Farming is an important part of the economy in rural areas, although it constitutes only about 0.2 percent of total State output. Principal agricultural products of the State include milk and dairy products, greenhouse and nursery products, fruits, and vegetables. New York ranks among the nation’s leaders in the production of these commodities.

Federal, State, and local governments together comprise the third largest sector in terms of nonagricultural jobs, with the bulk of the employment accounted for by local governments. Public education is the source of about 40 percent of total State and local government employment.

Economic and Demographic Trends. In calendar years 1990 through 1998, the State’s rate of economic growth was somewhat slower than that of the nation. In particular, during the 1990-91 recession and post-recession period, the economies of the State and much of the rest of the Northeast were more heavily damaged than the nation as a whole and were slower to recover. However, the situation subsequently improved. In 1999, for the first time in 13 years, State employment growth surpassed that of the nation, and in 2000 the rates were essentially the same. In 2001, the September 11th attack resulted in a downturn in New York that was more severe than for the nation as a whole. In contrast, the State labor market fared better than that of the nation as a whole during the most recent downturn that began in 2008, though New York experienced a historically large wage decline in 2009. The State unemployment rate was higher than the national rate from 1991 to 2004, but the gap between them closed by the middle of 2006, with the State rate falling below that of the nation for much of the Great Recession, and remaining below through the end of 2011. The State unemployment rate rose above the national rate in early 2012, but fell below yet again in May 2015, where it has remained for much of the period since.

State per capita personal income has historically been significantly higher than the national average, although the ratio has varied substantially over time. Because New York City is an employment center for a multi-state region, State personal income measured on a residence basis understates the relative importance of the State to the national economy and the size of the base to which State taxation applies.

New York State’s private sector labor market appears to be stabilizing after a period of deceleration that started at the end of 2015 and continued through the first half of 2017. This period of slower job growth coincided with slowdowns in both national and global growth that appear to have turned around during the second quarter of 2017. State private sector job growth of 1.3 percent is projected for 2018, following estimated growth of 1.4 percent in 2017.

Although the TCJA signed into law by President Trump on December 22, 2017 is expected to positively affect finance sector after-tax profits, recent equity market volatility could result in a lower volume of financial market activity if the volatility causes some investors to withdraw from trading altogether, which in turn could result in lower revenue growth for 2018. The New York State Division of the Budget (DOB) estimates finance and insurance sector bonus growth for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 of 4.4 percent, following 4.3 percent growth for FY 2018, which includes the bonus season now in progress. FY 2019 growth in underlying non-bonus wages is projected at 4.1 percent, following an estimated 3.6 percent for FY 2018. Total State wage growth of 4.2 percent is projected for FY 2019, up from a downwardly revised 3.5 percent State wage growth for FY 2018.

Although the State’s private-sector labor market appears to be stabilizing, there are many risks to the forecast. All the risks to the U.S. forecast apply to the State forecast as well, although as the nation’s financial capital, both the volume of financial market activity and the volatility in equity markets pose a particularly large degree of uncertainty for New York. The uncertainty surrounding the macroeconomic outlook for the national and global economies is amplified in the financial markets, as demonstrated by recent events. Weaker and/or more volatile markets than anticipated could result in weaker bonus growth and, hence, weaker wage growth overall, in addition to lower taxable capital gains realizations. In contrast, stronger equity markets, along with stronger national and global growth, could result in stronger employment and wage growth than is reflected in this forecast.

The National Economy. The U.S. economy posted another quarter of above trend growth of 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2017. The economy has continued to rebound from a protracted national and global slowdown, as well as from the impact of the 2017 storms, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. Consumer spending continues to be fueled by a strong labor market, with wages starting to show improvement as well, due in part to rising minimum wages both here in New York and in many other states. In addition, improving global growth, and energy prices that continue to hover near $60 per barrel, will likely be sufficient to keep real U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for 2018 and 2019 above the average 2.2 percent growth that has persisted over the entire life of the economic expansion to date. The TCJA is also

expected to contribute to growth over the remainder of 2018 and during 2019. DOB estimates real U.S. GDP growth of 2.6 percent for 2018 on an annual average basis.

With the early February 2018 release of the January 2018 employment report, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) published its annual benchmark revision, which resulted in an upward revision to the average monthly private sector job gain for 2017 to 180,000, just above the 2016 average of 178,000. Moreover, the national labor market posted another strong employment report in January, adding 196,000 private sector jobs. As a result, DOB’s current outlook for the labor market reflects projected national average monthly job gains of 160,000 for 2018. However, DOB continues to expect employment growth to slow as the expansion matures. Total nonagricultural employment growth of 1.4 percent is projected for 2018, decelerating from the 1.6 percent growth experienced in 2017. Although the conventional unemployment rate has fallen to 4.1 percent, its lowest level in 17 years, broader measures of under-employment, including the percentage of the workforce working part-time, remain elevated, an indication that some labor market slack remains and that there is room for the unemployment rate to go down further.

Consistent with a tightening labor market, DOB projects wage growth of 3.7 percent for 2018, following growth of 3.1 percent for 2017. Overall personal income growth of 3.9 percent is estimated for 2018, following growth of 3.1 percent for 2017. In addition to stronger growth in pretax income, after-tax disposable income is expected to be lifted by income tax cuts. Based on the analysis by the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), the direct benefit of TCJA to U.S. households is estimated to total $187 billion in 2018 and $259 billion in 2019. However, there are several reasons why the benefits from the TCJA are expected to only marginally boost consumer spending. The personal income tax cuts were made temporary to conform with congressional “Pay-As-You-Go” budget rules and are largely directed toward wealthy households who have the largest marginal propensity to save. Moreover, the millions of employees approaching retirement are expected to add to their savings in preparation. As a result, consumer spending is only expected to increase by $50 billion in 2018. After adjusting for increased imports, this additional spending is estimated to increase real GDP growth by about one tenth of a percentage point in both 2018 and 2019.

The TCJA’s business tax cuts are expected to lift after-tax earnings, but only modestly lift investment spending. Research indicates that business investment is largely demand driven. Hence, without substantial evidence that U.S. households will significantly increase their spending plans, businesses are unlikely to risk additional capital. In addition, evidence from the 2004 repatriation holiday indicates that firms are more likely to allocate the preponderance of their tax cut proceeds toward dividend payouts and stock buybacks rather than toward investment. Moreover, the positive impact of the tax reductions is likely to be mitigated by rising long-term interest rates. On balance, projected real growth in business fixed investment has been revised up by 0.1 percentage point to 5.5 percent for 2018, following growth of 4.7 percent for 2017 and a decline of 0.6 percent for 2016.

DOB's forecast for nonresidential business fixed investment represents a substantial improvement relative to its recent performance, aided by increasing global demand for U.S. exports and expanded energy sector production. With the global economy entering a long-awaited period of synchronized growth, and the dollar remaining well below its most recent peak, export demand has been steadily increasing. As a result, real export growth for 2018 is projected to be 5.2 percent for 2018, following growth of 3.4 percent for 2017 and a decline of 0.3 percent for 2016.

Disruptions from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma drove gasoline prices higher and boosted headline inflation in the second half of 2017. However, the impact of the storms on inflation is expected to be transitory, with consumer price inflation expected to accelerate only modestly to 2.3 percent in 2018. Medical price inflation is projected to advance to 2.7 percent in 2018, following growth of 2.5 percent in 2017, still tame by historical standards. DOB projects that with inflation reaching the Federal Reserve’s goal of 2 percent, the effective Federal funds rate will rise from its 1.0 percent annual average in 2017 to 1.8 percent in 2018 and 2.3 percent in 2019. These projections are consistent with three short-term rate hikes expected by the FOMC in 2018, and two more projected rate hikes in 2019.

The 10-year Treasury yield has been approaching 2.9 percent, a level that has not been breached since early 2014. Higher long-term interest rates help to steepen the yield curve and improve banking sector profits, but it represents a risk to the continued recovery of the housing market. Moreover, the TCJA eliminates the interest deduction on home equity debt and new mortgage debt in excess of $750,000, and limits the combined deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) and property taxes to $10,000, all of which could negatively affect the housing market. DOB projects real growth in residential fixed investment of 3.8 percent for 2018.

There are many risks to the Executive Budget Financial Plan (defined below) forecast. Since the middle of January 2018, equity market volatility has re-emerged after remaining at bay for virtually all of 2017. The S&P 500 stock index lost 10.2 percent of its value during the brief period between January 26, 2018 and February 8, 2018, although it has regained some of that value as of February 28, 2018. This correction may represent a harbinger of the turbulence to come as the global economy makes the transition away from low interest rates and bloated central bank balance sheets. Moreover, anxiety surrounding the long-term impact of the TCJA on Federal budget deficits and the national debt also appears to have permeated the investor mindset. Lower and more volatile equity prices can result in lower household spending both through the wealth effect and as a signal that rough waters are ahead.

On the positive side, stronger consumer spending and business investment than projected could result in stronger growth in employment, wages, and the overall economy. Stronger global growth than expected could have a similar impact, although that effect could be mitigated by trade wars, should they emerge in a substantial way. Additionally, a stronger housing market than projected could also result in stronger employment and income growth than currently projected, although substantially higher interest rates than expected could have the opposite effect.

Annual Information Statement. The Annual Information Statement, dated June 20, 2017 (the “AIS”) reflects the State’s Enacted Budget Financial Plan (the “Financial Plan” or “Enacted Budget”) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018² and sets forth the State’s official Financial Plan projections for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2021. The State updates the Annual Information Statement quarterly and released its first quarterly update on September 26, 2017, its second quarterly update on December 4, 2017 and its third quarterly update on February 28, 2018 (the “AIS Update”) which reflects the estimated impact of the Governor’s Executive Budget Financial Plan for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, as amended and includes actual General Fund receipts and disbursements for FY 2017 and financial projections for FY 2018 through FY 2021 (the “Updated Financial Plan” or “Executive Budget Financial Plan”).

²	The State fiscal year is identified by the calendar year in which it ends. For example, FY 2018 is the FY that began on April 1, 2017 and ends on March 31, 2018.

Executive Budget. The Governor submitted his FY 2019 Executive Budget proposal on January 16, 2018, and amendments through February 15, 2018 (the “Executive Budget”), as permitted by law. On February 15, 2018, DOB issued the Updated Financial Plan. The Updated Financial Plan includes updated estimates for the current fiscal year (FY 2018), and projections for FY 2019 through FY 2021, and initial projections for FY 2022, which reflect the estimated impact of the Executive Budget.

The projections for FY 2019 through FY 2022 assume the State Legislature enacts the Executive Budget in its entirety and without modification by the start of FY 2019, which begins on April 1, 2018. Executive Budget is awaiting action by the Legislature. There can be no assurance the Legislature will adopt all, or any specific portion, of the Executive Budget as proposed. Accordingly, there can be no assurance the fiscal impact of the FY 2019 budget, when adopted, will not differ materially and adversely from the estimates and projections contained in the Updated Financial Plan that are included in the AIS Update.

FY 2018

•	Through December 31, 2017, the State received a one-time acceleration of personal income tax payments as taxpayers responded to Federal tax law changes that, starting in tax year 2018, limit the allowable aggregate itemized deduction of State and local income taxes (SALT), and local real property taxes, to a maximum of $10,000 on Federal income tax returns. DOB estimates that approximately $1.9 billion in tax receipts were accelerated from tax year 2018 to 2017 due to this behavioral response. The acceleration is expected to result in an identical reduction in Personal Income Tax (PIT) receipts in FY 2019. Accordingly, the increase in cash in FY 2018 that DOB attributes to the one-time acceleration of PIT receipts will be carried forward for financial planning purposes and used to offset the anticipated corresponding loss of PIT receipts in FY 2019.
•	DOB expects the Updated Financial Plan for FY 2018 to remain in balance on a cash basis in the General Fund, exclusive of the impact of the accelerated tax receipts.
•	State Operating Funds disbursements are estimated at $98.1 billion in FY 2018, consistent with the 2 percent annual spending growth benchmark. The calculation of SOF disbursements is consistent with the accounting of financial transactions in the FY 2018 Enacted Budget, as reflected in the AIS.

FY 2019

•	The FY 2019 budget must close a General Fund budget gap estimated at $4.4 billion. The projected budget gap, while unremarkable compared to those recorded during and after the last recession, is the largest since FY 2012 in both absolute dollars and as a percentage of tax receipts. The budget gaps for future years, before accounting for proposed savings in the Executive Budget Financial Plan, are estimated at $6.4 billion in FY 2020, $8.1 billion in FY 2021, and $8.4 billion in FY 2022.
•	Several factors contribute to the size of the projected budget gaps, including persistent shortfalls in tax collections compared with DOB estimates.
•	Beyond the projected budget gaps, actions by the Federal government pose a heightened risk to State finances. The enactment of Federal tax law changes is currently projected to add $1.1 trillion to the Federal deficit over the next five years³, increasing the likelihood that Congress will seek material cuts in aid programs. Funding at risk includes, but is not limited to, health care subsidies required under the ACA, and Disproportionate Share Hospital aid. DOB is actively monitoring these risks.
•	DOB estimates that the Executive Budget, if enacted as proposed, would eliminate the estimated General Fund budget gap of $4.4 billion in FY 2019 and reduce subsequent budget gap projections to $3.5 billion in FY 2020, $5.2 billion in FY 2021, and $5.1 billion in FY 2022. DOB estimates that if future budgets hold spending growth to 2 percent annually in State Operating Funds, the General Fund would have a budget gap of $812 million in FY 2020 and $429 million in FY 2021, and a surplus in FY 2022. These calculations assume that all savings from the reductions in spending are made available to the General Fund, and does not include the potential additional Federal cuts in aid programs described above.

³	Joint Committee on Taxation, Macroeconomic Analysis of the Conference Agreement for H.R. 1, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (JCX- 69-17), December 22, 2017.

FY 2018 Financial Plan Update. DOB estimates that the Updated Financial Plan provides for balanced operations in the General Fund in FY 2018. The State expects to end FY 2018 with a General Fund cash balance of $9.2 billion, an increase of $1.4 billion from FY 2017 results. DOB intends to make transfers of extraordinary monetary settlements (Extraordinary Monetary Settlements) on an as-needed basis each year as spending occurs from appropriations funded with the Extraordinary Monetary Settlements. Legislation approved in the FY 2017 Enacted Budget provides transfer authority from the General Fund to the Dedicated Infrastructure and Investment Fund (DIIF) through FY 2021.

Receipts (Excluding Monetary Settlements). General Fund receipts, including transfers from other funds, are estimated to total $70.6 billion in FY 2018, an increase of $5.0 billion (7.6 percent) from FY 2017 results. Estimated tax collections, including transfers of tax receipts to the General Fund after payment of debt service, total $67.3 billion in FY 2018, an increase of $5.0 billion (8.1 percent) from FY 2017 results.

The PIT receipts, including transfers after payment of debt service on State PIT Revenue Bonds, are estimated to total $46.6 billion, an increase of $3.8 billion (8.9 percent) from FY 2017. Roughly half of the increase is due to an acceleration of personal income tax payments due in calendar year 2018 as taxpayers responded to Federal tax law changes that, starting in tax year 2018, limit the allowable aggregate itemized deduction of State and local income taxes, and local real property taxes, to a maximum of $10,000 on Federal income tax returns. Excluding this acceleration, PIT receipts are projected to grow $1.9 billion (4.5 percent), mainly due to higher withholding and estimated payments attributable to the projected increase in wage and non-wage income. In addition, a decline in STAR Fund deposits associated with legislation included in the FY 2018 Enacted Budget increases General Fund tax receipts. These increases are partially offset by the first year of middle-income tax cuts enacted by the State in FY 2017.

Consumption/use tax receipts, including transfers after payment of debt service on the Local Government Assistance Corporation (LGAC) and Sales Tax Revenue Bonds, are estimated to total $13.2 billion in FY 2018, an increase of $606 million (4.8 percent) from FY 2017, which mainly reflects projected growth in disposable income and taxable consumption.

Business tax receipts are estimated at $5.1 billion in FY 2018, an increase of $347 million (7.3 percent) from FY 2017 results. The growth is primarily attributable to growth in corporate profits and increased audit receipts, partially offset by increased refunds as taxpayers continue to adjust to tax law changes made under the 2014 corporate tax reform.

Other tax receipts, including transfers after payment of debt service on Clean Water/Clean Air Bonds, are expected to total $2.3 billion in FY 2018, an increase of $248 million (12.1 percent) from FY 2017. This increase is mainly attributable to actual estate tax receipts through December 2017 that included one payment in excess of $130 million.

Non-tax receipts and transfers are estimated at $3.3 billion in FY 2018, a decrease of $35 million from FY 2017, which largely reflects State Insurance Fund (SIF) reserves released in FY 2017 that do not recur in FY 2018.

General Fund receipts are affected by the deposit of dedicated taxes in other funds for debt service and other purposes, the transfer of balances among funds of the State, and other factors.

General Fund Disbursements (Excluding Monetary Settlements). General Fund disbursements, including transfers to other funds, are expected to total $69.3 billion in FY 2018, an increase of $3.4 billion (5.1 percent) from FY 2017. General Fund disbursements reflect conservative estimates of disbursements in each financial category, a practice that provides a cushion for potential receipts shortfalls and other unanticipated costs.

Local assistance spending is estimated at $46.5 billion in FY 2018, an increase of $2.1 billion (4.6 percent) from FY 2017. The increase is primarily driven by School Aid ($1.3 billion on a State fiscal year basis) and by Medicaid and the Essential Plan (EP) ($914 million).

General Fund personal and non-personal service costs are expected to total $8.2 billion in FY 2018, an increase of $105 million (1.3 percent) from FY 2017. Operating costs for many agencies are charged to several funds outside the General Fund, and are thus affected by varying levels of offsets and accounting reclassifications. On a State Operating Funds basis, most executive agencies are expected to hold operations spending at FY 2017 levels. The Updated Financial Plan estimates for State Operations are affected by the reclassification to Capital Projects Funds of certain personnel expenses related to maintenance and preservation of State assets; the costs of approved labor settlements, as well as the potential costs of unsettled labor agreements with State unions; and expected savings from agency management plans.

General State Charges (GSCs), which account for fringe benefits and certain fixed costs, are projected to increase by $188 million (3.4 percent) over FY 2017. Health insurance costs for State employees and retirees are projected to increase by $260 million (7 percent), reflective of medical inflation and enrollment levels. The State's annual pension payment is projected to grow by $14 million (0.6 percent).

General Fund transfers to other funds are projected to total $9.0 billion in FY 2018, an increase of $1.0 billion (12.5 percent) from FY 2017. Transfers for capital projects (excluding transfers funded with Extraordinary Monetary Settlements) are projected to increase by $857 million, reflecting the timing of reimbursement from bond proceeds and planned disbursements from the Dedicated Highway and Bridge Trust Fund (DHBTF). Debt service transfers are expected to increase by $113 million, mainly due to year-to-year differences in the amount of debt service paid in one fiscal year but due in the following fiscal year.

General Fund disbursements are affected by the level of financing sources available in other funds, transfers of balances between funds of the State, and other factors that may change from year to year.

FY 2018 General Fund Revisions

Receipts Revisions. General Fund receipts, including transfers from other funds, are now estimated to total $71.4 billion in FY 2018, an increase of $1.6 billion from the Enacted Budget Financial Plan estimate, which largely reflects the acceleration of PIT payments described below.

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Tax Receipts. PIT receipts are higher than expected in the FY 2018 Enacted Budget Financial Plan due to an acceleration of personal income tax payments during calendar year 2017 as taxpayers responded to Federal tax law changes that, starting in tax year 2018, limit the allowable itemized deduction of State and local income taxes, as well as local real property taxes, to a maximum of $10,000 on Federal income tax returns. DOB has increased PIT estimates upward which reflects $1.9 billion in higher than expected receipts attributable to accelerated payments, partly offset by lower than expected receipts from other tax receipts adjustments. Such tax receipts adjustments reflect lower business tax receipts that reflect lower corporate franchise tax payments and lower sales tax receipts estimates that reflect weaker than expected consumer spending, partly offset by increases to estimated estate tax receipts.

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Extraordinary Monetary Settlement Payments. The State received a $350 million civil monetary penalty payment from BNP Paribas, S.A., New York Branch (“BNPP” or “BNP Paribas”) in June 2017 pursuant to a consent order between the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) and BNPP; a $225 million civil monetary penalty payment from Habib Bank in September 2017 pursuant to a consent order between DFS and Habib Bank Limited, New York Branch (together “Habib Bank”); a $135 million civil monetary penalty payment from Credit Suisse AG and Credit Suisse AG, New York Branch (together “Credit Suisse”), pursuant to a November 2017 consent order between DFS and Credit

	Suisse; and $2 million from Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company (“Cigna”), for a civil monetary penalty pursuant to a November 2017 consent order between Cigna and DFS. In addition, the State received $60 million from a civil monetary penalty pursuant to a January 2018 consent order between Western Union and DFS.
•	Other Non-Tax Revisions. Certain miscellaneous receipts have been revised based on results to date and updated information. In addition, revisions to debt service reduce the amount of PIT receipts transferred to the General Fund.

Disbursements Revisions. General Fund disbursements, including transfers to other funds, are expected to total $70.0 billion in FY 2018, a decrease of $1.2 billion from the estimates in the Enacted Budget Financial Plan. Revisions to General Fund disbursements estimates are based on a review of operating results and updated information on programs and activities.

•	Local Assistance. General Fund disbursements for local assistance are expected to total $46.5 billion in FY 2018, a decrease of $567 million from the FY 2018 Enacted Budget Financial Plan. Spending has been lowered to reflect revised spending patterns attributable to certain public assistance and education programs, as well as revised timelines for ongoing transformation and efforts to ensure the efficient use of State resources in the mental hygiene service delivery system.
•	Agency Operations. General Fund disbursements for agency operations, including fringe benefits, are expected to total $13.8 billion in FY 2018, a decrease of $124 million from the FY 2018 Enacted Budget Financial Plan estimates. Spending has been lowered to reflect revised estimates of agency fringe benefit spending, and the reimbursement of such payments to the General Fund, based on recent billing and payment activity.
•	Transfers. General Fund transfers to other funds are expected to total $9.7 billion in FY 2018, a decrease of $485 million from the FY 2018 Enacted Budget Financial Plan estimates. General Fund transfers to Capital Projects Funds are expected to be lower than previously anticipated, mainly due to higher than expected capital reimbursements from bond proceeds in FY 2018 and revised levels of spending. Partly offsetting these decreases in General Fund transfers to other funds is the expected payment of $340 million of FY 2019 debt service expenses in FY 2018. The State also paid $100 million to settle two eminent domain cases with CSX (CSX 1 and CSX 2), including interest and fees. The First Quarterly Update to the Financial Plan reflected an initial cost estimate of $63 million ($39 million State share and $24 million Federal share), plus applicable interest charges and attorneys’ fees for CSX 1. The Updated Financial Plan reflects the additional $37 million paid by the State to finalize the settlement of both CSX 1 and CSX 2, with $75 million attributable to CSX 1 and $25 million attributable to CSX 2. The total $76 million State share of the $100 million settlement for CSX 1 and CSX 2 has been paid from the DHBTF, with the transfer funded with a portion of the Extraordinary Monetary Settlements received since adoption of the FY 2018 Enacted Budget.

FY 2018 Closing Balance. DOB projects that the State will end FY 2018 with a General Fund cash balance of $9.2 billion, an increase of $1.4 billion from FY 2017. The estimated balance of Extraordinary Monetary Settlements at the close of FY 2018 is $4.7 billion, a decrease of $586 million from FY 2017. (See “Uses of Extraordinary Monetary Settlements” herein.)

The estimated General Fund cash balance, excluding Extraordinary Monetary Settlements, is $4.4 billion at the close of FY 2018, or $2.0 billion higher than FY 2017. The annual change in the balance reflects a $1.9 billion increase to the undesignated fund balance which will be carried into FY 2019 to offset PIT estimated payment reductions due to FY 2018 accelerations referred to above.

FY 2019 Financial Plan. The General Fund will be affected by two fund reclassifications beginning in FY 2019. The changes have no net impact on General Fund operations, but change the reporting of receipts and disbursements in total and among spending categories.

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Mental Hygiene Fund Reclassification. Spending from two State Special Revenue Fund accounts, the Mental Hygiene Program Fund and Patient Income Account, is reclassified to the General Fund to improve reporting transparency by eliminating large transfers between funds. The reclassification moves local assistance and operations spending, as well as the supporting revenue, into the General Fund, and eliminates transfers from the General Fund to the two Mental Hygiene State Special Revenue Fund accounts. In addition, roughly $1.4 billion of fringe benefit spending associated with Mental Hygiene agencies will move from the respective agencies to the central GSC budget. Approximately $60 million in indirect costs will no longer be reported in statewide spending.

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DOT/DMV Operating Cost Reclassification. Certain Department of Transportation (DOT) and Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) operating costs related to snow and ice removal, bus, truck and rail inspection, and DMV regulatory activities are reclassified from the DHBTF to the General Fund. In the General Fund, the increased operating spending is

offset by an identical reduction in the transfer to the DHBTF. The reclassification will better align operating and capital functions with dedicated revenue sources.

The State expects to end FY 2019 with a General Fund cash balance of $5.1 billion, a decrease of $4 billion from FY 2018 estimates. DOB intends to make transfers of Extraordinary Monetary Settlements on an as-needed basis over a multi-year period as spending occurs from appropriations funded with the settlements.

Receipts (Excluding Monetary Settlements). General Fund receipts, including transfers from other funds, are projected to total $70.2 billion in FY 2019, a decrease of $445 million (0.6 percent) from FY 2018 estimates. The acceleration of personal income tax payments for calendar year 2018 results in a year-to-year decrease of $3.8 billion. Excluding the accelerated payments, total receipts increase $3.4 billion or 4.9 percent.

General Fund PIT receipts, including transfers after payment of debt service on State PIT Revenue Bonds are expected to total $45.1 billion, an annual decline of $1.5 billion. The decline is the result of the shift of an estimated $1.9 billion of receipts from FY 2019 into FY 2018 due to Federal tax reform. Underlying PIT growth is consistent with forecasted economic growth.

General Fund consumption/use tax receipts, including transfers after payment of debt service on LGAC and Sales Tax Revenue Bonds, are estimated to total $13.8 billion, an annual increase of $511 million (3.9 percent), which reflects projected growth in disposable income and taxable consumption, as well as the Executive Budget proposals.

General Fund business tax receipts are estimated at $5.9 billion, an increase of $761 million (14.9 percent). This growth is due to projected increases in corporate profits and Executive Budget proposals.

Other tax receipts to the General Fund are expected to total $2.1 billion, a decrease of $213 million (9.3 percent), reflecting a return to an average number of estate tax payments exceeding $25 million.

Non-tax receipts are estimated at $3.4 billion, an increase of $42 million.

General Fund receipts are affected by the deposit of dedicated taxes in other funds for debt service and other purposes, the transfer of balances between funds of the State, and other factors.

Disbursements (Excluding Monetary Settlements). General Fund disbursements, including transfers to other funds, are expected to total $72.5 billion in FY 2019, an annual increase of $3.2 billion (4.6 percent).

Local assistance grants are expected to total $48.2 billion in FY 2019, an annual increase of $1.7 billion (3.7 percent). The largest increases include $682 million for School Aid (on a State fiscal year basis), $479 million for Medicaid, $194 million for the MTA Subway Action Plan (described below) and $228 million for Higher Education. The latter reflects continued support for student financial aid programs including the Excelsior Free Tuition Program, fringe benefit costs, and the timing of certain payments.

General Fund disbursements for agency operations, including fringe benefits and fixed costs, are expected to total $14.7 billion, an annual increase of $820 million (5.9 percent). Personal and nonpersonal service costs increase $399 million from the current year, reflecting increased personal service costs driven by settled and expected labor agreements. Costs associated with State employees and retiree health insurance are expected to increase by $315 million (7.9 percent), mainly due to negotiated rate increases reflecting medical cost inflation and current enrollment levels. The State’s net costs for Workers’ Compensation are expected to increase by $150 million (46 percent), due to underlying growth in the average weekly wage for benefit calculations and medical costs ($45 million), as well as a reduction in the use of offsetting revenue ($105 million).

General Fund transfers to other funds are estimated to total $9.6 billion, an increase of $647 million. The increase is mainly due to transfers for capital projects (excluding transfers funded with Extraordinary Monetary Settlements) reflecting the timing of reimbursement from bond proceeds and planned disbursements from the DHBTF.

Closing Balance for FY 2019. DOB projects that the State will end FY 2019 with a General Fund cash balance of $5.1 billion, a decrease of $4.0 billion from FY 2018. The General Fund cash balance, excluding Extraordinary Monetary Settlements, is

estimated at $2.5 billion, or $1.9 billion lower than the estimated closing balance at the end of FY 2018. The change is almost entirely due to the use of the $1.9 billion in cash from PIT tax receipts accelerated into FY 2018, as well as the projected spending of resources in the Community Projects Fund.

Balances in the State’s principal “rainy day” reserves, the Tax Stabilization Reserve and the Rainy Day Reserve, are expected to remain unchanged at $1.8 billion.

The Executive Budget Financial Plan maintains a reserve of $500 million for debt management purposes in FY 2019. DOB will decide on the use of these funds based on market conditions, Updated Financial Plan needs, and other factors.

The balance from Extraordinary Monetary Settlements at the close of FY 2019 is expected to total $2.6 billion, a decrease of $2.1 billion from the estimated FY 2018 closing balance. The decrease reflects the planned use of Extraordinary Monetary Settlements to fund Capital Projects Funds from DIIF ($1.4 billion); the MTA Subway Action Plan ($194 million); and general operations ($383 million). The State’s principal reserves are expected to remain unchanged from FY 2018.

DOB expects that the State will have sufficient liquidity in FY 2019 to make all planned payments as they become due without having to temporarily borrow from the Short-Term Investment Pool (STIP). The State continues to reserve money on a quarterly basis for debt service payments that are financed with General Fund resources. Money to pay debt service on bonds secured by dedicated receipts, including PIT bonds and Sales Tax bonds, continues to be set aside as required by law and bond covenants.

FY 2019 Detailed Gap-Closing Plan. To the extent the State enacts budgets that adhere to the 2 percent spending benchmark, the level of savings required in each subsequent year to hold spending to 2 percent would be lower.

Spending Changes. The Executive Budget Financial Plan reduces General Fund spending in FY 2019 by $2.7 billion, net of new initiatives and costs, compared to the FY 2019 baseline estimate. The reductions include reestimates to spending based on updated information, specific cost-containment proposals, and the prepayment of FY 2019 expenses from excess resources expected to be available in FY 2018.

Local Assistance

Local assistance spending includes financial aid to local governments and nonprofit organizations, as well as entitlement payments to individuals. Reductions from the prior projections for local assistance spending are expected to generate $1.3 billion in General Fund savings. Savings are expected from both targeted actions and continuation of prior-year cost containment.

School Aid and Medicaid are the State’s largest local assistance programs, comprising over 45 percent of the State Operating Funds budget. The Executive Budget Financial plan provides for the following:

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Education. A lower-than-projected increase in the Personal Income Growth Index (PIGI) results in reduced School Aid spending growth based upon the School Aid formula. The actual School Year (SY) 2019 PIGI is 1.5 percent, compared to the previously estimated 3.9 percent, generating multi-year savings. The Executive Budget Financial Plan reflects a proposed total of $26.4 billion in aid for the 2018-19 school year, increasing school aid by $769 million, or 3 percent over the prior school year. This increase is double the amount of the 1.5 percent indexed formula.

In addition, updates to the School Aid database indicate a decline in SY 2018 aid compared with the FY 2018 Enacted Budget Financial Plan estimates. Similarly, grant-based awards for School Aid are spending more slowly than anticipated. Other education savings include the restructuring of aid to private colleges, as well as revisions to the methodology used to reimburse school districts for summer school special education tuition costs which will now involve using the same wealth-equalized aid ratio that is used to reimburse school districts for similar programs operated during the school year; and one-time audit recoveries for the preschool special education program expected in FY 2019.

The Executive Budget Financial Plan reflects the proposed additional funding for several new initiatives to eliminate barriers to receiving school meals. In addition, funding for the Non-public School Health and Safety Equipment Program is expected to be provided through the Capital Projects Funds.

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Health Care. Medicaid spending under the Global Cap⁴ is expected to total $18.9 billion in FY 2019, an increase of $593 million, consistent with the statutory index of 3.2 percent. The Global Cap is expected to provide $425 million in General Fund savings in FY 2019. Total Medicaid spending, including spending outside the Global Cap, is expected to increase to $20.6 billion in FY 2019. The Financial Plan will continue to fund, outside the Global Cap, increases in the minimum wage

for health care providers ($703 million) in FY 2019. In addition, the State continues to provide capital funding to the State’s health care delivery system. The FY 2019 Executive Budget Financial Plan includes $425 million in new health care capital spending, funded with bonds ($300 million) and Extraordinary Monetary Settlements ($125 million). The Executive Budget Financial Plan includes an additional $425 million for non-Department of Health (DOH) Medicaid expenses within the Global Cap. To achieve savings within the Global Cap to support these additional costs, DOH will continue to implement various MRT actions to improve the efficiency and effective delivery of the statewide Medicaid program. These reforms include modifications to the Medicaid long-term care program to ensure access to long-term care services and support a growing aging population; continued controls on Medicaid pharmaceutical costs; incentives supporting the transition to value-based payment arrangements; additional program integrity efficiencies; the authorization of retail practices; a continuation of transportation reforms through targeted investments; and expansion of certain Medicaid services, including covered tele-health and community paramedicine.

Medicaid costs attributable to the minimum wage increase are projected to be higher than initially estimated, mainly due to higher-than-expected enrollment growth in the long-term care sector for home and personal care services. The Updated Financial Plan reflects higher Medicaid spending of $125 million in FY 2019 growing to $300 million by FY 2022. The Executive Budget Financial Plan includes $703 million to support the direct cost of FY 2019 minimum wage increases for health care workers who provide services reimbursed by Medicaid.

Other health care savings include initiatives to consolidate and reduce certain public health programs, providing increased flexibility to support ongoing public health programs or investments in new or emerging public health priorities; modifications to certain pharmacy benefit programs; reforms to increase reimbursements from third-party insurers and streamline the evaluation process for the Early Intervention program; and the elimination of cost of living adjustment payments. The Updated Financial Plan also includes savings from the one-time recoupment of $35 million from New York City in FY 2019 for ineligible School Nurse expenses included in claims from calendar years 2015 through 2017.

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The Medicaid Global Cap is a statutory limit on annual State-funded Medicaid expenditures, indexed to the Medical component of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Total State-funded Medicaid expenditures also include certain program costs which are not subject to the indexed provisions of the Global Cap.

•	Mental Hygiene. Spending revisions reflect updated assumptions and revised timelines for ongoing transformation efforts to ensure efficient use of State resources in the mental hygiene service delivery system.
•	Human Services. Savings reflect, among other things, expiration of State reimbursements to New York City for the Close to Home initiative; a cap on State-share reimbursement to NYC for child welfare spending, and reestimates to the disbursement estimates for other programs. Funding has been increased for higher projected public assistance caseload costs and to return child care subsidy funding to a level of $806 million.
•	STAR. The Executive Budget proposes freezing the exemption benefit, rather than allowing it to increase by up to 2 percent, and mandating enrollment in the Income Verification Program.
•	MTA Subway Action Plan. The Executive Budget Financial Plan includes $254 million in operating aid to fully fund the State’s half of the MTA Subway Action Plan to address system failures, breakdowns, delays and deteriorating customer service, and to position the system for future modernization. State operating aid will be provided to the MTA from $194 million in Extraordinary Monetary Settlements and $60 million from accelerated transfer of PMT revenue. The Updated Financial Plan also includes $174 million in new capital funding for the MTA as part of the MTA Subway Action Plan.
•	All Other. Savings are expected as a result of updated spending projections across program areas, including: elimination of the planned FY 2019 1.9 percent human services cost-of-living increase; updated enrollment data for the State University of New York (SUNY) Community Colleges that results in a reduction in projected Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) students; and continued utilization of JP Morgan Settlement and Mortgage Insurance Fund (MIF) resources to fund housing and homelessness programs.

Spending increases in the outyears mainly reflects expected matching funds that will be provided to local governments that achieve savings consistent with County-wide Shared Services Property Tax Savings Plans; and funding for the proposed DREAM Act that extends student financial assistance to undocumented immigrant students pursuing higher education in New York.

Agency Operations

Operating costs for State agencies include salaries, wages, fringe benefits, and non-personal service costs (e.g., supplies and utilities). Reductions from current-services projections for agency operations contribute $446 million to the General Fund gap-closing plan.

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Executive Agencies. The Executive Budget Financial Plan reflects agency spending held flat, on a State Operating Funds basis, with limited exceptions, such as DOH costs attributable to the New York State of Health (NYSOH) marketplace and the Essential Plan program. State agencies are expected to continue to use less costly forms of service delivery, improve administrative practices, and pursue statewide solutions, including the utilization of Lean initiatives to streamline operations and management. The Executive Budget Financial Plan also includes savings from the continued transition of individuals from mental hygiene institutions to appropriate community settings.

Spending increases in the later years of the Updated Financial Plan are driven mainly by revised spending assumptions across multiple agencies to account for inflationary cost increases, additional administrative payroll in FY 2021, and higher Medicaid administration expenses to support the NYSOH insurance exchange as available Federal funding is assumed to expire.

Pension estimates reflect the planned payment of the full FY 2019 Employees’ Retirement System (ERS)/Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS) pension bill in April 2018, rather than on a monthly basis as previously assumed. Health insurance savings reflect elimination of the taxpayer-subsidized Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) reimbursement for high income New York State Health Insurance Program (NYSHIP) enrollees, and from maintaining reimbursement of the standard Medicare Part B premium at $134 per month.

The Executive Budget also proposes reforming the interest charged on judgments against the State from as high as 9 percent to a fair-market interest rate. The current rate was established in 1982 when interest rates were at 12 percent to avoid unnecessary taxpayer costs. The recommended rate is in line with the interest rate applied to judgements in Federal courts, and would ensure that neither side in a lawsuit will be disadvantaged by an interest rate that is above or below what otherwise could be earned while cases are being adjudicated.

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University Systems. Savings reflect elimination of the SUNY hospital subsidy, which is reinvested to support capital infrastructure projects at SUNY's teaching hospitals.

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Elected Officials/Judiciary. The Executive Budget Financial Plan reflects the Judiciary’s request to increase operating support, including retroactive payment of collective bargaining agreements and expected cost increases for legal representation in Family Court support resulting from Raise the Age legislation and the Attorney for the Child program. The Executive Budget Financial Plan reflects the Legislature’s request to increase operating costs, including increases for personal service costs and equipment.

Debt Management/Capital Projects

The Executive Budget Financial Plan reflects FY 2019 debt service savings from the planned payment of $340 million of FY 2019 expenses in FY 2018, as well as expected refundings, continued use of competitive bond sales, and other debt management actions. The use of available bond proceeds to reimburse capital spending from prior years, results in a downward revision to transfers needed to fund capital projects.

Resource Changes

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Taxpayer Acceleration of PIT Payments into FY 2018. The State received a surge in personal income tax payments during calendar year 2017 as taxpayers responded to Federal tax law changes that, starting in tax year 2018, limit the allowable deduction of State and local income taxes, as well as local real property taxes, to a maximum of $10,000 on Federal income tax returns. DOB estimates that approximately $1.9 billion in accelerated tax receipts were due to this behavioral response. The increase in cash in FY 2018 that DOB attributes to the acceleration of PIT receipts will be carried forward and used to offset the anticipated corresponding loss of PIT receipts in FY 2019.

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Tax Receipts Revisions. The Executive Budget Financial Plan reflects revisions to tax receipts across most tax categories, including the proposed decoupling of the State’s tax law from the Federal cap with respect to the deductibility of SALT; changes and eliminations to certain Federal deductions; the temporary Federal medical expense deduction increase; child tax credit changes; and the single filer standard deduction. Executive Budget revisions proposed in response to the Federal tax law changes include:

- Employer Compensation Expense Tax (ECET) System. Federal tax changes limited the deductibility of State and local taxes for individuals who itemize their deductions, but maintained it for businesses. Legislation is proposed as part of the Executive Budget that, if enacted, would permit employers to opt-in to a new ECET system, which is intended to mitigate

an increase in the tax burden for employees affected by the SALT limit. When fully phased in, employers that opt in to the ECET system would be subject to a 5 percent tax on all annual payroll expenses in excess of $40,000 per employee. The ECET system, as proposed, would take effect on January 1, 2019. For employers who opt in, the new tax would be phased in over three years (1.5 percent in calendar year 2019, 3 percent in calendar year 2020, and 5 percent in calendar year 2021). The deadline for the first annual election for employers to opt in to this alternative system would be on October 1, 2018 for the tax year 2019.

The ECET proposal is designed to be revenue neutral for the State. As ECET collections rise, PIT collections are expected to fall by a comparable amount. The Executive Budget Financial Plan does not include any estimates for ECET collections since employer opt-in rates will not be known until October 2018. DOB expects to provide estimates in future AIS Updates as opt-in rates and other information become known.

- Charitable Gifts Trust Fund. Legislation submitted with the Executive Budget proposes the creation of two new State-operated Charitable Gifts Trust Funds to accept donations for the purposes of funding health care and education in New York. Taxpayers who itemize deductions can claim charitable gifts as deductions on their Federal and State tax income tax returns. In addition to the itemized deductions, any taxpayer making a donation to either or both of the two new State-operated funds will be eligible to claim a State tax credit on their income tax returns equal to 85 percent of the donation amount for the tax year following the year in which the donation is made. In addition, the legislation would allow school districts and other local governments the option to create charitable funds and to provide a credit against local property tax bills equal to a percentage of the donation.

The Executive Budget Financial Plan does not include any estimates for charitable contributions under this program. Charitable giving is not expected to have a measurable financial impact on State PIT receipts in FY 2019. Donations made in tax year 2018 are not expected to be disbursed for charitable purposes until FY 2020, and the cost of the State tax credit will not be incurred until tax year 2019. However, changes in taxpayer behavior could affect the timing and amount of PIT receipts. DOB expects to include estimates on charitable giving in future updates, once activity on donations can be observed.

- Decoupling From Federal Tax Code. The State tax code is closely aligned with the Federal tax code. Legislation is proposed as part of the Executive Budget that is designed to decouple the State tax code from the Federal tax code, where necessary, to avoid more than $1.5 billion in State tax increases that would otherwise result from the recently enacted changes in the Federal tax code. The decoupling provisions, which are projected to increase the budget gaps in FY 2020 and beyond, include:

Federal Cap on SALT. The Federal law changes capped the itemized deduction for SALT at a maximum of $10,000. The Executive Budget Financial Plan reflects the inclusion of legislation to decouple from this cap so that New York taxpayers who itemize are not subject to a State tax increase from the flow through of this Federal cap to State income tax returns. Absent this proposal, PIT receipts would be projected to increase by $441 million annually, beginning in FY 2020.

Federal Changes and Eliminations to Certain Deductions. The Executive Budget Financial Plan proposes to decouple from the Federal changes on other deductions. Absent this proposal, PIT receipts would be projected to increase by $269 million annually, beginning in FY 2020.

Temporary Federal Medical Expense Deduction Increase. Federal changes lower the threshold by which to claim the itemized medical expense deduction for tax years 2017 and 2018, thereby lowering taxpayer liability. The Executive Budget Financial Plan reflects the proposal to decouple from this decrease from tax year 2018, which would have lowered receipts by $25 million in FY 2020.

New York Single Filer Standard Deduction. The Federal repeal of personal exemptions eliminates the ability of New York single-filer taxpayers to claim the standard deduction for non-dependents on their State tax returns under current State tax law. The Executive Budget includes legislation to address this issue. Absent this legislation, New York taxpayers would be subject to a $840 million annual State tax increase beginning in FY 2020.

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Personal Income Tax Revenue Bonds (PIT Bonds). The State finances a significant share of capital projects through the issuance of PIT Bonds. As of January 15, 2018, New York State had $34.8 billion of PIT Bonds outstanding with a FY 2019 annual debt service cost of $3.2 billion, all of which is secured by financing agreement payments made from the Revenue Bond Tax Fund (RBTF), comprising 25 percent of State PIT receipts, net of refunds. In FY 2019, the amount of PIT receipts dedicated to the repayment of PIT Bonds is estimated at $12.3 billion. In the event that the ECET and Charitable Gifts Trust Fund proposals described above become law, the Executive Budget proposes legislation that would accompany their authorization to strengthen the debt service coverage on PIT Bonds by (i) increasing the percentage of

	PIT receipts dedicated to the payment of PIT Bonds from 25 percent to 50 percent, and (ii) dedicating 50 percent of ECET receipts to the payment of PIT Bonds. In addition, in the event that (a) the State Legislature fails to appropriate amounts required to make all debt service payments on PIT Bonds or (b) having been appropriated and set aside pursuant to a certificate of the Director of the Budget, financing agreement payments have not been made when due on the PIT Bonds, the Executive Budget proposes to increase the required set-aside for the PIT Bonds program such that PIT and ECET receipts continue to be deposited to the RBTF until amounts on deposit in the RBTF equal the greater of (i) 40 percent of annual PIT and ECET receipts or (ii) $12 billion. The equal set-asides from the ECET and PIT are intended to assure that the flow of taxes dedicated to PIT Bonds will remain constant, regardless of the number of employers who choose to opt in to the ECET system. The ECET and PIT are expected to offset one another, with increased collections in the ECET offset by a similar decrease in PIT receipts. The increase in the PIT set-aside is also expected to be sufficient to offset any reduction in PIT receipts that may occur from charitable giving to the new Charitable Gifts Trust Fund proposed with the Executive Budget. The proposed set-aside for PIT and ECET may be modified depending on the final form of tax reform legislation expected to be approved with the FY 2019 Enacted Budget.
•	Unincorporated Business Tax (UBT). In addition to the ECET and Charitable Gifts Trust Fund proposals in the Executive Budget, the Executive is studying options for the creation of a UBT intended to preserve deductibility for individuals on certain components of nonwage income. A UBT would apply a deductible business tax on pass-through businesses, or some subset of pass-through businesses, and offer a corresponding tax credit to the owners of the business on their personal income taxes. DOB expects that any reduction in PIT receipts that may result from the creation of a UBT would be offset in full by an increase in UBT receipts. All or a portion of UBT receipts may be pledged to the payment of PIT Bonds. By the end of FY 2018, the Executive may propose legislation to create a UBT.
•	Use of Extraordinary Monetary Settlements. The Executive Budget proposes the following uses for new settlements: $194 million for the State’s share of the MTA Subway Action Plan; $125 million in “hard-dollar” capital for health care providers; and $383 million for operating purposes.
•	Other Resource Changes. These include updated estimates of various miscellaneous receipts and transfers from other funds, including FEMA reimbursements expected in FY 2019. In addition, the Executive Budget proposes a new $120 safety inspection fee for privately operated for-hire/for-profit passenger carriers, and a modern rate structure for right-of-way fees that will require fees for the placement of fiber optic cables and wireless towers on State-owned highways.

Revenue Actions

•	Health Insurance Conversions (or comparable transactions). The Updated Financial Plan includes $500 million annually over four years from conversions, acquisitions, or related transactions in which not-for-profit health insurers convert to corporations organized for pecuniary profit. DOB believes that such activity is likely in the current health insurance market.
•	Impose a Healthcare Insurance Windfall Profit Fee. The Federal tax plan gives health care companies a 40 percent cut on their taxes while also transferring health care costs to the State. The Executive Budget imposes a 14 percent surcharge on health insurer gains to recapture $140 million of those corporate tax savings and reinvest it in vital health care services for New Yorkers.
•	Establish an Opioid Epidemic Surcharge. New York State, like much of the country, is battling an opioid epidemic. The Executive Budget imposes a new surcharge of 2 cents per milligram of active opioid ingredient on prescription drugs, directing all proceeds to the Opioid Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Fund. This new fund will support ongoing prevention, treatment, and recovery services.
•	Discontinue the Energy Services Sales Tax Exemption. The Executive Budget eliminates the sales tax exemption on non-residential transmission and distribution of gas or electricity when purchased from an Energy Service Company (ESCO). Enacted in the early 2000’s to incentivize consumer choice, this exemption is no longer necessary now that ESCOs are established entities (New York City eliminated this tax exemption in 2009).
•	Defer Business-Related Tax-Credit Claims. Taxpayers must defer using most business credits for tax years 2018 through 2020, where such credits exceed $2 million. They can begin to use deferred nonrefundable credits starting in 2021, and may use 50 percent of their refundable credits in 2021, 75 percent of the remaining credit in 2022, and the balance in 2023.
•	Internet Fairness Conformity Tax. Online providers such as Amazon and eBay supply a marketplace for third-party sellers to sell their products to consumers. Currently, such outside sellers are required to collect sales tax from New York residents if the seller is located in New York. Many marketplace providers agree to collect the tax for the third-party seller

	in this instance. The Executive Budget requires a marketplace provider to collect the tax when it facilitates the sale to State residents, whether the seller is located within, or outside, New York.
•	Improve Cigar Tax Enforcement. The Executive Budget changes the definition of “wholesale price” to the invoiced price for which a manufacturer or distributor sells tobacco products to a New York State registered tobacco distributor. The current definition of “wholesale price” is the result of litigation and has resulted in revenue losses as it relies on the industry to determine the tax on its own products through a pricing survey.
•	Other Actions. The Executive Budget includes other tax credits/extensions, enforcement initiatives and tax code reforms. These include a two-year extension of the Hire a Vet Tax Credit to 2020; an increase in the vending machine sales tax exemption for food and drink purchases priced at $1.50 or less, to $2.00 or less; and a health tax of 10 cents per fluid milliliter on vapor products at the distributor level, equalizing the tax treatment of tobacco products and the equivalent products used in e-cigarettes.

Other Financial Plan Matters

Transportation Funding. The State collects the PMT on behalf of, and disburses the entire amount to, the MTA. The Executive Budget proposes amending the enabling statute to no longer require the PMT to be appropriated annually by the State Legislature. PMT revenue that may be pledged to MTA bondholders under any new credit structure would have reduced risk of non-appropriation. In addition, PMT receipts will be received by the MTA without delays or uncertainty related to the appropriation process. In FY 2019, this is expected to provide a one-time benefit to the MTA of $60 million. Consistent with this proposed law change, the Updated Financial Plan will no longer include PMT receipts and related local assistance disbursements, beginning in FY 2019. PMT receipts are estimated at approximately $1.5 billion in FY 2019.

The Executive Budget also proposes appropriating certain transportation operating costs from the General Fund instead of the DHBTF. These operating expenses are currently funded by a transfer from the General Fund to the DHBTF. The change, which will increase disbursements in State Operating Funds by nearly $390 million in FY 2019, applies to operating costs related to snow and ice removal; bus, truck and rail inspection; and DMV regulatory activities. The increased operating spending in the General fund is expected to be offset by an identical reduction in the transfer to the DHBTF.

Managing Risks

The Executive Budget includes several measures to respond to potential risks, including the following:

•	Legislation is proposed that would allow for across-the-board reductions to certain local assistance disbursements if the annual estimate for tax receipts in FY 2019 is revised downward by $500 million or more during the fiscal year. The legislation provides for a uniform reduction of up to 3 percent to local assistance appropriations and related cash disbursements in the General Fund and State Special Revenue Funds. Programs that are exempt from the across-the-board reductions include School Aid, Medicaid, and public assistance.
•	Legislation proposed with the Executive Budget would continue authorization for a process by which the State would manage potential significant reductions in Federal aid during FY 2019. Specifically, the legislation allows the Budget Director to prepare a plan for consideration by the Legislature in the event that Federal policymakers (i) reduce Federal financial participation in Medicaid funding to New York State or its subdivisions by $850 million or more; or (ii) reduce Federal financial participation or other Federal aid funding to New York State that affects the State Operating Funds financial plan by $850 million or more, exclusive of any cuts to Medicaid. Each limit is triggered separately. The plan prepared by the Budget Director must equally and proportionally reduce appropriations and cash disbursements in the General Fund and State Special Revenue Funds. Upon receipt of the plan, the Legislature has 90 days to prepare its own corrective action plan, which may be adopted by concurrent resolution passed by both the Senate and the Assembly, or the plan submitted by the Budget Director takes effect automatically.
•	The FY 2019 Executive Budget also creates a new Health Care Reform Act ( HCRA) fund account to ensure the continued availability and expansion of funding for quality health services to New York State residents and to mitigate risks associated with the loss of Federal health care funds. This account is expected to initially consist of any available funds from insurer conversions.

Annual Spending Growth

DOB estimates that spending in State Operating Funds will grow at 1.9 percent from FY 2018 to FY 2019, consistent with the 2 percent spending growth benchmark.

Local Assistance

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Medicaid and School Aid are the State’s largest local aid programs, comprising approximately 45 percent of State Operating Funds spending. In SY 2019, School Aid is expected to total $26.4 billion, an increase of $769 million (3 percent), including a $338 million increase in Foundation Aid. Medicaid spending subject to the Global Cap will grow at the indexed rate of 3.2 percent to $18.9 billion. In total, Medicaid funded from State resources will increase to $19.5 billion, including the Essential Plan (EP)⁵, the takeover of local Medicaid costs, and other spending outside the Global Cap.

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The EP is an insurance program authorized under the ACA for individuals who are not eligible for Medicaid and who meet certain income threshold standards. Approximately 90 percent of program expenses are subsidized with Federal funds. The EP is not a Medicaid program; however, the State Funds support is managed within total DOH Medicaid Global Cap resources.

•	In FY 2018, the bonds secured by annual payments under the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) with tobacco manufacturers were retired, with no remaining debt service requirements to be paid on these bonds. Thus, DOB expects payments under the MSA of approximately $103 million in FY 2018 and approximately $329 million in FY 2019, with additional payments under the MSA to be available in the years beyond FY 2019. The FY 2018 Enacted Budget authorized and directed these payments be used to help defray costs of the State’s takeover of Medicaid costs for counties and New York City. The State takeover, in which local Medicaid costs are capped permanently at 2015 calendar year levels, is expected to cost the State $917 million in FY 2019 and $1.1 billion in FY 2020. Consistent with State law, DOB expects MSA payments will be directly deposited to the Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) Escrow Fund. The deposit mechanism has no impact on overall Medicaid spending funded with State resources, but does decrease reported State-supported Medicaid spending accounted for in State Operating Funds.
•	In transportation, the Executive Budget proposes amending the statute to no longer require the PMT to be appropriated annually by the State Legislature. Consistent with this proposed law change, the Executive Budget Financial Plan does not reflect PMT receipts and related local assistance disbursements, beginning in FY 2019. PMT receipts and disbursements are estimated at approximately $1.5 billion and $1.4 billion, respectively, in FY 2019. The Executive Budget also proposes appropriating certain transportation operating costs from the General Fund instead of the DHBTF. These operating expenses are currently funded by a transfer from the General Fund to the DHBTF. This change will increase disbursements in State Operating Funds by nearly $390 million in FY 2019.
•	Local assistance spending reported in the Updated Financial Plan is affected by the accounting treatment of State payments to the Sales Tax Asset Receivable Corporation (STARC). Pursuant to legislation enacted in FY 2017, New York City is remitting savings to the State from a 2014 refunding of STARC bonds, which are supported solely by the annual payment of State aid. The FY 2017 legislation specified that the money refunded from STARC could be received by the State as a miscellaneous receipt, or directed by the State to a State public authority to offset debt service costs on State-supported bonds. In the FY 2018 Enacted Budget, the Legislature provided that money recouped from the STARC refunding can be treated as an offset to State spending by adding specific language to the STARC appropriation. The Executive Budget Financial Plan reflects the offset to spending in the calculation of State Operating Funds spending in both FY 2018 and FY 2019. In FY 2017, the State accounted for the money as a miscellaneous receipt.
•	STAR spending is affected by the conversion of STAR benefits to State PIT credits, in addition to program reestimates. The conversion of STAR benefits to PIT credits has no impact on the value of the STAR benefits received by taxpayers, but does decrease reported disbursements for STAR on a State Operating Funds basis of reporting and decreases the level of reported PIT receipts by an identical amount.
•	Higher Education spending growth is mainly due to the second phase of the Excelsior Free Tuition Program, State support for the DREAM Act, increased funding for other scholarships, fringe benefit cost increases, and the timing of certain payments.

State Operations/Fringe Benefits

•	Spending for Executive agency operations is expected to increase slightly in FY 2019, excluding the reclassification of certain DOT and DMV operating costs related to snow and ice removal; bus, truck and rail inspection; and DMV regulatory activities from the DHBTF to the General Fund.
•	Operations spending for the university systems and elected officials is expected to increase by 3.5 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.
•	Spending growth for fringe benefits is mainly due to rising employee health care and prescription drug costs.

Debt Service

•	Spending from Debt Service Funds is expected to increase by 0.3 percent from 2018, which includes the impact of the payment of certain FY 2019 debt service costs in FY 2018.

Cash Flow

State Finance Law authorizes the General Fund to borrow money temporarily from available funds held in STIP. Money may be borrowed for up to four months, or until the end of the fiscal year, whichever period is shorter. The State last used this authorization in April 2011 when the General Fund needed to borrow funds from STIP for a period of five days. The amount of resources that can be borrowed by the General Fund is limited to available balances in STIP, as determined by the State Comptroller. Available balances include money in the State’s governmental funds and a relatively small amount of other money belonging to the State. Several accounts in Debt Service Funds and Capital Projects Funds that are part of All Governmental Funds are excluded from the balances deemed available in STIP. These excluded funds consist of bond proceeds and money obligated for debt service payments.

DOB expects that the State will have sufficient liquidity in FY 2019 to make all planned payments as they become due, without having to temporarily borrow from STIP. The State continues to reserve money on a quarterly basis for debt service payments financed with General Fund resources. Money to pay debt service on bonds secured by dedicated receipts, including both PIT and Sales Tax bonds, continues to be set aside as required by law and bond covenants.

Extraordinary Monetary Settlements

From the beginning of FY 2015 through FY 2018, DOB estimates that the State will have received a total of $10.7 billion in Extraordinary Monetary Settlements for violations of State laws by major financial and other institutions.

Since the FY 2018 Enacted Budget Financial Plan was issued, the State has received five settlement payments. Pursuant to a May 24, 2017 consent order between the DFS and BNP Paribas, BNP Paribas made a $350 million civil monetary penalty payment. The order pertains to BNP Paribas engaging in improper, unsafe and unsound conduct, in violation of State laws and regulations, that included collusive conduct, improper exchange of information, manipulation of the price at which daily benchmark rates were set, and misleading customers.

Habib Bank paid a $225 million civil monetary penalty pursuant to a September 7, 2017 consent order between Habib Bank and DFS. This consent order pertains to Habib Bank’s failure to comply with laws and regulations designed to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and other illicit financial transactions.

Pursuant to a November 13, 2017 consent order between the DFS and Credit Suisse, a $135 million civil monetary penalty payment was received. The order pertains to Credit Suisse’s failure to comply with laws and regulations designed to combat improper, unsafe, and unsound conduct in the foreign exchange trading business.

Cigna paid a $2 million civil monetary penalty pursuant to a November 14, 2017 consent order between Cigna and DFS. This consent order pertains to Cigna’s violation of laws and regulations by selling stop-loss and fully-insured health insurance policies out-of-state to New York-based small groups with employees in the State.

In addition, the State received a $60 million civil monetary penalty pursuant to a January 4, 2018 consent order between Western Union and the DFS.

Uses of Extraordinary Monetary Settlements

A total of $10 billion in Extraordinary Monetary Settlements has been allocated in prior budgets and plans. The Executive Budget Financial Plan includes a plan to allocate the remaining $702 million.

A total of $7.8 billion has been, or is expected to be, used to finance various spending from capital appropriations, including operating activities associated with the maintenance, protection, preservation, and operation of capital assets. Another $2.9 billion has been, or is expected to be, used for other purposes, including resolution of Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) Federal disallowances in FY 2016, retroactive labor costs, General Fund operations, onetime litigation payments to CSX, and costs of the Department of Law’s Litigation Services Bureau.

The Updated Financial Plan reflects use of previously unallocated Extraordinary Monetary Settlements to support:

•	General Fund Operations ($383 million). Consistent with prior years, the Updated Financial Plan reflects the use of funds not appropriated for other purposes.
•	MTA Subsidy ($194 million). Additional support will be provided to the MTA for operations in FY 2019.
•	Health Care Capital Grants ($125 million). An additional $425 million will be provided to the Health Care Facility Transformation Program, of which $125 million will be funded from Extraordinary Monetary Settlements.

Special Considerations. The Updated Financial Plan is subject to complex economic, social, financial, political, and environmental risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside the ability of the State to control. DOB believes that the projections of receipts and disbursements in the Updated Financial Plan are based on reasonable assumptions, but there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially and adversely from these projections. For instance, actual receipts collections have fallen substantially below the levels forecasted in certain fiscal years. In addition, projections in future years are based on the assumption that annual growth in State Operating Funds spending will be limited to 2 percent, and that all savings that result from the 2 percent spending growth benchmark will be made available to the General Fund.

DOB routinely executes cash management actions to manage the State’s large and complex budget. These actions are intended for a variety of purposes that include improving the State’s cash flow, managing resources within and across State fiscal years, assisting in the adherence to spending targets, and better positioning the State to address future risks and unanticipated costs, such as economic downturns, unexpected revenue deterioration, and unplanned expenditures. As such, the State regularly makes certain payments above those initially planned, to maintain budget flexibility. All payments made above the planned amount are reflected in the year they occur, and adhere to the limit of the State's 2 percent annual spending growth benchmark.

The Updated Financial Plan is based on numerous assumptions, including the condition of the State and national economies, and the concomitant collection of economically sensitive tax receipts in the amounts projected. Other uncertainties and risks concerning the economic conditions and receipts forecasts include the impacts of: national and international events; ongoing financial risks in the Euro-zone; changes in consumer confidence, oil supplies and oil prices; major terrorist events, hostilities or war; climate change and extreme weather events; Federal statutory and regulatory changes concerning financial sector activities, Federal tax law and other programmatic purposes; changes concerning financial sector bonus payouts, as well as any future legislation governing the structure of compensation; shifts in monetary policy affecting interest rates and the financial markets; financial and real estate market developments which may adversely affect bonus income and capital gains realizations; the effect of household debt on consumer spending and State tax collections; and the outcomes of litigation and other claims affecting the State.

The Updated Financial Plan is subject to various uncertainties and contingencies relating to: wage and benefit increases for State employees that exceed projected annual costs; changes in the size of the State’s workforce; the realization of the projected rate of return for pension fund assets and current assumptions with respect to wages for State employees affecting the State's required pension fund contributions; the willingness and ability of the Federal government to provide the aid expected in the Updated Financial Plan; the ability of the State to implement cost reduction initiatives, including reductions in State agency operations, and the success with which the State controls expenditures; and the ability of the State and its public authorities to market securities successfully in the public credit markets.

The projections and assumptions contained in the Updated Financial Plan are subject to revisions which may result in substantial change. No assurance can be given that these estimates and projections, which depend in part upon actions the State expects to be taken but which are not within the State's control, will be realized.

Budget Risks and Uncertainties. There can be no assurance that the State’s financial position will not change materially and adversely from current projections. If this were to occur, the State would be required to take gap closing actions. Such actions may include, but are not limited to: reductions in State agency operations; delays or reductions in payments to local governments or other recipients of State aid; delays in or suspension of capital maintenance and construction; extraordinary financing of operating expenses; use of non-recurring resources; or other measures. In some cases, the ability of the State to implement such actions requires the approval of the Legislature and cannot be implemented solely by action of the Governor.

The Updated Financial Plan projections for the outyears generally assume that School Aid and Medicaid disbursements will be limited to the annual growth in New York State personal income, and the ten-year average growth of the medical component of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), respectively. However, since FY 2014, the State has annually authorized School Aid spending to increase above the personal income growth index. In SY 2019, the Executive Budget Financial Plan reflects a

projected 3.0 percent School Aid increase, compared to the 1.5 percent growth in the personal income growth index. In SY 2020, School Aid is projected to increase by 3.6 percent, based on currently projected personal income growth.

State law grants the Commissioner of Health (the “Commissioner”) certain powers and authority to maintain Medicaid spending levels assumed in the Updated Financial Plan. Over the past six years, DOH State Funds Medicaid spending levels have remained at or below indexed levels without requiring the Commissioner to exercise this authority. However, Medicaid program spending is sensitive to several factors including fluctuations in economic conditions, which may increase caseload, and changes in Federal aid, which could affect State health care spending. The Commissioner’s powers are intended to limit the rate of annual growth in DOH State Funds Medicaid spending to the levels estimated for the current fiscal year, through actions which may include reducing rates to providers. These actions may be dependent upon timely Federal approvals and other elements of the program that govern implementation. It should further be noted that the Medicaid Cap, which is indexed to historical CPI Medical trends, applies to State Operating Funds and, therefore, General Fund spending remains sensitive to revenue performance in the State’s HCRA fund. The HCRA fund finances approximately one-quarter of the DOH State-share costs of Medicaid.

The Updated Financial Plan forecast contains specific transaction risks and other uncertainties including, but not limited to: receipt of certain payments from public authorities; receipt of certain revenue sharing payments under the Tribal-State compact, including payments from the Seneca Nation⁶; receipt of miscellaneous revenues at the levels expected in the Updated Financial Plan, and achievement of cost-saving measures including, but not limited to, transfer of available fund balances to the General Fund at levels currently projected. Such risks and uncertainties, if they were to materialize, could adversely impact the Updated Financial Plan in current and/or future years.

⁶	The Seneca Nation has withheld payments to the State that were expected in June, September and December 2017. The State and Seneca Nation are currently in the arbitration process. The Updated Financial Plan assumes successful resolution by March 2018.

The Updated Financial Plan also reflects actions that affect the spending reported in the State Operating Funds basis of reporting, including (i) the realignment of certain operating costs to the capital budget to provide consistency in reporting across all agencies and a more accurate accounting of the overall capital budget; (ii) the payment of certain operating costs using available resources in accounts outside of the State Operating Funds basis of reporting; and (iii) the restructuring of the STAR program such that the spending for certain benefits is instead provided in the form of a tax credit for consistency with the reporting of other State tax credits. If these and other transactions are not implemented as planned, annual spending growth in State Operating Funds would increase above current estimates.

In developing the Updated Financial Plan, DOB attempts to mitigate the financial risks from receipts volatility, litigation, and unexpected costs, with an emphasis on the General Fund. It does this by, among other things, exercising caution when calculating total General Fund disbursements, and managing the accumulation of financial resources that can be used to offset new costs (including, but not limited to, fund balances not needed in a particular year, acceleration of tax refunds above the level budgeted in a given year, and prepayment of expenses). There can be no assurance that such resources will be sufficient to address risks that may materialize in any given fiscal year.

Federal Issues

The State receives a substantial amount of Federal aid for health care, education, transportation, and other governmental purposes, as well as Federal funding to respond to, and recover from, severe weather events and other disasters. Many of the policies that drive this Federal aid may be subject to change under the Trump Administration and the current Congress. Current Federal aid projections, and the assumptions on which they rely, are subject to revision in future financial updates as a result of changes in Federal policy.

The Federal government may enact budgetary changes or take other actions that adversely affect State finances. State legislation proposed with the FY 2019 Executive Budget continues authorization for a process by which the State would manage significant reductions in Federal aid during FY 2019 and FY 2020 should they arise. Specifically, the legislation allows the Budget Director to prepare a plan for consideration by the Legislature in the event that the Federal government (i) reduces Federal financial participation in Medicaid funding to New York State or its subdivisions by $850 million or more; or (ii) reduces Federal financial participation or other Federal aid funding to New York State that affects the State Operating Funds financial plan by $850 million or more, exclusive of any cuts to Medicaid. Each limit is triggered separately. The plan prepared by the Budget Director must equally and proportionally reduce appropriations and cash disbursements in the General Fund and State Special Revenue Funds. Upon receipt of the plan, the Legislature has 90 days to prepare its own

corrective action plan, which may be adopted by concurrent resolution passed by both houses, or the plan submitted by the Budget Director takes effect automatically.

In addition, the Updated Financial Plan may also be adversely affected by other Federal government actions, including audits, disallowances, and changes to Federal participation rates or other Medicaid rules. For instance, the Updated Financial Plan includes reimbursement to the Federal government of $100 million annually through FY 2027 pursuant to a March 2015 agreement between the State and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The agreement resolved a pending disallowance for FY 2011 and all related payment disputes for State-operated services prior to April 1, 2013, including home and community-based waiver services. Pursuant to the agreement, the State must adjust the Federal/State share of future Medicaid costs to reimburse the Federal government. The State used $850 million in Extraordinary Monetary Settlement payments, previously set aside for financial risks, to finance the initial repayment amount in FY 2016.

Responding to the New Federal Tax Law

On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed into law the TCJA, making major changes to the Federal Internal Revenue Code, most of which are effective in the 2018 tax year. The new Federal tax law makes extensive changes to Federal personal income taxes, corporate income taxes, and estate taxes, and the deductibility of various taxes and interest costs.

The State’s income tax system interacts with the Federal system in numerous ways. The Federal changes will have significant flow-through effects on state tax burdens and revenues. Given the far-reaching nature of the Federal law, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has undertaken extensive analysis in consideration of how best to respond and has outlined options for State tax reform in response to the Federal legislation. The Executive Budget includes proposed changes to the State tax code to address Federal changes.

In addition, the new Federal tax law eliminates the tax-exempt advance refunding of municipal bonds, thereby limiting the ability of the State and debt-issuing public authorities to realize savings in favorable market conditions. Since FY 2015, advance refunding has saved New York State approximately $1.1 billion.

Current Federal Aid

President Trump has proposed significant cuts to mandatory and discretionary domestic programs in Federal Fiscal Years (FFYs) 2018 and 2019 which are under consideration by Congress. If the proposed cuts are adopted, it could reduce Federal aid to New York by billions of dollars.

Currently, the Federal government is operating under a continuing resolution for FFY 2018 that keeps the Federal government operating through March 23, 2018.

The Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011, which temporarily raised the debt limit, established discretionary spending caps on the Federal government through FFY 2021, and under certain conditions institutes automatic spending cuts for certain Federal funds on which the State relies. Discretionary Federal funding to the State could be reduced if these caps are not adjusted, suspended or eliminated. On February 9, 2018, the Federal government enacted legislation increasing the spending caps for FFYs 2018 and 2019, lessening the potential for significant spending cuts in discretionary domestic programs through FFY 2019.

Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) Payments

Provisions within the Medicaid statute allow for a capped amount of payments to hospitals that treat a disproportionate number of Medicaid recipients. Changes made initially in the Patient Protection and ACA to reduce the aggregate amount of Federal reimbursements for DSH payments came into effect with the start of FFY 2018, beginning October 1, 2017, but have since been delayed to FFY 2020 (beginning October 1, 2019) by Federal legislation enacted on February 9, 2018. This legislation also accelerates full implementation of the DSH cuts to begin in FFY 2021, in contrast to the previous multi-year phase-in.

DOB estimates that when the changes do take effect, New York will see the largest reduction among all states, costing the State billions of dollars in lost Federal DSH payments when fully phased in. DOB continues to monitor Federal Medicaid DSH payment policies.

Federal Health Care Policy

In 2017, the Federal government attempted to end the Basic Health Program (EP in New York State), the ACA’s Medicaid expansion, and to shift a larger share of growth in Medicaid costs to states by imposing per capita caps on Medicaid spending in lieu of Medicaid’s current open-ended entitlement. If these bills had been enacted into law, these policies would have had a substantial adverse impact on the Financial Plan. Additionally, President Trump has taken unilateral Executive action to withhold Cost Sharing Reduction (CSR) payments, threatening low-cost health insurance coverage for income-eligible recipients when purchasing Qualified Health Plan or Essential Plan coverage through the New York State of Health, New York’s official health plan marketplace. The Executive Budget Financial Plan assumes the continuation of these programs, but also establishes a statutory reserve to address the potential loss of Federal funding and authorizes program modifications, if necessary, to preserve vital services in the event of Federal reductions. While Federal funding for Consolidated Local Street & Highway Improvement Program (CHIP) has been reauthorized through FFY 2027, it remains possible that other Federal changes could affect the State’s health care policies. DOB continues to monitor Federal health care policy.

Excise Tax on High-Cost Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage (“Cadillac Tax”)

The Excise Tax on High-Cost Employer Sponsored Health Coverage is a 40 percent excise tax assessed on the portion of the premium for an employer-sponsored health insurance plan that exceeds a certain annual limit. The provision was initially included in the ACA to offset mandatory spending increases, but has since been altered by intervening laws that delay the implementation of the tax until 2022.

Regulations from the Internal Revenue Service have yet to be published and, at this point, it is unclear if or how the tax will be changed as a result of ongoing health care and tax reform discussions. DOB has no current estimate as to the potential impact to the Updated Financial Plan from this Federal excise tax.

Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT) Medicaid Waiver

The Federal CMS and the State have an agreement authorizing up to $8 billion in new Federal funding over several years to transform New York’s health care system and ensure access to quality care for all Medicaid beneficiaries. This funding, provided through an amendment to the State’s Partnership Plan 1115 Medicaid waiver, is divided among the Interim Access Assurance Fund (IAAF), the Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) Program, Health Homes, and various other Medicaid redesign initiatives.

Since January 1, 2014, in accordance with provisions of the ACA, the State has been eligible for enhanced FMAP funding associated with childless adults. The DOH continues to work with the CMS and to refine eligibility data systems to draw the appropriate amount of enhanced FMAP funding. This reconciliation may result in a modification of payments to the State and local governments.

Federal Debt Limit

On February 9, 2018, the Federal government enacted legislation suspending the Federal debt limit through March 1, 2019, forestalling the possibility of a default by the Federal government until at least that time. A Federal government default on payments, particularly for a prolonged period, could have a materially adverse effect on the national and the State economies, financial markets, and intergovernmental aid payments. The specific effects on the Updated Financial Plan of a future Federal government default are unknown and impossible to predict. However, data from past economic downturns suggest that the State’s revenue loss could be substantial if the economy goes into a recession due to a Federal default.

A payment default by the United States may adversely affect the municipal bond market. Municipal issuers, as well as the State, could face higher borrowing costs and impaired market access. This would jeopardize planned capital investments in transportation infrastructure, higher education facilities, hazardous waste remediation, environmental projects, and economic development projects. Additionally, the market for and market value of outstanding municipal obligations, including municipal obligations of the State, could be adversely affected.

State Government Employment. As of March 31, 2017, the State had approximately 181,400 full time equivalent annual salaried employees funded from all funds including some part-time and temporary employees, independently-elected agencies and university systems, but excluding seasonal, legislative and judicial employees. The workforce is now substantially smaller than it was in 1990, when it peaked at approximately 230,000 positions. The State workforce is

projected to total 181,416 positions at the end of FY 2018. The State workforce subject to direct Executive control is expected to total 118,481 full time equivalent positions at the end of FY 2018.

Current Labor Negotiations. The State has multi-year labor agreements in place with several unions, while negotiations are underway with other unions. The Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) and DC-37 (Rent Regulation Unit) employees have a five-year labor contract that provides annual salary increases of 2 percent for FYs 2017 through 2021 and additional compensation changes, offset by benefit design changes within NYSHIP and reductions in overtime costs.

Employees represented by the Public Employees Federation (PEF) and the Graduate Student Employees Union (GSEU), as well as Management/Confidential employees, have a three-year collective bargaining agreement providing 2 percent annual salary increases in FYs 2017 through 2019.

Members of the Police Benevolent Association of the New York State Troopers (NYSTPBA) and the New York State Police Investigators Association (NYSPIA) have a multi-year collective bargaining agreement that provides a 2 percent general salary increase for each of FY 2015 and FY 2016, and a 1.5 percent general salary increase for each of FY 2017 and FY 2018. Negotiations on the next contract with NYSTPBA commenced in January and are anticipated with NYSPIA later in 2018.

The State is in negotiations with all other employee unions whose contracts concluded in FY 2016, including United University Professions (UUP), Council 82 and the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) following the March 2017 membership rejection of a tentative agreement on a five-year labor contract through FY 2021⁷. Negotiations also continue with the Police Benevolent Association of New York State (PBANYS), whose contract expired at the end of FY 2015.

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The five-year agreement with NYSCOPBA that was not ratified would have provided for annual 2 percent general salary increases through FY 2021, and differentials typically received within the law enforcement community (e.g., Hazardous Duty Pay), the costs of which were offset by benefit design changes within NYSHIP and reductions in overtime costs.

The Judiciary has reached agreement with all 12 unions represented within its workforce. The contract periods vary from FY 2018 to FY 2020 for CSEA, FY 2012 to FY 2019 for Court Officers Benevolent Association of Nassau County (COBANC), FY 2012 to FY 2021 for the NYS Supreme Court Officers Association, the NYS Court Officers Association and the Court Clerks Association, and FY 2017 to FY 2019 for seven other unions. The Updated Financial Plan reflects no changes to the Judiciary cash estimates in the current year.

On June 27, 2016, CUNY Board of Trustees approved collective bargaining agreements between CUNY and unions representing almost all of the University’s faculty and staff. For CUNY senior colleges, these agreements are estimated to cost approximately $250 million for retroactive payments and $150 million in ongoing annual costs. At the request of CUNY, the State advanced its planned payment of approximately $250 million State support for CUNY senior colleges from October 2016 to June 2017, to make resources available for retroactive payments in the academic year ending June 2017.

Pension Contributions. The State makes annual contributions to the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) for employees in ERS and PFRS. This section discusses contributions from the State, including the Judiciary, to the NYSLRS, which account for the majority of the State’s pension costs⁸. All projections are based on projected market returns and numerous actuarial assumptions which, if unrealized, could change these projections materially.

During FY 2016, the NYSLRS updated its actuarial assumptions based on the results of the 2015 five-year experience study. In September 2015, the System announced that employer contribution rates would decrease for FY 2017 and the assumed rate of return would be lowered from 7.5 percent to 7 percent. The salary scale assumptions were also changed – for ERS the scale was reduced from 4.9 percent to 3.8 percent and for PFRS the scale was reduced from 6.0 percent to 4.5 percent.

⁸	The State’s aggregate pension costs also include costs for State employees in the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) for both SUNY and the State Education Department (SED), the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) for both SUNY and SED, and the New York State Voluntary Defined Contribution Plan (VDC).

FY 2019 Projections

The preliminary FY 2019 ERS/PFRS pension liability of $2.3 billion is impacted by the FY 2017 investment return of 11.5 percent, which was above the State Comptroller’s assumed rate of return (7 percent). The estimate also reflects the impact of past investment performance and growth in the number of lower cost Tier 6 members. As a result, the average contribution

rate for ERS will decrease from 15.3 percent of payroll to 14.9, while the average contribution rate for PFRS will decrease from 24.4 percent of payroll to 23.5 percent.⁹

The pension liability also reflects changes to military service credit provisions found in Section 1000 of the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL) enacted during the 2016 legislative session (Chapter 41 of the Laws of 2016). All veterans who are members of NYSLRS may, upon application, receive extra service credit for up to three years of military duty if such veterans (i) were honorably discharged, (ii) have achieved five years of credited service in a public retirement system, and (iii) agree to pay the employee share of such additional pension credit. Costs to the State for employees in ERS will be incurred at the time each member purchases credit, as documented by the Office of the State Comptroller at the end of each calendar year, while costs for employees in PFRS will be distributed across PFRS employers and billed on a two-year lag (e.g. FY 2017 costs will first be billed in FY 2019). Additionally, Section 25 of the RSSL requires the State to pay the ERS employer contributions associated with this credit on behalf of local governments. The State is also permitted to amortize the cost of past service credits newly incurred in a given fiscal year; however, the State does not anticipate choosing this option as there would be an interest rate of 7 percent applied to this amortization. The ERS cost to the State (including the costs covered for local ERS) was $52 million in FY 2018 based on actual credit purchased through December 31, 2017. DOB currently estimates ERS costs of $55 million in FY 2019; and $39 million in FY 2020. Additionally, the State expects ongoing costs of $7 million beginning in FY 2021 as new cohorts of veterans become eligible to purchase the credit.

⁹	Average contribution rates include the Group Life Insurance Program (GLIP), and thus differ from the system average normal rates reported in the pension amortization section.

Outyear Projections

Pension estimates for FY 2020 and beyond, as projected by DOB, reflect growth in normal costs primarily based on the expectation that collective bargaining will result in continued salary increases and that investment returns will be below the actuarially assumed 7 percent rate of return in the near-to-mid-term.

Pension Amortization. Under legislation enacted in August 2010, the State and local governments may amortize (defer paying) a portion of their annual pension costs. Amortization temporarily reduces the pension costs that must be paid by public employers in a given fiscal year, but results in higher costs overall when repaid with interest.

The State and local governments are required to begin repayment on each new amortization in the fiscal year immediately following the year in which the amortization was initiated. The full amount of each amortization must be repaid within ten years at a fixed interest rate determined by OSC. Legislation included in the FY 2017 Enacted Budget authorized the State to prepay a portion of remaining principal associated with an amortization, and then pay a lower re-calculated interest installment in any subsequent year for which the principal has been prepaid. This option does not allow the State to delay the original ten-year repayment schedule, nor does it allow for the interest rate initially applied to the amortization amount to be modified.

The portion of an employer’s annual pension costs that may be amortized is determined by comparing the employer’s amortization-eligible contributions as a percentage of employee salaries (i.e., the normal rate) to a system-wide amortization threshold (i.e., the graded rate). Graded rates are determined for ERS and PFRS according to a formula enacted in the 2010 legislation and generally move toward their system’s average normal rate by up to one percentage point per year. When an employer’s normal rate is greater than the system-wide graded rate, the employer can elect to amortize the difference. However, when the normal rate of an employer that previously amortized is less than the system-wide graded rate, the employer is required to pay the graded rate. Additional contributions are first used to pay off existing amortizations and are then deposited into a reserve account to offset future increases in contribution rates. In 2017, State law changed the graded rate computation to provide an employer specific graded rate based on the employer’s own tier and plan demographics.

The State has not amortized its pension costs (including the Office of Court Administration (OCA)) since FY 2016. The amortization threshold is projected to equal the normal rate in upcoming fiscal years.

Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB). State employees become eligible for post-employment benefits (e.g., health insurance) if they reach retirement while working for the State and are enrolled in NYSHIP, or are enrolled in the NYSHIP opt-out program, at the time they reach retirement and have at least ten years of eligible service for NYSHIP benefits. The cost of providing post-retirement health insurance is shared between the State and the retired employee. Contributions are

established by law and may be amended by the Legislature. The State pays its share of costs on a pay as you go (PAYGO) basis as required by law.

In accordance with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement 45, the State must perform an actuarial valuation every two years for purposes of calculating OPEB liabilities. As disclosed in Note 13 of the State’s Basic Financial Statements for FY 2017, the State’s Annual Required Contribution (ARC) represents the annual level of funding that, if set aside on an ongoing basis, is projected to cover normal costs each year and to amortize any unfunded liabilities of the plan over a period not to exceed 30 years. Amounts required but not actually set aside to pay for these benefits are accumulated, with interest, as part of the net OPEB obligation, after adjusting for amounts previously required.

As reported in the State’s Basic Financial Statements for FY 2017, the unfunded actuarial accrued liability for FY 2017 is $87.3 billion ($72.8 billion for the State and $14.4 billion for SUNY), an increase of $9.4 billion from FY 2016 (attributable entirely to the State). The unfunded actuarial accrued liability for FY 2017 used an actuarial valuation of OPEB liabilities as of April 1, 2016 for the State and April 1, 2014 for SUNY. These valuations were determined using the Frozen Entry Age actuarial cost method, and are amortized over an open period of 30 years using the level percentage of projected payroll amortization method. A significant portion of the annual growth in the State’s unfunded actuarial accrued liability has been driven by the reduction of the discount rate from 3.155 to 2.637 percent, calculated as the average STIP rate for the past 20 years at the time of valuation. The decline in the discount rate increases the present value of projected benefit obligation.

The actuarially determined annual OPEB cost for FY 2017 totaled $4.2 billion ($3.2 billion for the State and $923 million for SUNY), a decline of $7 million from FY 2016 ($4 million for the State and $3 million for SUNY). The actuarially-determined cost is calculated using the Frozen Entry Age actuarial cost method, allocating costs on a level basis over earnings. The actuarially determined cost was $2.4 billion ($1.795 billion for the State and $639 million for SUNY) greater than the PAYGO required cash payments for retiree costs made by the State in FY 2017. This difference between the State’s PAYGO costs, and the actuarially determined ARC under GASB Statement 45, reduced the State’s net position at the end of FY 2017 by $2.4 billion.

GASB has no authority to require the additional costs to be funded on the State’s budgetary (cash) basis, and no additional funding is assumed for this purpose in the Updated Financial Plan. The State continues to fund these costs, along with all other employee health care expenses, on a PAYGO basis.

There is no provision in the Updated Financial Plan to fund the ARC for OPEB. If the State began making a contribution, the additional cost above the PAYGO amounts would be lowered. However, it is not expected that the State will alter its current PAYGO funding practice.

The FY 2018 Enacted Budget included legislation creating a Retiree Health Benefit Trust Fund (the “Trust Fund”) that authorizes the State to reserve money for the payment of health benefits of retired employees and their dependents. Under the legislation, the State may deposit into the Trust Fund, in any given fiscal year, up to 0.5 percent of total then-current unfunded actuarial accrued OPEB liability (currently $72.8 billion for the State and $14.4 billion for SUNY). The Updated Financial Plan does not include any deposits to the Trust Fund.

The provisions of GASB Statement 75 (Accounting and Financial Reporting for Postemployment Benefits Other Than Pensions), which amends GASB Statement 45 and GASB Statement 57, are expected to be incorporated into the State’s FY 2019 financial statements. The FY 2019 statements are expected to be issued in July 2019. The GASB Statement alters the actuarial methods used to calculate OPEB liabilities, standardizes asset smoothing and discount rates, and requires the unfunded net OPEB obligation to be reported by the State in its Statement of Net Position. Reporting the unfunded OPEB liability on the Statement of Net Position, rather than as a note disclosure, is expected to significantly increase the State’s total long-term liabilities and show the State in a negative net position.

GASB Statement 75 is not expected to alter the Updated Financial Plan cash PAYGO projections for health insurance costs, as the DOB methodology for forecasting these costs over a multi-year period already incorporates factors and considerations consistent with the new actuarial methods and calculations required by the GASB Statement.

Litigation. Litigation against the State may include potential challenges to the constitutionality of various actions. The State may also be affected by adverse decisions that are the result of various lawsuits. Such adverse decisions may not meet the materiality threshold to warrant individual description but, in the aggregate, could still adversely affect the Updated Financial Plan.

Climate Change Adaptation. Climate change poses long-term threats to physical and biological systems. Potential hazards and risks related to climate change for the State include, among other things, rising sea levels, more severe coastal flooding and erosion hazards, and more intense storms. Storms in recent years, including Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Irene, and Tropical Storm Lee, have demonstrated vulnerabilities in the State’s infrastructure (including mass transit systems, power transmission and distribution systems, and other critical lifelines) to extreme weather events including coastal flooding caused by storm surges. Climate change risks, if they materialize, can adversely impact the Updated Financial Plan in current or future years. Significant long-term planning and investment by the Federal government, State, municipalities, and public utilities are expected to be needed for adapting existing infrastructure to climate change risks.

Participants in financial markets are acknowledging climate change risks. In June 2017, an industry-led Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure convened by the Financial Stability Board (an international body which monitors the global financial system) published recommendations stating that climate risk affects most market sectors and that climate-related risk should be publicly disclosed to investors in annual financial filings.¹⁰ In November 2017, Moody's Investors Service (Moody’s) issued guidance to state and local governments that climate change is forecast to heighten exposure to economic losses, placing potential pressure on credit ratings. The Moody's report identified rising sea levels and the effect on coastal infrastructure as the primary climate risk for the northeastern US region, including the State. These risks are heightened by population concentration in coastal counties.

¹⁰	For further context to the June 2017 disclosure recommendations, the Financial Stability Board was asked by an international coalition of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to address concerns that undisclosed climate risk could destabilize global financial markets.

The State continues to recover from the damage sustained during three powerful storms that crippled entire regions. In August 2011, Hurricane Irene disrupted power and caused extensive flooding to various State counties. In September 2011, Tropical Storm Lee caused flooding in additional State counties and, in some cases, exacerbated the damage caused by Hurricane Irene two weeks earlier. On October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy struck the East Coast, causing widespread infrastructure damage and economic losses to the greater New York region. The frequency and intensity of these storms present economic and financial risks to the State. Reimbursement claims for costs of the immediate response, recovery, and future mitigation efforts continue, largely supported by Federal funds. In January 2013, the Federal government approved approximately $60 billion in Federal disaster aid for general recovery, rebuilding, and mitigation activity nationwide. It is anticipated that the State, MTA, and State localities may receive approximately one-half of this amount for response, recovery, and mitigation costs. To date, a total of $17 billion has been committed to repairing impacted homes and businesses, restoring community services, and mitigating future storm risks across the State. There can be no assurance that all anticipated Federal disaster aid described above will be provided to the State and its affected entities over the coming years.

Cybersecurity. New York State government, like many other large public and private entities, relies on a large and complex technology environment to conduct its operations. As a recipient and provider of personal, private, or sensitive information, the State and its public corporations and municipalities face multiple cyber threats including, but not limited to, hacking, viruses, malware and other attacks on computer and other sensitive digital networks and systems. Entities or individuals may attempt to gain unauthorized access to the State’s digital systems for the purpose of misappropriating assets or information or causing operational disruption and damage. To mitigate the risk of business operations impact and/or damage from cyber incidents or cyber-attacks, the State invests in multiple forms of cybersecurity and operational controls. The State’s Enterprise Information Security Office (EISO) within the State’s Office of Information Technology Services maintains a cyber command center hotline and related procedures for cyber incident reporting and response, distributes real-time advisories and alerts, provides managed security services, and implements statewide information security training and exercises for State and local government. While controls are routinely reviewed and tested, no assurances can be given that such security and operational control measures will be completely successful to guard against cyber threats and attacks. The results of any such attack could impact business operations and/or damage State digital networks and systems and the costs of remedying any such damage could be substantial.

The State has also adopted regulations designed to protect the financial services industry from cyberattacks. Banks, insurance companies and other covered entities regulated by DFS are, unless eligible for limited exemptions, required to (i) maintain a cyber security program, create written cybersecurity policies and perform risk assessments, (ii) designate a Chief Information Security Officer with responsibility to oversee the cybersecurity program, (iii) annually certify compliance with the cybersecurity regulations and (iv) report to DFS cybersecurity events that have a reasonable likelihood of materially

harming any material part of the entity’s normal operations or of which notice is required to any government body, self-regulatory agency, or supervisory body.

Financial Condition of New York State Localities. The State’s localities rely in part on State aid to balance their budgets and meet their cash requirements. As such, unanticipated financial need among localities can adversely affect the State’s Updated Financial Plan. Certain localities outside New York City, including cities and counties, have experienced financial problems and have requested and received additional State assistance during the last several State fiscal years. In 2013, the Financial Restructuring Board for Local Governments was created to provide assistance to distressed local governments. The Restructuring Board performs comprehensive reviews and provides grants and loans as a condition of implementing recommended efficiency initiatives.

Bond Market. Successful implementation of the Updated Financial Plan is dependent on the State's ability to market bonds successfully. The State finances much of its capital spending in the first instance from the General Fund or the STIP, which it then reimburses with proceeds from the sale of bonds. If the State cannot sell bonds at the levels (or on the timetable) expected in the capital plan, the State’s overall cash position and capital funding plan may be adversely affected. The success of projected public sales will be subject to prevailing market conditions, among other things. Future developments in the financial markets, including possible changes in Federal tax law relating to the taxation of interest on municipal bonds, as well as future developments concerning the State and public discussion of such developments generally, may affect the market for outstanding State-supported and State-related debt. The TCJA adversely impacts the State and its public authorities by removing certain refunding opportunities for Federal tax exempt financing, including advance refundings for debt service savings when interest rates are favorable.

Debt Reform Act Limit. The Debt Reform Act of 2000 (“Debt Reform Act”) restricts the issuance of State supported debt to capital purposes only, and for a maximum term of 30 years. The Debt Reform Act limits the amount of new State-supported debt to 4 percent of State personal income, and new State supported debt service costs to 5 percent of All Funds receipts. The restrictions apply to all new State-supported debt issued since April 1, 2000. DOB, as administrator of the Act, determined that the State was in compliance with the statutory caps in the most recent calculation period (FY 2017).

Current projections anticipate that debt outstanding and debt service will continue to remain below the limits imposed by the Debt Reform Act. Based on the most recent personal income and debt outstanding forecasts, the availability under the debt outstanding cap is expected to decline from $3.9 billion in FY 2018 to about $61 million in FY 2021. This includes the estimated impact of the bond-financed portion of increased capital commitment levels. In addition, the projected availability under the debt cap is dependent on expected growth for State personal income. Debt outstanding and debt service caps continue to include the existing SUNY Dormitory Facilities lease revenue bonds, which are backed by a general obligation pledge of SUNY. Bonds issued under the new SUNY Dormitory Facilities Revenue credit (which are not backed by a general obligation pledge of SUNY) are not included in the State’s calculation of debt caps. Capital spending priorities and debt financing practices may be adjusted from time to time to preserve available debt capacity and stay within the statutory limits, as events warrant.

Changes in the State's available debt capacity reflect the impact of several factors. These include a reduction to the personal income forecast due almost entirely to income revisions by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). In recent quarters, BEA has made sizeable revisions to prior-year income levels, which in turn changes the base on which DOB calculates income going forward. The substantial reduction to personal income makes it necessary to make capital spending reductions in order to stay within the debt cap in future years. The spending reductions are expected to be managed within anticipated underspending on capital projects throughout the plan period. Additional reductions to capital spending are assumed from the FY 2019 Statewide Efficiency Plan, which assumes a reduction on bond-financed capital spending starting in FY 2020. Debt capacity amounts continue to assume that SUNY Dormitory Facilities lease revenue bonds will be refunded into the new SUNY Dormitory Facilities Revenue Bond credit when the bonds become currently callable.

Secured Hospital Program. Under the Secured Hospital Program, the State entered into service contracts to enable certain financially distressed not-for-profit hospitals to have tax-exempt debt issued on their behalf to pay for upgrading their primary health care facilities. Revenues pledged to pay debt service on the bonds include hospital payments made under loan agreements between the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) and the hospitals and certain reserve funds held by the applicable trustees for the bonds. In the event of revenue shortfalls to pay debt service on the Secured Hospital bonds, the service contracts obligate the State to pay debt service, subject to annual appropriations by the Legislature, on

bonds issued by DASNY through the Secured Hospital Program. As of December 31, 2017, there were approximately $220 million of bonds outstanding for this program.

Three of the four remaining hospitals in the State’s Secured Hospital Program are in poor financial condition. In relation to the Secured Hospital Program, the State’s contingent contractual obligation was invoked to pay debt service for the first time in FY 2014. Since then the State has paid $85 million for debt service costs. DASNY also estimates the State will pay debt service costs of approximately $26 million in FY 2019, $28 million annually in FY 2020 and FY 2021, $22 million in FY 2022, and $17 million in FY 2023. These amounts are based on the actual experience to date of the participants in the program, and would cover the debt service costs for one hospital whose debt service obligation was discharged in bankruptcy but is paying rent which offsets a portion of the debt service, a second hospital which closed in 2010, and a third hospital that is currently delinquent in its payments. The State has estimated additional exposure of up to $9 million annually, if all hospitals in the Program failed to meet the terms of their agreements with DASNY and if available reserve funds were depleted.

Supranational Entities Risk. Certain of the Funds may invest in obligations issued or guaranteed by supranational entities (e.g., the World Bank, European Investment Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and Asia Development Bank), which are often chartered to promote economic development. The government members, or “stockholders,” usually make initial capital contributions to the supranational entity and, in many cases, are committed to make additional capital contributions if such entity is unable to repay its borrowings. There is no guarantee that one or more stockholders of the supranational entity will continue to make any necessary additional capital contributions. If such contributions are not made, the entity may be unable to pay interest or repay principal on its debt securities, certain of the Funds may have limited legal recourse in the event of default, and certain of the Funds may lose money on such investments.

Tax Risks Associated with Municipal Securities. As with any investment, you should consider how your investment in shares of each Municipal Bond Fund will be taxed. The tax information in the relevant Prospectus and this SAI is provided as general information. You should consult your own tax professional about the tax consequences of an investment in shares of each Municipal Bond Fund.

Unless your investment in shares is made through a tax-exempt entity or tax-deferred retirement account, such as an individual retirement account, you need to be aware of the possible tax consequences when each Municipal Bond Fund makes distributions or you sell Municipal Bond Fund shares.

In response to the national economic downturn in recent years, governmental cost burdens may be reallocated among federal, state and local governments. Also, as a result of the downturn, many state and local governments are experiencing significant reductions in revenues and are consequently experiencing difficulties meeting ongoing expenses. Certain of these state or local governments may have difficulty paying principal or interest on their outstanding debt and may experience ratings downgrades of their debt.

U.S. Economic Trading Partners Risk. The U.S. is a significant, and in some cases the most significant, trading partner of, or foreign investor in, the country or countries in which a Fund invests. As a result, economic conditions of such countries may be particularly affected by changes in the U.S. economy. The U.S. economy has recently experienced very difficult conditions and increased volatility, as well as significant adverse trends. While government intervention and recent legislation has been enacted to improve the U.S. economy, the recovery has been fragile and modest. A decrease in U.S. imports, new trade and financial regulations, changes in the U.S. dollar exchange rate or an economic slowdown in the U.S. may have a material adverse effect on a country’s economic conditions and, as a result, securities to which a Fund has exposure.

The U.S. has developed increasingly strained relations with a number of foreign countries, including traditional allies, such as certain European countries, and historical adversaries, such as North Korea, Iran, China and Russia. If these relations were to worsen, it could adversely affect U.S. issuers as well as non-U.S. issuers that rely on the U.S. for trade. The U.S. has also experienced increased internal unrest and discord. If this trend were to continue, it may have an adverse impact on the U.S. economy and many of the issuers in which a Fund invests.

U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk. Certain of the Funds invest in various types of U.S. Treasury securities. U.S. Treasury obligations may differ from other securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics. Similar to other issuers, changes to the financial condition or credit rating of the U.S. government may cause the value of U.S. Treasury obligations to decline. U.S. Treasury obligations typically offer lower interest rates than other obligations. Neither the U.S. government nor any of its agencies or instrumentalities guarantees the market value of the securities it issues.

The total public debt of the U.S. as a percent of GDP has grown rapidly since the beginning of the recent financial downturn. Although high debt levels do not necessarily indicate or cause economic problems, they may create systemic risks if sound debt management practices are not implemented. A high national debt level may increase market pressures to meet government funding needs, which may drive debt cost higher and cause a country to sell additional debt, thereby increasing refinancing risk. A high national debt also raises concerns that a government will not be able to make principal or interest payments when they are due. In the worst case, unsustainable debt levels can cause a decline in the value of the dollar (which may lead to inflation), and can prevent the U.S. government from implementing effective counter-cyclical fiscal policy in economic downturns.

On August 5, 2011, S&P Global Ratings downgraded U.S. Treasury securities from an AAA rating to AA+. A further downgrade of the ratings of U.S. government debt obligations, which are often used as a benchmark for other borrowing arrangements, could result in higher interest rates for individual and corporate borrowers, cause disruptions in the international bond markets and generally have a substantial negative effect on the U.S. economy. A downgrade of U.S. Treasury securities from another ratings agency or a further downgrade beyond AA+ rating by S&P Global Ratings may cause the value of a Fund's U.S. Treasury obligations to decline.

Valuation Risk. In certain circumstances, a Fund’s securities may be valued using techniques other than market quotations. The value established for a security may be different from what would be produced through the use of another methodology or if the value had been priced using market quotations. Securities that are valued using methods other than market quotations, including “fair valued” securities, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their value from one day to the next than would be the case if market quotations were used. In addition, there is no assurance that a Fund could sell a security for the value established for it at any time, and it is possible that a Fund could incur a loss if a security is sold for less than its established value.

Risk of Investing in Asia. Investments in securities of issuers in certain Asian countries involve risks not typically associated with investments in securities of issuers in other regions. Such heightened risks include, among others, expropriation and/or nationalization of assets, confiscatory taxation, piracy of intellectual property, data and other security breaches (especially of data stored electronically), political instability, including authoritarian and/or military involvement in governmental decision-making, armed conflict and social instability as a result of religious, ethnic and/or socio-economic unrest. Certain Asian economies have experienced rapid rates of economic growth and industrialization in recent years, and there is no assurance that these rates of economic growth and industrialization will be maintained.

Certain Asian countries have democracies with relatively short histories, which may increase the risk of political instability. These countries have faced political and military unrest, and further unrest could present a risk to their local economies and securities markets. Indonesia and the Philippines have each experienced violence and terrorism, which has negatively impacted their economies. North Korea and South Korea each have substantial military capabilities, and historical tensions between the two countries present the risk of war; in the recent past, these tensions have escalated. Any outbreak of hostilities between the two countries could have a severe adverse effect on the South Korean economy and securities market. Political, religious, and border disputes persist in India. India has recently experienced and may continue to experience civil unrest and hostilities with certain of its neighboring countries. Increased political and social unrest in these geographic areas could adversely affect the performance of investments in this region.

Certain governments in this region administer prices on several basic goods, including fuel and electricity, within their respective countries. Certain governments may exercise substantial influence over many aspects of the private sector in their respective countries and may own or control many companies. Future government actions could have a significant effect on the economic conditions in this region, which in turn could have a negative impact on private sector companies. There is also the possibility of diplomatic developments adversely affecting investments in the region.

Corruption and the perceived lack of a rule of law in dealings with international companies in certain Asian countries may discourage foreign investment and could negatively impact the long-term growth of certain economies in this region. In addition, certain countries in the region are experiencing high unemployment and corruption, and have fragile banking sectors.

Some economies in this region are dependent on a range of commodities, including oil, natural gas and coal. Accordingly, they are strongly affected by international commodity prices and particularly vulnerable to any weakening in global demand for these products. The market for securities in this region may also be directly influenced by the flow of international capital, and by the economic and market conditions of neighboring countries. Adverse economic conditions or developments in

neighboring countries may increase investors' perception of the risk of investing in the region as a whole, which may adversely impact the market value of the securities issued by companies in the region.

Risk of Investing in Australasia. The economies of Australasia, which include Australia and New Zealand, are dependent on exports from the agricultural and mining sectors. This makes Australasian economies susceptible to fluctuations in the commodity markets. Australasian economies are also increasingly dependent on their growing service industries. Australia and New Zealand are located in a part of the world that has historically been prone to natural disasters, such as drought and flooding. Any such event in the future could have a significant adverse impact on the economies of Australia and New Zealand and affect the value of securities held by a relevant Fund. The economies of Australia and New Zealand are dependent on trading with certain key trading partners, including Asia, Europe and the U.S. The Australia–U.S. Free Trade Agreement has significantly expanded the trading relationship between the U.S. and Australia. Economic events in the U.S., Asia, or in other key trading countries can have a significant economic effect on the Australian economy. The economies of Australia and New Zealand are heavily dependent on the mining sector. Passage of new regulations limiting foreign ownership of companies in the mining sector or imposition of new taxes on profits of mining companies may dissuade foreign investment, and as a result, have a negative impact on companies to which a Fund has exposure.

Risk of Investing in Central and South America. The economies of certain Central and South American countries have experienced high interest rates, economic volatility, inflation, currency devaluations, government defaults, high unemployment rates and political instability which can adversely affect issuers in these countries. In addition, commodities (such as oil, gas and minerals) represent a significant percentage of the region's exports and many economies in this region are particularly sensitive to fluctuations in commodity prices. Adverse economic events in one country may have a significant adverse effect on other countries of this region.

The governments of certain countries in Central and South America may exercise substantial influence over many aspects of the private sector and may own or control many companies. Future government actions could have a significant effect on the economic conditions in such countries, which could have a negative impact on the securities in which the Fund invests. Diplomatic developments may also adversely affect investments in certain countries in Central and South America. Some countries in Central and South America may be affected by public corruption and crime, including organized crime.

Certain countries in Central and South America may be heavily dependent upon international trade and, consequently, have been and may continue to be negatively affected by trade barriers, exchange controls, managed adjustments in relative currency values and other protectionist measures imposed or negotiated by the countries with which they trade. These countries also have been and may continue to be adversely affected by economic conditions in the countries with which they trade. In addition, certain issuers located in countries in Central and South America in which the Fund invests may have dealings with countries subject to sanctions and/or embargoes imposed by the U.S. government and the United Nations and/or countries identified by the U.S. government as state sponsors of terrorism. An issuer may sustain damage to its reputation if it is identified as an issuer that has dealings with such countries. The Fund may be adversely affected if it invests in such issuers.

Risk of Investing in Developed Countries. Many countries with developed markets have recently experienced significant economic pressures. These countries generally tend to rely on the services sectors (e.g., the financial services sector) as the primary source of economic growth and may be susceptible to the risks of individual service sectors. For example, companies in the financial services sector are subject to governmental regulation and, recently, government intervention, which may adversely affect the scope of their activities, the prices they can charge and amount of capital they must maintain. Recent dislocations in the financial sector and perceived or actual governmental influence over certain financial companies may lead to credit rating downgrades and, as a result, impact, among other things, revenue growth for such companies. If financial companies experience a prolonged decline in revenue growth, certain developed countries that rely heavily on financial companies as an economic driver may experience a correlative slowdown. Recently, new concerns have emerged with respect to the economic health of certain developed countries. These concerns primarily stem from heavy indebtedness of many developed countries and their perceived inability to continue to service high debt loads without simultaneously implementing stringent austerity measures. Such concerns have led to tremendous downward pressure on the economies of these countries. As a result, it is possible that interest rates on debt of certain developed countries may rise to levels that make it difficult for such countries to service such debt. Spending on health care and retirement pensions in most developed countries has risen dramatically over the last few years. Medical innovation, extended life expectancy and higher public expectations are likely to continue the increase in health care and pension costs. Any increase in health care and pension costs will likely have a negative impact on the economic growth of many developed countries. Certain developed countries

rely on imports of certain key items, such as crude oil, natural gas, and other commodities. As a result, an increase in demand for, or price fluctuations of, certain commodities may negatively affect developed country economies. Developed market countries generally are dependent on the economies of certain key trading partners. Changes in any one economy may cause an adverse impact on several developed countries. In addition, heavy regulation of, among others, labor and product markets may have an adverse effect on certain issuers. Such regulations may negatively affect economic growth or cause prolonged periods of recession. Such risks, among others, may adversely affect the value of a Fund’s investments.

Risk of Investing in Emerging Markets. Certain of the Funds may invest in securities of issuers domiciled in emerging market countries. Investments in emerging market countries may be subject to greater risks than investments in developed countries. These risks include: (i) less social, political, and economic stability; (ii) greater illiquidity and price volatility due to smaller or limited local capital markets for such securities, or low or non-existent trading volumes; (iii) custodians, clearinghouses, foreign exchanges and broker-dealers may be subject to less scrutiny and regulation by local authorities; (iv) local governments may decide to seize or confiscate securities held by foreign investors and/or local governments may decide to suspend or limit an issuer's ability to make dividend or interest payments; (v) local governments may limit or entirely restrict repatriation of invested capital, profits, and dividends; (vi) capital gains may be subject to local taxation, including on a retroactive basis; (vii) issuers facing restrictions on dollar or euro payments imposed by local governments may attempt to make dividend or interest payments to foreign investors in the local currency; (viii) investors may experience difficulty in enforcing legal claims related to the securities and/or local judges may favor the interests of the issuer over those of foreign investors; (ix) bankruptcy judgments may only be permitted to be paid in the local currency; (x) limited public information regarding the issuer may result in greater difficulty in determining market valuations of the securities; and (xi) lack of financial reporting on a regular basis, substandard disclosure and differences in accounting standards may make it difficult to ascertain the financial health of an issuer.

Emerging market securities markets are typically marked by a high concentration of market capitalization and trading volume in a small number of issuers representing a limited number of industries, as well as a high concentration of ownership of such securities by a limited number of investors. In addition, brokerage and other costs associated with transactions in emerging market securities can be higher, sometimes significantly, than similar costs incurred in securities markets in developed countries. Although some emerging markets have become more established and tend to issue securities of higher credit quality, the markets for securities in other emerging market countries are in the earliest stages of their development, and these countries issue securities across the credit spectrum. Even the markets for relatively widely traded securities in emerging market countries may not be able to absorb, without price disruptions, a significant increase in trading volume or trades of a size customarily undertaken by institutional investors in the securities markets of developed countries. The limited size of many of these securities markets can cause prices to be erratic for reasons apart from factors that affect the soundness and competitiveness of the securities issuers. For example, prices may be unduly influenced by traders who control large positions in these markets. Additionally, market making and arbitrage activities are generally less extensive in such markets, which may contribute to increased volatility and reduced liquidity of such markets. The limited liquidity of emerging market country securities may also affect a Fund's ability to accurately value its portfolio securities or to acquire or dispose of securities at the price and time it wishes to do so or in order to meet redemption requests.

Many emerging market countries suffer from uncertainty and corruption in their legal frameworks. Legislation may be difficult to interpret and laws may be too new to provide any precedential value. Laws regarding foreign investment and private property may be weak or non-existent. Sudden changes in governments may result in policies which are less favorable to investors such as policies designed to expropriate or nationalize “sovereign” assets. Certain emerging market countries in the past have expropriated large amounts of private property, in many cases with little or no compensation, and there can be no assurance that such expropriation will not occur in the future.

Investment in the securities markets of certain emerging market countries is restricted or controlled to varying degrees. These restrictions may limit a Fund's investment in certain emerging market countries and may increase the expenses of the Fund. Certain emerging market countries require governmental approval prior to investments by foreign persons or limit investment by foreign persons to only a specified percentage of an issuer's outstanding securities or a specific class of securities which may have less advantageous terms (including price) than securities of the company available for purchase by nationals.

high interest rates; (ii) high levels of inflation, including hyperinflation; (iii) high levels of unemployment or underemployment; (iv) changes in government economic and tax policies, including confiscatory taxation; and (v) imposition of trade barriers.

A Fund's income and, in some cases, capital gains from foreign securities will be subject to applicable taxation in certain of the emerging market countries in which it invests, and treaties between the U.S. and such countries may not be available in some cases to reduce the otherwise applicable tax rates.

Emerging markets also have different clearance and settlement procedures, and in certain of these emerging markets there have been times when settlements have been unable to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions, making it difficult to conduct such transactions.

In the past, certain governments in emerging market countries have become overly reliant on the international capital markets and other forms of foreign credit to finance large public spending programs, which in the past have caused huge budget deficits. Often, interest payments have become too overwhelming for a government to meet, representing a large percentage of total GDP. These foreign obligations have become the subject of political debate and served as fuel for political parties of the opposition, which pressure the government not to make payments to foreign creditors, but instead to use these funds for, among other things, social programs. Either due to an inability to pay or submission to political pressure, foreign governments have been forced to seek a restructuring of their loan and/or bond obligations, have declared a temporary suspension of interest payments or have defaulted. These events have adversely affected the values of securities issued by foreign governments and corporations domiciled in those countries and have negatively affected not only their cost of borrowing, but their ability to borrow in the future as well.

Risk of Investing in Europe. Investing in European countries may expose a Fund to the economic and political risks associated with Europe in general and the specific European countries in which it invests. The economies and markets of European countries are often closely connected and interdependent, and events in one European country can have an adverse impact on other European countries. A Fund makes investments in securities of issuers that are domiciled in, or have significant operations in, member states of the EMU of the EU, which requires member states to comply with restrictions on inflation rates, deficits, interest rates, debt levels and fiscal and monetary controls, each of which may significantly affect every country in Europe. Changes in imports or exports, changes in governmental or EU regulations on trade, changes in the exchange rate of the euro (the common currency of certain EU countries), the default or threat of default by an EU member state on its sovereign debt, and/or an economic recession in an EU member state may have a significant adverse effect on the economies of EU member states and their trading partners. Although certain European countries do not use the euro, many of these countries are obliged to meet the criteria for joining the euro zone. Consequently, these countries must comply with many of the restrictions noted above. The European financial markets have experienced volatility and adverse trends in recent years due to concerns about economic downturns, rising government debt levels and the possible default of government debt in several European countries, including, but not limited to, Cyprus, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Ukraine. In order to prevent further economic deterioration, certain countries, without prior warning, can institute “capital controls.” Countries may use these controls to restrict volatile movements of capital entering and exiting their country. Such controls may negatively affect a Fund’s investments. A default or debt restructuring by any European country would adversely impact holders of that country’s debt and sellers of credit default swaps linked to that country’s creditworthiness, which may be located in countries other than those listed above. In addition, the credit ratings of certain European countries were recently downgraded. These downgrades may result in further deterioration of investor confidence. These events have adversely affected the value and exchange rate of the euro and may continue to significantly affect the economies of every country in Europe, including countries that do not use the euro and non-EU member states. Responses to the financial problems by European governments, central banks and others, including austerity measures and reforms, may not produce the desired results, may result in social unrest and may limit future growth and economic recovery or have other unintended consequences. Further defaults or restructurings by governments and other entities of their debt could have additional adverse effects on economies, financial markets and asset valuations around the world. In addition, one or more countries may abandon the euro and/or withdraw from the EU. The impact of these actions, especially if they occur in a disorderly fashion, is not clear but could be significant and far-reaching and could adversely impact the value of a Fund’s investments in the region. In a referendum held on June 23, 2016, the United Kingdom (the “U.K.”) resolved to leave the EU. The referendum may introduce significant uncertainties and instability in the financial markets as the U.K. negotiates its exit from the EU. Although the precise timeframe for the U.K.’s withdrawal is uncertain, on March 29, 2017, the U.K. initiated the withdrawal process by sending a formal notice of the country’s intention to withdraw from the EU. An agreement has been reached between the U.K. and the EU to continue negotiations on the U.K.’s exit from the EU. The outcome of negotiations

remain uncertain. Secessionist movements, such as the Catalan movement in Spain or Scotland, as well as governmental or other responses to such movements, may also create instability and uncertainty in the region. The occurrence of terrorist incidents throughout Europe also could impact financial markets. The impact of these events is not clear but could be significant and far-reaching and could adversely affect the value and liquidity of a Fund's investments.

Risk of Investing in the Middle East. Many Middle Eastern countries have little or no democratic tradition, and the political and legal systems in such countries may have an adverse impact on a Fund. Many economies in the Middle East are highly reliant on income from the sale of oil or trade with countries involved in the sale of oil, and their economies are therefore vulnerable to changes in the market for oil and foreign currency values. As global demand for oil fluctuates, many Middle Eastern economies may be significantly impacted.

In addition, many Middle Eastern governments have exercised and continue to exercise substantial influence over many aspects of the private sector. In certain cases, a Middle Eastern country’s government may own or control many companies, including some of the largest companies in the country. Accordingly, governmental actions in the future could have a significant effect on economic conditions in Middle Eastern countries. This could affect private sector companies and a Fund, as well as the value of securities in a Fund's portfolio.

Certain Middle Eastern markets are in the earliest stages of development. As a result, there may be a high concentration of market capitalization and trading volume in a small number of issuers representing a limited number of industries, as well as a high concentration of investors and financial intermediaries. Brokers in Middle Eastern countries typically are fewer in number and less capitalized than brokers in the U.S.

The legal systems in certain Middle Eastern countries also may have an adverse impact on a Fund. For example, the potential liability of a shareholder in a U.S. corporation with respect to acts of the corporation generally is limited to the amount of the shareholder’s investment. However, the notion of limited liability is less clear in certain Middle Eastern countries. A Fund therefore may be liable in certain Middle Eastern countries for the acts of a corporation in which it invests for an amount greater than its actual investment in that corporation. Similarly, the rights of investors in Middle Eastern issuers may be more limited than those of shareholders of a U.S. corporation. It may be difficult or impossible to obtain or enforce a legal judgment in a Middle Eastern country. Some Middle Eastern countries prohibit or impose substantial restrictions on investments in their capital markets, particularly their equity markets, by foreign entities such as a Fund. For example, certain countries may require governmental approval prior to investment by foreign persons or limit the amount of investment by foreign persons in a particular issuer. Certain Middle Eastern countries may also limit investment by foreign persons to only a specific class of securities of an issuer that may have less advantageous terms (including price) than securities of the issuer available for purchase by nationals of the relevant Middle Eastern country.

The manner in which foreign investors may invest in companies in certain Middle Eastern countries, as well as limitations on those investments, may have an adverse impact on the operations of a Fund. For example, in certain of these countries, a Fund may be required to invest initially through a local broker or other entity and then have the shares that were purchased re-registered in the name of a Fund. Re-registration in some instances may not be possible on a timely basis. This may result in a delay during which a Fund may be denied certain of its rights as an investor, including rights as to dividends or to be made aware of certain corporate actions. There also may be instances where a Fund places a purchase order but is subsequently informed, at the time of re-registration, that the permissible allocation of the investment to foreign investors has already been filled and, consequently, a Fund may not be able to invest in the relevant company.

Substantial limitations may exist in certain Middle Eastern countries with respect to a Fund’s ability to repatriate investment income or capital gains. A Fund could be adversely affected by delays in, or a refusal to grant, any required governmental approval for repatriation of capital, as well as by the application to a Fund of any restrictions on investment.

Certain Middle Eastern countries may be heavily dependent upon international trade and, consequently, have been and may continue to be negatively affected by trade barriers, exchange controls, managed adjustments in relative currency values and other protectionist measures imposed or negotiated by the countries with which they trade. These countries also have been and may continue to be adversely impacted by economic conditions in the countries with which they trade. In addition, certain issuers located in Middle Eastern countries in which a Fund invests may operate in, or have dealings with, countries subject to sanctions and/or embargoes imposed by the U.S. government and the United Nations, and/or countries identified by the U.S. government as state sponsors of terrorism. As a result, an issuer may sustain damage to its reputation if it is identified as an issuer which operates in, or has dealings with, such countries. A Fund, as an investor in such issuers, will be indirectly subject to those risks.

Certain Middle Eastern countries have strained relations with other Middle Eastern countries due to territorial disputes, historical animosities, defense concerns or other reasons, which may adversely affect the economies of these Middle Eastern countries. Certain Middle Eastern countries experience significant unemployment, as well as widespread underemployment. There has also been a recent increase in recruitment efforts and an aggressive push for territorial control by terrorist groups in the region, which has led to an outbreak of warfare and hostilities. Warfare in Syria has spread to surrounding areas, including many portions of Iraq and Turkey. Such hostilities may continue into the future or may escalate at any time due to ethnic, racial, political, religious or ideological tensions between groups in the region or foreign intervention or lack of intervention, among other factors.

Risk of Investing in North America. A decrease in imports or exports, changes in trade regulations or an economic recession in any North American country can have a significant economic effect on the entire North American region and on some or all of the North American countries in which a Fund invests.

The U.S. is Canada's and Mexico's largest trading and investment partner. The Canadian and Mexican economies are significantly affected by developments in the U.S. economy. Since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”) in 1994 among Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, total merchandise trade among the three countries has increased. However, political developments in the U.S., including possible termination of NAFTA, may have implications for the trade arrangements among the U.S., Mexico and Canada, which could negatively affect the value of securities held by a Fund. Policy and legislative changes in one country may have a significant effect on North American markets generally, as well as on the value of certain securities held by a Fund.

Risk of Investing in the Automotive Sub-Industry. The automotive sub-industry can be highly cyclical, and companies in the automotive sub-industry may suffer periodic losses. The automotive sub-industry is also highly competitive and there may be, at times, excess capacity in the global and domestic automotive sub-industry. Over the last several decades, the U.S. automotive sub-industry has experienced periodic downturns; certain automotive companies required stimulus from the U.S. government, while others formed strategic industry alliances in order to weather the substantially difficult market conditions. In general, the automotive sub-industry is susceptible to labor disputes, product defect litigation, patent expiration, increased pension liabilities, rise in material or component prices and changing consumer tastes.

Risk of Investing in the Basic Materials Industry. Issuers in the basic materials industry could be adversely affected by commodity price volatility, exchange rates, import controls and increased competition. Companies in the basic materials industry may be subject to swift fluctuations in supply and demand. Fluctuations may be caused by events relating to political and economic developments, the environmental impact of basic materials operations, and the success of exploration projects. Production of industrial materials often exceeds demand as a result of over-building or economic downturns, leading to poor investment returns. Issuers in the basic materials industry are at risk for environmental damage and product liability claims and may be adversely affected by depletion of resources, delays in technical progress, labor relations, tax and government regulations related to changes to, among other things, energy and environmental policies.

Risk of Investing in the Capital Goods Industry. Companies in the capital goods industry may be affected by fluctuations in the business cycle and by other factors affecting manufacturing demands. Companies in the capital goods industry depend heavily on corporate spending. Companies in the capital goods industry may perform well during times of economic expansion, and as economic conditions worsen, the demand for capital goods may decrease due to weakening demand, worsening business cash flows, tighter credit controls and deteriorating profitability. During times of economic volatility, corporate spending may fall and adversely affect the capital goods industry. This industry may also be affected by changes in interest rates, corporate tax rates and other government policies. Many capital goods are sold internationally and such companies are subject to market conditions in other countries and regions.

Risk of Investing in the Consumer Cyclical Industry. A Fund may invest in consumer cyclical companies, which rely heavily on business cycles and economic conditions. Consumer cyclical companies include automotive manufacturers, retail companies, and housing-related companies. The consumer cyclical industry can be significantly affected by several factors, including, without limitation, the performance of domestic and international economies, exchange rates, changing consumer tastes and trends, marketing campaigns, cyclical revenue generation, consumer confidence, commodity price volatility, labor relations, interest rates, import and export controls, intense competition, technological developments and government regulation.

Risk of Investing in the Consumer Goods Industry. Companies in the consumer goods industry include companies involved in the design, production or distribution of goods for consumers, including food, household, home, personal and office products, clothing and textiles. The success of the consumer goods industry is tied closely to the performance of the domestic and international economy, interest rates, exchange rates, competition, consumer confidence and consumer disposable income. The consumer goods industry may be affected by trends, marketing campaigns and other factors affecting consumer demand. Governmental regulation affecting the use of various food additives may affect the profitability of certain companies in the consumer goods industry. Moreover, international events may affect food and beverage companies that derive a substantial portion of their net income from foreign countries. In addition, tobacco companies may be adversely affected by new laws, regulations and litigation. Many consumer goods may be marketed globally, and consumer goods companies may be affected by the demand and market conditions in other countries and regions. Companies in the consumer goods industry may be subject to severe competition, which may also have an adverse impact on their profitability. Changes in demographics and consumer preferences may affect the success of consumer products.

Risk of Investing in the Consumer Services Industry. The success of consumer product manufacturers and retailers (including food and drug retailers, general retailers, media, and travel and leisure) is tied closely to the performance of the domestic and international economy, interest rates, exchange rates, competition and consumer confidence. The consumer services industry depends heavily on disposable household income and consumer spending. Companies in the consumer services industry may be subject to severe competition, which may also have an adverse impact on their profitability. Changes in demographics and consumer preferences may affect the success of consumer service providers.

Risk of Investing in the Consumer Staples Sector. Companies in the consumer staples sector may be adversely affected by changes in the global economy, consumer spending, competition, demographics and consumer preferences, and production spending. Companies in the consumer staples sector may also be affected by changes in global economic, environmental and political events, economic conditions, the depletion of resources, and government regulation. For instance, government regulations may affect the permissibility of using various food additives and production methods of companies that make food products, which could affect company profitability. In addition, tobacco companies may be adversely affected by the adoption of proposed legislation and/or by litigation. Companies in the consumer staples sector also may be subject to risks pertaining to the supply of, demand for and prices of raw materials. The prices of raw materials fluctuate in response to a number of factors, including, without limitation, changes in government agricultural support programs, exchange rates, import and export controls, changes in international agricultural and trading policies, and seasonal and weather conditions. Companies in the consumer staples sector may be subject to severe competition, which may also have an adverse impact on their profitability.

Risk of Investing in the Energy Sector. Companies in the energy sector are strongly affected by the levels and volatility of global energy prices, energy supply and demand, government regulations and policies, energy production and conservation efforts, technological change, development of alternative energy sources, and other factors that they cannot control. These companies may also lack resources and have limited business lines. Energy companies may have relatively high levels of debt and may be more likely to restructure their businesses if there are downturns in certain energy markets or in the global economy. If an energy company in a Fund's portfolio becomes distressed, a Fund could lose all or a substantial portion of its investment.

Companies in the energy sector may be adversely affected by terrorism, natural disasters or other catastrophes. Companies in the energy sector are at risk of civil liability from accidents resulting in injury, loss of life or property, pollution or other environmental damage claims. Disruptions in the oil industry or shifts in fuel consumption may significantly impact companies in this sector. Significant oil and gas deposits are located in emerging markets countries where corruption and security may raise significant risks, in addition to the other risks of investing in emerging markets. Additionally, the Middle East, where many companies in the energy sector may operate, has historically and recently experienced widespread social unrest.

Most financial companies are subject to extensive governmental regulation, which limits their activities and may affect their ability to earn a profit from a given line of business. Government regulation may change frequently and may have significant adverse consequences for companies in the financials sector, including effects not intended by the regulation. Direct governmental intervention in the operations of financial companies and financial markets may materially and adversely affect the companies in which a Fund invests, including legislation in many countries that may increase government regulation, repatriation and other intervention. The impact of governmental intervention and legislative changes on any individual financial company or on the financials sector as a whole cannot be predicted. The valuation of financial companies has been and continues to be subject to unprecedented volatility and may be influenced by unpredictable factors, including interest rate risk and sovereign debt default. Certain financial businesses are subject to intense competitive pressures, including market share and price competition. Financial companies in foreign countries are subject to market specific and general regulatory and interest rate concerns. In particular, government regulation in certain foreign countries may include taxes and controls on interest rates, credit availability, minimum capital requirements, bans on short sales, limits on prices and restrictions on currency transfers. In addition, companies in the financials sector may be the targets of hacking and potential theft of proprietary or customer information or disruptions in service, which could have a material adverse effect on their businesses.

The profitability of banks, savings and loan associations and financial companies is largely dependent on the availability and cost of capital funds and can fluctuate significantly when interest rates change; for instance, when interest rates go up, the value of securities issued by many types of companies in the financials sector generally goes down. In other words, financial companies may be adversely affected in certain market cycles, including, without limitation, during periods of rising interest rates, which may restrict the availability and increase the cost of capital, and during periods of declining economic conditions, which may cause, among other things, credit losses due to financial difficulties of borrowers.

Risk of Investing in the Industrials Sector. The value of securities issued by companies in the industrials sector may be adversely affected by supply of and demand for both their specific products or services and for industrials sector products in general. The products of manufacturing companies may face obsolescence due to rapid technological developments and frequent new product introduction. Government regulations, world events and economic conditions may affect the performance of companies in the industrials sector. The industrials sector may also be adversely affected by changes or trends in commodity prices, which may be influenced by unpredictable factors. For example, commodity price declines and unit volume reductions resulting from an over-supply of materials used in the industrials sector can adversely affect the sector. Furthermore, companies in the industrials sector may be subject to liability for environmental damage, product liability claims, depletion of resources, and mandated expenditures for safety and pollution control.

Risk of Investing in the Insurance Industry. The insurance industry is subject to extensive government regulation in some countries and can be significantly affected by changes in interest rates, general economic conditions, price and marketing competition, the imposition of premium rate caps or other changes in government regulation or tax law. Different segments of the insurance industry can be significantly affected by changes in mortality and morbidity rates, environmental clean-up costs and catastrophic events such as earthquakes, hurricanes and terrorist acts.

in the industry and the potential for increased state and federal regulation. Advertising spending is an important source of revenue for media companies. During economic downturns, advertising spending typically decreases and, as a result, media companies tend to generate less revenue.

Risk of Investing in Municipal Securities in the Utilities Sector. Certain municipal securities are issued by public bodies, including state and municipal utility authorities, to, among other things, finance the operation or expansion of utility entities. Various future economic and other conditions may adversely affect utility entities, including inflation, increases in financing requirements, increases in raw material costs and other operating costs, changes in demand for services and the effects of environmental and other governmental regulations. Municipal securities that are issued to finance a particular utility project often depend on revenues from that project to make principal and interest payments. Adverse conditions and developments affecting a particular utility project can result in lower revenues to the issuer of the municipal securities. Certain utilities are subject to specific risks. Gas utilities are subject to risks of supply conditions and increased competition from other providers of utility services. In addition, gas utilities are affected by gas prices, which may be magnified to the extent that a gas utility enters into long-term contracts for the purchase or sale of gas at a fixed price, since such prices may change significantly and to the disadvantage of the gas utility.

Risk of Investing in the Oil and Gas Industry. Companies in the oil and gas industry are strongly affected by the levels and volatility of global energy prices, oil and gas supply and demand, government regulations and policies, oil and gas production and conservation efforts and technological change. The oil and gas industry is cyclical and from time to time may experience a shortage of drilling rigs, equipment, supplies or qualified personnel, or due to significant demand, such services may not be available on commercially reasonable terms. Prices and supplies of oil and gas may fluctuate significantly over short and long periods of time due to national and international political changes, OPEC policies, changes in relationships among OPEC members and between OPEC and oil-importing nations, the regulatory environment, taxation policies, and the economies of key energy-consuming countries. Disruptions in the oil sub-industry or shifts in energy consumption may significantly impact companies in this industry. For instance, significant oil and gas deposits are located in emerging market countries where corruption and security may raise significant risks, in addition to the other risks of investing in emerging markets. In addition, the Middle East, where many companies in the oil and gas industry may operate, has recently experienced widespread social unrest. Oil and gas companies operate in a highly competitive industry, with intense price competition. A significant portion of their revenues may depend on a relatively small number of customers, including governmental entities and utilities.

Risk of Investing in the Pharmaceuticals Industry. Companies in the pharmaceuticals industry are subject to competitive forces that may make it difficult to raise prices and, in fact, may result in price discounting. The profitability of some companies in the pharmaceuticals industry may be dependent on a relatively limited number of products. In addition, their products can become obsolete due to industry innovation, changes in technologies or other market developments. Many new products in the pharmaceuticals industry are subject to government approvals, regulation and reimbursement rates. The process of obtaining government approvals may be long and costly. Many companies in the pharmaceuticals industry are heavily dependent on patents and intellectual property rights. The loss or impairment of these rights may adversely affect the profitability of these companies. Companies in the pharmaceutical industry may be subject to extensive litigation based on product liability and similar claims.

Company’s leverage may affect the ability of the Real Estate Company to operate effectively. In addition, real property may be subject to the quality of credit extended and defaults by borrowers and tenants. If the properties do not generate sufficient income to meet operating expenses, including, where applicable, debt service, ground lease payments, tenant improvements, third-party leasing commissions and other capital expenditures, the income and ability of a Real Estate Company to make payments of any interest and principal on its debt securities will be adversely affected.

Regulatory Risk. Real estate income and values may be adversely affected by such factors as applicable domestic and foreign laws (including tax laws). Government actions, such as tax increases, zoning law changes or environmental regulations, also may have a major impact on real estate income and values. In addition, quarterly compliance with regulations limiting the proportion of asset types held by a U.S. REIT may force certain Real Estate Companies to liquidate or restructure otherwise attractive investments. Some countries may not recognize REITs or comparable structures as a viable form of real estate funds.

Risk of Investing in the Retail Industry. The retail industry may be affected by changes in domestic and international economies, consumer confidence, disposable household income and spending, and consumer tastes and preferences. Companies in the retail industry face intense competition, which may have an adverse effect on their profitability. The success of companies in the retail industry may be strongly affected by social trends, marketing campaigns and public perceptions. Companies in the retail industry may be dependent on outside financing, which may be difficult to obtain. Many of these companies are dependent on third party suppliers and distribution systems. Retail companies may be unable to protect their intellectual property rights or may be liable for infringing the intellectual property rights of others.

Risk of Investing in the Technology Sector. Technology companies are characterized by periodic new product introductions, innovations and evolving industry standards, and, as a result, face intense competition, both domestically and internationally, which may have an adverse effect on profit margins. Companies in the technology sector are often smaller and less experienced companies and may be subject to greater risks than larger companies; these risks may be heightened for technology companies in foreign markets. Technology companies may have limited product lines, markets, financial resources or personnel. The products of technology companies may face product obsolescence due to rapid technological developments and frequent new product introduction, changes in consumer and business purchasing patterns, unpredictable changes in growth rates and competition for the services of qualified personnel. In addition, a rising interest rate environment tends to negatively affect companies in the technology sector because, in such an environment, those companies with high market valuations may appear less attractive to investors, which may cause sharp decreases in the companies’ market prices. Companies in the technology sector are heavily dependent on patent and intellectual property rights. The loss or impairment of these rights may adversely affect the profitability of these companies. The technology sector may also be adversely affected by changes or trends in commodity prices, which may be influenced or characterized by unpredictable factors. Finally, while all companies may be susceptible to network security breaches, certain companies in the technology sector may be particular targets of hacking and potential theft of proprietary or consumer information or disruptions in service, which could have a material adverse effect on their businesses.

Risk of Investing in the Telecommunications Sector. The telecommunications sector of a country’s economy is often subject to extensive government regulation. The costs of complying with governmental regulations, delays or failure to receive required regulatory approvals, or the enactment of new regulatory requirements may negatively affect the business of telecommunications companies. Government actions around the world, specifically in the area of pre-marketing clearance of products and prices, can be arbitrary and unpredictable. Companies in the telecommunications sector may experience distressed cash flows due to the need to commit substantial capital to meet increasing competition, particularly in developing new products and services using new technology. Technological innovations may make the products and services of certain telecommunications companies obsolete. Finally, while all companies may be susceptible to network security breaches, certain companies in the telecommunications sector may be particular targets of hacking and potential theft of proprietary or consumer information or disruptions in service, which could have a material adverse effect on their businesses.

Risk of Investing in the Transportation Infrastructure Industry. Municipal securities include, among others, bonds payable from fuel taxes and tolls for municipal toll roads, as well as general airport bonds. Issuers in the transportation infrastructure industry can be significantly affected by economic changes, fuel prices, labor relations, technology developments, exchange rates, industry competition, insurance costs and deteriorating public infrastructure, such as bridges, roads, rails, ports and airports. Municipal securities that are issued to finance a particular transportation project often depend on revenues from that project to make principal and interest payments. Adverse conditions and developments affecting a particular project can

result in lower revenues to the issuer of the municipal securities. Other risk factors that may affect the transportation infrastructure industry include the risk of increases in fuel and other operating costs and the effects of regulatory changes or other government decisions.

There are substantial differences among the regulatory practices and policies of various jurisdictions, and any regulatory agency may make major shifts in policy from time to time. There is no assurance that regulatory authorities will, in the future, grant rate increases. Additionally, existing and possible future regulatory legislation may make it even more difficult for utilities to obtain adequate relief. Certain of the issuers of securities held in a Fund's portfolio may own or operate nuclear generating facilities. Governmental authorities may from time to time review existing policies and impose additional requirements governing the licensing, construction and operation of nuclear power plants. Prolonged changes in climate conditions can also have a significant impact on both the revenues of an electric and gas utility as well as the expenses of a utility, particularly a hydro-based electric utility.

Proxy Voting Policy

For all Funds other than the iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF and iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF (these two Funds together, the “Sustainable Funds”), the Board has delegated the voting of proxies for each Fund’s securities to BFA pursuant to the Funds' Proxy Voting Policy (the “iShares ETFs Proxy Voting Policy”), and BlackRock has adopted policies and procedures (the “BlackRock Proxy Voting Policies”) governing proxy voting by accounts managed by BlackRock, including the Funds. For the Sustainable Funds, the Board has delegated the voting of proxies for each Sustainable Fund’s securities to BFA pursuant to the Sustainable Funds’ Proxy Voting Policy (the “iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy”), and BlackRock has adopted the BlackRock Proxy Voting Policies and supplemental guidelines applicable to environmental and social issues investing (the “Supplemental BlackRock Sustainable Proxy Voting Guidelines”) governing proxy voting by the iShares sustainable ETFs managed by BlackRock, including the Sustainable Funds.

Under the BlackRock Proxy Voting Policies, BFA will vote proxies related to Fund securities in the best interests of a Fund and its shareholders. From time to time, a vote may present a conflict between the interests of a Fund’s shareholders, on the one hand, and those of BFA, or any affiliated person of a Fund or BFA, on the other. BFA maintains policies and procedures that are designed to prevent undue influence on BFA’s proxy voting activity that might stem from any relationship between the issuer of a proxy (or any dissident shareholder) and BFA, BFA’s affiliates, a Fund or a Fund’s affiliates. Most conflicts are managed through a structural separation of BFA’s Corporate Governance Group from BFA’s employees with sales and client responsibilities. In addition, BFA maintains procedures to ensure that all engagements with corporate issuers or dissident shareholders are managed consistently and without regard to BFA’s relationship with the issuer of the proxy or the dissident shareholder. In certain instances, BFA may determine to engage an independent fiduciary to vote proxies as a further safeguard to avoid potential conflicts of interest or as otherwise required by applicable law.

Under the Supplemental BlackRock Sustainable Proxy Voting Guidelines, the Sustainable Funds maintain proxy voting guidelines consistent with the belief that well-managed companies will deal effectively with the material environmental and social (E& S) factors relevant to their businesses. BFA expects companies to identify and report on the material, business-specific E&S risks and opportunities and to explain how these are managed. BFA may vote against the election of directors where BFA has concerns that a company might not be dealing with E&S issues appropriately. For E&S shareholder proposals, BFA may vote differently for different funds based on BFA’s assessment of the materiality of the underlying issues in conjunction with an assessment that investors in the Sustainable Funds may expect more urgent action be taken by the company.

Copies of the iShares ETFs Proxy Voting Policy, the iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy, the BlackRock Proxy Voting Policies and the Supplemental BlackRock Sustainable Proxy Voting Guidelines are attached as Appendixes A1, A2, A3 and A4, respectively.

Information with respect to how proxies relating to the Funds' portfolio securities were voted during the 12-month period ended June 30 is available: (i) without charge, upon request, by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) or through the Funds' website at www.iShares.com; and (ii) on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Portfolio Holdings Information

The Board has adopted a policy regarding the disclosure of the Funds' portfolio holdings information that requires that such information be disclosed in a manner that: (i) is consistent with applicable legal requirements and in the best interests of each Fund’s respective shareholders; (ii) does not put the interests of BFA, the Distributor or any affiliated person of BFA or the Distributor, above those of Fund shareholders; (iii) does not advantage any current or prospective Fund shareholders over any other current or prospective Fund shareholders, except to the extent that certain Entities (as described below) may receive portfolio holdings information not available to other current or prospective Fund shareholders in connection with the dissemination of information necessary for transactions in Creation Units, as discussed below, and certain information may be provided to personnel of BFA and its affiliates who manage funds that invest a significant percentage of their assets in shares of the Fund for the purpose of facilitating risk management and hedging activities; and (iv) does not provide selective access to portfolio holdings information except pursuant to the procedures outlined below and to the extent appropriate confidentiality arrangements limiting the use of such information are in effect. The “Entities” referred to in sub-section (iii) above are generally limited to National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”) members, subscribers to various fee-based subscription services, large institutional investors (known as “Authorized Participants”) that have been authorized by the Distributor to purchase and redeem large blocks of shares pursuant to legal requirements and market makers and other institutional market participants and entities that provide information or transactional services.

Each business day, each Fund's portfolio holdings information is provided to the Distributor or other agent for dissemination through the facilities of the NSCC and/or other fee-based subscription services to NSCC members and/or subscribers to those other fee-based subscription services, including market makers and Authorized Participants, and to entities that publish and/or analyze such information in connection with the process of purchasing or redeeming Creation Units or trading shares of the Funds in the secondary market or evaluating such potential transactions. This information typically reflects each Fund’s anticipated holdings on the following business day.

Daily access to information concerning the Funds' portfolio holdings is permitted: (i) to certain personnel of those service providers that are involved in portfolio management and providing administrative, operational, risk management, or other support to portfolio management; and (ii) to other personnel of the Funds' investment adviser, the Distributor and their affiliates, and the administrator, custodian and fund accountant who deal directly with, or assist in, functions related to investment management, distribution, administration, custody, securities lending and fund accounting, as may be necessary to conduct business in the ordinary course in a manner consistent with federal securities laws and regulations thereunder. In addition, each Fund discloses its fixed-income and/or equity portfolio holdings daily at www.iShares.com. More information about this disclosure is available at www.iShares.com.

Portfolio holdings information made available in connection with the creation/redemption process may be provided to other entities that provide services to the Funds in the ordinary course of business after it has been disseminated to the NSCC. From time to time, information concerning portfolio holdings other than portfolio holdings information made available in connection with the creation/redemption process, as discussed above, may be provided to other entities that provide

services to the Funds, including rating or ranking organizations, in the ordinary course of business, no earlier than one business day following the date of the information.

Each Fund discloses its complete portfolio holdings schedule in public filings with the SEC within 70 days of the end of the second and fourth fiscal quarters and within 60 days of the end of the first and third fiscal quarters and will provide such information to shareholders as required by federal securities laws and regulations thereunder. A Fund may, however, voluntarily disclose all or part of its portfolio holdings other than in connection with the creation/redemption process, as discussed above, in advance of required filings with the SEC, provided that such information is made generally available to all shareholders and other interested parties in a manner that is consistent with the above policy for disclosure of portfolio holdings information. Such information may be made available through a publicly available website or other means that make the information available to all likely interested parties contemporaneously.

The Board reviews the policy and procedures for disclosure of portfolio holdings information at least annually.

Construction and Maintenance of the Underlying Indexes

Descriptions of the Underlying Indexes are provided below.

The Bloomberg Barclays Indexes

The Bloomberg Barclays Indexes are maintained by Bloomberg Barclays Capital Inc/ Bloomberg Index Services Limited or its affiliates (“Bloomberg” or the “Index Provider”), which is not affiliated with BFA. BFA will have no role in maintaining the Underlying Indexes.

To use the Bloomberg Barclays MSCI US Corporate 1-5 Year ESG Focus Index and Bloomberg Barclays MSCI US Corporate ESG Focus Index, BFA or its affiliates have entered into a license agreement with MSCI ESG Research LLC (“MSCI ESG Research”), which pursuant to its agreement with Bloomberg Index Services Limited, a subsidiary of the Index Provider, may license each Underlying Index.

Bloomberg Barclays MSCI US Corporate 1-5 Year ESG Focus Index

Number of Components: approximately 520

Index Description. The Bloomberg Barclays MSCI US Corporate 1-5 Year ESG Focus Index is designed to maximize exposure to positive environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) characteristics while exhibiting risk and return characteristics similar to those of the Bloomberg Barclays US Corporate1-5 Years Index (the Parent Index). The Underlying Index is constructed by selecting constituents from the Parent Index through an optimization process using ESG rating inputs from MSCI ESG Research in an effort to maximize exposure to ESG factors for a target tracking error constraint of 10 basis points relative to the Parent Index. The Fund’s Index Provider begins with the Parent Index, excludes securities of companies involved in the business of tobacco and controversial weapons companies, as well as securities of companies involved in very severe business controversies (as determined by MSCI ESG Research). MSCI ESG Research identifies key ESG controversies, including, among other things, issues involving: (i) the environment (e.g., biodiversity and land use, toxic emissions and waste, energy and climate change, water stress, non-hazardous operational waste, and supply chain management); (ii) human rights and communities (e.g., impact on local communities, human rights concerns, and civil liberties); (iii) labor rights and supply chains (e.g., child labor, collective bargaining and union, health and safety, discrimination and workforce diversity, and labor management relations); (iv) customers (e.g., anti-competitive practices, customer relations, privacy and data security, product safety and quality, and marketing and advertising); and (v) governance (e.g., bribery and fraud, governance structures, and controversial investments). MSCI ESG Research then rates each company’s exposure to these ESG issues and evaluates the extent to which the company has created strategies and programs to manage ESG risks and opportunities. Companies are scored by MSCI ESG Research based on both their risk exposure and risk management, and then ranked in comparison to their industry peers. Using MSCI ESG Research’s ESG ratings, the Index Provider then follows a

quantitative process in an effort 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 those of the Parent Index.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index consists of U.S. dollar-denominated, investment-grade corporate bonds having remaining maturities between one and five years and issued by companies that have positive ESG characteristics (as determined by MSCI ESG Research ratings). In addition, the securities included in the Underlying Index must be fixed-rate, taxable corporate securities. Excluded from the Underlying Index include, but are not limited to, structured notes, private placements and floating rate securities. The Underlying Index is market capitalization weighted and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.

Bloomberg Barclays MSCI US Corporate ESG Focus Index

Number of Components: approximately 2,169

Index Description. The Bloomberg Barclays MSCI US Corporate ESG Focus Index the Underlying Index, is designed to maximize exposure to positive ESG characteristics while exhibiting risk and return characteristics similar to those of the Bloomberg Barclays US Corporate Index (the Parent Index). The Underlying Index is constructed by selecting constituents from the Parent Index through an optimization process using ESG rating inputs from MSCI ESG Research in an effort to maximize exposure to ESG factors for a target tracking error constraint of 10 basis points relative to the Parent Index. The Fund’s Index Provider begins with the Parent Index, excludes securities of companies involved in the business of tobacco and controversial weapons companies, as well as securities of companies involved in very severe business controversies (as determined by MSCI ESG Research). MSCI ESG Research identifies key ESG controversies, including, among other things, issues involving: (i) the environment (e.g., biodiversity and land use, toxic emissions and waste, energy and climate change, water stress, non-hazardous operational waste, and supply chain management); (ii) human rights and communities (e.g., impact on local communities, human rights concerns, and civil liberties); (iii) labor rights and supply chains (e.g., child labor, collective bargaining and union, health and safety, discrimination and workforce diversity, and labor management relations); (iv) customers (e.g., anti-competitive practices, customer relations, privacy and data security, product safety and quality, and marketing and advertising); and (v) governance (e.g., bribery and fraud, governance structures, and controversial investments). MSCI ESG Research then rates each company’s exposure to these ESG issues and evaluates the extent to which the company has created strategies and programs to manage ESG risks and opportunities. Companies are scored by MSCI ESG Research based on both their risk exposure and risk management, and then ranked in comparison to their industry peers. Using MSCI ESG Research’s ESG ratings, the Index Provider then follows a quantitative process in an effort 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 those of the Parent Index.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index consists of U.S. dollar-denominated, investment-grade corporate bonds issued by companies that have positive ESG characteristics (as determined by MSCI ESG Research ratings) and have remaining maturities of greater than or equal to one year. In addition, the securities included in the Underlying Index must be fixed-rate, taxable corporate securities. Excluded from the Underlying Index include, but are not limited to, structured notes, private placements and floating rate securities. The Underlying Index is market capitalization weighted and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.

Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Agency Bond Index

Number of Components: approximately 285

Index Description. The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Agency Bond Index measures the performance of the agency sector of the U.S. government bond market and is comprised of investment-grade U.S. dollar-denominated publicly-issued government agency bonds or debentures. The Underlying Index includes callable and non-callable securities issued by U.S. government agencies, quasi-federal corporations (as described under Index Methodology below), and corporate or foreign debt guaranteed by the U.S. government. In addition, the securities in the Underlying Index must be fixed-rate and non-convertible and have $300 million or more of outstanding face value. As of February 28, 2018, approximately 84.2% of the composite market value of the bonds represented in the Underlying Index was in the form of U.S. agency debentures. The largest issues within the Underlying Index were Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHLB, with a composite market value weight in the Underlying Index of approximately 30.71%, 24.25%, and 29.21%, respectively.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index measures the performance of both callable and non-callable U.S. dollar-denominated government agency debentures, including securities of the following categories:

•	U.S. government guaranteed securities: corporate and non-U.S. issuances that carry direct guarantees from the U.S. government;
•	U.S. government owned, not guaranteed, securities: issuances of quasi-federal corporations (i.e., entities that are partially or wholly-owned by the U.S. government); such issuances generally carry no explicit guarantee of repayment from the U.S. government; and
•	U.S. government sponsored securities: issuances of U.S. government sponsored entities (including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), which are not 100% government owned, but carry out government policies and benefit from implied involvement of central governments, such as by benefiting from certain government subsidies, credit provisions, or other government support; such issuances generally have no guarantees from the U.S. government.

The Underlying Index is market value weighted and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.

The Underlying Index represents the U.S. Agency portion of the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, whose eligible universe is defined by total market issuance, meeting the selection criteria mentioned above.

Index Maintenance. The Underlying Index constituents are reset on the last business day of each month and remain static throughout the month. The universe of Underlying Index constituents adjust for securities that become ineligible for inclusion in an Underlying Index during the month (e.g., because of downgrades or called bonds) or for issues that are newly eligible (e.g., up-grades or newly issued bonds) on the last business day of each month. The Bloomberg Barclays Indexes are valued using end of day bid side prices, as marked by Bloomberg. Intra-month cash flows contribute to monthly returns, but they are not reinvested during the month and do not earn a reinvestment return. Total returns are calculated based on the sum of price changes, gain/loss on repayments of principal, and coupon received or accrued, expressed as a percentage of beginning market value. The Bloomberg Barclays Indexes are calculated once a day and are available from major data vendors.

Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index

Number of Components: approximately 9,826

Index Description. The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index represents the securities of the total U.S. investment-grade bond market.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index provides a measure of the performance of the U.S. investment-grade bond market, which includes investment-grade (must be Baa3/BBB- or higher using the middle rating of Moody’s, S&P Global Ratings, and Fitch) U.S. Treasury bonds, government-related bonds, investment-grade corporate bonds, MBS, CMBS and ABS that are publicly offered for sale in the U.S. The securities in the Underlying Index must have $300 million or more of outstanding face value and must have at least one year remaining to maturity, with the exception of amortizing securities such as ABS and MBS, which have lower minimum thresholds as defined by the index provider. In addition, the securities must be denominated in U.S. dollars and must be fixed-rate, non-convertible, and taxable. Certain types of securities, such as SLGs, are excluded from the Underlying Index. Also excluded from the Underlying Index are structured notes with embedded swaps or other special features, private placements, floating rate securities and Eurobonds. The Underlying Index is market capitalization weighted and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month. As of February 28, 2018, approximately 28.22% of the bonds represented in the Underlying Index were U.S. fixed-rate agency MBS. U.S. fixed-rate agency MBS are securities issued by entities such as Ginnie Mae, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae that are backed by pools of mortgages. Most transactions in fixed-rate MBS occur through standardized contracts for future delivery in which the exact mortgage pools to be delivered are not specified until a few days prior to settlement TBA transactions. The Fund may enter into such contracts on a regular basis. The Fund, pending settlement of such contracts, will invest its assets in high-quality, liquid short-term instruments, including shares of BlackRock Cash Funds. The Fund will assume its pro rata share of the fees and expenses of any money market fund that it may invest in, in addition to the Fund's own fees and expenses. The Fund may also acquire interests in mortgage pools through means other than such standardized contracts for future delivery.

Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Government/Credit Bond Index

Number of Components: approximately 6,884

Index Description. The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Government/Credit Bond Index measures the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated U.S. Treasury bonds, government-related bonds (i.e., U.S. and foreign agencies, sovereign, supranational and local authority debt), and investment-grade U.S. corporate bonds that have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to one year.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index consists of U.S. government, government-related and investment-grade U.S. credit securities that have greater than or equal to one year remaining to maturity and have more than $250 million or more of outstanding face value. In addition, the securities must be denominated in U.S. dollars and must be fixed-rate and non-convertible. Excluded from the Underlying Index are certain special issues, such as TINs, SLGs, and coupon issues that have been stripped from assets that are already included in the Underlying Index. Also excluded from the Underlying Index are structured notes with embedded swaps or other special features, private placements, floating rate securities and Eurobonds. The Underlying Index is market capitalization weighted and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.

Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Intermediate Government/Credit Bond Index

Number of Components: approximately 4,773

Index Description. The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Intermediate Government/Credit Bond Index measures the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated U.S. Treasury bonds, government-related bonds (i.e., U.S. and foreign agencies, sovereign, supranational and local authority debt), and investment-grade U.S. corporate bonds that have a remaining maturity of greater than one year and less than or equal to ten years.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index consists of U.S. government, government-related and investment-grade U.S. credit securities that have greater than one year and less than or equal to ten years remaining to maturity and have more than $300 million or more of outstanding face value. In addition, the securities must be denominated in U.S. dollars and must be fixed-rate and non-convertible. Excluded from the Underlying Index are certain special issues, such as TINs, SLGs, and coupon issues that have been stripped from assets that are already included in the Underlying Index. Also excluded from the Underlying Index are structured notes with embedded swaps or other special features, private placements, floating rate securities and Eurobonds. The Underlying Index is market capitalization weighted and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.

Bloomberg Barclays U.S. MBS Index

Number of Components: approximately 307

Index Description. The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. MBS Index measures the performance of investment-grade MBS issued or guaranteed by U.S. government agencies. As of February 28, 2018, there were 307 issues in the Underlying Index.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index includes fixed-rate MBS issued by Ginnie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae that have 30-, 20-, 15-year maturities. All securities in the Underlying Index must have a remaining weighted average maturity of at least one year. In addition, the securities in the Underlying Index must be denominated in U.S. dollars and must be non-convertible. The Underlying Index is market capitalization weighted, and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month. As of February 28, 2018, approximately 100% of the bonds represented in the Underlying Index were U.S. agency MBS. Most transactions in MBS occur through standardized contracts for future delivery in which the exact mortgage pools to be delivered are not specified until a few days prior to settlement TBA transactions. The Fund may enter into such contracts for fixed-rate pass-through securities on a regular basis. The Fund, pending settlement of such contracts, will invest its assets in liquid, short-term instruments, including shares of BlackRock Cash Funds. The Fund will assume its pro rata share of the fees and expenses of any money market fund that it may invest in, in addition to the Fund's own fees and expenses. The Fund may also acquire interests in mortgage pools through means other than such standardized contracts for future delivery.

Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Universal 5-10 Year Index

Number of Components: approximately 5,994

Index Description. The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Universal 5-10 Year Index measures the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated taxable bonds that are rated either investment-grade or high yield with remaining effective maturities between five and ten years.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index includes U.S. Treasury bonds, government-related bonds (i.e., U.S. and non-U.S. agencies, sovereign, quasi-sovereign, supranational and local authority debt), investment-grade and high yield U.S. corporate bonds, MBS, CMBS, ABS, Eurodollar bonds (i.e., U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued by foreign issuers outside the U.S.), bonds registered with the SEC or exempt from registration at the time of issuance, or offered pursuant to Rule 144A under the 1933 Act with or without registration rights (“Rule 144A Bonds”) and emerging market bonds. The securities in the Underlying Index must be denominated in U.S. dollars and non-convertible. Excluded from the Underlying Index are tax- exempt municipal securities, coupon issues that have been stripped from bonds, structured notes, private placements (excluding Rule 144A Bonds) and inflation-linked bonds. A significant portion of the Underlying Index is comprised of MBS that include 20-year and 30-year mortgages. These MBS are included in the Underlying Index because their effective duration has historically been more consistent with the duration of non-callable 5-10 year bonds due to prepayments.

Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Universal 10+ Year Index

Number of Components: approximately 2,672

Index Description. The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Universal 10+ Year Index measures the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds that are rated either investment grade or high-yield with remaining maturities greater than ten years.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index includes U.S. Treasury bonds, government-related bonds (i.e., U.S. and non-U.S. agencies, sovereign, quasi-sovereign, supranational and local authority debt), investment-grade and high yield U.S. corporate bonds, Eurodollar bonds (i.e., U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued by foreign issuers outside the U.S.), bonds registered with the SEC or exempt from registration at the time of issuance, or offered pursuant to Rule 144A under the 1933 Act with or without registration rights (“Rule 144A Bonds”) and emerging market bonds. The Underlying Index is a subset of the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Universal Index. The securities in the Underlying Index must have at least 10 years remaining to maturity, or at least 10 years remaining to the first call date in the case of callable perpetual securities. In addition, the securities in the Underlying Index must be denominated in U.S. dollars and be non-convertible. Excluded from the Underlying Index are tax-exempt municipal securities, coupon issues that have been stripped from bonds, structured notes and private placements (excluding Rule 144A Bonds). The Underlying Index is market-capitalization weighted and is rebalanced on the last day of the month.

The investment-grade securities in the Underlying Index have $300 million or more par amount outstanding and the high yield securities have $150 million or more par amount outstanding. The U.S. dollar-denominated emerging market bonds in the Underlying Index have $500 million or more at the security level and corporate issuers have $1 billion or more in outstanding debt. The SEC Rule 144A issues in the Underlying Index have $250 million or more par amount outstanding.

The ICE^® BofAML^® Bond Indexes

ICE BofAML 1-5 Year US Corporate Index

Number of Components: approximately 3,095

Index Description. The ICE BofAML 1-5 Year US Corporate Index measures the performance of investment-grade corporate bonds that are U.S. dollar-denominated and have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to one year and less than five years.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index consists of investment-grade U.S. corporate bonds that have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to one year and less than five years and have more than $250 million or more of outstanding face value. In addition, the securities must be denominated in U.S. dollars and must be fixed-rate. Original issue zero coupon bonds, 144a securities (with and without registration rights), and pay-in-kind securities are included in the index. Callable perpetual securities are included provided they are at least one year from the first call date. Fixed-to-floating rate securities are included provided they are callable within the fixed rate period and are at least one year from the last call prior to the date the bond transitions from a fixed to a floating rate security. Excluded from the Underlying Index are equity-linked securities, securities in legal default, hybrid securitized corporate bonds, Eurodollar bonds (U.S. dollar-denominated securities not issued in the U.S. domestic market), taxable and tax-exempt U.S. municipal securities and dividends-received-deduction-eligible securities. The Underlying Index is market capitalization weighted and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.

ICE BofAML 5-10 Year US Corporate Index

Number of Components: approximately 2,297

Index Description. The ICE BofAML 5-10 Year US Corporate Index measures the performance of investment-grade corporate bonds that are U.S. dollar-denominated and have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to five years and less than ten years.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index consists of investment-grade U.S. corporate securities that have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to five years and less than ten years and have more than $250 million or more of outstanding face value. In addition, the securities must be denominated in U.S. dollars and must be fixed-rate. Original issue zero coupon bonds, 144a securities (with and without registration rights), and pay-in-kind securities are included in the index. Callable perpetual securities are included provided they are at least one year from the first call date. Fixed-to-floating rate securities are included provided they are callable within the fixed rate period and are at least one year from the last call prior to the date the bond transitions from a fixed to a floating rate security. Excluded from the Underlying Index are equity-linked securities, securities in legal default, hybrid securitized corporates, Eurodollar bonds (U.S. dollar-denominated securities not issued in the U.S. domestic market), taxable and tax-exempt U.S. municipal securities and dividends-received-deduction-eligible securities. The Underlying Index is market capitalization weighted and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.

ICE BofAML 10+ Year US Corporate Index

Number of Components: approximately 2,384

Index Description. The ICE BofAML 10+ Year US Corporate Index measures the performance of investment-grade corporate bonds that are U.S. dollar-denominated and have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to ten years.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index consists of investment-grade U.S. corporate bonds that have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to ten years and have more than $250 million or more of outstanding face value. In addition, the securities must be denominated in U.S. dollars and must be fixed-rate. Original issue zero coupon bonds, 144a securities (with and without registration rights), and pay-in-kind securities are included in the index. Callable perpetual securities are included provided they are at least one year from the first call date. Fixed-to-floating rate securities are included provided they are callable within the fixed rate period and are at least one year from the last call prior to the date the bond transitions from a fixed to a floating rate security. Excluded from the Underlying Index are equity-linked securities, securities in legal default, hybrid securitized corporates, Eurodollar bonds (U.S. dollar-denominated securities not issued in the U.S. domestic market), taxable and tax-exempt U.S. municipal securities and dividends-received-deduction-eligible securities. The Underlying Index is market capitalization weighted and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.

ICE BofAML US Corporate Index

Number of Components: approximately 7,774

Index Description. The ICE BofAML US Corporate Index measures the performance of investment-grade corporate bonds that are U.S. dollar-denominated and have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to one year.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index consists of investment-grade U.S. corporate bonds that have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to one year and have more than $250 million or more of outstanding face value. In addition, the securities must be denominated in U.S. dollars and must be fixed-rate. Original issue zero coupon bonds, 144a securities (with and without registration rights), and pay-in-kind securities are included in the index. Callable perpetual securities are included provided they are at least one year from the first call date. Fixed-to-floating rate securities are included provided they are callable within the fixed rate period and are at least one year from the last call prior to the date the bond transitions from a fixed to a floating rate security. Excluded from the Underlying Index are equity-linked securities, securities in legal default, hybrid securitized corporate bonds, Eurodollar bonds (U.S. dollar-denominated securities not issued in the U.S. domestic market), taxable and tax-exempt U.S. municipal securities and dividends-received-deduction-eligible securities. The Underlying Index is market capitalization weighted and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.

The ICE U.S. Treasury Bond Index Series^TM

ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index

Number of Components: approximately 96

Index Description. The ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index measures the performance of public obligations of the U.S. Treasury that have a remaining maturity of greater than one year and less than or equal to three years.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index consists of publicly-issued U.S. Treasury securities that have a remaining maturity of greater than one year and less than or equal to three years and have $300 million or more of outstanding face value, excluding amounts held by the Fed. In addition, the securities in the Underlying Index must be fixed-rate and denominated in U.S. dollars. Excluded from the Underlying Index are inflation-linked securities, Treasury bills, cash management bills, any government agency debt issued with or without a government guarantee and zero-coupon issues that have been stripped from coupon-paying bonds. The Underlying Index is weighted by market capitalization, and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.

ICE U.S. Treasury 3-7 Year Bond Index

Number of Components: approximately 96

Index Description. The ICE U.S. Treasury 3-7 Year Bond Index measures the performance of public obligations of the U.S. Treasury that have a remaining maturity of greater than three years and less than or equal to seven years.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index consists of publicly-issued U.S. Treasury securities that have a remaining maturity of greater than three years and less than or equal to seven years and have $300 million or more of outstanding face value, excluding amounts held by the Fed. In addition, the securities in the Underlying Index must be fixed-rate and denominated in U.S. dollars. Excluded from the Underlying Index are inflation-linked securities, Treasury bills, cash management bills, any government agency debt issued with or without a government guarantee and zero-coupon issues that have been stripped from coupon-paying bonds. The Underlying Index is weighted by market capitalization, and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.

ICE U.S. Treasury 7-10 Year Bond Index

Number of Components: approximately 21

Index Description. The ICE U.S. Treasury 7-10 Year Bond Index measures the performance of public obligations of the U.S. Treasury that have a remaining maturity of greater than seven years and less than or equal to ten years.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index consists of publicly-issued U.S. Treasury securities that have a remaining maturity of greater than seven years and less than or equal to ten years and have $300 million or more of outstanding face value, excluding amounts held by the Fed. In addition, the securities in the Underlying Index must be fixed-rate and denominated in U.S. dollars. Excluded from the Underlying Index are inflation-linked securities, Treasury bills, cash management bills, any government agency debt issued with or without a government guarantee and zero-coupon issues that have been stripped from coupon-paying bonds. The Underlying Index is weighted by market capitalization, and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.

ICE U.S. Treasury 10-20 Year Bond Index

Number of Components: approximately 10

Index Description. The ICE U.S. Treasury 10-20 Year Bond Index measures the performance of public obligations of the U.S. Treasury that have a remaining maturity of greater than ten years and less than or equal to twenty years.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index consists of publicly-issued U.S. Treasury securities that have a remaining maturity of greater than ten years and less than or equal to twenty years and have $300 million or more of outstanding face value, excluding amounts held by the Fed. In addition, the securities in the Underlying Index must be fixed-rate and denominated in U.S. dollars. Excluded from the Underlying Index are inflation-linked securities, cash management bills, any government agency debt issued with or without a government guarantee and zero-coupon issues that have been stripped from coupon-paying bonds. The Underlying Index is weighted by market capitalization, and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.

ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index

Number of Components: approximately 39

Index Description. The ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index measures the performance of public obligations of the U.S. Treasury that have a remaining maturity greater than twenty years.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index consists of publicly-issued U.S. Treasury securities that have a remaining maturity greater than twenty years and have $300 million or more of outstanding face value, excluding amounts held by the Fed. In addition, the securities in the Underlying Index must be fixed-rate and denominated in U.S. dollars. Excluded from the Underlying Index are inflation-linked securities, Treasury bills, cash management bills, any government agency debt issued with or without a government guarantee and zero-coupon issues that have been stripped from coupon-paying bonds. The Underlying Index is weighted by market capitalization, and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.

ICE U.S. Treasury Short Bond Index

Number of Components: approximately 78

Index Description. The ICE U.S. Treasury Short Bond Index measures the performance of public obligations of the U.S. Treasury that have a remaining maturity of equal to or greater than one month and less than one year.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index consists of publicly-issued U.S. Treasury securities that have a remaining maturity of equal to or greater than one month and less than one year and have $300 million or more of outstanding face value, excluding amounts held by the Fed. In addition, the securities in the Underlying Index must be fixed-rate and denominated in U.S. dollars. Excluded from the Underlying Index are inflation-linked securities, cash management bills, any government agency debt issued with or without a government guarantee and zero-coupon issues that have been stripped from coupon-paying bonds. The Underlying Index is weighted by market capitalization, and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.

The Markit iBoxx Indexes

Markit iBoxx^® USD Liquid High Yield Index

Number of Components: approximately 983

Index Description. The Markit iBoxx^® USD Liquid High Yield Index measures the performance of the liquid high yield corporate bond market. As of February 28, 2018, the Underlying Index is a rules-based index consisting of approximately 983 liquid high yield, U.S. dollar-denominated corporate bonds that seeks to maximize liquidity while maintaining representation of the broader corporate bond market.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index is a subset of a broader high yield universe of sub- investment-grade bonds. Bonds in the Underlying Index are selected from the universe of eligible bonds in the Markit iBoxx USD Corporate Bond Index using defined rules. The bonds eligible for inclusion in the Underlying Index include U.S. dollar-denominated corporate bonds that: (i) are issued by companies domiciled in the countries classified as developed markets by the index provider; (ii) have an average rating of sub-investment grade (ratings from Fitch, Moody's or S&P Global Ratings are considered; if more than one agency provides a rating, the average rating is attached to the bond); (iii) are from issuers with at least $1 billion of outstanding face value (iv) are bond issues with at least $400 million of outstanding face value; (v) have an original maturity date of less than 15 years; (vi) have at least one year remaining to maturity; and (vii) have at least one year and 6 months to maturity for new index insertions.

Component Selection Criteria. Eligible bonds are chosen by applying the eligibility rules listed above. The Underlying Index is a modified market value weighted index with a cap on each issuer at 3%. There is no maximum number of bond issues per issuer eligible, but to avoid an over-concentration in any single-issuer, the methodology caps single-issuer exposure to no more than 3% of the index weight, calculated on the last business day of each month. The Underlying Index is updated monthly on the last business day of each month.

Markit iBoxx^® USD Liquid Investment Grade Index

Number of Components: approximately 1,823

Index Description. The Markit iBoxx^® USD Liquid Investment Grade Index measures the performance as of February 28, 2018, of approximately 1,823 highly liquid investment-grade corporate bonds. The Underlying Index is a rules-based index consisting of highly liquid, investment-grade, U.S. dollar-denominated corporate bonds that seeks to maximize liquidity while maintaining representation of the broader corporate bond market.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index is a subset of the Markit iBoxx USD Corporate Bond Index, which as of February 28, 2018 is an index of 5,510 investment-grade bonds. Bonds in the Underlying Index are selected from the universe of eligible bonds in the Markit iBoxx USD Corporate Bond Index using defined rules. Currently, the bonds eligible for inclusion in the Underlying Index consist of U.S. dollar-denominated corporate bonds that: (i) are issued by companies domiciled in the countries classified as developed markets by the index provider; (ii) have an average rating of investment grade (ratings from Fitch, Moody’s, or S&P Global Ratings are considered; if more than one agency provides a rating, the average rating is attached to the bond); (iii) are from issuers with at least $2 billion outstanding face value; (iv) have at least $750 million of outstanding face value; (v) have at least three years to maturity; and (vi) have at least three years and 6 months to maturity for new index insertions.

Component Selection Criteria. Eligible bonds are chosen by applying the eligibility rules listed above. The Underlying Index is a modified market value weighted index with a cap on each issuer at 3%. The number of bonds in the Underlying Index may change and there is no constraint on the number of index constituents. There is no maximum number of bond issues per issuer eligible, but to avoid an over-concentration in any single-issuer, the methodology caps single-issuer exposure to no more than 3% of the index weight, calculated on the last business day of each month. The Underlying Index is updated monthly on the last business day of each month.

The composition of the Underlying Index is held constant for any given calendar month to ensure continuity during the month and to avoid jumps unrelated to the price movements of the bonds. The inclusion and exclusion criteria above are applied at month-end, after the close of business. Bonds that were in the Underlying Index, but that no longer satisfy all the criteria at month-end, will be removed from the Underlying Index. If a bond becomes eligible in the middle of the month, it will still need to satisfy the criteria at the end of the month, and can be included only upon rebalancing at month-end. When a bond is called, it remains in the Underlying Index at its call price until the end of the month, after which it is removed. Changes in issue size that take place during the month are taken into consideration only at the next rebalancing date.

Markit^® and iBoxx^® are registered trademarks of Markit Group Limited and Markit Indices Limited, respectively. The methodologies of the iBoxx^® indexes are owned by Markit Indices Limited and may be covered by one or more patents or pending patent applications.

The S&P Indexes

Issue Changes. General oversight responsibility for the S&P Indexes, including overall policy guidelines and methodology, is handled by an S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (“SPDJI”) Index Committee. Maintenance of component investments, including additions and deletions to these investments, is the responsibility of separate regional index committees composed of S&P index staff specialized in the various regional equity markets and, in some cases with the assistance of local stock exchanges. Public announcements of index changes as the result of committee decisions will generally be made two business days in advance of the anticipated effective date whenever possible, although for exceptional corporate events announcements may be made earlier.

Index Maintenance. Maintaining the S&P Indexes includes monitoring and completing the adjustments for company additions and deletions, share changes, stock splits, stock dividends, and stock price adjustments due to restructuring and spin-offs.

Index Availability. Most S&P Fixed-Income Indexes are calculated at the end of the business day. All S&P Indexes are available from major data vendors.

S&P California AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index^TM

Number of Components: approximately 2,210

Index Description. The S&P California AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index^TM is a broad, comprehensive, market-value weighted index designed to measure the performance of the investment-grade California sector of the U.S. municipal bond market. As of February 28, 2018, the Underlying Index consisted of 2,210 bonds, with a total market value of $155.13 billion. The

Underlying Index is a subset of the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index^TM and represented approximately 21.26% of the weight of the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index^TM as of February 28, 2018.

Index Methodology. To be included in the Underlying Index, bonds must meet all of the following criteria: (i) the bond issuer is from a California State or local government or agency whose interest payments are exempt from U.S. federal and California State income taxes and the federal AMT as determined by the index provider in accordance with its methodology; (ii) the bond must be denominated in U.S. dollars; (iii) the bond must have a rating of at least BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, Baa3 by Moody’s, or BBB- by Fitch. 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 a bond is investment-grade; (iv) each bond in the Underlying Index 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 and must maintain a minimum Par Amount greater than or equal to $25 million as of seven days prior to last business day of each month (“Rebalancing Reference Date”); and (v) as of the last business day of each month (“Rebalancing Date”), the bond must have a minimum term to maturity and/or pre-refunded or call date greater than or equal to one calendar month. “Business Day” is defined as any day that U.S. municipal bonds are traded, as determined by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (“SIFMA”) and/or the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”). Bonds that are completely called or tendered during the course of the month and bonds that are scheduled to be completely called or redeemed, during the course of the month following the Rebalancing Date, will be removed on the Rebalancing Date. At each monthly rebalancing, no one issuer can represent more than 25% of the weight of the Underlying Index; and individual issuers that represent at least 5% of the weight of the Underlying Index cannot account for more than 50% of the weight of the Underlying Index in aggregate. The following types of bonds are specifically excluded from the Underlying Index: commercial paper, derivative securities (inverse floaters, forwards, and swaps), housing bonds, non-rated bonds, notes, taxable municipals, tobacco bonds, and variable rate debt and certain conduit financed municipal securities.

Component Selection Criteria. Eligible bonds are approved by the SPDJI Index Committee who oversees the management of the Underlying Index and are added to the Underlying Index on the next Rebalancing Date, subject to the schedule of the monthly rebalancing procedures.

Index Maintenance. The Underlying Index is a market-value weighted index. S&P's pricing division, Securities Evaluations, reports the price of each bond in the index each day. The prices used in the index calculation will add the accrued interest for each bond to the price reported by S&P. The total return is calculated by aggregating the interest return, reflecting the return due to paid and accrued interest, and principal return, reflecting the capital gains or losses due to changes in S&P's end-of-day price and principal repayments and the reinvestment return, reflecting the reinvestment of related cash flows. The Underlying Index is generally reviewed and rebalanced on a monthly basis. The SPDJI Index Committee, nevertheless, reserves the right to make adjustments to the Underlying Index at any time that it believes appropriate. Additions, deletions and other changes to the Underlying Index arising from the monthly rebalancing are published three business days prior to the last business day of the month (the “Announcement Date”). Publicly available information, up to and including the close on the sixth Business Day preceding the Rebalancing Date, is considered in the rebalancing. Underlying Index changes published in the announcement will not normally be subject to revision and will become effective after the close. However, credit rating changes that occur on a business day prior to the Rebalancing Date will be reflected in the rebalancing, where such changes would cause any one of the following: (i) deletion of an index bond because it no longer meets the eligibility criteria; (ii) removal of a bond from the additions list because it is no longer an eligible bond; or (iii) removal of an index bond from the deletions list because it is once again eligible. Users will be notified of any ratings-driven changes to the rebalancing.

S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index^TM

Number of Components: approximately 11,852

Index Description. The S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index^TM is a broad, comprehensive, market-value weighted index designed to measure the performance of the investment-grade U.S. municipal bond market. As of February 28, 2018, the Underlying Index consisted of 11,852 bonds, with a total market value of $729.75 billion.

Global Ratings, Baa3 by Moody’s, or BBB- by Fitch. A bond must be rated by at least one of these three rating agencies in order to qualify for the index, and the lowest rating will be used in determining if a bond is investment-grade; (iv) each bond in the Underlying Index 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 and must maintain a minimum Par Amount greater than or equal to $25 million as of seven days prior to last Business Day of each month (“Rebalancing Reference Date”); and (v) as of the last Business Day of each month (“Rebalancing Date”), the bond must have a minimum term to maturity and/or pre-refunded or call date greater than or equal to one calendar month. “Business Day” is defined as any day that U.S. municipal bonds are traded, as determined by the SIFMA and/or the NYSE. Bonds that are completely called or tendered during the course of the month and bonds that are scheduled to be completely called or redeemed, during the course of the month following the Rebalancing Date, will be removed on the Rebalancing Date. At each monthly rebalancing, no one issuer can represent more than 25% of the weight of the Underlying Index; and individual issuers that represent at least 5% of the weight of the Underlying Index cannot account for more than 50% of the weight of the Underlying Index in aggregate. The following types of bonds are specifically excluded from the Underlying Index: commercial paper, derivative securities (inverse floaters, forwards, and swaps), housing bonds, non-rated bonds, notes, taxable municipals, tobacco bonds, and variable rate debt and certain conduit financed municipal securities.

Component Selection Criteria. Eligible bonds are approved by the SPDJI Index Committee who oversees the management of the Underlying index and are added to the Underlying Index on the next Rebalancing Date, subject to the schedule of the monthly rebalancing procedures.

Index Maintenance. The Underlying Index is a market-value weighted index. S&P's pricing division, Securities Evaluations, reports the price of each bond in the index each day. The prices used in the index calculation will add the accrued interest for each bond to the price reported by S&P. The total return is calculated by aggregating the interest return, reflecting the return due to paid and accrued interest, and principal return, reflecting the capital gains or losses due to changes in S&P's end-of-day price and principal repayments and the reinvestment return, reflecting the reinvestment of related cash flows. The Underlying Index is generally reviewed and rebalanced on a monthly basis. The SPDJI Index Committee, nevertheless, reserves the right to make adjustments to the Underlying Index at any time that it believes appropriate. Additions, deletions and other changes to the Underlying Index arising from the monthly rebalancing are published three Business Days prior to the last business day of the month (the “Announcement Date”). Publicly available information, up to and including the close on the sixth Business Day preceding the Rebalancing Date, is considered in the rebalancing. Underlying Index changes published in the announcement will not normally be subject to revision and will become effective after the close. However, credit rating changes that occur on a Business Day prior to the Rebalancing Date will be reflected in the rebalancing, where such changes would cause any one of the following: (i) deletion of an index bond because it no longer meets the eligibility criteria; (ii) removal of a bond from the additions list because it is no longer an eligible bond; (iii) removal of an index bond from the deletions list because it is once again eligible. Users will be notified of any ratings-driven changes to the rebalancing.

S&P New York AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index^TM

Number of Components: approximately 2,404

Index Description. The S&P New York AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index^TM is a broad, comprehensive, market-value weighted index designed to measure the performance of the investment-grade New York sector of the U.S. municipal bond market. As of February 28, 2018, the Underlying Index consisted of 2,404 bonds, with a total market value of $156.83 billion. The Underlying Index is a subset of the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index^TM and represented approximately 21.49% of the weight of the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index^TM as of February 28, 2018.

Index Methodology. To be included in the Underlying Index, bonds must meet all of the following criteria: (i) the bond issuer is from New York State or a local government or agency whose interest payments are exempt from U.S. federal and New York state income taxes and the federal AMT, as determined by the index provider in accordance with its methodology; (ii) the bond must be denominated in U.S. dollars; (iii) the bond must have a rating of at least BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, Baa3 by Moody’s, or BBB- by Fitch. A bond must be rated by at least one of these three rating agencies in order to qualify for the index, and the lowest rating will be used in determining if a bond is investment-grade; (iv) each bond in the Underlying Index 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 and must maintain a minimum Par Amount greater than or equal to $25 million as of seven days prior to last Business Day of each month (“Rebalancing Reference Date”); and (v) as of the last

Business Day of each month (“Rebalancing Date”), the bond must have a minimum term to maturity and/or pre-refunded or call date greater than or equal to one calendar month. “Business Day” is defined as any day that U.S. municipal bonds are traded, as determined by the SIFMA and/or the NYSE. Bonds that are completely called or tendered during the course of the month and bonds that are scheduled to be completely called or redeemed, during the course of the month following the Rebalancing Date, will be removed on the Rebalancing Date. At each monthly rebalancing, no one issuer can represent more than 25% of the weight of the Underlying Index; and individual issuers that represent at least 5% of the weight of the Underlying Index cannot account for more than 50% of the weight of the Underlying Index in aggregate. The following types of bonds are specifically excluded from the Underlying Index: commercial paper, derivative securities (inverse floaters, forwards, and swaps), housing bonds, non-rated bonds, notes, taxable municipals, tobacco bonds, and variable rate debt and certain conduit financed municipal securities.

Index Maintenance. The Underlying Index is a market-value weighted index. S&P's pricing division, Securities Evaluations, reports the price of each bond in the index each day. The prices used in the index calculation will add the accrued interest for each bond to the price reported by S&P. The total return is calculated by aggregating the interest return, reflecting the return due to paid and accrued interest, and principal return, reflecting the capital gains or losses due to changes in S&P's end-of-day price and principal repayments and the reinvestment return, reflecting the reinvestment of related cash flows. The Underlying Index is generally reviewed and rebalanced on a monthly basis. The SPDJI Index Committee, nevertheless, reserves the right to make adjustments to the Underlying Index at any time that it believes appropriate. Additions, deletions and other changes to the Underlying Index arising from the monthly rebalancing are published three Business Days prior to the last business day of the month (the “Announcement Date”). Publicly available information, up to and including the close on the sixth Business Day preceding the Rebalancing Date, is considered in the rebalancing. Underlying Index changes published in the announcement will not normally be subject to revision and will become effective after the close. However, credit rating changes that occur on a Business Day prior to the Rebalancing Date will be reflected in the rebalancing, where such changes would cause any one of the following: (i) deletion of an index bond because it no longer meets the eligibility criteria; (ii) removal of a bond from the additions list because it is no longer an eligible bond; (iii) removal of an index bond from the deletions list because it is once again eligible. Users will be notified of any ratings-driven changes to the rebalancing.

S&P Short Term National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index^TM

Number of Components: approximately 3,412

Index Description. The S&P Short Term National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index^TM is a broad, comprehensive, market-value weighted index designed to measure the performance of the short-term investment-grade U.S. municipal bond market. As of February 28, 2018, the Underlying Index consisted of 3,412 issues, with a total market value of $197.07 billion. The Underlying Index is a subset of the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index^TM and represented approximately 27.00% of the weight of the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index^TM as of February 28, 2018.

Index Methodology. In order for a bond to be classified as eligible for inclusion in the Underlying Index, a bond must meet all of the following criteria: (i) the bond issuer is a state or local government or agency such that interest on the bond is exempt from U.S. federal income taxes and the federal AMT, as determined by the index provider in accordance with its methodology; (ii) the bond must be denominated in U.S. dollars; (iii) the bond must have a rating of at least BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, Baa3 by Moody’s, or BBB- by Fitch. 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 a bond is investment-grade; (iv) each bond in the index 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, a bond must maintain a minimum par amount greater than or equal to $25 million as of seven days prior to last Business Day of each month (“Rebalancing Reference Date”); and (v) as of the last Business Day of each month (“Rebalancing Date”), the bond must have a remaining term to maturity and/or pre-refunded or call date that is less than or equal to five years and greater than or equal to one calendar month. “Business Day” is defined as any day that U.S. municipal bonds are traded, as determined by SIFMA and/or NYSE. Bonds that are completely called or tendered during the course of the month and bonds that are scheduled to be completely called or redeemed, during the course of the month following the Rebalancing Date, will be removed on the Rebalancing Date. At each monthly rebalancing, no one issuer can represent more than 25% of the weight of the Underlying Index; and individual issuers that represent at least 5% of the weight of the Underlying Index cannot account for more than

50% of the weight of the Underlying Index in aggregate. The following types of bonds are specifically excluded from the Underlying Index: commercial paper, derivative securities (inverse floaters, forwards, and swaps), housing bonds, non-rated bonds, notes, taxable municipals, tobacco bonds, and variable rate debt and certain conduit financed municipal securities.

Index Maintenance. The Underlying Index is a market-value weighted index. S&P's pricing division, Securities Evaluations, reports the price of each bond in the index each day. The prices used in the index calculation will add the accrued interest for each bond to the price reported by S&P. The total return is calculated by aggregating the interest return, reflecting the return due to paid and accrued interest, and principal return, reflecting the capital gains or losses due to changes in S&P's end-of-day price and principal repayments and the reinvestment return, reflecting the reinvestment of related cash flows. The Underlying Index is generally reviewed and rebalanced on a monthly basis. The SPDJI Index Committee, nevertheless, reserves the right to make adjustments to the Underlying Index at any time that it believes appropriate. Additions, deletions and other changes to the Underlying Index arising from the monthly rebalancing are published three Business Days prior to the last business day of the month (the “Announcement Date”). Publicly available information, up to and including the close on the sixth Business Day preceding the Rebalancing Date, is considered in the rebalancing. Underlying Index changes published in the announcement will not normally be subject to revision and will become effective after the close. However, credit rating changes that occur on a Business Day prior to the Rebalancing Date will be reflected in the rebalancing, where such changes would cause any one of the following: (i) deletion of an index bond because it no longer meets the eligibility criteria; (ii) removal of a bond from the additions list because it is no longer an eligible bond; (iii) removal of an index bond from the deletions list because it is once again eligible. Users will be notified of any ratings-driven changes to the rebalancing.

Changes in Circumstances Affecting Index Use. If, in the future, a Fund’s Underlying Index is discontinued by its index provider or the Trustees determine that it would not be beneficial to shareholders for the Fund to continue operations using its Underlying Index, the Trustees may change the Underlying Index as described in the Investment Limitations section of this SAI or cause a Fund to effect a merger or reorganization with another Fund. To the extent permitted by law, such change or merger or reorganization may be effected without a vote of shareholders.

Investment Restrictions

Each Fund has adopted its investment objective as a non-fundamental investment policy. Therefore, each Fund may change its investment objective and its Underlying Index without shareholder approval. The Board has adopted as fundamental policies the following numbered investment restrictions, which cannot be changed without the approval of the holders of a majority of the applicable Fund’s outstanding voting securities. A vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of a Fund is defined in the 1940 Act as the lesser of (i) 67% or more of the voting securities present at a shareholder meeting, if the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund are present or represented by proxy, or (ii) more than 50% of outstanding voting securities of the Fund.

The iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF, iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF, iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF and iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF will not:

1.	Concentrate its investments (i.e., invest 25% or more of its total assets in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries), except that a Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that its Underlying Index concentrates in the securities of such particular industry or group of industries. 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.
2.	Borrow money, except that (i) each Fund may borrow from banks for temporary or emergency (not leveraging) purposes, including the meeting of redemption requests which might otherwise require the untimely disposition of securities; and (ii) each Fund may, to the extent consistent with its investment policies, enter into repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, forward roll transactions and similar investment strategies and techniques. To the extent that it engages in transactions described in (i) and (ii), each Fund will be limited so that no more than 33 1/3% of the value of its total assets (including the amount borrowed) is derived from such transactions. Any borrowings which come to exceed this amount will be reduced in accordance with applicable law.
3.	Issue any senior security, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time.

4.	Make loans, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time.
5.	Purchase or sell real estate, real estate mortgages, commodities or commodity contracts, but this restriction shall not prevent each Fund from trading in futures contracts and options on futures contracts (including options on currencies to the extent consistent with each Fund’s investment objective and policies). (Notwithstanding the foregoing, the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF may purchase or sell MBS, commercial MBS and real estate mortgages.)
6.	Engage in the business of underwriting securities issued by other persons, except to the extent that each Fund may technically be deemed to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act, in disposing of portfolio securities.

The iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF, iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF, iShares Agency Bond ETF, iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, iShares California Muni Bond ETF, iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF, iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF, iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF, iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF, iShares MBS ETF, iShares National Muni Bond ETF, iShares New York Muni Bond ETF, iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF and iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF will not:

1.	Concentrate its investments (i.e., invest 25% or more of its total assets in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries), except that a Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that its Underlying Index concentrates in the securities of such particular industry or group of industries. 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.
2.	Borrow money, except that (i) each Fund may borrow from banks for temporary or emergency (not leveraging) purposes, including the meeting of redemption requests which might otherwise require the untimely disposition of securities, and (ii) each Fund may, to the extent consistent with its investment policies, enter into repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, forward roll transactions and similar investment strategies and techniques. To the extent that it engages in transactions described in (i) and (ii), each Fund will be limited so that no more than 33 1/3% of the value of its total assets (including the amount borrowed) is derived from such transactions. Any borrowings which come to exceed this amount will be reduced in accordance with applicable law.
3.	Issue any senior security, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as amended, and as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time.
4.	Make loans, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time.
5.	Purchase or sell real estate unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments (but this restriction shall not prevent each Fund from investing in securities of companies engaged in the real estate business or securities or other instruments backed by real estate or mortgages), or commodities or commodity contracts (but this restriction shall not prevent each Fund from trading in futures contracts and options on futures contracts, including options on currencies to the extent consistent with each Fund’s investment objective and policies).
6.	Engage in the business of underwriting securities issued by other persons, except to the extent that each Fund may technically be deemed to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act, in disposing of portfolio securities.

The iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF, iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF and iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF may not:

1.	Concentrate its investments in a particular industry, as that term is used in the 1940 Act, except that a Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that its Underlying Index concentrates in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries.
2.	Borrow money, except as permitted under the 1940 Act.
3.	Issue senior securities to the extent such issuance would violate the 1940 Act.
4.	Purchase or hold real estate, except the Fund may purchase and hold securities or other instruments that are secured by, or linked to, real estate or interests therein, securities of REITs, mortgage-related securities and securities of issuers engaged in the real estate business, and the Fund may purchase and hold real estate as a result of the ownership of securities or other instruments.

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5.	Underwrite securities issued by others, except to the extent that the sale of portfolio securities by the Fund may be deemed to be an underwriting or as otherwise permitted by applicable law.
6.	Purchase or sell commodities or commodity contracts, except as permitted by the 1940 Act.
7.	Make loans to the extent prohibited by the 1940 Act.

Notations Regarding each of the iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF's, iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF's and iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF's Fundamental Investment Restrictions

The following notations are not considered to be part of each Fund's fundamental investment restrictions and are subject to change without shareholder approval.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to concentration set forth in (1) above, the Investment Company Act does not define what constitutes “concentration” in an industry. The SEC staff has taken the position that investment of 25% or more of a fund’s total assets in one or more issuers conducting their principal activities in the same industry or group of industries constitutes concentration. It is possible that interpretations of concentration could change in the future. The policy in (1) above will be interpreted to refer to concentration as that term may be interpreted from time to time. The policy also will be interpreted to permit investment without limit in the following: securities of the U.S. government and its agencies or instrumentalities; securities of state, territory, possession or municipal governments and their authorities, agencies, instrumentalities or political subdivisions; and repurchase agreements collateralized by any such obligations. Accordingly, issuers of the foregoing securities will not be considered to be members of any industry. There also will be no limit on investment in issuers domiciled in a single jurisdiction or country. Finance companies will be considered to be in the industries of their parents if their activities are primarily related to financing the activities of the parents. Each foreign government will be considered to be a member of a separate industry. With respect to each Fund's industry classifications, the Fund currently utilizes any one or more of the industry sub-classifications used by one or more widely recognized market indexes or rating group indexes, and/or as defined by Fund management. The policy also will be interpreted to give broad authority to each Fund as to how to classify issuers within or among industries.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to borrowing money set forth in (2) above, the Investment Company Act permits each Fund to borrow money in amounts of up to one-third of the Fund’s total assets from banks for any purpose, and to borrow up to 5% of the Fund’s total assets from banks or other lenders for temporary purposes. (The Fund’s total assets include the amounts being borrowed.) To limit the risks attendant to borrowing, the Investment Company Act requires each Fund to maintain at all times an “asset coverage” of at least 300% of the amount of its borrowings. Asset coverage means the ratio that the value of each Fund's total assets (including amounts borrowed), minus liabilities other than borrowings, bears to the aggregate amount of all borrowings. Borrowing money to increase portfolio holdings is known as “leveraging.” Certain trading practices and investments, such as reverse repurchase agreements, may be considered to be borrowings or involve leverage and thus are subject to the Investment Company Act restrictions. In accordance with SEC staff guidance and interpretations, when each Fund engages in such transactions, the Fund instead of maintaining asset coverage of at least 300%, may segregate or earmark liquid assets, or enter into an offsetting position, in an amount at least equal to the Fund’s exposure, on a mark-to-market basis, to the transaction (as calculated pursuant to requirements of the SEC). The policy in (2) above will be interpreted to permit each Fund to engage in trading practices and investments that may be considered to be borrowing or to involve leverage to the extent permitted by the Investment Company Act and to permit each Fund to segregate or earmark liquid assets or enter into offsetting positions in accordance with the Investment Company Act. Short-term credits necessary for the settlement of securities transactions and arrangements with respect to securities lending will not be considered to be borrowings under the policy. Practices and investments that may involve leverage but are not considered to be borrowings are not subject to the policy.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to underwriting set forth in (5) above, the Investment Company Act does not prohibit each Fund from engaging in the underwriting business or from underwriting the securities of other issuers; in fact, in the case of diversified funds, the Investment Company Act permits the Fund to have underwriting commitments of up to 25% of its assets under certain circumstances. Those circumstances currently are that the amount of each Fund's underwriting commitments, when added to the value of the Fund’s investments in issuers where each Fund owns more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of those issuers, cannot exceed the 25% cap. A fund engaging in transactions involving the acquisition or disposition of portfolio securities may be considered to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act. Although it is not believed that the application of the 1933 Act provisions described above would cause each Fund to be engaged in the business of underwriting, the policy in (5) above will be interpreted not to prevent the Fund from engaging in

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transactions involving the acquisition or disposition of portfolio securities, regardless of whether the Fund may be considered to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act or is otherwise engaged in the underwriting business to the extent permitted by applicable law.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to lending set forth in (7) above, the Investment Company Act does not prohibit each Fund from making loans (including lending its securities); however, SEC staff interpretations currently prohibit funds from lending more than one-third of their total assets (including lending its securities), except through the purchase of debt obligations or the use of repurchase agreements. In addition, collateral arrangements with respect to options, forward currency and futures transactions and other derivative instruments (as applicable), as well as delays in the settlement of securities transactions, will not be considered loans.

Under its non-fundamental investment restrictions, which may be changed by the Board without shareholder approval, iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF, iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF and iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF may not make short sales of securities or maintain a short position, except to the extent permitted by the iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF's, iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF's and iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF's Prospectus and SAI, as amended from time to time, and applicable law.

Unless otherwise indicated, all limitations under each Fund's fundamental or non-fundamental investment restrictions apply only at the time that a transaction is undertaken. Any change in the percentage of each Fund's assets invested in certain securities or other instruments resulting from market fluctuations or other changes in each Fund’s total assets will not require each Fund to dispose of an investment until BFA determines that it is practicable to sell or close out the investment without undue market or tax consequences.

In addition to the investment restrictions adopted as fundamental policies, set forth above, each Fund (except the iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF, iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF and iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF) has adopted a non-fundamental policy not to invest in the securities of a company for the purpose of exercising management or control, or purchase or otherwise acquire any illiquid security, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, which currently permits up to 15% of each Fund’s net assets to be invested in illiquid securities (calculated at the time of investment). Except with regard to the fundamental policy relating to senior securities set forth in (3) above for all Funds, if any percentage restriction described above is complied with at the time of an investment, a later increase or decrease in percentage resulting from a change in values of assets will not constitute a violation of such restriction.

BFA monitors the liquidity of restricted securities in each Fund’s portfolio. In reaching liquidity decisions, BFA considers the following factors:

•	The frequency of trades and quotes for the security;
•	The number of dealers wishing to purchase or sell the security and the number of other potential purchasers;
•	Dealer undertakings to make a market in the security; and
•	The nature of the security and the nature of the marketplace in which it trades (e.g., the time needed to dispose of the security, the method of soliciting offers and the mechanics of transfer).

Under normal circumstances (i) each of the iShares National Muni Bond ETF and the iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF will invest at least 80% of the value of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in investments the income of which is free from federal income tax, including AMT; (ii) the iShares California Muni Bond ETF will invest at least 80% of the value of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in investments the income of which is free from federal income tax, including AMT, and California income tax; and (iii) the iShares New York Muni Bond ETF will invest at least 80% of the value of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in investments the income of which is free from federal income tax, including AMT, and New York income tax. These policies are fundamental policies of the Municipal Bond Funds and may not be changed without a vote of a majority of each Fund’s outstanding voting securities, as defined in the 1940 Act. Each Fund (except the Municipal Bond Funds) has adopted a non-fundamental investment policy to invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the value of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in securities in the Fund's Underlying Index and (except the iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF and iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF) in TBA transactions with respect to the percentage of the Underlying Index (if any) that consists of mortgage-pass through securities. Each of the iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF and iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF have adopted an additional non-fundamental policy under which the iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF and iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, under

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normal circumstances, will invest, at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in securities of U.S. issuers. Each Fund also has adopted a policy to provide its shareholders with at least 60 days’ prior written notice of any change in such policy. If, subsequent to an investment, an 80% requirement is no longer met, a Fund’s future investments will be made in a manner that will bring the Fund into compliance with this policy.

Each Fund has adopted a non-fundamental limitation such that, under normal market conditions, any borrowings by the Fund will not exceed 10% of the Fund’s net assets.

Each Fund may not purchase securities of other investment companies, except to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act. As a matter of policy, however, a Fund will not purchase shares of any registered open-end investment company or registered unit investment trust, in reliance on Section 12(d)(1)(F) or (G) (the “fund of funds” provisions) of the 1940 Act, at any time the Fund has knowledge that its shares are purchased by another investment company investor in reliance on the provisions of subparagraph (G) of Section 12(d)(1).

Continuous Offering

The method by which Creation Units are created and traded may raise certain issues under applicable securities laws. Because new Creation Units are issued and sold by the Funds on an ongoing basis, at any point a “distribution,” as such term is used in the 1933 Act, may occur. Broker-dealers and other persons are cautioned that some activities on their part may, depending on the circumstances, result in their being deemed participants in a distribution in a manner that could render them statutory underwriters and subject them to the prospectus delivery requirement and liability provisions of the 1933 Act.

Broker-dealer firms should also note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are effecting transactions in shares, whether or not participating in the distribution of shares, generally are required to deliver a prospectus. This is because the prospectus delivery exemption in Section 4(a)(3) of the 1933 Act is not available in respect of such transactions as a result of Section 24(d) of the 1940 Act. Firms that incur a prospectus delivery obligation with respect to shares of the Funds are reminded that, pursuant to Rule 153 under the 1933 Act, a prospectus delivery obligation under Section 5(b)(2) of the 1933 Act owed to an exchange member in connection with a sale on the Listing Exchange generally is satisfied by the fact that the prospectus is available at the Listing Exchange upon request. The prospectus delivery mechanism provided in Rule 153 is available only with respect to transactions on an exchange.

Management

Trustees and Officers. The Board has responsibility for the overall management and operations of the Funds, including general supervision of the duties performed by BFA and other service providers. Each Trustee serves until he or she resigns, is removed, dies, retires or becomes incapacitated. Each officer shall hold office until his or her successor is elected and qualifies or until his or her death, resignation or removal. Trustees who are not “interested persons” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust are referred to as independent trustees (“Independent Trustees”).

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Wiedman, Charles Park, Martin Small and Benjamin Archibald, the address of each Trustee and officer is c/o BlackRock, Inc., 400 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. The address of Mr. Kapito, Mr. Wiedman, Mr. Park, Mr. Small and Mr. Archibald is c/o BlackRock, Inc., Park Avenue Plaza, 55 East 52^nd Street, New York, NY 10055. The Board has designated Cecilia H. Herbert as its Independent Board Chair. Additional information about the Funds' Trustees and officers may be found in this SAI, which is available without charge, upon request, by calling toll-free 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737).

Interested Trustees

Name (Age)	Position	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years	Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Robert S. Kapito¹ (61)	Trustee (since 2009).	President, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2006); Vice Chairman of BlackRock, Inc. and Head of BlackRock’s Portfolio Management Group (since its formation in 1998) and BlackRock, Inc.’s predecessor entities (since 1988); Trustee, University of Pennsylvania (since 2009); President of Board of Directors, Hope & Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund (since 2002).	Director of BlackRock, Inc. (since 2006); Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2009); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).
Mark K. Wiedman² (47)	Trustee (since 2013).	Senior Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2014); Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2007-2014); Global Head of BlackRock’s ETF and Index Investments Business (since 2016); Global Head of iShares (2011-2016); Head of Corporate Strategy, BlackRock, Inc. (2009-2011).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2013); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2013); Director of PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (since 2008).

¹	Robert S. Kapito is deemed to be an “interested person” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust due to his affiliations with BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates.
²	Mark K. Wiedman is deemed to be an “interested person” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust due to his affiliations with BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates.

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Independent Trustees

Name (Age)	Position	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years	Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Cecilia H. Herbert (69)	Trustee (since 2005); Independent Board Chair (since 2016).	Trustee and Member of the Finance, Technology and Quality Committee of Stanford Health Care (since 2016); Trustee and Member of the Investment Committee, WNET, a New York public media company (since 2011); Chair (1994-2005) and Member (since 1992) of the Investment Committee, Archdiocese of San Francisco; Director (1998-2013) and President (2007-2011) of the Board of Directors, Catholic Charities CYO; Trustee (2002-2011) and Chair of the Finance and Investment Committee (2006-2010) of the Thacher School.	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011); Independent Board Chair of iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2016); Trustee of Forward Funds (14 portfolios) (since 2009); Trustee of Salient MF Trust (4 portfolios) (since 2015).
Jane D. Carlin (62)	Trustee (since 2015); Risk Committee Chair (since 2016).	Consultant (since 2012); Managing Director and Global Head of Financial Holding Company Governance & Assurance and the Global Head of Operational Risk Management of Morgan Stanley (2006-2012).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2015); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2015); Director of PHH Corporation (mortgage solutions) (since 2012); Director of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (since 2016).
Richard L. Fagnani (63)	Trustee (since 2017); Equity Plus Committee Chair (since 2017).	Partner, KPMG LLP (2002-2016).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2017); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2017).
Charles A. Hurty (74)	Trustee (since 2005); Audit Committee Chair (since 2006).	Retired; Partner, KPMG LLP (1968-2001).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011); Director of SkyBridge Alternative Investments Multi-Adviser Hedge Fund Portfolios LLC (2 portfolios) (since 2002).
John E. Kerrigan (62)	Trustee (since 2005); Securities Lending Committee Chair (since 2016).	Chief Investment Officer, Santa Clara University (since 2002).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).
Drew E. Lawton (59)	Trustee (since 2017); 15(c) Committee Chair (since 2017).	Senior Managing Director of New York Life Insurance Company (2010-2015).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2017); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2017).
John E. Martinez (57)	Trustee (since 2003); Fixed Income Plus Committee Chair (since 2016).	Director of Real Estate Equity Exchange, Inc. (since 2005).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2003); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).

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Name (Age)		Position		Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years		Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Madhav V. Rajan (53)		Trustee (since 2011); Nominating and Governance Committee Chair (since 2017).		Dean, and George Pratt Shultz Professor of Accounting, University of Chicago Booth School of Business (since 2017); Robert K. Jaedicke Professor of Accounting, Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2001-2017); Professor of Law (by courtesy), Stanford Law School (2005-2017); Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Head of MBA Program, Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2010-2016).		Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2011); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011); Director, Cavium, Inc. (since 2013).

Officers

Name (Age)	Position	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years
Martin Small (42)	President (since 2016).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2010); Head of U.S. iShares (since 2015); Co-Head of the U.S. Financial Markets Advisory Group, BlackRock, Inc. (2008-2014).
Jack Gee (58)	Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer (since 2008).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009); Senior Director of Fund Administration of Intermediary Investor Business, BGI (2009).
Charles Park (50)	Chief Compliance Officer (since 2006).	Chief Compliance Officer of BlackRock Advisors, LLC and the BlackRock-advised Funds in the Equity-Bond Complex, the Equity-Liquidity Complex and the Closed-End Complex (since 2014); Chief Compliance Officer of BFA (since 2006).
Benjamin Archibald (43)	Secretary (since 2015).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2014); Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2010-2013); Secretary of the BlackRock-advised mutual funds (since 2012).
Steve Messinger (56)	Executive Vice President (since 2016).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2007-2014 and since 2016); Managing Director, Beacon Consulting Group (2014-2016).
Scott Radell (49)	Executive Vice President (since 2012).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009); Head of Portfolio Solutions, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009).

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Name (Age)		Position		Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years
Alan Mason (57)		Executive Vice President (since 2016).		Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009).

The Board has concluded that, based on each Trustee’s experience, qualifications, attributes or skills on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other Trustees, each Trustee should serve as a Trustee of the Board. Among the attributes common to all Trustees are their ability to review critically, evaluate, question and discuss information provided to them, to interact effectively with the Funds' investment adviser, other service providers, counsel and the independent registered public accounting firm, and to exercise effective business judgment in the performance of their duties as Trustees. A Trustee’s ability to perform his or her duties effectively may have been attained through the Trustee’s educational background or professional training; business, consulting, public service or academic positions; experience from service as a Board member of the Funds and the other funds in the Trust (and any predecessor funds), other investment funds, public companies, or non-profit entities or other organizations; and/or other life experiences. Also, set forth below is a brief discussion of the specific experience, qualifications, attributes or skills of each Trustee that led the Board to conclude that he or she should serve (or continue to serve) as a Trustee.

Robert S. Kapito has been a Trustee of the Trust since 2009. Mr. Kapito has served as a Director of iShares, Inc. since 2009, a Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2011 and a Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2006. Mr. Kapito served as a Director of iShares MSCI Russia Capped ETF, Inc. from 2010 to 2015. In addition, he has over 20 years of experience as part of BlackRock, Inc. and BlackRock’s predecessor entities. Mr. Kapito serves as President of BlackRock, Inc., and is a member of the Global Executive Committee and Chairman of the Global Operating Committee. He is responsible for day-to-day oversight of BlackRock's key operating units, including Investment Strategies, Client Businesses, Technology & Operations, and Risk & Quantitative Analysis. Prior to assuming his current responsibilities in 2007, Mr. Kapito served as Vice Chairman of BlackRock, Inc. and Head of BlackRock's Portfolio Management Group. In that role, he was responsible for overseeing all portfolio management within BlackRock, including the Fixed Income, Equity, Liquidity, and Alternative Investment Groups. Mr. Kapito serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania and the Harvard Business School Board of Dean’s Advisors. He has also been President of the Board of Directors for the Hope & Heroes Children's Cancer Fund since 2002. Mr. Kapito earned a BS degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1979, and an MBA degree from Harvard Business School in 1983.

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addition, Ms. Herbert has served as Trustee of the Forward Funds since 2009, which was purchased by Salient Partners in 2015, and has also served as Trustee of the Salient MF Trust since 2015. She has served since 1992 on the Investment Council of the Archdiocese of San Francisco and was Chair from 1994 to 2005. She has served as a Trustee of Stanford Health Care since 2016 and as a Trustee of WNET, New York’s public media station, since 2011. She was President of the Board of Catholic Charities CYO, the largest social services agency in the San Francisco Bay Area, from 2007 to 2011 and a member of that board from 1992 to 2013. She previously served as Trustee of the Pacific Select Funds from 2004 to 2005 and Trustee of the Montgomery Funds from 1992 to 2003. She worked from 1973 to 1990 at J.P. Morgan/Morgan Guaranty Trust doing international corporate finance and corporate lending, retiring as Managing Director and Head of the West Coast Office. Ms. Herbert has been on numerous non-profit boards, chairing investment and finance committees. She holds a double major in economics and communications from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

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2012 to 2015, Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust from 2011 to 2012 and Chair of the Securities Lending Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2016. Mr. Kerrigan served as a Director of iShares MSCI Russia Capped ETF, Inc. from 2010 to 2015. Mr. Kerrigan has served as Chief Investment Officer of Santa Clara University since 2002. Mr. Kerrigan was formerly a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch & Co., including the following responsibilities: Managing Director, Institutional Client Division, Western United States. Mr. Kerrigan has been a Director, since 1999, of The BASIC Fund (Bay Area Scholarships for Inner City Children). Mr. Kerrigan has a BA degree from Boston College and is a Chartered Financial Analyst Charterholder.

John E. Martinez has been a Trustee of the Trust since 2003 and Chair of the Fixed Income Plus Committee of the Trust since 2016. Mr. Martinez served as Chair of the Securities Lending Committee of the Trust from 2012 to 2015. Mr. Martinez has served as a Director of iShares, Inc. since 2003, Chair of the Securities Lending Committee of iShares, Inc. from 2012 to 2015, Chair of the Fixed Income Plus Committee of iShares, Inc. since 2016, a Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2011, Chair of the Securities Lending Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust from 2012 to 2015 and Chair of the Fixed Income Plus Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2016. Mr. Martinez served as a Director of iShares MSCI Russia Capped ETF, Inc. from 2010 to 2015. Mr. Martinez is a Director of Real Estate Equity Exchange, Inc., providing governance oversight and consulting services to this privately held firm that develops products and strategies for homeowners in managing the equity in their homes. Mr. Martinez currently serves as a Board member for the Cloudera Foundation, whose mission is to apply Cloudera’s data science expertise and discipline to solve global social problems. Mr. Martinez previously served as Director of Barclays Global Investors (“BGI”) UK Holdings, where he provided governance oversight representing BGI’s shareholders (Barclays PLC, BGI management shareholders) through oversight of BGI’s worldwide activities. Mr. Martinez also previously served as Co-Chief Executive Officer of the Global Index and Markets Group of BGI, Chairman of Barclays Global Investor Services and Chief Executive Officer of the Capital Markets Group of BGI. From 2003 to 2012, he was a Director and Executive Committee Member for Larkin Street Youth Services, providing governance oversight and strategy development to an agency that provides emergency and transitional housing, healthcare, education, job and life skills training to homeless youth. He now serves on the Larkin Street Honorary Board. From 2010 to 2016, Mr. Martinez served as a Director for Reading Partners, an organization committed to making all children literate through one-on-one tutoring of students in grades K-4 who are not yet reading at grade level. Mr. Martinez has an AB degree in economics from The University of California, Berkeley and holds an MBA degree in finance and statistics from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

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Affairs and head of the MBA Program at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Mr. Rajan served as editor of “The Accounting Review” from 2002 to 2008 and is co-author of “Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis,” a leading cost accounting textbook. Mr. Rajan holds MS and PhD degrees in Accounting from Carnegie Mellon University.

Board – Leadership Structure and Oversight Responsibilities

Overall responsibility for oversight of the Funds rests with the Board. The Board has engaged BFA to manage the Funds on a day-to-day basis. The Board is responsible for overseeing BFA and other service providers in the operations of the Funds in accordance with the provisions of the 1940 Act, applicable provisions of state and other laws and the Trust’s charter. The Board is currently composed of ten members, eight of whom are Independent Trustees. The Board currently conducts regular in person meetings four times a year. In addition, the Board frequently holds special in person or telephonic meetings or informal conference calls to discuss specific matters that may arise or require action between regular meetings. The Independent Trustees meet regularly outside the presence of management, in executive session or with other service providers to the Trust.

The Board has appointed an Independent Trustee to serve in the role of Board Chair. The Board Chair’s role is to preside at all meetings of the Board and to act as a liaison with service providers, officers, attorneys, and other Trustees generally between meetings. The Board Chair may also perform such other functions as may be delegated by the Board from time to time. The Board has established seven standing Committees: a Nominating and Governance Committee, an Audit Committee, a 15(c) Committee, a Securities Lending Committee, a Risk Committee, an Equity Plus Committee and a Fixed Income Plus Committee to assist the Board in the oversight and direction of the business and affairs of the Funds, and from time to time the Board may establish ad hoc committees or informal working groups to review and address the policies and practices of the Funds with respect to certain specified matters. The Chair of each standing Committee is an Independent Trustee. The role of the Chair of each Committee is to preside at all meetings of the Committee and to act as a liaison with service providers, officers, attorneys and other Trustees between meetings. Each standing Committee meets regularly to conduct the oversight functions delegated to the Committee by the Board and reports its finding to the Board. The Board and each standing Committee conduct annual assessments of their oversight function and structure. The Board has determined that the Board’s leadership structure is appropriate because it allows the Board to exercise independent judgment over management and it allocates areas of responsibility among committees of Independent Trustees and the full Board to enhance effective oversight.

Day-to-day risk management with respect to the Funds is the responsibility of BFA or other service providers (depending on the nature of the risk), subject to the supervision of BFA. Each Fund is subject to a number of risks, including investment, compliance, operational, reputational, counterparty and valuation risks, among others. While there are a number of risk management functions performed by BFA and other service providers, as applicable, it is not possible to identify and eliminate all of the risks applicable to the Funds. The Trustees have an oversight role in this area, satisfying themselves that risk management processes and controls are in place and operating effectively. Risk oversight forms part of the Board’s general oversight of each Fund and is addressed as part of various Board and committee activities. In some cases, risk management issues are specifically addressed in presentations and discussions. For example, BFA has an independent dedicated Risk and Quantitative Analysis Group (“RQA”) that assists BFA in managing fiduciary and corporate risks, including investment, operational, counterparty credit and enterprise risk. Representatives of RQA meet with the Board to discuss their analysis and methodologies, as well as specific risk topics such as operational and counterparty risks relating to the Funds. The Board, directly or through a committee, also reviews reports from, among others, management and the independent registered public accounting firm for the Trust, as appropriate, regarding risks faced by each Fund and management’s risk functions. The Board has appointed a Chief Compliance Officer who oversees the implementation and testing of the Trust's compliance program, including assessments by independent third parties, and reports to the Board regarding compliance matters for the Trust and its principal service providers. In testing and maintaining the compliance program, the Chief Compliance Officer (and his or her delegates) assesses key compliance risks affecting each Fund, and addresses them in periodic reports to the Board. In addition, the Audit Committee meets with both the Funds' independent registered public accounting firm and BFA’s internal audit group to review risk controls in place that support each Fund as well as test results. Board oversight of risk is also performed as needed between meetings through communications between BFA and the Board. The Independent Trustees have engaged independent legal counsel to assist them in performing their oversight responsibilities. From time to time, the Board may modify the manner in which it conducts risk oversight. The Board’s oversight role does not make it a guarantor of the Funds' investment performance or other activities.

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The members of the Risk Committee are Jane D. Carlin (Chair), Charles A. Hurty, Drew E. Lawton and John E. Martinez, each of whom is an Independent Trustee. The principal responsibility of the Risk Committee is to consider and organize on behalf of the Board risk related matters of the Funds so the Board may most effectively structure itself to oversee them. The Risk Committee commenced on January 1, 2016. The Risk Committee met four times during the fiscal year ended February 28, 2018.

As the Chair of the Board, Cecilia H. Herbert may serve as an ex-officio member of each Committee.

The following table sets forth, as of December 31, 2017, the dollar range of equity securities beneficially owned by each Trustee in the Funds and in other registered investment companies overseen by the Trustee within the same family of investment companies as the Trust. If a fund is not listed below, the Trustee did not own any securities in that fund as of the date indicated above:

Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in Named Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee in Family of Investment Companies
Robert S. Kapito	None	None	None

Mark K. Wiedman	iShares Core Aggressive Allocation ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares National Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares New York Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Short Maturity Municipal Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000

Cecilia H. Herbert	iShares California Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares China Large-Cap ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF	$50,001-$100,000

112

Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in Named Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee in Family of Investment Companies
	iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares International Select Dividend ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares MSCI Japan ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares National Muni Bond ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Preferred Stock ETF	$10,001-$50,000

Jane D. Carlin	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Europe ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Global Tech ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares MSCI ACWI ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Small-Cap ETF	$10,001-$50,000

Richard L. Fagnani	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Global Financials ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares iBonds Dec 2022 Term Corporate ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares MSCI Japan ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF	$10,001-$50,000

Charles A. Hurty	iShares China Large-Cap ETF	$10,001-$50,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	Over $100,000

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Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in Named Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee in Family of Investment Companies
	iShares Core Growth Allocation ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core Moderate Allocation ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Global Energy ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Global Healthcare ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Global Tech ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Energy ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Financials ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares U.S. Technology ETF	Over $100,000

John E. Kerrigan	iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000

Drew E. Lawton	iShares 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Exponential Technologies ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI Frontier 100 ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF	$10,001-$50,000

John E. Martinez	iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	Over $100,000

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Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in Named Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee in Family of Investment Companies
	iShares Global Consumer Staples ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares National Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 1000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF	$1-$10,000

Madhav V. Rajan	iShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Select Dividend ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares U.S. Preferred Stock ETF	Over $100,000

As of December 31, 2017, none of the Independent Trustees or their immediate family members owned beneficially or of record any securities of BFA (the Funds' investment adviser), the Distributor or any person controlling, controlled by or under common control with BFA or the Distributor.

The tables below set forth the compensation earned by each Independent Trustee and Interested Trustee for services to each Fund for the fiscal year ended February 28, 2018 and the aggregate compensation paid to them for services to the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex for the calendar year ended December 31, 2017.

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Name	iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF	iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF	iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF	iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF
Independent Trustees:

Jane D. Carlin	$ 2,954	$ 1,851	$ 2,190	$133
Richard L. Fagnani¹	2,655	1,664	1,969	119
Cecilia H. Herbert	3,207	2,010	2,378	144
Charles A. Hurty	3,080	1,930	2,284	139
John E. Kerrigan	2,954	1,851	2,190	133
Drew E. Lawton²	2,883	1,807	2,138	130
John E. Martinez	2,954	1,851	2,190	133
Madhav V. Rajan	3,024	1,895	2,242	136

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0

Name	iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	iShares Agency Bond ETF	iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	iShares California Muni Bond ETF
Independent Trustees:

Jane D. Carlin	$ 1,759	$ 116	$386	$232
Richard L. Fagnani¹	1,581	104	347	208
Cecilia H. Herbert	1,910	126	419	252
Charles A. Hurty	1,834	121	403	242
John E. Kerrigan	1,759	116	386	232
Drew E. Lawton²	1,717	113	377	226
John E. Martinez	1,759	116	386	232
Madhav V. Rajan	1,801	119	396	237

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0

Name	iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF	iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF	iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF³
Independent Trustees:

Jane D. Carlin	$ 10	$ 71	$ 14,308	$6
Richard L. Fagnani¹	9	64	12,860	6
Cecilia H. Herbert	11	77	15,534	7
Charles A. Hurty	11	74	14,921	7
John E. Kerrigan	10	71	14,308	6
Drew E. Lawton²	10	70	13,967	6
John E. Martinez	10	71	14,308	6
Madhav V. Rajan	10	73	14,649	7

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$0

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Name		iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF		iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF		iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF		iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF³
Mark K. Wiedman		0		0		0		0

Name	iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF³	iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF
Independent Trustees:

Jane D. Carlin	$3	$38	$3,904	$8,476
Richard L. Fagnani¹	3	34	3,509	7,619
Cecilia H. Herbert	3	41	4,239	9,203
Charles A. Hurty	3	39	4,072	8,840
John E. Kerrigan	3	38	3,904	8,476
Drew E. Lawton²	3	37	3,811	8,275
John E. Martinez	3	38	3,904	8,476
Madhav V. Rajan	3	39	3,997	8,678

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0

Name	iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF	iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF	iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF	iShares MBS ETF
Independent Trustees:

Jane D. Carlin	$ 498	$ 1,881	$ 178	$3,091
Richard L. Fagnani¹	448	1,690	160	2,778
Cecilia H. Herbert	541	2,042	194	3,356
Charles A. Hurty	519	1,961	186	3,224
John E. Kerrigan	498	1,881	178	3,091
Drew E. Lawton²	486	1,836	174	3,018
John E. Martinez	498	1,881	178	3,091
Madhav V. Rajan	510	1,926	183	3,165

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0

Name	iShares National Muni Bond ETF	iShares New York Muni Bond ETF	iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF	iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF
Independent Trustees:

Jane D. Carlin	$ 2,377	$77	$ 2,858	$402
Richard L. Fagnani¹	2,137	69	2,569	362
Cecilia H. Herbert	2,581	84	3,104	437
Charles A. Hurty	2,479	81	2,981	420

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Name	iShares National Muni Bond ETF	iShares New York Muni Bond ETF	iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF	iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF
John E. Kerrigan	2,377	77	2,858	402
Drew E. Lawton²	2,321	75	2,790	393
John E. Martinez	2,377	77	2,858	402
Madhav V. Rajan	2,434	79	2,927	412

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0

Name		iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF
Independent Trustees:

Jane D. Carlin		$2,489
Richard L. Fagnani¹		2,237
Cecilia H. Herbert		2,703
Charles A. Hurty		2,596
John E. Kerrigan		2,489
Drew E. Lawton²		2,430
John E. Martinez		2,489
Madhav V. Rajan		2,548

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito		$0
Mark K. Wiedman		0

Name	Pension or Retirement Benefits Accrued As Part of Trust Expenses⁴	Estimated Annual Benefits Upon Retirement⁴	Total Compensation From the Funds and Fund Complex⁵
Independent Trustees:

Jane D. Carlin	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	$ 361,764
Richard L. Fagnani¹	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	256,250 ⁶
Cecilia H. Herbert	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	375,000
Charles A. Hurty	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	376,764
John E. Kerrigan	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	350,000
Drew E. Lawton²	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	337,500 ⁷
John E. Martinez	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	350,000
Madhav V. Rajan	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	362,500

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	$ 0

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Name		Pension or Retirement Benefits Accrued As Part of Trust Expenses⁴		Estimated Annual Benefits Upon Retirement⁴		Total Compensation From the Funds and Fund Complex⁵
Mark K. Wiedman		Not Applicable		Not Applicable		0

¹	Compensation from each Fund is shown for Richard L. Fagnani for his services as an Advisory Board Member for the period from April 1, 2017 (date of his appointment to the Advisory Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to June 18, 2017, and for his services as an Independent Trustee for the period from June 19, 2017 (date of his election to the Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to February 28, 2018.
²	Compensation from each Fund is shown for Drew E. Lawton for his services as an Advisory Board Member for the period from March 1, 2017 to June 18, 2017, and for his services as an Independent Trustee for the period from June 19, 2017 (date of his election to the Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to February 28, 2018.
³	Compensation reported is from the Fund’s inception to February 28, 2018.
⁴	No Trustee or officer is entitled to any pension or retirement benefits from the Trust.
⁵	Also includes compensation for service on the Board of Trustees or the Advisory Board of iShares U.S. ETF Trust and the Board of Directors or the Advisory Board of iShares, Inc.
⁶	Total compensation is shown for Richard L. Fagnani for his services as an Advisory Board Member for the period from April 1, 2017 (date of his appointment to the Advisory Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to June 18, 2017, and for his services as an Independent Trustee for the period from June 19, 2017 (date of his election to the Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to December 31, 2017.
⁷	Total compensation is shown for Drew E. Lawton for his services as an Advisory Board Member for the period from January 1, 2017 to June 18, 2017, and for his services as an Independent Trustee for the period from June 19, 2017 (date of his election to the Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to December 31, 2017.

Control Persons and Principal Holders of Securities.

The Trustees and officers of the Trust collectively owned less than 1% of each Fund's outstanding shares as of May 31, 2018.

Although the Trust does not have information concerning the beneficial ownership of shares held in the names of Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) participants (as defined below), as of May 31, 2018, the name and percentage ownership of each DTC participant that owned of record 5% or more of the outstanding shares of a Fund were as follows:

Fund	Name	Percentage of Ownership
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	13.37%
	TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. 1005 N. Ameritrade Place Bellevue, NE 68005	8.14%
	National Financial Services LLC 200 Liberty Street 5^thFloor New York, NY 10281	7.64%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 111 Pavonia Avenue Jersey City, NJ 07310	7.08%
	JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association 14201 Dallas Pkwy 12^thFloor Dallas, TX 75240	6.41%

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Fund	Name	Percentage of Ownership
	Ameriprise Enterprise Investment Services, Inc. 901 3^rd Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55474	6.32%
	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC 1300 Thames Street 6^th Floor Baltimore, MD 21231	5.13%

iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	32.38%
	TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. 1005 N. Ameritrade Place Bellevue, NE 68005	7.75%
	Ameriprise Enterprise Investment Services, Inc. 901 3^rd Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55474	5.82%
	National Financial Services LLC 200 Liberty Street 5^thFloor New York, NY 10281	5.81%

iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF	Ameriprise Enterprise Investment Services, Inc. 901 3^rd Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55474	17.45%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 111 Pavonia Avenue Jersey City, NJ 07310	13.45%
	National Financial Services LLC 200 Liberty Street 5^thFloor New York, NY 10281	10.38%

iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 111 Pavonia Avenue Jersey City, NJ 07310	10.33%
	JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association 14201 Dallas Pkwy 12^thFloor Dallas, TX 75240	10.08%
	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC 1300 Thames Street 6^th Floor Baltimore, MD 21231	7.97%
	Bank of America, National Association GWIM TRUST OPERATIONS 414 N. Akard Street 5^th Floor Dallas, TX 75201	7.09%

120

Fund	Name	Percentage of Ownership
	UBS Financial Services Inc. 1000 Harbor Blvd. 8^th Floor Weehawken, NJ 07087	8.28%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	7.28%
	Bank of America, National Association GWIM TRUST OPERATIONS 414 N. Akard Street 5^th Floor Dallas, TX 75201	6.52%
	SEI Private Trust Company/C/O GWP 1 Freedom Valley Drive Oaks, PA 19456	5.78%
	Ameriprise Enterprise Investment Services, Inc. 901 3^rd Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55474	5.24%

iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF	Deutsche Bank Securities Inc./Cedear 1251 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020	60.82%
	The Bank of New York Mellon 401 Salina Street 2^nd Floor Syracuse, NY 13202	10.61%

Potential Conflicts of Interest. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (“PNC”) has a significant economic interest in BlackRock, Inc., the parent of BFA, the Funds' investment adviser. BlackRock, Inc. and PNC are considered to be affiliated persons of one another under the 1940 Act. Certain activities of BFA, BlackRock, Inc. and their affiliates (collectively, “BlackRock”) and PNC and its affiliates (collectively, “PNC” and together with BlackRock, “Affiliates”), with respect to the Funds and/or other accounts managed by BlackRock or PNC, may give rise to actual or perceived conflicts of interest such as those described below.

BlackRock is one of the world's largest asset management firms. PNC is a diversified financial services organization spanning the retail, business and corporate markets. BlackRock, PNC and their respective affiliates (including, for these purposes, their directors, partners, trustees, managing members, officers and employees), including the entities and personnel who may be involved in the investment activities and business operations of a Fund, are engaged worldwide in businesses, including managing equities, fixed-income securities, cash and alternative investments, and banking and other financial services, and have interests other than that of managing a Fund. These are considerations of which investors in a Fund should be aware, and which may cause conflicts of interest that could disadvantage a Fund and its shareholders. These businesses and interests include potential multiple advisory, transactional, financial and other relationships with, or interests in, companies and interests in securities or other instruments that may be purchased or sold by a Fund.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates have proprietary interests in, and may manage or advise with respect to, accounts or funds (including separate accounts and other funds and collective investment vehicles) that have investment objectives similar to those of a Fund and/or that engage in transactions in the same types of securities, currencies and instruments as a Fund. One or more Affiliates are also major participants in the global currency, equities, swap and fixed-income markets, in each case, for the accounts of customers and, in some cases, on a proprietary basis. As such, one or more Affiliates are or may be actively engaged in transactions in the same securities, currencies, and instruments in which a Fund invests. Such activities could affect the prices and availability of the securities, currencies, and instruments in which a Fund invests, which could

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have an adverse impact on a Fund's performance. Such transactions, particularly in respect of most proprietary accounts or client accounts, will be executed independently of a Fund's transactions and thus at prices or rates that may be more or less favorable than those obtained by a Fund.

When BlackRock and the other Affiliates seek to purchase or sell the same assets for their managed accounts, including a Fund, the assets actually purchased or sold may be allocated among the accounts on a basis determined in their good faith discretion to be equitable. In some cases, this system may adversely affect the size or price of the assets purchased or sold for a Fund. In addition, transactions in investments by one or more other accounts managed by BlackRock or the other Affiliates may have the effect of diluting or otherwise disadvantaging the values, prices or investment strategies of a Fund, particularly, but not limited to, with respect to small-capitalization, emerging market or less liquid strategies. This may occur when investment decisions regarding a Fund are based on research or other information that is also used to support decisions for other accounts. When BlackRock or the other Affiliates implement a portfolio decision or strategy on behalf of another account ahead of, or contemporaneously with, similar decisions or strategies for a Fund, market impact, liquidity constraints, or other factors could result in the Fund receiving less favorable trading results and the costs of implementing such decisions or strategies could be increased or the Fund could otherwise be disadvantaged. BlackRock or the other Affiliates may, in certain cases, elect to implement internal policies and procedures designed to limit such consequences, which may cause a Fund to be unable to engage in certain activities, including purchasing or disposing of securities, when it might otherwise be desirable for it to do so.

Conflicts may also arise because portfolio decisions regarding a Fund may benefit other accounts managed by BlackRock or the other Affiliates. For example, the sale of a long position or establishment of a short position by a Fund may impair the price of the same security sold short by (and therefore benefit) one or more Affiliates or their other accounts or funds, and the purchase of a security or covering of a short position in a security by a Fund may increase the price of the same security held by (and therefore benefit) one or more Affiliates or their other accounts or funds.

In certain circumstances, BlackRock, on behalf of a Fund, may seek to buy from or sell securities to another fund or account advised by BlackRock or an Affiliate. BlackRock may (but is not required to) effect purchases and sales between BlackRock clients or clients of Affiliates (“cross trades”), including a Fund, if BlackRock believes such transactions are appropriate based on each party's investment objectives and guidelines, subject to applicable law and regulation. There may be potential conflicts of interest or regulatory issues relating to these transactions which could limit BlackRock’s decision to engage in these transactions for a Fund. BlackRock may have a potentially conflicting division of loyalties and responsibilities to the parties in such transactions. On any occasion when a Fund participates in a cross trade, BlackRock will comply with procedures adopted under applicable rules and SEC guidance.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates and their clients may pursue or enforce rights with respect to an issuer in which a Fund has invested, and those activities may have an adverse effect on the Fund. As a result, prices, availability, liquidity and terms of a Fund's investments may be negatively impacted by the activities of BlackRock or the other Affiliates or their clients, and transactions for the Fund may be impaired or effected at prices or terms that may be less favorable than would otherwise have been the case.

The results of a Fund’s investment activities may differ significantly from the results achieved by BlackRock and the other Affiliates for their proprietary accounts or other accounts (including investment companies or collective investment vehicles) managed or advised by them. It is possible that one or more Affiliate-managed accounts and such other accounts will achieve investment results that are substantially more or less favorable than the results achieved by a Fund. Moreover, it is possible that a Fund will sustain losses during periods in which one or more Affiliates or Affiliate-managed accounts achieve significant profits on their trading for proprietary or other accounts. The opposite result is also possible.

From time to time, a Fund may be restricted from purchasing or selling securities, or from engaging in other investment activities because of regulatory, legal or contractual requirements applicable to BlackRock or one or more Affiliates or other accounts managed or advised by BlackRock or the other Affiliates for clients worldwide, and/or the internal policies of BlackRock and the other Affiliates designed to comply with such requirements. As a result, there may be periods, for example, when BlackRock and/or one or more Affiliates will not initiate or recommend certain types of transactions in certain securities or instruments with respect to which BlackRock and/or one or more Affiliates are performing services or when position limits have been reached. For example, the investment activities of one or more Affiliates for their proprietary accounts and accounts under their management may limit the investment opportunities for a Fund in certain emerging and

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other markets in which limitations are imposed upon the amount of investment, in the aggregate or in individual issuers, by affiliated foreign investors.

In connection with its management of a Fund, BlackRock may have access to certain fundamental analysis and proprietary technical models developed by one or more Affiliates. BlackRock will not be under any obligation, however, to effect transactions on behalf of a Fund in accordance with such analysis and models. In addition, neither BlackRock nor any of the other Affiliates will have any obligation to make available any information regarding their proprietary activities or strategies, or the activities or strategies used for other accounts managed by them, for the benefit of the management of a Fund and it is not anticipated that BlackRock will have access to such information for the purpose of managing the Fund. The proprietary activities or portfolio strategies of BlackRock and the other Affiliates, or the activities or strategies used for accounts managed by them or other customer accounts could conflict with the transactions and strategies employed by BlackRock in managing a Fund.

A Fund may be included in investment models developed by BlackRock and the other Affiliates for use by clients and financial advisors. The price, availability and liquidity of a Fund may be impacted by purchases and redemptions of a Fund by model-driven investment portfolios.

One or more Affiliates may also create, write or issue derivatives for their clients, the underlying securities, currencies or instruments of which may be those in which a Fund invests or which may be based on the performance of the Fund. BlackRock has entered into an arrangement with Markit Indices Limited, the index provider for certain underlying fixed income indexes used by iShares funds, related to derivative fixed-income products that are based on such iShares funds. If such products are launched, BlackRock will receive certain payments in connection with their development, for licensing intellectual property belonging to BlackRock and for facilitating data in connection with such fixed-income derivative products, which may include payments based on the trading volumes of, or revenues generated by, the derivative products. Other accounts managed by BlackRock may from time to time transact in such fixed-income derivative products. Trading activity in the derivative products could potentially lead to increased purchase activity with respect to the iShares funds and increased assets under management for BlackRock.

A Fund may, subject to applicable law, purchase investments that are the subject of an underwriting or other distribution by one or more Affiliates and may also enter into transactions with other clients of an Affiliate where such other clients have interests adverse to those of the Fund.

At times, these activities may cause departments of BlackRock or the other Affiliates to give advice to clients that may cause these clients to take actions adverse to the interests of a Fund. To the extent affiliated transactions are permitted, a Fund will deal with BlackRock and the other Affiliates (except with respect to BFA or affiliated sub-advisers of a Fund, as applicable) on an arms-length basis.

To the extent authorized by applicable law, one or more Affiliates may act as broker, dealer, agent, lender or adviser or in other commercial capacities for a Fund. It is anticipated that the commissions, markups, markdowns, financial advisory fees, underwriting and placement fees, sales fees, financing and commitment fees, brokerage fees, other fees, compensation or profits, rates, terms and conditions charged by an Affiliate will be in its view commercially reasonable, although each Affiliate, including its sales personnel, will have an interest in obtaining fees and other amounts that are favorable to the Affiliate and such sales personnel, which may have an adverse effect on the Funds.

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commercial capacities. No accounting to a Fund or its shareholders will be required, and no fees or other compensation payable by a Fund or its shareholders will be reduced by reason of receipt by an Affiliate of any such fees or other amounts.

When an Affiliate acts as broker, dealer, agent, adviser or in other commercial capacities in relation to the Funds, the Affiliate may take commercial steps in its own interests, which may have an adverse effect on the Funds. A Fund will be required to establish business relationships with its counterparties based on the Fund's own credit standing. Neither BlackRock nor any of the Affiliates will have any obligation to allow their credit to be used in connection with a Fund's establishment of its business relationships, nor is it expected that the Fund's counterparties will rely on the credit of BlackRock or any of the other Affiliates in evaluating the Fund's creditworthiness.

BlackRock uses a predetermined systematic process in order to approximate pro-rata allocation over time. In order to allocate a loan to a portfolio: (i) BlackRock as a whole must have sufficient lending capacity pursuant to the various program limits (i.e., indemnification exposure limit and counterparty credit limits); (ii) the lending portfolio must hold the asset at the time a loan opportunity arrives; and (iii) the lending portfolio must also have enough inventory, either on its own or when aggregated with other portfolios into one single market delivery, to satisfy the loan request. In doing so, BlackRock seeks to provide equal lending opportunities for all portfolios, independent of whether BlackRock indemnifies the portfolio. Equal opportunities for lending portfolios does not guarantee equal outcomes. Specifically, short and long-term outcomes for individual clients may vary due to asset mix, asset/liability spreads on different securities, and the overall limits imposed by the firm.

Purchases and sales of securities and other assets for a Fund may be bunched or aggregated with orders for other BlackRock client and fund accounts, including with accounts that pay different transaction costs due to the fact that they have different research payment arrangements. BlackRock, however, is not required to bunch or aggregate orders if portfolio management decisions for different accounts or funds are made separately, or if it determines that bunching or aggregating is not practicable or required, is not in the best interest of a Fund, or in cases involving client direction.

Prevailing trading activity frequently may make impossible the receipt of the same price or execution on the entire volume of securities purchased or sold. When this occurs, the various prices may be averaged, and the Funds will be charged or credited with the average price. Thus, the effect of the aggregation may operate on some occasions to the disadvantage of the Funds. In addition, under certain circumstances, the Funds will not be charged the same commission or commission equivalent rates in connection with a bunched or aggregated order.

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relationships, with research or other appropriate services which provide, in BlackRock's view, appropriate assistance to BlackRock in the investment decision-making process (including with respect to futures, fixed-price offerings and OTC transactions). Such research or other services may include, to the extent permitted by law, research reports on companies, industries and securities; economic and financial data; financial publications; proxy analysis; trade industry seminars; computer data bases; research-oriented software and other services and products. Research or other services obtained in this manner may be used in servicing other BlackRock client accounts, including in connection with BlackRock client accounts other than those that pay commissions to the broker relating to the research or other service arrangements. Such products and services may disproportionately benefit other BlackRock client accounts relative to the Funds based on the amount of brokerage commissions paid by the Funds and such other BlackRock client accounts. For example, research or other services that are paid for through one client's commissions may not be used in managing that client's account. In addition, other BlackRock client accounts may receive the benefit, including disproportionate benefits, of economies of scale or price discounts in connection with products and services that may be provided to the Funds and to such other BlackRock client accounts. To the extent that BlackRock uses soft dollars, it will not have to pay for those products and services itself.

BlackRock does not currently enter into arrangements to use the Funds' assets for, or participate in, soft dollars, although BlackRock may receive research that is bundled with the trade execution, clearing, and/or settlement services provided by a particular broker-dealer. To the extent that BlackRock receives research on this basis, many of the same conflicts related to traditional soft dollars may exist. For example, the research effectively will be paid by client commissions that also will be used to pay for the execution, clearing, and settlement services provided by the broker-dealer and will not be paid by BlackRock.

BlackRock may utilize certain electronic crossing networks (“ECNs”) (including, without limitation, ECNs in which BlackRock or the other Affiliates have an investment or other interest, to the extent permitted by applicable law) in executing client securities transactions for certain types of securities. These ECNs may charge fees for their services, including access fees and transaction fees. The transaction fees, which are similar to commissions or markups/markdowns, will generally be charged to clients and, like commissions and markups/markdowns, would generally be included in the cost of the securities purchased. Access fees may be paid by BlackRock even though incurred in connection with executing transactions on behalf of clients, including the Funds. In certain circumstances, ECNs may offer volume discounts that will reduce the access fees typically paid by BlackRock. BlackRock will only utilize ECNs consistent with its obligation to seek to obtain best execution in client transactions.

BlackRock has adopted policies and procedures designed to prevent conflicts of interest from influencing proxy voting decisions that it makes on behalf of advisory clients, including the Funds, and to help ensure that such decisions are made in accordance with BlackRock's fiduciary obligations to its clients. Nevertheless, notwithstanding such proxy voting policies and procedures, actual proxy voting decisions of BlackRock may have the effect of favoring the interests of other clients or businesses of other divisions or units of BlackRock and/or the other Affiliates, provided that BlackRock believes such voting decisions to be in accordance with its fiduciary obligations. For a more detailed discussion of these policies and procedures, see the Proxy Voting Policy section of this SAI.

It is also possible that, from time to time, BlackRock or the other Affiliates may, subject to compliance with applicable law, purchase and hold shares of a Fund. Increasing a Fund’s assets may enhance liquidity, investment flexibility and diversification and may contribute to economies of scale that tend to reduce the Fund's expense ratio. BlackRock and the other Affiliates reserve the right, subject to compliance with applicable law, to sell into the market or redeem in Creation Units through an Authorized Participant at any time some or all of the shares of a Fund acquired for their own accounts. A large sale or redemption of shares of a Fund by BlackRock or the other Affiliates could significantly reduce the asset size of the Fund, which might have an adverse effect on the Fund's liquidity, investment flexibility, portfolio diversification, expense ratio

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or ability to comply with the listing requirements for the Fund. BlackRock seeks to consider the effect of redemptions on a Fund and other shareholders in deciding whether to redeem its shares but is not obligated to do so and may elect not to do so.

It is possible that a Fund may invest in securities of, or engage in transactions with, companies with which an Affiliate has developed or is trying to develop investment banking relationships as well as securities of entities in which BlackRock or the other Affiliates has significant debt or equity investments or other interests or in which an Affiliate makes a market. A Fund also may invest in securities of, or engage in transactions with, companies to which an Affiliate provides or may in the future provide research coverage. Such investments or transactions could cause conflicts between the interests of a Fund and the interests of BlackRock, other clients of BlackRock or the other Affiliates. In making investment decisions for a Fund, BlackRock is not permitted to obtain or use material non-public information acquired by any division, department or Affiliate of BlackRock in the course of these activities. In addition, from time to time, the activities of an Affiliate may limit a Fund's flexibility in purchases and sales of securities. When an Affiliate is engaged in an underwriting or other distribution of securities of an entity, BlackRock may be prohibited from purchasing or recommending the purchase of certain securities of that entity for a Fund. As indicated below, BlackRock or the other Affiliates may engage in transactions with companies in which BlackRock-advised funds or other clients of BlackRock or of an Affiliate have an investment.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates, their personnel and other financial service providers may have interests in promoting sales of a Fund. With respect to BlackRock and the other Affiliates and their personnel, the remuneration and profitability relating to services to and sales of a Fund or other products may be greater than remuneration and profitability relating to services to and sales of certain funds or other products that might be provided or offered. BlackRock and the other Affiliates and their sales personnel may directly or indirectly receive a portion of the fees and commissions charged to a Fund or its shareholders. BlackRock and its advisory or other personnel may also benefit from increased amounts of assets under management. Fees and commissions may also be higher than for other products or services, and the remuneration and profitability to BlackRock or the other Affiliates and such personnel resulting from transactions on behalf of or management of a Fund may be greater than the remuneration and profitability resulting from other funds or products.

Third parties, including service providers to BlackRock or a Fund, may sponsor events (including, but not limited to, marketing and promotional activities and presentations, educational training programs and conferences) for registered representatives, other professionals and individual investors. There is a potential conflict of interest as such sponsorships may defray the costs of such activities to BlackRock, and may provide an incentive to BlackRock to retain such third parties to provide services to a Fund.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates may provide valuation assistance to certain clients with respect to certain securities or other investments and the valuation recommendations made for their clients' accounts may differ from the valuations for the same securities or investments assigned by a Fund's pricing vendors, especially if such valuations are based on broker-dealer quotes or other data sources unavailable to the Fund's pricing vendors. While BlackRock will generally communicate its valuation information or determinations to a Fund's pricing vendors and/or fund accountants, there may be instances where the Fund's pricing vendors or fund accountants assign a different valuation to a security or other investment than the valuation for such security or investment determined or recommended by BlackRock.

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As disclosed in more detail in the Determination of Net Asset Value section of each Fund’s Prospectus and this SAI, when market quotations are not readily available or are believed by BlackRock to be unreliable, a Fund’s investments are valued at fair value by BlackRock in accordance with procedures adopted by the Board. When determining “fair value price,” BlackRock seeks to determine the price that a Fund might reasonably expect to receive from the current sale of that asset or liability in an arm’s-length transaction. The price generally may not be determined based on what a Fund might expect to receive for selling an asset or liability at a later time or if it holds the asset or liability to maturity. While fair value determinations will be based upon all available factors that BlackRock deems relevant at the time of the determination, and may be based on analytical values determined by BlackRock using proprietary or third-party valuation models, fair value represents only a good faith approximation of the value of an asset or liability. The fair value of one or more assets or liabilities may not, in retrospect, be the price at which those assets or liabilities could have been sold during the period in which the particular fair values were used in determining a Fund’s net asset value. As a result, a Fund’s sale or redemption of its shares at net asset value, at a time when a holding or holdings are valued by BlackRock (pursuant to Board-adopted procedures) at fair value, may have the effect of diluting or increasing the economic interest of existing shareholders and may affect the amount of revenue received by BlackRock with respect to services for which it receives an asset-based fee.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, a Fund may invest all or some of its short-term cash investments in any money market fund or similarly-managed private fund advised or managed by BlackRock. In connection with any such investments, a Fund, to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, may pay its share of expenses of a money market fund or other similarly-managed private fund in which it invests, which may result in a Fund bearing some additional expenses.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates and their directors, officers and employees, may buy and sell securities or other investments for their own accounts and may have conflicts of interest with respect to investments made on behalf of a Fund. As a result of differing trading and investment strategies or constraints, positions may be taken by directors, officers, employees and Affiliates that are the same, different from or made at different times than positions taken for the Fund. To lessen the possibility that a Fund will be adversely affected by this personal trading, each Fund, BFA and BlackRock, Inc. have each adopted a code of ethics in compliance with Section 17(j) of the 1940 Act that restricts securities trading in the personal accounts of investment professionals and others who normally come into possession of information regarding a Fund's portfolio transactions. Each code of ethics is available by contacting BlackRock or by accessing the EDGAR Database on the SEC's Internet site at http://www.sec.gov, and copies may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by e-mail at publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the SEC's Public Reference Room, Washington, DC 20549-1520. Information about accessing documents on the SEC’s website may be obtained by calling the SEC at (800) SEC-0330.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates will not purchase securities or other property from, or sell securities or other property to, a Fund, except that a Fund may in accordance with rules or guidance adopted under the 1940 Act engage in transactions with accounts that are affiliated with a Fund as a result of common officers, directors, or investment advisers or pursuant to exemptive orders granted to the Funds and/or BlackRock by the SEC. These transactions would be effected in circumstances in which BlackRock determined that it would be appropriate for a Fund to purchase and another client of BlackRock to sell, or the Fund to sell and another client of BlackRock to purchase, the same security or instrument on the same day. From time to time, the activities of a Fund may be restricted because of regulatory requirements applicable to BlackRock or the other Affiliates and/or BlackRock's internal policies designed to comply with, limit the applicability of, or otherwise relate to such requirements. A client not advised by BlackRock would not be subject to some of those considerations. There may be periods when BlackRock may not initiate or recommend certain types of transactions, or may otherwise restrict or limit their advice in certain securities or instruments issued by or related to companies for which an Affiliate is performing investment banking, market making, advisory or other services or has proprietary positions. For example, when an Affiliate is engaged in an underwriting or other distribution of securities of, or advisory services for, a company, the Funds may be prohibited from or limited in purchasing or selling securities of that company. In addition, when BlackRock provides advisory or risk management services for a company, BlackRock may be prohibited from or limited in purchasing or selling securities of that company on behalf of a Fund, particularly where such services result in BlackRock obtaining material non-public information about the company (e.g., in connection with participation in a creditors’ committee). Similar situations could arise if personnel of BlackRock or the other Affiliates serve as directors of companies the securities of which a Fund wishes to purchase or sell. However, if permitted by applicable law, and where consistent with BlackRock’s policies and procedures (including the necessary implementation of appropriate information barriers), the Funds may purchase securities or instruments that are issued by such companies, are the subject of an underwriting, distribution or advisory assignment by an Affiliate, or are the subject of an advisory or risk management assignment by BlackRock, or where personnel of BlackRock or the other Affiliates are directors or officers of the issuer.

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The investment activities of one or more Affiliates for their proprietary accounts and for client accounts may also limit the investment strategies and rights of the Funds. For example, in certain circumstances where the Funds invest in securities issued by companies that operate in certain regulated industries or in certain emerging or international markets, or are subject to corporate or regulatory ownership restrictions, or invest in certain futures or other derivative transactions, there may be limits on the aggregate amount invested by Affiliates (including BlackRock) for their proprietary accounts and for client accounts (including the Funds) that may not be exceeded without the grant of a license or other regulatory or corporate consent or, if exceeded, may cause BlackRock, the Funds or other client accounts to suffer disadvantages or business restrictions.

If certain aggregate ownership thresholds are reached either through the actions of BlackRock or a Fund or as a result of third-party transactions, the ability of BlackRock, on behalf of clients (including the Funds), to purchase or dispose of investments, or exercise rights or undertake business transactions, may be restricted by regulation or otherwise impaired. As a result, BlackRock, on behalf of clients (including the Funds), may limit purchases, sell existing investments, or otherwise restrict, forgo or limit the exercise of rights (including transferring, outsourcing or limiting voting rights or forgoing the right to receive dividends) when BlackRock, in its sole discretion, deems it appropriate in light of potential regulatory or other restrictions on ownership or other consequences resulting from reaching investment thresholds.

In those circumstances where ownership thresholds or limitations must be observed, BlackRock seeks to allocate limited investment opportunities equitably among clients (including the Funds), taking into consideration benchmark weight and investment strategy. BlackRock has adopted certain controls designed to prevent the occurrence of a breach of any applicable ownership threshold or limits, including, for example, when ownership in certain securities nears an applicable threshold, BlackRock may remove such securities from Deposit Securities in connection with purchases of Creation Units of a Fund and may limit purchases in such securities to the issuer's weighting in the applicable benchmark used by BlackRock to manage a Fund. If client (including Fund) holdings of an issuer exceed an applicable threshold and BlackRock is unable to obtain relief to enable the continued holding of such investments, it may be necessary to sell down these positions to meet the applicable limitations. In these cases, benchmark overweight positions will be sold prior to benchmark positions being reduced to meet applicable limitations.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates may not serve as Authorized Participants in the creation and redemption of iShares ETFs, but may serve as authorized participants of third-party ETFs.

BlackRock may enter into contractual arrangements with third-party service providers to a Fund (e.g., custodians and administrators) pursuant to which BlackRock receives fee discounts or concessions in recognition of BlackRock’s overall relationship with such service providers. To the extent that BlackRock is responsible for paying these service providers out of its management fee, the benefits of any such fee discounts or concessions may accrue, in whole or in part, to BlackRock.

BlackRock or the other Affiliates own or have an ownership interest in certain trading, portfolio management, operations and/or information systems used by Fund service providers. These systems are, or will be, used by a Fund service provider in connection with the provision of services to accounts managed by BlackRock and funds managed and sponsored by BlackRock, including the Funds, that engage the service provider (typically the custodian). A Fund’s service provider remunerates BlackRock or the other Affiliates for the use of the systems. A Fund service provider’s payments to BlackRock or the other Affiliates for the use of these systems may enhance the profitability of BlackRock and the other Affiliates. BlackRock’s or the other Affiliates’ receipt of fees from a service provider in connection with the use of systems provided by BlackRock or the other Affiliates may create an incentive for BlackRock to recommend that a Fund enter into or renew an arrangement with the service provider.

Present and future activities of BlackRock and the other Affiliates, including BFA, in addition to those described in this section, may give rise to additional conflicts of interest.

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lawsuit against the Trust, BlackRock, Inc. and certain of its advisory affiliates, and certain directors/trustees and officers of the Trust (collectively, “Defendants”) in California State Court. The lawsuit alleges the Defendants violated federal securities laws by failing to adequately disclose in the prospectuses issued by the funds noted above the risks of using stop-loss orders in the event of a “flash crash,” such as the one that occurred on May 6, 2010. On September 18, 2017, the court issued a Statement of Decision holding that the Plaintiffs lack standing to assert their claims. On October 11, 2017, the court entered final judgment dismissing all of Plaintiffs’ claims with prejudice. Plaintiffs have appealed the court’s decision.

Investment Advisory, Administrative and Distribution Services

Investment Adviser. BFA serves as investment adviser to each Fund pursuant to an investment advisory agreement between the Trust, on behalf of each Fund, and BFA. BFA is a California corporation indirectly owned by BlackRock, Inc. and is registered as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. Under the investment advisory agreement, BFA, subject to the supervision of the Board and in conformity with the stated investment policies of each Fund, manages and administers the Trust and the investment of each Fund’s assets. BFA is responsible for placing purchase and sale orders and providing continuous supervision of the investment portfolio of each Fund.

Pursuant to the investment advisory agreement, BFA may, from time to time, in its sole discretion and to the extent permitted by applicable law, appoint one or more sub-advisers, including, without limitation, affiliates of BFA, to perform investment advisory or other services with respect to a Fund. In addition, BFA may delegate certain of its investment advisory functions under the investment advisory agreement to one or more of its affiliates to the extent permitted by applicable law. BFA may terminate any or all sub-advisers or such delegation arrangements in its sole discretion upon appropriate notice at any time to the extent permitted by applicable law.

BFA is responsible, under the investment advisory agreement, for substantially all expenses of the Funds, including the cost of transfer agency, custody, fund administration, legal, audit and other services. BFA is not responsible for, and the Funds will bear, 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 (as determined by a majority of the Independent Trustees).

For its investment advisory services to each Fund, BFA received a management fee at the annual rates (as a percentage of such Fund’s average net assets) set forth below for the fiscal years noted.

For its investment advisory services to the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF, BFA is paid a management fee from the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF corresponding to the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF’s allocable portion of an aggregate management fee based on the aggregate average daily net assets of the following iShares funds: iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF and iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF. The aggregate management fee for the iShares funds listed above is calculated as follows:

Average Daily Net Assets	Rate of Management Fee for the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF
First $19 billion	0.5000%
Greater than $19 billion – Up to $33 billion	0.4750%
Greater than $33 billion – Up to $47 billion	0.4513%
Greater than $47 billion	0.4287%

Effective June 26, 2018, for its investment advisory services to the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF, iShares MBS ETF and iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF, BFA is paid a management fee from each Fund calculated based on the aggregate average daily net assets of the following iShares funds: iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF, iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF, iShares MBS ETF, iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF, iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF, iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF, iShares Russell Mid-Cap ETF, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF, iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF, iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF and iShares TIPS Bond ETF. The management fee for the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade

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Corporate Bond ETF equals the ratio of the Fund’s net assets over the aggregate net assets of the above iShares funds multiplied by the amount calculated as follows: 0.1500% per annum of the aggregate net assets less than or equal to $121 billion, plus 0.1425% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $121 billion, up to and including $181 billion, plus 0.1354% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $181 billion, up to and including $231 billion, plus 0.1287% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $231 billion, up to and including $281 billion, plus 0.1222% per annum of the aggregate net assets in excess of $281 billion. The management fee for each of the iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF and iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF equals the ratio of the Fund’s net assets over the aggregate net assets of the above iShares funds multiplied by the amount calculated as follows: 0.0600% per annum of the aggregate net assets less than or equal to $121 billion, plus 0.0570% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $121 billion, up to and including $181 billion, plus 0.0542% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $181 billion, up to and including $231 billion, plus 0.0515% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $231 billion, up to and including $281 billion, plus 0.0489% per annum of the aggregate net assets in excess of $281 billion. The management fee for the iShares MBS ETF equals the ratio of the Fund’s net assets over the aggregate net assets of the above iShares funds multiplied by the amount calculated as follows: 0.0900% per annum of the aggregate net assets less than or equal to $121 billion, plus 0.0855% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $121 billion, up to and including $181 billion, plus 0.0813% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $181 billion, up to and including $231 billion, plus 0.0772% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $231 billion, up to and including $281 billion, plus 0.0734% per annum of the aggregate net assets in excess of $281 billion.

Fund	Management Fee	Fund Inception Date	Management Fees Paid Net of Waivers for Fiscal Year Ended February 28, 2018	Management Fees Paid Net of Waivers for Fiscal Year Ended February 28, 2017	Management Fees Paid Net of Waivers for Fiscal Year Ended February 29, 2016
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF	0.15%	07/22/02	$ 16,736,176	$ 16,084,915	$ 16,168,690
iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF	0.15%	01/05/07	10,744,495	9,133,780	7,853,966
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF	0.15%	07/22/02	11,448,979	13,315,601	11,632,469
iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF	0.15%	01/05/07	781,278	1,114,777	719,478
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	0.15%	07/22/02	10,818,563	11,221,276	9,215,978
iShares Agency Bond ETF	0.20%	11/05/08	985,484	1,234,640	992,630
iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF^1,2	0.15%	01/05/07	2,204,563	1,434,888	1,354,971
iShares California Muni Bond ETF	0.25%	10/04/07	1,979,040	1,575,777	1,051,642
iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF^3,4	0.06%	11/01/16	14,495	5,154	N/A
iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF⁵	0.06%	12/08/09	217,231	191,823	184,314
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF^6,7	0.05%	09/22/03	19,364,071	22,760,529	18,563,743
iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF	0.12%	07/11/17	10,138	N/A	N/A
iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF	0.18%	07/11/17	11,509	N/A	N/A
iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF	0.20%	01/05/07	331,808	523,557	445,635
iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	0.49%	04/04/07	89,108,367	82,652,331	72,764,253
iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	0.15%	07/22/02	52,238,868	43,549,933	33,482,363
iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF	0.20%	01/05/07	4,247,869	4,239,475	3,696,429
iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF^8,9	0.20%	01/05/07	14,121,384	12,998,614	12,210,331
iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF^10,11	0.20%	12/08/09	1,613,351	1,907,401	1,577,656
iShares MBS ETF¹²	0.09%	03/13/07	13,616,684	21,730,380	17,926,955
iShares National Muni Bond ETF^13,14	0.25%	09/07/07	21,709,229	18,351,725	13,242,422
iShares New York Muni Bond ETF	0.25%	10/04/07	678,895	592,687	464,195
iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF^15,16	0.20%	01/05/07	22,535,689	21,895,941	21,481,395
iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF^17,18	0.25%	11/05/08	3,731,121	2,848,712	2,308,900

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Fund		Management Fee		Fund Inception Date		Management Fees Paid Net of Waivers for Fiscal Year Ended February 28, 2018		Management Fees Paid Net of Waivers for Fiscal Year Ended February 28, 2017		Management Fees Paid Net of Waivers for Fiscal Year Ended February 29, 2016
iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF¹⁹		0.15%		01/05/07		9,171,704		5,623,790		4,743,686

¹	For the iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, BFA contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fee such that the Fund’s total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver will not exceed 0.06% effective June 1, 2018 through May 30, 2023. The contractual waiver was discontinued beginning on June 26, 2018.
²	Effective June 26, 2018, the management fee for the iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF is 0.06%. Prior to June 26, 2018, the management fee for the iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF was 0.15%.
³	For the iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF, BFA 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 investments by the Fund in other registered investment companies advised by BFA, or its affiliates, through February 28, 2021. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to February 28, 2021 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA. For the fiscal years ended February 28, 2018 and February 28, 2017, BFA waived $7,341 and $1,227 of management fees, respectively.
⁴	Effective August 4, 2017, the management fee for the iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF is 0.06%. Prior to August 4, 2017, the management fee for the iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF was 0.08%.
⁵	Effective August 4, 2017, the management fee for the iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF is 0.06%. From October 5, 2016, to August 3, 2017, the management fee for the iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF was 0.08%. Prior to October 5, 2016, the management fee for the iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF was 0.12%.
⁶	For the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, BFA has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees in an amount equal to acquired fund fees and expenses, if any, attributable to investments by the Fund in other registered investment companies advised by BFA, or its affiliates, through June 30, 2026. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to June 30, 2026 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA. For the fiscal years ended February 28, 2018, February 29, 2017 and February 28, 2016, BFA waived $5,058,901, $3,726,880 and $3,037,868 of management fees, respectively.
⁷	Effective October 5, 2016, the management fee for the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF is 0.05%. Prior to October 5, 2016, the management fee for the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF was 0.08%.
⁸	For the iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF, BFA contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fee such that the Fund’s total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver will not exceed 0.06% effective June 1, 2018 through May 30, 2023. The contractual waiver was discontinued beginning on June 26, 2018.
⁹	Effective June 26, 2018, the management fee for the iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF is 0.06%. Prior to June 26, 2018, the management fee for the iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF was 0.20%.
¹⁰	For the iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF, BFA contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fee such that the Fund’s total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver will not exceed 0.06% effective June 1, 2018 through May 30, 2023. The contractual waiver was discontinued beginning on June 26, 2018.
¹¹	Effective June 26, 2018, the management fee for the iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF is 0.06%. Prior to June 26, 2018, the management fee for the iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF was 0.20%.
¹²	Effective July 13, 2017, for the iShares MBS ETF, BFA has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fee such that the Fund’s total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver will not exceed 0.09% through February 28, 2023. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to February 28, 2023 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA. For the fiscal year ended February 28, 2018, BFA waived $1,939,234 of management fees.
¹³	For the iShares National Muni Bond ETF, BFA has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees in an amount equal to acquired fund fees and expenses, if any, attributable to investments by the Fund in other series of iShares 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 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% effective June 1, 2018 through May 30, 2023. The contractual waiver was discontinued beginning on June 26, 2018. For the fiscal years ended February 28, 2018, February 29, 2017 and February 28, 2016, BFA waived $0, $0 and $0 of management fees, respectively.
¹⁴	Effective June 26, 2018, the management fee for the iShares National Muni Bond ETF is 0.07%. Prior to June 26, 2018, the management fee for the iShares National Muni Bond ETF was 0.25%.
¹⁵	For the iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF, BFA contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fee such that the Fund’s total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver will not exceed 0.06% effective June 1, 2018 through May 30, 2023. The contractual waiver was discontinued beginning on June 26, 2018.
¹⁶	Effective June 26, 2018, the management fee for the iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF is 0.06%. Prior to June 26, 2018, the management fee for the iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF was 0.20%.
¹⁷	For the iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF, BFA contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fee such that the Fund’s total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver will not exceed 0.07% effective June 1, 2018 through May 30, 2023. The contractual waiver was discontinued beginning on June 26, 2018.
¹⁸	Effective June 26, 2018, the management fee for the iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF is 0.07%. Prior to June 26, 2018, the management fee for the iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF was 0.25%.

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¹⁹

For the iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF, BFA has voluntarily agreed to waive a portion of its management fees to the extent necessary to prevent the Fund from experiencing a negative 30-day SEC yield. This voluntary waiver may be reduced or discontinued at any time without notice. For the fiscal years ended February 28, 2018, February 29, 2017, and February 28, 2016, BFA waived $0, $0 and $686,992 of its management fees, respectively.

The investment advisory agreement with respect to each Fund continues in effect for two years from its effective date, and thereafter is subject to annual approval by (i) the Board, or (ii) the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the applicable Fund, provided that in either event such continuance also is approved by a majority of the Board members who are not interested persons (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the applicable Fund, by a vote cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval.

The investment advisory agreement with respect to each Fund is terminable without penalty, on 60 days’ notice, by the Board or by a vote of the holders of a majority of the applicable Fund’s outstanding voting securities (as defined in the 1940 Act). The investment advisory agreement is also terminable upon 60 days’ notice by BFA and will terminate automatically in the event of its assignment (as defined in the 1940 Act).

Portfolio Managers. As of February 28, 2018, the individuals named as Portfolio Managers in each Fund’s Prospectus were also primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of other iShares funds and certain other types of portfolios and/or accounts as follows:

James Mauro
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	59	$74,363,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	9	27,502,000,000
Other Accounts	8	6,043,000,000

Scott Radell
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	73	$83,621,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	10	25,242,000,000
Other Accounts	11	6,153,000,000

Each of the portfolios or accounts for which the Portfolio Managers are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management seeks to track the rate of return, risk profile and other characteristics of independent third-party indexes by either replicating the same combination of securities and other financial instruments that compose those indexes or through a representative sampling of the securities and other financial instruments that compose those indexes based on objective criteria and data. Pursuant to BFA policy, investment opportunities are allocated equitably among the Funds and other portfolios and accounts. For example, under certain circumstances, an investment opportunity may be restricted due to limited supply in the market, legal constraints or other factors, in which event the investment opportunity will be allocated equitably among those portfolios and accounts, including the Funds, seeking such investment opportunity. As a consequence, from time to time the Funds may receive a smaller allocation of an investment opportunity than they would have if the Portfolio Managers and BFA and its affiliates did not manage other portfolios or accounts.

Like the Funds, the other portfolios or accounts for which the Portfolio Managers are primarily responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management generally pay an asset-based fee to BFA or its affiliates, as applicable, for its advisory services. One or more of those other portfolios or accounts, however, may pay BFA or its affiliates a performance-based fee in lieu of, or in addition to, an asset-based fee for its advisory services. A portfolio or account with a performance-based fee would pay BFA or its affiliates a portion of that portfolio's or account's gains, or would pay BFA or its affiliates more for its services than would otherwise be the case if BFA or its affiliates meets or exceeds specified performance targets. Performance-based fee arrangements could present an incentive for BFA or its affiliates to devote greater resources, and allocate more investment opportunities, to the portfolios or accounts that have those fee arrangements, relative to other portfolios or accounts, in order to earn larger fees. Although BFA and its affiliates have an obligation to allocate resources and opportunities equitably among portfolios and accounts and intends to do so, shareholders of the Funds should be aware that, as with any group of portfolios and accounts managed by an investment adviser and/or its affiliates pursuant to varying fee arrangements, including performance-based fee arrangements, there is the potential for a conflict-of-interest, which may result in the Portfolio Managers' favoring those portfolios or accounts with performance-based fee arrangements.

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James Mauro
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	0	N/A
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Scott Radell
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	0	N/A
Other Accounts	0	N/A

The discussion below describes the Portfolio Managers' compensation as of February 28, 2018.

Portfolio Manager Compensation Overview

BlackRock, Inc.'s financial arrangements with its portfolio managers, its competitive compensation and its career path emphasis at all levels reflect the value senior management places on key resources. Compensation may include a variety of components and may vary from year to year based on a number of factors. The principal components of compensation include a base salary, a performance-based discretionary bonus, participation in various benefits programs and one or more of the incentive compensation programs established by BlackRock, Inc.

Base compensation. Generally, portfolio managers receive base compensation based on their position with the firm.

Other Compensation Benefits. In addition to base compensation and discretionary incentive compensation, portfolio managers may be eligible to receive or participate in one or more of the following:

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2018). The RSP offers a range of investment options, including registered investment companies and collective investment funds managed by the firm. BlackRock, Inc. contributions follow the investment direction set by participants for their own contributions or, absent participant investment direction, are invested into an index target date fund that corresponds to, or is closest to, the year in which the participant attains age 65. The ESPP allows for investment in BlackRock, Inc. common stock at a 5% discount on the fair market value of the stock on the purchase date. Annual participation in the ESPP is limited to the purchase of 1,000 shares of common stock or a dollar value of $25,000 based on its fair market value on the Purchase Date. James Mauro and Scott Radell are each eligible to participate in these plans.

As of February 28, 2018, the Portfolio Managers beneficially owned shares of the Funds in the amounts reflected in the following tables:

James Mauro

Dollar Range

Fund

None

$1 to $10k

$10,001
to $50k

$50,001
to $100k

$100,001
to $500k

$500,001
to $1m

over
$1m

iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF

iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF

iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF

iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF

iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF

iShares Agency Bond ETF

iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF

iShares California Muni Bond ETF

iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF

iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF

iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF

iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF

iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF

iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF

iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF

iShares MBS ETF

iShares National Muni Bond ETF

iShares New York Muni Bond ETF

iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF

iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF

iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF

Scott Radell

Dollar Range

Fund

None

$1 to $10k

$10,001
to $50k

$50,001
to $100k

$100,001
to $500k

$500,001
to $1m

over
$1m

iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF

iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF

iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF

iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF

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Scott Radell

Dollar Range

Fund

None

$1 to $10k

$10,001
to $50k

$50,001
to $100k

$100,001
to $500k

$500,001
to $1m

over
$1m

iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF

iShares Agency Bond ETF

iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF

iShares California Muni Bond ETF

iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF

iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF

iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF

iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF

iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF

iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF

iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF

iShares MBS ETF

iShares National Muni Bond ETF

iShares New York Muni Bond ETF

iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF

iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF

iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF

Codes of Ethics. The Trust, BFA and the Distributor have adopted codes of ethics pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act. The codes of ethics permit personnel subject to the codes of ethics to invest in securities, subject to certain limitations, including securities that may be purchased or held by the Funds. The codes of ethics are on public file with, and are available from, the SEC.

Anti-Money Laundering Requirements. The Funds are subject to the USA PATRIOT Act (the “Patriot Act”). The Patriot Act is intended to prevent the use of the U.S. financial system in furtherance of money laundering, terrorism or other illicit activities. Pursuant to requirements under the Patriot Act, a Fund may request information from Authorized Participants to enable it to form a reasonable belief that it knows the true identity of its Authorized Participants. This information will be used to verify the identity of Authorized Participants or, in some cases, the status of financial professionals; it will be used only for compliance with the requirements of the Patriot Act.

The Funds reserve the right to reject purchase orders from persons who have not submitted information sufficient to allow a Fund to verify their identity. Each Fund also reserves the right to redeem any amounts in a Fund from persons whose identity it is unable to verify on a timely basis. It is the Funds' policy to cooperate fully with appropriate regulators in any investigations conducted with respect to potential money laundering, terrorism or other illicit activities.

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by the Trust for each Fund. State Street is authorized to appoint certain foreign custodians or foreign custody managers for Fund investments outside the U.S. Pursuant to the Service Module for Transfer Agency Services with the Trust, State Street acts as a transfer agent for each Fund’s authorized and issued shares of beneficial interest, and as dividend disbursing agent of the Trust. As compensation for these services, State Street receives certain out-of-pocket costs, transaction fees and asset-based fees which are accrued daily and paid monthly by BFA from its management fee.

The following table sets forth the administration, custodian and transfer agency expenses of each Fund paid by BFA to State Street for the fiscal years noted:

Fund	Fund Inception Date	Administration, Custodian & Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended February 28, 2018	Administration, Custodian & Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended February 28, 2017	Administration, Custodian & Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended February 29, 2016
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF	07/22/02	$ 199,591	$ 221,061	$238,643
iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF	01/05/07	128,707	126,054	115,884
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF	07/22/02	137,311	183,334	171,480
iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF	01/05/07	10,782	16,145	11,547
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	07/22/02	130,689	156,484	136,399
iShares Agency Bond ETF	11/05/08	11,021	13,700	12,228
iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	01/05/07	41,358	30,171	30,459
iShares California Muni Bond ETF	10/04/07	17,011	16,428	12,188
iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF	11/01/16	34,867	11,716	N/A
iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF	12/08/09	13,335	10,857	12,467
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	09/22/03	947,296	866,091	647,578
iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF	07/11/17	1,770	N/A	N/A
iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF	07/11/17	2,662	N/A	N/A
iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF	01/05/07	12,144	15,706	16,249
iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	04/04/07	271,515	319,536	319,084
iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	07/22/02	608,274	597,026	495,462
iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF	01/05/07	46,651	49,933	46,582
iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF	01/05/07	140,488	141,805	144,060
iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF	12/08/09	23,484	24,901	25,147
iShares MBS ETF	03/13/07	272,393	259,828	224,722
iShares National Muni Bond ETF	09/07/07	163,635	156,915	126,945
iShares New York Muni Bond ETF	10/04/07	7,461	7,233	6,449
iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF	01/05/07	200,400	225,487	239,588
iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF	11/05/08	28,881	26,086	25,500
iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF	01/05/07	102,477	81,594	80,609

Distributor. The Distributor's principal address is 1 University Square Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540. Shares are continuously offered for sale by the Funds through the Distributor or its agent only in Creation Units, as described in the applicable Prospectus and below in the Creation and Redemption of Creation Units section of this SAI. Fund shares in amounts less than Creation Units are generally not distributed by the Distributor or its agent. The Distributor or its agent will arrange for the delivery of the applicable Prospectus and, upon request, this SAI to persons purchasing Creation Units and will maintain records of both orders placed with it or its agents and confirmations of acceptance furnished by it or its agents. The Distributor is a broker-dealer registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “1934 Act”), and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”). The Distributor is also licensed as a broker-dealer in all 50 U.S. states, as well as in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia.

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The Distribution Agreement for each Fund provides that it may be terminated at any time, without the payment of any penalty, on at least 60 days' prior written notice to the other party following (i) the vote of a majority of the Independent Trustees, or (ii) the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the relevant Fund. The Distribution Agreement will terminate automatically in the event of its assignment (as defined in the 1940 Act).

Securities Lending. To the extent that a Fund engages in securities lending, each Fund conducts its securities lending pursuant to SEC exemptive relief, and BTC acts as securities lending agent for the Funds, subject to the overall supervision of BFA, pursuant to a written agreement (the “Securities Lending Agency Agreement”).

Each Fund retains a portion of the securities lending income and remits the remaining portion to BTC as compensation for its services as securities lending agent. Securities lending income is generally equal to the total of income earned from the reinvestment of cash collateral (and excludes collateral investment fees as defined below), and any fees or other payments to and from borrowers of securities. As securities lending agent, BTC bears all operational costs directly related to securities lending. Each Fund is responsible for fees in connection with the investment of cash collateral received for securities on loan in a money market fund managed by BFA (the “collateral investment fees”); however, BTC has agreed to reduce the amount of securities lending income it receives in order to effectively limit the collateral investment fees the Fund bears to an annual rate of 0.04%. Such money market fund shares will not be subject to a sales load, redemption fee, distribution fee or service fee.

Pursuant to the Securities Lending Agency Agreement:

(i) Fixed income funds, such as the Funds, retain 80% of securities lending income (which excludes collateral investment fees) and (ii) this amount can never be less than 70% of the sum of securities lending income plus collateral investment fees.

Under the securities lending program, the Funds are categorized into one of several specific asset classes. The determination of a Fund’s asset class category (fixed-income, domestic equity, international equity or fund-of-funds), each of which may be subject to a different fee arrangement, is based on a methodology agreed to by the Trust and BTC.

In addition, commencing the business day following the date that the aggregate securities lending income (which includes, for this purpose, collateral investment fees) earned across the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex (as defined under “Management—Trustees and Officers”) in a calendar year exceeds the aggregate securities lending income earned across the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex in calendar year 2013 (the Hurdle Date), each applicable fixed income fund, pursuant to the securities lending agreement, will receive for the remainder of that calendar year securities lending income as follows:

(i) 85% of securities lending income (which excludes collateral investment fees) and (ii) this amount can never be less than 70% of the sum of securities lending income plus collateral investment fees.

The services provided to the Funds by BTC in the most recent fiscal year ended February 28, 2018 primarily included the following:

(1) selecting borrowers from an approved list of borrowers and executing a securities lending agreement as agent on behalf of the Funds with each such borrower;

(2) negotiating the terms of securities loans, including the amount of fees;

(3) directing the delivery of loaned securities;

(4) monitoring the daily value of the loaned securities and directing the payment of additional collateral or the return of excess collateral, as necessary;

(5) investing cash collateral received in connection with any loaned securities;

145

(6) monitoring distributions on loaned securities (for example, interest and dividend activity);

(7) in the event of default by a borrower with respect to any securities loan, using the collateral or the proceeds of the liquidation of collateral to purchase replacement securities of the same issue, type, class and series as that of the loaned securities; and

(8) terminating securities loans and arranging for the return of loaned securities to the Funds at loan termination.

The following tables show the dollar amounts of income and fees/compensation related to the securities lending activities of each Fund during its most recent fiscal year ended February 28, 2018.

Fund	iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF	iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF	iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF	iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF
Gross income from securities lending activities	$ 62,517	$2,288	N/A	N/A
Fees and/or compensation for securities lending activities and related services
Securities lending income paid to BTC for services as securities lending agent	1,968	151	N/A	N/A
Cash collateral management expenses not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	3,312	68	N/A	N/A
Administrative fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	N/A	N/A
Indemnification fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	N/A	N/A
Rebates (paid to borrowers)	44,919	1,241	N/A	N/A
Other fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	N/A	N/A
Aggregate fees/compensation for securities lending activities	50,199	1,460	N/A	N/A
Net income from securities lending activities	12,318	828	N/A	N/A

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Fund	iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF
Other fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0
Aggregate fees/compensation for securities lending activities	172,875
Net income from securities lending activities	46,248

Payments by BFA and its Affiliates. BFA and/or its affiliates (“BFA Entities”) may pay certain broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, banks and other financial intermediaries (“Intermediaries”) for certain activities related to the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products in general. BFA Entities make these payments from their own assets and not from the assets of the Funds. Although a portion of BFA Entities’ revenue comes directly or indirectly in part from fees paid by the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products, these payments do not increase the price paid by investors for the purchase of shares of, or the cost of owning, the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products. BFA Entities make payments for Intermediaries’ participation in activities that are designed to make registered representatives, other professionals and individual investors more knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, including the Funds and other iShares funds, or for other activities, such as participation in marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems (“Education Costs”). BFA Entities also make payments to Intermediaries for certain printing, publishing and mailing costs or materials relating to the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products (“Publishing Costs”). In addition, BFA Entities make payments to Intermediaries that make shares of the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products available to their clients, develop new products that feature iShares or otherwise promote the Funds, other iShares funds and exchange-traded products. BFA Entities may also reimburse expenses or make payments from their own assets to Intermediaries or other persons in consideration of services or other activities that the BFA Entities believe may benefit the iShares business or facilitate investment in the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products. Payments of the type described above are sometimes referred to as revenue-sharing payments.

Payments to an Intermediary may be significant to the Intermediary, and amounts that Intermediaries pay to your salesperson or other investment professional may also be significant for your salesperson or other investment professional. Because an Intermediary may make decisions about which investment options it will recommend or make available to its clients or what services to provide for various products based on payments it receives or is eligible to receive, such payments may create conflicts of interest between the Intermediary and its clients and these financial incentives may cause the Intermediary to recommend the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products over other investments. The same conflicts of interest and financial incentives exist with respect to your salesperson or other investment professional if he or she receives similar payments from his or her Intermediary firm.

In addition to the payments described above, BFA Entities have developed proprietary tools, calculators and related interactive or digital content that is made available through the www.BlackRock.com website at no additional cost to Intermediaries. BlackRock may configure these tools and calculators and localizes the content for Intermediaries as part of its customary digital marketing support and promotion of the Funds, other iShares funds, exchange-traded products and BlackRock mutual funds.

As of March 1, 2013, BFA Entities have contractual arrangements to make payments (in addition to payments for Education Costs or Publishing Costs) to one Intermediary, Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC (“FBS”). Effective June 4, 2016, this relationship was expanded to include National Financial Services, LLC (“NFS”), an affiliate of FBS. Pursuant to this special, long-term and significant arrangement (the “Marketing Program”), FBS, NFS and certain of their affiliates (collectively “Fidelity”) have agreed, among other things, to actively promote iShares funds to customers, investment professionals and other intermediaries and in advertising campaigns as the preferred exchange-traded product, to offer certain iShares funds in certain Fidelity platforms and investment programs, in some cases at a waived or reduced commission rate or ticket charge, and to provide marketing data to BFA Entities. BFA Entities have agreed to facilitate the Marketing Program by, among other

152

things, making certain payments to FBS and NFS for marketing and implementing certain brokerage and investment programs. Upon termination of the arrangement, the BFA Entities will make additional payments to FBS and/or NFS based upon a number of criteria, including the overall success of the Marketing Program and the level of services provided by FBS and NFS during the wind-down period.

In addition, BFA Entities may enter into other contractual arrangements with Intermediaries and certain other third parties that the BFA Entities believe may benefit the iShares business or facilitate investment in iShares funds. Such agreements may include payments by BFA Entities to such Intermediaries and third parties for data collection and provision, technology support, platform enhancement, or co-marketing and cross-promotional efforts. Payments made pursuant to such arrangements may vary in any year and may be different for different Intermediaries and third parties. In certain cases, the payments described in the preceding sentence may be subject to certain minimum payment levels. Such payments will not be asset- or revenue-based. As of the date of this SAI, the Intermediaries and other third parties receiving such contractual payments include: Commonwealth Equity Services, Inc., Dorsey Wright and Associates, LLC, E*Trade Securities LLC, FDx Advisors, Inc., Ladenburg Thalmann Advisor Network LLC, LPL Financial LLC, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, Orion Advisors Services, LLC, Pershing LLC, Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., TD Ameritrade, Inc. and UBS Financial Services Inc. Any additions, modifications, or deletions to Intermediaries and other third parties listed above that have occurred since the date of this SAI are not included in the list.

Further, BFA Entities make Education Costs and Publishing Costs payments to other Intermediaries that are not listed above. BFA Entities may determine to make such payments based on any number of metrics. For example, BFA Entities may make payments at year-end or other intervals in a fixed amount, an amount based upon an Intermediary’s services at defined levels or an amount based on the Intermediary’s net sales of one or more iShares funds in a year or other period, any of which arrangements may include an agreed-upon minimum or maximum payment, or any combination of the foregoing. As of the date of this SAI, BFA anticipates that the payments paid by BFA Entities in connection with the Funds, iShares funds and exchange-traded products in general will be immaterial to BFA Entities in the aggregate for the next year. Please contact your salesperson or other investment professional for more information regarding any such payments or financial incentives his or her Intermediary firm may receive. Any payments made, or financial incentives offered, by the BFA Entities to an Intermediary may create the incentive for the Intermediary to encourage customers to buy shares of the Funds, other iShares funds or other exchange-traded products.

The Funds may participate in certain market maker incentive programs of a national securities exchange in which an affiliate of the Funds would pay a fee to the exchange used for the purpose of incentivizing one or more market makers in the securities of a Fund to enhance the liquidity and quality of the secondary market of securities of a Fund. The fee would then be credited by the exchange to one or more market makers that meet or exceed liquidity and market quality standards with respect to the securities of a Fund. Each market maker incentive program is subject to approval from the SEC. Any such fee payments made to an exchange will be made by an affiliate of a Fund solely for the benefit of a Fund and will not be paid from any Fund assets. Other funds managed by BFA may also participate in such programs.

Determination of Net Asset Value

Valuation of Shares. The NAV for each Fund is generally calculated as of the close of business on the NYSE (normally 4:00 p.m., Eastern time) on each business day the NYSE is open. Valuation of securities held by a Fund is as follows:

Equity Investments. Equity securities traded on a recognized securities exchange (e.g., NYSE), on separate trading boards of a securities exchange or through a market system that provides contemporaneous transaction pricing information (each, an “Exchange”) are valued using information obtained via independent pricing services, generally at the closing price on the Exchange on which the security is primarily traded, or if an Exchange closing price is not available, the last traded price on that Exchange prior to the time as of which a Fund’s assets or liabilities are valued. However, under certain circumstances, other means of determining current market value may be used. If an equity security is traded on more than one Exchange, the current market value of the security where it is primarily traded generally will be used. In the event that there are no sales involving an equity security held by a Fund on a day on which a Fund values such security, the prior day’s price will be used, unless, in accordance with valuation procedures approved by the Board (the “Valuation Procedures”), BlackRock determines in good faith that such prior day’s price no longer reflects the fair value of the security, in which case such asset would be treated as a Fair Value Asset (as defined below).

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Fixed-Income Investments. Fixed-income securities for which market quotations are readily available are generally valued using such securities’ current market value. A Fund values fixed-income portfolio securities using the last available bid prices or current market quotations provided by dealers or prices (including evaluated prices) supplied by a Fund’s approved independent third-party pricing services, each in accordance with the Valuation Procedures. The pricing services may use matrix pricing or valuation models that utilize certain inputs and assumptions to derive values, including transaction data (e.g., recent representative bids and offers), credit quality information, perceived market movements, news, and other relevant information and by other methods, which may include consideration of: yields or prices of securities of comparable quality, coupon, maturity and type; indications as to values from dealers; general market conditions; and/or other factors and assumptions. Pricing services generally value fixed-income securities assuming orderly transactions of an institutional round lot size, but a Fund may hold or transact in such securities in smaller, odd lot sizes. Odd lots may trade at lower prices than institutional round lots. The amortized cost method of valuation may be used with respect to debt obligations with sixty days or less remaining to maturity unless BlackRock determines in good faith that such method does not represent fair value. Loan participation notes are generally valued at the mean of the last available bid prices from one or more brokers or dealers as obtained from independent third-party pricing services. Certain fixed-income investments, including asset-backed and mortgage-related securities, may be valued based on valuation models that consider the estimated cash flows of each tranche of the entity, establish a benchmark yield and develop an estimated tranche-specific spread to the benchmark yield based on the unique attributes of the tranche.

Options, Futures, Swaps and Other Derivatives. Exchange-traded equity options for which market quotations are readily available are valued at the mean of the last bid and ask prices as quoted on the Exchange or the board of trade on which such options are traded. In the event that there is no mean price available for an exchange traded equity option held by a Fund on a day on which a Fund values such option, the last bid (long positions) or ask (short positions) price, if available, will be used as the value of such option. If no such bid or ask price is available on a day on which a Fund values such option, the prior day’s price will be used, unless BlackRock determines in good faith that such prior day’s price no longer reflects the fair value of the option, in which case such option will be treated as a Fair Value Asset (as defined below). OTC derivatives are valued using the last available bid prices or current market quotations provided by dealers or prices (including evaluated prices) supplied by a Fund’s approved independent third-party pricing services, each in accordance with the Valuation Procedures. OTC derivatives may be valued using a mathematical model which may incorporate a number of market data factors. Financial futures contracts and options thereon, which are traded on exchanges, are valued at their settle price as of the close of such exchanges. Swap agreements and other derivatives are generally valued daily based upon quotations from market makers or by a pricing service in accordance with the Valuation Procedures.

Underlying Funds. Shares of underlying ETFs will be valued at their most recent closing price on an Exchange. Shares of underlying money market funds will be valued at their NAV.

General Valuation Information. The price a Fund could receive upon the sale of any particular portfolio investment may differ from a Fund’s valuation of the investment, particularly for securities that trade in thin or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair valuation methodology or a price provided by an independent pricing service. As a result, the price received upon the sale of an investment may be less than the value ascribed by a Fund, and a Fund could realize a greater than expected loss or lesser than expected gain upon the sale of the investment. A Fund’s ability to value its investment may also be impacted by technological issues and/or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.

All cash, receivables and current payables are carried on a Fund’s books at their face value.

Prices obtained from independent third-party pricing services, broker-dealers or market makers to value a Fund’s securities and other assets and liabilities are based on information available at the time a Fund values its assets and liabilities. In the event that a pricing service quotation is revised or updated subsequent to the day on which a Fund valued such security or other asset or liability, the revised pricing service quotation generally will be applied prospectively. Such determination will be made considering pertinent facts and circumstances surrounding the revision.

In the event that application of the methods of valuation discussed above result in a price for a security which is deemed not to be representative of the fair market value of such security, the security will be valued by, under the direction of or in accordance with a method approved by the Board as reflecting fair value. All other assets and liabilities (including securities for which market quotations are not readily available) held by a Fund (including restricted securities) are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by the Board or by BlackRock (its delegate) pursuant to the Valuation Procedures. Any assets and

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liabilities that are denominated in a foreign currency are converted into U.S. dollars using prevailing market rates on the date of valuation as quoted by one or more data service providers.

Certain of the securities acquired by a Fund may be traded on foreign exchanges or OTC markets on days on which a Fund’s NAV is not calculated. In such cases, the NAV of a Fund’s shares may be significantly affected on days when Authorized Participants can neither purchase nor redeem shares of a Fund.

Use of fair value prices and certain current market valuations could result in a difference between the prices used to calculate a Fund’s NAV and the prices used in the Underlying Index, which, in turn, could result in a difference between a Fund’s performance and the performance of the Underlying Index.

Fair Value. When market quotations are not readily available or are believed in good faith by BlackRock to be unreliable, a Fund’s investments are valued at fair value (“Fair Value Assets”). Fair Value Assets are valued by BlackRock in accordance with the Valuation Procedures. BlackRock may reasonably conclude that a market quotation is not readily available or is unreliable if, among other things, a security or other asset or liability does not have a price source due to its complete lack of trading, if BlackRock believes in good faith that a market quotation from a broker-dealer or other source is unreliable (e.g., where it varies significantly from a recent trade, or no longer reflects the fair value of the security or other asset or liability subsequent to the most recent market quotation), or where the security or other asset or liability is only thinly traded or due to the occurrence of a significant event subsequent to the most recent market quotation. For this purpose, a “significant event” is deemed to occur if BlackRock determines, in its reasonable business judgment, that an event has occurred after the close of trading for an asset or liability but prior to or at the time of pricing a Fund’s assets or liabilities, and that the event is likely to cause a material change to the closing market price of the assets or liabilities held by a Fund. Non-U.S. securities whose values are affected by volatility that occurs in the markets or in related or highly correlated assets (e.g., American Depositary Receipts, Global Depositary Receipts or ETFs that invest in components of the Underlying Index) on a trading day after the close of non-U.S. securities markets may be fair valued. On any day the NYSE is open and a foreign market or the primary exchange on which a foreign asset or liability is traded is closed, such asset or liability will be valued using the prior day’s price, provided that BlackRock is not aware of any significant event or other information that would cause such price to no longer reflect the fair value of the asset or liability, in which case such asset or liability would be treated as a Fair Value Asset.

BlackRock, with input from the BlackRock Investment Strategy Group, will submit its recommendations regarding the valuation and/or valuation methodologies for Fair Value Assets to BlackRock’s Valuation Committee. The BlackRock Valuation Committee may accept, modify or reject any recommendations. In addition, a Fund’s accounting agent periodically endeavors to confirm the prices it receives from all third-party pricing services, index providers and broker-dealers, and, with the assistance of BlackRock, to regularly evaluate the values assigned to the securities and other assets and liabilities of a Fund. The pricing of all Fair Value Assets is subsequently reported to and, where appropriate, ratified by the Board.

When determining the price for a Fair Value Asset, the BlackRock Valuation Committee (or BlackRock’s Pricing Group) will seek to determine the price that a Fund might reasonably expect to receive upon the current sale of that asset or liability in an arm’s-length transaction on the date on which the assets or liabilities are being valued, and does not seek to determine the price that a Fund might expect to receive for selling the asset, or the cost of extinguishing a liability, at a later time or if it holds the asset or liability to maturity. Fair value determinations will be based upon all available factors that the BlackRock Valuation Committee (or BlackRock’s Pricing Group) deems relevant at the time of the determination, and may be based on analytical values determined by BlackRock using proprietary or third-party valuation models.

Fair value represents a good faith approximation of the value of an asset or liability. When determining the fair value of an asset, one or more of a variety of fair valuation methodologies may be used (depending on certain factors, including the asset type). For example, the asset may be priced on the basis of the original cost of the investment or, alternatively, using proprietary or third-party models (including models that rely upon direct portfolio management pricing inputs and which reflect the significance attributed to the various factors and assumptions being considered). Prices of actual, executed or historical transactions in the relevant asset and/or liability (or related or comparable assets and/or liabilities) or, where appropriate, an appraisal by a third-party experienced in the valuation of similar assets and/or liabilities, may also be used as a basis for establishing the fair value of an asset or liability. The fair value of one or more assets or liabilities may not, in

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retrospect, be the price at which those assets or liabilities could have been sold during the period in which the particular fair values were used in determining a Fund’s NAV. As a result, a Fund’s sale or redemption of its shares at NAV, at a time when a holding or holdings are valued at fair value, may have the effect of diluting or increasing the economic interest of existing shareholders.

Each Fund’s annual audited financial statements, which are prepared in accordance with US GAAP, follow the requirements for valuation set forth in Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures” (“ASC 820”), which defines and establishes a framework for measuring fair value under US GAAP and expands financial statement disclosure requirements relating to fair value measurements. Generally, ASC 820 and other accounting rules applicable to funds and various assets in which they invest are evolving. Such changes may adversely affect a Fund. For example, the evolution of rules governing the determination of the fair market value of assets or liabilities to the extent such rules become more stringent would tend to increase the cost and/or reduce the availability of third-party determinations of fair market value. This may in turn increase the costs associated with selling assets or affect their liquidity due to a Fund’s inability to obtain a third-party determination of fair market value.

Brokerage Transactions

Subject to policies established by the Board, BFA is primarily responsible for the execution of a Fund’s portfolio transactions and the allocation of brokerage. BFA does not execute transactions through any particular broker or dealer, but seeks to obtain the best net results for the Funds, taking into account such factors as price (including the applicable brokerage commission or dealer spread), size of order, difficulty of execution, operational facilities of the firm and the firm’s risk and skill in positioning blocks of securities. While BFA generally seeks reasonable trade execution costs, a Fund does not necessarily pay the lowest spread or commission available, and payment of the lowest commission or spread is not necessarily consistent with obtaining the best price and execution in particular transactions. Subject to applicable legal requirements, BFA may select a broker based partly upon brokerage or research services provided to BFA and its clients, including a Fund. In return for such services, BFA may cause a Fund to pay a higher commission than other brokers would charge if BFA determines in good faith that the commission is reasonable in relation to the services provided.

In selecting brokers or dealers to execute portfolio transactions, BFA seeks to obtain the best price and most favorable execution for a Fund and may take into account a variety of factors including: (i) the size, nature and character of the security or instrument being traded and the markets in which it is purchased or sold; (ii) the desired timing of the transaction; (iii) BFA’s knowledge of the expected commission rates and spreads currently available; (iv) the activity existing and expected in the market for the particular security or instrument, including any anticipated execution difficulties; (v) the full range of brokerage services provided; (vi) the broker’s or dealer’s capital; (vii) the quality of research and research services provided; (viii) the reasonableness of the commission, dealer spread or its equivalent for the specific transaction; and (ix) BFA’s knowledge of any actual or apparent operational problems of a broker or dealer. Brokers may also be selected because of their ability to handle special or difficult executions, such as may be involved in large block trades, less liquid securities, or other circumstances.

From time to time, a Fund may purchase new issues of securities in a fixed price offering. In these situations, the broker may be a member of the selling group that will, in addition to selling securities, provide BFA with research services. FINRA has adopted rules expressly permitting these types of arrangements under certain circumstances. Generally, the broker will provide research “credits” in these situations at a rate that is higher than that available for typical secondary market transactions. These arrangements may not fall within the safe harbor of Section 28(e).

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will generally include a “spread,” which is the difference between the prices at which the dealer is willing to purchase and sell the specific security at the time, and includes the dealer’s normal profit.

Under the 1940 Act, persons affiliated with a Fund and persons who are affiliated with such affiliated persons are prohibited from dealing with the Fund as principal in the purchase and sale of securities unless a permissive order allowing such transactions is obtained from the SEC. Since transactions in the OTC market usually involve transactions with the dealers acting as principal for their own accounts, the Funds will not deal with affiliated persons and affiliated persons of such affiliated persons, including PNC and its affiliates, in connection with such transactions. The Funds will not purchase securities during the existence of any underwriting or selling group relating to such securities of which BFA, PNC, BRIL or any affiliated person (as defined in the 1940 Act) thereof is a member except pursuant to procedures adopted by the Board in accordance with Rule 10f-3 under the 1940 Act.

Purchases of money market instruments by the Funds are made from dealers, underwriters and issuers. The Funds do not currently expect to incur any brokerage commission expense on such transactions because money market instruments are generally traded on a “net” basis with dealers acting as principal for their own accounts without a stated commission. The price of the security, however, usually includes a profit to the dealer.

BFA may, from time to time, effect trades on behalf of and for the account of the Funds with brokers or dealers that are affiliated with BFA, in conformity with Rule 17e-1 under the 1940 Act and SEC rules and regulations. Under these provisions, any commissions paid to affiliated brokers or dealers must be reasonable and fair compared to the commissions charged by other brokers or dealers in comparable transactions.

Investment decisions for the Funds and for other investment accounts managed by BFA and the other Affiliates are made independently of each other in light of differing conditions. A variety of factors will be considered in making investment allocations. These factors include: (i) investment objectives or strategies for particular accounts, including sector, industry, country or region and capitalization weightings; (ii) tax considerations of an account; (iii) risk or investment concentration parameters for an account; (iv) supply or demand for a security at a given price level; (v) size of available investment; (vi) cash availability and liquidity requirements for accounts; (vii) regulatory restrictions; (viii) minimum investment size of an account; (ix) relative size of account; and (x) such other factors as may be approved by BlackRock’s general counsel. Moreover, investments may not be allocated to one client account over another based on any of the following considerations: (i) to favor one client account at the expense of another; (ii) to generate higher fees paid by one client account over another or to produce greater performance compensation to BlackRock; (iii) to develop or enhance a relationship with a client or prospective client; (iv) to compensate a client for past services or benefits rendered to BlackRock or to induce future services or benefits to be rendered to BlackRock; or (v) to manage or equalize investment performance among different client accounts. BFA and the other Affiliates may deal, trade and invest for their own respective accounts in the types of securities in which the Funds may invest.

Initial public offerings (“IPOs”) of securities may be over-subscribed and subsequently trade at a premium in the secondary market. When BFA is given an opportunity to invest in such an initial offering or “new” or “hot” issue, the supply of securities available for client accounts is often less than the amount of securities the accounts would otherwise take. In order to allocate these investments fairly and equitably among client accounts over time, each portfolio manager or a member of his or her respective investment team will indicate to BFA’s trading desk their level of interest in a particular offering with respect to eligible clients’ accounts for which that team is responsible. IPOs of U.S. equity securities will be identified as eligible for particular client accounts that are managed by portfolio teams who have indicated interest in the offering based on market capitalization of the issuer of the security and the investment mandate of the client account and in the case of international equity securities, the country where the offering is taking place and the investment mandate of the client account. Generally, shares received during the IPO will be allocated among participating client accounts within each investment mandate on a pro rata basis. This pro rata allocation may result in a Fund receiving less of a particular security than if pro-rating had not occurred. All allocations of securities will be subject, where relevant, to share minimums established for accounts and compliance constraints. In situations where supply is too limited to be allocated among all accounts for which the investment is eligible, portfolio managers may rotate such investment opportunities among one or more accounts so long as

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the rotation system provides for fair access for all client accounts over time. Other allocation methodologies that are considered by BFA to be fair and equitable to clients may be used as well.

Because different accounts may have differing investment objectives and policies, BFA may buy and sell the same securities at the same time for different clients based on the particular investment objective, guidelines and strategies of those accounts. For example, BFA may decide that it may be entirely appropriate for a growth fund to sell a security at the same time a value fund is buying that security. To the extent that transactions on behalf of more than one client of BFA or the other Affiliates during the same period may increase the demand for securities being purchased or the supply of securities being sold, there may be an adverse effect on price. For example, sales of a security by BlackRock on behalf of one or more of its clients may decrease the market price of such security, adversely impacting other BlackRock clients that still hold the security. If purchases or sales of securities arise for consideration at or about the same time that would involve the Funds or other clients or funds for which BFA or another Affiliate act as investment manager, transactions in such securities will be made, insofar as feasible, for the respective funds and clients in a manner deemed equitable to all.

In certain instances, BFA may find it efficient for purposes of seeking to obtain best execution, to aggregate or “bunch” certain contemporaneous purchases or sale orders of its advisory accounts and advisory accounts of affiliates. In general, all contemporaneous trades for client accounts under management by the same portfolio manager or investment team will be bunched in a single order if the trader believes the bunched trade would provide each client with an opportunity to achieve a more favorable execution at a potentially lower execution cost. The costs associated with a bunched order will be shared pro rata among the clients in the bunched order. Generally, if an order for a particular portfolio manager or management team is filled at several different prices through multiple trades, all accounts participating in the order will receive the average price (except in the case of certain international markets where average pricing is not permitted). While in some cases this practice could have a detrimental effect upon the price or value of the security as far as the Funds are concerned, in other cases it could be beneficial to the Funds. Transactions effected by BFA or the other Affiliates on behalf of more than one of its clients during the same period may increase the demand for securities being purchased or the supply of securities being sold, causing an adverse effect on price. The trader will give the bunched order to the broker-dealer that the trader has identified as being able to provide the best execution of the order. Orders for purchase or sale of securities will be placed within a reasonable amount of time of the order receipt and bunched orders will be kept bunched only long enough to execute the order.

With the exception of the iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF, which incurred brokerage commissions of $1,467 for the fiscal year ended February 29, 2016, there were no brokerage commissions paid on behalf of each Fund for the fiscal years ended February 28, 2018, February 28, 2017 and February 29, 2016.

The following table sets forth the names of the Funds’ “regular” broker-dealers, as defined under Rule 10b-1 of the 1940 Act, which derive more than 15% of their gross revenues from securities-related activities and in which the Funds invest, together with the market value of each investment as of the fiscal year ended February 28, 2018:

Fund	Issuer	Market Value of Investment
iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$26,220,470
	Bank of America Corp.	23,545,106
	Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (The)	23,029,912
	Citigroup Inc.	20,268,420
	Morgan Stanley	20,051,938
	Barclays PLC	6,093,547
	Credit Suisse AG	1,895,353
	Nomura Holdings Inc.	381,794

iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$ 187,998
	Bank of America Corp.	141,632
	Morgan Stanley	119,771
	Citigroup Inc.	115,745
	Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (The)	107,792

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Fund	Issuer	Market Value of Investment

iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$ 1,662,816
	Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (The)	1,521,092
	Citigroup Inc.	1,377,659
	Bank of America Corp.	1,129,331
	Morgan Stanley	977,068
	Barclays PLC	305,276

iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$ 290,082,315
	Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (The)	252,843,186
	Bank of America Corp.	252,726,318
	Morgan Stanley	222,524,960
	Citigroup Inc.	214,076,364
	Barclays PLC	64,321,590
	Credit Suisse AG	28,915,864
	Nomura Holdings Inc.	6,751,836

iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF	Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (The)	$ 367,363
	Morgan Stanley	208,130
	Citigroup Inc.	48,848

iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF	Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (The)	$ 135,983
	Morgan Stanley	94,963
	Bank of America Corp.	86,453
	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	85,356
	Citigroup Inc.	71,557

iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF	Bank of America Corp.	$ 1,170,576
	Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (The)	926,809
	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	909,030
	Citigroup Inc.	782,291
	Morgan Stanley	555,008
	Barclays PLC	192,628
	Nomura Holdings Inc.	165,983
	Credit Suisse AG	52,056

iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$1,000,343,126
	Bank of America Corp.	971,354,542
	Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (The)	939,158,554
	Citigroup Inc.	794,377,844
	Morgan Stanley	776,374,133
	Barclays PLC	211,241,386
	Credit Suisse AG	63,652,193

iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$ 15,948,115
	Bank of America Corp.	15,121,540
	Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (The)	12,448,942
	Citigroup Inc.	12,378,201

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Fund	Issuer	Market Value of Investment
	Morgan Stanley	12,237,367
	Barclays PLC	3,332,516
	Credit Suisse AG	1,859,666
	Nomura Holdings Inc.	348,029

iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF	Bank of America Corp.	$ 139,048,667
	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	138,956,095
	Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (The)	129,237,582
	Morgan Stanley	115,168,039
	Citigroup Inc.	105,753,271
	Barclays PLC	32,152,381
	Credit Suisse AG	23,133,915
	Nomura Holdings Inc.	1,704,249

iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF	Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (The)	$ 9,653,023
	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	8,913,628
	Bank of America Corp.	6,474,652
	Citigroup Inc.	6,316,123
	Morgan Stanley	4,256,860
	Barclays PLC	2,007,274

iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$ 234,382,961
	Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (The)	180,631,134
	Morgan Stanley	170,724,038
	Bank of America Corp.	170,530,363
	Citigroup Inc.	99,126,571
	Credit Suisse AG	63,240,235
	Barclays PLC	42,529,651
	Nomura Holdings Inc.	6,111,555

The Funds' purchase and sale orders for securities may be combined with those of other investment companies, clients or accounts that BlackRock manages or advises. If purchases or sales of portfolio securities of the Funds and one or more other accounts managed or advised by BlackRock are considered at or about the same time, transactions in such securities are allocated among the Funds and the other accounts in a manner deemed equitable to all by BlackRock. In some cases, this procedure could have a detrimental effect on the price or volume of the security as far as the Funds are concerned. However, in other cases, it is possible that the ability to participate in volume transactions and to negotiate lower transaction costs will be beneficial to the Funds. BlackRock may deal, trade and invest for its own account in the types of securities in which the Funds may invest. BlackRock may, from time to time, effect trades on behalf of and for the account of the Funds with brokers or dealers that are affiliated with BFA, in conformity with the 1940 Act and SEC rules and regulations. Under these provisions, any commissions paid to affiliated brokers or dealers must be reasonable and fair compared to the commissions charged by other brokers or dealers in comparable transactions. The Funds will not deal with affiliates in principal transactions unless permitted by applicable SEC rules or regulations, or by SEC exemptive order.

Portfolio turnover may vary from year to year, as well as within a year. Certain Funds may use TBA transactions, which are expected to cause a higher portfolio turnover rate because TBA positions are rolled every month. High turnover rates may result in comparatively greater brokerage expenses. While each Fund's portfolio turnover rates are generally expected to be low, the portfolio turnover rate for that portion of the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF's and iShares MBS ETF's assets invested through TBA transactions, if any, is expected to be substantially higher because TBA positions are rolled every month. Higher turnover rates would likely result in comparatively greater transaction costs.

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The table below sets forth the portfolio turnover rates of each Fund for the fiscal years noted:

Fund	Fiscal Year Ended February 28, 2018	Fiscal Year Ended February 28, 2017
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF	85%	66%
iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF	66%	45%
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF	46%	77%
iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF	27%	15%
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	25%	24%
iShares Agency Bond ETF	78%	71%
iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	11%	12%
iShares California Muni Bond ETF	32%	25%
iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF	504%	108%
iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF	11%	8%
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF¹	252%	242%
iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF	30%	N/A
iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF	17%	N/A
iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF	17%	14%
iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	17%	13%
iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	10%	11%
iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF	19%	20%
iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF	21%	16%
iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF	12%	10%
iShares MBS ETF¹	745%	748%
iShares National Muni Bond ETF	10%	8%
iShares New York Muni Bond ETF	31%	21%
iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF	46%	35%
iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF	21%	19%
iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF	47%	78%

¹	Portfolio turnover rate includes TBA transactions, as described above.

Additional Information Concerning the Trust

Each share has one vote with respect to matters upon which the shareholder is entitled to vote. In any matter submitted to shareholders for a vote, each fund shall hold a separate vote, provided that shareholders of all affected funds will vote together when: (i) required by the 1940 Act, or (ii) the Trustees determine that the matter affects the interests of more than one fund.

Following the creation of the initial Creation Unit(s) of shares of a fund and immediately prior to the commencement of trading in such fund’s shares, a holder of shares may be a “control person” of the fund, as defined in Rule 0-1 under the 1940 Act. A fund cannot predict the length of time for which one or more shareholders may remain a control person of the fund.

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Shareholders may make inquiries by writing to iShares Trust, c/o BlackRock Investments, LLC, 1 University Square Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540.

Absent an applicable exemption or other relief from the SEC or its staff, beneficial owners of more than 5% of the shares of a fund may be subject to the reporting provisions of Section 13 of the 1934 Act and the SEC’s rules promulgated thereunder. In addition, absent an applicable exemption or other relief from the SEC or its staff, officers and trustees of a fund and beneficial owners of 10% of the shares of a fund (“Insiders”) may be subject to the insider reporting, short-swing profit and short sale provisions of Section 16 of the 1934 Act and the SEC’s rules promulgated thereunder. Beneficial owners and Insiders should consult with their own legal counsel concerning their obligations under Sections 13 and 16 of the 1934 Act and existing guidance provided by the SEC staff.

In accordance with the Trust's current Agreement and Declaration of Trust (the “Declaration of Trust”), the Board may, without shareholder approval (unless such shareholder approval is required by the Declaration of Trust or applicable law, including the 1940 Act), authorize certain funds to merge, reorganize, consolidate, sell all or substantially all of their assets, or take other similar actions with, to or into another fund. The Trust or a Fund may be terminated by a majority vote of the Board, subject to the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders of the Trust or such Fund entitled to vote on termination; however, in certain circumstances described in the Declaration of Trust, only a majority vote of the Board is required. Although the shares are not automatically redeemable upon the occurrence of any specific event, the Declaration of Trust provides that the Board will have the unrestricted power to alter the number of shares in a Creation Unit. Therefore, in the event of a termination of the Trust or a Fund, the Board, in its sole discretion, could determine to permit the shares to be redeemable in aggregations smaller than Creation Units or to be individually redeemable. In such circumstance, the Trust or a Fund may make redemptions in-kind, for cash or for a combination of cash or securities. Further, in the event of a termination of the Trust or a Fund, the Trust or a Fund might elect to pay cash redemptions to all shareholders, with an in-kind election for shareholders owning in excess of a certain stated minimum amount.

DTC as Securities Depository for Shares of the Funds. Shares of each Fund are represented by securities registered in the name of DTC or its nominee and deposited with, or on behalf of, DTC.

Beneficial ownership of shares is limited to DTC Participants, Indirect Participants and persons holding interests through DTC Participants and Indirect Participants. Ownership of beneficial interests in shares (owners of such beneficial interests are referred to herein as “Beneficial Owners”) is shown on, and the transfer of ownership is effected only through, records maintained by DTC (with respect to DTC Participants) and on the records of DTC Participants (with respect to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners that are not DTC Participants). Beneficial Owners will receive from or through the DTC Participant a written confirmation relating to their purchase of shares. The laws of some jurisdictions may require that certain purchasers of securities take physical delivery of such securities in definitive form. Such laws may impair the ability of certain investors to acquire beneficial interests in shares of the Fund.

Conveyance of all notices, statements and other communications to Beneficial Owners is effected as follows. Pursuant to the Depositary Agreement between the Trust and DTC, DTC is required to make available to the Trust upon request and for a fee to be charged to the Trust a listing of the shares of each Fund held by each DTC Participant. The Trust shall inquire of each such DTC Participant as to the number of Beneficial Owners holding shares, directly or indirectly, through such DTC Participant. The Trust shall provide each such DTC Participant with copies of such notice, statement or other communication, in such form, number and at such place as such DTC Participant may reasonably request, in order that such notice, statement or communication may be transmitted by such DTC Participant, directly or indirectly, to such Beneficial Owners. In addition, the Trust shall pay to each such DTC Participant a fair and reasonable amount as reimbursement for the expenses attendant to such transmittal, all subject to applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

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Share distributions shall be made to DTC or its nominee, Cede & Co., as the registered holder of all shares of the Trust. DTC or its nominee, upon receipt of any such distributions, shall credit immediately DTC Participants’ accounts with payments in amounts proportionate to their respective beneficial interests in shares of each Fund as shown on the records of DTC or its nominee. Payments by DTC Participants to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners of shares held through such DTC Participants will be governed by standing instructions and customary practices, as is now the case with securities held for the accounts of customers in bearer form or registered in a “street name,” and will be the responsibility of such DTC Participants.

Distribution of Shares. In connection with each Fund's launch, each Fund was seeded through the sale of one or more Creation Units by each Fund to one or more initial investors. Initial investors participating in the seeding may be Authorized Participants, a lead market maker or other third party investor or an affiliate of each Fund or each Fund’s adviser. Each such initial investor may sell some or all of the shares underlying the Creation Unit(s) held by them pursuant to the registration statement for each Fund (each, a “Selling Shareholder”), which shares have been registered to permit the resale from time to time after purchase. Each Fund will not receive any of the proceeds from the resale by the Selling Shareholders of these shares.

Any Selling Shareholder and any other person participating in such distribution will be subject to applicable provisions of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.

Creation and Redemption of Creation Units

General. The Trust issues and sells shares of each Fund only in Creation Units on a continuous basis through the Distributor or its agent, without a sales load, at a price based on each Fund's NAV next determined after receipt, on any Business Day (as defined below), of an order received by the Distributor or its agent in proper form. On days when the applicable Listing Exchange or the bond markets close earlier than normal, a Fund may require orders to be placed earlier in the day. The following table sets forth the number of shares of a Fund that constitute a Creation Unit for such Fund and the approximate value of such Creation Unit as of March 31, 2018 (except as noted):

Fund	Shares Per Creation Unit	Approximate Value Per Creation Unit (U.S.$)
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF	100,000	$8,352,000
iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF	100,000	12,061,000
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF	100,000	10,322,000
iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF	100,000	13,228,000

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Fund	Shares Per Creation Unit	Approximate Value Per Creation Unit (U.S.$)
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	100,000	12,215,000
iShares Agency Bond ETF	50,000	5,596,000
iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF¹	50,000	2,683,216
iShares California Muni Bond ETF	50,000	2,909,000
iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF	100,000	4,824,000
iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF	50,000	3,092,500
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	100,000	10,715,000
iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF	50,000	1,228,500
iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF	50,000	1,227,500
iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF	50,000	5,579,000
iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	100,000	8,529,000
iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	100,000	11,714,000
iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF	50,000	5,413,500
iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF¹	50,000	2,660,201
iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF	100,000	6,027,000
iShares MBS ETF	100,000	10,466,000
iShares National Muni Bond ETF	100,000	10,869,000
iShares New York Muni Bond ETF	50,000	2,732,500
iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF¹	50,000	2,590,286
iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF	50,000	5,235,000
iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF	100,000	11,032,000

¹	The Approximate Value Per Creation Unit for the iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF and iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF is as of August 8, 2018.

In its discretion, the Trust reserves the right to increase or decrease the number of a Fund’s shares that constitute a Creation Unit. The Board reserves the right to declare a split or a consolidation in the number of shares outstanding of any Fund, and to make a corresponding change in the number of shares constituting a Creation Unit, in the event that the per share price in the secondary market rises (or declines) to an amount that falls outside the range deemed desirable by the Board.

A “Business Day” with respect to each Fund is any day on which the Listing Exchange on which the Fund is listed for trading is open for business. As of the date of this SAI, each Listing Exchange observes the following holidays, as observed: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

Fund Deposit. The consideration for purchase of Creation Units of a Fund, generally consists of an in-kind deposit of a designated portfolio of securities (including any portion of such securities for which cash may be substituted) (Deposit Securities) and the Cash Component computed as described below. Together, the Deposit Securities and the Cash Component constitute the “Fund Deposit,” which, when combined with a Fund’s portfolio securities, is designed to generate performance that has a collective investment profile similar to that of the Underlying Index. The Fund Deposit represents the minimum initial and subsequent investment amount for a Creation Unit of any Fund.

The “Cash Component” is an amount equal to the difference between the NAV of the shares (per Creation Unit) and the “Deposit Amount,” which is an amount equal to the market value of the Deposit Securities, and serves to compensate for any differences between the NAV per Creation Unit and the Deposit Amount. Payment of any stamp duty or other similar fees and expenses payable upon transfer of beneficial ownership of the Deposit Securities are the sole responsibility of the Authorized Participant purchasing a Creation Unit.

The iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF and iShares MBS ETF (the “Partial Cash Funds”) generally offer Creation Units partially for cash, but may, in certain circumstances, offer Creation Units solely for cash or solely in-kind. Please see the Cash Purchase Method section below and the following discussion summarizing the Deposit Security method for further information on purchasing Creation Units of the Funds.

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To facilitate efficient management of the Funds and to enable each Fund to track its respective Underlying Index, for iShares Agency Bond ETF, iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, iShares California Muni Bond ETF, iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF, iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF, iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF, iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF, iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF, iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF, iShares MBS ETF, iShares National Muni Bond ETF, iShares New York Muni Bond ETF, iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF and iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF, the Deposit Securities required for purchase of a Creation Unit may not be identical to the Fund Securities (as defined below under “Redemption of Creation Units”) the Fund will deliver upon redemption of Fund shares. The Deposit Securities and Fund Securities, as applicable, in connection with a purchase or redemption of a Creation Unit of a Fund, will correspond pro rata, to the extent practicable, to the securities held by such Fund. Consistent with the exemptive orders granted to the Funds by the SEC, creation baskets will correspond generally to the price and yield performance of each Fund's Underlying Index.

BFA makes available through the NSCC on each Business Day prior to the opening of business on the Listing Exchange, the list of names and the required number or par value of each Deposit Security and the amount of the Cash Component to be included in the current Fund Deposit (based on information as of the end of the previous Business Day for each Fund). Such Fund Deposit is applicable, subject to any adjustments as described below, to purchases of Creation Units of shares of a given Fund until such time as the next-announced Fund Deposit is made available.

The identity and number or par value of the Deposit Securities change pursuant to changes in the composition of a Fund's portfolio and as rebalancing adjustments and corporate action events are reflected from time to time by BFA with a view to the investment objective of the Fund. The composition of the Deposit Securities may also change in response to adjustments to the weighting or composition of the component securities constituting the relevant Underlying Index.

The Trust may require the substitution of an amount of cash (i.e., a “cash in lieu” amount) to replace any Deposit Security of the Partial Cash Funds that is a TBA transaction or an interest in a mortgage pass-through security. The amount of cash contributed will be equivalent to the price of the TBA transaction or mortgage pass-through security interest listed as a Deposit Security. A transaction fee may be charged on the cash amount contributed in lieu of the TBA transaction or mortgage pass-through security.

The Funds reserve the right to permit or require the substitution of a “cash in lieu” amount to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security that may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery or that may not be eligible for transfer through DTC or the clearing process (as discussed below) or that the Authorized Participant is not able to trade due to a trading restriction. The Funds also reserve the right to permit or require a “cash in lieu” amount in certain circumstances, including circumstances in which the delivery of the Deposit Security by the Authorized Participant would be restricted under applicable securities or other local laws or in certain other situations.

Procedures for Creation of Creation Units. To be eligible to place orders with the Distributor and to create a Creation Unit of the Funds, an entity must be: (i) a “Participating Party,” i.e., a broker-dealer or other participant in the clearing process through the Continuous Net Settlement System of the NSCC (the “Clearing Process”), a clearing agency that is registered with the SEC, or (ii) a DTC Participant, and must have executed an agreement with the Distributor, with respect to creations and redemptions of Creation Units (“Authorized Participant Agreement”) (discussed below). A Participating Party or DTC Participant who has executed an Authorized Participant Agreement is referred to as an “Authorized Participant.” All shares of the Funds, however created, will be entered on the records of DTC in the name of Cede & Co. for the account of a DTC Participant.

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of cash sufficient to pay the Cash Component, once the net asset value of a Creation Unit is next determined after receipt of the purchase order in proper form, together with the transaction fees described below. An Authorized Participant, acting on behalf of an investor, may require the investor to enter into an agreement with such Authorized Participant with respect to certain matters, including payment of the Cash Component. Investors who are not Authorized Participants must make appropriate arrangements with an Authorized Participant. Investors should be aware that their particular broker may not be a DTC Participant or may not have executed an Authorized Participant Agreement and that orders to purchase Creation Units may have to be placed by the investor's broker through an Authorized Participant. As a result, purchase orders placed through an Authorized Participant may result in additional charges to such investor. The Trust does not expect to enter into an Authorized Participant Agreement with more than a small number of DTC Participants. A list of current Authorized Participants may be obtained from the Distributor. The Distributor has adopted guidelines regarding Authorized Participants’ transactions in Creation Units that are made available to all Authorized Participants. These guidelines set forth the processes and standards for Authorized Participants to transact with the Distributor and its agents in connection with creation and redemption transactions. In addition, the Distributor may be appointed as the proxy of the Authorized Participant and may be granted a power of attorney under its Authorized Participant Agreement.

Placement of Creation Orders. Fund Deposits must be delivered through the Federal Reserve System (for cash and U.S. government securities), through DTC (for corporate and municipal securities) or through a central depository account, such as with Euroclear or DTC, maintained by State Street or a sub-custodian (a “Central Depository Account”). Any portion of a Fund Deposit that may not be delivered through the Fed or DTC must be delivered through a Central Depository Account. The Fund Deposit transfers made through DTC must be ordered by the DTC Participant in a timely fashion so as to ensure the delivery of the requisite number of Deposit Securities through DTC to the account of the Funds generally before 3:00 p.m., Eastern time on the Settlement Date. Fund Deposit transfers made through the Fed must be deposited by the participant institution in a timely fashion so as to ensure the delivery of the requisite number or amount of Deposit Securities or cash through the Fed to the account of the Fund generally before 3:00 p.m., Eastern time on the Settlement Date. Fund Deposit transfers made through a Central Depository Account must be completed pursuant to the requirements established by the custodian or sub-custodian for such Central Depository Account generally before 2:00 p.m., Eastern time on the Settlement Date. The “Settlement Date” for all funds is generally the second business day after the Transmittal Date. All questions as to the number of Deposit Securities to be delivered, and the validity, form and eligibility (including time of receipt) for the deposit of any tendered securities, will be determined by the Trust, whose determination shall be final and binding. The amount of cash equal to the Cash Component must be transferred directly to State Street through the Federal Reserve Bank wire transfer system in a timely manner so as to be received by State Street generally before 3:00 p.m., Eastern time on the Settlement Date. If the Cash Component and the Deposit Securities are not received by 3:00 p.m., Eastern time on the Settlement Date, the creation order may be canceled. Upon written notice to the Distributor, such canceled order may be resubmitted the following Business Day using a Fund Deposit as newly constituted to reflect the then current NAV of the Funds. The delivery of Creation Units so created generally will occur no later than the second Business Day following the day on which the purchase order is deemed received by the Distributor, provided that the relevant Fund Deposit has been received by the Funds prior to such time.

Purchase Orders. To initiate an order for a Creation Unit, an Authorized Participant must submit to the Distributor or its agent an irrevocable order to purchase shares of a Fund, in proper form, generally before 4:00 p.m., Eastern time on any Business Day to receive that day’s NAV. The Distributor or its agent will notify BFA and the custodian of such order. The custodian will then provide such information to any appropriate sub-custodian. Procedures and requirements governing the delivery of the Fund Deposit are set forth in the procedures handbook for Authorized Participants and may change from time to time. Investors, other than Authorized Participants, are responsible for making arrangements for a creation request to be made through an Authorized Participant. The Distributor or its agent will provide a list of current Authorized Participants upon request. Those placing orders to purchase Creation Units through an Authorized Participant should allow sufficient time to permit proper submission of the purchase order to the Distributor or its agent by the Cutoff Time (as defined below) on such Business Day.

The Authorized Participant must also make available on or before the contractual settlement date, by means satisfactory to the Funds, immediately available or same day funds estimated by the Funds to be sufficient to pay the Cash Component next determined after acceptance of the purchase order, together with the applicable purchase transaction fees. Those placing orders should ascertain the applicable deadline for cash transfers by contacting the operations department of the broker or depositary institution effectuating the transfer of the Cash Component. This deadline is likely to be significantly earlier than the Cutoff Time of the Funds. Investors should be aware that an Authorized Participant may require orders for purchases of shares placed with it to be in the particular form required by the individual Authorized Participant.

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The Authorized Participant is responsible for any and all expenses and costs incurred by a Fund, including any applicable cash amounts, in connection with any purchase order.

Timing of Submission of Purchase Orders. An Authorized Participant must submit an irrevocable order to purchase shares of a Fund generally before 4:00 p.m., Eastern time on any Business Day in order to receive that day's NAV. Creation Orders must be transmitted by an Authorized Participant in the form required by the Funds to the Distributor or its agent pursuant to procedures set forth in the Authorized Participant Agreement. Economic or market disruptions or changes, or telephone or other communication failure, may impede the ability to reach the Distributor or its agent or an Authorized Participant. Each Fund's deadline specified above for the submission of purchase orders is referred to as that Fund's “Cutoff Time.” The Distributor or its agent, in their discretion, may permit the submission of such orders and requests by or through an Authorized Participant at any time (including on days on which the Listing Exchange is not open for business) via communication through the facilities of the Distributor's or its agent's proprietary website maintained for this purpose. Purchase orders and redemption requests, if accepted by the Trust, will be processed based on the NAV next determined after such acceptance in accordance with a Fund's Cutoff Times as provided in the Authorized Participant Agreement and disclosed in this SAI.

Acceptance of Orders for Creation Units. Subject to the conditions that (i) an irrevocable purchase order has been submitted by the Authorized Participant (either on its own or another investor's behalf) and (ii) arrangements satisfactory to the Funds are in place for payment of the Cash Component and any other cash amounts which may be due, the Funds will accept the order, subject to each Fund's right (and the right of the Distributor and BFA) to reject any order until acceptance, as set forth below.

Once a Fund has accepted an order, upon the next determination of the net asset value of the shares, the Fund will confirm the issuance of a Creation Unit, against receipt of payment, at such net asset value. The Distributor or its agent will then transmit a confirmation of acceptance to the Authorized Participant that placed the order.

Each Fund reserves the absolute right to reject or revoke a creation order transmitted to it by the Distributor or its agent if (i) the order is not in proper form; (ii) the investor(s), upon obtaining the shares ordered, would own 80% or more of the currently outstanding shares of the Fund; (iii) the Deposit Securities delivered do not conform to the identity and number of shares specified, as described above; (iv) acceptance of the Deposit Securities would have certain adverse tax consequences to the Fund; (v) acceptance of the Fund Deposit would, in the opinion of counsel, be unlawful; (vi) acceptance of the Fund Deposit would, in the discretion of the Fund or BFA, have an adverse effect on the Fund or the rights of beneficial owners; or (vii) circumstances outside the control of the Fund, the Distributor or its agent and BFA make it impracticable to process purchase orders. The Distributor or its agent shall notify a prospective purchaser of a Creation Unit and/or the Authorized Participant acting on behalf of such purchaser of its rejection of such order. The Funds, State Street, the sub-custodian and the Distributor or its agent are under no duty, however, to give notification of any defects or irregularities in the delivery of Fund Deposits nor shall any of them incur any liability for failure to give such notification.

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Authorized Participant, and income, if any, on invested cash collateral will be paid to that Authorized Participant. Information concerning the Funds' current procedures for collateralization of missing Deposit Securities is available from the Distributor or its agent. The Authorized Participant Agreement will permit the Funds to buy the missing Deposit Securities at any time and will subject the Authorized Participant to liability for any shortfall between the cost to the Funds of purchasing such securities and the cash collateral including, without limitation, liability for related brokerage, borrowings and other charges.

In certain cases, Authorized Participants may create and redeem Creation Units on the same trade date and in these instances, the Funds reserve the right to settle these transactions on a net basis or require a representation from the Authorized Participants that the creation and redemption transactions are for separate beneficial owners. All questions as to the number of shares of each security in the Deposit Securities and the validity, form, eligibility and acceptance for deposit of any securities to be delivered shall be determined by each Fund and the Fund's determination shall be final and binding.

Costs Associated with Creation Transactions. A standard creation transaction fee is imposed to offset the transfer and other transaction costs associated with the issuance of Creation Units. The standard creation transaction fee is charged to the Authorized Participant on the day such Authorized Participant creates a Creation Unit, and is the same regardless of the number of Creation Units purchased by the Authorized Participant on the applicable Business Day. If a purchase consists solely or partially of cash, the Authorized Participant may also be required to cover (up to the maximum amount shown below) certain brokerage, tax, foreign exchange, execution, price movement and other costs and expenses related to the execution of trades resulting from such transaction (which may, in certain instances, be based on a good faith estimate of transaction costs). Authorized Participants will also bear the costs of transferring the Deposit Securities to the Funds. Certain fees/costs associated with creation transactions may be waived in certain circumstances. Investors who use the services of a broker or other financial intermediary to acquire Fund shares may be charged a fee for such services.

The following table sets forth each Fund's standard creation transaction fees and maximum additional charge (as described above):

Fund	Standard Creation Transaction Fee	Maximum Additional Charge*
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF	N/A	3.0%
iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF	$ 500	3.0%
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF	N/A	3.0%
iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF	$ 500	3.0%
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	N/A	3.0%
iShares Agency Bond ETF	$ 100	3.0%
iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	$ 500	3.0%
iShares California Muni Bond ETF	$ 250	3.0%
iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF	$ 275	3.0%
iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF	$ 300	3.0%
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	$ 500	3.0%
iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF	$ 150	3.0%
iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF	$ 150	3.0%
iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF	$ 500	3.0%
iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	$ 500	3.0%
iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	$ 500	3.0%
iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF	$ 500	3.0%
iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF	$ 500	3.0%
iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF	$ 300	3.0%
iShares MBS ETF	$ 300	3.0%
iShares National Muni Bond ETF	$ 400	3.0%
iShares New York Muni Bond ETF	$ 250	3.0%
iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF	$ 500	3.0%
iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF	$ 100	3.0%
iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF	$ 250	3.0%

*	As a percentage of the net asset value per Creation Unit.

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Redemption of Creation Units. Shares of a Fund may be redeemed by Authorized Participants only in Creation Units at their NAV next determined after receipt of a redemption request in proper form by the Distributor or its agent and only on a Business Day. The Funds will not redeem shares in amounts less than Creation Units. There can be no assurance, however, that there will be sufficient liquidity in the secondary market at any time to permit assembly of a Creation Unit. Investors should expect to incur brokerage and other costs in connection with assembling a sufficient number of shares to constitute a Creation Unit that could be redeemed by an Authorized Participant. Beneficial owners also may sell shares in the secondary market.

The Partial Cash Funds generally redeem Creation Units partially for cash. However, the Funds reserve the right to distribute securities and other portfolio instruments in-kind as payment for Creation Units being redeemed. Please see the Cash Redemption Method section below and the following discussion summarizing the in-kind method for further information on redeeming Creation Units of the Funds.

With respect to each Fund, BFA makes available through the NSCC, prior to the opening of business on the Listing Exchange on each Business Day, the designated portfolio of securities (including any portion of such securities for which cash may be substituted) that will be applicable (subject to possible amendment or correction) to redemption requests received in proper form (as defined below) on that day (“Fund Securities”), and an amount of cash (the “Cash Amount,” as described below). Such Fund Securities and the corresponding Cash Amount (each subject to possible amendment or correction) are applicable, in order to effect redemptions of Creation Units of a Fund until such time as the next announced composition of the Fund Securities and Cash Amount is made available. Fund Securities received on redemption may not be identical to Deposit Securities that are applicable to creations of Creation Units. Procedures and requirements governing redemption transactions are set forth in the handbook for Authorized Participants and may change from time to time.

Unless cash redemptions are available or specified for a Fund, the redemption proceeds for a Creation Unit generally consist of Fund Securities, plus the Cash Amount, which is an amount equal to the difference between the net asset value of the shares being redeemed, as next determined after the receipt of a redemption request in proper form, and the value of Fund Securities, less a redemption transaction fee (as described below).

The Trust may, in its sole discretion, substitute a “cash in lieu” amount to replace any Fund Security. The Trust also reserves the right to permit or require a “cash in lieu” amount in certain circumstances, including circumstances in which: (i) the delivery of a Fund Security to the Authorized Participant would be restricted under applicable securities or other local laws; or (ii) the delivery of a Fund Security to the Authorized Participant would result in the disposition of the Fund Security by the Authorized Participant due to restrictions under applicable securities or other local laws, or in certain other situations. The amount of cash paid out in such cases will be equivalent to the value of the substituted security listed as a Fund Security. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Trust may, in its sole discretion, substitute a “cash in lieu” amount to replace any Fund Security of the Partial Cash Funds that is a TBA transaction or mortgage pass-through security. In such cases, a transaction fee may be charged on the cash amount paid in lieu of the TBA transaction or mortgage pass through security. In the event that the Fund Securities have a value greater than the NAV of the shares, a compensating cash payment equal to the difference is required to be made by or through an Authorized Participant by the redeeming shareholder. Each Fund generally redeems Creation Units for Fund Securities (except for the Partial Cash Funds, which generally redeem Creation Units partially for cash), but each Fund reserves the right to utilize a cash option for redemption of Creation Units. Each Fund may, in its sole discretion, provide such redeeming Authorized Participant a portfolio of securities that differs from the exact composition of the Fund Securities, but does not differ in NAV.

Cash Redemption Method. Although the Trust does not generally permit full cash redemptions of Creation Units of its funds, when partial or full cash redemptions of Creation Units are available or specified (e.g., Creation Units of the Partial Cash Funds are generally redeemed partially for cash), they will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind redemptions thereof. In the case of partial or full cash redemption, the Authorized Participant receives the cash equivalent of the Fund Securities and other instruments it would otherwise receive through an in-kind redemption, plus the same Cash Amount to be paid to an in-kind redeemer.

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below) certain brokerage, tax, foreign exchange, execution, price movement and other costs and expenses related to the execution of trades resulting from such transaction (which may, in certain instances, be based on a good faith estimate of transaction costs). Authorized Participants will also bear the costs of transferring the Fund Securities from a Fund to their account on their order. Certain fees/costs associated with redemption transactions may be waived in certain circumstances. Investors who use the services of a broker or other financial intermediary to dispose of Fund shares may be charged a fee for such services.

The following table sets forth each Fund's standard redemption transaction fees and maximum additional charge (as described above):

Fund	Standard Redemption Transaction Fee	Maximum Additional Charge*
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF	N/A	2.0%
iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF	$ 500	2.0%
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF	N/A	2.0%
iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF	$ 500	2.0%
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	N/A	2.0%
iShares Agency Bond ETF	$ 100	2.0%
iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	$ 500	2.0%
iShares California Muni Bond ETF	$ 250	2.0%
iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF	$ 275	2.0%
iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF	$ 300	2.0%
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	$ 500	2.0%
iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF	$ 150	2.0%
iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF	$ 150	2.0%
iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF	$ 500	2.0%
iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	$ 500	2.0%
iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	$ 500	2.0%
iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF	$ 500	2.0%
iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF	$ 500	2.0%
iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF	$ 300	2.0%
iShares MBS ETF	$ 300	2.0%
iShares National Muni Bond ETF	$ 400	2.0%
iShares New York Muni Bond ETF	$ 250	2.0%
iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF	$ 500	2.0%
iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF	$ 100	2.0%
iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF	$ 250	2.0%

*	As a percentage of the net asset value per Creation Unit, inclusive of the standard redemption transaction fee.

Placement of Redemption Orders. Redemption requests for Creation Units of the Funds must be submitted to the Distributor or its agent by or through an Authorized Participant. An Authorized Participant must submit an irrevocable request to redeem shares of a Fund generally before 4:00 p.m., Eastern time on any Business Day in order to receive that day's NAV. On days when the Listing Exchange closes earlier than normal, a Fund may require orders to redeem Creation Units to be placed earlier that day. Investors, other than Authorized Participants, are responsible for making arrangements for a redemption request to be made through an Authorized Participant. The Distributor or its agent will provide a list of current Authorized Participants upon request.

The Authorized Participant must transmit the request for redemption in the form required by the Funds to the Distributor or its agent in accordance with procedures set forth in the Authorized Participant Agreement. Investors should be aware that their particular broker may not have executed an Authorized Participant Agreement and that, therefore, requests to redeem Creation Units may have to be placed by the investor's broker through an Authorized Participant who has executed an Authorized Participant Agreement. At any time, only a limited number of broker-dealers will have an Authorized Participant Agreement in effect. Investors making a redemption request should be aware that such request must be in the form specified by such Authorized Participant. Investors making a request to redeem Creation Units should allow sufficient time to permit

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proper submission of the request by an Authorized Participant and transfer of the shares to the Funds' transfer agent; such investors should allow for the additional time that may be required to effect redemptions through their banks, brokers or other financial intermediaries if such intermediaries are not Authorized Participants.

A redemption request is considered to be in “proper form” if: (i) an Authorized Participant has transferred or caused to be transferred to the Funds' transfer agent the Creation Unit redeemed through the book-entry system of DTC so as to be effective by the Listing Exchange closing time on any Business Day on which the redemption request is submitted; (ii) a request in form satisfactory to the applicable Fund is received by the Distributor or its agent from the Authorized Participant on behalf of itself or another redeeming investor within the time periods specified above; and (iii) all other procedures set forth in the Authorized Participant Agreement are properly followed.

Upon receiving a redemption request, the Distributor or its agent shall notify the applicable Fund and the Fund's transfer agent of such redemption request. The tender of an investor's shares for redemption and the distribution of the securities and/or cash included in the redemption payment made in respect of Creation Units redeemed will be made through DTC and the relevant Authorized Participant to the Beneficial Owner thereof as recorded on the book-entry system of DTC or the DTC Participant through which such investor holds, as the case may be, or by such other means specified by the Authorized Participant submitting the redemption request.

Deliveries of redemption proceeds by each Fund are generally made within two Business Days (i.e., “T+2”). Each Fund reserves the right to settle redemption transactions on a basis other than T+2 but by T+7, if necessary or appropriate under the circumstances and compliant with applicable law. Delayed settlement may occur due to a number of different reasons, including, without limitation, settlement cycles for the underlying securities, unscheduled market closings, an effort to link distribution to dividend record dates and ex-dates and newly announced holidays. For example, the redemption settlement process may be extended beyond T+2 because of the occurrence of a holiday in a non-U.S. market or in the U.S. bond market that is not a holiday observed in the U.S. equity market.

To the extent contemplated by an Authorized Participant's agreement with the Distributor or its agent, in the event an Authorized Participant has submitted a redemption request in proper form but is unable to transfer all or part of the Creation Unit to be redeemed to a Fund, at or prior to 10:00 a.m., Eastern time on the Listing Exchange business day after the date of submission of such redemption request, the Distributor or its agent will accept the redemption request in reliance on the undertaking by the Authorized Participant to deliver the missing shares as soon as possible. Such undertaking shall be secured by the Authorized Participant's delivery and maintenance of collateral consisting of cash, in U.S. dollars in immediately available funds, having a value at least equal to 105% and up to 115%, which percentage BFA may change at any time, in its sole discretion, of the value of the missing shares. Such cash collateral must be delivered no later than the time specified by each Fund or its custodian on the day after the date of submission of such redemption request and shall be held by State Street and marked-to-market daily. The fees of State Street and any sub-custodians in respect of the delivery, maintenance and redelivery of the cash collateral shall be payable by the Authorized Participant. The cash collateral posted by the Authorized Participant may be invested at the risk of the Authorized Participant, and income, if any, on invested cash collateral will be paid to that Authorized Participant. The Authorized Participant Agreement permits the Funds to acquire shares of the Funds at any time and subjects the Authorized Participant to liability for any shortfall between the aggregate of the cost to the Funds of purchasing such shares, plus the value of the Cash Amount, and the value of the cash collateral together with liability for related brokerage and other charges.

Because the portfolio securities of a Fund may trade on exchange(s) on days that the Listing Exchange is closed or are otherwise not Business Days for such Fund, shareholders may not be able to redeem their shares of such Fund, or purchase or sell shares of such Fund on the Listing Exchange on days when the NAV of such a Fund could be significantly affected by events in the relevant non-U.S. markets.

The right of redemption may be suspended or the date of payment postponed with respect to any Fund: (i) for any period during which the Listing Exchange is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings); (ii) for any period during which trading on the Listing Exchange is suspended or restricted; (iii) for any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which disposal of the shares of the Fund's portfolio securities or determination of its net asset value is not reasonably practicable; or (iv) in such other circumstance as is permitted by the SEC.

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Taxes

The following is a summary of certain material U.S. federal income tax considerations regarding the purchase, ownership and disposition of shares of a Fund. This summary does not address all of the potential U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be applicable to a Fund or to all categories of investors, some of which may be subject to special tax rules. Current and prospective shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisors with respect to the specific federal, state, local and non-U.S. tax consequences of investing in a Fund. The summary is based on the laws and judicial and administrative interpretations thereof in effect on the date of this SAI, all of which are subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect.

Tax reform legislation commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) was enacted on December 22, 2017. The Tax Act makes significant changes to the U.S. federal income tax rules for individuals and corporations, generally effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017. Most of the changes applicable to individuals are temporary and, without further legislation, will not apply after 2025. The application of certain provisions of the Tax Act is uncertain, and the changes in the act may have indirect effects on a Fund, its investments and its shareholders that cannot be predicted. In addition, legislative, regulatory or administrative changes could be enacted or promulgated at any time, either prospectively or with retroactive effect. Prospective investors should consult their tax advisors regarding the implications of the Tax Act on their investment in a Fund.

Regulated Investment Company Qualifications. Each Fund intends to continue to qualify for and to elect treatment as a separate RIC under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code. To qualify for treatment as a RIC, each Fund must annually distribute at least 90% of its investment company taxable income (which includes dividends, interest and net short-term capital gains) and meet several other requirements. Among such other requirements are the following: (i) at least 90% of each Fund’s annual gross income must be derived from dividends, interest, payments with respect to securities loans, gains from the sale or other disposition of stock or securities or non-U.S. currencies, other income (including, but not limited to, gains from options, futures or forward contracts) derived with respect to its business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies, and net income derived from interests in qualified publicly-traded partnerships (i.e., partnerships that are traded on an established securities market or tradable on a secondary market, other than a partnership that derives at least 90% of its income from interest, dividends, capital gains and other traditionally permitted RIC income); and (ii) at the close of each quarter of each Fund’s taxable year, (a) at least 50% of the market value of each Fund’s total assets must be represented by cash and cash items, U.S. government securities, securities of other RICs and other securities, with such other securities limited for purposes of this calculation in respect of any one issuer to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the Fund’s assets and not greater than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer, and (b) not more than 25% of the value of the Fund’s total assets may be invested in the securities of any one issuer, of two or more issuers of which 20% or more of the voting stock is held by the Fund and that are engaged in the same or similar trades or businesses or related trades or businesses (other than the securities of other RICs) or the securities of one or more qualified publicly-traded partnerships.

A Fund may be able to cure a failure to derive at least 90% of its income from the sources specified above or a failure to diversify its holdings in the manner described above by paying a tax and/or by disposing of certain assets. If, in any taxable year, a Fund fails one of these tests and does not timely cure the failure, that Fund will be taxed in the same manner as an ordinary corporation and distributions to its shareholders will not be deductible by that Fund in computing its taxable income.

Although in general the passive loss rules of the Internal Revenue Code do not apply to RICs, such rules do apply to a RIC with respect to items attributable to an interest in a qualified publicly-traded partnership. A Fund’s investments in

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partnerships, including in qualified publicly-traded partnerships, may result in the Fund being subject to state, local, or non-U.S. income, franchise or withholding tax liabilities.

Taxation of RICs. As a RIC, a Fund will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the portion of its taxable investment income and capital gains that it distributes to its shareholders, provided that it satisfies a minimum distribution requirement. To satisfy the minimum distribution requirement, a Fund must distribute to its shareholders at least the sum of (i) 90% of its “investment company taxable income” (i.e., income other than its net realized long-term capital gain over its net realized short-term capital loss), plus or minus certain adjustments, and (ii) 90% of its net tax-exempt income for the taxable year. A Fund will be subject to income tax at regular corporate rates on any taxable income or gains that it does not distribute to its shareholders. If a Fund fails to qualify for any taxable year as a RIC or fails to meet the distribution requirement, all of its taxable income will be subject to tax at regular corporate income tax rates without any deduction for distributions to shareholders, and such distributions generally will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary dividends to the extent of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits. In such event, distributions to individuals should be eligible to be treated as qualified dividend income and distributions to corporate shareholders generally should be eligible for the dividends-received deduction. Although each Fund intends to distribute substantially all of its net investment income and its capital gains for each taxable year, each Fund will be subject to U.S. federal income taxation to the extent any such income or gains are not distributed. Moreover, if a Fund fails to qualify as a RIC in any year, it must pay out its earnings and profits accumulated in that year in order to qualify again as a RIC. If a Fund fails to qualify as a RIC for a period greater than two taxable years, the Fund may be required to recognize any net built-in gains with respect to certain of its assets (i.e., the excess of the aggregate gains, including items of income, over aggregate losses that would have been realized with respect to such assets if the Fund had been liquidated) if it qualifies as a RIC in a subsequent year.

Net Capital Loss Carryforwards. Net capital loss carryforwards may be applied against any net realized capital gains in each succeeding year, until they have been reduced to zero or until their respective expiration dates, whichever occurs first. Capital loss carryforwards from taxable years beginning after 2010 are not subject to expiration, and short-term and long-term capital loss carryforwards from such taxable years may only be applied against net realized short-term and long-term capital gains, respectively.

In the event that a Fund were to experience an ownership change as defined under the Internal Revenue Code, the loss carryforwards and other favorable tax attributes of a Fund, if any, may be subject to limitation.

The following Funds had tax basis net capital loss carryforwards as set forth in the table below as of February 28, 2018, the tax year-end for the Funds listed:

Fund	Non- Expiring¹	Expiring 2019	Total
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF	$ 66,703,899	—	$66,703,899
iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF	76,668,027	1,230	76,669,257
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF	142,786,542	—	142,786,542
iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF	9,066,991	55,582	9,122,573
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	144,098,686	—	144,098,686
iShares Agency Bond ETF	597,936	—	597,936
iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	2,543,117	—	2,543,117
iShares California Muni Bond ETF	89,210	—	89,210
iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF	318,002	—	318,002
iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF	912,302	—	912,302
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	241,191,401	—	241,191,401
iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF	5,356	—	5,356
iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF	1,275	—	1,275
iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF	1,012,717	—	1,012,717
iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	790,277,051	—	790,277,051

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Fund	Non- Expiring¹	Expiring 2019	Total
iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	86,788,495	—	86,788,495
iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF	3,541,229	—	3,541,229
iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF	25,793,802	—	25,793,802
iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF	11,026,354	—	11,026,354
iShares MBS ETF	184,348,293	—	184,348,293
iShares National Muni Bond ETF	30,316,830	—	30,316,830
iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF	8,897,757	—	8,897,757
iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF	962,576	—	962,576
iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF	695,145	—	695,145

¹	Must be utilized prior to losses subject to expiration.

Excise Tax. A Fund will be subject to a 4% excise tax on certain undistributed income if it does not distribute to its shareholders in each calendar year at least 98% of its ordinary income for the calendar year plus at least 98.2% of its capital gain net income for the 12 months ended October 31 of such year. For this purpose, however, any ordinary income or capital gain net income retained by a Fund that is subject to corporate income tax will be considered to have been distributed by year-end. In addition, the minimum amounts that must be distributed in any year to avoid the excise tax will be increased or decreased to reflect any underdistribution or overdistribution, as the case may be, from the previous year. Each Fund intends to declare and distribute dividends and distributions in the amounts and at the times necessary to avoid the application of this 4% excise tax.

Taxation of U.S. Shareholders. Dividends and other distributions by a Fund are generally treated under the Internal Revenue Code as received by the shareholders at the time the dividend or distribution is made. However, any dividend or capital gain distribution declared by a Fund in October, November or December of any calendar year and payable to shareholders of record on a specified date in such a month shall be deemed to have been received by each shareholder on December 31 of such calendar year and to have been paid by the Fund not later than such December 31, provided such dividend is actually paid by the Fund during January of the following calendar year.

Each Fund intends to distribute annually to its shareholders substantially all of its net tax-exempt income, investment company taxable income and any net realized long-term capital gains in excess of net realized short-term capital losses (including any capital loss carryovers). However, if a Fund retains for investment an amount equal to all or a portion of its net long-term capital gains in excess of its net short-term capital losses (including any capital loss carryovers), it will be subject to a corporate tax (at a flat rate of 21%) on the amount retained. In that event, the Fund will report such retained amounts as undistributed capital gains in a notice to its shareholders who (a) will be required to include in income for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as long-term capital gains, their proportionate shares of the undistributed amount, (b) will be entitled to credit their proportionate shares of the tax paid by the Fund on the undistributed amount against their U.S. federal income tax liabilities, if any, and to claim refunds to the extent their credits exceed their liabilities, if any, and (c) will be entitled to increase their tax basis, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, in their shares by an amount equal to the excess of the amount in clause (a) over the amount in clause (b). Organizations or persons not subject to U.S. federal income tax on such capital gains will be entitled to a refund of their pro rata share of such taxes paid by the Fund upon filing appropriate returns or claims for refund with the IRS.

Distributions of net realized long-term capital gains, if any, that a Fund reports as capital gain dividends are taxable as long-term capital gains, whether paid in cash or in shares and regardless of how long a shareholder has held shares of the Fund. All other dividends of a Fund (including dividends from short-term capital gains) from its current and accumulated earnings and profits (“regular dividends”) are generally subject to tax as ordinary income. Long-term capital gains are eligible for taxation at a maximum rate of 20% for non-corporate shareholders, depending on whether their income exceeds certain threshold amounts.

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If an individual receives a regular dividend qualifying for the long-term capital gain rates and such dividend constitutes an “extraordinary dividend,” and the individual subsequently recognizes a loss on the sale or exchange of stock in respect of which the extraordinary dividend was paid, then the loss will be long-term capital loss to the extent of such extraordinary dividend. An “extraordinary dividend” on common stock for this purpose is generally a dividend (i) in an amount greater than or equal to 10% of the taxpayer’s tax basis (or trading value) in a share of stock, aggregating dividends with ex-dividend dates within an 85-day period, or (ii) in an amount greater than 20% of the taxpayer’s tax basis (or trading value) in a share of stock, aggregating dividends with ex-dividend dates within a 365-day period.

Distributions in excess of a Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits will, as to each shareholder, be treated as a tax-free return of capital to the extent of a shareholder’s basis in shares of the Fund, and as a capital gain thereafter (if the shareholder holds shares of the Fund as capital assets). Distributions in excess of a Fund’s minimum distribution requirements, but not in excess of the Fund’s earnings and profits, will be taxable to shareholders and will not constitute nontaxable returns of capital. The Fund's capital loss carryovers, if any, carried from taxable years beginning before 2011 do not reduce current earnings and profits, even if such carryforwards offset current year realized gains. Shareholders receiving dividends or distributions in the form of additional shares should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as receiving a distribution in an amount equal to the amount of money that the shareholders receiving cash dividends or distributions will receive and should have a cost basis in the shares received equal to such amount. No deduction would be allowed to an investor for interest on indebtedness incurred or continued to purchase or carry shares of the Fund to the extent the interest deduction would relate to exempt-interest dividends received.

Investors considering buying shares just prior to a dividend or capital gain distribution should be aware that, although the price of shares purchased at that time may reflect the amount of the forthcoming distribution, such dividend or distribution may nevertheless be taxable to them. If a Fund is the holder of record of any security on the record date for any dividends payable with respect to such security, such dividends will be included in the Fund’s gross income not as of the date received but as of the later of (i) the date such security became ex-dividend with respect to such dividends (i.e., the date on which a buyer of the security would not be entitled to receive the declared, but unpaid, dividends); or (ii) the date the Fund acquired such security. Accordingly, in order to satisfy its income distribution requirements, a Fund may be required to pay dividends based on anticipated earnings, and shareholders may receive dividends in an earlier year than would otherwise be the case.

In certain situations, a Fund may, for a taxable year, defer all or a portion of its net capital loss (or if there is no net capital loss, then any net long-term or short-term capital loss) realized after October and its late-year ordinary loss (defined as the sum of the excess of post-October foreign currency and passive foreign investment company (“PFIC”) losses over post-October foreign currency and PFIC gains, plus the excess of post-December ordinary losses over post-December ordinary income) until the next taxable year in computing its investment company taxable income and net capital gain, which will defer the recognition of such realized losses. Such deferrals and other rules regarding gains and losses realized after October (or December) may affect the tax character of shareholder distributions.

Sales of Shares. Upon the sale or exchange of shares of a Fund, a shareholder will realize a taxable gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized and the shareholder’s basis in shares of the Fund. A redemption of shares by a Fund will be treated as a sale for this purpose. Such gain or loss will be treated as capital gain or loss if the shares are capital assets in the shareholder’s hands and will be long-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for more than one year and short-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for one year or less. Any loss realized on a sale or exchange will be disallowed to the extent the shares disposed of are replaced, including replacement through the reinvesting of dividends or capital gains distributions, or by an option, or contract to acquire substantially identical shares, within a 61-day period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the disposition of the shares. In such a case, the basis of the shares acquired will be increased to reflect the disallowed loss. Any loss realized by a shareholder on the sale of Fund shares held by the shareholder for six months or less will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any distributions or deemed distributions of long-term capital gains received by the shareholder with respect to such share. The Medicare contribution tax described above will apply to the sale of Fund shares.

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charge is reduced by reason of a reinvestment right (e.g., an exchange privilege), the original sales charge will not be taken into account in computing gain/loss on the original shares to the extent the subsequent sales charge is reduced. Instead, the disregarded portion of the original sales charge will be added to the tax basis of the newly acquired shares. Furthermore, the same rule also applies to a disposition of the newly acquired shares made within 90 days of the second acquisition. This provision prevents a shareholder from immediately deducting the sales charge by shifting his or her investment within a family of mutual funds.

Backup Withholding. In certain cases, a Fund will be required to withhold at a 24% rate and remit to the U.S. Treasury such amounts withheld from any distributions paid to a shareholder who: (i) has failed to provide a correct taxpayer identification number; (ii) is subject to backup withholding by the IRS; (iii) has failed to certify to a Fund that such shareholder is not subject to backup withholding; or (iv) has not certified that such shareholder is a U.S. person (including a U.S. resident alien). Backup withholding is not an additional tax and any amount withheld may be credited against a shareholder's U.S. federal income tax liability.

Sections 351 and 362. The Trust, on behalf of each Fund, has the right to reject an order for a purchase of shares of the Fund if the purchaser (or group of purchasers) would, upon obtaining the shares so ordered, own 80% or more of the outstanding shares of a given Fund and if, pursuant to Sections 351 and 362 of the Internal Revenue Code, that Fund would have a basis in the securities different from the market value of such securities on the date of deposit. If a Fund’s basis in such securities on the date of deposit was less than market value on such date, the Fund, upon disposition of the securities, would recognize more taxable gain or less taxable loss than if its basis in the securities had been equal to market value. It is not anticipated that the Trust will exercise the right of rejection except in a case where the Trust determines that accepting the order could result in material adverse tax consequences to a Fund or its shareholders. The Trust also has the right to require information necessary to determine beneficial share ownership for purposes of the 80% determination.

Tax-Exempt Interest Income. Dividends paid by the Municipal Bond Funds that are properly reported as exempt-interest dividends will not be subject to regular federal income tax. Each Municipal Bond Fund intends to invest its assets in a manner such that dividend distributions to its shareholders will generally be exempt from U.S. federal income taxation. Dividends paid by the Fund will be exempt from federal income tax (though not necessarily exempt from state and local taxation) to the extent of the Fund’s tax-exempt interest income as long as 50% or more of the value of the Fund’s assets at the end of each quarter is invested in state, municipal and other bonds that are excluded from gross income for federal income tax purposes and as long as the Fund properly reports such dividends as exempt-interest dividends.

So long as, at the close of each quarter of the taxable year of the iShares California Muni Bond ETF (the “California Fund”), at least 50% of the value of the California Fund’s total assets consists of obligations of the U.S. and of the State of California and its political subdivisions, the interest on which is exempt from California personal income tax and California corporate income tax (“CA-exempt Obligations”), exempt-interest dividends (i) paid by the California Fund in an amount not exceeding the interest received on such CA-exempt Obligations during the California Fund’s taxable year, and (ii) reported by the California Fund as exempt-interest dividends (in a written notice mailed to the California Fund’s shareholders) will be treated as an item of interest excludable from income for California personal income tax purposes and corporate income tax purposes. Exempt-interest dividends paid to a corporate shareholder subject to California corporate franchise tax, however, will be taxable as ordinary income for purposes of such tax. Distributions derived from interest on tax-exempt obligations issued by governmental authorities in states other than California or on other obligations or investments the interest on which is not exempt from California personal income tax or corporate income tax, and distributions to shareholders derived from short-term or long-term capital gains, will be taxed as ordinary income for California personal and corporate income tax purposes and California corporate franchise tax purposes. Interest on indebtedness incurred or continued by a shareholder of the California Fund to purchase or carry shares of the California Fund generally will not be deductible for California personal or corporate income tax purposes. It should be noted that California law deviates from the provisions of Subchapter M of Chapter 1 of Subtitle A of the Internal Revenue Code, relating to regulated investment companies in certain potentially material respects.

The foregoing is a general, abbreviated summary of certain of the provisions of California law presently in effect that govern the taxation of the shareholders of the California Fund. These provisions are subject to change by legislative or administrative action, and any such change may be retroactive. Shareholders are advised to consult with their own tax advisors for more detailed information concerning California tax matters.

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Individual shareholders of the iShares New York Muni Bond ETF will not be required to include in their gross income for New York State and City purposes any portion of distributions received from the Fund that are directly attributable to (i) interest earned on tax-exempt obligations issued by New York State or any political subdivision thereof (including New York City) or (ii) interest earned on obligations of U.S. possessions or territories that is exempt from state taxation pursuant to federal law, provided that the Fund qualifies as a RIC and satisfies the requirement that at least 50% of its assets at the close of each quarter of its taxable year constitute such obligations. Distributions from the Fund that are attributable to sources other than those described in the preceding sentence (including interest on obligations of other states and their political subdivisions) will generally be taxable to individual shareholders as ordinary income.

Shareholders of the iShares New York Muni Bond ETF that are subject to New York State corporation franchise tax or New York City general corporation tax will be required to include exempt-interest dividends paid by the Fund in their “entire net income” for purposes of such taxes and will be required to include their shares of the Fund in their investment capital for purposes of such taxes. If a shareholder is subject to unincorporated business taxation by New York City, income and gains distributed by the Fund will be subject to such taxation except to the extent such distributions are directly attributable to interest earned on tax-exempt obligations issued by New York State or any political subdivision thereof (including New York City). However, shareholders of the Fund will not be subject to the unincorporated business tax imposed by New York City solely by reason of their ownership of shares in the Fund. Shares of the iShares New York Muni Bond ETF will not be subject to property taxes imposed by New York State or City.

Interest on indebtedness incurred by shareholders to purchase or carry shares of New York Municipal Income generally will not be deductible for New York State personal income tax purposes.

Interest income on the Fund that is distributed to its shareholders will generally not be taxable to the Fund for purposes of New York State corporation franchise tax or New York City general corporation tax.

The foregoing is a general, abbreviated summary of certain of the provisions of the tax laws of New York State and City presently in effect as they directly govern the taxation of shareholders of the Fund. These provisions are subject to change by legislative or administrative action, and any such change may be retroactive with respect to New York Municipal Income transactions. Shareholders are advised to consult with their own tax advisers for more detailed information concerning New York State and City matters.

Taxation of Certain Derivatives. A Fund’s transactions in zero coupon securities, non-U.S. currencies, forward contracts, options and futures contracts (including options and futures contracts on non-U.S. currencies), to the extent permitted, will be subject to special provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (including provisions relating to “hedging transactions” and “straddles”) that, among other consequences, may affect the character of gains and losses realized by the Fund (i.e., may affect whether gains or losses are ordinary or capital), accelerate recognition of income to the Fund and defer Fund losses. These rules could therefore affect the character, amount and timing of distributions to shareholders. These provisions also (a) will require the Fund to mark-to-market certain types of the positions in its portfolio (i.e., treat them as if they were closed out at the end of each year) and (b) may cause the Fund to recognize income without receiving cash with which to pay dividends or make distributions in amounts necessary to satisfy the distribution requirements for avoiding income and excise taxes. Each Fund will monitor its transactions, will make the appropriate tax elections and will make the appropriate entries in its books and records when it acquires any zero coupon security, non-U.S. currency, forward contract, option, futures contract or hedged investment in order to mitigate the effect of these rules and prevent disqualification of the Fund as a RIC.

A Fund’s investments in so-called “section 1256 contracts,” such as regulated futures contracts, most non-U.S. currency forward contracts traded in the interbank market and options on most security indexes, are subject to special tax rules. All section 1256 contracts held by the Fund at the end of its taxable year are required to be marked to their market value, and any unrealized gain or loss on those positions will be included in the Fund’s income as if each position had been sold for its fair market value at the end of the taxable year. The resulting gain or loss will be combined with any gain or loss realized by the Fund from positions in section 1256 contracts closed during the taxable year. Provided such positions were held as capital assets and were not part of a “hedging transaction” nor part of a “straddle,” 60% of the resulting net gain or loss will be treated as long-term capital gain or loss, and 40% of such net gain or loss will be treated as short-term capital gain or loss, regardless of the period of time the positions were actually held by the Fund.

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generally result in capital gain or loss (which will be a long-term capital gain or loss if the Fund has been a party to the swap for more than one year). The cost of any payments made by the Fund on a swap transaction will be netted pro rata against both tax exempt and taxable gross income. With respect to certain types of swaps, a Fund may be required to currently recognize income or loss with respect to future payments on such swaps or may elect under certain circumstances to mark such swaps to market annually for tax purposes as ordinary income or loss. Periodic net payments that would otherwise constitute ordinary deductions but are allocable under the Internal Revenue Code to exempt-interest dividends will not be allowed as deductions but instead will reduce net tax-exempt income.

Market Discount. Any market discount recognized on a bond is taxable as ordinary income. A market discount bond is a bond acquired in the secondary market at a price below redemption value or adjusted issue price if issued with original issue discount (“OID”). To the extent a Fund does not include the market discount in income as it accrues, gain on the Fund’s disposition of such an obligation will be treated as ordinary income rather than capital gain to the extent of the accrued market discount.

Non-U.S. Investments. Income (including, in some cases, capital gains) received by certain of the Funds from investments in non-U.S. securities may be subject to withholding and other taxes imposed by non-U.S. countries. Tax conventions between certain countries and the U.S. may reduce or eliminate such taxes in some cases. If more than 50% of a Fund’s total assets at the close of its taxable year consists of securities of non-U.S. corporations, the Fund may elect for U.S. income tax purposes to treat non-U.S. income taxes paid by it as paid by its shareholders. A Fund may qualify for and make this election in some, but not necessarily all, of its taxable years. If a Fund were to make an election, shareholders of the Fund would be required to take into account an amount equal to their pro rata portions of such non-U.S. taxes in computing their taxable income and then treat an amount equal to those non-U.S. taxes as a U.S. federal income tax deduction or as a foreign tax credit against their U.S. federal income taxes. Shortly after any year for which it makes such an election, a Fund will report to its shareholders the amount per share of such non-U.S. income tax that must be included in each shareholder’s gross income and the amount which will be available for the deduction or credit. No deduction for non-U.S. taxes may be claimed by a shareholder who does not itemize deductions. Certain limitations will be imposed on the extent to which the credit (but not the deduction) for non-U.S. taxes may be claimed.

Under Section 988 of the Internal Revenue Code, gains or losses attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates between the time a Fund accrues income or receivables or expenses or other liabilities denominated in a non-U.S. currency and the time a Fund actually collects such income or pays such liabilities are generally treated as ordinary income or ordinary loss. In general, gains (and losses) realized on debt instruments will be treated as Section 988 gain (or loss) to the extent attributable to changes in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the currencies in which the instruments are denominated. Similarly, gain or losses on non-U.S. currency, non-U.S. currency forward contracts, certain non-U.S. currency options or futures contracts and the disposition of debt securities denominated in non-U.S. currency, to the extent attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates between the acquisition and disposition dates, are also treated as ordinary income or loss unless the Fund were to elect otherwise.

Original Issue Discount. OID on tax-exempt bonds is recognized over the term of the bond and is tax-exempt to the holder of the bond. Special U.S. federal income tax rules apply to inflation-indexed bonds. Generally, all stated interest on such bonds is taken into income by a Fund under its regular method of accounting for interest income. The amount of a positive inflation adjustment, which results in an increase in the inflation-adjusted principal amount of the bond, is treated as original issue discount. The OID is included in a Fund’s gross income ratably during the period ending with the maturity of the bond, under the general OID inclusion rules. The amount of a Fund’s OID in a taxable year with respect to a bond will increase a Fund’s taxable income for such year without a corresponding receipt of cash, until the bond matures. As a result, a Fund may need to use other sources of cash to satisfy its distributions for such year. The amount of negative inflation adjustment, which results in a decrease in the inflation-adjusted principal amount of the bond, reduces the amount of interest (including stated, interest, OID, and market discount, if any) otherwise includible in a Fund’s income with respect to the bond for the taxable year.

Reporting. If a shareholder recognizes a loss with respect to a Fund’s shares of $2 million or more for an individual shareholder or $10 million or more for a corporate shareholder, the shareholder must file with the IRS a disclosure statement on IRS Form 8886. Direct shareholders of portfolio securities are in many cases exempted from this reporting requirement, but under current guidance, shareholders of a RIC are not exempted. The fact that a loss is reportable under these regulations does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances.

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Taxation of Non-U.S. Shareholders. Dividends paid by a Fund to non-U.S. shareholders are generally subject to withholding tax at a 30% rate or a reduced rate specified by an applicable income tax treaty to the extent derived from investment income and short-term capital gains. Dividends paid by a Fund from net tax-exempt income or long-term capital gains are generally not subject to such withholding tax. In order to obtain a reduced rate of withholding, a non-U.S. shareholder will be required to provide an IRS Form W-8BEN or IRS Form W-8BEN-E certifying its entitlement to benefits under a treaty. The withholding tax does not apply to regular dividends paid to a non-U.S. shareholder who provides an IRS Form W-8ECI, certifying that the dividends are effectively connected with the non-U.S. shareholder’s conduct of a trade or business within the U.S. Instead, the effectively connected dividends will be subject to regular U.S. income tax as if the non-U.S. shareholder were a U.S. shareholder. A non-U.S. corporation receiving effectively connected dividends may also be subject to additional “branch profits tax” imposed at a rate of 30% (or lower treaty rate). A non-U.S. shareholder who fails to provide an IRS Form W-8BEN, IRS Form W-8BEN-E or other applicable form may be subject to backup withholding at the appropriate rate.

Properly-reported dividends are generally exempt from U.S. federal withholding tax where they (i) are paid in respect of a Fund’s “qualified net interest income” (generally, a Fund’s U.S. source interest income, other than certain contingent interest and interest from obligations of a corporation or partnership in which a Fund is at least a 10% shareholder or partner, reduced by expenses that are allocable to such income); or (ii) are paid in respect of a Fund’s “qualified short-term capital gains” (generally, the excess of a Fund’s net short-term capital gain over a Fund’s long-term capital loss for such taxable year). However, depending on its circumstances, a Fund may report all, some or none of its potentially eligible dividends as such qualified net interest income or as qualified short-term capital gains and/or treat such dividends, in whole or in part, as ineligible for this exemption from withholding. In order to qualify for this exemption from withholding, a non-U.S. shareholder will need to comply with applicable certification requirements relating to its non-U.S. status (including, in general, furnishing an IRS Form W-8BEN, IRS Form W-8BEN-E or substitute Form). In the case of shares held through an intermediary, the intermediary may withhold even if a Fund reports the payment as qualified net interest income or qualified short-term capital gain. Non-U.S. shareholders should contact their intermediaries with respect to the application of these rules to their accounts.

Distributions that a Fund reports as “short-term capital gain dividends” or “long-term capital gain dividends” will not be treated as such to a recipient foreign shareholder if the distribution is attributable to gain received from the sale or exchange of U.S. real property or an interest in a U.S. real property holding corporation and a Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property exceeded certain levels. Instead, if the foreign shareholder has not owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of a Fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of distribution, such distributions will be subject to 30% withholding by a Fund and will be treated as ordinary dividends to the foreign shareholder; if the foreign shareholder owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of a Fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of the distribution, such distribution will be treated as real property gain subject to 21% withholding tax and could subject the foreign shareholder to U.S. filing requirements. Additionally, if a Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property were to exceed certain levels, a foreign shareholder realizing gains upon redemption from a Fund could be subject to the 21% withholding tax and U.S. filing requirements unless more than 50% of a Fund’s shares were owned by U.S. persons at such time or unless the foreign person had not held more than 5% of a Fund’s outstanding shares throughout either such person’s holding period for the redeemed shares or, if shorter, the previous five years.

Separately, a 30% withholding tax is currently imposed on U.S.-source dividends, interest and other income items, and will be imposed on proceeds from the sale, redemption or other disposition of property producing U.S.-source dividends and interest paid after December 31, 2018, to: (i) foreign financial institutions, including non-U.S. investment funds, unless they agree to collect and disclose to the IRS information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. account holders and (ii) certain other foreign entities, unless they certify certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners. To avoid withholding, foreign financial institutions will need to: (i) enter into agreements with the IRS that state that they will provide the IRS information including the names, addresses and taxpayer identification numbers of direct and indirect U.S. account holders; comply with due diligence procedures with respect to the identification of U.S. accounts; report to the IRS certain information with respect to U.S. accounts maintained; agree to withhold tax on certain payments made to non-compliant foreign financial institutions or to account holders who fail to provide the required information; and determine certain other information as to their account holders, or (ii) in the event that an applicable intergovernmental agreement and implementing legislation are adopted, provide local revenue authorities with similar account holder information. Other foreign entities will need to provide the name, address and taxpayer identification number of each substantial U.S. owner or provide certifications of no substantial U.S. ownership, unless certain exceptions apply.

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Shares of a Fund held by a non-U.S. shareholder at death will be considered situated within the U.S. and subject to the U.S. estate tax.

Financial Statements

Each Fund's audited Financial Statements, including the Financial Highlights, appearing in the applicable Annual Report to Shareholders and the report therein of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, are hereby incorporated by reference in this SAI. The applicable Annual Report to Shareholders, which contains the referenced audited financial statements, is available upon request and without charge.

Miscellaneous Information

Counsel. Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, located at 787 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019, is counsel to the Trust.

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, located at Three Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA 94111, serves as the Trust's independent registered public accounting firm, audits the Funds' financial statements, and may perform other services.

Regulation Under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive. The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (“AIFMD”) imposes detailed and prescriptive obligations on fund managers established in the EU (“EU Operative Provisions”). These do not currently apply to managers established outside of the EU, such as BFA. Rather, non-EU managers are only required to comply with certain disclosure, reporting and transparency obligations of AIFMD (“AIFMD Disclosure Provisions”) if such managers market a fund to EU investors.

Where the AIFMD Disclosure Provisions relate to EU Operative Provisions that do not apply to BFA, no meaningful disclosure can be made. These EU Operative Provisions include prescriptive rules on: measuring and capping leverage in line with known European standards; the treatment of investors; the use of “depositaries”; and coverage for professional liability risks.

AIFMD imposes certain conditions on the marketing of funds, such as the Funds, to EU investors. AIFMD requires that an ‘alternative investment fund manager’ (“AIFM”) be identified to meet such conditions where such marketing is sought. For these purposes BFA, as the legal entity responsible for performing the portfolio and risk management of the Funds, shall be the AIFM.

AIFMD requires disclosure on an ongoing basis of certain information relating to the use of special arrangements, leverage, rights of reuse of collateral, guarantees granted under leverage arrangements and the use of gates, side pockets and similar liquidity management tools. Given that the Funds do not use any special arrangements or allow for collateral reuse, it is not intended that such disclosures will need to be made by the Funds. Each Fund will, however, to the extent relevant and appropriate, disclose in its annual report information on the Fund's leverage, risk profile and risk management systems

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employed by BFA. Each Fund will also disclose material changes, if any, to the liquidity management systems and procedures employed in respect of the Fund.

BFA has registered the following Funds for marketing to investors in Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the U.K.

iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF

iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF

iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF

iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF

iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF

Investors’ Rights. Each Fund relies on the services of BFA and its other service providers, including the Distributor, administrator, custodian and transfer agent. Further information about the duties and roles of these service providers is set out in this SAI. Investors who acquire shares of a Fund are not parties to the relevant agreement with these service providers and do not have express contractual rights against the Fund or its service providers, except certain institutional investors that are Authorized Participants may have certain express contractual rights with respect to the Distributor under the terms of the relevant Authorized Participant Agreement. Investors may have certain legal rights under federal or state law against a Fund or its service providers. In the event that an investor considers that it may have a claim against a Fund, or against any service provider in connection with its investment in a Fund, such investor should consult its own legal advisor.

By contract, Authorized Participants irrevocably submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of any New York State or U.S. federal court sitting in New York City over any suit, action or proceeding arising out of or relating to the Authorized Participant Agreement. Jurisdiction over other claims, whether by investors or Authorized Participants, will turn on the facts of the particular case and the law of the jurisdiction in which the proceeding is brought.

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Appendix A1 - iShares ETFs Proxy Voting Policy

BlackRock U.S. Registered Funds

Open-End Mutual Funds and iShares ETFs¹ Proxy Voting Policy

Procedures Governing Delegation of Proxy Voting to Fund Adviser

December 29, 2017

The Boards of Trustees/Directors (“Directors”) of open-end funds advised by BlackRock Fund Advisors or BlackRock Advisors, LLC (“BlackRock”) (the “Funds”), have the responsibility for the oversight of voting proxies relating to portfolio securities of the Funds, and have determined that it is in the best interests of the Funds and their shareholders to delegate that responsibility to BlackRock as part of BlackRock’s authority to manage, acquire and dispose of account assets, all as contemplated by the Funds’ respective investment management agreements.

BlackRock has adopted guidelines and procedures (together and as from time to time amended, the “BlackRock Proxy Voting Guidelines”) governing proxy voting by accounts managed by BlackRock.

BlackRock will cast votes on behalf of each of the Funds on specific proxy issues in respect of securities held by each such Fund (or may refrain from voting) in accordance with the BlackRock Proxy Voting Guidelines.

BlackRock will report on an annual basis to the Directors on (1) all proxy votes that BlackRock has made on behalf of the Funds in the preceding year together with a representation that all votes were in accordance with the BlackRock Proxy Voting Guidelines¹, and (2) any changes to the BlackRock Proxy Voting Guidelines that have not previously been reported.

iShares ESG 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF, iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF, iShares ESG U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF, iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF, iShares MSCI EM ESG Optimized ETF, iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF, iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF, iShares MSCI Peru ETF, iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF, iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF and iShares MSCI USA Small-Cap ESG Optimized ETF have separate Proxy Voting Policies.

A-1

Appendix A2 – iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy

BlackRock U.S. Registered Funds

iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy

Procedures Governing Delegation of Proxy Voting to Fund Adviser

September 28, 2018

A-2

INTRODUCTION TO BLACKROCK

PHILOSOPHY ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, ENGAGEMENT AND VOTING

The six key themes are:

A-6

•	Boards and directors;
•	Auditors and audit-related issues;
•	Capital structure, mergers, asset sales and other special transactions;
•	Remuneration and benefits;
•	Environmental and social issues; and
•	General corporate governance matters.

Boards and directors

We expect the board of directors to promote and protect shareholder interests by:

•	establishing an appropriate corporate governance structure;
•	supporting and overseeing management in setting strategy;
•	ensuring the integrity of financial statements;
•	making decisions regarding mergers, acquisitions and disposals;
•	establishing appropriate executive compensation structures; and
•	addressing business issues including environmental and social issues when they have the potential to materially impact company reputation and performance.

•	current employment at the company or a subsidiary;
•	former employment within the past several years as an executive of the company;
•	providing substantial professional services to the company and/or members of the company’s management;
•	having had a substantial business relationship in the past three years;

A-7

•	having, or representing a shareholder with, a substantial shareholding in the company;
•	being an immediate family member of any of the aforementioned; and
•	interlocking directorships.

Auditors and audit-related issues

Capital structure, mergers, asset sales and other special transactions

A-8

Remuneration and benefits

Environmental and social issues

General corporate governance matters

A-9

corporate governance matters, including on changes to governance mechanisms, to submit proposals to the shareholders’ meeting and to call special meetings of shareholders.

BLACKROCK’S OVERSIGHT OF ITS INVESTMENT STEWARDSHIP ACTIVITIES

Oversight

Vote execution

A-10

Conflicts management policies and procedures

•	BlackRock clients who may be issuers of securities or proponents of shareholder resolutions
•	BlackRock business partners or vendors who may be issuers of securities or proponents of shareholder resolutions
•	BlackRock employees who may sit on the boards of public companies held in BlackRock portfolios
•	Significant BlackRock, Inc. investors who may be issuers of securities held in BlackRock portfolios
•	Securities of BlackRock, Inc. or BlackRock investment funds held in BlackRock portfolios
•	BlackRock, Inc. board members who actively serve as senior executives of public companies held in BlackRock portfolios

BlackRock has taken certain steps to mitigate perceived or potential conflicts including, but not limited to, the following:

•

Adopted the Guidelines which are designed to protect and enhance the economic value of the companies in which BlackRock invests on behalf of clients.

•

A-11

•

Voting guidelines

Reporting

A-12

Appendix A4 – Supplemental BlackRock Sustainable Proxy Voting Guidelines

September 28, 2018

Environmental and social issues

We may vote against the election of directors where we have concerns that a company might not be dealing with E&S issues appropriately. Sometimes we may reflect such concerns by supporting a shareholder proposal on the issue, where there seems to be either a significant potential threat or realized harm to shareholders’ interests caused by poor management of material E&S matters. In deciding our course of action, we will assess the nature of our engagement with the company on the issue over time, including whether:

•	The company has already taken sufficient steps to address the concern
•	The company is in the process of actively implementing a response
•	There is a clear and material economic disadvantage to the company in the near-term if the issue is not addressed in the manner requested by the shareholder proposal

Environmental shareholder proposals:

Climate risks and opportunities:

A-13

¹	As envisioned by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCC”) Conference of the Parties to the Paris Climate Accord in 2015.

Sustainability Disclosures

Social and political shareholder proposals:

Data Privacy and cybersecurity:

Human Capital Management:

A-14

Human Rights

Opioids:

Product safety, supply chains and distribution channels:

Corporate political activities:

A-15

Appendix B – Description of Fixed-Income Ratings

A rating is generally assigned to a fixed-income security at the time of issuance by a credit rating agency designated as a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (“NRSRO”) by the SEC. While NRSROs may from time to time revise such ratings, they undertake no obligation to do so, and the ratings given to securities at issuance do not necessarily represent ratings which would be given to these securities on a particular subsequent date.

NRSROs may rate specific investments (e.g., bonds), issuers (e.g., corporations, governments and financial institutions) and/or programs (e.g., commercial paper programs). However, certain types of investments generally are not rated by NRSROs, such as certain government/sovereign obligations, US agency securities, commercial paper, time deposits at financial institutions, and derivative instruments such as credit default swaps. For these types of investments, as well as US Treasury securities (some of which are not rated), where a NRSRO has not rated the specific investment but has rated the investment’s issuer, program, financial institution or underlying reference asset, BFA may consider the investment to have the same NRSRO rating as its issuer, program, financial institution or underlying reference asset, as appropriate. In the case of municipal securities, where one NRSRO provides multiple ratings for the same security (e.g., “underlying,” “insured” and/or “enhanced” ratings), BFA may consider the security to have the highest of the multiple ratings.

New issue securities (regardless of type) rarely are rated by a NRSRO at the time of their initial offering. Preliminary prospectuses or term sheets for new issue securities often include an expected rating for the security (as determined by the underwriter and/or issuer) or a NRSRO rating for the issuer of the security. If applicable, when deciding whether to purchase a new issue security that has not yet been rated by a NRSRO, BFA may attribute an expected rating to the security based on: (i) the expected rating of the security set forth in the preliminary prospectus or term sheet for the security; (ii) the NRSRO’s rating for the issuer of the security set forth in the preliminary prospectus or term sheet for the security; or (iii) with respect to asset-backed securities, the rating of a prior issuance.

Where the investment objective of a fund is to track the performance of an index that includes credit ratings eligibility criteria as part of its index methodology, a fund may purchase any security within the index, such security having been determined by the index provider as meeting its credit ratings eligibility criteria. The credit ratings practices of an index provider may differ from BlackRock’s practices, as described above. Further, a fund may invest, directly or indirectly, in securities that are not rated by a rating agency or securities with a credit rating that differs from the credit rating specified in its index methodology in various circumstances, including where a security is downgraded but not yet removed from an index, following the removal of a security from an index prior to its sale by the fund or as a result of a corporate action or restructuring affecting an issuer of a security held by a fund.

Fixed-income securities which are unrated expose the investor to risks with respect to capacity to pay interest or repay principal which are similar to the risks of lower-rated speculative bonds. Evaluation of these securities is dependent on the investment adviser’s judgment, analysis and experience in the evaluation of such securities.

Investors should note that the assignment of a rating to a security by an NRSRO may not reflect the effect of recent developments on the issuer’s ability to make interest and principal payments or on the likelihood of default.

Securities deemed to be high yield are rated below Baa3 by Moody’s and below BBB- by S&P Global Ratings and Fitch.

The descriptions below relate to general long-term and short-term obligations of an issuer.

Moody’s Ratings

Long-Term Obligations

Aaa: Obligations rated Aaa are judged to be of the highest quality, subject to the lowest level of credit risk.

Aa: Obligations rated Aa are judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk.

A: Obligations rated A are judged to be upper-medium grade and are subject to low credit risk.

Baa: Obligations rated Baa are judged to be medium-grade and subject to moderate credit risk and as such may possess certain speculative characteristics.

B-1

Ba: Obligations rated Ba are judged to be speculative and are subject to substantial credit risk.

B: Obligations rated B are considered speculative and are subject to high credit risk.

Caa: Obligations rated Caa are judged to be speculative, of poor standing and are subject to very high credit risk.

Ca: Obligations rated Ca are highly speculative and are likely in, or very near, default, with some prospect of recovery of principal and interest.

C: Obligations rated C are the lowest rated and are typically in default, with little prospect for recovery of principal or interest.

Note: Moody's appends numerical modifiers 1, 2 and 3 in each generic rating classification from Aa through Caa. The modifier 1 indicates that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; the modifier 2 indicates a mid-range ranking; and the modifier 3 indicates a ranking in the lower end of that generic rating category.

Absence of Rating: Where no rating has been assigned or where a rating has been withdrawn, it may be for reasons unrelated to the creditworthiness of the issue.

Should no rating be assigned, the reason may be one of the following:

1. An application was not received or accepted.

2. The issue or issuer belongs to a group of securities or entities that are not rated as a matter of policy.

3. There is a lack of essential data pertaining to the issue or issuer.

4. The issue was privately placed, in which case the rating is not published in Moody’s publications.

Withdrawal may occur if new and material circumstances arise, the effects of which preclude satisfactory analysis; if there is no longer available reasonable up-to-date data to permit a judgment to be formed; if a bond is called for redemption; or for other reasons.

Short-Term Obligations

Moody’s short-term debt ratings are opinions of the ability of issuers to honor short-term financial obligations, generally with an original maturity not exceeding thirteen months.

Moody's employs the following designations to indicate the relative repayment ability of rated issuers:

P-1: Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-1 have a superior ability to repay short-term debt obligations.

P-2: Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-2 have a strong ability to repay short-term debt obligations.

P-3: Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-3 have an acceptable ability to repay short-term obligations.

NP: Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Not Prime do not fall within any of the Prime rating categories.

US Municipal Short-Term Debt Obligations

There are three rating categories for short-term municipal obligations that are considered investment grade and are designated as Municipal Investment Grade (MIG). In addition, those short-term obligations that are of speculative quality are designated SG, or speculative grade. MIG ratings expire at the maturity of the obligation.

MIG 1: This designation denotes superior credit quality. Excellent protection is afforded by established cash flows, highly reliable liquidity support, or demonstrated broad-based access to the market for refinancing.

MIG 2: This designation denotes strong credit quality. Margins of protection are ample, although not as large as in the preceding group.

MIG 3: This designation denotes acceptable credit quality. Liquidity and cash-flow protection may be narrow, and market access for refinancing is likely to be less well-established.

B-2

SG: This designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Debt instruments in this category may lack sufficient margins of protection.

S&P Global Ratings

Long-Term Obligations

AAA: An obligation rated AAA has the highest rating assigned by S&P Global Ratings. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is extremely strong.

AA: An obligation rated AA differs from the highest-rated obligations only to a small degree. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment is very strong.

A: An obligation rated A is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher-rated categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is still strong.

BBB: An obligation rated BBB exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

BB; B; CCC; CC; and C: Obligations rated BB, B, CCC, CC, and C are regarded as having significant speculative characteristics. BB indicates the least degree of speculation and C the highest. While such obligations will likely have some quality and protective characteristics, these may be outweighed by large uncertainties or major exposures to adverse conditions.

BB: An obligation rated BB is less vulnerable to nonpayment than other speculative issues. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties or exposure to adverse business, financial, or economic conditions which could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

B: An obligation rated B is more vulnerable to nonpayment than obligations rated BB, but the obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation. Adverse business, financial, or economic conditions will likely impair the obligor’s capacity or willingness to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

CCC: An obligation rated CCC is currently vulnerable to nonpayment, and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation. In the event of adverse business, financial, or economic conditions, the obligor is not likely to have the capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

CC: An obligation rated CC is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment. The CC rating is used when a default has not yet occurred, but S&P Global Ratings expects default to be a virtual certainty, regardless of the anticipated time to default.

C: An obligation rated C is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment, and the obligation is expected to have lower relative seniority or lower ultimate recovery compared to obligations that are rated higher.

D: An obligation rated D is in default or in breach of an imputed promise. For non-hybrid capital instruments, the D rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due, unless S&P Global Ratings believes that such payments will be made within five business days in the absence of a stated grace period or within the earlier of the stated grace period or 30 calendar days. The D rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of similar action and where default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic stay provisions. An obligation's rating is lowered to D if it is subject to a distressed exchange offer.

NR: NR indicates no rating has been requested, or that there is insufficient information on which to base a rating, or that S&P Global Ratings does not rate a particular obligation as a matter of policy.

Note: The ratings from AA to CCC may be modified by the addition of a plus (+) or minus (-) sign to show relative standing within the major rating categories.

Short-Term Obligations

B-3

A-1: A short-term obligation rated A-1 is rated in the highest category by S&P Global Ratings. The obligor's capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is strong. Within this category, certain obligations are designated with a plus sign (+). This indicates that the obligor's capacity to meet its financial commitment on these obligations is extremely strong.

A-2: A short-term obligation rated A-2 is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher rating categories. However, the obligor's capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is satisfactory.

A-3: A short-term obligation rated A-3 exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

B: A short-term obligation rated B is regarded as vulnerable and has significant speculative characteristics. The obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitments; however, it faces major ongoing uncertainties which could lead to the obligor's inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitments.

C: A short-term obligation rated C is currently vulnerable to nonpayment and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

D: A short-term obligation rated D is in default or in breach of an imputed promise. For non-hybrid capital instruments, the D rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due, unless S&P Global Ratings believes that such payments will be made within any stated grace period. However, any stated grace period longer than five business days will be treated as five business days. The D rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of a similar action and where default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic stay provisions. An obligation's rating is lowered to D if it is subject to a distressed exchange offer.

Municipal Short-Term Obligations

An S&P U.S. municipal note rating reflects S&P Global Ratings opinion about the liquidity factors and market access risks unique to the notes. Notes due in three years or less will likely receive a note rating. Notes with an original maturity of more than three years will most likely receive a long-term debt rating.

SP-1: Strong capacity to pay principal and interest. An issue determined to possess a very strong capacity to pay debt service is given a plus (+) designation.

SP-2: Satisfactory capacity to pay principal and interest, with some vulnerability to adverse financial and economic changes over the term of the notes.

SP-3: Speculative capacity to pay principal and interest.

Fitch Ratings

Long-Term Obligations

AAA: Highest credit quality. AAA ratings denote the lowest expectation of credit risk. They are assigned only in cases of exceptionally strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. This capacity is highly unlikely to be adversely affected by foreseeable events.

AA: Very high credit quality. AA ratings denote expectations of very low credit risk. They indicate very strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. This capacity is not significantly vulnerable to foreseeable events.

A: High credit quality. A ratings denote expectations of low credit risk. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered strong. This capacity may, nevertheless, be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic conditions than is the case for higher ratings.

BBB: Good credit quality. BBB ratings indicate that expectations of credit risk are currently low. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered adequate but adverse business or economic conditions are more likely to impair this capacity.

B-4

BB: Speculative. BB ratings indicate an elevated vulnerability to credit risk, particularly in the event of adverse changes in business or economic conditions over time; however, business or financial alternatives may be available to allow financial commitments to be met.

B: Highly speculative. B ratings indicate that material credit risk is present.

CCC: Substantial credit risk. CCC ratings indicate that substantial credit risk is present.

CC: Very high levels of credit risk. CC ratings indicate very high levels of credit risk.

C: Exceptionally high levels of credit risk. C indicates exceptionally high levels of credit risk.

Defaulted obligations typically are not assigned RD or D ratings, but are instead rated in the B to C rating categories, depending upon their recovery prospects and other relevant characteristics. This approach better aligns obligations that have comparable overall expected loss but varying vulnerability to default and loss.

Note: The modifiers “+” or “-” may be appended to a rating to denote relative status within major rating categories. Such suffixes are not added to the AAA obligation rating category, or to corporate finance obligation ratings in the categories below CCC.

The subscript 'emr' is appended to a rating to denote embedded market risk which is beyond the scope of the rating. The designation is intended to make clear that the rating solely addresses the counterparty risk of the issuing bank. It is not meant to indicate any limitation in the analysis of the counterparty risk, which in all other respects follows published Fitch criteria for analyzing the issuing financial institution. Fitch does not rate these instruments where the principal is to any degree subject to market risk.

Short-Term Obligations (Corporate and Public Finance)

A short-term issuer or obligation rating is based in all cases on the short-term vulnerability to default of the rated entity or security stream and relates to the capacity to meet financial obligations in accordance with the documentation governing the relevant obligation. Short-Term Ratings are assigned to obligations whose initial maturity is viewed as “short-term” based on market convention. Typically, this means up to 13 months for corporate, sovereign, and structured obligations, and up to 36 months for obligations in U.S. public finance markets.

F1: Highest short-term credit quality. Indicates the strongest intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments; may have an added “+” to denote any exceptionally strong credit feature.

F2: Good short-term credit quality. Good intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments.

F3: Fair short-term credit quality. The intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is adequate.

B: Speculative short-term credit quality. Minimal capacity for timely payment of financial commitments, plus heightened vulnerability to near term adverse changes in financial and economic conditions.

C: High short-term default risk. Default is a real possibility.

RD: Restricted default. Indicates an entity that has defaulted on one or more of its financial commitments, although it continues to meet other financial obligations. Typically applicable to entity ratings only.

D: Default. Indicates a broad-based default event for an entity, or the default of a short-term obligation.

IS-SAI-02-1118

B-5

iShares^® Trust

Statement of Additional Information

Dated August 31, 2018
(as revised September 28, 2018)

Fund	Ticker	Listing Exchange
iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF	ICF	Cboe BZX
iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	DGRO	NYSE Arca
iShares Core High Dividend ETF	HDV	NYSE Arca
iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF	USRT	NYSE Arca
iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF	IYY	NYSE Arca
iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF	IFEU	NASDAQ
iShares Global REIT ETF	REET	NYSE Arca
iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF	IFGL	NASDAQ
iShares International Select Dividend ETF	IDV	Cboe BZX
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF	JKD	NYSE Arca
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF	JKE	NYSE Arca
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF	JKF	NYSE Arca
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF	JKG	NYSE Arca
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF	JKH	NYSE Arca
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF	JKI	NASDAQ
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF	JKJ	NYSE Arca
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF	JKK	NYSE Arca
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF	JKL	NYSE Arca
iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF	DSI	NYSE Arca
iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF	SUSA	NYSE Arca
iShares Select Dividend ETF	DVY	NASDAQ
iShares Transportation Average ETF	IYT	Cboe BZX
iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF	IYM	NYSE Arca
iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF	IYK	NYSE Arca
iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF	IYC	NYSE Arca
iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF	DIVB	Cboe BZX
iShares U.S. Energy ETF	IYE	NYSE Arca
iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF	IYG	NYSE Arca
iShares U.S. Financials ETF	IYF	NYSE Arca
iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF	IYH	NYSE Arca
iShares U.S. Industrials ETF	IYJ	Cboe BZX
iShares U.S. Technology ETF	IYW	NYSE Arca
iShares U.S. Utilities ETF	IDU	NYSE Arca

The Prospectuses for the above-listed funds (each, a “Fund” and collectively, the “Funds”) are dated August 31, 2018, as amended and supplemented from time to time. Capitalized terms used herein that are not defined have the same meaning as in the applicable Prospectus, unless otherwise noted. The Financial Statements and Notes contained in the applicable Annual Report and Semi-Annual Report of the Trust for the Funds are incorporated by reference into and are deemed to be part of this SAI. A copy of each Fund's Prospectus, Annual Report and Semi-Annual Report may be obtained without charge by writing to the Trust's distributor, BlackRock Investments, LLC (the “Distributor” or “BRIL”), 1 University Square Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540, calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) or visiting www.iShares.com. Each Fund's Prospectus is incorporated by reference into this SAI.

General Description of the Trust and its Funds

The Trust currently consists of more than 265 investment series or portfolios. The Trust was organized as a Delaware statutory trust on December 16, 1999 and is authorized to have multiple series or portfolios. The Trust is an open-end management investment company registered with the SEC under the 1940 Act. The offering of the Trust’s shares is registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”). This SAI relates to the following Funds:

•	iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF
•	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF
•	iShares Core High Dividend ETF
•	iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF
•	iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF
•	iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF
•	iShares Global REIT ETF
•	iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF
•	iShares International Select Dividend ETF
•	iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF
•	iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF
•	iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF
•	iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF
•	iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF
•	iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF
•	iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF
•	iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF
•	iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF
•	iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF
•	iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF¹
•	iShares Select Dividend ETF
•	iShares Transportation Average ETF
•	iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF
•	iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF
•	iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF
•	iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF
•	iShares U.S. Energy ETF
•	iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF
•	iShares U.S. Financials ETF
•	iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF
•	iShares U.S. Industrials ETF
•	iShares U.S. Technology ETF
•	iShares U.S. Utilities ETF

¹	On June 1, 2018, the Fund’s Underlying Index changed from the MSCI USA ESG Select Index to the MSCI USA Extended ESG Select Index.

Each Fund offers and issues shares at its net asset value per share (“NAV”) only in aggregations of a specified number of shares (each, a “Creation Unit”), generally in exchange for a designated portfolio of securities (including any portion of such securities for which cash may be substituted) included in its Underlying Index (the “Deposit Securities”), together with the deposit of a specified cash payment (the “Cash Component”). Shares of the Funds are listed for trading on national securities exchanges such as Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (“Cboe BZX”) (formerly known as BATS Exchange, Inc.), The Nasdaq Stock Market (“NASDAQ”) or NYSE Arca, Inc. (“NYSE Arca”) (each a “Listing Exchange”). Shares of each Fund are traded in the secondary market and elsewhere at market prices that may be at, above or below the Fund's NAV. Shares are redeemable only in Creation Units by Authorized Participants (as defined in the Portfolio Holdings Information section of this SAI), and, generally, in exchange for portfolio securities and a Cash Amount (as defined in the Redemption of Creation Units section of this SAI). Creation Units typically are a specified number of shares, generally ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 or multiples thereof.

The Trust reserves the right to permit or require that creations and redemptions of shares are effected fully or partially in cash and reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of Deposit Securities in lieu of cash. Shares may be issued in advance of receipt of Deposit Securities, subject to various conditions, including a requirement that the Authorized Participant maintain with the Trust a cash deposit equal to at least 105% and up to 122%, which percentage BFA may change from time to time, of the market value of the omitted Deposit Securities. The Trust may use such cash deposit at any time to purchase Deposit Securities. See the Creation and Redemption of Creation Units section of this SAI. Transaction fees and other costs associated with creations or redemptions that include a cash portion may be higher than the transaction fees and other costs associated with in-kind creations or redemptions. In all cases, conditions with respect to creations and redemptions of shares and fees will be limited in accordance with the requirements of SEC rules and regulations applicable to management investment companies offering redeemable securities.

Exchange Listing and Trading

Shares of each Fund are listed for trading, and trade throughout the day, on the applicable Listing Exchange and in other secondary markets. Shares of certain Funds may also be listed on certain non-U.S. exchanges. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Listing Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of shares of any Fund will continue to be met. The Listing Exchange may, but is not required to, remove the shares of a Fund from listing if, among other things: (i) following the initial 12-month period beginning upon the commencement of trading of Fund shares, there are fewer than 50 record and/or beneficial owners of shares of the Fund for 30 or more consecutive trading days, (ii) the value of the Underlying Index on which a Fund is based is no longer calculated or available, or (iii) any other event shall occur or condition shall exist that, in the opinion of the Listing Exchange, makes further dealings on the Listing Exchange inadvisable. The Listing Exchange will also remove shares of a Fund from listing and trading upon termination of the Fund or in the event a Fund does not comply with the continuous listing standards of the Listing Exchange, as described in the Fund’s Prospectus.

As in the case of other publicly-traded securities, when you buy or sell shares of a Fund through a broker, you may incur a brokerage commission determined by that broker, as well as other charges.

current portfolio of securities held by the Fund at a particular point in time because the current portfolio of the Fund may include securities that are not a part of the current Deposit Securities. Therefore, a Fund’s IOPV disseminated during the Listing Exchange trading hours should not be viewed as a real-time update of the Fund’s NAV, which is calculated only once a day.

Investment Strategies and Risks

Each Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing primarily in securities issued by issuers that comprise its relevant Underlying Index and through transactions that provide substantially similar exposure to securities in the Underlying Index. Each Fund operates as an index fund and is not actively managed. Adverse performance of a security in a Fund’s portfolio will ordinarily not result in the elimination of the security from the Fund’s portfolio.

Each Fund engages in representative sampling, which is investing in a sample of securities selected by BFA to have a collective investment profile similar to that of the Fund's Underlying Index. Securities selected have aggregate investment characteristics (based on market capitalization and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability, earnings valuation and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of the Underlying Index. A fund that uses representative sampling generally does not hold all of the securities that are in its underlying index.

Although the Funds do not seek leveraged returns, certain instruments used by the Funds may have a leveraging effect as described below.

Currency Transactions. A currency forward contract is an over-the-counter (“OTC”) obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days greater than two days from the date on which the contract is agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract. A non-deliverable currency forward is an OTC currency forward settled in a specified currency, on a specified date, based on the difference between the agreed-upon exchange rate and the market exchange rate. A currency futures contract is a contract that trades on an organized futures exchange involving an obligation to deliver or acquire a specified amount of a specific currency, at a specified price and at a specified future time. Currency futures contracts may be settled on a net cash payment basis rather than by the sale and delivery of the underlying currency. To the extent required by law, liquid assets committed to futures contracts will be

maintained. The Funds do not expect to engage in currency transactions for the purpose of hedging against declines in the value of the Funds' assets that are denominated in a non-U.S. currency. A Fund may enter into non-U.S. currency forward and non-U.S. currency futures transactions to facilitate local securities settlements or to protect against currency exposure in connection with its distributions to shareholders, but may not enter into such contracts for speculative purposes.

Foreign exchange transactions involve a significant degree of risk and the markets in which foreign exchange transactions are effected may be highly volatile, highly specialized and highly technical. Significant changes, including changes in liquidity and prices, can occur in such markets within very short periods of time, often within minutes. Foreign exchange trading risks include, but are not limited to, exchange rate risk, counterparty risk, maturity gap, interest rate risk, and potential interference by foreign governments through regulation of local exchange markets, foreign investment or particular transactions in non-U.S. currency. If BFA utilizes foreign exchange transactions at an inappropriate time or judges market conditions, trends or correlations incorrectly, foreign exchange transactions may not serve their intended purpose of improving the correlation of a Fund's return with the performance of its Underlying Index and may lower the Fund’s return. Each Fund could experience losses if the value of its currency forwards, options or futures positions were poorly correlated with its other investments or if it could not close out its positions because of an illiquid market or otherwise. In addition, a Fund could incur transaction costs, including trading commissions, in connection with certain non-U.S. currency transactions.

Diversification Status. The following table sets forth the diversification status of each Fund:

Diversified Funds		Non-Diversified Funds
iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF		iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF
iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF		iShares Core High Dividend ETF
iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF		iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF
iShares Global REIT ETF		iShares Transportation Average ETF
iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF		iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF
iShares International Select Dividend ETF		iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF		iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF		iShares U.S. Energy ETF
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF		iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF		iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF		iShares U.S. Technology ETF
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF		iShares U.S. Utilities ETF
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF
iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF
iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF
iShares Select Dividend ETF
iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF
iShares U.S. Financials ETF
iShares U.S. Industrials ETF

A fund classified as “diversified” under the 1940 Act may not purchase securities of an issuer (other than (i) obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities and (ii) securities of other investment companies) if, with respect to 75% of its total assets, (a) more than 5% of the fund’s total assets would be invested in securities of that issuer or (b) the fund would hold more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of that issuer. With respect to the remaining 25% of its total assets, the fund may invest more than 5% of its assets in one issuer. Under the 1940 Act, a fund cannot change its classification from diversified to non-diversified without shareholder approval.

Futures contracts provide for the future sale by one party and purchase by another party of a specified amount of a specific instrument or index at a specified future time and at a specified price. Stock index contracts are based on investments that reflect the market value of common stock of the firms included in the investments. Each Fund may enter into futures contracts to purchase securities indexes when BFA anticipates purchasing the underlying securities and believes prices will rise before the purchase will be made. Upon entering into a futures contract, a Fund will be required to deposit with the broker an amount of cash or cash equivalents known as “initial margin,” which is similar to a performance bond or good faith deposit on the contract and is returned to the Fund upon termination of the futures contract if all contractual obligations have been satisfied. Subsequent payments, known as “variation margin,” will be made to and from the broker daily as the price of the instrument or index underlying the futures contract fluctuates, making the long and short positions in the futures contract more or less valuable, a process known as “marking-to-market.” At any time prior to the expiration of a futures contract, each Fund may elect to close the position by taking an opposite position, which will operate to terminate the Fund’s existing position in the contract. To the extent required by law, each Fund will segregate liquid assets in an amount equal to its delivery obligations under the futures contracts. An option on a futures contract, as contrasted with a direct investment in such a contract, gives the purchaser the right, but no obligation, in return for the premium paid, to assume a position in the underlying futures contract at a specified exercise price at any time prior to the expiration date of the option. Upon exercise of an option, the delivery of the futures position by the writer of the option to the holder of the option will be accompanied by delivery of the accumulated balance in the writer’s futures margin account that represents the amount by which the market price of the futures contract exceeds (in the case of a call) or is less than (in the case of a put) the exercise price of the option on the futures contract. The potential for loss related to the purchase of an option on a futures contract is limited to the premium paid for the option plus transaction costs. Because the value of the option is fixed at the point of sale, there are no daily cash payments by the purchaser to reflect changes in the value of the underlying contract; however, the value of the option changes daily and that change would be reflected in the NAV of each Fund. The potential for loss related to writing call options is unlimited. The potential for loss related to writing put options is limited to the agreed-upon price per share, also known as the “strike price,” less the premium received from writing the put. Certain of the Funds may purchase and write put and call options on futures contracts that are traded on an exchange as a hedge against changes in value of their portfolio securities or in anticipation of the purchase of securities, and may enter into closing transactions with respect to such options to terminate existing positions. There is no guarantee that such closing transactions can be effected.

option pays the “writer” a premium, which is paid at the time of purchase and is retained by the writer whether or not such option is exercised. Each Fund may purchase put options to hedge its portfolio against the risk of a decline in the market value of securities held and may purchase call options to hedge against an increase in the price of securities it is committed to purchase. Each Fund may write put and call options along with a long position in options to increase its ability to hedge against a change in the market value of the securities it holds or is committed to purchase. Each Fund may purchase or sell securities options on a U.S. or non-U.S. securities exchange or in the OTC market through a transaction with a dealer. Options on a securities index are typically settled on a net basis based on the appreciation or depreciation of the index level over the strike price. Options on single name securities may be cash- or physically-settled, depending upon the market in which they are traded. Options may be structured so as to be exercisable only on certain dates or on a daily basis. Options may also be structured to have conditions to exercise (i.e., “Knock-in Events”) or conditions that trigger termination (i.e., “Knock-out Events”). Investments in futures contracts and other investments that contain leverage may require each Fund to maintain liquid assets in an amount equal to its delivery obligations under these contracts and other investments. Generally, each Fund maintains an amount of liquid assets equal to its obligations relative to the position involved, adjusted daily on a marked-to-market basis. With respect to futures contracts that are contractually required to “cash-settle,” each Fund maintains liquid assets in an amount at least equal to the Fund’s daily marked-to-market obligation (i.e., each Fund’s daily net liability, if any), rather than the contracts’ notional value (i.e., the value of the underlying asset). By maintaining assets equal to its net obligation under cash-settled futures contracts, each Fund may employ leverage to a greater extent than if the Fund were required to set aside assets equal to the futures contracts’ full notional value. Each Fund bases its asset maintenance policies on methods permitted by the SEC and its staff and may modify these policies in the future to comply with any changes in the guidance articulated from time to time by the SEC or its staff. Changes in SEC guidance regarding the use of derivatives by registered investment companies may adversely impact a Fund’s ability to invest in futures, options or other derivatives or make investments in such instruments more expensive.

Lending Portfolio Securities. Each Fund may lend portfolio securities to certain borrowers that BFA determines to be creditworthy, including borrowers affiliated with BFA. The borrowers provide collateral that is maintained in an amount at least equal to the current market value of the securities loaned. No securities loan shall be made on behalf of a Fund if, as a result, the aggregate value of all securities loaned by the particular Fund exceeds one-third of the value of such Fund's total assets (including the value of the collateral received). A Fund may terminate a loan at any time and obtain the return of the securities loaned. Each Fund receives, by way of substitute payment, the value of any interest or cash or non-cash distributions paid on the loaned securities that it would have received if the securities were not on loan.

or in recovering the loaned securities, or to a possible loss of rights in the collateral. In the event a borrower does not return a Fund’s securities as agreed, the Fund may experience losses if the proceeds received from liquidating the collateral do not at least equal the value of the loaned security at the time the collateral is liquidated, plus the transaction costs incurred in purchasing replacement securities. This event could trigger adverse tax consequences for a Fund. A Fund could lose money if its short-term investment of the collateral declines in value over the period of the loan. Substitute payments for dividends received by a Fund for securities loaned out by the Fund will not be considered qualified dividend income. BTC will take into account the tax effects on shareholders caused by this difference in connection with a Fund’s securities lending program. Substitute payments received on tax-exempt securities loaned out will not be tax-exempt income.

Non-U.S. Securities. Certain Funds intend to purchase publicly-traded common stocks of non-U.S. issuers. To the extent a Fund invests in stocks of non-U.S. issuers, certain of the Fund's investments in such stocks may be in the form of American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”) and European Depositary Receipts (“EDRs”) (collectively, “depositary receipts”). Depositary receipts are receipts, typically issued by a bank or trust issuer, which evidence ownership of underlying securities issued by a non-U.S. issuer. Depositary receipts may not necessarily be denominated in the same currency as their underlying securities. ADRs typically are issued by an American bank or trust company and evidence ownership of underlying securities issued by a foreign corporation. EDRs, which are sometimes referred to as Continental Depositary Receipts, are receipts issued in Europe, typically by foreign banks and trust companies, that evidence ownership of either foreign or domestic underlying securities. GDRs are depositary receipts structured like global debt issues to facilitate trading on an international basis. Generally, ADRs, issued in registered form, are designed for use in the U.S. securities markets, and EDRs, issued in bearer form, are designed for use in European securities markets. GDRs are tradable both in the U.S. and in Europe and are designed for use throughout the world.

The Funds will not invest in any unlisted depositary receipt or any depositary receipt that BFA deems illiquid at the time of purchase or for which pricing information is not readily available. In general, depositary receipts must be sponsored, but a Fund may invest in unsponsored depositary receipts under certain limited circumstances.

Depositary receipts are generally subject to the same risks as the foreign securities that they evidence or into which they may be converted. In addition to investment risks associated with the underlying issuer, depositary receipts expose a Fund to additional risks associated with the non-uniform terms that apply to depositary receipt programs, credit exposure to the depository bank and to the sponsors and other parties with whom the depository bank establishes the programs, currency risk and liquidity risk. Unsponsored programs, which are not sanctioned by the issuer of the underlying common stock, generally expose investors to greater risks than sponsored programs and do not provide holders with many of the shareholder benefits that come from investing in a sponsored depositary receipts.

Investing in the securities of non-U.S. issuers involves special risks and considerations not typically associated with investing in U.S. issuers. These include differences in accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards; the possibility of expropriation or confiscatory taxation; adverse changes in investment or exchange control regulations; political instability, which could affect U.S. investments in non-U.S. countries; and potential restrictions on the flow of international capital. Non-U.S. issuers may be subject to less governmental regulation than U.S. issuers. Moreover, individual non-U.S. economies may differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in such respects as growth of gross domestic product (“GDP”), rate of inflation, capital reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency and balance of payment positions.

Regulation Regarding Derivatives. The CFTC subjects advisers to registered investment companies to regulation by the CFTC if a fund that is advised by the adviser either (i) invests, directly or indirectly, more than a prescribed level of its liquidation value in CFTC-regulated futures, options and swaps (“CFTC Derivatives”), or (ii) markets itself as providing investment exposure to such instruments. The CFTC also subjects advisers to registered investment companies to regulation by the CFTC if the registered investment company invests in one or more commodity pools. To the extent a Fund uses CFTC Derivatives, it intends to do so below such prescribed levels and intends not to market itself as a “commodity pool” or a vehicle for trading such instruments.

BFA has claimed an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” under the CEA pursuant to Rule 4.5 under the CEA with respect to each of the Funds. BFA is not, therefore, subject to registration or regulation as a “commodity pool operator” under the CEA with respect to the Funds.

The iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF, iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF, iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF, iShares Global REIT ETF, iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF, iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF, iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF, iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF, iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF, iShares Morningstar

Small-Cap Value ETF, iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF, iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF and iShares U.S. Financials ETF (the “No-Action Letter Funds”) may also have investments in “underlying funds” (and such underlying funds themselves may invest in underlying funds) not advised by BFA (which for purposes of the no-action letter referenced below may include certain securitized vehicles, mortgage real estate investment trusts and/or investment companies that may invest in CFTC Derivatives), and therefore may be viewed by the CFTC as commodity pools. BFA has no transparency into the holdings of these underlying funds because they are not advised by BFA. To address this issue of lack of transparency, the CFTC staff issued a no-action letter on November 29, 2012 permitting the adviser of a fund that invests in such underlying funds and that would otherwise have filed a claim of exclusion pursuant to CFTC Rule 4.5 to delay registration as a “commodity pool operator” until six months from the date on which the CFTC issues additional guidance on the treatment of CFTC Derivatives held by underlying funds. BFA, the adviser of the No-Action Letter Funds, has filed a claim with the CFTC for such Funds to rely on this no-action relief. Accordingly, BFA is not currently subject to registration or regulation as a “commodity pool operator” under the CEA in respect of such Funds.

Derivative contracts, including, without limitation, swaps, currency forwards, and non-deliverable forwards, are subject to regulation under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”) in the U.S. and under comparable regimes in Europe, Asia and other non-U.S. jurisdictions. Swaps, non-deliverable forwards and certain other derivatives traded in the OTC market are subject to variation margin requirements, and initial margining requirements will be phased in through 2020. Implementation of the margining and other provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act regarding clearing, mandatory trading, reporting and documentation of swaps and other derivatives have impacted and may continue to impact the costs to a Fund of trading these instruments and, as a result, may affect returns to investors in a Fund.

Repurchase Agreements. A repurchase agreement is an instrument under which the purchaser (i.e., a Fund) acquires the security and the seller agrees, at the time of the sale, to repurchase the security at a mutually agreed-upon time and price, thereby determining the yield during the purchaser’s holding period. Repurchase agreements may be construed to be collateralized loans by the purchaser to the seller secured by the securities transferred to the purchaser. If a repurchase agreement is construed to be a collateralized loan, the underlying securities will not be considered to be owned by a Fund but only to constitute collateral for the seller’s obligation to pay the repurchase price, and, in the event of a default by the seller, the Fund may suffer time delays and incur costs or losses in connection with the disposition of the collateral.

Reverse Repurchase Agreements. Reverse repurchase agreements involve the sale of securities with an agreement to repurchase the securities at an agreed-upon price, date and interest payment and have the characteristics of borrowing. Generally, the effect of such transactions is that a Fund can recover all or most of the cash invested in the portfolio securities involved during the term of the reverse repurchase agreement, while in many cases the Fund is able to keep some of the interest income associated with those securities. Such transactions are advantageous only if a Fund has an opportunity to earn a rate of interest on the cash derived from these transactions that is greater than the interest cost of obtaining the same amount of cash. Opportunities to realize earnings from the use of the proceeds equal to or greater than the interest required to be paid may not always be available, and a Fund intends to use the reverse repurchase technique only when BFA believes it will be advantageous to the Fund. The use of reverse repurchase agreements may exaggerate any increase or decrease in the value of a Fund’s assets. A Fund’s exposure to reverse repurchase agreements will be covered by liquid assets having a value equal to or greater than the Fund’s obligations under such commitments. The use of reverse repurchase agreements is a form of leverage, and the proceeds obtained by a Fund through reverse repurchase agreements may be invested in additional securities.

Securities of Investment Companies. Each Fund may invest in the securities of other investment companies (including money market funds) and real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) to the extent permitted by law. Pursuant to the 1940 Act, a Fund’s investment in registered investment companies is generally limited to, subject to certain exceptions: (i) 3% of the total outstanding voting stock of any one investment company; (ii) 5% of a Fund’s total assets with respect to any one investment company; and (iii) 10% of a Fund’s total assets with respect to investment companies in the aggregate. To the extent allowed by law or regulation, each Fund intends from time to time to invest its assets in the securities of investment companies, including, but not limited to, money market funds, including those advised by or otherwise affiliated with BFA, in excess of the general limits discussed above. Other investment companies in which a Fund may invest can be expected to incur fees and expenses for operations, such as investment advisory and administration fees, which would be in addition to those incurred by the Fund. Pursuant to guidance issued by the SEC staff, fees and expenses of money market funds used for cash collateral received in connection with loans of securities are not treated as Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, which reflect a Fund’s pro rata share of the fees and expenses incurred by investing in other investment companies (as disclosed in the Prospectus, as applicable).

Short-Term Instruments and Temporary Investments. Each Fund may invest in short-term instruments, including money market instruments, on an ongoing basis to provide liquidity or for other reasons. Money market instruments are generally short-term investments that may include, but are not limited to: (i) shares of money market funds (including those advised by BFA or otherwise affiliated with BFA); (ii) obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities (including government-sponsored enterprises); (iii) negotiable certificates of deposit (“CDs”), bankers’ acceptances, fixed-time deposits and other obligations of U.S. and non-U.S. banks (including non-U.S. branches) and similar institutions; (iv) commercial paper rated, at the date of purchase, “Prime-1” by Moody's^® Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody's”), “F-1” by Fitch Ratings, Inc. (“Fitch”), or “A-1” by Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC, a subsidiary of S&P Global, Inc. (“S&P Global Ratings”), or if unrated, of comparable quality as determined by BFA; (v) non-convertible corporate debt securities (e.g., bonds and debentures) with remaining maturities at the date of purchase of not more than 397 days and that have been determined to present minimal credit risks, in accordance with the requirements set forth in Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act; (vi) repurchase agreements; and (vii) short-term U.S. dollar-denominated obligations of non-U.S. banks (including U.S. branches) that, in the opinion of BFA, are of comparable quality to obligations of U.S. banks that may be purchased by a Fund. Any of these instruments may be purchased on a current or forward-settled basis. Time deposits are non-negotiable deposits maintained in banking institutions for specified periods of time at stated interest rates. Bankers’ acceptances are time drafts drawn on commercial banks by borrowers, usually in connection with international transactions.

Swap Agreements. Swap agreements are contracts between parties in which one party agrees to make periodic payments to the other party based on a pre-determined underlying investment or notional amount. In return, the other party agrees to make periodic payments to the first party based on the return (or differential in rates of return) earned or realized on the underlying investment or notional amount. Swap agreements will usually be performed on a net basis, with a Fund receiving or paying only the net amount of the two payments. The net amount of the excess, if any, of a Fund’s obligations over its entitlements with respect to each swap is accrued on a daily basis, and an amount of liquid assets having an aggregate value at least equal to the accrued excess will be maintained by the Fund.

Certain of the Funds may enter into swap agreements, including currency swaps, interest rate swaps and index swaps. The use of swaps is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio security transactions. These transactions generally do not involve the delivery of securities or other underlying assets.

Future Developments. The Board may, in the future, authorize each Fund to invest in securities contracts and investments, other than those listed in this SAI and in the applicable Prospectuses, provided they are consistent with each Fund's investment objective and do not violate any of its investment restrictions or policies.

General Considerations and Risks

A discussion of some of the principal risks associated with an investment in a Fund is contained in the applicable Prospectus.

An investment in a Fund should be made with an understanding that the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities may fluctuate in accordance with changes in the financial condition of the issuers of the portfolio securities, the value of stocks in general, and other factors that affect the market.

Borrowing Risk. Borrowing may exaggerate changes in the net asset value of Fund shares and in the return on a Fund’s portfolio. Borrowing will cause a Fund to incur interest expense and other fees. The costs of borrowing may reduce a Fund’s return. Borrowing may cause a Fund to liquidate positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations.

Dividend Risk. There is no guarantee that issuers of the stocks held by a Fund will declare dividends in the future or that, if declared, they will either remain at current levels or increase over time.

Dividend-Paying Stock Risk. A Fund's strategy of investing in dividend-paying stocks involves the risk that such stocks may fall out of favor with investors and underperform the market. Companies that issue dividend-paying stocks are not required to continue to pay dividends on such stocks. Therefore, there is the possibility that such companies could reduce or eliminate the payment of dividends in the future or the anticipated acceleration of dividends may not occur. Depending upon market conditions, dividend-paying stocks that meet the Fund’s investment criteria may not be widely available and/or may be highly concentrated in only a few market sectors. This may limit the ability of a Fund to produce current income while remaining fully diversified.

Liquidity Risk Management Rule Risk. In October 2016, the SEC adopted a liquidity risk management rule requiring open-end funds, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) such as the Funds, to establish a liquidity risk management program and enhance disclosures regarding fund liquidity. There are exclusions from certain portions of the liquidity risk management program requirements for “in-kind” ETFs . The Funds will be required to comply with portions of the rule by December 1, 2018. The effect the rule will have on the Funds, including a Fund’s ability to rely on the exclusions, is not yet known, but the rule may impact a Fund’s performance and ability to achieve its investment objective.

National Closed Market Trading Risk. To the extent that the underlying securities held by a Fund trade on foreign exchanges that are closed when the securities exchange on which a Fund’s shares trade is open, there are likely to be deviations between the current price of such an underlying security and the last quoted price for the underlying security (i.e., a Fund’s quote from the closed foreign market). These deviations may result in premiums or discounts to a Fund’s NAV that may be greater than those experienced by other ETFs.

Risk of Derivatives. A derivative is a financial contract, the value of which depends on, or is derived from, the value of an underlying asset, such as a security, a commodity (such as gold or silver), a currency or an index (a measure of value or rates, such as the S&P 500^® or the prime lending rate). A Fund may invest in futures contracts, securities options and other derivatives. Compared to conventional securities, derivatives can be more sensitive to changes in interest rates or to sudden fluctuations in market prices and thus a Fund’s losses may be greater if it invests in derivatives than if it invests only in conventional securities. Derivatives are also subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the other party in the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligations. Derivatives generally involve the incurrence of leverage. To address such leverage and to prevent a Fund from being deemed to have issued senior securities as a result of an investment in derivatives, such Fund will segregate liquid assets equal to its obligations under the derivatives throughout the life of the investment.

When a derivative is used as a hedge against a position that a Fund holds or is committed to purchase, any loss generated by the derivative generally should be substantially offset by gains on the hedged investment, and vice versa. While hedging can reduce or eliminate losses, it can also reduce or eliminate gains, and in some cases, hedging can cause losses that are not offset by gains, and the Fund will recognize losses on both the investment and the hedge. Hedges are sometimes subject to imperfect matching between the derivative and the underlying security, and there can be no assurance that a Fund's hedging transactions, which entail additional transaction costs, will be effective.

Risk of Equity Securities. An investment in a Fund should be made with an understanding of the risks inherent in an investment in equity securities, including the risk that the financial condition of issuers may become impaired or that the general condition of stock markets may deteriorate (either of which may cause a decrease in the value of the portfolio securities and thus in the value of shares of the Fund). Common stocks are susceptible to general stock market fluctuations and to increases and decreases in value as market confidence and perceptions of their issuers change. These investor perceptions are based on various and unpredictable factors, including expectations regarding government, economic, monetary and fiscal policies, inflation and interest rates, economic expansion or contraction, and global or regional political, economic or banking crises. Holders of common stocks incur more risks than holders of preferred stocks and debt obligations because common stockholders generally have rights to receive payments from stock issuers that are inferior to the rights of creditors, or holders of debt obligations or preferred stocks. Further, unlike debt securities, which typically have a stated principal amount payable at maturity (the value of which, however, is subject to market fluctuations prior to maturity), or preferred stocks, which typically have a liquidation preference and which may have stated optional or mandatory redemption provisions, common stocks have neither a fixed principal amount nor a maturity date. In addition, issuers may, in times of distress or at their own discretion, decide to reduce or eliminate dividends, which may also cause their stock price to decline.

Although most of the securities in each Underlying Index are listed on a securities exchange, the principal trading market for some of the securities may be in the OTC market. The existence of a liquid trading market for certain securities may depend on whether dealers will make a market in such securities. There can be no assurance that a market will be made or maintained or that any such market will be or remain liquid. The price at which securities may be sold and the value of a Fund’s shares will be adversely affected if trading markets for the Fund’s portfolio securities are limited or absent, or if bid/ask spreads are wide.

Risk of Futures and Options on Futures Transactions. There are several risks accompanying the utilization of futures contracts and options on futures contracts. A position in futures contracts and options on futures contracts may be closed only on the exchange on which the contract was made (or a linked exchange). While each Fund plans to utilize futures contracts only if an active market exists for such contracts, there is no guarantee that a liquid market will exist for the contract at a specified time. Futures contracts, by definition, project price levels in the future and not current levels of valuation; therefore, market circumstances may result in a discrepancy between the price of the future and the movement in a Fund's Underlying Index. In the event of adverse price movements, a Fund would continue to be required to make daily cash payments to maintain its required margin. In such situations, if a Fund has insufficient cash, it may have to sell portfolio securities to meet daily margin requirements at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so. In addition, a Fund may be required to deliver the instruments underlying the futures contracts it has sold.

The risk of loss in trading futures contracts or uncovered call options in some strategies (e.g., selling uncovered stock index futures contracts) is potentially unlimited. The Funds do not plan to use futures and options contracts in this way. The risk of a futures position may still be large as traditionally measured due to the low margin deposits required. In many cases, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in immediate and substantial loss or gain to the investor relative to the size of a required margin deposit. The Funds, however, intend to utilize futures and options contracts in a manner designed to limit their risk exposure to levels comparable to a direct investment in the types of stocks in which they invest.

Utilization of futures and options on futures by a Fund involves the risk of imperfect or even negative correlation to its Underlying Index if the index underlying the futures contract differs from the Underlying Index. There is also the risk of loss of margin deposits in the event of bankruptcy of a broker with whom a Fund has an open position in the futures contract or option. The purchase of put or call options will be based upon predictions by BFA as to anticipated trends, which predictions could prove to be incorrect.

Because the futures market generally imposes less burdensome margin requirements than the securities market, an increased amount of participation by speculators in the futures market could result in price fluctuations. Certain financial futures exchanges limit the amount of fluctuation permitted in futures contract prices during a single trading day. The daily limit establishes the maximum amount by which the price of a futures contract may vary either up or down from the previous day’s settlement price at the end of a trading session. Once the daily limit has been reached in a particular type of contract, no trades may be made on that day at a price beyond that limit. It is possible that futures contract prices could move to the daily limit for several consecutive trading days with little or no trading, thereby preventing prompt liquidation of futures positions and subjecting each Fund to substantial losses. In the event of adverse price movements, each Fund would be required to make daily cash payments of variation margin.

Risk of Investing in Non-U.S. Equity Securities. An investment in any of the Funds that invest, directly or indirectly, in non-U.S. equity securities involves risks similar to those of investing in portfolios of equity securities traded on non-U.S. exchanges. These risks include market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic and political developments in those foreign countries, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. Investing in securities issued by issuers domiciled in countries other than the domicile of the investor and denominated in currencies other than an investor’s local currency entails certain considerations and risks not typically encountered by the investor in making investments in its home country and in that country’s currency. These considerations include favorable or unfavorable changes in interest rates, currency exchange rates, exchange control regulations and the costs that may be incurred in connection with conversions between various currencies. Investing in any of these Funds also involves certain risks and considerations not typically associated with investing in a fund whose portfolio contains exclusively securities of U.S. issuers. These risks include generally less liquid and less efficient securities markets; generally greater price volatility; less publicly available information about issuers; the imposition of withholding or other taxes; the imposition of restrictions on the expatriation of funds or other assets of the Funds; higher transaction and custody costs; delays and risks attendant in settlement procedures; difficulties in enforcing contractual obligations; lower liquidity and significantly smaller market capitalization; different

accounting and disclosure standards; lower levels of regulation of the securities markets; more substantial government interference with the economy and businesses; higher rates of inflation; greater social, economic, and political uncertainty; the risk of nationalization or expropriation of assets; and the risk of war.

Risk of Investing in Large-Capitalization Companies. Large-capitalization companies may be less able than smaller capitalization companies to adapt to changing market conditions. Large-capitalization companies may be more mature and subject to more limited growth potential compared with smaller capitalization companies. During different market cycles, the performance of large-capitalization companies has trailed the overall performance of the broader securities markets.

Risk of Investing in Mid-Capitalization Companies. Stock prices of mid-capitalization companies may be more volatile than those of large-capitalization companies, and, therefore, a Fund’s share price may be more volatile than that of funds that invest a larger percentage of their assets in stocks issued by large-capitalization companies. Stock prices of mid-capitalization companies are also more vulnerable than those of large-capitalization companies to adverse business or economic developments, and the stocks of mid-capitalization companies may be less liquid, making it more difficult for the Funds to buy and sell them. In addition, mid-capitalization companies generally have less diverse product lines than large-capitalization companies and are more susceptible to adverse developments.

Risk of Investing in Small-Capitalization Companies. Stock prices of small-capitalization companies may be more volatile than those of larger companies, and, therefore, a Fund's share price may be more volatile than that of funds that invest a larger percentage of their assets in stocks issued by large-capitalization or mid-capitalization companies. Stock prices of small-capitalization companies are generally more vulnerable than those of large-capitalization or mid-capitalization companies to adverse business and economic developments. The stocks of small-capitalization companies may be thinly traded, making it difficult for the Funds to buy and sell them. In addition, small-capitalization companies are typically less financially stable than larger, more established companies and may depend on a small number of essential personnel, making them more vulnerable to loss of personnel. Small-capitalization companies also normally have less diverse product lines than large-capitalization companies and are more susceptible to adverse developments concerning their products.

Risk of Investing in Africa. Investments in securities of issuers in certain African countries involve heightened risks including, among others, expropriation and/or nationalization of assets, confiscatory taxation, political instability, including authoritarian and/or military involvement in governmental decision-making, armed conflict, civil war, and social instability as a result of religious, ethnic and/or socio-economic unrest or widespread outbreaks of disease and, in certain countries, genocidal warfare.

Certain countries in Africa generally have less developed capital markets than traditional emerging market countries, and, consequently, the risks of investing in foreign securities are magnified in such countries. Because securities markets of countries in Africa are generally underdeveloped and are generally less correlated to global economic cycles than those markets located in more developed countries, securities markets in African countries are subject to greater risks associated with market volatility, lower market capitalization, lower trading volume, illiquidity, inflation, greater price fluctuations and uncertainty regarding the existence of trading markets. Moreover, trading on African securities markets may be suspended altogether.

Market volatility may also be heightened by the actions of a small number of investors. Brokerage firms in certain countries in Africa may be fewer in number and less established than brokerage firms in more developed markets. Since a Fund may need to effect securities transactions through these brokerage firms, the Fund is subject to the risk that these brokerage firms will not be able to fulfill their obligations to the Fund (i.e., counterparty risk). This risk is magnified to the extent that a Fund effects securities transactions through a single brokerage firm or a small number of brokerage firms.

Certain governments in African countries restrict or control to varying degrees the ability of foreign investors to invest in securities of issuers located or operating in those countries. Moreover, certain countries in Africa require governmental approval or special licenses prior to investment by foreign investors and may limit the amount of investment by foreign investors in a particular industry and/or issuer, and may limit such foreign investment to a certain class of securities of an issuer that may have less advantageous rights than the classes available for purchase by domestic investors of the countries and/or impose additional taxes on foreign investors. A delay in obtaining a government approval or a license would delay investments in a particular country, and, as a result, a Fund may not be able to invest in certain securities while approval is pending. The government of a particular country may also withdraw or decline to renew a license that enables a Fund to invest in such country. These factors make investing in issuers located or operating in countries in Africa significantly riskier than investing in issuers located or operating in more developed countries, and any one of these factors could cause a decline in the value of a Fund’s investments. Issuers located or operating in countries in Africa are generally not subject to the same rules and regulations as issuers located or operating in more developed countries. Therefore, there may be less financial and other information publicly available with regard to issuers located or operating in countries in Africa and such issuers are generally not subject to the uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards applicable to issuers located or operating in more developed countries.

In addition, governments of certain countries in Africa in which a Fund may invest may levy withholding or other taxes on income such as dividends, interest and realized capital gains. Although in certain countries in Africa a portion of these taxes are recoverable, the non-recovered portion of foreign withholding taxes will reduce the income received from investments in such countries.

Investment in countries in Africa may be subject to a greater degree of risk associated with governmental approval in connection with the repatriation of investment income, capital or the proceeds of sales of securities by foreign investors. In addition, there is the risk that if an African country’s balance of payments declines, such African country may impose temporary restrictions on foreign capital remittances. Consequently, a Fund could be adversely affected by delays in, or a refusal to grant, required governmental approval for repatriation of capital, as well as by the application to the Fund of any restrictions on investments. Additionally, investments in countries in Africa may require a Fund to adopt special procedures, seek local government approvals or take other actions, each of which may involve additional costs to the Fund.

Securities laws in many countries in Africa are relatively new and unsettled and, consequently, there is a risk of rapid and unpredictable change in laws regarding foreign investment, securities regulation, title to securities and shareholder rights. Accordingly, foreign investors may be adversely affected by new or amended laws and regulations. In addition, there may be no single centralized securities exchange on which securities are traded in certain countries in Africa and the systems of corporate governance to which issuers located in countries in Africa are subject may be less advanced than those systems to which issuers located in more developed countries are subject, and, therefore, shareholders of issuers located in such countries may not receive many of the protections available to shareholders of issuers located in more developed countries. Even in circumstances where adequate laws and shareholder rights exist, it may not be possible to obtain swift and equitable enforcement of the law. In addition, the enforcement of systems of taxation at federal, regional and local levels in countries in Africa may be inconsistent and subject to sudden change.

Certain countries in Africa may be heavily dependent upon international trade and, consequently, have been and may continue to be negatively affected by trade barriers, exchange controls, managed adjustments in relative currency values and other protectionist measures imposed or negotiated by the countries with which they trade. These countries also have been and may continue to be adversely affected by economic conditions in the countries with which they trade. Certain countries in Africa depend to a significant extent upon exports of primary commodities such as gold, silver, copper and diamonds. These countries therefore are vulnerable to changes in commodity prices, which may be affected by a variety of factors. In addition, certain issuers located in countries in Africa in which a Fund invests may operate in, or have dealings with, countries subject to sanctions and/or embargoes imposed by the U.S. government and the United Nations, and/or countries identified by the U.S. government as state sponsors of terrorism. As a result, an issuer may sustain damage to its reputation if it is identified as an issuer which operates in, or has dealings with, such countries. A Fund, as an investor in such issuers, will be indirectly subject to those risks.

diplomatic developments that could adversely affect investments in certain countries in Africa. Some countries in Africa may be affected by a greater degree of public corruption and crime, including organized crime.

Recent political instability and protests in North Africa and the Middle East have caused significant disruptions to many industries. In addition, the outbreak of Ebola in Western Africa severely challenged health care industries in those countries and adversely impacted the region’s economy due to quarantines and disruptions of trade, which has further increased instability in the region. This instability has demonstrated that political and social unrest can spread quickly through the region, and that developments in one country can influence the political events in neighboring countries. Some protests have turned violent, and civil war and political reconstruction in certain countries such as Libya, Iraq and Syria pose a risk to investments in the region. Continued political and social unrest in these regions, including the ongoing warfare and terrorist activities in the Middle East and Africa, may negatively affect the value of an investment in a Fund.

Certain Asian countries have democracies with relatively short histories, which may increase the risk of political instability. These countries have faced political and military unrest, and further unrest could present a risk to their local economies and securities markets. Indonesia and the Philippines have each experienced violence and terrorism, which has negatively impacted their economies. North Korea and South Korea each have substantial military capabilities, and historical tensions between the two countries present the risk of war. Escalated tensions involving the two countries and any outbreak of hostilities between the two countries, or even the threat of an outbreak of hostilities, could have a severe adverse effect on the entire Asian region. Political, religious, and border disputes persist in India. India has recently experienced and may continue to experience civil unrest and hostilities with certain of its neighboring countries. Increased political and social unrest in these geographic areas could adversely affect the performance of investments in this region.

New Zealand are heavily dependent on the mining sector. Passage of new regulations limiting foreign ownership of companies in the mining sector or imposition of new taxes on profits of mining companies may dissuade foreign investment, and as a result, have a negative impact on companies to which a Fund has exposure.

such markets, which may contribute to increased volatility and reduced liquidity of such markets. The limited liquidity of emerging market country securities may also affect a Fund's ability to accurately value its portfolio securities or to acquire or dispose of securities at the price and time it wishes to do so or in order to meet redemption requests.

Many emerging market countries lack the social, political, and economic stability characteristic of the U.S. Political instability among emerging market countries can be common and may be caused by an uneven distribution of wealth, social unrest, labor strikes, civil wars, and religious oppression. Economic instability in emerging market countries may take the form of: (i) high interest rates; (ii) high levels of inflation, including hyperinflation; (iii) high levels of unemployment or underemployment; (iv) changes in government economic and tax policies, including confiscatory taxation; and (v) imposition of trade barriers.

government debt levels and the possible default of government debt in several European countries, including, but not limited to, Cyprus, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Ukraine. In order to prevent further economic deterioration, certain countries, without prior warning, can institute “capital controls.” Countries may use these controls to restrict volatile movements of capital entering and exiting their country. Such controls may negatively affect a Fund’s investments. A default or debt restructuring by any European country would adversely impact holders of that country’s debt and sellers of credit default swaps linked to that country’s creditworthiness, which may be located in countries other than those listed above. In addition, the credit ratings of certain European countries were recently downgraded. These downgrades may result in further deterioration of investor confidence. These events have adversely affected the value and exchange rate of the euro and may continue to significantly affect the economies of every country in Europe, including countries that do not use the euro and non-EU member states. Responses to the financial problems by European governments, central banks and others, including austerity measures and reforms, may not produce the desired results, may result in social unrest and may limit future growth and economic recovery or have other unintended consequences. Further defaults or restructurings by governments and other entities of their debt could have additional adverse effects on economies, financial markets and asset valuations around the world. In addition, one or more countries may abandon the euro and/or withdraw from the EU. The impact of these actions, especially if they occur in a disorderly fashion, is not clear but could be significant and far-reaching and could adversely impact the value of a Fund’s investments in the region. In a referendum held on June 23, 2016, the United Kingdom (the “U.K.”) resolved to leave the EU. The referendum may introduce significant uncertainties and instability in the financial markets as the U.K. negotiates its exit from the EU. Although the precise timeframe for the U.K.’s withdrawal is uncertain, on March 29, 2017, the U.K. initiated the withdrawal process by sending a formal notice of the country’s intention to withdraw from the EU. An agreement has been reached between the U.K. and the EU to continue negotiations on the U.K.’s exit from the EU. The outcome of negotiations remains uncertain. Secessionist movements, such as in Scotland or the Catalan movement in Spain, as well as governmental or other responses to such movements, may also create instability and uncertainty in the region. The occurrence of terrorist incidents throughout Europe also could impact financial markets. The impact of these events is not clear but could be significant and far-reaching and could adversely affect the value and liquidity of a Fund's investments.

Risk of Investing in Germany. Investment in German issuers may subject a Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks specific to Germany. Recently, new concerns emerged in relation to the economic health of the EU. These concerns have led to tremendous downward pressure on certain financial institutions, including German financial services companies. Secessionist movements, such as in Scotland or the Catalan movement in Spain, may have an adverse effect on the German economy. The German economy is dependent to a significant extent on the economies of certain key trading partners, including the U.S., France, Italy and other European countries. Reduction in spending on German products and services, or changes in any of the economies may have an adverse impact on the German economy. In addition, heavy regulation of labor and product markets in Germany may have an adverse effect on German issuers. Such regulations may negatively impact economic growth or cause prolonged periods of recession.

Risk of Investing in Japan. Japan may be subject to political, economic, nuclear, labor and other risks. Any of these risks, individually or in the aggregate, can impact an investment made in Japan.

Economic Risk. The growth of Japan’s economy has recently lagged that of its Asian neighbors and other major developed economies. Since 2000, Japan’s economic growth rate has generally remained low relative to other advanced economies, and it may remain low in the future. The Japanese economy is heavily dependent on international trade and has been adversely affected by trade tariffs, other protectionist measures, competition from emerging economies and the economic conditions of its trading partners. Japan is also heavily dependent on oil imports, and higher commodity prices could therefore have a negative impact on the Japanese economy.

Political Risk. Historically, Japan has had unpredictable national politics and may experience frequent political turnover. Future political developments may lead to changes in policy that might adversely affect a Fund’s investments. In addition, China has become an important trading partner with Japan. Japan’s political relationship with China, however, has been strained. Should political tension increase, it could adversely affect the Japanese economy and destabilize the region as a whole.

Large Government Debt Risk. The Japanese economy faces several concerns, including a financial system with large levels of nonperforming loans, over-leveraged corporate balance sheets, extensive cross-ownership by major corporations, a changing corporate governance structure, and large government deficits. These issues may cause a slowdown of the Japanese economy.

Currency Risk. The Japanese yen has fluctuated widely at times and any increase in its value may cause a decline in exports that could weaken the Japanese economy. Japan has, in the past, intervened in the currency markets to attempt to maintain or reduce the value of the yen. Japanese intervention in the currency markets could cause the value of the yen to fluctuate sharply and unpredictably and could cause losses to investors.

Nuclear Energy Risk. The nuclear power plant catastrophe in Japan in March 2011 may have long-term effects on the Japanese economy and its nuclear energy industry, the extent of which are currently unknown.

Labor Risk. Japan has an aging workforce and has experienced a significant population decline in recent years. Japan’s labor market appears to be undergoing fundamental structural changes, as a labor market traditionally accustomed to lifetime employment adjusts to meet the need for increased labor mobility, which may adversely affect Japan’s economic competitiveness.

Geographic Risk. Natural disasters, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons and tsunamis, could occur in Japan or surrounding areas and could negatively affect the Japanese economy, and, in turn, could negatively affect a Fund.

The U.S. is Canada's and Mexico's largest trading and investment partner. The Canadian and Mexican economies are significantly affected by developments in the U.S. economy. Since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”) in 1994 among Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, total merchandise trade among the three countries has increased. However, political developments in the U.S., including possible termination of NAFTA and imposition of tariffs by the U.S. on Canadian aluminum and steel, may have implications for the trade arrangements among the U.S., Mexico and Canada, which could negatively affect the value of securities held by a Fund. Policy and legislative changes in one country may have a significant effect on North American markets generally, as well as on the value of certain securities held by a Fund.

Risk of Investing in the United Kingdom. Investment in U.K. issuers may subject a Fund to regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks specific to the U.K. The U.K. economy relies heavily on the export of financial services to the U.S. and other European countries. A prolonged slowdown in the financial services sector may have a negative impact on the U.K.’s economy. In the past, the U.K. has been a target of terrorism. Acts of terrorism in the U.K. or against U.K. interests abroad may cause uncertainty in the U.K. financial markets and adversely affect the performance of the issuers to which a Fund has exposure. Secessionist movements, such as in Scotland or the Catalan movement in Spain, may have an adverse effect on the U.K. economy. In a referendum held on June 23, 2016, the U.K. resolved to leave the EU. The referendum may introduce significant uncertainties and instability in the financial markets as the U.K. negotiates its exit from the EU. Recently, the U.K.'s real estate sector has experienced significant volatility and declines in the value of many real estate securities, including real estate funds, REITs and real estate holding companies. Increased volatility and investor redemption requests in real estate funds may result in the continued decline in the value and liquidity of real estate securities, which may impair the ability of a Fund to buy, sell, receive or deliver those securities.

Risk of Investing in the Aerospace and Defense Industry. The aerospace and defense industry can be significantly affected by government defense and aerospace regulation and spending policies. The aerospace industry in particular has recently been affected by adverse economic conditions and consolidation within the industry.

Risk of Investing in the Biotechnology Industry. Biotechnology companies depend on the successful development of new and proprietary technologies. There can be no assurance that the development of new technologies will be successful or that intellectual property rights will be obtained with respect to new technologies. The loss or impairment of intellectual property rights may adversely affect the profitability of biotechnology companies. In addition, companies in the biotechnology industry spend heavily on research and development and their products or services may not prove commercially successful or may become obsolete quickly. The risks of high development costs may be exacerbated by the inability to raise prices as a result of managed care pressure, government regulation or price controls. Biotechnology companies can suffer persistent losses during the transition of new products from development to production or when products are or may be subject to regulatory approval processes or regulatory scrutiny and, as a consequence, the earnings of biotechnology companies may be erratic. Companies in the biotechnology industry are also exposed to the risk that they will be subject to products liability claims. Companies involved in the biotechnology industry may be subject to extensive government regulations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, among other foreign and domestic regulators. Such regulation may significantly affect and limit biotechnology research, product development and approval of products.

Risk of Investing in the Chemicals Industry. The success of companies in the chemicals industry can be significantly affected by intense competition, product obsolescence, raw materials prices, and government regulation. As regulations are developed and enforced, chemicals companies could be required to alter or cease production of a product, pay fines, pay for cleaning up a disposal site or agree to restrictions on their operations. In addition, chemicals companies may be subject to risks associated with production, handling, and disposal, as some of the materials and processes used by these companies involve hazardous components.

Risk of Investing in the Consumer Defensive Industry. A Fund is subject to risks faced by companies in the consumer defensive industry, including: governmental regulation affecting the permissibility of using various food additives and production methods, which could affect profitability; new laws or litigation that may adversely affect tobacco companies; fads, marketing campaigns and other factors affecting supply and demand that may strongly affect securities prices and profitability of food, soft drink and fashion related products; and international events that may affect food and beverage companies that derive a substantial portion of their net income from foreign countries.

of domestic and international economies, exchange rates, changing consumer preferences, demographics, marketing campaigns, cyclical revenue generation, consumer confidence, commodity price volatility, labor relations, interest rates, import and export controls, intense competition, technological developments and government regulation.

Risk of Investing in the Consumer Durables Industry. The consumer durables industry includes companies involved in the design, production, or distribution of household durables, leisure equipment and goods, textiles, luxury goods or apparel, each of which may be affected by changes in domestic and international economies, consumer confidence, disposable household income and spending, and consumer tastes and preferences. Companies in the consumer durables industry face intense competition, which may have an adverse effect on their profitability. The success of companies in the consumer durables industry may be strongly affected by social trends and marketing campaigns. Companies in the consumer durables industry may be dependent on outside financing, which may be difficult to obtain. Many of these companies are dependent on third party suppliers and distribution systems. Consumer durables companies may be unable to protect their intellectual property rights or may be liable for infringing the intellectual property rights of others. In addition, goods in the consumer durables industry may face the risk of rapid obsolescence.

Risk of Investing in the Consumer Staples Sector. Companies in the consumer staples sector may be adversely affected by changes in the global economy, consumer spending, competition, demographics and consumer preferences, and production spending. Companies in the consumer staples sector may also be affected by changes in global economic, environmental and political events, economic conditions, the depletion of resources, and government regulation. For instance, government regulations may affect the permissibility of using various food additives and production methods of companies that make food products, which could affect company profitability. In addition, tobacco companies may be adversely affected by the adoption of proposed legislation and/or by litigation. Companies in the consumer staples sector also may be subject to risks pertaining to the supply of, demand for and prices of raw materials. The prices of raw materials fluctuate in response to a number of factors, including, without limitation, changes in government agricultural support programs, exchange rates, import and export controls, changes in international agricultural and trading policies, and seasonal and weather conditions. Companies in the consumer staples sector may be subject to severe competition, which may also have an adverse impact on their profitability.

Most financial companies are subject to extensive governmental regulation, which limits their activities and may affect their ability to earn a profit from a given line of business. Government regulation may change frequently and may have significant adverse consequences for companies in the financials sector, including effects not intended by the regulation. Direct governmental intervention in the operations of financial companies and financial markets may materially and adversely affect the companies in which a Fund invests, including legislation in many countries that may increase government regulation, repatriation and other intervention. The impact of governmental intervention and legislative changes on any individual financial company or on the financials sector as a whole cannot be predicted. The valuation of financial companies has been and continues to be subject to unprecedented volatility and may be influenced by unpredictable factors, including interest rate risk and sovereign debt default. Certain financial businesses are subject to intense competitive pressures, including market share and price competition. Financial companies in foreign countries are subject to market specific and general regulatory and interest rate concerns. In particular, government regulation in certain foreign countries may include taxes and controls on interest rates, credit availability, minimum capital requirements, bans on short sales, limits on prices and restrictions on currency transfers. In addition, companies in the financials sector may be the targets of hacking and potential theft of proprietary or customer information or disruptions in service, which could have a material adverse effect on their businesses.

Risk of Investing in the Industrials Sector. The value of securities issued by companies in the industrials sector may be adversely affected by supply of and demand for both their specific products or services and for industrials sector products in general. The products of manufacturing companies may face obsolescence due to rapid technological developments and frequent new product introduction. Government regulations, world events and economic conditions may affect the performance of companies in the industrials sector. The industrials sector may also be adversely affected by changes or trends in commodity prices, which may be influenced by unpredictable factors. Aerospace and defense companies, a component of the industrials sector, can be significantly affected by government spending policies because companies involved in this industry rely, to a significant extent, on government demand for their products and services. Thus, the financial condition of, and investor interest in, aerospace and defense companies are heavily influenced by governmental

defense spending policies, which are typically under pressure from efforts to control government budgets. Transportation stocks, a component of the industrials sector, are cyclical and can be significantly affected by economic changes, fuel prices, labor relations and insurance costs. Transportation companies in certain countries may also be subject to significant government regulation and oversight, which may adversely affect their businesses. For example, commodity price declines and unit volume reductions resulting from an over-supply of materials used in the industrials sector can adversely affect the sector. Furthermore, companies in the industrials sector may be subject to liability for environmental damage, product liability claims, depletion of resources, and mandated expenditures for safety and pollution control.

Risk of Investing in the Insurance Industry. The insurance industry is subject to extensive government regulation and can be significantly affected by changes in interest rates, general economic conditions, price and marketing competition, the imposition of premium rate caps or other changes in government regulation or tax law. Different segments of the insurance industry can be significantly affected by changes in mortality and morbidity rates, environmental clean-up costs and catastrophic events such as earthquakes, hurricanes and terrorist acts.

Risk of Investing in the Materials Sector. Companies in the materials sector may be adversely affected by commodity price volatility, exchange rates, import controls, increased competition, depletion of resources, technical progress, labor relations and government regulations, and mandated expenditures for safety and pollution control, among other factors. Companies in the materials sector are also at risk of liability for environmental damage and product liability claims. Production of materials may exceed demand as a result of market imbalances or economic downturns, leading to poor investment returns. These risks are heightened for companies in the materials sector located in foreign markets.

Risk of Investing in the Media Sub-Industry. Companies in the media sub-industry may encounter distressed cash flows due to the need to commit substantial capital to meet increasing competition, particularly in formulating new products and services using new technology. Media companies are subject to risks that include cyclicality of revenues and earnings, a potential decrease in the discretionary income of targeted individuals, changing consumer tastes and interests, competition in the industry and the potential for increased state and federal regulation. Advertising spending is an important source of revenue for media companies. During economic downturns, advertising spending typically decreases and, as a result, media companies tend to generate less revenue.

Risk of Investing in the Medical Equipment Industry. Many companies in the medical equipment industry are heavily dependent on patent protection, and the expiration of patents may adversely affect the profitability of these companies. Companies in the medical equipment industry may be subject to extensive litigation based on product liability and similar claims as well as competitive forces that may make it difficult to raise prices and, in fact, may result in price discounting. The profitability of some medical equipment companies may be dependent on a relatively limited number of products. In addition, their products can become obsolete due to industry innovation, changes in technologies or other market developments. Many new products in the medical equipment industry are subject to regulatory approvals, and the process of obtaining such approvals is long and costly.

Risk of Investing in the Metals and Mining Industry. Certain of the Funds may invest in securities that are issued by and/or have exposure to, companies primarily involved in the metals and mining industry. Investments in metals and mining industry companies may be speculative and subject to greater price volatility than investments in other types of companies. The profitability of companies in the metals and mining industry is related to, among other things, worldwide metal prices, and extraction and production costs. Worldwide metal prices may fluctuate substantially over short periods of time, so a Fund’s

investment in metals and mining industry companies may be more volatile than other types of investments. In addition, metals and mining companies may be significantly affected by changes in global demand for certain metals, economic developments, energy conservation, exchange rates, the success of exploration projects, interest rates, economic conditions, tax treatment, government regulation and intervention, and world events in the regions that the companies to which a Fund has exposure operate (e.g., expropriation, nationalization, confiscation of assets and property or the imposition of restrictions on foreign investments and repatriation of capital, military coups, social unrest, violence and labor unrest). Metals and mining companies may also be subject to the effects of competitive pressures in the metals and mining industry.

Risk of Investing in the Oil Equipment and Services Sub-Industry. The profitability of companies in the oil equipment and services sub-industry is related to worldwide energy prices, exploration, and production spending. Companies in the oil equipment and services sub-industry may be adversely affected by natural disasters or other catastrophes. Companies in the oil equipment and services sub-industry may be at risk for environmental damage claims and other types of litigation. Companies in the oil equipment and services sub-industry may be adversely affected by changes in exchange rates, interest rates, economic conditions, tax treatment, imposition of import controls and increased competition. Companies in the oil equipment and services sub-industry may be adversely affected by oil deposits, technological developments and labor relations. Companies in the oil equipment and services sub-industry may be adversely affected by government regulation and intervention, negative perception and world events in the regions that the companies operate (e.g., expropriation, nationalization, confiscation of assets and property or the imposition of restrictions on foreign investments and repatriation of capital, military coups, social unrest, violence or labor unrest). Companies in the oil equipment and services sub-industry may have significant capital investments in, or engage in transactions involving, emerging market countries, which may heighten these risks.

Risk of Investing in the Producer Durables Industry. The producer durables industry includes companies involved in the design, manufacture or distribution of industrial durables such as electrical equipment and components, industrial products, and housing and telecommunications equipment. These companies may be affected by changes in domestic and international economies and politics, consolidation, and excess capacity. Companies in the producer durables industry face intense competition, which may have an adverse effect on their profitability. The success of companies in the producer durables industry may be strongly affected by changes in consumer demands, spending, tastes and preferences. Companies in the producer durables industry may be dependent on outside financing, which may be difficult to obtain. Producer

durables companies may be unable to protect their intellectual property rights or may be liable for infringing the intellectual property rights of others. In addition, these companies may be significantly affected by other factors such as economic cycles, rapid technical obsolescence, government regulations, labor relations, delays in modernization, overall capital spending levels and product liability lawsuits.

Risk of Investing in the Real Estate Industry. Companies in the real estate industry include companies that invest in real estate, such as REITs, real estate holding and operating companies or real estate development companies (collectively, “Real Estate Companies”). Investing in Real Estate Companies exposes investors to the risks of owning real estate directly, as well as to risks that relate specifically to the way in which Real Estate Companies are organized and operated. The real estate industry is highly sensitive to general and local economic conditions and developments, and characterized by intense competition and periodic overbuilding. Investing in Real Estate Companies involves various risks. Some risks that are specific to Real Estate Companies are discussed in greater detail below.

The ability of a holder of junior claims to proceed against a defaulting issuer is circumscribed by the terms of the particular contractual arrangement, which vary considerably from transaction to transaction.

Regulatory Risk. Real estate income and values may be adversely affected by such factors as applicable domestic and foreign laws (including tax laws). Government actions, such as tax increases, zoning law changes or environmental regulations, also may have a major impact on real estate income and values. In addition, quarterly compliance with regulations limiting the proportion of asset types held by a U.S. REIT may force certain Real Estate Companies to liquidate or restructure otherwise attractive investments. Some countries may not recognize REITs or comparable structures as a viable form of real estate funds.

Risk of Investing in the Semiconductor Industry. The Fund invests in semiconductor companies, which face intense competition, both domestically and internationally; such competition may have an adverse effect on profit margins. Semiconductor companies may have limited product lines, markets, financial resources or personnel. The products of semiconductor companies may face obsolescence due to rapid technological developments and frequent new product introduction, unpredictable changes in growth rates and competition for the services of qualified personnel. Capital equipment expenditures could be substantial and equipment generally suffers from rapid obsolescence. Companies in the semiconductor industry are heavily dependent on patent and intellectual property rights. The loss or impairment of these rights would adversely affect the profitability of these companies.

resources or personnel. The products of technology companies may face product obsolescence due to rapid technological developments and frequent new product introduction, changes in consumer and business purchasing patterns, unpredictable changes in growth rates and competition for the services of qualified personnel. In addition, a rising interest rate environment tends to negatively affect companies in the technology sector because, in such an environment, those companies with high market valuations may appear less attractive to investors, which may cause sharp decreases in the companies’ market prices. Companies in the technology sector are heavily dependent on patent and intellectual property rights. The loss or impairment of these rights may adversely affect the profitability of these companies. The technology sector may also be adversely affected by changes or trends in commodity prices, which may be influenced or characterized by unpredictable factors. Finally, while all companies may be susceptible to network security breaches, certain companies in the technology sector may be particular targets of hacking and potential theft of proprietary or consumer information or disruptions in service, which could have a material adverse effect on their businesses.

Risk of Investing in the Transportation Infrastructure Industry. Issuers in the transportation infrastructure industry can be significantly affected by economic changes, fuel prices, labor relations, technology developments, exchange rates, industry competition, insurance costs and deteriorating public infrastructure, such as bridges, roads, rails, ports and airports. Transportation companies in certain countries may also be subject to significant government regulation and oversight, which may adversely affect their businesses. Other risk factors that may affect the transportation infrastructure industry include the risk of increases in fuel and other operating costs and the effects of regulatory changes or other government decisions. Companies in the transportation infrastructure industry may be adversely affected by adverse weather, acts of terrorism or catastrophic events, such as air accidents, train crashes or tunnel fires. Companies in the transportation infrastructure industry may also be subject to the risk of widespread disruption of technology systems and increasing equipment and operational costs.

There are substantial differences among the regulatory practices and policies of various jurisdictions, and any regulatory agency may make major shifts in policy from time to time. There is no assurance that regulatory authorities will, in the future, grant rate increases. Additionally, existing and possible future regulatory legislation may make it even more difficult for utilities to obtain adequate relief. Certain of the issuers of securities held in a Fund's portfolio may own or operate nuclear generating facilities. Governmental authorities may from time to time review existing policies and impose additional requirements governing the licensing, construction and operation of nuclear power plants. Prolonged changes in climate conditions can also have a significant impact on both the revenues of an electric and gas utility as well as the expenses of a utility, particularly a hydro-based electric utility.

more similar to industrial companies in that they are subject to greater competition and have been permitted by regulators to diversify outside of their original geographic regions and their traditional lines of business. As a result, some companies may be forced to defend their core business and may be less profitable. Deregulation may also permit a utility company to expand outside of its traditional lines of business and engage in riskier ventures.

Proxy Voting Policy

For all Funds other than the iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF and the iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF (these two Funds together, the “Sustainable Funds”), the Board has delegated the voting of proxies for each Fund’s securities to BFA pursuant to the Funds' Proxy Voting Policy (the “iShares ETFs Proxy Voting Policy”), and BlackRock has adopted policies and procedures (the “BlackRock Proxy Voting Policies”) governing proxy voting by accounts managed by BlackRock, including the Funds. For the Sustainable Funds, the Board has delegated the voting of proxies for each Sustainable Fund’s securities to BFA pursuant to the Sustainable Funds’ Proxy Voting Policy (the “iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy”), and BlackRock has adopted the BlackRock Proxy Voting Policies and supplemental guidelines applicable to environmental and social issues investing (the “Supplemental BlackRock Sustainable Proxy Voting Guidelines”) governing proxy voting by the iShares sustainable ETFs managed by BlackRock, including the Sustainable Funds.

Portfolio Holdings Information

be provided to personnel of BFA and its affiliates who manage funds that invest a significant percentage of their assets in shares of the Fund for the purpose of facilitating risk management and hedging activities; and (iv) does not provide selective access to portfolio holdings information except pursuant to the procedures outlined below and to the extent appropriate confidentiality arrangements limiting the use of such information are in effect. The “Entities” referred to in sub-section (iii) above are generally limited to National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”) members, subscribers to various fee-based subscription services, large institutional investors (known as “Authorized Participants”) that have been authorized by the Distributor to purchase and redeem large blocks of shares pursuant to legal requirements and market makers and other institutional market participants and entities that provide information or transactional services.

The Board reviews the policy and procedures for disclosure of portfolio holdings information at least annually.

Construction and Maintenance of the Underlying Indexes

Descriptions of the Underlying Indexes are provided below.

The Cohen & Steers Realty Majors Index

Number of Components: approximately 30

Component Selection Criteria. A Cohen & Steers investment committee determines the securities (i.e., the “components”) of the Cohen & Steers Realty Majors Index. The universe of REITs is first screened for market capitalization and liquidity requirements. To be eligible for inclusion, a REIT must have a minimum market capitalization of $500 million and a minimum of 600,000 shares traded per month for the previous six months. The investment committee determines the final 30 constituents based on a review process. Criteria for inclusion include: the quality of the portfolio of property, sector and geographic diversification, strong management, sound capital structure and a dominant position within a property sector.

After the final list of constituent REITs has been determined, constituent REITs are ranked according to their respective free float-adjusted market capitalization. Each constituent REIT that has an index weight greater than 8% will have its weight adjusted downward until it equals 8%. The weight of the remaining constituent REITs will be increased proportionately until the aggregate of all weights equals 100%. As a result, constituents will be large and liquid without any one issue dominating the Underlying Index.

Issue Changes. The Underlying Index is rebalanced quarterly. The weighting for each constituent is updated and adjustments are made if any constituent has a weighting over 8%. The constituents are reviewed for size and liquidity. A REIT will be removed from the Underlying Index if its market capitalization has fallen below $400 million or if the monthly trading volume has fallen below 500,000 shares per month for the previous six months. In order to prevent excessive turnover, the size and liquidity requirements are not as stringent during rebalancings as they are for initial inclusion.

Between rebalancing dates, mergers or bankruptcy may result in a deletion or weighting increase. Weighting increases must be greater than 5% and will be adjusted downward if the weighting increase results in the REIT’s weight becoming greater than 8%. In the case of a deletion, the investment committee will select a replacement company to ensure 30 constituents at all times.

Index Maintenance. Maintaining the Underlying Index includes monitoring and completing the adjustments for company additions and deletions, share changes, stock splits, stock dividends, and stock price adjustments due to restructuring and spin-offs. The Underlying Index is a total return index and therefore reflects the reinvestment of dividends. The Underlying Index is calculated by the NYSE Amex Equities and distributed in real time.

Index Availability. The Underlying Index is calculated and broadcast every 15 seconds over the Consolidated Tape Association’s Network B under the ticker “RMP.” This information is distributed by financial data vendors such as Bloomberg.

The Dow Jones Indexes

Component Selection Criteria. Securities of companies listed on a major U.S. exchange (such as the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. (“NYSE”), the NYSE MKT Equities or the NASDAQ) are considered for inclusion in the Underlying Indexes, with the following general rules and exceptions. Foreign issues, including ADRs and GDRs, non-common equity issues such as preferred stocks, convertible notes, warrants, rights, closed-end funds, trust receipts, limited liabilities companies, royalty trusts, units, limited partnerships, OTC bulletin boards and pink sheet stocks generally are not eligible for inclusion in the indexes.

Component Selection Criteria Applicable to Dow Jones Subsector Indexes. The following indexes are collectively referred to herein as the “Dow Jones Select Sectors and Subsector Indexes”: Dow Jones U.S. Financial Services Index, Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index, Dow Jones U.S. Health Care Index, Dow Jones U.S. Industrials Index, Dow Jones U.S. Technology Index and Dow Jones U.S. Utilities Index. On a quarterly basis, SPDJI conducts reviews of the float-adjusted market capitalizations and weightings of the securities in each Dow Jones Subsector Index. On the last business day of the month prior to the quarterly review, a security must have a $500 million float-adjusted market capitalization to be added to a Dow Jones Select Sectors Index; securities with a float-adjusted market capitalization below $250 million will be removed from the applicable Dow Jones Select Sectors Index.

After the close of trading on the NYSE on the third Friday in March, June, September and December, each Dow Jones Subsector Index’s composition is adjusted to meet the following concentration limits:

•	No single Underlying Index component may have a weight greater than 25% of the Dow Jones Select Sectors Indexes.
•	The sum of the weights of the Index components that are individually greater than 5% may not be greater than 45% of the Dow Jones Select Sectors Indexes.

•	The sum of the weights of the five largest Index components may not be greater than 65% of the Dow Jones Select Sectors Indexes.

Issue Changes. Each Underlying Index (with the exception of the Dow Jones Transportation Average Index) is reviewed and rebalanced quarterly to maintain accurate representation of the market segment represented by the Underlying Index. Securities that are removed from an Index between reconstitution dates are not replaced (with the exception of the Dow Jones Transportation Average Index). Components of the Dow Jones Transportation Average Index are reviewed on an as-needed basis. Thus, the number of securities in an index between rebalancing dates fluctuates according to corporate activity. When a stock is acquired, delisted, or moves to the pink sheets or OTC bulletin boards, the stock is deleted from the Underlying Index. The only additions between rebalancing dates are as a result of spin-offs (with the exception of the Dow Jones EPAC Select Dividend Index and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index).

Index Maintenance. Maintaining the Underlying Indexes includes monitoring and completing the adjustments for additions and deletions to each Underlying Index, share changes, stock splits, stock dividends, and stock price adjustments due to restructuring and spin-offs. Generally each component security in an Underlying Index is limited to a maximum market capitalization as follows: The Dow Jones Asia/Pacific Select Dividend Index limits weightings in the index of each component security to no greater than 15% of the Underlying Index. The Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend Index limits the component weighting to no greater than 25%. The Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index and Dow Jones EPAC Select Dividend Index limit the weighting in the index of each component security to no greater than 10% of the Underlying Index.

Weighting. The component stocks are weighted according to the total value of their outstanding shares. The impact of a component’s price change is proportional to the issue’s total market value, which is the share price multiplied by the number of shares outstanding. Each Underlying Index is adjusted to reflect changes in capitalization resulting from mergers, acquisitions, stock rights, substitutions and other capital events. Each of the Underlying Indexes (except the Dow Jones Select Sectors Indexes, Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index, Dow Jones Transportation Average Index and Dow Jones EPAC Select Dividend Index) as described below, is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index, so the impact of a component’s price change is proportional to the component’s free float-adjusted market value, which is the share price multiplied by the number of float-adjusted shares outstanding. S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (“SPDJI”) defines the free float of a security as the proportion of shares outstanding that are deemed to be available for purchase in the public equity markets by investors. In practice, limitations on free float available to investors include: cross ownership (shares that are owned by other companies), ownership by governments (central or municipal) or their agencies, certain substantial levels of private ownership (by individuals, families or charitable trusts and foundations), and restricted shares. Under SPDJI's free float adjustment methodology, a company’s outstanding shares are adjusted if, and only if, an entity in any of the four qualified categories listed above owns 5% or more of the company. The company’s shares will not be adjusted if the block ownership is less than 5%. A constituent’s inclusion factor is equal to its estimated percentage of free float shares outstanding. For example, a constituent security with a free float of 67% will be included in the index at 67% of its market capitalization. However, a company’s outstanding shares are not adjusted by institutional investors’ holdings, which include, but are not limited to, the following categories: custodian nominees, trustee companies, mutual funds (open-end and closed-end funds), and other investment companies.

Index Availability. The Underlying Indexes are calculated continuously and are available from major data vendors.

Dow Jones EPAC Select Dividend Index

Number of Components: approximately 100

Index Description. The Dow Jones EPAC Select Dividend Index is a dividend-weighted index that represents investable, high yield companies trading in the developed stock markets outside the U.S. The Underlying Index is comprised of the top 100 dividend paying companies by yield that pass all other criteria outlined below. The Underlying Index is calculated with dividends reinvested and is denominated in U.S. dollars.

Dow Jones Transportation Average Index

Number of Components: approximately 20

Index Description. The Dow Jones Transportation Average Index measures the performance of large, well-known companies from the transportation sector of the U.S. equity market. The indices are maintained by the Dow Jones Averages Index Committee. The Index Committee is composed of S&P Dow Jones Indices’ staff as well as committee members from The Wall Street Journal. The component stocks are weighted based on the price of the component securities, with the highest priced

securities generally having higher weighting in the Underlying Index. The Underlying Index is adjusted to reflect changes in capitalization resulting from mergers, acquisitions, stock rights, substitutions and other capital events.

Dow Jones U.S. Basic Materials Index

Number of Components: approximately 50

Index Description. The Dow Jones U.S. Basic Materials Index is a subset of the Dow Jones U.S. Index. The Underlying Index includes only companies in the basic materials sector of the Dow Jones U.S. Index.

Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Goods Index

Number of Components: approximately 107

Index Description. The Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Goods Index is a subset of the Dow Jones U.S. Index. The Underlying Index includes only companies in the consumer goods sector of the Dow Jones U.S. Index.

Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Services Index

Number of Components: approximately 161

Index Description. The Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Services Index is a subset of the Dow Jones U.S. Index. The Underlying Index includes only companies in the consumer services sector of the Dow Jones U.S. Index.

Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index

Number of Components: approximately 290

Index Description. The Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index is a subset of the Dow Jones U.S. Index. The Underlying Index includes only companies in the financial sector of the Dow Jones U.S. Index.

Dow Jones U.S. Financial Services Index

Number of Components: approximately 115

Index Description. The Dow Jones U.S. Financial Services Index is a subset of the Dow Jones U.S. Index. The Underlying Index includes components of the following subsectors in the Dow Jones U.S. Index: banks, asset managers, consumer finance, specialty finance, investments services and mortgage finance.

Dow Jones U.S. Health Care Index

Number of Components: approximately 118

Index Description. The Dow Jones U.S. Health Care Index is a subset of the Dow Jones U.S. Index. The Underlying Index includes only companies in the healthcare sector of the Dow Jones U.S. Index.

Dow Jones U.S. Index

Number of Components: approximately 1,195

Index Description. The Dow Jones U.S. Index is a broad-based index representative of the total market for U.S. equity securities. The Underlying Index represents approximately 95% of the market capitalization of listed U.S. equities.

Dow Jones U.S. Industrials Index

Number of Components: approximately 209

Index Description. The Dow Jones U.S. Industrials Index is a subset of the Dow Jones U.S. Index. The Underlying Index includes only companies in the industrials sector of the Dow Jones U.S. Index.

Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Index

Number of Components: approximately 67

Index Description. The Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Index is a subset of the Dow Jones U.S. Index. The Underlying Index includes only companies in the oil and gas sector of the Dow Jones U.S. Index.

Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index

Number of Components: approximately 100

Index Description. The Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index measures the performance of a selected group of equity securities issued by companies that have provided relatively high dividend yields on a consistent basis over time. The Underlying Index is comprised of 100 of the highest dividend-yielding securities (excluding REITs) in the Dow Jones U.S. Index. To be included in the Underlying Index, each security (i) must have had a non-negative historical five-year dividend-per-share growth rate; (ii) must have a five-year average dividend coverage ratio of greater than or equal to 167%; (iii) must have a minimum three-month average daily trading volume of 200,000 shares; (iv) must have paid dividends in each of the previous five years; (v) must have a non-negative trailing 12-month earnings-per-share and (vi) must have a float-adjusted market cap of at least $3 billion ($750 million for current constituents). “Dividend payout ratio” reflects the percentage of a company’s earnings paid out as dividends. A ratio of 60% would mean that a company paid out approximately 60% of its earnings as dividends. A company with a lower dividend payout ratio has more earnings to support dividends, and adjustments or changes in the level of earnings are therefore less likely to significantly affect the level of dividends paid. Positive dividend growth rate is a measure of dividend consistency, since it provides some indication of a company’s ability to continue to pay dividends. The Underlying Index is reconstituted annually.

Dow Jones U.S. Technology Index

Number of Components: approximately 136

Index Description. The Dow Jones U.S. Technology Index is a subset of the Dow Jones U.S. Index. The Underlying Index includes only companies in the technology sector of the Dow Jones U.S. Index.

Dow Jones U.S. Utilities Index

Number of Components: approximately 52

Index Description. The Dow Jones U.S. Utilities Index is a subset of the Dow Jones U.S. Index. The Underlying Index includes only companies in the utilities sector of the Dow Jones U.S. Index.

Component Selection Criteria. The selection universe is the current component set of the Dow Jones Developed Markets ex-U.S. Index, which measures the performance of stocks that trade in developed markets, excluding the U.S. To be included in the Underlying Index, companies must meet the following criteria: (i) have at least 3 years of dividend history; (ii) the previous-year dividend-per-share ratio must be greater than or equal to its three-year average annual dividend-per-share ratio; (iii) the five-year average dividend coverage ratio must be greater than or equal to two-thirds of the five-year average dividend coverage ratio of the corresponding Dow Jones Global Indexes^® country index, or greater than 118%, whichever is greater; (iv) the company’s securities must have a three-month average daily dollar trading volume of at least $3 million; (v) the company’s securities must have a non-negative trailing 12-month earnings-per-share; and (vi) the company’s securities must have a float-adjusted market capitalization of at least $1 billion.

Weighting. Within each represented country, component weightings are assigned based on indicated annual dividend. The represented countries are then weighted within the index based on dividend yield. The dividend yield values used to calculate share factors are capped at 20%. The weights of individual securities are capped at 10% within the index.

Index Maintenance and Issue Changes. The Underlying Index is a rules-based index. Ongoing maintenance of the Underlying Index is governed by these rules.

Under the following circumstances, a component stock is immediately removed from the Underlying Index, independent of the annual review:

•	The component company is affected by a corporate action such as a delisting or bankruptcy.
•	The component company eliminates its dividend.
•	The component company lowers but does not eliminate its dividend, and its new yield is less than that of the lowest yielding non-component on the latest monthly selection list.

Methodology. Companies are ranked by their indicated yield using the close five business days prior to the last trading day of November. The top 100 stocks are selected for the initial Underlying Index. In subsequent annual reviews, which will take place after the close of trading of all markets on the third Friday in December, any components that are no longer ranked 200 or higher are replaced by the highest yielding non-component companies.

Liquidity. Companies must have a three-month average daily dollar volume of $3 million to be eligible for addition to the Underlying Index.

Index Availability. The Underlying Index is calculated in real-time and published every fifteen seconds. It is distributed via the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and made available to all international data vendors. Daily values can be found at the Dow Jones Indexes website.

Exchange Rates and Pricing. Foreign exchange rates used in the calculation of the Underlying Index are Reuters' real-time spot rates. The closing value is calculated using the official WM/Reuters Closing Spot Rates. The Underlying Index is calculated in U.S. dollars.

Additional Information. The Dow Jones U.S. Index, the Dow Jones U.S. Basic Materials Index, the Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Goods Index, the Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Services Index, the Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index, the Dow Jones U.S. Financial Services Index, the Dow Jones U.S. Health Care Index, the Dow Jones U.S. Industrials Index, the Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Index, the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index, the Dow Jones U.S. Technology Index, the Dow Jones Transportation Average Index, the Dow Jones U.S. Utilities Index and the Dow Jones EPAC Select Dividend Index (collectively, the “Dow Jones Indexes”) are products of SPDJI, and have been licensed for use by BFA or its affiliates. S&P^® is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“SPFS”); Dow Jones^® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”); and these trademarks have been licensed for use by SPDJI and sublicensed for certain purposes by BFA and its affiliates. The Funds are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by SPDJI, Dow Jones, SPFS or their respective affiliates or third party licensors and none of such parties make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product(s) nor do they have any liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions of the Dow Jones Indexes.

The FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Indexes

Index Criteria and Methodology. The FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Real Estate Index Series (“FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Indexes”) are primarily rule-based, but are also monitored by the applicable regional FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Index Advisory Committees. FTSE EPRA/NAREIT defines the “developed real estate markets” as: North America (including Canada and the U.S.), Europe (including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K.), Middle East (Israel) and Asia (including Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea). In determining geographic allocations, FTSE EPRA/NAREIT primarily considers the company’s country of incorporation and listing. The FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Indexes are free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted.

To qualify for inclusion in the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Indexes, a company must be a closed-end company and listed on an official stock exchange and meet certain trading volume requirements as determined by FTSE EPRA/NAREIT. Also, companies must meet geographic financial standards demonstrating that a majority of a company’s earnings or bulk of total assets is the result of real estate activity as determined by FTSE EPRA/NAREIT. Relevant real estate activities are defined as the ownership, trading and development of income-producing real estate. The construction of residential homes for sale is considered relevant real estate in the Asia region only.

Index Maintenance and Issue Changes. The constituents of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Indexes are generally required to meet the following criteria where applicable: at the quarterly review, non-constituents must have an investable market capitalization of equal or greater than the amounts as determined by FTSE EPRA/NAREIT, and an existing constituent of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Indexes will be removed from the Indexes unless it has an investable market capitalization of above certain thresholds determined by FTSE EPRA/NAREIT.

Under normal circumstances, the quarterly review occurs on the Thursday following the first Friday of March, June, September and December, using data from the close of business on the last trading day of February, May, August and November. Adjustments in stock weightings and constituents resulting from the periodic assessment become effective on the next trading day following the third Friday of March, June, September and December.

In between reviews, a new issue with an investable market capitalization (i.e., after the application of investability weightings) of equal or greater than the amounts as determined by FTSE/NAREIT for the respective region will be included into the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Indexes after the close of business on the fifth day of trading.

Index Availability. The FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Indexes are calculated in real time and generally published throughout the business day, and distributed primarily through global data vendors. Daily values are also made available to major newspapers and can be found at the FTSE website and the EPRA website. The FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Indexes are published and calculated using trading values (real-time throughout the day, and closing values at the end of the day) and WM/Reuters Closing Spot Rates for currency values.

FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Europe Index

Number of Components: approximately 103

Index Description. The FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Europe Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index that measures the stock performance of companies engaged in the ownership and development of the developed European real estate market, as defined above.

FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed ex-U.S. Index

Number of Components: approximately 203

Index Description. The FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed ex-U.S. Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index that measures the stock performance of companies engaged in the ownership and development of the developed Canadian, European, Middle East and Asian real estate markets, as defined above.

FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global REITs Index

Number of Components: approximately 295

Index Criteria and Methodology. The FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global REITs Index Series (“FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Indices”) covers the world’s largest investment markets and is designed to reflect the stock performance of companies engaged in specific aspects of the major real estate markets/regions of the world. The FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Indices include a comprehensive and complementary set of sub-indices which range from regional and country indices, Dividend+ indices, Investment Focus indices, and a REIT and Non-REIT series. The FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Indices are free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted.

The FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index Series Supervisory Committee and Advisory Committees act as advisory bodies to FTSE as compiler of the indices. FTSE is responsible for the day-to-day management of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Indices.

The FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global REITs and Non-REIT Indices are a subset of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index, subdividing the parent universe of real estate stocks into either the Global REIT Index for all constituents qualifying for REIT status, or into the Non-REIT Index which consists of all constituents domiciled in countries in which recognized REIT legislation does not exist, or which otherwise do not qualify for REIT status as determined by FTSE EPRA/NAREIT.

FTSE EPRA/NAREIT defines the Developed Real Estate markets as: North America (including Canada and the U.S.), Developed Europe (including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K. (including the Channel Islands)), Middle East (Israel) and Asia (including Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea).

FTSE EPRA/NAREIT defines the Emerging Real Estate markets as: Emerging Americas (including Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru), Emerging Asia (including China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand), Emerging Europe, Middle East & Africa (including Czech Republic, Egypt, Hungary, Morocco, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates).

In determining geographic assignments of individual stocks, FTSE EPRA/NAREIT considers the company’s country of incorporation and share listing, and its geographic sources of its most recent annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”).

To qualify for inclusion in the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Indices, a company must be a closed-end company and must be listed on an official exchange within an eligible country and meet certain minimum size and trading volume requirements as determined by FTSE EPRA/NAREIT. Eligible index components must also provide an audited financial report at least annually and in English which demonstrate that at least 75 percent of their total EBITDA is derived from relevant real estate activities in the previous full financial year, as determined by FTSE EPRA/NAREIT. Relevant real estate activities are defined as the

ownership, trading and development of income-producing real estate. The construction of residential homes for sale is considered relevant real estate activities in the Asia Region and in Emerging Markets only. Limited liability partnerships and limited liability companies are not eligible for inclusion.

Index Maintenance and Issue Changes. The FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index Series is reviewed on a quarterly basis in March, June, September and December based on data as at the close of business on the Monday four weeks prior to the review effective date. Any constituent changes resulting from the periodic review will be implemented at the close of business on the third Friday (i.e., effective Monday) of March, June, September and December. Subsequent adjustments in stock weightings (including free float) will become effective at the same time.

Candidates for inclusion in the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Indices at each quarterly review must meet certain regional weighting and minimum liquidity thresholds, as determined by FTSE EPRA/NAREIT. New issues meeting other Index inclusion requirements are eligible for inclusion on their fifth day of trading.

Existing components of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Indices will be removed at the quarterly review if their regional weighting falls below certain minimum thresholds. An Index component is removed immediately if it is delisted from its stock exchange, or if the company enters bankruptcy, becomes insolvent, or is liquidated.

All components of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Indices are screened for minimum liquidity on an annual basis in March of each year. The FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Indices are periodically reviewed for changes in free float, coinciding with each quarterly review.

Index Availability. Selected FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Indices are calculated on a real time basis and generally published throughout the business day, and distributed primarily through global data vendors. Daily values are also made available on the FTSE website and the EPRA website. The FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Indices are published and calculated using trading values (real-time throughout the day, and closing values at the end of the day), and WM/Reuters 4pm London Closing Spot Rates for currency values. The Indices are calculated every weekday when one or more of the constituent stock markets are open for trading.

Index Description. The FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global REITs Index is designed to track the performance of publicly-listed REITs (or their local equivalents) in both developed and emerging markets. The index components must qualify for REIT (or its local equivalent) status in their country of domicile and meet certain liquidity, size and EBITDA requirements. Components are adjusted for free float and foreign ownership limits.

The FTSE NAREIT Indexes

Component Selection Criteria. The FTSE NAREIT^® US Real Estate Index Series (“FTSE NAREIT Indexes”) is primarily rule-based, but is also monitored by the FTSE NAREIT Index Advisory Committee. All tax-qualified REITs that are listed on the NYSE or the NASDAQ are eligible for inclusion in the FTSE NAREIT Indexes. Potential constituents for the FTSE NAREIT Equity REITs Index are determined by sector classifications of constituents in the FTSE NAREIT Composite Index. The FTSE NAREIT Indexes are reviewed for changes on a quarterly basis in March, June, September and December for companies which do not qualify for fast entry, but which meet the criteria for eligible securities set out in the index rules. The review is based on data at the close of business on the Monday 4 weeks prior to the review effective date. The FTSE NAREIT Index Advisory Committee meets quarterly, in March, June, September and December or more frequently, if required.

When calculating index component weights, component companies’ shares are adjusted for available free float. In general, shares held by governments, corporations, strategic partners, or other control groups are excluded from a constituent company’s outstanding shares. The FTSE NAREIT Composite Index and FTSE NAREIT Equity REITs Index are reviewed for changes in free float on a quarterly basis, and implementation of any changes to these indexes, and potentially the FTSE NAREIT Indexes, occur after the close of business on the third Friday in March, June, September or December.

Index Maintenance. FTSE is responsible for the daily operation of the FTSE NAREIT Indexes. FTSE will maintain records of the market capitalization of all constituents, and will make changes to the constituents and their weightings in accordance with index rules. FTSE will also carry out the periodic company reviews of the FTSE NAREIT Indexes and implement the resulting constituent changes as required by index rules.

Issue Changes. A company will be added to the FTSE NAREIT Equity REITs Index at the periodic review if its full market capitalization is greater than $100 million (before the application of any free float market adjustments), meets liquidity test in December, has at least 75 percent of their total assets invested in qualifying real estate assets, and has a free float greater than 5%. A company in the FTSE NAREIT Equity REITs Index will be deleted at the periodic review if its market capitalization is below $100 million or fails the four screens.

Where a company, whether an existing constituent or not, undertakes an Initial Public Offering of a new equity security, that security will be eligible for fast entry inclusion to the FTSE NAREIT Index Series if its full market capitalization using the closing price on the first day of trading is greater than the market capitalization of the company ranked 10^th position or higher in the FTSE NAREIT Real Estate 50 Index, before the application of individual constituent investability weightings.

New issues of companies that do not qualify for “Fast Entry” but meet the criteria for eligible securities and have been listed for over 20 business trading days will be eligible for inclusion in the FTSE NAREIT Equity REITs Index. The review is based on data at the close of business on the Monday 4 weeks prior to the review effective date. The changes will be effective after the close of business on the third Friday in March, June, September and December.

If a constituent is delisted, or ceases to have a firm quotation, or is subject to a takeover offer which has been declared wholly unconditional, it will be removed from the indexes of which it is a constituent.

Index Availability. The FTSE NAREIT Indexes are calculated continuously during normal trading hours of the NYSE and NASDAQ, and are closed on U.S. holidays.

Exchange Rates and Pricing. The prices used to calculate the FTSE NAREIT Indexes are the Reuters daily closing prices or those figures accepted as such. FTSE Russell reserves the right to use an alternative pricing source on any given day. For end-of-day alternative currency calculations, FTSE Russell uses the WM/Reuters Closing Spot Rates.

FTSE NAREIT Equity REITs Index

Number of Components: approximately 159

Index Description. The FTSE NAREIT Equity REITs Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure performance of U.S. listed equity REITs, excluding infrastructure REITs, mortgage REITs and timber REITs.

The Morningstar Indexes

Component Selection Criteria. Except for Morningstar^® US Dividend and Buyback Index^SM and Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index^SM (as described below), the Morningstar indexes are part of the Morningstar U.S. Style Index family, which is based on the same methodology as the well-known Morningstar Style Box™. The Morningstar Indexes are governed by transparent, objective rules for security selection, exclusion, rebalancing, and adjustments for corporate actions. Morningstar, Inc. (“Morningstar”) makes no subjective determinations related to index composition. To be eligible for inclusion in any of the Morningstar U.S. Style Indexes, a stock must be listed on the NYSE, the NYSE Amex Equities, or NASDAQ, domiciled in the U.S. or have its primary stock market activities carried out in the U.S., have sufficient historical fundamental data available so that Morningstar can classify investment style, and be in the top 75% of companies in the investable universe based on its liquidity score. A security’s liquidity score is based on its average monthly trading volume in U.S. dollars. ADRs, American Depositary Shares, fixed-dividend shares, convertible notes, warrants, rights, tracking stocks, limited partnerships and holding companies are not eligible for inclusion in the Morningstar U.S. Style Indexes.

Morningstar uses a dynamic percentage-based approach to divide its U.S. Market Index into three cap categories. By defining each as a percentage of the market cap of the investable universe, the definitions remain stable regardless of overall large market movements. Large Cap stocks are defined as stocks that form the largest 70% of investable market cap. Mid Cap stocks are defined as the next 20% of investable market cap (70th to 90th percentile). Small Cap stocks are defined as the next 7% of investable market cap (90th to 97th percentile). The stocks in the Index are weighted according to the total number of shares that are publicly owned and available for trading.

Each of the Morningstar^® US Dividend and Buyback Index^SM and the Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index^SM is a subset of the U.S. equity universe as defined by the Morningstar US Market Index^SM, a broad market index representing the top 97% of U.S. equity market capitalization. To be eligible for inclusion in the Morningstar US Market Index, a stock must be listed on

the NYSE, the NYSE Amex Equities, or NASDAQ, domiciled in the U.S. or have its primary stock market activities carried out in the U.S., have sufficient historical fundamental data available so that Morningstar can classify investment style, and be in the top 75% of companies in the investable universe based on its liquidity score. A security’s liquidity score is based on its average monthly trading volume in U.S. dollars. ADRs, American Depositary Shares, fixed-dividend shares, convertible notes, warrants, rights, limited partnerships, limited liability companies, bank holding companies and royalty and statutory trusts are not eligible for inclusion in the US Market Index.

Issue Changes. Securities are added or deleted from each index based on rules outlined for security selection, exclusion, rebalancing, and adjustments for corporate actions as set forth in the Morningstar Index Rulebook. Morningstar makes no subjective determinations related to index composition.

Index Maintenance. The Morningstar U.S. Style Indexes are reconstituted twice annually, on the Monday following the third Friday of June and the Monday following the third Friday of December. The Morningstar^® Dividend Yield Focus Index^SM is reconstituted four times annually, on the Monday following the third Friday of March, June, September and December. If the Monday is a holiday, reconstitution occurs on the Tuesday immediately following. Reconstitution is carried out after the day’s closing index values have been determined.

The Morningstar US Market Index is reconstituted twice annually, on the Monday following the third Friday of June and the Monday following the third Friday of December. The Morningstar US Dividend and Buyback Index is reconstituted annually and implemented after the close of business on the third Friday of June and is effective the following Monday, and the Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index is reconstituted once annually on the Monday following the third Friday of December. If the Monday is a holiday, reconstitution occurs on the Tuesday immediately following. Reconstitution is carried out after the day’s closing index values have been determined.

Index Availability. Morningstar Indexes are calculated continuously and are available from major data vendors.

Morningstar^® Dividend Yield Focus Index^SM

Number of Components: approximately 75

Index Description. The Morningstar^® Dividend Yield Focus Index^SM offers exposure to high quality U.S.-domiciled companies that have had strong financial health and an ability to sustain above average dividend payouts. The Underlying Index is a subset of the Morningstar^® US Market Index^SM (a diversified broad market index that represents approximately 97% of the market capitalization of publicly-traded U.S. stocks). Constituents are screened for qualified income dividends, superior company quality and financial health as determined by Morningstar’s proprietary index methodology. The Morningstar index methodology defines “company quality” in accordance with the Morningstar Economic Moat™ rating system, in which companies are expected to earn above-average profits and sustain their dividend. Stocks in the Underlying Index are designated as having a rating of either “narrow” or “wide” based on the strength of the company’s competitive advantage. Additionally, companies are screened for “financial health” grade using Morningstar’s Distance to Default measure, a quantitative option pricing approach that estimates a company’s probability of default.

Morningstar^® Large Core Index^SM

Number of Components: approximately 80

Index Description. The Morningstar^® Large Core Index^SM measures the performance of stocks issued by large-capitalization companies that have exhibited average “growth” and “value” characteristics, as determined by Morningstar’s proprietary index methodology. The Morningstar index methodology defines “large-capitalization” stocks as those stocks that form the top 70% of the market capitalization of the stocks eligible to be included in the Morningstar US Market Index. All large capitalization stocks are then designated as “core,” “growth” or “value” based on their style orientations. Stocks of companies with, for example, relatively higher average historical and forecasted earnings, sales, equity and cash flow growth would be designated as “growth” securities. Stocks of companies with, for example, relatively low valuations based on price-to-book ratios, price-to-earnings ratios and other factors, are designated as “value” securities. Stocks that are not designated as “growth” or “value” securities are designated as “core” securities.

Morningstar^® Large Growth Index^SM

Number of Components: approximately 86

Index Description. The Morningstar^® Large Growth Index^SM measures the performance of stocks issued by large-capitalization companies that have exhibited above-average “growth” characteristics as determined by Morningstar’s proprietary index methodology. The Morningstar index methodology defines “large-capitalization” stocks as those stocks that form the top 70% of the market capitalization of the stocks eligible to be included in the Morningstar US Market Index. Stocks are then designated as “core,” “growth” or “value” based on their style orientations. The stocks included in the Index are designated as “growth” because they are issued by companies that typically have higher than average historical and forecasted earnings, sales, equity and cash flow growth.

Morningstar^® Large Value Index^SM

Number of Components: approximately 79

Index Description. The Morningstar^® Large Value Index^SM measures the performance of stocks issued by large-capitalization companies that have exhibited above-average “value” characteristics as determined by Morningstar’s proprietary index methodology. The Morningstar index methodology defines “large-capitalization” stocks as those stocks that form the top 70% of the market capitalization of the stocks eligible to be included in the Morningstar US Market Index. Stocks are then designated as “core,” “growth” or “value” based on their style orientations. The stocks included in the Index are designated as “value” because they are issued by companies that typically have relatively low valuations based on price-to-earnings, price-to-book value, price-to-sales, price-to-cash flow and dividend yields.

Morningstar^® Mid Core Index^SM

Number of Components: approximately 187

Index Description. The Morningstar^® Mid Core Index^SM measures the performance of stocks issued by mid-capitalization companies that have exhibited average “growth” and “value” characteristics as determined by Morningstar’s proprietary index methodology. The Morningstar index methodology defines “mid-capitalization” stocks as those stocks that form the 20% of the market capitalization that falls between the 70th and 90th percentile of the market capitalization of the stocks eligible to be included in the Morningstar US Market Index. Stocks are then designated as “core,” “growth” or “value” based on their style orientations. Stocks of companies with, for example, relatively higher average historical and forecasted earnings, sales, equity and cash flow growth would be designated as “growth” securities. Stocks of companies with, for example, relatively low valuations based on price-to-book ratios, price-to-earnings ratios and other factors, are designated as “value” securities. Stocks that are not designated as “growth” or “value” securities are designated as “core” securities.

Morningstar^® Mid Growth Index^SM

Number of Components: approximately 210

Index Description. The Morningstar^® Mid Growth Index^SM measures the performance of stocks issued by mid-capitalization companies that have exhibited above-average “growth” characteristics as determined by Morningstar’s proprietary index methodology. The Morningstar index methodology defines “mid-capitalization” stocks as those stocks that form the 20% of the market capitalization that falls between the 70th and 90th percentile of the market capitalization of the stocks eligible to be included in the Morningstar US Market Index. Stocks are then designated as “core,” “growth” or “value” based on their style orientations. The stocks included in the Index are designated as “growth” because they are issued by companies that typically have higher than average historical and forecasted earnings, sales, equity and cash flow growth.

Morningstar^® Mid Value Index^SM

Number of Components: approximately 190

Index Description. The Morningstar^® Mid Value Index^SM measures the performance of stocks issued by mid-capitalization companies that have exhibited “value” characteristics as determined by Morningstar’s proprietary index methodology. The Morningstar index methodology defines “mid-capitalization” stocks as those stocks that form the 20% of the market capitalization that falls between the 70th and 90th percentile of the market capitalization of the stocks eligible to be included in the Morningstar US Market Index. Stocks are then designated as “core,” “growth” or “value” based on their style orientations. The stocks included in the Index are designated as “value” because they are issued by companies that typically have relatively low valuations based on price-to-earnings, price-to-book value, price-to-sales, price-to-cash flow and dividend yields.

Morningstar^® Small Core Index^SM

Number of Components: approximately 248

Index Description. The Morningstar^® Small Core Index^SM measures the performance of stocks issued by small-capitalization companies that have exhibited average “growth” and “value” characteristics as determined by Morningstar’s proprietary index methodology. The Morningstar index methodology defines “small-capitalization” stocks as those stocks that form the lowest 7% of the market capitalization that falls between the 90th and 97th percentile of the market capitalization of the stocks eligible to be included in the Morningstar US Market Index. Stocks are then designated as “core,” “growth” or “value” based on their style orientations. Stocks of companies with, for example, relatively higher average historical and forecasted earnings, sales, equity and cash flow growth would be designated as “growth” securities. Stocks of companies with, for example, relatively low valuations based on price-to-book ratios, price-to-earnings ratios and other factors, are designated as “value” securities. Stocks that are not designated as “growth” or “value” securities are designated as “core” securities.

Morningstar^® Small Growth Index^SM

Number of Components: approximately 251

Index Description. The Morningstar^® Small Growth Index^SM measures the performance of stocks issued by small-capitalization companies that have exhibited above-average “growth” characteristics as determined by Morningstar’s proprietary index methodology. The Morningstar index methodology defines “small-capitalization” stocks as those stocks that form the lowest 7% of the market capitalization that falls between the 90th and 97th percentile of the market capitalization of the stocks eligible to be included in the Morningstar US Market Index. Stocks are then designated as “core,” “growth” or “value” based on their style orientations. The stocks included in the Index are designated as “growth” because they are issued by companies that typically have higher than average historical and forecasted earnings, sales, equity and cash flow growth.

Morningstar^® Small Value Index^SM

Number of Components: approximately 242

Index Description. The Morningstar^® Small Value Index^SM measures the performance of stocks issued by small-capitalization companies that have exhibited “value” characteristics as determined by Morningstar’s proprietary index methodology. The Morningstar index methodology defines “small capitalization” stocks as those stocks that form the lowest 7% of the market capitalization that falls between the 90th and 97th percentile of the market capitalization of the stocks eligible to be included in the Morningstar US Market Index. Stocks are then designated as “core,” “growth” or “value” based on their style orientations. The stocks included in the Index are designated as “value” because they are issued by companies that typically have relatively low valuations based on price-to-earnings, price-to-book value, price-to-sales, price-to-cash flow and dividend yields.

Morningstar^® US Dividend and Buyback Index^SM

Number of Components: approximately 378

Index Description. The Morningstar US Dividend and Buyback Index, the Underlying Index, is designed to provide exposure to U.S.-based companies that return capital to shareholders through either dividend payments or share buybacks. The Index consists of companies providing the largest dividend and buyback programs in the market by dollar value. In aggregate, index constituents represent 90% of the total shareholder capital distribution of the Morningstar US Market Index benchmark. The Underlying Index is a subset of the Morningstar US Market Index, which is a diversified broad market index that represents approximately 97% of the market capitalization of publicly-traded U.S. stocks.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index methodology is as follows:

(1) a security must be a member of the Morningstar US Market Index;

(2) security must pay a dividend or repurchase shares resulting in a net share reduction. Total shareholder yield must exceed 0.10%. Total shareholder yield is defined as the sum of trailing 12 month dividend yield and trailing 2 year buyback yield, annualized;

(3) rank by total shareholder payout dollars and select top 90% of total U.S. market shareholder payout dollars;

(4) weight by total shareholder payout dollars (sum of trailing 12 month dividend yield and trailing 2 year buyback yield, annualized, multiplied by float-adjusted market capitalization of company;

(5) apply 4.9% weight cap on individual names to maintain sufficient diversification. The weight capping algorithm will preserve, starting with the smallest security, the relative weights between as many constituents as possible while enforcing the weight cap; and

(6) the index is reconstituted annually and rebalanced quarterly; at rebalance, index constituent list is not altered, but the weights of the constituents are re-adjusted back to the dividend dollar weighting.

Morningstar^® US Dividend Growth Index^SM

Number of Components: approximately 455

Index Description. The Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index, the Underlying Index, is a dividend dollars weighted index that seeks to measure the performance of U.S. companies selected based on a consistent history of growing dividends. The Underlying Index is a subset of the Morningstar US Market Index, which is a diversified broad market index that represents approximately 97% of the market capitalization of publicly-traded U.S. stocks. Eligible companies must pay a qualified dividend, must have at least five years of uninterrupted annual dividend growth and their earnings payout ratio must be less than 75%. Companies that are in the top decile based on dividend yield are excluded from the Underlying Index prior to the dividend growth and payout ratio screens.

Index Methodology. The Underlying Index methodology is as follows:

(1) a security must be a member of the Morningstar US Market Index;

(2) security must pay a qualified dividend (e.g., REITs are excluded);

(3) top decile yield payers are excluded;

(4.1) apply dividend growth screen: must be currently paying dividends and have at least five years of uninterrupted annual dividend growth; dividend growth condition is considered met if either the current annualized dividend rate or the trailing twelve months aggregated dividend increased from the previous to the current reconstitution date;

(4.2) spinoff exception to growth rule: for a current constituent of the index, the requirement to raise dividend year-over-year to remain in the index after reconstitution will be waived if the constituent completed a spin-off in the preceding twelve months; any publicly trading spun-off entity of a current constituent will be immediately included in the index, but it will have to start increasing its dividend starting with the year following the next reconstitution to remain in the index. The current constituent will not require dividend growth in the spin-off year, where “year” means the twelve-month period between annual index reconstitutions;

(4.3) share repurchase exception to growth rule: for a current constituent of the index, the requirement to raise dividend year-over-year to remain in the index after reconstitution will be waived if the constituent kept the dividend constant and executed share repurchases in the preceding twelve months resulting in net decrease in its shares outstanding; this exception does not apply to constituents that decreased their dividend;

(5) apply growth sustainability screen: payout ratio must be less than 75%, and must have positive consensus earnings forecast. Payout ratio is forward looking and is calculated by the forward 12 month indicated dividend divided by the forward 12 month consensus earnings forecast;

(6) weight by dividend dollars (float adjusted common shares multiplied by the current annualized dividend rate per share);

(7) apply 3% weight cap on individual names to maintain sufficient diversification. The weight capping algorithm will preserve, starting with the smallest security, the relative weights between as many constituents as possible while enforcing the weight cap; and

(8) the index is reconstituted annually and rebalanced quarterly; at rebalance, index constituent list is not altered, but the weights of the constituents are re-adjusted back to the dividend dollar weighting.

The MSCI Indexes

The MSCI indexes were founded in 1969 by Capital International S.A. as the first international performance benchmarks constructed to facilitate accurate comparison of world markets. The MSCI single country standard equity indexes have covered the world's developed markets since 1969 and in 1987 MSCI commenced coverage of emerging markets.

Local stock exchanges traditionally calculated their own indexes which were generally not comparable with one another due to differences in the representation of the local market, mathematical formulas, base dates and methods of adjusting for capital changes. MSCI, however, applies the same calculation methodology to all markets for all single country standard equity indexes, both developed and emerging.

MSCI KLD 400 Social Index

Number of Components: 403

Component Selection Criteria and Index Description. The MSCI KLD 400 Social Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index designed to provide exposure to U.S. companies that have positive environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) characteristics. As of April 30, 2018, the Underlying Index consisted of 403 companies identified by MSCI from the universe of companies included in the MSCI USA IMI Index, which consists of the largest NYSE and NASDAQ listed U.S. equities ranked by investable market capitalization (after the application of any investability weightings). MSCI analyzes each eligible company’s ESG performance using proprietary ratings covering environmental, social, and governance criteria. MSCI seeks to include in the Underlying Index companies with high ESG ratings relative to their sector peers and in relation to the broader market.

When selecting companies for the Underlying Index, MSCI also considers market capitalization and liquidity. Companies that MSCI determines have significant involvement in the following businesses are not eligible for the Underlying Index: alcohol, tobacco, gambling, civilian firearms, nuclear power, controversial weapons, nuclear weapons, conventional weapons, adult entertainment and genetically modified organisms.

Index Maintenance. The composition of the Underlying Index is reviewed on a quarterly basis. Companies can be added to the Underlying Index only at regular index reviews. Current index constituents are reviewed to determine if any of them should be removed due to ESG performance. In addition, if a constituent is removed from the MSCI USA IMI Index as a result of the index review, it will be simultaneously removed from the Underlying Index. The deleted companies are replaced with eligible companies taking into account size-segment and sector representation. The Underlying Index will be restored to 400 companies at each index review.

Maintaining the Underlying Index includes monitoring and completing the adjustments for company additions and removals, stock splits, stock dividends, float changes and stock price adjustments due to restructurings, spin-offs and other corporate actions. New additions to the MSCI USA IMI Index due to corporate events will not be added simultaneously to the Underlying Index, but will be considered for inclusion at the following index review. However, companies deleted from the MSCI USA IMI Index between index reviews are also deleted at the same time from the Underlying Index.

When the number of securities in the Underlying Index falls below 400 due to corporate events, no additions will be made to restore the number of constituents to 400 until the next quarterly index review.

Index Availability. The Underlying Index is calculated continuously and is available from major data vendors.

Calculation Methodology. The Fund utilizes the Underlying Index calculated with gross dividends reinvested. The use of gross dividends reflects the assumed reinvestment of the entire dividend distributed to holders of the underlying stock, without any adjustment for taxes or withholding. The Index is rebalanced on a quarterly basis coinciding with the regular Index Review of the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes.

MSCI USA Extended ESG Select Index

Number of Components: approximately 101

Component Selection Criteria and Index Description. The Underlying Index is an optimized index designed to measure the equity performance of U.S. companies that have ESG characteristics, while exhibiting risk and return characteristics similar to the MSCI USA Index.

As of May 14, 2018, the Underlying Index consisted of 101 companies included in the MSCI USA Index. MSCI evaluates each eligible company’s ESG performance using standardized criteria and assigns an “overall rating” to each company. ESG scores are normalized and factored into the optimization process. Optimization is a quantitative process that considers the market capitalization weights from the MSCI USA Index, ESG scores, and additional optimization constraints to select and weigh the constituents in the Underlying Index. Normalization of the ESG scores allows the optimization to assess each score in the context of the overall distribution of the ESG scores.

The selection process is designed so that companies with relatively high overall ratings have a higher representation in the Underlying Index than in the MSCI USA Index. 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 those of the MSCI USA Index.

The Underlying Index constituents are selected from the MSCI USA Index, which is made up of securities of large-capitalization and mid-capitalization U.S. companies. Securities of companies that the Index Provider determines are involved in tobacco, companies involved with the production of controversial weapons, producers and retailers of civilian firearms, as well as major producers of alcohol, gambling, conventional weapons, nuclear weapons and nuclear power, are excluded from the Underlying Index. The Underlying Index generally follows the same index methodology as the MSCI USA ESG Select Index, the Fund’s former index, except that it applies an additional ineligibility criteria for retailers of civilian firearms. Companies with an ESG Controversies Score below 3 are not eligible for the Underlying Index. The universe of eligible companies are optimized using parameters for predicted tracking error (1.8%), maximum (5%) and minimum (0.1%) constituent weight, sector variation from the parent index (+/-3%), turnover and other factors. Since constituent selection and weights are determined using optimization, the Underlying Index is not capitalization weighted. At the Quarterly Index Reviews, companies with ESG Controversies Scores below 2 are removed. The Underlying Index is optimized on a quarterly basis coinciding with the regular Index Reviews of the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes. Changes are effective at the beginning of March, June, September and December.

Index Maintenance. The composition of the Underlying Index is reviewed on a quarterly basis. Companies can only be added to the Underlying Index at regular index reviews. Current index constituents are reviewed to determine if any of them should be removed using the optimization described above.

Maintaining the Underlying Index includes monitoring and completing the adjustments for company additions and removals, stock splits, stock dividends, float changes and stock price adjustments due to restructurings, spin-offs and other corporate actions. New additions to the MSCI USA Index due to corporate events are not added simultaneously to the Underlying Index, but are considered for inclusion at the following index review. Companies deleted from the MSCI USA Index between quarterly index reviews due to corporate events maintenance are simultaneously deleted from the Underlying Index.

Index Availability. The MSCI USA Extended ESG Select Index is calculated continuously and is available from major data vendors.

Calculation Methodology. The Fund utilizes the Underlying Index calculated with gross dividends reinvested. The use of gross dividends reflects the assumed reinvestment of the entire dividend distributed to holders of the underlying stock, without any adjustment for taxes or withholding. The Index is rebalanced on a quarterly basis coinciding with the regular Index Review of the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes.

Additional Information. “MSCI,” “MSCI KLD 400 Social Index” and “MSCI USA Extended ESG Select Index” are servicemarks of MSCI Inc. and have been licensed for use for certain purposes by BFA or its affiliates. The Funds are neither sponsored, endorsed, sold nor promoted by MSCI Inc., and MSCI Inc. makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in any of the Funds.

Investment Restrictions

The Board has adopted as fundamental policies the following numbered investment restrictions, which cannot be changed without the approval of the holders of a majority of the applicable Fund’s outstanding voting securities. A vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of a Fund is defined in the 1940 Act as the lesser of (i) 67% or more of the voting securities present at a shareholder meeting, if the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund are present or represented by proxy, or (ii) more than 50% of outstanding voting securities of the Fund. Each Fund has also

adopted certain non-fundamental investment policies, including its investment objective. Non-fundamental investment policies may be changed by the Board without shareholder approval. Therefore, each Fund may change its investment objective and its Underlying Index without shareholder approval.

Fundamental Investment Policies

Each Fund (other than the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF, iShares Core High Dividend ETF, iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF, iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF, iShares Global REIT ETF, iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF, iShares International Select Dividend ETF, iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF, iShares Select Dividend ETF and iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF) will not:

1.	Concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in the stocks of a particular industry or group of industries), except that each Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that its Underlying Index concentrates in the stocks of such particular industry or group of industries. 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.
2.	Borrow money, except that (i) each Fund may borrow from banks for temporary or emergency (not leveraging) purposes, including the meeting of redemption requests which might otherwise require the untimely disposition of securities, and (ii) each Fund may, to the extent consistent with its investment policies, enter into repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, forward roll transactions and similar investment strategies and techniques. To the extent that it engages in transactions described in (i) and (ii), each Fund will be limited so that no more than 33 1/3% of the value of its total assets (including the amount borrowed) is derived from such transactions. Any borrowings which come to exceed this amount will be reduced in accordance with applicable law.
3.	Issue any senior security, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as amended, and as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time.
4.	Make loans, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as amended, and as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time.
5.	Purchase or sell real estate, real estate mortgages, commodities or commodity contracts, but this restriction shall not prevent each Fund from trading in futures contracts and options on futures contracts (including options on currencies to the extent consistent with each Fund’s investment objective and policies).
6.	Engage in the business of underwriting securities issued by other persons, except to the extent that each Fund may technically be deemed to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act, in disposing of portfolio securities.

Each of the iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF and iShares Select Dividend ETF will not:

1.	Concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in the stocks of a particular industry or group of industries), except that each Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that its Underlying Index concentrates in the stocks of such particular industry or group of industries. 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.
2.	Borrow money, except that (i) each Fund may borrow from banks for temporary or emergency (not leveraging) purposes, including the meeting of redemption requests which might otherwise require the untimely disposition of securities, and (ii) each Fund may, to the extent consistent with its investment policies, enter into repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, forward roll transactions and similar investment strategies and techniques. To the extent that it engages in transactions described in (i) and (ii), each Fund will be limited so that no more than 33 1/3% of the value of its total assets (including the amount borrowed) is derived from such transactions. Any borrowings which come to exceed this amount will be reduced in accordance with applicable law.
3.	Issue “senior securities” as defined in the 1940 Act and the rules, regulations and orders thereunder, except as permitted under the 1940 Act and the rules, regulations and orders thereunder.
4.	Make loans. This restriction does not apply to: (i) the purchase of debt obligations in which each Fund may invest consistent with its investment objectives and policies; (ii) repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase agreements; and (iii) loans of its portfolio securities, to the fullest extent permitted under the 1940 Act.

5.	Purchase or sell real estate, real estate mortgages, commodities or commodity contracts, but this restriction shall not prevent each Fund from trading in futures contracts and options on futures contracts (including options on currencies to the extent consistent with each Fund’s investment objective and policies).
6.	Engage in the business of underwriting securities issued by other persons, except to the extent that each Fund may technically be deemed to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act in disposing of portfolio securities.

Each of the iShares Core High Dividend ETF, iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF, iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF, iShares International Select Dividend ETF and iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF will not:

1.	Concentrate its investments (i.e., invest 25% or more of its total assets in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries), except that each Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that its Underlying Index concentrates in the securities of such particular industry or group of industries. 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.
2.	Borrow money, except that (i) each Fund may borrow from banks for temporary or emergency (not leveraging) purposes, including the meeting of redemption requests which might otherwise require the untimely disposition of securities; and (ii) each Fund may, to the extent consistent with its investment policies, enter into repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, forward roll transactions and similar investment strategies and techniques. To the extent that it engages in transactions described in (i) and (ii), each Fund will be limited so that no more than 33 1/3% of the value of its total assets (including the amount borrowed) is derived from such transactions. Any borrowings which come to exceed this amount will be reduced in accordance with applicable law.
3.	Issue any senior security, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time.
4.	Make loans, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time.
5.	Purchase or sell real estate unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments (but this restriction shall not prevent each Fund from investing in securities of companies engaged in the real estate business or securities or other instruments backed by real estate or mortgages), or commodities or commodity contracts (but this restriction shall not prevent each Fund from trading in futures contracts and options on futures contracts, including options on currencies to the extent consistent with each Fund’s investment objective and policies).
6.	Engage in the business of underwriting securities issued by other persons, except to the extent that each Fund may technically be deemed to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act, in disposing of portfolio securities.

Each of the iShares Global REIT ETF and iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF will not:

1.	Concentrate its investments in a particular industry, as that term is used in the 1940 Act, except that the Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that its Underlying Index concentrates in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries.
2.	Borrow money, except as permitted under the 1940 Act.
3.	Issue senior securities to the extent such issuance would violate the 1940 Act.
4.	Purchase or hold real estate, except the Fund may purchase and hold securities or other instruments that are secured by, or linked to, real estate or interests therein, securities of REITs, mortgage-related securities and securities of issuers engaged in the real estate business, and the Fund may purchase and hold real estate as a result of the ownership of securities or other instruments.
5.	Underwrite securities issued by others, except to the extent that the sale of portfolio securities by the Fund may be deemed to be an underwriting or as otherwise permitted by applicable law.
6.	Purchase or sell commodities or commodity contracts, except as permitted by the 1940 Act.
7.	Make loans to the extent prohibited by the 1940 Act.

The iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF will not:

1.	Concentrate its investments in a particular industry, as that term is used in the 1940 Act, except that the Fund will

	concentrate to approximately the same extent that its Underlying Index concentrates in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries.
2.	Borrow money, except as permitted under the 1940 Act.
3.	Issue senior securities to the extent such issuance would violate the 1940 Act.
4.	Purchase or hold real estate, except the Fund may purchase and hold securities or other instruments that are secured by, or linked to, real estate or interests therein, securities of REITs, mortgage-related securities and securities of issuers engaged in the real estate business, and the Fund may purchase and hold real estate as a result of the ownership of securities or other instruments.
5.	Underwrite securities issued by others, except to the extent that the sale of portfolio securities by the Fund may be deemed to be an underwriting or as otherwise permitted by applicable law.
6.	Purchase or sell commodities or commodity contracts, except as permitted by the 1940 Act.
7.	Make loans to the extent prohibited by the 1940 Act.
8.	Make any investment inconsistent with the Fund's classification as a diversified company under the 1940 Act.

Notations Regarding each of the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF's, iShares Global REIT ETF's and iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF's Fundamental Investment Restrictions

The following notations are not considered to be part of the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF's, iShares Global REIT ETF's and iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF’s fundamental investment restrictions and are subject to change without shareholder approval.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to concentration set forth in (1) above, the Investment Company Act does not define what constitutes “concentration” in an industry. The SEC staff has taken the position that investment of 25% or more of a fund’s total assets in one or more issuers conducting their principal activities in the same industry or group of industries constitutes concentration. It is possible that interpretations of concentration could change in the future. The policy in (1) above will be interpreted to refer to concentration as that term may be interpreted from time to time. The policy also will be interpreted to permit investment without limit in the following: securities of the U.S. government and its agencies or instrumentalities; securities of state, territory, possession or municipal governments and their authorities, agencies, instrumentalities or political subdivisions; and repurchase agreements collateralized by any such obligations. Accordingly, issuers of the foregoing securities will not be considered to be members of any industry. There also will be no limit on investment in issuers domiciled in a single jurisdiction or country. Finance companies will be considered to be in the industries of their parents if their activities are primarily related to financing the activities of the parents. Each foreign government will be considered to be a member of a separate industry. With respect to the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF's, iShares Global REIT ETF's and iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF's industry classifications, the Fund currently utilizes any one or more of the industry sub-classifications used by one or more widely recognized market indexes or rating group indexes, and/or as defined by Fund management. The policy also will be interpreted to give broad authority to the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF, iShares Global REIT ETF and iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF as to how to classify issuers within or among industries.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to borrowing money set forth in (2) above, the Investment Company Act permits the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF, iShares Global REIT ETF and iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF to borrow money in amounts of up to one-third of the Fund’s total assets from banks for any purpose, and to borrow up to 5% of the Fund’s total assets from banks or other lenders for temporary purposes. (Each Fund’s total assets include the amounts being borrowed.) To limit the risks attendant to borrowing, the Investment Company Act requires the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF, iShares Global REIT ETF and iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF to maintain at all times an “asset coverage” of at least 300% of the amount of its borrowings. Asset coverage means the ratio that the value of the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF's, iShares Global REIT ETF's and iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF’s total assets (including amounts borrowed), minus liabilities other than borrowings, bears to the aggregate amount of all borrowings. Borrowing money to increase portfolio holdings is known as “leveraging.” Certain trading practices and investments, such as reverse repurchase agreements, may be considered to be borrowings or involve leverage and thus are subject to the Investment Company Act restrictions. In accordance with SEC staff guidance and interpretations, when the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF, iShares Global REIT ETF and iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF engage in such transactions, the Fund instead of maintaining asset coverage of at least 300%, may segregate or earmark liquid assets, or enter into an offsetting position, in an amount at least equal to the Fund’s exposure, on a mark-to-market basis, to the transaction (as calculated pursuant to requirements of

the SEC). The policy in (2) above will be interpreted to permit the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF, iShares Global REIT ETF and iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF to engage in trading practices and investments that may be considered to be borrowing or to involve leverage to the extent permitted by the Investment Company Act and to permit the Fund to segregate or earmark liquid assets or enter into offsetting positions in accordance with the Investment Company Act. Short-term credits necessary for the settlement of securities transactions and arrangements with respect to securities lending will not be considered to be borrowings under the policy. Practices and investments that may involve leverage but are not considered to be borrowings are not subject to the policy.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to underwriting set forth in (5) above, the Investment Company Act does not prohibit the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF, iShares Global REIT ETF and iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF from engaging in the underwriting business or from underwriting the securities of other issuers; in fact, in the case of diversified funds, the Investment Company Act permits the Fund to have underwriting commitments of up to 25% of its assets under certain circumstances. Those circumstances currently are that the amount of the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF's, iShares Global REIT ETF's and iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF’s underwriting commitments, when added to the value of the Fund’s investments in issuers where the Fund owns more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of those issuers, cannot exceed the 25% cap. A fund engaging in transactions involving the acquisition or disposition of portfolio securities may be considered to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act. Although it is not believed that the application of the 1933 Act provisions described above would cause the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF, iShares Global REIT ETF and iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF to be engaged in the business of underwriting, the policy in (5) above will be interpreted not to prevent the Fund from engaging in transactions involving the acquisition or disposition of portfolio securities, regardless of whether the Fund may be considered to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act or is otherwise engaged in the underwriting business to the extent permitted by applicable law.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to lending set forth in (7) above, the Investment Company Act does not prohibit the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF, iShares Global REIT ETF and iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF from making loans (including lending its securities); however, SEC staff interpretations currently prohibit funds from lending more than one-third of their total assets (including lending its securities), except through the purchase of debt obligations or the use of repurchase agreements. In addition, collateral arrangements with respect to options, forward currency and futures transactions and other derivative instruments (as applicable), as well as delays in the settlement of securities transactions, will not be considered loans.

Non-Fundamental Investment Policies

iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF, iShares Global REIT ETF and iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF

Each Fund has adopted a non-fundamental policy not to make short sales of securities or maintain a short position, except to the extent permitted by the Fund's Prospectus and SAI, as amended from time to time, and applicable law.

All Funds Other Than the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF, iShares Global REIT ETF and iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF

Each Fund has adopted a non-fundamental policy not to invest in the securities of a company for the purpose of exercising management or control, or purchase or otherwise acquire any illiquid security, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, which currently permits up to 15% of each Fund’s net assets to be invested in illiquid securities (calculated at the time of investment).

BFA monitors the liquidity of restricted securities in each Fund's portfolio. In reaching liquidity decisions, BFA considers the following factors:

•	The frequency of trades and quotes for the security;
•	The number of dealers wishing to purchase or sell the security and the number of other potential purchasers;

•	Dealer undertakings to make a market in the security; and
•	The nature of the security and the nature of the marketplace in which it trades (e.g., the time needed to dispose of the security, the method of soliciting offers and the mechanics of transfer).

If any percentage restriction described above is complied with at the time of an investment, a later increase or decrease in percentage resulting from a change in values of assets will not constitute a violation of such restriction, except that certain percentage limitations will be observed continuously in accordance with applicable law.

All Funds

Each Fund has adopted a non-fundamental investment policy in accordance with Rule 35d-1 under the 1940 Act to invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the value of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, for all Funds other than iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF, iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF, iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF, iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF, iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF, iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF, iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF, iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF and iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF (the “iShares Morningstar ETFs”) and iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF, in component securities of the Underlying Index or in depositary receipts representing component securities in the Underlying Index and for each of the iShares Morningstar ETFs and iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF, in component securities of its Underlying Index. Each Fund also has adopted a policy to provide its shareholders with at least 60 days’ prior written notice of any change in such policy. If, subsequent to an investment, the 80% requirement is no longer met, a Fund’s future investments will be made in a manner that will bring the Fund into compliance with this policy.

Each Fund has adopted a non-fundamental limitation such that, under normal market conditions, any borrowings by the Fund will not exceed 10% of the Fund's net assets.

Continuous Offering

Broker-dealer firms should also note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are effecting transactions in shares, whether or not participating in the distribution of shares, generally are required to deliver a prospectus. This is because the prospectus delivery exemption in Section 4(a)(3) of the 1933 Act is not available in respect of such transactions as a result of Section 24(d) of the 1940 Act. Firms that incur a prospectus delivery obligation with respect to shares of the Funds are reminded that, pursuant to Rule 153 under the 1933 Act, a prospectus delivery obligation under Section 5(b)(2) of the 1933 Act owed to an exchange member in connection with a sale on the Listing Exchange generally is satisfied by the fact that the prospectus is available at the Listing Exchange upon request. The prospectus delivery mechanism provided in Rule 153 is available only with respect to transactions on an exchange.

Management

The registered investment companies advised by BFA or its affiliates (the “BlackRock-advised Funds”) are organized into one complex of closed-end funds, two complexes of open-end funds and one complex of ETFs (“Exchange-Traded Fund Complex”) (each, a “BlackRock Fund Complex”). Each Fund is included in the BlackRock Fund Complex referred to as the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex. Each Trustee also serves as a Director of iShares, Inc. and a Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust and, as a result, oversees all of the funds within the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex, which consists of 342 funds as of August 31, 2018. Drew E. Lawton, from October 2016 to June 2017, and Richard L. Fagnani, from April 2017 to June 2017, served as members of the advisory board (“Advisory Board,” members of which are “Advisory Board Members”) for the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust with respect to all funds within the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex. With the exception of Robert S. Kapito, Mark K. Wiedman, Charles Park, Martin Small and Benjamin Archibald, the address of each Trustee and officer is c/o BlackRock, Inc., 400 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. The address of Mr. Kapito, Mr. Wiedman, Mr. Park, Mr. Small and Mr. Archibald is c/o BlackRock, Inc., Park Avenue Plaza, 55 East 52^nd Street, New York, NY 10055. The Board has designated Cecilia H. Herbert as its Independent Board Chair. Additional information about the Funds' Trustees and officers may be found in this SAI, which is available without charge, upon request, by calling toll-free 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737).

Interested Trustees

Name (Age)	Position	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years	Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Robert S. Kapito¹ (61)	Trustee (since 2009).	President, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2006); Vice Chairman of BlackRock, Inc. and Head of BlackRock’s Portfolio Management Group (since its formation in 1998) and BlackRock, Inc.’s predecessor entities (since 1988); Trustee, University of Pennsylvania (since 2009); President of Board of Directors, Hope & Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund (since 2002).	Director of BlackRock, Inc. (since 2006); Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2009); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).
Mark K. Wiedman² (47)	Trustee (since 2013).	Senior Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2014); Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2007-2014); Global Head of BlackRock’s ETF and Index Investments Business (since 2016); Global Head of iShares (2011-2016); Head of Corporate Strategy, BlackRock, Inc. (2009-2011).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2013); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2013); Director of PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (since 2008).

¹	Robert S. Kapito is deemed to be an “interested person” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust due to his affiliations with BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates.
²	Mark K. Wiedman is deemed to be an “interested person” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust due to his affiliations with BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates.

Independent Trustees

Name (Age)	Position	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years	Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Cecilia H. Herbert (69)	Trustee (since 2005); Independent Board Chair (since 2016).	Trustee and Member of the Finance, Technology and Quality Committee of Stanford Health Care (since 2016); Trustee and Member of the Investment Committee, WNET, a New York public media company (since 2011); Chair (1994-2005) and Member (since 1992) of the Investment Committee, Archdiocese of San Francisco; Director (1998-2013) and President (2007-2011) of the Board of Directors, Catholic Charities CYO; Trustee (2002-2011) and Chair of the Finance and Investment Committee (2006-2010) of the Thacher School.	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011); Independent Board Chair of iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2016); Trustee of Forward Funds (14 portfolios) (since 2009); Trustee of Salient MF Trust (4 portfolios) (since 2015).
Jane D. Carlin (62)	Trustee (since 2015); Risk Committee Chair (since 2016).	Consultant (since 2012); Managing Director and Global Head of Financial Holding Company Governance & Assurance and the Global Head of Operational Risk Management of Morgan Stanley (2006-2012).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2015); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2015); Director of PHH Corporation (mortgage solutions) (since 2012); Director of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (since 2016).
Richard L. Fagnani (63)	Trustee (since 2017); Equity Plus Committee Chair (since 2017).	Partner, KPMG LLP (2002-2016).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2017); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2017).
Charles A. Hurty (74)	Trustee (since 2005); Audit Committee Chair (since 2006).	Retired; Partner, KPMG LLP (1968-2001).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011); Director of SkyBridge Alternative Investments Multi-Adviser Hedge Fund Portfolios LLC (2 portfolios) (since 2002).
John E. Kerrigan (63)	Trustee (since 2005); Securities Lending Committee Chair (since 2016).	Chief Investment Officer, Santa Clara University (since 2002).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).
Drew E. Lawton (59)	Trustee (since 2017); 15(c) Committee Chair (since 2017).	Senior Managing Director of New York Life Insurance Company (2010-2015).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2017); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2017).
John E. Martinez (57)	Trustee (since 2003); Fixed Income Plus Committee Chair (since 2016).	Director of Real Estate Equity Exchange, Inc. (since 2005).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2003); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).

Name (Age)		Position		Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years		Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Madhav V. Rajan (54)		Trustee (since 2011); Nominating and Governance Committee Chair (since 2017).		Dean, and George Pratt Shultz Professor of Accounting, University of Chicago Booth School of Business (since 2017); Robert K. Jaedicke Professor of Accounting, Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2001-2017); Professor of Law (by courtesy), Stanford Law School (2005-2017); Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Head of MBA Program, Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2010-2016).		Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2011); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).

Officers

Name (Age)	Position	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years
Martin Small (43)	President (since 2016).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2010); Head of U.S. iShares (since 2015); Co-Head of the U.S. Financial Markets Advisory Group, BlackRock, Inc. (2008-2014).
Jack Gee (58)	Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer (since 2008).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009); Senior Director of Fund Administration of Intermediary Investor Business, BGI (2009).
Charles Park (51)	Chief Compliance Officer (since 2006).	Chief Compliance Officer of BlackRock Advisors, LLC and the BlackRock-advised Funds in the Equity-Bond Complex, the Equity-Liquidity Complex and the Closed-End Complex (since 2014); Chief Compliance Officer of BFA (since 2006).
Benjamin Archibald (43)	Secretary (since 2015).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2014); Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2010-2013); Secretary of the BlackRock-advised mutual funds (since 2012).
Steve Messinger (56)	Executive Vice President (since 2016).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2007-2014 and since 2016); Managing Director, Beacon Consulting Group (2014-2016).
Scott Radell (49)	Executive Vice President (since 2012).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009); Head of Portfolio Solutions, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009).

Name (Age)		Position		Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years
Alan Mason (57)		Executive Vice President (since 2016).		Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009).

The Board has concluded that, based on each Trustee’s experience, qualifications, attributes or skills on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other Trustees, each Trustee should serve as a Trustee of the Board. Among the attributes common to all Trustees are their ability to review critically, evaluate, question and discuss information provided to them, to interact effectively with the Funds' investment adviser, other service providers, counsel and the independent registered public accounting firm, and to exercise effective business judgment in the performance of their duties as Trustees. A Trustee’s ability to perform his or her duties effectively may have been attained through the Trustee’s educational background or professional training; business, consulting, public service or academic positions; experience from service as a Board member of the Funds and the other funds in the Trust (and any predecessor funds), other investment funds, public companies, or non-profit entities or other organizations; and/or other life experiences. Also, set forth below is a brief discussion of the specific experience, qualifications, attributes or skills of each Trustee that led the Board to conclude that he or she should serve (or continue to serve) as a Trustee.

Drew E. Lawton has been a Trustee of the Trust since 2017 and Chair of the 15(c) Committee of the Trust since 2017. Mr. Lawton served as an Advisory Board Member of the Trust from 2016 to 2017. Mr. Lawton has served as a Director of iShares, Inc. since 2017, Chair of the 15(c) Committee of iShares, Inc. since 2017, an Advisory Board Member of iShares, Inc. from 2016 to 2017, a Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2017, Chair of the 15(c) Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2017 and an Advisory Board Member of iShares U.S. ETF Trust from 2016 to 2017. Mr. Lawton served as Director of Principal Funds, Inc., Principal Variable Contracts Funds, Inc. and Principal Exchange-Traded Funds from March 2016 to October 2016. Mr. Lawton served in various capacities at New York Life Insurance Company from 2010 to 2015, most recently as a Senior Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of New York Life Investment Management. From 2008 to 2010, Mr. Lawton was the President of Fridson Investment Advisors, LLC. Mr. Lawton previously held multiple roles at Fidelity Investments from 1997 to 2008. Mr. Lawton has a BA degree in Administrative Science from Yale University and an MBA from University of North Texas.

Affairs and head of the MBA Program at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Mr. Rajan served as editor of “The Accounting Review” from 2002 to 2008 and is co-author of “Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis,” a leading cost accounting textbook. From 2013 to July 2018, Mr. Rajan served on the Board of Directors of Cavium Inc., a semiconductor company. Mr. Rajan holds MS and PhD degrees in Accounting from Carnegie Mellon University.

Board – Leadership Structure and Oversight Responsibilities

The members of the Securities Lending Committee are John E. Kerrigan (Chair), Jane D. Carlin, Richard L. Fagnani and Madhav V. Rajan, each of whom is an Independent Trustee. The principal responsibilities of the Securities Lending Committee are to support, oversee and organize on behalf of the Board the process for oversight of the Trust's securities lending activities. These responsibilities include: (i) requesting that certain information be provided to the Committee for its review and consideration prior to such information being provided to the Board; (ii) considering and discussing with BlackRock, Inc. such other matters and information as may be necessary and appropriate for the Board to oversee the Trust's securities lending activities and make required findings and approvals; and (iii) providing a recommendation to the Board regarding the annual approval of the Trust's Securities Lending Guidelines and the required findings with respect to, and annual approval of, the Trust's agreement with the securities lending agent. The Securities Lending Committee met four times during the fiscal year ended April 30, 2018.

The members of the Risk Committee are Jane D. Carlin (Chair), Charles A. Hurty, Drew E. Lawton and John E. Martinez, each of whom is an Independent Trustee. The principal responsibility of the Risk Committee is to consider and organize on behalf of the Board risk related matters of the Funds so the Board may most effectively structure itself to oversee them. The Risk Committee commenced on January 1, 2016. The Risk Committee met five times during the fiscal year ended April 30, 2018.

As the Chair of the Board, Cecilia H. Herbert may serve as an ex-officio member of each Committee.

Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in Named Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee in Family of Investment Companies
Robert S. Kapito	None	None	None

Mark K. Wiedman	iShares Core Aggressive Allocation ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares National Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares New York Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Short Maturity Municipal Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000

Cecilia H. Herbert	iShares California Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares China Large-Cap ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF	$50,001-$100,000

Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in Named Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee in Family of Investment Companies
	iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares International Select Dividend ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares MSCI Japan ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares National Muni Bond ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Preferred Stock ETF	$10,001-$50,000

Jane D. Carlin	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Europe ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Global Tech ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares MSCI ACWI ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Small-Cap ETF	$10,001-$50,000

Richard L. Fagnani	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Global Financials ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares iBonds Dec 2022 Term Corporate ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares MSCI Japan ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF	$10,001-$50,000

Charles A. Hurty	iShares China Large-Cap ETF	$10,001-$50,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	Over $100,000

Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in Named Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee in Family of Investment Companies
	iShares Core Growth Allocation ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core Moderate Allocation ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Global Energy ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Global Healthcare ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Global Tech ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Energy ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Financials ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares U.S. Technology ETF	Over $100,000

John E. Kerrigan	iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000

Drew E. Lawton	iShares 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Exponential Technologies ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI Frontier 100 ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF	$10,001-$50,000

John E. Martinez	iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	Over $100,000

Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in Named Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee in Family of Investment Companies
	iShares Global Consumer Staples ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares National Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 1000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF	$1-$10,000

Madhav V. Rajan	iShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Select Dividend ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares U.S. Preferred Stock ETF	Over $100,000

The table below sets forth the compensation earned by each Independent Trustee and Interested Trustee for services to each Fund for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2018 and the aggregate compensation paid to them for services to the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex for the calendar year ended December 31, 2017.

Name	iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF
Independent Trustees:

Jane D. Carlin	$646	$ 873	$ 1,564	$119
Richard L. Fagnani¹	639	862	1,545	117
Cecilia H. Herbert	711	960	1,720	131
Charles A. Hurty	674	910	1,631	124
John E. Kerrigan	646	873	1,564	119
Drew E. Lawton²	639	862	1,545	117
John E. Martinez	646	873	1,564	119
Madhav V. Rajan	654	883	1,582	120

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0

Name	iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF	iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF	iShares Global REIT ETF	iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF
Independent Trustees:

Jane D. Carlin	$294	$ 11	$238	$140
Richard L. Fagnani¹	290	11	236	138
Cecilia H. Herbert	323	13	262	154
Charles A. Hurty	307	12	249	146
John E. Kerrigan	294	11	238	140
Drew E. Lawton²	290	11	236	138
John E. Martinez	294	11	238	140
Madhav V. Rajan	297	12	241	141

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0

Name	iShares International Select Dividend ETF	iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF	iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF	iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF
Independent Trustees:

Jane D Carlin	$ 1,273	$ 247	$ 243	$98
Richard L. Fagnani¹	1,258	244	240	96
Cecilia H. Herbert	1,401	271	268	107
Charles A. Hurty	1,328	257	254	102
John E. Kerrigan	1,273	247	243	98
Drew E. Lawton²	1,258	244	240	96
John E. Martinez	1,273	247	243	98
Madhav V. Rajan	1,288	249	246	99

Interested Trustees:

Name	iShares International Select Dividend ETF	iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF	iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF	iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF
Robert S. Kapito	$0	$0	$0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0

Name	iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF	iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF	iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF	iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF
Independent Trustees:

Jane D. Carlin	$ 195	$68	$ 109	$64
Richard L. Fagnani¹	193	67	108	64
Cecilia H. Herbert	215	74	120	71
Charles A. Hurty	204	71	114	67
John E. Kerrigan	195	68	109	64
Drew E. Lawton²	193	67	108	64
John E. Martinez	195	68	109	64
Madhav V. Rajan	198	68	110	65

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0

Name	iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF	iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF	iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF	iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF
Independent Trustees:

Jane D. Carlin	$ 43	$ 117	$ 270	$178
Richard L. Fagnani¹	42	115	267	176
Cecilia H. Herbert	47	128	297	196
Charles A. Hurty	45	122	282	186
John E. Kerrigan	43	117	270	178
Drew E. Lawton²	42	115	267	176
John E. Martinez	43	117	270	178
Madhav V. Rajan	44	118	273	180

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0

Name	iShares Select Dividend ETF	iShares Transportation Average ETF	iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF	iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF
Independent Trustees:

Jane D. Carlin	$4,360	$ 211	$ 165	$113
Richard L. Fagnani¹	4,308	208	163	112
Cecilia H. Herbert	4,796	232	182	124
Charles A. Hurty	4,547	220	172	118
John E. Kerrigan	4,360	211	165	113
Drew E. Lawton²	4,308	208	163	112

Name	iShares Select Dividend ETF	iShares Transportation Average ETF	iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF	iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF
John E. Martinez	4,360	211	165	113
Madhav V. Rajan	4,412	213	167	114

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0

Name	iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF	iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF³	iShares U.S. Energy ETF	iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF
Independent Trustees:

Jane D. Carlin	$ 194	$2	$284	$429
Richard L. Fagnani¹	191	2	281	424
Cecilia H. Herbert	213	2	313	472
Charles A. Hurty	202	2	296	447
John E. Kerrigan	194	2	284	429
Drew E. Lawton²	191	2	281	424
John E. Martinez	194	2	284	429
Madhav V. Rajan	196	2	288	434

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$ 0	$0	$ 0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0

Name	iShares U.S. Financials ETF	iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF	iShares U.S. Industrials ETF	iShares U.S. Technology ETF
Independent Trustees:

Jane D. Carlin	$ 599	$ 470	$ 270	$1,052
Richard L. Fagnani¹	592	464	267	1,040
Cecilia H. Herbert	659	517	297	1,158
Charles A. Hurty	625	490	281	1,097
John E. Kerrigan	599	470	270	1,052
Drew E. Lawton²	592	464	267	1,040
John E. Martinez	599	470	270	1,052
Madhav V. Rajan	606	476	273	1,065


Interested Trustees:
Robert S. Kapito	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0

Name		iShares U.S. Utilities ETF
Independent Trustees:

Jane D. Carlin		$158

Name		iShares U.S. Utilities ETF
Richard L. Fagnani¹		156
Cecilia H. Herbert		174
Charles A. Hurty		165
John E. Kerrigan		158
Drew E. Lawton²		156
John E. Martinez		158
Madhav V. Rajan		160


Interested Trustees:
Robert S. Kapito		$0
Mark K. Wiedman		0

Name	Pension or Retirement Benefits Accrued As Part of Trust Expenses⁴	Estimated Annual Benefits Upon Retirement⁴	Total Compensation From the Funds and Fund Complex⁵
Independent Trustees:

Jane D. Carlin	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	$361,764
Richard L. Fagnani	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	256,250 ⁶
Cecilia H. Herbert	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	375,000
Charles A. Hurty	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	376,764
John E. Kerrigan	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	350,000
Drew E. Lawton	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	337,500 ⁷
John E. Martinez	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	350,000
Madhav V. Rajan	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	362,500

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	0

¹	Compensation from each Fund is shown for Richard L. Fagnani for his services as an Advisory Board Member for the period from May 1, 2017 to June 18, 2017, and for his services as an Independent Trustee for the period from June 19, 2017 (date of his election to the Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to April 30, 2018.
²	Compensation from each Fund is shown for Drew E. Lawton for his services as an Advisory Board Member for the period from May 1, 2017 to June 18, 2017, and for his services as an Independent Trustee for the period from June 19, 2017 (date of his election to the Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to April 30, 2018.
³	Compensation is reported from the Fund’s inception to April 30, 2018.
⁴	No Trustee or officer is entitled to any pension or retirement benefits from the Trust.
⁵	Also includes compensation for service on the Board of Trustees or the Advisory Board of iShares U.S. ETF Trust and the Board of Directors or the Advisory Board of iShares, Inc.
⁶	Total compensation is shown for Richard L. Fagnani for his services as an Advisory Board Member for the period from April 1, 2017 (date of his appointment to the Advisory Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to June 18, 2017, and for his services as an Independent Trustee for the period from June 19, 2017 (date of his election to the Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to December 31, 2017.
⁷	Total compensation is shown for Drew E. Lawton for his services as an Advisory Board Member for the period from January 1, 2017 to June 18, 2017, and for his services as an Independent Trustee for the period from June 19, 2017 (date of his election to the Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to December 31, 2017.

Control Persons and Principal Holders of Securities.

The Trustees and officers of the Trust collectively owned less than 1% of each Fund's outstanding shares as of July 31, 2018.

Although the Trust does not have information concerning the beneficial ownership of shares held in the names of Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) participants (as defined below), as of July 31, 2018, the name and percentage ownership of each DTC participant that owned of record 5% or more of the outstanding shares of a Fund were as follows:

Fund	Name	Percentage of Ownership
iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF	State Street Bank and Trust Company 1776 Heritage Drive North Quincy, MA 02171	21.00%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	13.18%
	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	9.65%
	TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. 4700 Alliance Gateway Freeway Fort Worth, TX 76177	5.30%

iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	24.70%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	12.12%
	JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association 500 Stanton Christiana Road Newark, DE 19713	9.20%
	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC One New York Plaza New York, NY 10004	5.81%

iShares Core High Dividend ETF	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	22.49%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	9.50%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	9.16%
	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC One New York Plaza New York, NY 10004	6.73%
	Ameriprise Enterprise Investment Services, Inc. 901 3^rd Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55474	5.49%

Fund	Name	Percentage of Ownership
iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF	TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. 4700 Alliance Gateway Freeway Fort Worth, TX 76177	29.15%
	The Bank of New York Mellon 111 Sanders Creek Parkway 2^nd Floor East Syracuse, NY 13057	14.98%
	State Street Bank and Trust Company 1776 Heritage Drive North Quincy, MA 02171	9.92%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	7.95%
	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	7.26%
	Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. 525 Washington Blvd. 11^th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07310	5.08%

iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	19.39%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	14.55%
	TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. 4700 Alliance Gateway Freeway Fort Worth, TX 76177	9.65%
	Pershing LLC One Pershing Plaza Jersey City, NJ 07399	7.09%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	7.08%
	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC One New York Plaza New York, NY 10004	5.62%
	Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC 2801 Market Street St Louis, MO 63103	5.45%

iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	21.97%
	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	17.82%

Fund	Name	Percentage of Ownership
	Ameriprise Enterprise Investment Services, Inc. 901 3^rd Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55474	9.34%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	8.43%
	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC One New York Plaza New York, NY 10004	7.63%
	Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC 2801 Market Street St Louis, MO 63103	6.91%
	UBS Financial Services Inc. 1000 Harbor Blvd. Weehawken, NJ 07086	5.68%

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	17.11%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	14.90%
	Ameriprise Enterprise Investment Services, Inc. 901 3^rd Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55474	10.67%
	TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. 4700 Alliance Gateway Freeway Fort Worth, TX 76177	8.24%
	Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC 2801 Market Street St Louis, MO 63103	6.44%
	LPL Financial Corporation 9785 Towne Centre Drive San Diego, CA 92121-1968	5.81%
	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC One New York Plaza New York, NY 10004	5.64%

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	15.05%
	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC One New York Plaza New York, NY 10004	11.18%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	11.01%
	JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association 500 Stanton Christiana Road Newark, DE 19713	10.43%

Fund	Name	Percentage of Ownership
	Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC 2801 Market Street St Louis, MO 63103	9.17%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	7.62%
	Pershing LLC One Pershing Plaza Jersey City, NJ 07399	6.91%
	TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. 4700 Alliance Gateway Freeway Fort Worth, TX 76177	6.46%
	Ameriprise Enterprise Investment Services, Inc. 901 3^rd Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55474	5.45%

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF	JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association 500 Stanton Christiana Road Newark, DE 19713	11.61%
	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC One New York Plaza New York, NY 10004	11.35%
	Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC 2801 Market Street St Louis, MO 63103	10.92%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	10.45%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	9.31%
	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	8.82%
	RBC Capital Markets, LLC 3 World Financial Center 200 Vesey Street New York, NY 10281-8098	5.26%

iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	16.74%
	Ameriprise Enterprise Investment Services, Inc. 901 3^rd Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55474	11.88%

Fund	Name	Percentage of Ownership
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC One New York Plaza New York, NY 10004	22.75%
	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	15.42%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	9.93%
	Ameriprise Enterprise Investment Services, Inc. 901 3^rd Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55474	8.97%
	TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. 4700 Alliance Gateway Freeway Fort Worth, TX 76177	7.00%
	Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC 2801 Market Street St Louis, MO 63103	6.73%

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC One New York Plaza New York, NY 10004	14.32%
	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	12.48%
	Ameriprise Enterprise Investment Services, Inc. 901 3^rd Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55474	11.57%
	Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC 2801 Market Street St Louis, MO 63103	11.21%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	10.86%
	Pershing LLC One Pershing Plaza Jersey City, NJ 07399	7.45%
	LPL Financial Corporation 9785 Towne Centre Drive San Diego, CA 92121-1968	6.21%
	UBS Financial Services Inc. 1000 Harbor Blvd. Weehawken, NJ 07086	5.84%
	TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. 4700 Alliance Gateway Freeway Fort Worth, TX 76177	5.36%

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF	Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC 2801 Market Street St Louis, MO 63103	14.69%

Fund	Name	Percentage of Ownership
iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	12.65%
	JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association 500 Stanton Christiana Road Newark, DE 19713	10.83%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	10.57%
	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC One New York Plaza New York, NY 10004	7.85%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	6.09%

iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	11.84%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	11.68%
	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC One New York Plaza New York, NY 10004	9.33%
	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	7.85%

iShares Select Dividend ETF	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	15.86%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	10.61%
	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC One New York Plaza New York, NY 10004	8.37%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	7.46%
	Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC 2801 Market Street St Louis, MO 63103	5.27%

Fund	Name	Percentage of Ownership
iShares Transportation Average ETF	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	11.29%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	11.02%
	Citibank, N.A. 3800 CitiBank Center Tampa Building B/1st Floor Zone 8 Tampa, FL 33610-9122	10.46%
	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC One New York Plaza New York, NY 10004	7.12%
	TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. 4700 Alliance Gateway Freeway Fort Worth, TX 76177	5.63%
	Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC 2801 Market Street St Louis, MO 63103	5.59%

iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	10.48%
	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	10.31%
	Commerce Bank, N.A. P.O. Box 13366 Kansas City, MO 64199	10.25%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	7.17%
	JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association 500 Stanton Christiana Road Newark, DE 19713	7.16%
	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC One New York Plaza New York, NY 10004	6.40%
	Pershing LLC One Pershing Plaza Jersey City, NJ 07399	5.66%

iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC One New York Plaza New York, NY 10004	11.41%
	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	9.85%

Fund	Name	Percentage of Ownership
	HSBC Bank USA, NA/Clearing 452 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10018	9.67%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	9.33%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	8.64%
	UBS Financial Services Inc. 1000 Harbor Blvd. Weehawken, NJ 07086	5.89%

iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC One New York Plaza New York, NY 10004	12.50%
	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	11.24%
	TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. 4700 Alliance Gateway Freeway Fort Worth, TX 76177	9.50%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	7.73%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	7.28%
	The Bank of New York Mellon 111 Sanders Creek Parkway 2^nd Floor East Syracuse, NY 13057	5.97%
	Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC 2801 Market Street St Louis, MO 63103	5.84%

iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	22.91%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	15.52%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated 101 Hudson Street 9^th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	15.07%

Fund	Name	Percentage of Ownership
iShares U.S. Utilities ETF	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 101 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94014	19.70%
	National Financial Services LLC 499 Washington Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07310	17.62%
	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC One New York Plaza New York, NY 10004	7.79%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	7.49%
	Pershing LLC One Pershing Plaza Jersey City, NJ 07399	5.68%
	TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. 4700 Alliance Gateway Freeway Fort Worth, TX 76177	5.08%
	Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC 2801 Market Street St Louis, MO 63103	5.00%

BlackRock is one of the world's largest asset management firms. PNC is a diversified financial services organization spanning the retail, business and corporate markets. BlackRock, PNC and their respective affiliates (including, for these purposes, their directors, partners, trustees, managing members, officers and employees), including the entities and personnel who may be involved in the investment activities and business operations of a Fund, are engaged worldwide in businesses, including managing equities, fixed-income securities, cash and alternative investments, and banking and other financial services, and have interests other than that of managing a Fund. These are considerations of which investors in a Fund should be aware, and which may cause conflicts of interest that could disadvantage a Fund and its shareholders. These businesses and interests include potential multiple advisory, transactional, financial and other relationships with, or interests in, companies and interests in securities or other instruments that may be purchased or sold by a Fund.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates have proprietary interests in, and may manage or advise with respect to, accounts or funds (including separate accounts and other funds and collective investment vehicles) that have investment objectives similar to those of a Fund and/or that engage in transactions in the same types of securities, currencies and instruments as a Fund. One or more Affiliates are also major participants in the global currency, equities, swap and fixed-income markets, in each case, for the accounts of customers and, in some cases, on a proprietary basis. As such, one or more Affiliates are or may be actively engaged in transactions in the same securities, currencies, and instruments in which a Fund invests. Such activities could affect the prices and availability of the securities, currencies, and instruments in which a Fund invests, which could have an adverse impact on a Fund's performance. Such transactions, particularly in respect of most proprietary accounts or client accounts, will be executed independently of a Fund's transactions and thus at prices or rates that may be more or less favorable than those obtained by a Fund.

transactions on behalf of a Fund in accordance with such analysis and models. In addition, neither BlackRock nor any of the other Affiliates will have any obligation to make available any information regarding their proprietary activities or strategies, or the activities or strategies used for other accounts managed by them, for the benefit of the management of a Fund and it is not anticipated that BlackRock will have access to such information for the purpose of managing the Fund. The proprietary activities or portfolio strategies of BlackRock and the other Affiliates, or the activities or strategies used for accounts managed by them or other customer accounts could conflict with the transactions and strategies employed by BlackRock in managing a Fund.

BlackRock may enter into transactions and invest in securities, instruments and currencies on behalf of a Fund in which clients of BlackRock or the other Affiliates, or, to the extent permitted by the SEC and applicable law, BlackRock or another Affiliate, serves as the counterparty, principal or issuer. In such cases, such party's interests in the transaction will be adverse to the interests of the Fund, and such party may have no incentive to assure that the Fund obtains the best possible prices or terms in connection with the transactions. In addition, the purchase, holding and sale of such investments by a Fund may enhance the profitability of BlackRock or the other Affiliates. One or more Affiliates may also create, write or issue derivatives for their clients, the underlying securities, currencies or instruments of which may be those in which a Fund invests or which may be based on the performance of the Fund. A Fund may, subject to applicable law, purchase investments that are the subject of an underwriting or other distribution by one or more Affiliates and may also enter into transactions with other clients of an Affiliate where such other clients have interests adverse to those of the Fund.

At times, these activities may cause departments of BlackRock or the other Affiliates to give advice to clients that may cause these clients to take actions adverse to the interests of a Fund. To the extent affiliated transactions are permitted, a Fund will deal with BlackRock and the other Affiliates (except with respect to BFA or affiliated sub-advisers of a Fund, as applicable) on an arms-length basis.

Subject to applicable law, the Affiliates (and their personnel and other distributors) will be entitled to retain fees and other amounts that they receive in connection with their service to the Funds as broker, dealer, agent, lender, adviser or in other commercial capacities. No accounting to a Fund or its shareholders will be required, and no fees or other compensation payable by a Fund or its shareholders will be reduced by reason of receipt by an Affiliate of any such fees or other amounts.

clients that would provide more revenue to BlackRock. As described further below, BlackRock seeks to mitigate this conflict by providing its securities lending clients with equal lending opportunities over time in order to approximate pro-rata allocation.

Prevailing trading activity frequently may make impossible the receipt of the same price or execution on the entire volume of securities purchased or sold. When this occurs, the various prices may be averaged, and the Funds will be charged or credited with the average price. Thus, the effect of the aggregation may operate on some occasions to the disadvantage of the Funds. In addition, under certain circumstances, the Funds will not be charged the same commission or commission equivalent rates in connection with a bunched or aggregated order.

BlackRock may select brokers (including, without limitation, Affiliates, to the extent permitted by applicable law) that furnish BlackRock, the Funds, other BlackRock client accounts or other Affiliates or personnel, directly or through correspondent relationships, with research or other appropriate services which provide, in BlackRock's view, appropriate assistance to BlackRock in the investment decision-making process (including with respect to futures, fixed-price offerings and OTC transactions). Such research or other services may include, to the extent permitted by law, research reports on companies, industries and securities; economic and financial data; financial publications; proxy analysis; trade industry seminars; computer data bases; research-oriented software and other services and products. Research or other services obtained in this manner may be used in servicing other BlackRock client accounts, including in connection with BlackRock client accounts other than those that pay commissions to the broker relating to the research or other service arrangements. Such products and services may disproportionately benefit other BlackRock client accounts relative to the Funds based on the amount of brokerage commissions paid by the Funds and such other BlackRock client accounts. For example, research or other services that are paid for through one client's commissions may not be used in managing that client's account. In addition, other BlackRock client accounts may receive the benefit, including disproportionate benefits, of economies of scale or price discounts in connection with products and services that may be provided to the Funds and to such other BlackRock client accounts. To the extent that BlackRock uses soft dollars, it will not have to pay for those products and services itself.

BlackRock has adopted policies and procedures designed to prevent conflicts of interest from influencing proxy voting decisions that it makes on behalf of advisory clients, including the Funds, and to help ensure that such decisions are made in accordance with BlackRock's fiduciary obligations to its clients. Nevertheless, notwithstanding such proxy voting policies and procedures, actual proxy voting decisions of BlackRock may have the effect of favoring the interests of other clients or businesses of other divisions or units of BlackRock and/or the other Affiliates, provided that BlackRock believes such voting decisions to be in accordance with its fiduciary obligations. For a more detailed discussion of these policies and procedures, see the Proxy Voting Policy section of this SAI.

that entity for a Fund. As indicated below, BlackRock or the other Affiliates may engage in transactions with companies in which BlackRock-advised funds or other clients of BlackRock or of an Affiliate have an investment.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates may provide valuation assistance to certain clients with respect to certain securities or other investments and the valuation recommendations made for their clients' accounts may differ from the valuations for the same securities or investments assigned by a Fund's pricing vendors, especially if such valuations are based on broker-dealer quotes or other data sources unavailable to the Fund's pricing vendors. While BlackRock will generally communicate its valuation information or determinations to a Fund's pricing vendors and/or fund accountants, there may be instances where the Fund's pricing vendors or fund accountants assign a different valuation to a security or other investment than the valuation for such security or investment determined or recommended by BlackRock.

effect of diluting or increasing the economic interest of existing shareholders and may affect the amount of revenue received by BlackRock with respect to services for which it receives an asset-based fee.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates and their directors, officers and employees, may buy and sell securities or other investments for their own accounts and may have conflicts of interest with respect to investments made on behalf of a Fund. As a result of differing trading and investment strategies or constraints, positions may be taken by directors, officers, employees and Affiliates that are the same, different from or made at different times than positions taken for the Fund. To lessen the possibility that a Fund will be adversely affected by this personal trading, each Fund, BFA and BlackRock, Inc. have each adopted a code of ethics in compliance with Section 17(j) of the 1940 Act that restricts securities trading in the personal accounts of investment professionals and others who normally come into possession of information regarding a Fund's portfolio transactions. Each code of ethics is available by contacting BlackRock or by accessing the EDGAR Database on the SEC's Internet site at http://www.sec.gov, and copies may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by e-mail at publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the SEC's Public Reference Room, Washington, DC 20549-1520. Information about accessing documents on the SEC’s website may be obtained by calling the SEC at (800) SEC-0330.

a result, BlackRock, on behalf of clients (including the Funds), may limit purchases, sell existing investments, or otherwise restrict, forgo or limit the exercise of rights (including transferring, outsourcing or limiting voting rights or forgoing the right to receive dividends) when BlackRock, in its sole discretion, deems it appropriate in light of potential regulatory or other restrictions on ownership or other consequences resulting from reaching investment thresholds.

In those circumstances where ownership thresholds or limitations must be observed, BlackRock seeks to allocate limited investment opportunities equitably among clients (including the Funds), taking into consideration benchmark weight and investment strategy. BlackRock has adopted certain controls designed to prevent the occurrence of a breach of any applicable ownership threshold or limits, including, for example, when ownership in certain securities nears an applicable threshold, BlackRock may remove such securities from the list of Deposit Securities to be delivered to the Fund in connection with purchases of Creation Units of such Fund and may limit purchases in such securities to the issuer's weighting in the applicable benchmark used by BlackRock to manage such Fund. If client (including Fund) holdings of an issuer exceed an applicable threshold and BlackRock is unable to obtain relief to enable the continued holding of such investments, it may be necessary to sell down these positions to meet the applicable limitations. In these cases, benchmark overweight positions will be sold prior to benchmark positions being reduced to meet applicable limitations.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates may not serve as Authorized Participants in the creation and redemption of iShares ETFs, but may serve as authorized participants of third-party ETFs.

BlackRock or the other Affiliates own or have an ownership interest in certain trading, portfolio management, operations and/or information systems used by Fund service providers. These systems are, or will be, used by a Fund service provider in connection with the provision of services to accounts managed by BlackRock and funds managed and sponsored by BlackRock, including the Funds, that engage the service provider (typically the custodian). A Fund’s service provider remunerates BlackRock or the other Affiliates for the use of the systems. A Fund service provider’s payments to BlackRock or the other Affiliates for the use of these systems may enhance the profitability of BlackRock and the other Affiliates. BlackRock’s or the other Affiliates’ receipt of fees from a service provider in connection with the use of systems provided by BlackRock or the other Affiliates may create an incentive for BlackRock to recommend that a Fund enter into or renew an arrangement with the service provider.

Present and future activities of BlackRock and the other Affiliates, including BFA, in addition to those described in this section, may give rise to additional conflicts of interest.

Investment Advisory, Administrative and Distribution Services

Pursuant to the investment advisory agreement, BFA may, from time to time, in its sole discretion and to the extent permitted by applicable law, appoint one or more sub-advisers, including, without limitation, affiliates of BFA, to perform investment advisory or other services with respect to a Fund. In addition, BFA may delegate certain of its investment advisory functions under the investment advisory agreement to one or more of its affiliates to the extent permitted by applicable law. BFA may terminate any or all sub-advisers or such delegation arrangements in its sole discretion upon appropriate notice at any time to the extent permitted by applicable law.

The following describes the calculation of the management fee for each Fund whose management fee is subject to breakpoints. The management fee for all Funds is set forth in the table that follows the description of breakpoints.

Effective June 29, 2018, for its investment advisory services to the iShares International Select Dividend ETF, BFA is paid a management fee from the Fund calculated based on the aggregate average daily net assets of the following iShares funds: iShares Europe ETF, iShares International Select Dividend ETF and iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap ETF. The management fee for the Fund equals the ratio of the Fund’s net assets over the aggregate net assets of the above iShares funds multiplied by the amount calculated as follows: 0.5000% per annum of the aggregate net assets less than or equal to $12 billion, plus 0.4750% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $12 billion, up to and including $18 billion, plus 0.4513% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $18 billion, up to and including $24 billion, plus 0.4287% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $24 billion, up to and including $30 billion, plus 0.4073% per annum of the aggregate net assets in excess of $30 billion.

For its investment advisory services to iShares Transportation Average ETF, iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF, iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF, iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF, iShares U.S. Energy ETF, iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF, iShares U.S. Financials ETF, iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF, iShares U.S. Industrials ETF, iShares U.S. Technology ETF and iShares U.S. Utilities ETF, BFA is paid a management fee from such Funds corresponding to each Fund’s allocable portion of an aggregate management fee calculated based on the aggregate average daily net assets of the following iShares Funds: iShares Transportation Average ETF, iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF, iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF, iShares U.S. Broker-Dealers & Securities Exchanges ETF, iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF, iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF, iShares U.S. Energy ETF, iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF, iShares U.S. Financials ETF, iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF, iShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETF, iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF, iShares U.S. Industrials ETF, iShares U.S. Insurance ETF, iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF, iShares U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF, iShares U.S. Oil Equipment & Services ETF, iShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals ETF, iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF, iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF, iShares U.S. Technology ETF, iShares U.S. Telecommunications ETF and iShares U.S. Utilities ETF. The aggregate management fee is calculated as follows: 0.48% per annum of the aggregate net assets less than or equal to $10.0 billion, plus 0.43% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $10.0 billion, up to and including $20.0 billion, plus 0.38% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $20.0 billion, up to and including $30.0 billion, plus 0.34% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $30.0 billion, up to and including $40.0 billion, plus 0.33% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $40.0 billion, up to and including $50.0 billion, plus 0.31% per annum of the aggregate net assets in excess of $50.0 billion.

For its investment advisory services to the iShares Select Dividend ETF, BFA is paid a management fee from the iShares Select Dividend ETF calculated based on the aggregate average daily net assets of the following iShares funds: iShares Latin America 40 ETF, iShares MSCI Pacific ex Japan ETF, iShares Russell 2000 ETF, iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF, iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF, iShares Select Dividend ETF and iShares U.S. Preferred Stock ETF. The management fee for the iShares Select Dividend ETF equals the ratio of the Fund's net assets over the aggregate net assets of the above iShares funds multiplied by the amount calculated as follows: 0.4000% per annum of the aggregate net assets less than or equal to $46 billion, plus 0.3800% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $46 billion, up to and including $81 billion, plus 0.3610% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $81 billion, up to and including $111 billion, plus 0.3430% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $111 billion, up to and including $141 billion, plus 0.3259% per annum of the aggregate net assets in excess of $141 billion.

Effective June 26, 2018, for its investment advisory services to the iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF, BFA is paid a management fee from the Fund calculated based on the aggregate average daily net assets of the following iShares funds: iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF, iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF, iShares MBS ETF, iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF, iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF, iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF, iShares Russell Mid-Cap ETF, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF, iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF, iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF and iShares TIPS Bond ETF. The management fee for the iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF equals the ratio of the Fund’s net assets over the aggregate net assets of the above iShares funds multiplied by the amount calculated as follows: 0.3500% per annum of the aggregate net assets less than or equal to $121 billion, plus 0.3325% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $121 billion, up to and including $181 billion, plus 0.3159% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $181 billion, up to and including $231 billion, plus 0.3001% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $231 billion, up to and including $281 billion, plus 0.2851% per annum of the aggregate net assets in excess of $281 billion.

The following table sets forth the management fee at the annual rate (as a percentage of each Fund's average daily net assets) BFA received from each Fund for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2018 and the management fees (net of waivers) each Fund paid BFA for the fiscal years noted.

Fund	Management Fee for the Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2018	Fund Inception Date	Management Fees Paid for Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2018	Management Fees Paid for Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2017	Management Fees Paid for Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2016
iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF	0.34%	01/29/01	$10,232,504	$12,830,013	$ 11,646,907
iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF¹	0.08%	06/10/14	1,915,052	769,926	330,450
iShares Core High Dividend ETF²	0.08%	03/29/11	5,159,365	6,049,591	5,293,214
iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF³	0.08%	05/01/07	209,270	221,037	377,182
iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF	0.20%	06/12/00	2,254,571	1,973,757	1,887,082
iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF	0.48%	11/12/07	195,324	284,000	335,141
iShares Global REIT ETF	0.14%	07/08/14	816,359	339,671	76,414
iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF	0.48%	11/12/07	2,735,719	3,000,255	3,761,024
iShares International Select Dividend ETF⁴	0.50%	06/11/07	23,041,774	16,018,767	16,078,082
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF	0.20%	06/28/04	1,875,524	1,357,465	1,216,691
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF	0.25%	06/28/04	2,110,481	1,878,609	1,974,563
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF	0.25%	06/28/04	957,871	836,119	692,666
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF	0.25%	06/28/04	1,940,235	1,589,837	1,301,567
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF	0.30%	06/28/04	726,995	603,786	651,198
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF	0.30%	06/28/04	1,207,703	831,309	584,410
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF	0.25%	06/28/04	618,415	548,269	510,913
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF	0.30%	06/28/04	412,769	339,694	342,730
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF	0.30%	06/28/04	1,410,251	1,263,933	1,152,286
iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF^5,6	0.50%	11/14/06	4,501,988	3,319,785	2,312,661
iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF^7,8	0.50%	01/24/05	3,009,090	2,208,134	1,701,180
iShares Select Dividend ETF	0.39%	11/03/03	66,502,173	63,567,190	53,827,179
iShares Transportation Average ETF	0.43%	10/06/03	3,788,974	3,597,084	3,500,056

Fund	Management Fee for the Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2018	Fund Inception Date	Management Fees Paid for Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2018	Management Fees Paid for Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2017	Management Fees Paid for Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2016
iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF	0.43%	06/12/00	3,571,646	2,851,757	1,720,452
iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF	0.43%	06/12/00	2,503,604	2,998,395	3,183,940
iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF	0.43%	06/12/00	3,238,858	3,762,805	4,548,240
iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF	0.25%	11/07/17	5,816	N/A	N/A
iShares U.S. Energy ETF	0.43%	06/12/00	4,691,938	5,555,713	5,390,322
iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF	0.43%	06/12/00	6,376,967	3,985,637	3,265,049
iShares U.S. Financials ETF	0.43%	05/22/00	8,504,968	6,887,967	6,252,633
iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF	0.43%	06/12/00	8,466,674	8,195,725	9,245,512
iShares U.S. Industrials ETF	0.43%	06/12/00	4,751,831	4,109,685	2,798,568
iShares U.S. Technology ETF	0.43%	05/15/00	16,590,784	12,596,106	11,814,660
iShares U.S. Utilities ETF	0.43%	06/12/00	3,231,176	3,748,444	2,917,252

¹	Effective October 5, 2016, the management fee for the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF is 0.08%. Prior to October 5, 2016, the management fee for the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF was 0.12%.
²	Effective October 5, 2016, the management fee for the iShares Core High Dividend ETF is 0.08%. Prior to October 5, 2016, the management fee for the iShares Core High Dividend ETF was 0.12%.
³	Effective November 3, 2016, the management fee for the iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF is 0.08%. Prior to November 3, 2016, the management fee for the iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF was 0.48%.
⁴	Effective June 29, 2018, the management fee for the iShares International Select Dividend ETF was 0.50%. Prior to June 29, 2018, the management fee for the iShares International Select Dividend ETF was 0.49%.
⁵	For the iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF, BFA contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fee in order to limit the Fund’s total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver to 0.25% effective June 1, 2018 through April 5, 2020. The contractual waiver was discontinued beginning on June 26, 2018.For the fiscal year ended April 30, 2018, BFA waived $182,202 of its management fees.
⁶	Effective June 26, 2018, the management fee for the iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF is 0.25%. Prior to June 26, 2018, the management fee for the iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF was 0.50%.
⁷	For the iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF, BFA contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fee in order to limit the Fund’s total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver to 0.25% effective June 1, 2018 through April 5, 2020. The contractual waiver was discontinued beginning on June 26, 2018. For the fiscal year ended April 30, 2018, BFA waived $120,788 of its management fees.
⁸	Effective June 26, 2018, the management fee for the iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF is 0.25%. Prior to June 26, 2018, the management fee for the iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF was 0.50%.

Portfolio Managers. As of April 30, 2018, the individuals named as Portfolio Managers in the Funds' Prospectuses were also primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of other iShares funds and certain other types of portfolios and/or accounts as follows:

Rachel Aguirre
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	156	$686,097,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	2	1,554,000,000
Other Accounts	19	60,164,000,000

Diane Hsiung
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	227	$1,028,622,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	0	N/A
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Jennifer Hsui
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	255	$1,080,770,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	2	1,554,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Alan Mason
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	326	$1,163,916,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	3	5,782,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Greg Savage
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	321	$1,144,561,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	17	2,417,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Amy Whitelaw
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	98	$607,244,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	7	97,000,000
Other Accounts	2	541,000,000

Each of the portfolios or accounts for which the Portfolio Managers are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management seeks to track the rate of return, risk profile and other characteristics of independent third-party indexes by either replicating the same combination of securities and other financial instruments that constitute those indexes or through a representative sampling of the securities and other financial instruments that constitute those indexes based on objective criteria and data. Pursuant to BFA’s policy, investment opportunities are allocated equitably among the Funds and other portfolios and accounts. For example, under certain circumstances, an investment opportunity may be restricted due to limited supply in the market, legal constraints or other factors, in which event the investment opportunity will be allocated equitably among those portfolios and accounts, including the Funds, seeking such investment opportunity. As a consequence, from time to time each Fund may receive a smaller allocation of an investment opportunity than it would have if the Portfolio Managers and BFA and its affiliates did not manage other portfolios or accounts.

Like the Funds, the other portfolios or accounts for which the Portfolio Managers are primarily responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management generally pay an asset-based fee to BFA or its affiliates, as applicable, for its advisory services. One or more of those other portfolios or accounts, however, may pay BFA or its affiliates a performance-based fee in lieu of, or in addition to, an asset-based fee for its advisory services. A portfolio or account with a performance-based fee would pay BFA or its affiliates a portion of that portfolio’s or account’s gains, or would pay BFA or its affiliates more for its services than would otherwise be the case if BFA or any of its affiliates meets or exceeds specified performance targets. Performance-based fee arrangements could present an incentive for BFA or its affiliates to devote greater resources, and allocate more investment opportunities, to the portfolios or accounts that have those fee arrangements, relative to other portfolios or accounts, in order to earn larger fees. Although BFA and each of its affiliates have an obligation to allocate resources and opportunities equitably among portfolios and accounts and intend to do so, shareholders of the Funds should be aware that,

as with any group of portfolios and accounts managed by an investment adviser and/or its affiliates pursuant to varying fee arrangements, including performance-based fee arrangements, there is the potential for a conflict of interest, which may result in the Portfolio Managers favoring those portfolios or accounts with performance-based fee arrangements.

Rachel Aguirre
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	0	N/A
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Diane Hsiung
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	0	N/A
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Jennifer Hsui
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	0	N/A
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Alan Mason
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	0	N/A
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Greg Savage
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	0	N/A
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Amy Whitelaw
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	0	N/A

Amy Whitelaw
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Other Accounts	0	N/A

The discussion below describes the Portfolio Managers' compensation as of April 30, 2018.

Portfolio Manager Compensation Overview

Base compensation. Generally, portfolio managers receive base compensation based on their position with the firm.

Other Compensation Benefits. In addition to base compensation and discretionary incentive compensation, portfolio managers may be eligible to receive or participate in one or more of the following:

Incentive Savings Plans — BlackRock, Inc. has created a variety of incentive savings plans in which BlackRock, Inc. employees are eligible to participate, including a 401(k) plan, the BlackRock Retirement Savings Plan (“RSP”), and the BlackRock Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”). The employer contribution components of the RSP include a company match equal to 50% of the first 8% of eligible pay contributed to the plan capped at $5,000 per year, and a company retirement contribution equal to 3-5% of eligible compensation up to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) limit ($275,000 for 2018). The RSP offers a range of investment options, including registered investment companies and collective investment funds managed by the firm. BlackRock, Inc. contributions follow the investment direction set by participants for their own contributions or, absent participant investment direction, are invested into an index target date fund that corresponds to, or is closest to, the year in which the participant attains age 65. The ESPP allows for investment in BlackRock, Inc. common stock at a 5% discount on the fair market value of the stock on the purchase date. Annual participation in the ESPP is limited to the purchase of 1,000 shares of common stock or a dollar value of $25,000 based on its fair market value on the Purchase Date. Rachel Aguirre, Diane Hsiung, Jennifer Hsui, Alan Mason, Greg Savage and Amy Whitelaw are each eligible to participate in these plans.

As of April 30, 2018, the Portfolio Managers beneficially owned shares of the Funds, for which they are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management, in the amounts reflected in the following tables:

Rachel Aguirre

Dollar Range

Fund

None

$1 to $10k

$10,001
to $50k

$50,001
to $100k

$100,001
to $500k

$500,001
to $1m

over
$1m

iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF

iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF

iShares Core High Dividend ETF

iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF

iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF

iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF

iShares Global REIT ETF

iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF

iShares International Select Dividend ETF

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF

iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF

iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF

iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF

iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF

iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF

iShares Select Dividend ETF

iShares Transportation Average ETF

iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF

iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF

iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF

iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF

iShares U.S. Energy ETF

iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF

iShares U.S. Financials ETF

iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF

iShares U.S. Industrials ETF

iShares U.S. Technology ETF

iShares U.S. Utilities ETF

Diane Hsiung

Dollar Range

Fund

None

$1 to $10k

$10,001
to $50k

$50,001
to $100k

$100,001
to $500k

$500,001
to $1m

over
$1m

iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF

iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF

iShares Core High Dividend ETF

iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF

iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF

iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF

iShares Global REIT ETF

Diane Hsiung

Dollar Range

Fund

None

$1 to $10k

$10,001
to $50k

$50,001
to $100k

$100,001
to $500k

$500,001
to $1m

over
$1m

iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF

iShares International Select Dividend ETF

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF

iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF

iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF

iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF

iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF

iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF

iShares Select Dividend ETF

iShares Transportation Average ETF

iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF

iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF

iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF

iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF

iShares U.S. Energy ETF

iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF

iShares U.S. Financials ETF

iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF

iShares U.S. Industrials ETF

iShares U.S. Technology ETF

iShares U.S. Utilities ETF

Jennifer Hsui

Dollar Range

Fund

None

$1 to $10k

$10,001
to $50k

$50,001
to $100k

$100,001
to $500k

$500,001
to $1m

over
$1m

iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF

iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF

iShares Core High Dividend ETF

iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF

iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF

iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF

iShares Global REIT ETF

iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF

iShares International Select Dividend ETF

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF

iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF

iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF

Jennifer Hsui

Dollar Range

Fund

None

$1 to $10k

$10,001
to $50k

$50,001
to $100k

$100,001
to $500k

$500,001
to $1m

over
$1m

iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF

iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF

iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF

iShares Select Dividend ETF

iShares Transportation Average ETF

iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF

iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF

iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF

iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF

iShares U.S. Energy ETF

iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF

iShares U.S. Financials ETF

iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF

iShares U.S. Industrials ETF

iShares U.S. Technology ETF

iShares U.S. Utilities ETF

Alan Mason

Dollar Range

Fund

None

$1 to $10k

$10,001
to $50k

$50,001
to $100k

$100,001
to $500k

$500,001
to $1m

over
$1m

iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF

iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF

iShares Core High Dividend ETF

iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF

iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF

iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF

iShares Global REIT ETF

iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF

iShares International Select Dividend ETF

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF

iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF

iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF

iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF

iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF

iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF

iShares Select Dividend ETF

Alan Mason

Dollar Range

Fund

None

$1 to $10k

$10,001
to $50k

$50,001
to $100k

$100,001
to $500k

$500,001
to $1m

over
$1m

iShares Transportation Average ETF

iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF

iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF

iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF

iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF

iShares U.S. Energy ETF

iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF

iShares U.S. Financials ETF

iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF

iShares U.S. Industrials ETF

iShares U.S. Technology ETF

iShares U.S. Utilities ETF

Greg Savage

Dollar Range

Fund

None

$1 to $10k

$10,001
to $50k

$50,001
to $100k

$100,001
to $500k

$500,001
to $1m

over
$1m

iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF

iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF

iShares Core High Dividend ETF

iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF

iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF

iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF

iShares Global REIT ETF

iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF

iShares International Select Dividend ETF

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF

iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF

iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF

iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF

iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF

iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF

iShares Select Dividend ETF

iShares Transportation Average ETF

iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF

iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF

iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF

iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF

iShares U.S. Energy ETF

iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF

Greg Savage

Dollar Range

Fund

None

$1 to $10k

$10,001
to $50k

$50,001
to $100k

$100,001
to $500k

$500,001
to $1m

over
$1m

iShares U.S. Financials ETF

iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF

iShares U.S. Industrials ETF

iShares U.S. Technology ETF

iShares U.S. Utilities ETF

Amy Whitelaw

Dollar Range

Fund

None

$1 to $10k

$10,001
to $50k

$50,001
to $100k

$100,001
to $500k

$500,001
to $1m

over
$1m

iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF

iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF

iShares Core High Dividend ETF

iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF

iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF

iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF

iShares Global REIT ETF

iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF

iShares International Select Dividend ETF

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF

iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF

iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF

iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF

iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF

iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF

iShares Select Dividend ETF

iShares Transportation Average ETF

iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF

iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF

iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF

iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF

iShares U.S. Energy ETF

iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF

iShares U.S. Financials ETF

iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF

iShares U.S. Industrials ETF

iShares U.S. Technology ETF

iShares U.S. Utilities ETF

Codes of Ethics. The Trust, BFA and the Distributor have adopted codes of ethics pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act. The codes of ethics permit personnel subject to the codes of ethics to invest in securities, subject to certain limitations, including securities that may be purchased or held by the Funds. The codes of ethics are on public file with, and are available from, the SEC.

The Funds reserve the right to reject purchase orders from persons who have not submitted information sufficient to allow the Fund to verify their identity. Each Fund also reserves the right to redeem any amounts in a Fund from persons whose identity it is unable to verify on a timely basis. It is the Funds' policy to cooperate fully with appropriate regulators in any investigations conducted with respect to potential money laundering, terrorism or other illicit activities.

Administrator, Custodian and Transfer Agent. State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”) serves as administrator, custodian and transfer agent for the Funds under the Master Services Agreement and related Service Schedule (the “Service Module”). State Street’s principal address is 1 Lincoln Street, Boston, MA 02111. Pursuant to the Service Module for Fund Administration and Accounting Services with the Trust, State Street provides necessary administrative, legal, tax and accounting and financial reporting services for the maintenance and operations of the Trust and each Fund. In addition, State Street makes available the office space, equipment, personnel and facilities required to provide such services. Pursuant to the Service Module for Custodial Services with the Trust, State Street maintains, in separate accounts, cash, securities and other assets of the Trust and each Fund, keeps all necessary accounts and records and provides other services. State Street is required, upon the order of the Trust, to deliver securities held by State Street and to make payments for securities purchased by the Trust for each Fund. State Street is authorized to appoint certain foreign custodians or foreign custody managers for Fund investments outside the U.S. Pursuant to the Service Module for Transfer Agency Services with the Trust, State Street acts as a transfer agent for each Fund’s authorized and issued shares of beneficial interest, and as dividend disbursing agent of the Trust. As compensation for these services, State Street receives certain out-of-pocket costs, transaction fees and asset-based fees which are accrued daily and paid monthly by BFA from its management fee.

The following table sets forth the administration, custodian and transfer agency expenses of each Fund paid by BFA to State Street for the fiscal years noted:

Fund	Fund Inception Date	Administration, Custodian, Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2018	Administration, Custodian, Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2017	Administration, Custodian, Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2016
iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF	01/29/01	$ 54,053	$ 78,908	$ 77,206
iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	06/10/14	55,140	29,609	18,786
iShares Core High Dividend ETF	03/29/11	113,693	130,143	101,774
iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF	05/01/07	12,765	7,927	8,171
iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF	06/12/00	33,923	34,254	33,168
iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF	11/12/07	35,788	30,769	29,442
iShares Global REIT ETF	07/08/14	53,157	24,620	20,733
iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF	11/12/07	67,066	58,063	79,199
iShares International Select Dividend ETF	06/11/07	263,015	188,071	270,919
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF	06/28/04	22,965	18,871	20,993
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF	06/28/04	20,316	20,525	22,331
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF	06/28/04	14,639	12,436	12,027
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF	06/28/04	26,611	25,317	28,719
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF	06/28/04	17,676	17,242	14,928

Fund	Fund Inception Date	Administration, Custodian, Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2018	Administration, Custodian, Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2017	Administration, Custodian, Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2016
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF	06/28/04	18,020	17,057	19,162
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF	06/28/04	25,385	24,233	24,239
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF	06/28/04	24,419	27,923	18,841
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF	06/28/04	26,263	29,383	25,140
iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF	11/14/06	29,340	25,681	21,954
iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF	01/24/05	18,072	16,449	13,940
iShares Select Dividend ETF	11/03/03	291,721	320,948	304,288
iShares Transportation Average ETF	10/06/03	17,088	18,063	22,696
iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF	06/12/00	19,729	18,852	12,865
iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF	06/12/00	17,320	20,615	23,082
iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF	06/12/00	19,409	22,941	29,260
iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF	11/07/17	7,484	N/A	N/A
iShares U.S. Energy ETF	06/12/00	22,930	30,421	32,653
iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF	06/12/00	30,605	23,579	20,821
iShares U.S. Financials ETF	05/22/00	44,508	41,707	41,247
iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF	06/12/00	38,665	42,076	51,111
iShares U.S. Industrials ETF	06/12/00	27,508	29,906	22,405
iShares U.S. Technology ETF	05/15/00	71,319	62,067	65,098
iShares U.S. Utilities ETF	06/12/00	18,287	21,710	20,384

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in a money market fund managed by BFA (the “collateral investment fees”); however, BTC has agreed to reduce the amount of securities lending income it receives in order to effectively limit the collateral investment fees the Fund bears to an annual rate of 0.04%. Such money market fund shares will not be subject to a sales load, redemption fee, distribution fee or service fee.

Pursuant to the Securities Lending Agency Agreement:

(i) All Funds except for the iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF, iShares Global REIT ETF, iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF and iShares International Select Dividend ETF (“Domestic Equity Funds”) retain 71.5% of securities lending income (which excludes collateral investment fees) and (ii) this amount can never be less than 65% of the sum of securities lending income plus collateral investment fees.

(i) The iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF, iShares Global REIT ETF, iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF and iShares International Select Dividend ETF (“International Equity Funds”) retain 80% of securities lending income (which excludes collateral investment fees) and (ii) this amount can never be less than 70% of the sum of securities lending income plus collateral investment fees.

In addition, commencing the business day following the date that the aggregate securities lending income (which includes, for this purpose, collateral investment fees) earned across the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex (as defined under “Management—Trustees and Officers”) in a calendar year exceeds the aggregate securities lending income earned across the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex in calendar year 2013 (the Hurdle Date), each applicable Fund, pursuant to the securities lending agreement, will receive for the remainder of that calendar year securities lending income as follows:

Domestic Equity Funds

International Equity Funds

The services provided to the Funds by BTC in the most recent fiscal year ended April 30, 2018 primarily included the following:

(1) selecting borrowers from an approved list of borrowers and executing a securities lending agreement as agent on behalf of the Funds with each such borrower;

(2) negotiating the terms of securities loans, including the amount of fees;

(3) directing the delivery of loaned securities;

(4) monitoring the daily value of the loaned securities and directing the payment of additional collateral or the return of excess collateral, as necessary;

(5) investing cash collateral received in connection with any loaned securities;

(6) monitoring distributions on loaned securities (for example, interest and dividend activity);

(8) terminating securities loans and arranging for the return of loaned securities to the Funds at loan termination.

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The following tables show the dollar amounts of income and fees/compensation related to the securities lending activities of each Fund during its most recent fiscal year ended April 30, 2018.

Fund	iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF
Gross income from securities lending activities	$2,454,426	N/A	$49,747	$260,636
Fees and/or compensation for securities lending activities and related services
Securities lending income paid to BTC for services as securities lending agent	139,097	0	13,934	18,790
Cash collateral management expenses not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	67,602	0	597	6,475
Administrative fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	0	0
Indemnification fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	0	0
Rebates (paid to borrowers)	1,856,361	0	0	186,026
Other fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	0	0
Aggregate fees/compensation for securities lending activities	2,063,060	0	14,531	211,291
Net income from securities lending activities	391,366	N/A	35,216	49,345

Fund	iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF	iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF	iShares Global REIT ETF	iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF
Gross income from securities lending activities	$385,713	$11,934	$429,318	$114,882

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Fund	iShares International Select Dividend ETF	iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF	iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF	iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF
Cash collateral management expenses not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	31	225	4,789	305
Administrative fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	0	0
Indemnification fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	0	0
Rebates (paid to borrowers)	762	6,317	87,850	8,150
Other fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	0	0
Aggregate fees/compensation for securities lending activities	11,203	6,992	145,230	9,144
Net income from securities lending activities	58,991	1,281	138,273	1,923

Fund	iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF	iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF	iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF	iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF
Gross income from securities lending activities	$350,897	$501,758	$153,275	$480,973
Fees and/or compensation for securities lending activities and related services
Securities lending income paid to BTC for services as securities lending agent	27,355	45,157	24,582	69,817
Cash collateral management expenses not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	8,992	11,899	3,406	9,208
Administrative fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	0	0

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Fund	iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF	iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF	iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF	iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF
Other fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	0	0
Aggregate fees/compensation for securities lending activities	375,126	610,506	172,071	112,055
Net income from securities lending activities	152,698	425,487	79,271	63,496

Fund	iShares Select Dividend ETF	iShares Transportation Average ETF	iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF	iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF
Gross income from securities lending activities	N/A	$290,219	$76,598	$313,949
Fees and/or compensation for securities lending activities and related services
Securities lending income paid to BTC for services as securities lending agent	0	18,111	5,698	57,475
Cash collateral management expenses not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	7,870	2,096	6,706
Administrative fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	0	0
Indemnification fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	0	0
Rebates (paid to borrowers)	0	214,325	53,569	100,006
Other fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	0	0
Aggregate fees/compensation for securities lending activities	0	240,306	61,363	164,187
Net income from securities lending activities	N/A	49,913	15,235	149,762

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Fund	iShares U.S. Utilities ETF
Cash collateral management expenses not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	652
Administrative fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0
Indemnification fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0
Rebates (paid to borrowers)	18,755
Other fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0
Aggregate fees/compensation for securities lending activities	20,782
Net income from securities lending activities	3,796

Payments by BFA and its Affiliates. BFA and/or its affiliates (“BFA Entities”) may pay certain broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, banks and other financial intermediaries (“Intermediaries”) for certain activities related to the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products in general. BFA Entities make these payments from their own assets and not from the assets of the Funds. Although a portion of BFA Entities’ revenue comes directly or indirectly in part from fees paid by the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products, these payments do not increase the price paid by investors for the purchase of shares of, or the cost of owning, the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products. BFA Entities make payments for Intermediaries’ participation in activities that are designed to make registered representatives, other professionals and individual investors more knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, including the Funds and other iShares funds, or for other activities, such as participation in marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems (“Education Costs”). BFA Entities also make payments to Intermediaries for certain printing, publishing and mailing costs or materials relating to the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products (“Publishing Costs”). In addition, BFA Entities make payments to Intermediaries that make shares of the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products available to their clients, develop new products that feature iShares or otherwise promote the Funds, other iShares funds and exchange-traded products. BFA Entities may also reimburse expenses or make payments from their own assets to Intermediaries or other persons in consideration of services or other activities that the BFA Entities believe may benefit the iShares business or facilitate investment in the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products. Payments of the type described above are sometimes referred to as revenue-sharing payments.

Payments to an Intermediary may be significant to the Intermediary, and amounts that Intermediaries pay to your salesperson or other investment professional may also be significant for your salesperson or other investment professional. Because an Intermediary may make decisions about which investment options it will recommend or make available to its clients or what services to provide for various products based on payments it receives or is eligible to receive, such payments may create conflicts of interest between the Intermediary and its clients and these financial incentives may cause the Intermediary to recommend the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products over other investments. The same

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conflicts of interest and financial incentives exist with respect to your salesperson or other investment professional if he or she receives similar payments from his or her Intermediary firm.

In addition to the payments described above, BFA Entities have developed proprietary tools, calculators and related interactive or digital content that is made available through the www.BlackRock.com website at no additional cost to Intermediaries. BlackRock may configure these tools and calculators and localizes the content for Intermediaries as part of its customary digital marketing support and promotion of the Funds, other iShares funds, exchange-traded products and BlackRock mutual funds.

In addition, BFA Entities may enter into other contractual arrangements with Intermediaries and certain other third parties that the BFA Entities believe may benefit the iShares business or facilitate investment in iShares funds. Such agreements may include payments by BFA Entities to such Intermediaries and third parties for data collection and provision, technology support, platform enhancement, or co-marketing and cross-promotional efforts. Payments made pursuant to such arrangements may vary in any year and may be different for different Intermediaries and third parties. In certain cases, the payments described in the preceding sentence may be subject to certain minimum payment levels. Such payments will not be asset- or revenue-based. As of the date of this SAI, the Intermediaries and other third parties receiving such contractual payments include: Commonwealth Equity Services, Inc., Dorsey Wright and Associates, LLC, E*Trade Securities LLC, FDx Advisors, Inc., Ladenburg Thalmann Advisor Network LLC, LPL Financial LLC, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, Orion Advisors Services, LLC, Pershing LLC, Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., TD Ameritrade, Inc. and UBS Financial Services Inc. Any additions, modifications, or deletions to Intermediaries and other third parties listed above that have occurred since the date of this SAI are not included in the list.

Further, BFA Entities make Education Costs and Publishing Costs payments to other Intermediaries that are not listed above. BFA Entities may determine to make such payments based on any number of metrics. For example, BFA Entities may make payments at year-end or other intervals in a fixed amount, an amount based upon an Intermediary’s services at defined levels or an amount based on the Intermediary’s net sales of one or more iShares funds in a year or other period, any of which arrangements may include an agreed-upon minimum or maximum payment, or any combination of the foregoing. As of the date of this SAI, BFA anticipates that the payments paid by BFA Entities in connection with the Funds, iShares funds and exchange-traded products in general will be immaterial to BFA Entities in the aggregate for the next year. Please contact your salesperson or other investment professional for more information regarding any such payments or financial incentives his or her Intermediary firm may receive. Any payments made, or financial incentives offered, by the BFA Entities to an Intermediary may create the incentive for the Intermediary to encourage customers to buy shares of the Funds, other iShares funds or other exchange-traded products.

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Determination of Net Asset Value

Equity Investments. Equity securities traded on a recognized securities exchange (e.g., NYSE), on separate trading boards of a securities exchange or through a market system that provides contemporaneous transaction pricing information (each, an “Exchange”) are valued using information obtained via independent pricing services, generally at the closing price on the Exchange on which the security is primarily traded, or if an Exchange closing price is not available, the last traded price on that Exchange prior to the time as of which a Fund’s assets or liabilities are valued. However, under certain circumstances, other means of determining current market value may be used. If an equity security is traded on more than one Exchange, the current market value of the security where it is primarily traded generally will be used. In the event that there are no sales involving an equity security held by a Fund on a day on which a Fund values such security, the prior day’s price will be used, unless, in accordance with valuation procedures approved by the Board (the “Valuation Procedures”), BlackRock determines in good faith that such prior day’s price no longer reflects the fair value of the security, in which case such asset would be treated as a Fair Value Asset (as defined below).

Options, Futures, Swaps and Other Derivatives. Exchange-traded equity options for which market quotations are readily available are valued at the mean of the last bid and ask prices as quoted on the Exchange or the board of trade on which such options are traded. In the event that there is no mean price available for an exchange traded equity option held by a Fund on a day on which a Fund values such option, the last bid (long positions) or ask (short positions) price, if available, will be used as the value of such option. If no such bid or ask price is available on a day on which a Fund values such option, the prior day’s price will be used, unless BlackRock determines in good faith that such prior day’s price no longer reflects the fair value of the option, in which case such option will be treated as a Fair Value Asset (as defined below). OTC derivatives are valued using the last available bid prices or current market quotations provided by dealers or prices (including evaluated prices) supplied by a Fund’s approved independent third-party pricing services, each in accordance with the Valuation Procedures. OTC derivatives may be valued using a mathematical model which may incorporate a number of market data factors. Financial futures contracts and options thereon, which are traded on exchanges, are valued at their settle price as of the close of such exchanges. Swap agreements and other derivatives are generally valued daily based upon quotations from market makers or by a pricing service in accordance with the Valuation Procedures.

Underlying Funds. Shares of underlying ETFs will be valued at their most recent closing price on an Exchange. Shares of underlying money market funds will be valued at their NAV.

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the sale of an investment may be less than the value ascribed by a Fund, and a Fund could realize a greater than expected loss or lesser than expected gain upon the sale of the investment. A Fund’s ability to value its investment may also be impacted by technological issues and/or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.

All cash, receivables and current payables are carried on a Fund’s books at their face value.

Fair Value. When market quotations are not readily available or are believed in good faith by BlackRock to be unreliable, a Fund’s investments are valued at fair value (“Fair Value Assets”). Fair Value Assets are valued by BlackRock in accordance with the Valuation Procedures. BlackRock may reasonably conclude that a market quotation is not readily available or is unreliable if, among other things, a security or other asset or liability does not have a price source due to its complete lack of trading, if BlackRock believes in good faith that a market quotation from a broker-dealer or other source is unreliable (e.g., where it varies significantly from a recent trade, or no longer reflects the fair value of the security or other asset or liability subsequent to the most recent market quotation), or where the security or other asset or liability is only thinly traded or due to the occurrence of a significant event subsequent to the most recent market quotation. For this purpose, a “significant event” is deemed to occur if BlackRock determines, in its reasonable business judgment, that an event has occurred after the close of trading for an asset or liability but prior to or at the time of pricing a Fund’s assets or liabilities, and that the event is likely to cause a material change to the closing market price of the assets or liabilities held by a Fund. Non-U.S. securities whose values are affected by volatility that occurs in the markets or in related or highly correlated assets (e.g., ADRs, GDRs or ETFs that invest in components of the Underlying Index) on a trading day after the close of non-U.S. securities markets may be fair valued. On any day the NYSE is open and a foreign market or the primary exchange on which a foreign asset or liability is traded is closed, such asset or liability will be valued using the prior day’s price, provided that BlackRock is not aware of any significant event or other information that would cause such price to no longer reflect the fair value of the asset or liability, in which case such asset or liability would be treated as a Fair Value Asset.

BlackRock, with input from the BlackRock Investment Strategy Group, will submit its recommendations regarding the valuation and/or valuation methodologies for Fair Value Assets to BlackRock’s Valuation Committee. The BlackRock Valuation Committee may accept, modify or reject any recommendations. In addition, a Fund’s accounting agent periodically endeavors to confirm the prices it receives from all third-party pricing services, index providers and broker-dealers, and, with the assistance of BlackRock, to regularly evaluate the values assigned to the securities and other assets and liabilities of a Fund. The pricing of all Fair Value Assets is subsequently reported to and, where appropriate, ratified by the Board.

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Each Fund’s annual audited financial statements, which are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“US GAAP”), follow the requirements for valuation set forth in Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures” (“ASC 820”), which defines and establishes a framework for measuring fair value under US GAAP and expands financial statement disclosure requirements relating to fair value measurements. Generally, ASC 820 and other accounting rules applicable to funds and various assets in which they invest are evolving. Such changes may adversely affect a Fund. For example, the evolution of rules governing the determination of the fair market value of assets or liabilities to the extent such rules become more stringent would tend to increase the cost and/or reduce the availability of third-party determinations of fair market value. This may in turn increase the costs associated with selling assets or affect their liquidity due to a Fund’s inability to obtain a third-party determination of fair market value.

Brokerage Transactions

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The Funds anticipate that brokerage transactions involving foreign equity securities generally will be conducted primarily on the principal stock exchanges of the applicable country. Foreign equity securities may be held by the Funds in the form of depositary receipts, or other securities convertible into foreign equity securities. Depositary receipts may be listed on stock exchanges, or traded in OTC markets in the U.S. or Europe, as the case may be. ADRs, like other securities traded in the U.S., will be subject to negotiated commission rates.

OTC issues, including most fixed-income securities such as corporate debt and U.S. Government securities, are normally traded on a “net” basis without a stated commission, through dealers acting for their own account and not as brokers. The Funds will primarily engage in transactions with these dealers or deal directly with the issuer unless a better price or execution could be obtained by using a broker. Prices paid to a dealer with respect to both foreign and domestic securities will generally include a “spread,” which is the difference between the prices at which the dealer is willing to purchase and sell the specific security at the time, and includes the dealer’s normal profit.

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or to produce greater performance compensation to BlackRock; (iii) to develop or enhance a relationship with a client or prospective client; (iv) to compensate a client for past services or benefits rendered to BlackRock or to induce future services or benefits to be rendered to BlackRock; or (v) to manage or equalize investment performance among different client accounts. BFA and the other Affiliates may deal, trade and invest for their own respective accounts in the types of securities in which the Funds may invest.

Because different accounts may have differing investment objectives and policies, BFA may buy and sell the same securities at the same time for different clients based on the particular investment objective, guidelines and strategies of those accounts. For example, BFA may decide that it may be entirely appropriate for a growth fund to sell a security at the same time a value fund is buying that security. To the extent that transactions on behalf of more than one client of BFA or the other Affiliates during the same period may increase the demand for securities being purchased or the supply of securities being sold, there may be an adverse effect on price. For example, sales of a security by BlackRock on behalf of one or more of its clients may decrease the market price of such security, adversely impacting other BlackRock clients that still hold the security. If purchases or sales of securities arise for consideration at or about the same time that would involve the Funds or other clients or funds for which BFA or another Affiliate act as investment manager, transactions in such securities will be made, insofar as feasible, for the respective funds and clients in a manner deemed equitable to all.

In certain instances, BFA may find it efficient for purposes of seeking to obtain best execution, to aggregate or “bunch” certain contemporaneous purchases or sale orders of its advisory accounts and advisory accounts of affiliates. In general, all contemporaneous trades for client accounts under management by the same portfolio manager or investment team will be bunched in a single order if the trader believes the bunched trade would provide each client with an opportunity to achieve a more favorable execution at a potentially lower execution cost. The costs associated with a bunched order will be shared pro rata among the clients in the bunched order. Generally, if an order for a particular portfolio manager or management team is filled at several different prices through multiple trades, all accounts participating in the order will receive the average price (except in the case of certain international markets where average pricing is not permitted). While in some cases this practice could have a detrimental effect upon the price or value of the security as far as the Funds are concerned, in other cases it could be beneficial to the Funds. Transactions effected by BFA or the other Affiliates on behalf of more than one of its clients during the same period may increase the demand for securities being purchased or the supply of securities being sold, causing an adverse effect on price. The trader will give the bunched order to the broker-dealer that the trader has identified as being able to provide the best execution of the order. Orders for purchase or sale of securities will be placed within a reasonable amount of time of the order receipt and bunched orders will be kept bunched only long enough to execute the order.

The table below sets forth the brokerage commissions paid by each Fund for the fiscal years noted. Any differences in brokerage commissions paid by a Fund from year to year are principally due to increases or decreases in that Fund’s assets over those periods or the magnitude of changes to the components of a Fund's Underlying Index:

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Fund	Fund Inception Date	Brokerage Commissions Paid During Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2018	Brokerage Commissions Paid During Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2017	Brokerage Commissions Paid During Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2016
iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF	01/29/01	$ 88,098	$ 32,545	$ 60,280
iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	06/10/14	70,652	15,565	3,858
iShares Core High Dividend ETF	03/29/11	301,710	421,748	460,009
iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF	05/01/07	10,022	5,884	1,051
iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF	06/12/00	5,610	3,747	3,699
iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF	11/12/07	1,885	1,969	2,986
iShares Global REIT ETF	07/08/14	27,303	5,767	1,923
iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF	11/12/07	16,801	16,489	32,230
iShares International Select Dividend ETF	06/11/07	508,262	357,543	439,104
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF	06/28/04	21,744	23,684	10,981
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF	06/28/04	20,797	9,746	5,090
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF	06/28/04	6,668	7,334	5,660
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF	06/28/04	32,260	27,124	20,619
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF	06/28/04	6,513	5,582	4,657
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF	06/28/04	19,490	11,803	9,189
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF	06/28/04	17,410	17,999	17,758
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF	06/28/04	8,432	8,048	6,735
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF	06/28/04	62,542	36,497	36,829
iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF	11/14/06	7,798	5,982	5,601
iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF	01/24/05	6,613	7,264	2,430
iShares Select Dividend ETF	11/03/03	1,183,917	584,851	518,644
iShares Transportation Average ETF	10/06/03	5,705	4,374	11,993
iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF	06/12/00	8,966	11,905	7,720
iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF	06/12/00	4,737	4,509	3,587
iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF	06/12/00	10,413	4,390	8,935
iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF	11/07/17	101	N/A	N/A
iShares U.S. Energy ETF	06/12/00	13,605	25,768	32,468
iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF	06/12/00	10,453	5,089	3,517
iShares U.S. Financials ETF	05/22/00	17,109	9,108	8,288
iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF	06/12/00	10,989	7,116	10,923
iShares U.S. Industrials ETF	06/12/00	7,669	8,129	3,874
iShares U.S. Technology ETF	05/15/00	71,678	11,769	17,788
iShares U.S. Utilities ETF	06/12/00	6,079	7,206	7,602

The Funds did not pay any brokerage commissions to BRIL, an affiliate of BFA, or to its affiliates during the fiscal year ended April 30, 2018.

Fund	Issuer	Market Value of Investment
iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$ 92,014,283
	Bank of America Corp.	53,900,700
	Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (The)	12,017,314

iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$ 16,216,378
	Bank of America Corp.	12,433,974

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Fund	Issuer	Market Value of Investment
	Citigroup, Inc.	7,622,414
	Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (The)	3,652,646

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF	Bank of America Corp.	$ 37,183,080

iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$ 22,683,349
	Citigroup, Inc.	10,660,838
	Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (The)	5,115,992

iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$ 172,416
	Citigroup, Inc.	123,432
	Bank of America Corp.	103,643
	Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (The)	60,059

iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$ 199,263,095
	Bank of America Corp.	152,785,433
	Citigroup, Inc.	93,650,465
	Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (The)	44,941,888

iShares U.S. Financials ETF	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$ 165,359,524
	Bank of America Corp.	126,789,620
	Citigroup, Inc.	77,716,315
	Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (The)	37,294,355

Portfolio turnover may vary from year to year, as well as within a year. High turnover rates may result in comparatively greater brokerage expenses.

The table below sets forth the portfolio turnover rates of each Fund for the fiscal years noted:

Fund	Fiscal Year ended April 30, 2018	Fiscal Year ended April 30, 2017
iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF	12%	8%
iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	24%	27%
iShares Core High Dividend ETF	46%	49%
iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF	8%	30%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF	4%	4%
iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF	12%	10%
iShares Global REIT ETF	7%	5%

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Fund	Fiscal Year ended April 30, 2018	Fiscal Year ended April 30, 2017
iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF	8%	7%
iShares International Select Dividend ETF	24%	29%
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF	46%	45%
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF	48%	31%
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF	24%	31%
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF	50%	56%
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF	43%	47%
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF	45%	38%
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF	56%	66%
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF	51%	63%
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF	54%	48%
iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF	11%	10%
iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF	13%	19%
iShares Select Dividend ETF	28%	19%
iShares Transportation Average ETF	5%	5%
iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF	6%	13%
iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF	7%	7%
iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF	10%	8%
iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF	14%	N/A
iShares U.S. Energy ETF	6%	18%
iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF	4%	4%
iShares U.S. Financials ETF	6%	6%
iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF	7%	6%
iShares U.S. Industrials ETF	7%	10%
iShares U.S. Technology ETF	15%	4%
iShares U.S. Utilities ETF	5%	9%

Additional Information Concerning the Trust

Shares. The Trust currently consists of more than 265 separate investment series or portfolios called funds. The Trust issues shares of beneficial interests in the funds with no par value. The Board may designate additional iShares funds.

Shareholders may make inquiries by writing to iShares Trust, c/o BlackRock Investments, LLC, 1 University Square Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540.

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Absent an applicable exemption or other relief from the SEC or its staff, beneficial owners of more than 5% of the shares of a fund may be subject to the reporting provisions of Section 13 of the 1934 Act and the SEC’s rules promulgated thereunder. In addition, absent an applicable exemption or other relief from the SEC or its staff, officers and trustees of a fund and beneficial owners of 10% of the shares of a fund (“Insiders”) may be subject to the insider reporting, short-swing profit and short sale provisions of Section 16 of the 1934 Act and the SEC’s rules promulgated thereunder. Beneficial owners and Insiders should consult with their own legal counsel concerning their obligations under Sections 13 and 16 of the 1934 Act and existing guidance provided by the SEC staff.

In accordance with the Trust's current Agreement and Declaration of Trust (the “Declaration of Trust”), the Board may, without shareholder approval (unless such shareholder approval is required by the Declaration of Trust or applicable law, including the 1940 Act), authorize certain funds to merge, reorganize, consolidate, sell all or substantially all of their assets, or take other similar actions with, to or into another fund. The Trust or a Fund may be terminated by a majority vote of the Board, subject to the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders of the Trust or such Fund entitled to vote on termination; however, in certain circumstances described in the Declaration of Trust, only a majority vote of the Board is required. Although the shares are not automatically redeemable upon the occurrence of any specific event, the Declaration of Trust provides that the Board will have the unrestricted power to alter the number of shares in a Creation Unit. Therefore, in the event of a termination of the Trust or a Fund, the Board, in its sole discretion, could determine to permit the shares to be redeemable in aggregations smaller than Creation Units or to be individually redeemable. In such circumstance, the Trust or a Fund may make redemptions in-kind, for cash or for a combination of cash or securities. Further, in the event of a termination of the Trust or a Fund, the Trust or a Fund might elect to pay cash redemptions to all shareholders, with an in-kind election for shareholders owning in excess of a certain stated minimum amount.

DTC as Securities Depository for Shares of the Funds. Shares of each Fund are represented by securities registered in the name of DTC or its nominee and deposited with, or on behalf of, DTC.

Conveyance of all notices, statements and other communications to Beneficial Owners is effected as follows. Pursuant to the Depositary Agreement between the Trust and DTC, DTC is required to make available to the Trust upon request and for a fee to be charged to the Trust a listing of the shares of each Fund held by each DTC Participant. The Trust shall inquire of each such DTC Participant as to the number of Beneficial Owners holding shares, directly or indirectly, through such DTC Participant. The Trust shall provide each such DTC Participant with copies of such notice, statement or other communication, in such form, number and at such place as such DTC Participant may reasonably request, in order that such notice, statement or communication may be transmitted by such DTC Participant, directly or indirectly, to such Beneficial Owners. In addition, the Trust shall pay to each such DTC Participant a fair and reasonable amount as reimbursement for the expenses attendant to such transmittal, all subject to applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

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nominee. Payments by DTC Participants to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners of shares held through such DTC Participants will be governed by standing instructions and customary practices, as is now the case with securities held for the accounts of customers in bearer form or registered in a “street name,” and will be the responsibility of such DTC Participants.

Any Selling Shareholder and any other person participating in such distribution will be subject to applicable provisions of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.

Creation and Redemption of Creation Units

General. The Trust issues and sells shares of each Fund only in Creation Units on a continuous basis through the Distributor or its agent, without a sales load, at a price based on the NAV next determined after receipt, on any Business Day (as defined below), of an order received by the Distributor or its agent in proper form. On days when the applicable Listing Exchange closes earlier than normal, the Funds may require orders to be placed earlier in the day. The following table sets forth the number of shares of a Fund that constitute a Creation Unit for such Fund and the approximate value of such Creation Unit as of May 31, 2018:

Fund	Shares Per Creation Unit	Approximate Value Per Creation Unit (U.S.$)
iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF	50,000	$4,817,500
iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	50.000	1,719,500
iShares Core High Dividend ETF	50,000	4,235,500
iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF	50,000	2,376,000
iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF	50,000	6,796,500
iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF	50,000	2,024,000
iShares Global REIT ETF	50,000	1,269,000

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Fund	Shares Per Creation Unit	Approximate Value Per Creation Unit (U.S.$)
iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF	100,000	3,008,000
iShares International Select Dividend ETF	50,000	1,651,500
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF	50,000	7,768,500
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF	50,000	8,570,000
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF	50,000	5,094,000
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF	50,000	9,147,000
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF	50,000	10,784,000
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF	50,000	7,907,000
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF	50,000	8,930,000
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF	50,000	9,773,000
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF	50,000	7,574,500
iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF	50,000	5,036,500
iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF	50,000	5,600,500
iShares Select Dividend ETF	50,000	4,880,000
iShares Transportation Average ETF	50,000	9,705,000
iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF	50,000	4,983,000
iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF	50,000	5,722,000
iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF	50,000	9,381,000
iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF	50,000	1,282,500
iShares U.S. Energy ETF	50,000	2,093,000
iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF	50,000	6,591,500
iShares U.S. Financials ETF	50,000	5,916,500
iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF	50,000	8,786,500
iShares U.S. Industrials ETF	50,000	7,330,500
iShares U.S. Technology ETF	50,000	9,025,500
iShares U.S. Utilities ETF	50,000	6,487,000

Fund Deposit. The consideration for purchase of Creation Units of a Fund generally consists of Deposit Securities and the Cash Component computed as described below. Together, the Deposit Securities and the Cash Component constitute the “Fund Deposit,” which, when combined with the Fund's portfolio securities, is designed to generate performance that has a collective investment profile similar to that of the Underlying Index. The Fund Deposit represents the minimum initial and subsequent investment amount for a Creation Unit of any Fund.

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Fund Deposit is applicable, subject to any adjustments as described below, to purchases of Creation Units of shares of a given Fund until such time as the next-announced Fund Deposit is made available.

The identity and number of shares of the Deposit Securities change pursuant to changes in the composition of a Fund's portfolio and as rebalancing adjustments and corporate action events are reflected from time to time by BFA with a view to the investment objective of the Fund. The composition of the Deposit Securities may also change in response to adjustments to the weighting or composition of the component securities constituting the relevant Underlying Index.

Cash Purchase Method. Although the Trust does not generally permit partial or full cash purchases of Creation Units of its funds, when partial or full cash purchases of Creation Units are available or specified for a Fund, they will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind purchases thereof. In the case of a partial or full cash purchase, the Authorized Participant must pay the cash equivalent of the Deposit Securities it would otherwise be required to provide through an in-kind purchase, plus the same Cash Component required to be paid by an in-kind purchaser.

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made through an Authorized Participant. The Distributor or its agent will provide a list of current Authorized Participants upon request. Those placing orders to purchase Creation Units through an Authorized Participant should allow sufficient time to permit proper submission of the purchase order to the Distributor or its agent by the Cutoff Time (as defined below) on such Business Day.

The Authorized Participant is responsible for any and all expenses and costs incurred by a Fund, including any applicable cash amounts, in connection with any purchase order.

Timing of Submission of Purchase Orders. An Authorized Participant must submit an irrevocable order to purchase shares of a Fund generally before 4:00 p.m., Eastern time on any Business Day in order to receive that day's NAV. Creation Orders must be transmitted by an Authorized Participant in the form required by the Funds to the Distributor or its agent pursuant to procedures set forth in the Authorized Participant Agreement. Economic or market disruptions or changes, or telephone or other communication failure, may impede the ability to reach the Distributor or its agent or an Authorized Participant. Orders to create shares of a Fund that are submitted on the Business Day immediately preceding a holiday or a day (other than a weekend) when the equity markets in the relevant non-U.S. market are closed may not be accepted. Each Fund's deadline specified above for the submission of purchase orders is referred to as that Fund's “Cutoff Time.” The Distributor or its agent, in their discretion, may permit the submission of such orders and requests by or through an Authorized Participant at any time (including on days on which the Listing Exchange is not open for business) via communication through the facilities of the Distributor's or its agent's proprietary website maintained for this purpose. Purchase orders and redemption requests, if accepted by the Trust, will be processed based on the NAV next determined after such acceptance in accordance with a Fund's Cutoff Times as provided in the Authorized Participant Agreement and disclosed in this SAI.

Acceptance of Orders for Creation Units. Subject to the conditions that (i) an irrevocable purchase order has been submitted by the Authorized Participant (either on its own or another investor's behalf) and (ii) arrangements satisfactory to the Funds are in place for payment of the Cash Component and any other cash amounts which may be due, the Funds will accept the order, subject to each Fund's right (and the right of the Distributor and BFA) to reject any order until acceptance, as set forth below.

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& Steers REIT ETF, iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF, iShares Core High Dividend ETF, iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF, iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF, iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF, iShares Global REIT ETF, iShares International Select Dividend ETF, iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF, iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF, iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF, iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF, iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF, iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF, iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF, iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF, iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF, iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF, iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF, iShares Select Dividend ETF, iShares Transportation Average ETF, iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF, iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF, iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF, iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF, iShares U.S. Energy ETF, iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF, iShares U.S. Financials ETF, iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF, iShares U.S. Industrials ETF, iShares U.S. Technology ETF and iShares U.S. Utilities ETF, Creation Units are generally issued on a “T+2 basis” (i.e., two Business Days after trade date). For the iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF, Creation Units are generally issued on a “T+3 basis” (i.e., three Business Days after trade date). However, each Fund reserves the right to settle Creation Unit transactions on a basis other than T+2 or T+3, including a shorter settlement period, if necessary or appropriate under the circumstances and compliant with applicable law. For example, certain Funds reserve the right to settle Creation Unit transactions on a basis other than T+2 or T+3, in order to accommodate non-U.S. market holiday schedules (as discussed in Appendix B of this SAI), to account for different treatment among non-U.S. and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and ex-dividend dates (i.e., the last day the holder of a security can sell the security and still receive dividends payable on the security) and in certain other circumstances.

To the extent contemplated by an Authorized Participant Agreement with the Distributor, each Fund will issue Creation Units to such Authorized Participant, notwithstanding the fact that the corresponding Fund Deposits have not been received in part or in whole, in reliance on the undertaking of the Authorized Participant to deliver the missing Deposit Securities as soon as possible, which undertaking shall be secured by such Authorized Participant's delivery and maintenance of collateral having a value at least equal to 105% and up to 122%, which percentage BFA may change at any time, in its sole discretion, of the value of the missing Deposit Securities in accordance with the Funds' then-effective procedures. The Trust may use such cash deposit at any time to buy Deposit Securities for the Funds. The only collateral that is acceptable to the Funds is cash in U.S. dollars. Such cash collateral must be delivered no later than the time specified by a Fund or its custodian on the contractual settlement date. The cash collateral posted by the Authorized Participant may be invested at the risk of the Authorized Participant, and income, if any, on invested cash collateral will be paid to that Authorized Participant. Information concerning the Funds' current procedures for collateralization of missing Deposit Securities is available from the Distributor or its agent. The Authorized Participant Agreement will permit the Funds to buy the missing Deposit Securities at any time and will subject the Authorized Participant to liability for any shortfall between the cost to the Funds of purchasing such securities and the cash collateral including, without limitation, liability for related brokerage, borrowings and other charges.

Costs Associated with Creation Transactions. A standard creation transaction fee is imposed to offset the transfer and other transaction costs associated with the issuance of Creation Units. The standard creation transaction fee is charged to the Authorized Participant on the day such Authorized Participant creates a Creation Unit, and is the same, regardless of the number of Creation Units purchased by the Authorized Participant on the applicable Business Day. If a purchase consists solely or partially of cash, the Authorized Participant may also be required to cover (up to the maximum amount shown below) certain brokerage, tax, foreign exchange, execution, price movement and other costs and expenses related to the execution of trades resulting from such transaction (which may, in certain instances, be based on a good faith estimate of transaction costs). Authorized Participants will also bear the costs of transferring the Deposit Securities to the Funds. Certain fees/costs associated with creation transactions may be waived in certain circumstances. Investors who use the services of a broker or other financial intermediary to acquire Fund shares may be charged a fee for such services.

The following table sets forth each Fund's standard creation transaction fees and maximum additional charge (as described above):

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Fund	Standard Creation Transaction Fee	Maximum Additional Charge*
iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF	$ 250	3.0%
iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	800	3.0%
iShares Core High Dividend ETF	250	3.0%
iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF	250	3.0%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF	3,000	3.0%
iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF	2,700	3.0%
iShares Global REIT ETF	2,700	7.0%
iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF	4,000	7.0%
iShares International Select Dividend ETF	2,000	7.0%
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF	250	3.0%
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF	250	3.0%
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF	250	3.0%
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF	500	3.0%
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF	500	3.0%
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF	500	3.0%
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF	650	3.0%
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF	600	3.0%
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF	600	3.0%
iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF	1,000	3.0%
iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF	350	3.0%
iShares Select Dividend ETF	250	3.0%
iShares Transportation Average ETF	250	3.0%
iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF	250	3.0%
iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF	300	3.0%
iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF	450	3.0%
iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF	1,100	3.0%
iShares U.S. Energy ETF	250	3.0%
iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF	300	3.0%
iShares U.S. Financials ETF	650	3.0%
iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF	300	3.0%
iShares U.S. Industrials ETF	600	3.0%
iShares U.S. Technology ETF	350	3.0%
iShares U.S. Utilities ETF	250	3.0%

*	As a percentage of the net asset value per Creation Unit.

Each Fund generally redeems Creation Units for Fund Securities (as defined below). Please see the Cash Redemption Method section below and the following discussion summarizing the in-kind method for further information on redeeming Creation Units of the Funds.

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redemptions of Creation Units of a Fund until such time as the next announced composition of the Fund Securities and Cash Amount is made available. Fund Securities received on redemption may not be identical to Deposit Securities that are applicable to creations of Creation Units. Procedures and requirements governing redemption transactions are set forth in the handbook for Authorized Participants and may change from time to time.

The Trust may, in its sole discretion, substitute a “cash in lieu” amount to replace any Fund Security. The Trust also reserves the right to permit or require a “cash in lieu” amount in certain circumstances, including circumstances in which: (i) the delivery of a Fund Security to the Authorized Participant would be restricted under applicable securities or other local laws; or (ii) the delivery of a Fund Security to the Authorized Participant would result in the disposition of the Fund Security by the Authorized Participant due to restrictions under applicable securities or other local laws, or in certain other situations. The amount of cash paid out in such cases will be equivalent to the value of the substituted security listed as a Fund Security. In the event that the Fund Securities have a value greater than the NAV of the shares, a compensating cash payment equal to the difference is required to be made by or through an Authorized Participant by the redeeming shareholder. Each Fund generally redeems Creation Units for Fund Securities, but the Funds reserve the right to utilize a cash option for redemption of Creation Units. Each Fund may, in its sole discretion, provide such redeeming Authorized Participant a portfolio of securities that differs from the exact composition of the Fund Securities, but does not differ in NAV.

Cash Redemption Method. Although the Trust does not generally permit partial or full cash redemptions of Creation Units of its funds, when partial or full cash redemptions of Creation Units are available or specified for a Fund, they will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind redemptions thereof. In the case of partial or full cash redemption, the Authorized Participant receives the cash equivalent of the Fund Securities it would otherwise receive through an in-kind redemption, plus the same Cash Amount to be paid to an in-kind redeemer.

Costs Associated with Redemption Transactions. A standard redemption transaction fee is imposed to offset transfer and other transaction costs that may be incurred by the relevant Fund. The standard redemption transaction fee is charged to the Authorized Participant on the day such Authorized Participant redeems a Creation Unit, and is the same regardless of the number of Creation Units redeemed by an Authorized Participant on the applicable Business Day. If a redemption consists solely or partially of cash, the Authorized Participant may also be required to cover (up to the maximum amount shown below) certain brokerage, tax, foreign exchange, execution, price movement and other costs and expenses related to the execution of trades resulting from such transaction (which may, in certain instances, be based on a good faith estimate of transaction costs). Authorized Participants will also bear the costs of transferring the Fund Securities from a Fund to their account on their order. Certain fees/costs associated with redemption transactions may be waived in certain circumstances. Investors who use the services of a broker or other financial intermediary to dispose of Fund shares may be charged a fee for such services.

The following table sets forth each Fund's standard redemption transaction fees and maximum additional charge (as described above):

Fund	Standard Redemption Transaction Fee	Maximum Additional Charge*
iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF	$ 250	2.0%
iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	800	2.0%
iShares Core High Dividend ETF	250	2.0%
iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF	250	2.0%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF	3,000	2.0%
iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF	2,700	2.0%
iShares Global REIT ETF	2,700	2.0%
iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF	4,000	2.0%
iShares International Select Dividend ETF	2,000	2.0%
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF	250	2.0%

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Fund	Standard Redemption Transaction Fee	Maximum Additional Charge*
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF	250	2.0%
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF	250	2.0%
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF	500	2.0%
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF	500	2.0%
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF	500	2.0%
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF	650	2.0%
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF	600	2.0%
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF	600	2.0%
iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF	1,000	2.0%
iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF	350	2.0%
iShares Select Dividend ETF	250	2.0%
iShares Transportation Average ETF	250	2.0%
iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF	250	2.0%
iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF	300	2.0%
iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF	450	2.0%
iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF	1,100	2.0%
iShares U.S. Energy ETF	250	2.0%
iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF	300	2.0%
iShares U.S. Financials ETF	650	2.0%
iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF	300	2.0%
iShares U.S. Industrials ETF	600	2.0%
iShares U.S. Technology ETF	350	2.0%
iShares U.S. Utilities ETF	250	2.0%

*	As a percentage of the net asset value per Creation Unit, inclusive of the standard redemption transaction fee.

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For the iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF, iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF, iShares Core High Dividend ETF, iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF, iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF, iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF, iShares Global REIT ETF, iShares International Select Dividend ETF, iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF, iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF, iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF, iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF, iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF, iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF, iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF, iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF, iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF, iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF, iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF, iShares Select Dividend ETF, iShares Transportation Average ETF, iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF, iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF, iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF, iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF, iShares U.S. Energy ETF, iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF, iShares U.S. Financials ETF, iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF, iShares U.S. Industrials ETF, iShares U.S. Technology ETF and iShares U.S. Utilities ETF, deliveries of redemption proceeds are generally made within two Business Days (i.e., “T+2”). For the iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF, deliveries of redemption proceeds are generally made within three Business Days (i.e., “T+3”). However, each Fund reserves the right to settle deliveries of redemption proceeds on a basis other than T+2 or T+3, including a shorter settlement period, if necessary or appropriate under the circumstances and compliance with applicable law. For example, certain Funds reserve the right to settle redemption transactions on a basis other than T+2 or T+3 to accommodate non-U.S. market holiday schedules (as discussed in Appendix B of this SAI), to account for different treatment among non-U.S. and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and dividend ex-dates (i.e., the last date the holder of a security can sell the security and still receive dividends payable on the security sold) and in certain other circumstances. Appendix B of this SAI identifies the instances, if any, where more than seven days would be needed to deliver redemption proceeds for such Funds. Pursuant to an order of the SEC, for such Funds, the Trust will make delivery of redemption proceeds within the number of days stated in Appendix B of this SAI to be the maximum number of days necessary to deliver redemption proceeds.

If neither the Authorized Participant nor the Beneficial Owner on whose behalf the Authorized Participant is acting has appropriate arrangements to take delivery of Fund Securities in the applicable non-U.S. jurisdiction and it is not possible to make other such arrangements, or if it is not possible to effect deliveries of Fund Securities in such jurisdiction, a Fund may in its discretion exercise its option to redeem such shares in cash, and the Beneficial Owner will be required to receive its redemption proceeds in cash. In such case, the investor will receive a cash payment equal to the net asset value of its shares based on the NAV of the relevant Fund next determined after the redemption request is received in proper form (minus a redemption transaction fee and additional charges specified above to offset the Fund's brokerage and other transaction costs associated with the disposition of Fund Securities). Redemptions of shares for Fund Securities will be subject to compliance with applicable U.S. federal and state securities laws and each Fund (whether or not it otherwise permits cash redemptions) reserves the right to redeem Creation Units for cash to the extent that the Fund cannot lawfully deliver specific Fund Securities upon redemptions or cannot do so without first registering the Fund Securities under such laws.

Although the Trust does not ordinarily permit cash redemptions of Creation Units, in the event that cash redemptions are permitted or required by the Trust, proceeds will be paid to the Authorized Participant redeeming shares as soon as practicable after the date of redemption (within seven calendar days thereafter, except for the instances listed in Appendix B to this SAI in which more than seven calendar days would be needed).

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immediately available funds, having a value at least equal to 105% and up to 122%, which percentage BFA may change at any time, in its sole discretion, of the value of the missing shares. Such cash collateral must be delivered no later than the time specified by a Fund or its custodian on the day after the date of submission of such redemption request and shall be held by State Street and marked-to-market daily. The fees of State Street and any sub-custodians in respect of the delivery, maintenance and redelivery of the cash collateral shall be payable by the Authorized Participant. The cash collateral posted by the Authorized Participant may be invested at the risk of the Authorized Participant, and income, if any, on invested cash collateral will be paid to that Authorized Participant. The Authorized Participant Agreement permits the Funds to acquire shares of the Funds at any time and subjects the Authorized Participant to liability for any shortfall between the aggregate of the cost to the Funds of purchasing such shares, plus the value of the Cash Amount, and the value of the cash collateral together with liability for related brokerage and other charges.

The right of redemption may be suspended or the date of payment postponed with respect to any Fund: (i) for any period during which the applicable Listing Exchange is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings); (ii) for any period during which trading on the applicable Listing Exchange is suspended or restricted; (iii) for any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which disposal of the shares of the Fund's portfolio securities or determination of its net asset value is not reasonably practicable; or (iv) in such other circumstance as is permitted by the SEC.

Taxes

The following is a summary of certain material U.S. federal income tax considerations regarding the purchase, ownership and disposition of shares of a Fund. This summary does not address all of the potential U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be applicable to a Fund or to all categories of investors, some of which may be subject to special tax rules. Current and prospective shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisors with respect to the specific U.S. federal, state, local and non-U.S. tax consequences of investing in a Fund. The summary is based on the laws and judicial and administrative interpretations thereof in effect on the date of this SAI, all of which are subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect.

Tax reform legislation commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) was enacted on December 22, 2017. The Tax Act makes significant changes to the U.S. federal income tax rules for individuals and corporations, generally effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017. Most of the changes applicable to individuals are temporary and, without further legislation, will not apply after 2025. The application of certain provisions of the Tax Act is uncertain, and the changes in the act may have indirect effects on a Fund, its investments and its shareholders that cannot be predicted. In addition, legislative, regulatory or administrative changes could be enacted or promulgated at any time, either prospectively or with retroactive effect. Prospective investors should consult their tax advisors regarding the implications of the Tax Act on their investment in a Fund.

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or other disposition of stock or securities or non-U.S. currencies, other income (including, but not limited to, gains from options, futures or forward contracts) derived with respect to its business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies, and net income derived from interests in qualified publicly-traded partnerships (i.e., partnerships that are traded on an established securities market or tradable on a secondary market, other than partnerships that derive at least 90% of their income from interest, dividends, capital gains and other traditionally permitted RIC income); and (ii) at the close of each quarter of each Fund's taxable year, (a) at least 50% of the market value of each Fund’s total assets must be represented by cash and cash items, U.S. government securities, securities of other RICs and other securities, with such other securities limited for purposes of this calculation in respect of any one issuer to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the Fund’s assets and not greater than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer, and (b) not more than 25% of the value of each Fund's total assets may be invested in the securities (other than U.S. government securities or the securities of other RICs) of any one issuer, of two or more issuers of which 20% or more of the voting stock is held by the Fund and that are engaged in the same or similar trades or businesses or related trades or businesses, or the securities of one or more qualified publicly-traded partnerships.

Although, in general, the passive loss rules of the Internal Revenue Code do not apply to RICs, such rules do apply to a RIC with respect to items attributable to interests in qualified publicly-traded partnerships. A Fund's investments in partnerships, including in qualified publicly-traded partnerships, may result in the Fund being subject to state, local, or non-U.S. income, franchise or withholding tax liabilities.

Taxation of RICs. As a RIC, a Fund will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the portion of its taxable investment income and capital gains that it distributes to its shareholders, provided that it satisfies a minimum distribution requirement. To satisfy the minimum distribution requirement, a Fund must distribute to its shareholders at least the sum of (i) 90% of its “investment company taxable income” (i.e., income other than its net realized long-term capital gain over its net realized short-term capital loss), plus or minus certain adjustments, and (ii) 90% of its net tax-exempt income for the taxable year. A Fund will be subject to income tax at regular corporate rates on any taxable income or gains that it does not distribute to its shareholders. If a Fund fails to qualify for any taxable year as a RIC or fails to meet the distribution requirement, all of its taxable income will be subject to tax at regular corporate income tax rates without any deduction for distributions to shareholders, and such distributions generally will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary dividends to the extent of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits. In such event, distributions to individuals should be eligible to be treated as qualified dividend income and distributions to corporate shareholders generally should be eligible for the dividends received deduction. Although each Fund intends to distribute substantially all of its net investment income and its capital gains for each taxable year, each Fund will be subject to U.S. federal income taxation to the extent any such income or gains are not distributed. If a Fund fails to qualify as a RIC in any year, it must pay out its earnings and profits accumulated in that year in order to qualify again as a RIC. If a Fund fails to qualify as a RIC for a period greater than two taxable years, the Fund may be required to recognize any net built-in gains with respect to certain of its assets (i.e., the excess of the aggregate gains, including items of income, over aggregate losses that would have been realized with respect to such assets if the Fund had been liquidated) if it qualifies as a RIC in a subsequent year.

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The following Funds had tax basis net capital loss carryforwards, as set forth in the table below, as of April 30, 2018, the tax year-end for the Funds listed:

Fund	Non-Expiring ¹	Expiring 2019	Total
iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF	$ 40,482,099	—	$40,482,099
iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	8,799,735	—	8,799,735
iShares Core High Dividend ETF	219,653,257	—	219,653,257
iShares Dow Jones U.S. ETF	—	$ 2,653,096	2,653,096
iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF	1,983,566	495,537	2,479,103
iShares Global REIT ETF	694,159	—	694,159
iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF	56,022,525	6,772,206	62,794,731
iShares International Select Dividend ETF	510,741,182	—	510,741,182
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF	20,601,346	—	20,601,346
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth ETF	—	982,680	982,680
iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF	—	5,511,604	5,511,604
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF	27,440,863	—	27,440,863
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF	—	3,999,375	3,999,375
iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF	13,655,020	—	13,655,020
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF	14,006,741	—	14,006,741
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF	2,472,113	—	2,472,113
iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF	24,643,135	—	24,643,135
iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF	1,662,749	374,960	2,037,709
iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF	—	74,125	74,125
iShares Select Dividend ETF	158,838,354	—	158,838,354
iShares Transportation Average ETF	23,015,684	4,851,034	27,866,718
iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF	103,289,877	64,751	103,354,628
iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF	3,551,012	—	3,551,012
iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF	32,623,807	1,146,492	33,770,299
iShares U.S. Energy ETF	55,658,360	10,785,190	66,443,550
iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF	11,433,067	6,373,191	17,806,258
iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF	11,633,268	2,243,166	13,876,434
iShares U.S. Industrials ETF	9,896,058	—	9,896,058
iShares U.S. Technology ETF	9,036,658	6,381,458	15,418,116
iShares U.S. Utilities ETF	9,554,854	5,497,127	15,051,981

¹	Must be utilized prior to losses subject to expiration.

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Taxation of U.S. Shareholders. Dividends and other distributions by a Fund are generally treated under the Internal Revenue Code as received by the shareholders at the time the dividend or distribution is made. However, any dividend or distribution declared by a Fund in October, November or December of any calendar year and payable to shareholders of record on a specified date in such a month shall be deemed to have been received by each shareholder on December 31 of such calendar year and to have been paid by the Fund not later than such December 31, provided such dividend is actually paid by the Fund during January of the following calendar year.

Each Fund intends to distribute annually to its shareholders substantially all of its investment company taxable income and any net realized long-term capital gains in excess of net realized short-term capital losses (including any capital loss carryovers). However, if a Fund retains for investment an amount equal to all or a portion of its net long-term capital gains in excess of its net short-term capital losses (including any capital loss carryovers), it will be subject to a corporate tax (at a flat rate of 21%) on the amount retained. In that event, the Fund will designate such retained amounts as undistributed capital gains in a notice to its shareholders who (a) will be required to include in income for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as long-term capital gains, their proportionate shares of the undistributed amount, (b) will be entitled to credit their proportionate shares of the tax paid by the Fund on the undistributed amount against their U.S. federal income tax liabilities, if any, and to claim refunds to the extent their credits exceed their liabilities, if any, and (c) will be entitled to increase their tax basis, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, in their shares by an amount equal to the excess of the amount in clause (a) over the amount in clause (b). Organizations or persons not subject to U.S. federal income tax on such capital gains will be entitled to a refund of their pro rata share of such taxes paid by the Fund upon filing appropriate returns or claims for refund with the IRS.

Investors considering buying shares just prior to a dividend or capital gain distribution should be aware that, although the price of shares purchased at that time may reflect the amount of the forthcoming distribution, such dividend or distribution may nevertheless be taxable to them. If a Fund is the holder of record of any security on the record date for any dividends payable with respect to such security, such dividends will be included in the Fund’s gross income not as of the date received but as of the later of (a) the date such security became ex-dividend with respect to such dividends (i.e., the date on which a buyer of the security would not be entitled to receive the declared, but unpaid, dividends); or (b) the date the Fund acquired

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such security. Accordingly, in order to satisfy its income distribution requirements, a Fund may be required to pay dividends based on anticipated earnings, and shareholders may receive dividends in an earlier year than would otherwise be the case.

In certain situations, a Fund may, for a taxable year, defer all or a portion of its net capital loss (or if there is no net capital loss, then any net long-term or short-term capital loss) realized after October and its late-year ordinary loss (defined as the sum of (i) the excess of post-October foreign currency and passive foreign investment company (“PFIC”) losses over post-October foreign currency and PFIC gains and (ii) the excess of post-December ordinary losses over post-December ordinary income) until the next taxable year in computing its investment company taxable income and net capital gain, which will defer the recognition of such realized losses. Such deferrals and other rules regarding gains and losses realized after October (or December) may affect the tax character of shareholder distributions.

Sales of Shares. Upon the sale or exchange of shares of a Fund, a shareholder will realize a taxable gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized and the shareholder’s basis in shares of the Fund. A redemption of shares by a Fund will be treated as a sale for this purpose. Such gain or loss will be treated as capital gain or loss if the shares are capital assets in the shareholder’s hands and will be long-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for more than one year and short-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for one year or less. Any loss realized on a sale or exchange will be disallowed to the extent the shares disposed of are replaced, including replacement through the reinvesting of dividends or capital gains distributions, or by an option or contract to acquire substantially identical shares, within a 61-day period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the disposition of the shares. In such a case, the basis of the shares acquired will be increased to reflect the disallowed loss. Any loss realized by a shareholder on the sale of Fund shares held by the shareholder for six months or less will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any distributions or deemed distributions of long-term capital gains received by the shareholder with respect to such share. The Medicare contribution tax described above will apply to the sale of Fund shares.

If a shareholder incurs a sales charge in acquiring shares of a Fund, disposes of those shares within 90 days and then, on or before January 31 of the following calendar year, acquires shares in a mutual fund for which the otherwise applicable sales charge is reduced by reason of a reinvestment right (e.g., an exchange privilege), the original sales charge will not be taken into account in computing gain/loss on the original shares to the extent the subsequent sales charge is reduced. Instead, the disregarded portion of the original sales charge will be added to the tax basis of the newly acquired shares. Furthermore, the same rule also applies to a disposition of the newly acquired shares made within 90 days of the second acquisition. This provision prevents shareholders from immediately deducting the sales charge by shifting their investments within a family of mutual funds.

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(a) will require a Fund to mark-to-market certain types of the positions in its portfolio (i.e., treat them as if they were closed out at the end of each year) and (b) may cause a Fund to recognize income without receiving cash with which to pay dividends or make distributions in amounts necessary to satisfy the distribution requirements for avoiding income and excise taxes. Each Fund will monitor its transactions, will make the appropriate tax elections and will make the appropriate entries in its books and records when it acquires any zero coupon security, non-U.S. currency, forward contract, option, futures contract or hedged investment in order to mitigate the effect of these rules and prevent disqualification of a Fund as a RIC.

A Fund’s investments in so-called “Section 1256 contracts,” such as regulated futures contracts, most non-U.S. currency forward contracts traded in the interbank market and options on most security indexes, are subject to special tax rules. All Section 1256 contracts held by a Fund at the end of its taxable year are required to be marked to their market value, and any unrealized gain or loss on those positions will be included in a Fund’s income as if each position had been sold for its fair market value at the end of the taxable year. The resulting gain or loss will be combined with any gain or loss realized by a Fund from positions in Section 1256 contracts closed during the taxable year. Provided such positions were held as capital assets and were not part of a “hedging transaction” nor part of a “straddle,” 60% of the resulting net gain or loss will be treated as long-term capital gain or loss, and 40% of such net gain or loss will be treated as short-term capital gain or loss, regardless of the period of time the positions were actually held by a Fund.

As a result of entering into swap contracts, a Fund may make or receive periodic net payments. A Fund may also make or receive a payment when a swap is terminated prior to maturity through an assignment of the swap or other closing transaction. Periodic net payments will generally constitute ordinary income or deductions, while termination of a swap will generally result in capital gain or loss (which will be a long-term capital gain or loss if a Fund has been a party to the swap for more than one year). With respect to certain types of swaps, a Fund may be required to currently recognize income or loss with respect to future payments on such swaps or may elect under certain circumstances to mark such swaps to market annually for tax purposes as ordinary income or loss.

Qualified Dividend Income. Distributions by a Fund of investment company taxable income (including any short-term capital gains), whether received in cash or shares, will be taxable either as ordinary income or as qualified dividend income, which is eligible to be taxed at long-term capital gain rates to the extent a Fund receives qualified dividend income on the securities it holds and a Fund reports the distribution as qualified dividend income. Qualified dividend income is, in general, dividend income from taxable U.S. corporations (but generally not from U.S. REITs) and certain non-U.S. corporations (e.g., non-U.S. corporations that are not PFICs and which are incorporated in a possession of the U.S. or in certain countries with a comprehensive tax treaty with the U.S., or the stock of which is readily tradable on an established securities market in the U.S. (where the dividends are paid with respect to such stock)). Under current IRS guidance, the U.S. has appropriate comprehensive income tax treaties with the following countries: Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China (but not with Hong Kong, which is treated as a separate jurisdiction for U.S. tax purposes), Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, the U.K. and Venezuela. Substitute payments received by a Fund for securities lent out by a Fund will not be qualified dividend income.

A dividend from a Fund will not be treated as qualified dividend income to the extent that: (i) the shareholder has not held the shares on which the dividend was paid for 61 days during the 121-day period that begins on the date that is 60 days before the date on which the shares become ex-dividend with respect to such dividend or a Fund fails to satisfy those holding period requirements with respect to the securities it holds that paid the dividends distributed to the shareholder (or, in the case of certain preferred stocks, the holding requirement of 91 days during the 181-day period beginning on the date that is 90 days before the date on which the stock becomes ex-dividend with respect to such dividend); (ii) a Fund or the shareholder is under an obligation (whether pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to substantially similar or related property; or (iii) the shareholder elects to treat such dividend as investment income under Section 163(d)(4)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code. Dividends received by a Fund from a REIT or another RIC may be treated as qualified dividend income only to the extent the dividend distributions are attributable to qualified dividend income received by such REIT or other RIC. In addition, the Tax Act permits a direct REIT shareholder to claim a 20% “qualified business income” deduction for ordinary REIT dividends, but does not permit a RIC paying dividends attributable to such income to pass through this special treatment to its shareholders. Unless future legislation or regulations provide for a pass-through, investors in such a RIC will treat such distributions as ordinary dividend income, as under prior law, whereas a direct REIT investor would benefit from the special treatment. It is expected that dividends received by a Fund from a REIT and

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distributed to a shareholder generally will be taxable to the shareholder as ordinary income. Distributions by a Fund of its net short-term capital gains will be taxable as ordinary income.

Corporate Dividends Received Deduction. Dividends paid by a Fund that are attributable to dividends received by the Fund from U.S. corporations may qualify for the U.S. federal dividends received deduction for corporations. A 46-day minimum holding period during the 90-day period that begins 45 days prior to ex-dividend date (or 91-day minimum holding period during the 180 period beginning 90 days prior to ex-dividend date for certain preference dividends) during which risk of loss may not be diminished is required for the applicable shares, at both the Fund and shareholder level, for a dividend to be eligible for the dividends received deduction. Restrictions may apply if indebtedness, including a short sale, is attributable to the investment.

Excess Inclusion Income. Under current law, the Funds serve to block unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”) from being realized by their tax-exempt shareholders. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a tax-exempt shareholder could realize UBTI by virtue of its investment in a Fund if shares in the Fund constitute debt-financed property in the hands of the tax-exempt shareholder within the meaning of Section 514(b) of the Internal Revenue Code. Certain types of income received by a Fund from REITs, real estate mortgage investment conduits, taxable mortgage pools or other investments may cause the Fund to report some or all of its distributions as “excess inclusion income.” To Fund shareholders, such excess inclusion income may: (i) constitute taxable income, as UBTI for those shareholders who would otherwise be tax-exempt such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) accounts, Keogh plans, pension plans and certain charitable entities; (ii) not be offset by otherwise allowable deductions for tax purposes; (iii) not be eligible for reduced U.S. withholding for non-U.S. shareholders even from tax treaty countries; and (iv) cause the Fund to be subject to tax if certain “disqualified organizations,” as defined by the Internal Revenue Code, are Fund shareholders. If a charitable remainder annuity trust or a charitable remainder unitrust (each as defined in Section 664 of the Internal Revenue Code) has UBTI for a taxable year, a 100% excise tax on the UBTI is imposed on the trust.

Non-U.S. Investments. Under Section 988 of the Internal Revenue Code, gains or losses attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates between the time a Fund accrues income or receivables or expenses or other liabilities denominated in a non-U.S. currency and the time a Fund actually collects such income or pays such liabilities are generally treated as ordinary income or ordinary loss. In general, gains (and losses) realized on debt instruments will be treated as Section 988 gain (or loss) to the extent attributable to changes in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the currencies in which the instruments are denominated. Similarly, gains or losses on non-U.S. currency, non-U.S. currency forward contracts and certain non-U.S. currency options or futures contracts denominated in non-U.S. currency, to the extent attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates between the acquisition and disposition dates, are also treated as ordinary income or loss unless a Fund was to elect otherwise.

Each Fund, but in particular the Foreign Funds, may be subject to non-U.S. income taxes withheld at the source. Each Fund, if permitted to do so, may elect to “pass through” to its investors the amount of non-U.S. income taxes paid by the Fund provided that the Fund held the security on the dividend settlement date and for at least 15 additional days immediately before and/or thereafter, with the result that each investor with respect to shares of the Fund held for a minimum 16-day holding period at the time of deemed distribution will (i) include in gross income, even though not actually received, the investor’s pro rata share of the Fund’s non-U.S. income taxes, and (ii) either deduct (in calculating U.S. taxable income) or credit (in calculating U.S. federal income tax) the investor’s pro rata share of the Fund’s non-U.S. income taxes. Withholding taxes on dividends on non-U.S. securities while such securities are lent out by the Fund are not eligible for non-U.S. tax credit pass through. Taxes not “passed through” for tax purposes will not be available to shareholders for foreign tax credit purposes. A non-U.S. person invested in a Fund in a year that the Fund elects to “pass through” its non-U.S. taxes may be treated as receiving additional dividend income subject to U.S. withholding tax. A non-U.S. tax credit may not exceed the investor’s U.S. federal income tax otherwise payable with respect to the investor’s non-U.S. source income. For this purpose, shareholders must treat as non-U.S. source gross income (i) their proportionate shares of non-U.S. taxes paid by a Fund and (ii) the portion of any dividend paid by the Fund that represents income derived from non-U.S. sources; the Fund’s gain from the sale of securities will generally be treated as U.S.-source income. Certain limitations will be imposed to the extent to which the non-U.S. tax credit may be claimed. If your Fund shares are loaned pursuant to securities lending arrangements, you may lose the ability to use any non-U.S. tax credits passed through by a Fund or to treat Fund dividends (paid while the shares are held by the borrower) as qualified dividends. Regarding a short sale with respect to shares of a Fund, substitute payments made to the lender of such shares may not be deductible under certain circumstances. Consult your financial intermediary or tax advisor.

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Passive Foreign Investment Companies. If a Fund purchases shares in PFICs, it may be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a portion of any “excess distribution” or gain from the disposition of such shares even if such income is distributed as a taxable dividend by the Fund to its shareholders. Additional charges in the nature of interest may be imposed on the Fund in respect of deferred taxes arising from such distributions or gains.

If a Fund were to invest in a PFIC and elect to treat the PFIC as a “qualified electing fund” under the Internal Revenue Code, in lieu of the foregoing requirements, a Fund might be required to include in income each year a portion of the ordinary earnings and net capital gains of the qualified electing fund, even if not distributed to a Fund, and such amounts would be subject to the 90% and excise tax distribution requirements described above. In order to make this election, a Fund would be required to obtain certain annual information from the PFICs in which it invests, which may be difficult or impossible to obtain. Currently proposed IRS regulations, if adopted, would treat such included amounts as nonqualifying RIC income to a Fund unless such amounts were also distributed to the Fund.

Alternatively, a Fund may make a mark-to-market election that would result in a Fund being treated as if it had sold and repurchased its PFIC stock at the end of each year. In such case, a Fund would report any such gains as ordinary income and would deduct any such losses as ordinary losses to the extent of previously recognized gains. The election must be made separately for each PFIC owned by a Fund and, once made, would be effective for all subsequent taxable years, unless revoked with the consent of the IRS. By making the election, a Fund could potentially ameliorate the adverse tax consequences with respect to its ownership of shares in a PFIC, but in any particular year may be required to recognize income in excess of the distributions it receives from PFICs and its proceeds from dispositions of PFIC stock. A Fund may have to distribute this “phantom” income and gain to satisfy the 90% distribution requirement and to avoid imposition of the 4% excise tax.

A Fund will make the appropriate tax elections, if possible, and take any additional steps that are necessary to mitigate the effects of these rules.

Other Taxes. Dividends, distributions and redemption proceeds may also be subject to additional state, local and non-U.S. taxes depending on each shareholder’s particular situation.

Properly-reported dividends are generally exempt from U.S. federal withholding tax where they (i) are paid in respect of a Fund’s “qualified net interest income” (generally, the Fund’s U.S. source interest income, other than certain contingent interest and interest from obligations of a corporation or partnership in which the Fund is at least a 10% shareholder or partner, reduced by expenses that are allocable to such income) or (ii) are paid in respect of the Fund’s “qualified short-term capital gains” (generally, the excess of the Fund’s net short-term capital gain over the Fund’s long-term capital loss for such taxable year). However, depending on its circumstances, a Fund may report all, some or none of its potentially eligible dividends as such qualified net interest income or as qualified short-term capital gains and/or treat such dividends, in whole or in part, as ineligible for this exemption from withholding. In order to qualify for this exemption from withholding, a non-U.S. shareholder will need to comply with applicable certification requirements relating to its non-U.S. status (including, in

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general, furnishing an IRS Form W-8BEN, IRS Form W-8BEN-E or substitute Form). In the case of shares held through an intermediary, the intermediary may withhold even if a Fund reports the payment as qualified net interest income or qualified short-term capital gain. Non-U.S. shareholders should contact their intermediaries with respect to the application of these rules to their accounts.

Distributions that a Fund reports as “short-term capital gain dividends” or “long-term capital gain dividends” will not be treated as such to a recipient foreign shareholder if the distribution is attributable to gain received from the sale or exchange of U.S. real property or an interest in a U.S. real property holding corporation and the Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property exceeded certain levels. Instead, if the foreign shareholder has not owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of a Fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of distribution, such distributions will be subject to 30% withholding by the Fund and will be treated as ordinary dividends to the foreign shareholder; if the foreign shareholder owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of the Fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of the distribution, such distribution will be treated as real property gain subject to 21% withholding tax and could subject the foreign shareholder to U.S. filing requirements. Additionally, if a Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property were to exceed certain levels, a foreign shareholder realizing gains upon redemption from the Fund could be subject to the 21% withholding tax and U.S. filing requirements unless more than 50% of the Fund’s shares were owned by U.S. persons at such time or unless the foreign person had not held more than 5% of the Fund’s outstanding shares throughout either such person’s holding period for the redeemed shares or, if shorter, the previous five years.

The rules laid out in the previous paragraph, other than the withholding rules, will apply notwithstanding a Fund’s participation in a wash sale transaction or its payment of a substitute dividend.

Distributions to certain foreign shareholders by a Fund at least 50% of the assets of which are “U.S. real property interests” (as defined in the Internal Revenue Code and Treasury regulations) at any time during the five-year period ending on the date of the distributions, to the extent the distributions are attributable to gains from sales or exchanges of U.S. real property interests (including shares in certain “U.S. real property holding corporations” such as certain REITs, although exceptions may apply if any class of stock of such a corporation is regularly traded on an established securities market and the Fund has held no more than 5% of such class of stock at any time during the five-year period ending on the date of the distributions), generally must be treated by such foreign shareholders as income effectively connected to a trade or business within the U.S., which is generally subject to tax at the graduated rates applicable to U.S. shareholders, except for distributions to foreign shareholders that held no more than 5% of any class of stock of the Fund at any time during the previous one-year period ending on the date of the distributions. Such distributions may be subject to U.S. withholding tax and may require a foreign shareholder to file a U.S. federal income tax return. In addition, sales or redemptions of shares held by certain foreign shareholders in such a Fund generally will be subject to U.S. withholding tax and generally will require the foreign shareholder to file a U.S. federal income tax return, although exceptions may apply if more than 50% of the value of the Fund’s shares are held by U.S. shareholders or the foreign shareholder selling or redeeming the shares has held no more than 5% of any class of stock of the Fund at any time during the five-year period ending on the date of the sale or redemption.

Provided that more than 50% of the value of a Fund’s stock is held by U.S. shareholders, redemptions and other distributions made in the form of U.S. real property interests (including shares in certain “U.S. real property holding corporations”, although exceptions may apply if any class of stock of such a corporation is regularly traded on an established securities market and the Fund has held no more than 5% of such class of stock at any time during the five-year period ending on the date of the distribution) generally will cause the Fund to recognize a portion of any unrecognized gain in the U.S. real property interests equal to the product of (i) the excess of fair market value of such U.S. real property interests over the Fund’s adjusted bases in such interests and (ii) the greatest foreign ownership percentage of the Fund during the five-year period ending on the date of distribution.

Shareholders that are nonresident aliens or foreign entities are urged to consult their own tax advisors concerning the particular tax consequences to them of an investment in a Fund.

137

the IRS information, including the names, addresses and taxpayer identification numbers of direct and indirect U.S. account holders; comply with due diligence procedures with respect to the identification of U.S. accounts; report to the IRS certain information with respect to U.S. accounts maintained; agree to withhold tax on certain payments made to non-compliant foreign financial institutions or to account holders who fail to provide the required information; and determine certain other information concerning their account holders, or (ii) in the event an intergovernmental agreement and implementing legislation are adopted, provide local revenue authorities with similar account holder information. Other foreign entities may need to report the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of each substantial U.S. owner or provide certifications of no substantial U.S. ownership unless certain exceptions apply.

Shares of a Fund held by a non-U.S. shareholder at death will be considered situated within the U.S. and subject to the U.S. estate tax.

Financial Statements

Miscellaneous Information

Counsel. Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, located at 787 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019, is counsel to the Trust.

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, located at Three Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA 94111, serves as the Trust's independent registered public accounting firm, audits the Funds' financial statements, and may perform other services.

138

BFA has registered the following Fund for marketing to investors in Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the U.K.

iShares Select Dividend ETF

139

Appendix A1 - iShares ETFs Proxy Voting Policy

BlackRock U.S. Registered Funds

Open-End Mutual Funds and iShares ETFs¹ Proxy Voting Policy

Procedures Governing Delegation of Proxy Voting to Fund Adviser

December 29, 2017

BlackRock has adopted guidelines and procedures (together and as from time to time amended, the “BlackRock Proxy Voting Guidelines”) governing proxy voting by accounts managed by BlackRock.

A-1

Appendix A2 – iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy

BlackRock U.S. Registered Funds

iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy

Procedures Governing Delegation of Proxy Voting to Fund Adviser

September 28, 2018

A-2

INTRODUCTION TO BLACKROCK

PHILOSOPHY ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, ENGAGEMENT AND VOTING

The six key themes are:

A-6

•	Boards and directors;
•	Auditors and audit-related issues;
•	Capital structure, mergers, asset sales and other special transactions;
•	Remuneration and benefits;
•	Environmental and social issues; and
•	General corporate governance matters.

Boards and directors

We expect the board of directors to promote and protect shareholder interests by:

•	establishing an appropriate corporate governance structure;
•	supporting and overseeing management in setting strategy;
•	ensuring the integrity of financial statements;
•	making decisions regarding mergers, acquisitions and disposals;
•	establishing appropriate executive compensation structures; and
•	addressing business issues including environmental and social issues when they have the potential to materially impact company reputation and performance.

•	current employment at the company or a subsidiary;
•	former employment within the past several years as an executive of the company;
•	providing substantial professional services to the company and/or members of the company’s management;
•	having had a substantial business relationship in the past three years;

A-7

•	having, or representing a shareholder with, a substantial shareholding in the company;
•	being an immediate family member of any of the aforementioned; and
•	interlocking directorships.

Auditors and audit-related issues

Capital structure, mergers, asset sales and other special transactions

A-8

Remuneration and benefits

Environmental and social issues

General corporate governance matters

A-9

corporate governance matters, including on changes to governance mechanisms, to submit proposals to the shareholders’ meeting and to call special meetings of shareholders.

BLACKROCK’S OVERSIGHT OF ITS INVESTMENT STEWARDSHIP ACTIVITIES

Oversight

Vote execution

A-10

Conflicts management policies and procedures

•	BlackRock clients who may be issuers of securities or proponents of shareholder resolutions
•	BlackRock business partners or vendors who may be issuers of securities or proponents of shareholder resolutions
•	BlackRock employees who may sit on the boards of public companies held in BlackRock portfolios
•	Significant BlackRock, Inc. investors who may be issuers of securities held in BlackRock portfolios
•	Securities of BlackRock, Inc. or BlackRock investment funds held in BlackRock portfolios
•	BlackRock, Inc. board members who actively serve as senior executives of public companies held in BlackRock portfolios

BlackRock has taken certain steps to mitigate perceived or potential conflicts including, but not limited to, the following:

•

Adopted the Guidelines which are designed to protect and enhance the economic value of the companies in which BlackRock invests on behalf of clients.

•

A-11

•

Voting guidelines

Reporting

A-12

Appendix A4 – Supplemental BlackRock Sustainable Proxy Voting Guidelines

September 28, 2018

Environmental and social issues

We may vote against the election of directors where we have concerns that a company might not be dealing with E&S issues appropriately. Sometimes we may reflect such concerns by supporting a shareholder proposal on the issue, where there seems to be either a significant potential threat or realized harm to shareholders’ interests caused by poor management of material E&S matters. In deciding our course of action, we will assess the nature of our engagement with the company on the issue over time, including whether:

•	The company has already taken sufficient steps to address the concern
•	The company is in the process of actively implementing a response
•	There is a clear and material economic disadvantage to the company in the near-term if the issue is not addressed in the manner requested by the shareholder proposal

Environmental shareholder proposals:

Climate risks and opportunities:

A-13

¹	As envisioned by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCC”) Conference of the Parties to the Paris Climate Accord in 2015.

Sustainability Disclosures

Social and political shareholder proposals:

Data Privacy and cybersecurity:

Human Capital Management:

A-14

Human Rights

Opioids:

Product safety, supply chains and distribution channels:

Corporate political activities:

A-15

Appendix B - Regular Holidays and Redemptions

Regular Holidays. For every occurrence of one or more intervening holidays in the applicable non-U.S. market that are not holidays observed in the U.S. equity market, the redemption settlement cycle may be extended by the number of such intervening holidays. In addition to holidays, other unforeseeable closings in a non-U.S. market due to emergencies and delivery cycles for transferring securities to redeeming investors may also prevent the Trust from delivering securities within the normal settlement period.

The securities delivery cycles currently practicable for transferring portfolio securities to redeeming investors, coupled with non-U.S. market holiday schedules, will require a delivery process longer than seven calendar days, in certain circumstances. The holidays applicable to each Fund during such periods are listed below, as are instances where more than seven days will be needed to deliver redemption proceeds. Although certain holidays may occur on different dates in subsequent years, the number of days required to deliver redemption proceeds in any given year is not expected to exceed the maximum number of days listed below for each Fund. The proclamation of new holidays, the treatment by market participants of certain days as “informal holidays” (e.g., days on which no or limited securities transactions occur, as a result of substantially shortened trading hours), the elimination of existing holidays, or changes in local securities delivery practices, could affect the information set forth herein in the future.

In calendar year 2018 (the only year for which holidays are known at the time of filing of this SAI), the dates of regular holidays affecting the relevant securities markets in which a Fund invests are as follows (please note that these holiday schedules are subject to potential changes in the relevant securities markets):

2018

Albania
January 1	April 9	November 28
January 2	May 1	November 29
March 14	June 14	December 10
March 22	August 21	December 25
April 2	October 19

Argentina
January 1	April 2	August 20
February 12	May1	October 15
February 13	May 25	November 6
March 29	June 20	November 19
March 30	July 9	December 25

Australia
January 1	April 25	October 1
January 26	May 7	October 8
March 5	June 4	November 6
March 12	June 11	December 24
March 30	August 6	December 25
April 2	August 15	December 26
April 3	September 24	December 31

Austria
January 1	May 21	December 24
March 30	May 31	December 25
April 2	August 15	December 26
May 1	October 26	December 31
May 10	November 1

Bahrain
January 1	August 23	November 20
May 1	September 11	December 16
June 17	September 19	December 17
August 22	September 20

The Bahraini market is closed every Friday.

Bangladesh
February 21	June 17	September 2
March 26	July 1	November 21
April 29	August 15	December 16
May 1	August 21	December 25
May 2	August 22	December 31
June 12	August 23

The Bangladeshi market is closed every Friday.

B-1

Belgium
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Benin
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Bermuda
January 1	August 2	November 12
March 30	August 3	December 25
May 25	September 3	December 26
June 18

Bosnia and Herzegovina
January 1	April 30	August 20
January 2	May 1	August 21
March 1	May 2	November 26
March 2	June 14	December 25
April 2	June 15

Botswana
January 1	May 10	October 2
January 2	July 2	December 25
March 30	July 16	December 26
April 2	July 17
May 1	October 1

Brazil
January 1	May 1	November 15
January 25	May 31	November 20
February 12	July 9	December 24
February 13	September 7	December 25
February 14	October 12	December 31
March 30	November 2

Bulgaria
January 1	May 1	September 24
March 5	May 7	December 24
April 6	May 24	December 25
April 9	September 6	December 26

Burkina Faso
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Canada
January 1	May 21	October 8
January 2	June 25	November 12
February 12	July 2	December 25
February 19	August 6	December 26
March 30	September 3

Chile
January 1	July 16	October 15
March 30	August 15	November 1
May 1	September 17	November 2
May 21	September 18	December 25
July 2	September 19	December 31

China
January 1	April 5	October 1
February 15	April 6	October 2
February 16	April 30	October 3
February 19	May 1	October 4
February 20	June 18	October 5
February 21	September 24

B-2

Colombia
January 1	May 14	August 20
January 8	June 4	October 15
March 19	June 11	November 5
March 29	July 2	November 12
March 30	July 20	December 25
May 1	August 7

Costa Rica
January 1	May 1	October 15
March 29	July 25	December 25
March 30	August 2
April 11	August 15

Croatia
January 1	June 22	December 24
March 30	June 25	December 25
April 2	August 15	December 26
May 1	October 8	December 31
May 31	November 1

Cyprus
January 1	April 9	October 1
February 19	April 10	December 24
March 30	May 1	December 25
April 2	May 28	December 26
April 6	August 15

Czechia
January 1	May 8	December 24
March 30	July 5	December 25
April 2	July 6	December 26
May 1	September 28	December 31

Denmark
January 1	May 10	December 25
March 29	May 11	December 26
March 30	May 21	December 31
April 2	June 5
April 27	December 24

Egypt
January 1	April 25	August 20
January 7	May 1	August 21
January 25	June 17	August 22
April 8	July 1	September 11
April 9	July 23	November 20

The Egyptian market is closed every Friday.

Estonia
January 1	May 10	December 26
March 30	August 20	December 31
April 2	December 24
May 1	December 25

Finland
January 1	May 10	December 25
March 30	June 22	December 26
April 2	December 6	December 31
May 1	December 24

France
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Georgia
January 1	March 8	May 9
January 2	April 6	August 28
January 19	April 9	November 23

Germany
January 1	May 21	December 26
March 30	October 3	December 31
April 2	December 24
May 1	December 25

B-3

Ghana
January 1	May 25	December 7
March 6	June 15	December 25
March 30	July 2	December 26
April 2	August 22
May 1	September 21

Greece
January 1	April 6	August 15
February 19	April 9	December 24
March 30	May 1	December 25
April 2	May 28	December 26

Guinea-Bissau
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Hong Kong
January 1	April 5	October 17
January 27	May 1	December 24
February 15	May 22	December 25
February 16	June 18	December 26
February 19	July 2	December 31
March 30	September 25
April 2	October 1

Hungary
January 1	May 1	November 2
March 15	May 21	December 24
March 16	August 20	December 25
March 30	October 22	December 26
April 2	October 23	December 31
April 30	November 1

Iceland
January 1	May 1	December 25
March 29	May 10	December 26
March 30	May 21	December 31
April 2	August 6
April 19	December 24

India
January 26	May 1	October 18
February 13	August 15	November 7
February 19	August 17	November 8
March 2	August 22	November 21
March 29	September 13	November 23
March 30	September 20	December 25
April 30	October 2

Indonesia
January 1	June 13	September 11
February 16	June 14	November 20
March 30	June 15	December 24
May 1	June 18	December 25
May 10	June 19	December 31
May 29	August 17
June 1	August 22

Ireland
January 1	May 28	December 24
March 19	June 4	December 25
March 30	August 6	December 26
April 2	August 27	December 31
May 7	October 29

B-4

Israel
March 1	May 20	September 24
April 1	July 22	September 25
April 2	September 9	September 26
April 3	September 10	September 27
April 4	September 11	September 30
April 5	September 18	October 1
April 18	September 19
April 19	September 23

The Israeli market is closed every Friday.

Italy
January 1	May 1	December 25
March 30	August 15	December 26
April 2	December 24	December 31

Ivory Coast
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Jamaica
January 1	May 23	December 25
February 14	August 1	December 26
March 30	August 6
April 2	October 15

Japan
January 1	April 30	October 8
January 2	May 3	November 23
January 3	May 4	December 24
January 8	July 16	December 31
February 12	September 17
March 21	September 24

Jordan
January 1	August 21	November 21
May 1	August 22	December 25
May 25	August 23
June 17	September 12

The Jordanian market is closed every Friday.

Kazakhstan
January 1	April 30	August 30
January 2	May 1	August 31
March 8	May 7	December 3
March 9	May 8	December 17
March 21	May 9	December 18
March 22	July 6	December 31
March 23	August 21

Kenya
January 1	June 1	December 25
March 30	June 15	December 26
April 2	October 10
May 1	December 12

Kuwait
January 1	June 17	August 23
February 25	August 20	September 11
February 26	August 21	November 22
April 15	August 22

The Kuwaiti market is closed every Friday.

Latvia
January 1	May 4	December 26
March 30	May 10	December 31
April 2	November 19
April 30	December 24
May 1	December 25

B-5

Lithuania
January 1	May 1	November 1
February 16	May 10	December 24
March 30	July 6	December 25
April 2	August 15	December 26

Luxembourg
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Malawi
January 1	April 2	July 6
January 15	May 1	October 15
March 5	May 14	December 25
March 30	June 15	December 26

Malaysia
January 1	May 29	September 11
January 31	June 14	September 17
February 1	June 15	November 6
February 15	August 22	November 20
February 16	August 31	December 25
May 1	September 10

Mali
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Mauritius
January 1	February 16	November 2
January 2	March 12	November 7
January 31	May 1	December 25
February 1	August 15
February 13	September 14

Mexico
January 1	March 30	November 2
February 5	April 2	November 19
March 19	April 30	December 12
March 29	May 1	December 25

Morocco
January 1	July 30	August 22
January 11	August 14	September 11
May 1	August 20	November 6
June 14	August 21	November 20

Namibia
January 1	May 1	September 24
March 21	May 4	December 10
March 30	May 25	December 17
April 2	August 9	December 25
April 27	August 27	December 26

The Netherlands
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

New Zealand
January 1	April 2	December 25
January 2	April 25	December 26
February 6	June 4
March 30	October 22

Niger
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Nigeria
January 1	June 15	November 19
March 30	June 18	December 25
April 2	August 22	December 26
May 1	August 23
May 29	October 1

B-6

Norway
January 1	May 1	December 25
March 28	May 10	December 26
March 29	May 17	December 31
March 30	May 21
April 2	December 24

Oman
January 1	August 22	November 19
June 17	August 23	November 20
June 18	September 11
July 23	November 18

The Omani market is closed every Friday.

Pakistan
January 1	June 18	September 20
February 5	July 2	September 21
March 23	August 22	November 20
May 1	August 23	December 25
June 15	August 24

Panama
January 1	March 30	November 26
January 8	May 1	December 25
February 13	November 5	December 31

Peru
January 1	May 1	October 8
March 29	June 29	November 1
March 30	August 30	December 25

The Philippines
January 1	May 1	November 30
January 2	June 12	December 24
February 16	August 21	December 25
March 29	August 27	December 31
March 30	November 1
April 9	November 2

Poland
January 1	May 3	December 25
January 2	May 31	December 26
March 30	August 15	December 31
April 2	November 1
May 1	December 24

Portugal
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Puerto Rico
January 1	July 4	November 23
January 15	September 3	December 24
February 19	October 8	December 25
March 30	November 12
May 28	November 22

Qatar
January 1	June 18	August 22
February 13	June 19	December 18
March 4	August 20
June 17	August 21

The Qatari market is closed every Friday.

Romania
January 1	May 1	November 30
January 2	May 28	December 25
January 24	June 1	December 26
April 9	August 15

Russia
January 1	March 8	November 5
January 2	May 1	December 31
January 8	May 9
February 23	June 12

B-7

Saudi Arabia
June 17	June 21	August 22
June 18	August 19	August 23
June 19	August 20	September 23
June 20	August 21

The Saudi Arabian market is closed every Friday.

Senegal
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Serbia
January 1	April 6	November 12
January 2	April 9	December 31
February 15	May 1
February 16	May 2

Singapore
January 1	May 29	November 6
February 16	June 15	December 25
March 30	August 9
May 1	August 22

The Slovak Republic
January 1	May 8	December 24
March 30	July 5	December 25
April 2	August 29	December 26
May 1	November 1

Slovenia
January 1	May 1	December 24
January 2	May 2	December 25
February 8	June 25	December 26
March 30	August 15	December 31
April 2	October 31
April 27	November 1

South Africa
January 1	April 27	December 17
March 21	May 1	December 25
March 30	August 9	December 26
April 2	September 24

South Korea
January 1	May 22	September 26
February 15	June 6	October 3
February 16	June 13	October 9
March 1	August 15	December 25
May 1	September 24	December 31
May 7	September 25

Spain
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Sri Lanka
January 1	April 20	September 24
January 15	April 30	October 24
January 31	May 1	November 6
February 5	May 29	November 20
February 13	June 15	November 22
March 1	June 27	December 25
March 30	July 27
April 13	August 22

Srpska
January 1	April 6	May 2
January 2	April 9	May 9
January 9	May 1	November 21

B-8

Swaziland
January 1	April 25	September 6
January 5	May 1	December 25
March 30	May 10	December 26
April 2	July 23
April 19	August 27

Sweden
January 1	May 1	November 2
January 5	May 9	December 24
March 29	May 10	December 25
March 30	June 6	December 26
April 2	June 22	December 31

Switzerland
January 1	May 1	December 25
January 2	May 10	December 26
March 30	May 21
April 2	August 1

Taiwan
January 1	February 20	June 18
February 13	February 28	September 24
February 14	April 4	October 10
February 15	April 5	December 31
February 16	April 6
February 19	May 1

Tanzania
January 1	May 1	December 20
January 12	June 15	December 25
March 30	August 8	December 26
April 2	August 22
April 26	November 21

Thailand
January 1	May 1	October 23
January 2	May 29	December 5
March 1	July 27	December 10
April 6	July 30	December 31
April 13	August 13
April 16	October 15

Togo
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Tunisia
January 1	June 15	September 12
March 20	July 25	October 15
April 9	August 13	November 20
May 1	August 21

Turkey
January 1	June 15	August 23
April 23	August 20	August 24
May 1	August 21	August 30
June 14	August 22	October 29

Uganda
January 1	April 2	November 30
January 26	May 1	December 25
February 16	June 15	December 26
March 8	August 21
March 30	October 9

Ukraine
January 1	May 1	June 28
January 8	May 2	August 24
March 8	May 9	October 15
April 9	May 28	December 25

The United Arab Emirates
January 1	August 21	November 20
June 14	August 22	December 2
August 20	September 11	December 3

The United Arab Emirates market is closed every Friday.

B-9

The United Kingdom
January 1	May 28	December 26
March 30	August 27	December 31
April 2	December 24
May 7	December 25

Uruguay
January 1	April 23	October 15
February 12	May 1	November 2
February 13	May 21	December 25
March 29	June 19
March 30	July 18

Venezuela
January 1	May 1	September 10
February 12	May 14	October 12
February 13	June 4	November 5
March 19	July 2	December 24
March 29	July 5	December 25
March 30	July 24	December 31
April 19	August 20

Vietnam
January 1	February 19	May 1
February 14	February 20	September 3
February 15	April 25
February 16	April 30

Zambia
January 1	May 1	October 18
March 8	May 25	October 24
March 12	July 2	December 25
March 30	July 3
April 2	August 6

Zimbabwe
January 1	April 18	August 14
February 21	May 1	December 25
March 30	May 25	December 26
April 2	August 13

Redemptions The longest redemption cycle for a Fund is a function of the longest redemption cycle among the countries and regions whose securities comprise the Funds. In calendar year 2018 (the only year for which holidays are known at the time of this SAI filing), the dates of regular holidays affecting the following securities markets present the worst-case redemption cycles* for a Fund as follows:

2018
Country	Trade Date	Settlement Date	Number of Days to Settle
Argentina	03/26/18	04/03/18	8
	03/27/18	04/04/18	8
	03/28/18	04/05/18	8

Australia	03/27/18	04/04/18	8
	03/28/18	04/05/18	8
	03/29/18	04/06/18	8
	12/19/18	12/27/18	8
	12/20/18	12/28/18	8
	12/21/18	01/02/19	12

Bangladesh	08/16/18	08/26/18	10
	08/19/18	08/27/18	8
	08/20/18	08/28/18	8

Bosnia and Herzegovina	04/25/18	05/03/18	8
	04/26/18	05/04/18	8
	04/27/18	05/07/18	10

B-10

iShares^® Trust

Statement of Additional Information

Dated December 1, 2017
(as revised September 28, 2018)

This Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) is not a prospectus. It should be read in conjunction with the current prospectuses (each, a “Prospectus” and collectively, the “Prospectuses”) for the following series of iShares Trust (the “Trust”):

Funds	Ticker	Listing Exchange
iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	IEFA	Cboe BZX
iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF	IDEV	NYSE Arca
iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	IXUS	NASDAQ
iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF	AXJV	NYSE Arca
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF	ACWF	NYSE Arca
iShares Exponential Technologies ETF	XT	NASDAQ
iShares MSCI ACWI ETF	ACWI	NASDAQ
iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	ACWX	NASDAQ
iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF	CRBN	NYSE Arca
iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF	AAXJ	NASDAQ

The Prospectuses for the above-listed funds (each, a “Fund” and collectively, the “Funds”) are dated December 1, 2017, as amended and supplemented from time to time. Capitalized terms used herein that are not defined have the same meaning as in the applicable Prospectus, unless otherwise noted. The Financial Statements and Notes contained in the applicable Annual Report and Semi-Annual Report of the Trust for the Funds are incorporated by reference into and are deemed to be part of this SAI. A copy of each Fund's Prospectus, Annual Report and Semi-Annual Report may be obtained without charge by writing to the Trust's distributor, BlackRock Investments, LLC (the “Distributor” or “BRIL”), 1 University Square Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540, calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) or visiting www.iShares.com. Each Fund's Prospectus is incorporated by reference into this SAI.

iShares^® and BlackRock^® are registered trademarks of BlackRock Fund Advisors and its affiliates.

General Description of the Trust and its Funds

•	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF
•	iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF
•	iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF
•	iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF
•	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF
•	iShares Exponential Technologies ETF
•	iShares MSCI ACWI ETF
•	iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF
•	iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF
•	iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF

Each Fund offers and issues shares at their net asset value per share (“NAV”) only in aggregations of a specified number of shares (each, a “Creation Unit”), generally in exchange for a designated portfolio of securities (including any portion of such securities for which cash may be substituted) included in its Underlying Index (the “Deposit Securities”), together with the deposit of a specified cash payment (the “Cash Component”). Shares of the Funds are listed for trading on national securities exchanges (a “Listing Exchange”) such as Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (“Cboe BZX”) (formerly known as BATS Exchange, Inc.), The Nasdaq Stock Market (“NASDAQ”) or NYSE Arca, Inc. (“NYSE Arca”). Shares of each Fund are traded in the secondary market and elsewhere at market prices that may be at, above or below the Fund's NAV. Shares are redeemable only in Creation Units, and, generally, in exchange for portfolio securities and a Cash Amount (as defined in the Redemption of Creation Units section of this SAI). Creation Units typically are a specified number of shares, generally ranging from 50,000 to 200,000 or multiples thereof.

The Trust reserves the right to permit or require that creations and redemptions of shares are effected fully or partially in cash and reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of Deposit Securities in lieu of cash. Shares may be issued in advance of receipt of Deposit Securities, subject to various conditions, including a requirement that the Authorized Participant (as defined in the Portfolio Holding Information section of this SAI) maintain with the Trust a cash deposit equal to at least 105% and up to 115%, which percentage BFA may change from time to time, of the market value of the omitted Deposit Securities. The Trust may use such cash deposit at any time to purchase Deposit Securities. See the Creation and Redemption of Creation Units section of this SAI. Transaction fees and other costs associated with creations or redemptions that include a cash portion may be higher than the transaction fees and other costs associated with in-kind creations or redemptions. In all cases, conditions with respect to creations and redemptions of shares and fees will be limited in accordance with the requirements of SEC rules and regulations applicable to management investment companies offering redeemable securities.

Exchange Listing and Trading

Shares of each Fund are listed for trading, and trade throughout the day, on the Listing Exchange and in other secondary markets. Shares of each Fund may also be listed on certain non-U.S. exchanges. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Listing Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of shares of any Fund will continue to be met. The Listing Exchange may, but is not required to, remove the shares of a Fund from listing if, among other things: (i) following the initial 12-month period beginning upon the commencement of trading of Fund shares, there are fewer than 50 record and/or beneficial owners of shares of the Fund for 30 or more consecutive trading days, (ii) the value of the Underlying Index on which a Fund is based is no longer calculated or available, or (iii) any other event shall occur or condition shall exist that, in the opinion of the Listing Exchange, makes further dealings on the Listing Exchange inadvisable. The Listing Exchange will also remove shares of a Fund from listing and trading upon termination of the Fund.

As in the case of other publicly-traded securities, when you buy or sell shares of a Fund through a broker, you may incur a brokerage commission determined by that broker, as well as other charges.

An IOPV has an equity securities component and a cash component. The equity securities values included in an IOPV are the values of the Deposit Securities for a Fund. While the IOPV reflects the current value of the Deposit Securities required to be deposited in connection with the purchase of a Creation Unit, it does not necessarily reflect the precise composition of the current portfolio of securities held by the Fund at a particular point in time because the current portfolio of the Fund may include securities that are not a part of the current Deposit Securities. Therefore, a Fund’s IOPV disseminated during the Listing Exchange trading hours should not be viewed as a real-time update of the Fund’s NAV, which is calculated only once a day.

Investment Strategies and Risks

Each of the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF, iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF, iShares Exponential Technologies ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF and iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF seeks to achieve its objective by investing primarily in securities issued by issuers that comprise its relevant Underlying Index and through transactions that provide substantially similar exposure to securities in the Underlying Index.

Each of the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF seeks to achieve its objective by investing all its assets that are invested in Indian securities in a wholly-owned subsidiary located in the Republic of Mauritius (each, a “Subsidiary” and collectively, the “Subsidiaries”). The remaining assets will be invested directly by each Fund. Each Subsidiary and Fund generally will collectively invest at least 90% of each Fund’s assets in the component securities of the Underlying Index and in investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the component securities of the Underlying Index (i.e., depositary receipts representing securities of the Underlying Index) and may invest up to 10% of each Fund’s assets in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents, including shares of money market funds advised by BFA or its affiliates, as well as in securities not included in its Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help each Fund track its Underlying Index. Each Fund seeks to track the investment results of its Underlying Index before fees and expenses of the Fund. BFA serves as investment adviser to both the Funds and the Subsidiaries. Unless otherwise indicated, references made in this SAI to the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF refer also to the Subsidiaries.

Each Fund operates as an index fund and is not actively managed. Adverse performance of a security in a Fund’s portfolio will ordinarily not result in the elimination of the security from the Fund’s portfolio.

Each Fund engages in representative sampling, which is investing in a sample of securities selected by BFA to have a collective investment profile similar to that of the Fund's Underlying Index. Securities selected have aggregate investment characteristics (based on market capitalization and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability, earnings valuation and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of the Underlying Index. A fund that uses representative sampling generally does not hold all of the securities that are in its underlying index.

Although the Funds do not seek leveraged returns, certain instruments used by the Funds may have a leveraging effect as described below.

Borrowing. Each Fund may borrow for temporary or emergency purposes, including to meet payments due from redemptions or to facilitate the settlement of securities or other transactions. Under normal market conditions, any borrowing by a Fund will not exceed 10% of the Fund’s net assets; however, each Fund (except for the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF, iShares Exponential Technologies ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF) generally does not intend to borrow money. The iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF, iShares Exponential Technologies ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF, along with certain other iShares funds, have entered into a line of credit with State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”) that may be used for temporary or emergency purposes, including redemption, settlement of trades and rebalancing of portfolio holdings.

Currency Transactions. A foreign currency forward contract is an over-the-counter (“OTC”) obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days greater than two days from the date on which the contract is agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract. A non-deliverable currency forward is an OTC currency forward settled in a specified currency, on a specified date, based on the difference between the agreed-upon exchange rate and the market exchange rate. A currency futures contract is a contract that trades on an organized futures exchange involving an obligation to deliver or acquire a specified amount of a specific currency, at a specified price and at a specified future time. Currency futures contracts may be settled on a net cash payment basis rather than by the sale and delivery of the underlying currency. To the extent required by law, liquid assets committed to futures contracts will be maintained. Each Fund does not expect to engage in currency transactions for the purpose of hedging against declines in the value of each Fund's assets that are denominated in a non-U.S. currency. A Fund may enter into non-U.S. currency forward and non-U.S. currency futures transactions to facilitate local securities settlements or to protect against currency exposure in connection with its distributions to shareholders, but may not enter into such contracts for speculative purposes.

by foreign governments through regulation of local exchange markets, foreign investment or particular transactions in non-U.S. currency. If BFA utilizes foreign exchange transactions at an inappropriate time or judges market conditions, trends or correlations incorrectly, foreign exchange transactions may not serve their intended purpose of improving the correlation of the Fund's return with the performance of the Underlying Index and may lower the Fund’s return. Each Fund could experience losses if the value of its currency forwards, options or futures positions were poorly correlated with its other investments or if it could not close out its positions because of an illiquid market or otherwise. In addition, a Fund could incur transaction costs, including trading commissions, in connection with certain non-U.S. currency transactions.

Diversification Status. The following table sets forth the diversification status of each Fund:

Diversified Funds		Non-Diversified Funds
iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF		iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF
iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF
iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF
iShares Exponential Technologies ETF
iShares MSCI ACWI ETF
iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF
iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF
iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF

Each Fund (whether diversified or non-diversified) intends to maintain the required level of diversification and otherwise conduct its operations so as to qualify as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) for purposes of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”), and to relieve the Fund of any liability for U.S. federal income tax to the extent that its earnings are distributed to shareholders, provided that the Fund satisfies a minimum distribution requirement. Compliance with the diversification requirements of the Internal Revenue Code may limit the investment flexibility of the Funds and may make it less likely that the Funds will meet their respective investment objectives.

Futures, Options on Futures and Securities Options. Futures contracts, options on futures and securities options may be used by a Fund to simulate investment in its Underlying Index, to facilitate trading or to reduce transaction costs. Each Fund may enter into futures contracts and options on futures that are traded on a U.S. or non-U.S. futures exchange. Each Fund will not use futures, options on futures or securities options for speculative purposes. Each Fund intends to use futures and options on futures in accordance with Rule 4.5 of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) promulgated under the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”). BFA, with respect to certain Funds, has claimed an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” in accordance with Rule 4.5 so that BFA, in respect of such Funds, is not subject to registration or regulation as a commodity pool operator under the CEA. See the Regulation Regarding Derivatives section of this SAI for more information.

reflect the market value of common stock of the firms included in the investments. Each Fund may enter into futures contracts to purchase securities indexes when BFA anticipates purchasing the underlying securities and believes prices will rise before the purchase will be made. Upon entering into a futures contract, a Fund will be required to deposit with the broker an amount of cash or cash equivalents known as “initial margin,” which is similar to a performance bond or good faith deposit on the contract and is returned to the Fund upon termination of the futures contract if all contractual obligations have been satisfied. Subsequent payments, known as “variation margin,” will be made to and from the broker daily as the price of the instrument or index underlying the futures contract fluctuates, making the long and short positions in the futures contract more or less valuable, a process known as “marking-to-market.” At any time prior to the expiration of a futures contract, each Fund may elect to close the position by taking an opposite position, which will operate to terminate the Fund’s existing position in the contract. To the extent required by law, each Fund will segregate liquid assets in an amount equal to its delivery obligations under the futures contracts. An option on a futures contract, as contrasted with a direct investment in such a contract, gives the purchaser the right, but no obligation, in return for the premium paid, to assume a position in the underlying futures contract at a specified exercise price at any time prior to the expiration date of the option. Upon exercise of an option, the delivery of the futures position by the writer of the option to the holder of the option will be accompanied by delivery of the accumulated balance in the writer’s futures margin account that represents the amount by which the market price of the futures contract exceeds (in the case of a call) or is less than (in the case of a put) the exercise price of the option on the futures contract. The potential for loss related to the purchase of an option on a futures contract is limited to the premium paid for the option plus transaction costs. Because the value of the option is fixed at the point of sale, there are no daily cash payments by the purchaser to reflect changes in the value of the underlying contract; however, the value of the option changes daily and that change would be reflected in the NAV of each Fund. The potential for loss related to writing call options is unlimited. The potential for loss related to writing put options is limited to the agreed-upon price per share, also known as the “strike price,” less the premium received from writing the put. Certain of the Funds may purchase and write put and call options on futures contracts that are traded on an exchange as a hedge against changes in value of their portfolio securities or in anticipation of the purchase of securities, and may enter into closing transactions with respect to such options to terminate existing positions. There is no guarantee that such closing transactions can be effected.

Lending Portfolio Securities. Each Fund may lend portfolio securities to certain borrowers that BFA determines to be creditworthy, including borrowers affiliated with BFA. The borrowers provide collateral that is maintained in an amount at least equal to the current market value of the securities loaned. No securities loan shall be made on behalf of a Fund if, as a result, the aggregate value of all securities loaned by the Fund exceeds one-third of the value of the Fund's total assets (including the value of the collateral received). A Fund may terminate a loan at any time and obtain the return of the securities loaned. Each Fund receives, by way of substitute payment, the value of any interest or cash or non-cash distributions paid on the loaned securities that it would have received if the securities were not on loan.

Each Fund retains a portion of the securities lending income and remits the remaining portion to BTC as compensation for its services as securities lending agent. Securities lending income is generally equal to the total of income earned from the reinvestment of cash collateral (and excludes collateral investment fees as defined below), and any fees or other payments to and from borrowers of securities. As securities lending agent, BTC bears all operational costs directly related to securities lending. Each Fund is responsible for fees in connection with the investment of cash collateral received for securities on loan in a money market fund managed by BFA; however, BTC has agreed to reduce the amount of securities lending income it receives in order to effectively limit the collateral investment fees the Fund bears to an annual rate of 0.04% (the “collateral investment fees”). Such money market fund shares will not be subject to a sales load, redemption fee, distribution fee or service fee.

Pursuant to the securities lending agreement dated January 1, 2015:

(i) International Equity Funds, such as the Funds, retain 80% of securities lending income (which excludes collateral investment fees) and (ii) this amount can never be less than 70% of the sum of securities lending income plus collateral investment fees.

In addition, commencing the business day following the date that the aggregate securities lending income (which includes, for this purpose, collateral investment fees) earned across the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex (as defined under “Management—Trustees and Officers”) in a calendar year exceeds the aggregate securities lending income earned across the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex in calendar year 2013 (the Hurdle Date), each applicable international equity fund, pursuant to the securities lending agreement, will receive for the remainder of that calendar year securities lending income as follows:

Non-U.S. Securities. Each Fund intends to purchase publicly-traded common stocks of non-U.S. issuers. To the extent a Fund invests in stocks of non-U.S. issuers, the Fund's investments in such stocks may be in the form of American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”) and European Depositary Receipts (“EDRs”) (collectively, “Depositary Receipts”). Depositary Receipts are receipts, typically issued by a bank or trust issuer, which evidence ownership of underlying securities issued by a non-U.S. issuer. For ADRs, the depository is typically a U.S. financial institution, and the underlying securities are issued by a non-U.S. issuer. For other forms of Depositary Receipts, the depository may be a non-U.S. or a U.S. entity, and the underlying securities may be issued by a non-U.S. or a U.S. issuer. Depositary Receipts are not necessarily denominated in the same currency as their underlying securities. Generally, ADRs, issued in registered form, are designed for use in the U.S. securities markets, and EDRs, issued in bearer form, are designed for use in European securities markets. GDRs are tradable both in the U.S. and in Europe and are designed for use throughout the world.

The Funds will not invest in any unlisted Depositary Receipt or any Depositary Receipt that BFA deems illiquid at the time of purchase or for which pricing information is not readily available. In general, Depositary Receipts must be sponsored, but a Fund may invest in unsponsored Depositary Receipts under certain limited circumstances. The issuers of unsponsored Depositary Receipts are not obligated to disclose material information in the U.S. Therefore, there may be less information available regarding such issuers, and there may be no correlation between available information and the market value of the Depositary Receipts.

Regulation Regarding Derivatives. The CFTC subjects advisors to registered investment companies to regulation by the CFTC if a fund that is advised by the advisor either (i) invests, directly or indirectly, more than a prescribed level of its liquidation value in CFTC-regulated futures, options and swaps (“CFTC Derivatives”), or (ii) markets itself as providing investment exposure to such instruments. The CFTC also subjects advisors to registered investment companies to regulation by the CFTC if the registered investment company invests in one or more commodity pools. To the extent a Fund uses CFTC Derivatives, it intends to do so below such prescribed levels and intends not to market itself as a “commodity pool” or a vehicle for trading such instruments.

BFA has claimed an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” under the CEA pursuant to Rule 4.5 under the CEA with respect to the iShares Exponential Technologies ETF. BFA is not, therefore, subject to registration or regulation as a “commodity pool operator” under the CEA with respect to the Fund.

The iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF, iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF, iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF and iShares MSCI All Country

Asia ex Japan ETF (the “No-Action Letter Funds”) may also have investments in “underlying funds” (and such underlying funds themselves may invest in underlying funds) not advised by BFA (which for purposes of the no-action letter referenced below may include certain securitized vehicles, mortgage real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and/or investment companies that may invest in CFTC Derivatives), and therefore may be viewed by the CFTC as commodity pools. BFA has no transparency into the holdings of these underlying funds because they are not advised by BFA. To address this issue of lack of transparency, the CFTC staff issued a no-action letter on November 29, 2012 permitting the adviser of a fund that invests in such underlying funds and that would otherwise have filed a claim of exclusion pursuant to CFTC Rule 4.5 to delay registration as a “commodity pool operator” until six months from the date on which the CFTC issues additional guidance on the treatment of CFTC Derivatives held by underlying funds. BFA, the adviser of the No-Action Letter Funds, has filed a claim with the CFTC for such Funds to rely on this no-action relief. Accordingly, BFA is not currently subject to registration or regulation as a “commodity pool operator” under the CEA in respect of such Funds.

Derivative contracts, including, without limitation, swaps, currency forwards, and non-deliverable forwards, are subject to regulation under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”) in the U.S. and under comparable regimes in Europe, Asia and other non-U.S. jurisdictions. Swaps, non-deliverable forwards and certain other derivatives traded in the OTC market are subject to variation margin requirements, and initial margining requirements will be phased in through 2020. Implementation of the margining and other provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act regarding clearing, mandatory trading, reporting and documentation of swaps and other derivatives have impacted and may continue to impact the costs to a Fund of trading these instruments and, as a result, may affect returns to investors in a Fund.

Repurchase agreements pose certain risks for a Fund, should it decide to utilize them. Such risks are not unique to the Funds, but are inherent in repurchase agreements. The Funds seek to minimize such risks, but because of the inherent legal uncertainties involved in repurchase agreements, such risks cannot be eliminated. Lower quality collateral and collateral with a longer maturity may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality collateral and collateral with a shorter maturity. If the repurchase agreement counterparty were to default, lower quality collateral may be more difficult to liquidate than higher quality collateral. Should the counterparty default and the amount of collateral not be sufficient to cover the counterparty’s repurchase obligation, a Fund would likely retain the status of an unsecured creditor of the counterparty (i.e., the position a Fund would normally be in if it were to hold, pursuant to its investment policies, other unsecured debt securities of the defaulting counterparty) with respect to the amount of the shortfall. As an unsecured creditor, a Fund would be at risk of losing some or all of the principal and income involved in the transaction.

Reverse Repurchase Agreements. Reverse repurchase agreements involve the sale of securities with an agreement to repurchase the securities at an agreed-upon price, date and interest payment and have the characteristics of borrowing. Generally, the effect of such transactions is that a Fund can recover all or most of the cash invested in the portfolio securities involved during the term of the reverse repurchase agreement, while in many cases the Fund is able to keep some of the interest income associated with those securities. Such transactions are advantageous only if a Fund has an opportunity to earn a rate of interest on the cash derived from these transactions that is greater than the interest cost of obtaining the same amount of cash. Opportunities to realize earnings from the use of the proceeds equal to or greater than the interest required to be paid may not always be available, and a Fund intends to use the reverse repurchase technique only when BFA believes it will be advantageous to the Fund. The use of reverse repurchase agreements may exaggerate any increase or decrease in the value of a Fund’s assets. A Fund’s exposure to reverse repurchase agreements will be covered by liquid assets having a value equal to or greater than the Fund’s obligations under such commitments. The use of reverse repurchase agreements is a form of leverage, and the proceeds obtained by a Fund through reverse repurchase agreements may be invested in additional securities.

Securities of Investment Companies. Each Fund may invest in the securities of other investment companies (including money market funds) to the extent permitted by law. Pursuant to the 1940 Act, a Fund’s investment in registered investment companies is generally limited to, subject to certain exceptions: (i) 3% of the total outstanding voting stock of any one investment company; (ii) 5% of a Fund’s total assets with respect to any one investment company; and (iii) 10% of a Fund’s total assets with respect to investment companies in the aggregate. To the extent allowed by law or regulation, each Fund intends from time to time to invest its assets in the securities of investment companies, including, but not limited to, money market funds, including those advised by or otherwise affiliated with BFA, in excess of the general limits discussed above. Other investment companies in which a Fund may invest can be expected to incur fees and expenses for operations, such as investment advisory and administration fees, which would be in addition to those incurred by the Fund. Pursuant to guidance issued by the SEC staff, fees and expenses of money market funds used for cash collateral received in connection with loans of securities are not treated as Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, which reflect a Fund’s pro rata share of the fees and expenses incurred by investing in other investment companies (as disclosed in the Prospectus, as applicable).

Short-Term Instruments and Temporary Investments. Each Fund may invest in short-term instruments, including money market instruments, on an ongoing basis to provide liquidity or for other reasons. Money market instruments are generally short-term investments that may include, but are not limited to: (i) shares of money market funds (including those advised by BFA or otherwise affiliated with BFA); (ii) obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities (including government-sponsored enterprises); (iii) negotiable certificates of deposit (“CDs”), bankers’ acceptances, fixed-time deposits and other obligations of U.S. and non-U.S. banks (including non-U.S. branches) and similar institutions; (iv) commercial paper rated, at the date of purchase, “Prime-1” by Moody's^® Investors Service, Inc., “F-1” by Fitch Ratings, Inc., or “A-1” by Standard & Poor's^® Financial Services LLC, a subsidiary of S&P Global, Inc. (“S&P Global Ratings”), or if unrated, of comparable quality as determined by BFA; (v) non-convertible corporate debt securities (e.g., bonds and debentures) with remaining maturities at the date of purchase of not more than 397 days and that satisfy the rating requirements set forth in Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act; (vi) repurchase agreements; and (vii) short-term U.S. dollar-denominated obligations of non-U.S. banks (including U.S. branches) that, in the opinion of BFA, are of comparable quality to obligations of U.S. banks that may be purchased by a Fund. Any of these instruments may be purchased on a current or forward-settled basis. Time deposits are non-negotiable deposits maintained in banking institutions for specified periods of time at stated interest rates. Bankers’ acceptances are time drafts drawn on commercial banks by borrowers, usually in connection with international transactions.

General Considerations and Risks

A discussion of some of the principal risks associated with an investment in a Fund is contained in the applicable Prospectus.

Commodities Investment Risk. Exposure to commodities markets may subject a Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. The commodities markets have experienced periods of extreme volatility. Similar future market conditions may result in rapid and substantial valuation increases or decreases in a Fund’s holdings.

The commodities markets may fluctuate widely based on a variety of factors. Movements in commodity investment prices are outside of a Fund's control and may not be anticipated by BFA. Price movements may be influenced by, among other things: governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies; changing market and economic conditions; market liquidity; weather and climate conditions, including droughts and floods; livestock disease; changing supply and demand relationships and levels of domestic production and imported commodities; changes in storage costs; the availability of local, intrastate and interstate transportation systems; energy conservation; the success of exploration projects; changes in international balances of payments and trade; domestic and foreign rates of inflation; currency devaluations and revaluations; domestic and foreign political and economic events; domestic and foreign interest rates and/or investor expectations concerning interest rates; foreign currency/exchange rates; domestic and foreign governmental regulation and taxation; war, acts of terrorism and other political upheaval and conflicts; governmental expropriation; investment and trading activities of mutual funds, hedge funds and commodities funds; and changes in philosophies and emotions of market participants. The frequency and magnitude of such changes cannot be predicted.

The prices of commodities can also fluctuate widely due to supply and demand disruptions in major producing or consuming regions. Certain commodities or natural resources may be produced in a limited number of countries and may be controlled by a small number of producers or groups of producers. As a result, political, economic, regulatory and supply-related events in such countries could have a disproportionate impact on the prices of such commodities.

A decrease in the production of a physical commodity or a decrease in the volume of such commodity available for transportation, mining, processing, storage or distribution may adversely impact the financial performance of a commodity or commodity-related company that devotes a portion of its business to that commodity. Production declines and volume decreases could be caused by various factors, including catastrophic events affecting production, depletion of resources, labor difficulties, environmental proceedings, increased regulations, equipment failures and unexpected maintenance problems, import supply disruption, governmental expropriation, political upheaval or conflicts or increased competition from alternative energy sources or commodity prices. Agricultural commodities may be adversely affected by weather or other natural phenomena, such as drought, floods and pests.

conditions, higher taxes on commodities or increased governmental regulations, increases in fuel economy, consumer shifts to the use of alternative commodities or fuel sources, changes in commodity prices, or weather.

The commodity markets are subject to temporary distortions and other disruptions due to, among other factors, lack of liquidity, the participation of speculators, and government regulation and other actions. U.S. futures exchanges and some foreign exchanges limit the amount of fluctuation in futures contract prices which may occur in a single business day (generally referred to as “daily price fluctuation limits”). The maximum or minimum price of a contract as a result of these limits is referred to as a “limit price.” If the limit price has been reached in a particular contract, no trades may be made beyond the limit price. Limit prices have the effect of precluding trading in a particular contract or forcing the liquidation of contracts at disadvantageous times or prices.

Liquidity Risk Management Rule Risk. In October 2016, the SEC adopted a liquidity risk management rule requiring open-end funds, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) such as the Funds, to establish a liquidity risk management program and enhance disclosures regarding fund liquidity. There are exclusions from certain portions of the liquidity risk management program requirements for “in-kind” ETFs . The Funds will be required to comply with portions of the rule by December 1, 2018. The effect the rule will have on the Funds, including a Fund’s ability to rely on the exclusions, is not yet known, but the rule may impact a Fund’s performance and ability to achieve its investment objective.

Volatility Risk. The value of a security may fluctuate due to factors affecting markets generally or particular industries. This volatility may affect the Funds' NAV. Although the Underlying Index was created to seek lower volatility than the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Index, there is no guarantee that these strategies will be successful. The Fund's index provider, MSCI, Inc. (“MSCI”) may be unsuccessful in creating an index that minimizes volatility, and there is a risk that each Fund may

experience more than minimum volatility. Securities in the Funds' portfolios may be subject to price volatility and their prices may not be any less volatile than the market as a whole and could be more volatile. Events or financial circumstances affecting individual securities or sectors may increase the volatility of the Funds.

Risk of Derivatives. A derivative is a financial contract, the value of which depends on, or is derived from, the value of an underlying asset, such as a security, a commodity (such as gold or silver), a currency or an index (a measure of value or rates, such as the S&P 500^® or the prime lending rate). A Fund may invest in stock index futures contracts, securities options and other derivatives. Compared to conventional securities, derivatives can be more sensitive to changes in interest rates or to sudden fluctuations in market prices and thus a Fund’s losses may be greater if it invests in derivatives than if it invests only in conventional securities. Derivatives are also subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the other party in the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligations. Derivatives generally involve the incurrence of leverage. To address such leverage and to prevent a Fund from being deemed to have issued senior securities as a result of an investment in derivatives, such Fund will segregate liquid assets equal to its obligations under the derivatives throughout the life of the investment.

Risk of Futures and Options on Futures Transactions. There are several risks accompanying the utilization of futures contracts and options on futures contracts. A position in futures contracts and options on futures contracts may be closed only on the exchange on which the contract was made (or a linked exchange). While each Fund plans to utilize futures contracts only if an active market exists for such contracts, there is no guarantee that a liquid market will exist for the contract at a specified time. Futures contracts, by definition, project price levels in the future and not current levels of valuation; therefore, market circumstances may result in a discrepancy between the price of the stock index future and the movement in a Fund's Underlying Index. In the event of adverse price movements, a Fund would continue to be required to make daily cash payments to maintain its required margin. In such situations, if a Fund has insufficient cash, it may have to sell portfolio securities to meet daily margin requirements at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so. In addition, a Fund may be required to deliver the instruments underlying the futures contracts it has sold.

The risk of loss in trading futures contracts or uncovered call options in some strategies (e.g., selling uncovered stock index futures contracts) is potentially unlimited. The Funds do not plan to use futures and options contracts in this way. The risk of a futures position may still be large as traditionally measured due to the low margin deposits required. In many cases, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in immediate and substantial loss or gain to the investor relative to the size of a required margin deposit. The Funds, however, intend to utilize futures and options contracts in a manner designed to limit their risk exposure to levels comparable to a direct investment in the types of stocks in which they invest.

Utilization of futures and options on futures by a Fund involves the risk of imperfect or even negative correlation to the Underlying Index if the index underlying the futures contract differs from the Underlying Index. There is also the risk of loss of margin deposits in the event of bankruptcy of a broker with whom a Fund has an open position in the futures contract or option. The purchase of put or call options will be based upon predictions by BFA as to anticipated trends, which predictions could prove to be incorrect.

Because the futures market generally imposes less burdensome margin requirements than the securities market, an increased amount of participation by speculators in the futures market could result in price fluctuations. Certain financial futures exchanges limit the amount of fluctuation permitted in futures contract prices during a single trading day. The daily limit establishes the maximum amount by which the price of a futures contract may vary either up or down from the previous day’s settlement price at the end of a trading session. Once the daily limit has been reached in a particular type of contract, no trades may be made on that day at a price beyond that limit. It is possible that futures contract prices could move to the daily limit for several consecutive trading days with little or no trading, thereby preventing prompt liquidation of futures positions and subjecting each Fund to substantial losses. In the event of adverse price movements, each Fund would be required to make daily cash payments of variation margin.

Risk of Investing in Non-U.S. Equity Securities. An investment in any of the Funds involves risks similar to those of investing in portfolios of equity securities traded on non-U.S. exchanges. These risks include market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic and political developments in those foreign countries, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. Investing in securities issued by issuers domiciled in countries other than the domicile of the investor and denominated in currencies other than an investor’s local currency entails certain considerations and risks not typically encountered by the investor in making investments in its home country and in that country’s currency. These considerations include favorable or unfavorable changes in interest rates, currency exchange rates, exchange control regulations and the costs that may be incurred in connection with conversions between various currencies. Investing in any of the Funds also involves certain risks and considerations not typically associated with investing in a fund whose portfolio contains exclusively securities of U.S. issuers. These risks include generally less liquid and less efficient securities markets; generally greater price volatility; less publicly available information about issuers; the imposition of withholding or other taxes; the imposition of restrictions on the expatriation of funds or other assets of the Funds; higher transaction and custody costs; delays and risks attendant in settlement procedures; difficulties in enforcing contractual obligations; lower liquidity and significantly smaller market capitalization; different accounting and disclosure standards; lower levels of regulation of the securities markets; more substantial government interference with the economy and businesses; higher rates of inflation; greater social, economic, and political uncertainty; the risk of nationalization or expropriation of assets; and the risk of war.

Russia Sanctions. The U.S. and the Economic and Monetary Union (the “EMU”) of the European Union (the “EU”), along with the regulatory bodies of a number of countries including Japan, Australia, Norway, Switzerland and Canada (collectively, “Sanctioning Bodies”), have imposed economic sanctions, which can consist of prohibiting certain securities trades, prohibiting certain private transactions in the energy sector, asset freezes and prohibition of all business, against certain Russian individuals and Russian corporate entities. The Sanctioning Bodies could also institute broader sanctions on Russia. These sanctions, or even the threat of further sanctions, may result in the decline of the value and liquidity of Russian securities, a weakening of the ruble or other adverse consequences to the Russian economy. These sanctions could also result in the immediate freeze of Russian securities and/or funds invested in prohibited assets, impairing the ability of a Fund to buy, sell, receive or deliver those securities and/or assets. Additional sanctions against Russia have been, and may in the future be, imposed by the U.S. or other countries.

not be able to effectively implement a representative sampling strategy, which may result in significant tracking error between a Fund’s performance and the performance of its Underlying Index.

Treaty/Tax Risk. Each of the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF operate, in part, through the Subsidiaries, which in turn invest in securities of Indian issuers. The Subsidiaries should be eligible to take advantage of the benefits of the Double Tax Avoidance Agreement between India and Mauritius (“DTAA”) in relation to investments made until March 31, 2017. Numerous investors have relied on the benefits of the DTAA to invest in India through Mauritius in the past.

An investor is required to submit the tax residency certificate (“TRC”) as issued in the country of residence and provide other documents and information as prescribed by the Government of India to claim benefits under the DTAA.

India and Mauritius signed a protocol (“Protocol”) amending the double tax avoidance arrangement between the two countries (India Mauritius DTAA) on May 10, 2016. The Protocol gives India the right to tax capital gains that arise from alienation of shares of an Indian company acquired by a Mauritian tax resident. However, the Protocol provides for grandfathering of investments made before April 1, 2017. Returns from investments made on or after April 1, 2017 are subject to capital gains tax in India, although the Protocol introduces a limitation of benefits provision which shall be a prerequisite for a reduced rate of tax (50% of domestic tax rate) on capital gains arising during a two year transition period from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2019. The Protocol is now in effect, which could result in the imposition of withholding and capital gains taxes and/or other taxes on the Subsidiaries by tax authorities in India. This could significantly reduce the return to each of the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF on its investments and the return received by each Fund’s shareholders.

Criteria for Residence of Companies in India.

A foreign company will be considered a resident in India if its place of effective management (“POEM”) (defined as a place where key management and commercial decisions that are necessary for the conduct of the business of an entity as a whole are in substance made) is in India in the relevant financial year. This test is to be applied taking the relevant financial year as a whole into consideration. The POEM test is introduced as the criteria for determining tax residence of companies established outside India. The POEM test is presently in effect starting April 1, 2016 (FY 2016-17). The CBDT has also issued final guidelines for determination of POEM of a company established outside India through Circular No. 6 of 2017 (“Guidelines”). Guidelines provide that the test will be fact-based, and also provide separate tests for companies engaged in active business

outside India, and other companies. CBDT vide circular issued on February 23, 2017 clarified that the provisions of POEM shall not apply to a company having turnover of INR 500 million or less in a year.

Indirect Transfers.

The Income Tax Act, 1961 (“IT Act”) imposes Indian tax and withholding obligations with respect to the transfer of shares in an overseas company that derives its value substantially from assets situated in India (“indirect transfers”). It has been clarified that Indian tax authorities will not reopen any assessment proceedings that were completed before April 1, 2012 and where no notice for reassessment has been issued prior to that date. It has also been clarified that any assessment or any other order which stands validated due to the amendments in the Finance Act would be enforced. Given this clarification issued by the CBDT, iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF do not expect that their respective shareholders or each Fund will become subject to tax or to withholding obligations with respect to completed assessments.

It has been clarified that the share or interest of the foreign entity shall be deemed to derive its value substantially from the assets located in India, if the value of such Indian assets exceeds INR 100 million, and represents at least 50% of the value of all the assets owned by the foreign entity. The value of an asset shall be the fair market value as of the specified date, of such an asset without reduction of liabilities. The fair market value will be determined in accordance with the final rules ratified on June 28, 2016. It has also been provided that where all the assets of the foreign entity are not located in India, only such part of the income as is reasonably attributable to the Indian assets shall be subject to capital gains tax in India. The indirect transfer shall not be applicable in following cases:

•

With respect to a foreign entity that holds the Indian assets directly, if the transferor of share or interest in such a foreign entity (along with its associated enterprises), at any time in the twelve months preceding the year of transfer neither holds the right of control or management in the foreign entity, nor holds voting power or share capital or interest exceeding 5% of the total voting power or total share capital in such foreign entity.

•

With respect to a foreign entity that holds the Indian assets indirectly, if the transferor of share or interest in such foreign entity (along with its associated enterprises), at any time in the twelve months preceding the year of transfer does not hold the right of control or management in relation to the foreign entity, which would entitle them to the right of control or management in the foreign entity which directly holds the Indian assets; or does not hold voting power or share capital or interest exceeding 5% of the total voting power or total share capital in the foreign entity, which results in holding the same share capital or voting power in the entity which directly holds the Indian assets.

If the gains arising from transfer of share or interest in a foreign entity are taxable in India in accordance with the aforementioned provisions of indirect transfer, the purchaser of the securities will be required to withhold applicable Indian taxes.

Gains realized when a non-resident acquires shares of a foreign company from another non-resident and the foreign company derives “substantial value” from Indian assets, (meaning that the value of Indian assets (i) exceeds INR 100 million, and (ii) represents at least 50% of the value of the company’s assets), such gains are taxable in India and subject to withholding, to the extent that they are reasonably attributable to the Indian assets.

Because iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF invest in Indian securities through the Subsidiaries, the Subsidiaries or iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF may be considered to derive “substantial value” from Indian assets. Accordingly, shareholder redemptions of iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF shares and sales of investments may have been subject to Indian tax and withholding obligations. However, through Finance Act 2017 (“FA 2017”), the government had introduced an exemption to shareholders in Category I and Category II foreign portfolio investors (“FPI”) from the applicability of indirect transfer taxation. Each Subsidiary is a Category II FPI. Therefore, any redemptions or transfers by iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF or the shareholders in iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF should not be subject to Indian indirect transfer tax.

FA 2017 clarified that aforesaid indirect transfer provisions will not apply to foreign investors making an investment directly or indirectly in a Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) registered foreign portfolio investor, with effect from April 1, 2015.

General Anti-Avoidance Rules.

The current legislation provides for the general anti-avoidance rules (“GAAR”) to curb aggressive tax planning with the use of sophisticated structures. GAAR became applicable with effect from April 1, 2017. Further, transactions undertaken and investments made up until March 31, 2017 are exempted from the applicability of GAAR. CBDT issued Circular No. 7 of 2017 (“GAAR Circular”) providing clarifications on implementation of GAAR by way of responses to queries raised by various stakeholders in the context of its applicability. The GAAR Circular specifically provides where a FPI (such as the Subsidiaries) is located in a particular jurisdiction based on non-tax commercial reasons and the main purpose of the choice of location/residence of the FPI is not to obtain a treaty benefit, the GAAR provisions will not be resorted to by the tax authorities.

As per the provisions of GAAR, an arrangement entered into by a taxpayer may be declared to be an impermissible avoidance arrangement, if the “main purpose” of the arrangement is to obtain a “tax benefit” and the arrangement:

•	creates rights, or obligations, which are not ordinarily created between persons dealing at arm's length;
•	results, directly or indirectly, in the misuse, or abuse, of the provisions of IT Act;
•	lacks commercial substance; or
•	is entered into, or carried out, by means, or in a manner, which are not ordinarily employed for bona fide purposes.

Once an arrangement is declared to be an impermissible avoidance arrangement, wide powers have been granted to tax authorities to deny tax treaty benefits, disregard or re-characterize transactions, re-characterize equity into debt and vice versa.

As per the provisions of Indian Income Tax Rules, 1962 (“IT Rules”), GAAR shall not apply in the following circumstances:

•	any arrangement where the aggregate tax benefit to all the parties of the arrangement in the relevant financial year does not exceed INR 30 Million;
•	foreign institutional investors (“FIIs”) that choose not to take any benefit under any tax treaty entered with India and has invested in listed or unlisted securities with prior permission of the competent authority in accordance with the applicable regulations;
•	non-resident investor in an FII who has invested in an FII, directly or indirectly, by way of an offshore derivative instrument or otherwise; or
•	any income derived from the transfer of investments made prior to April 1, 2017.

GAAR may, irrespective of existing treaty provisions, lead to the imposition of tax liabilities and withholding obligations, and may lead each of the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF to modify the structure.

Indian Minimum Alternate Tax.

It has been clarified that Minimum Alternate Tax (“MAT”) is not applicable on foreign companies, on income from capital gains arising on transactions in securities as well as income from interest, royalty, or fees for technical services which are liable to tax at a lower rate, on a prospective basis (i.e. with effect from April 1, 2015). It was further clarified that MAT shall not apply to foreign companies having no place of business in India, with retroactive effect from April 1, 2001.

Recent amendments to the DTAA and GAAR could change the manner in which Subsidiaries are currently taxed in India and could adversely impact the returns to each of the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF/Subsidiaries and their shareholders. Each of the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF will continue to monitor developments in India with respect to these matters. Investors are urged to consult their own tax advisers with respect to their own tax situations and the tax consequences of an investment in each of the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF.

Risk of Investing in Large-Capitalization Companies. Large-capitalization companies may be less able than smaller capitalization companies to adapt to changing market conditions. Large-capitalization companies may be more mature and subject to more limited growth potential compared with smaller capitalization companies. Over certain periods, the performance of large-capitalization companies has trailed the performance of overall markets.

Indian Economic Trading Partner Risk. The Indian economy is subject to a considerable degree of economic, political and social instability. Disparities of wealth, the pace of economic liberalization and ethnic, religious and racial disaffection may lead to social turmoil, violence and labor unrest in India. In addition, India continues to experience religious and border disputes as well as separatist movements in certain Indian states. Unanticipated political or social developments may have an adverse effect on India’s economy. The Indian government has implemented significant economic reforms in order to liberalize trade policy, promote foreign investment in the Indian economy, control the rate of inflation, reduce government control of the economy and develop market mechanisms. There can be no assurance these reforms will continue or that they will be effective. The Indian government has experienced chronic structural public sector deficits. High amounts of debt and public spending may stifle Indian economic growth or cause prolonged periods of recession. The Indian economy has grown rapidly during the past several years and there is no assurance that this growth rate will be maintained. India may experience substantial (and, in some cases, extremely high) rates of inflation or economic recessions causing a negative effect on the Indian economy.

investments in a particular country, and, as a result, a Fund may not be able to invest in certain securities while approval is pending. The government of a particular country may also withdraw or decline to renew a license that enables a Fund to invest in such country. These factors make investing in issuers located or operating in countries in Africa significantly riskier than investing in issuers located or operating in more developed countries, and any one of these factors could cause a decline in the value of a Fund’s investments. Issuers located or operating in countries in Africa are generally not subject to the same rules and regulations as issuers located or operating in more developed countries. Therefore, there may be less financial and other information publicly available with regard to issuers located or operating in countries in Africa and such issuers are generally not subject to the uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards applicable to issuers located or operating in more developed countries.

The governments of certain countries in Africa may exercise substantial influence over many aspects of the private sector and may own or control many companies. Future government actions could have a significant effect on the economic conditions in such countries, which could have a negative impact on private sector companies. There is also the possibility of diplomatic developments that could adversely affect investments in certain countries in Africa. Some countries in Africa may be affected by a greater degree of public corruption and crime, including organized crime.

region, and that developments in one country can influence the political events in neighboring countries. Some protests have turned violent, and civil war and political reconstruction in certain countries such as Libya, Iraq and Syria pose a risk to investments in the region. Continued political and social unrest in these regions, including the ongoing warfare and terrorist activities in the Middle East and Africa, may negatively affect the value of an investment in a Fund.

(such as oil, gas and minerals) represent a significant percentage of exports for the regions and many economies in these regions are particularly sensitive to fluctuations in commodity prices. Adverse economic events in one country may have a significant adverse effect on other countries of these regions.

The governments of certain countries in Central and South America may exercise substantial influence over many aspects of the private sector and may own or control many companies. Future government actions could have a significant effect on the economic conditions in such countries, which could have a negative impact on the securities in which a Fund invests. Diplomatic developments may also adversely affect investments in certain countries in Central and South America. Some countries in Central and South America may be affected by public corruption and crime, including organized crime.

Certain countries in Central and South America may be heavily dependent upon international trade and, consequently, have been and may continue to be negatively affected by trade barriers, exchange controls, managed adjustments in relative currency values and other protectionist measures imposed or negotiated by the countries with which they trade. These countries also have been and may continue to be adversely affected by economic conditions in the countries with which they trade. In addition, certain issuers located in countries in Central and South America in which a Fund invests may have dealings with countries subject to sanctions and/or embargoes imposed by the U.S. government and the United Nations and/or countries identified by the U.S. government as state sponsors of terrorism. An issuer may sustain damage to its reputation if it is identified as an issuer that has dealings with such countries. A Fund may be adversely affected if it invests in such issuers.

Risk of Investing in China. Investments in securities of companies domiciled in China involve a high degree of risk and special considerations not typically associated with investing in the U.S. securities markets. Such heightened risks include, among others, an authoritarian government, popular unrest associated with demands for improved political, economic and social conditions, the impact of regional conflict on the economy and hostile relations with neighboring countries.

Military conflicts, either in response to internal social unrest or conflicts with other countries, could disrupt economic development. The Chinese economy is vulnerable to the long-running disagreements with Hong Kong related to integration and religious and nationalist disputes with Tibet and the Xinjiang region. China has a complex territorial dispute regarding the sovereignty of Taiwan that has included threats of invasion; Taiwan-based companies and individuals are significant investors in China. Military conflict between China and Taiwan may adversely affect securities of Chinese issuers. In addition, China has strained international relations with Japan, India, Russia and other neighbors due to territorial disputes, historical animosities and other defense concerns. China could be affected by military events on the Korean peninsula or internal instability within North Korea. These situations may cause uncertainty in the Chinese market and may adversely affect performance of the Chinese economy.

The Chinese government has implemented significant economic reforms in order to liberalize trade policy, promote foreign investment in the economy, reduce government control of the economy and develop market mechanisms. However, there can be no assurance that these reforms will continue or that they will be effective. Despite reforms and privatizations of companies in certain sectors, the Chinese government still exercises substantial influence over many aspects of the private sector and may own or control many companies. The Chinese government continues to maintain a major role in economic policy making and investing in China involves risk of loss due to expropriation, nationalization, confiscation of assets and property or the imposition of restrictions on foreign investments and on repatriation of capital invested. In addition, there is less regulation and monitoring of Chinese securities markets and the activities of investors, brokers and other participants than in the U.S. Accordingly, issuers of securities in China are not subject to the same degree of regulation as are U.S. issuers with respect to such matters as insider trading rules, tender offer regulation, stockholder proxy requirements and the requirements mandating timely and accurate disclosure of information. Stock markets in China are in the process of change and further development. This may lead to trading volatility, difficulty in the settlement and recording of transactions and difficulty in interpreting and applying the relevant regulation.

While the Chinese economy has experienced past periods of rapid growth, there is no assurance that such growth rates will recur. China may experience substantial rates of inflation or economic recessions, causing a negative effect on the economy and securities market. China’s economy is heavily dependent on export growth. Reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, institution of tariffs or other trade barriers, including as a result of heightened trade tensions between China and the U.S., or a downturn in any of the economies of China’s key trading partners may have an adverse impact on the securities of Chinese issuers.

The tax laws and regulations in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) are subject to change, including the issuance of authoritative guidance or enforcement, possibly with retroactive effect. The interpretation, applicability and enforcement of such laws by PRC tax authorities are not as consistent and transparent as those of more developed nations, and may vary over time and from region to region. The application and enforcement of PRC tax rules could have a significant adverse effect on a Fund and its investors, particularly in relation to capital gains withholding tax imposed upon non-residents. In addition, the accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards and practices applicable to Chinese companies may be less rigorous, and may result in significant differences between financial statements prepared in accordance with the PRC accounting standards and practice and those prepared in accordance with international accounting standards.

Risk of Investing in the Chinese Equity Markets. Certain Funds may invest in H-shares (securities of companies incorporated in the PRC that are denominated in Hong Kong dollars and listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (“SEHK”)), A-shares (securities of companies incorporated in the PRC that are denominated in renminbi and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (“SSE”) and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (“SZSE”)) and/or B-shares (securities of companies incorporated in the PRC that are denominated in U.S. dollars (in the case of the SSE) or Hong Kong dollars (in the case of the SZSE) and listed on the SSE and the SZSE). Certain Funds may also invest in certain Hong Kong listed securities known as Red-Chips (securities issued by companies incorporated in certain foreign jurisdictions, which are controlled, directly or indirectly, by entities owned by the national government or local governments in the PRC and derive substantial revenues or allocate substantial assets in the PRC) and P-Chips (securities issued by companies incorporated in certain foreign jurisdictions, which are controlled, directly or indirectly, by individuals in the PRC and derive substantial revenues or allocate substantial assets in the PRC).

Securities listed on the SSE or the SZSE are divided into two classes: A-shares, which are mostly limited to domestic investors, and B-shares, which are allocated for both international and domestic investors. The A-shares market is generally subject to greater government restrictions, including trading suspensions, which may lead to increased liquidity risks. The B-shares market is generally smaller, less liquid and has a smaller issuer base than the A-shares market, which may lead to significant price volatility. B-shares, H-shares, P-Chips or Red-Chips of issuers that also issue A-shares may trade at significant discounts to their A-shares counterparts. The issuance of B-shares and H-shares by Chinese companies and the ability to obtain a “back-door listing” through Red-Chips or P-Chips is still regarded by the Chinese authorities as an experiment in economic reform. “Back-door listing” is a means by which a mainland Chinese company issues Red-Chips or P-Chips to obtain quick access to international listing and international capital. All of these share mechanisms are relatively untested and subject to political and economic policy in China. Market developments, adverse investor perceptions, regulatory and government intervention (including the possibility of widespread trading suspensions implemented by regulators) and other factors may make it difficult to acquire, dispose of or value Chinese securities, which would lead to adverse effects to a Fund.

Risk of Investing in A-shares through Stock Connect.

The iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF may invest in A-shares through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect (“Shanghai Connect”) or the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect program (“Shenzhen Connect,” and together with Shanghai Connect, “Stock Connect”). Stock Connect is a securities trading and clearing program with an aim to achieve mutual stock market access between the PRC and Hong Kong. Stock Connect was developed by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, the SSE (in the case of Shanghai Connect) or the SZSE (in the case of Shenzhen Connect), and China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation Limited (“CSDCC”). Under Stock Connect, a Fund’s trading of eligible A-shares listed on the SSE or the SZSE, as applicable, would be effectuated through its Hong Kong brokers. Investing in A-shares through Stock Connect is subject to trading, clearance, settlement and other procedures, which could pose risks to a Fund.

Although no individual investment quotas or licensing requirements apply to investors in Stock Connect, trading through Stock Connect is subject to a daily quota (the “Daily Quota”), which limits the maximum net purchases under Stock Connect each day. The Daily Quota does not belong to a Fund and is utilized on a first-come-first-serve basis. As such, buy orders for A-shares would be rejected once the Daily Quota is exceeded (although a Fund will be permitted to sell A-shares regardless of the Daily Quota balance). The Daily Quota may restrict a Fund’s ability to invest in A-shares through Stock Connect on a timely basis, which could affect the Fund’s ability to effectively pursue its investment strategy. The Daily Quota is also subject to change.

A-shares purchased through Stock Connect generally may only be sold or otherwise transferred through Stock Connect and in accordance with applicable rules. In order to comply with applicable local market rules and to facilitate orderly operations of a Fund, including the timely settlement of Stock Connect trades placed by or on behalf of the Fund, BFA utilizes an operating model that will only be used by iShares ETFs with investments in A-shares through Stock Connect. Such operating model may reduce the risks of trade failures; however, it will also allow Stock Connect trades to be settled without the prior verification by a Fund. Accordingly, this operating model may subject a Fund to additional risks, including an increased risk of inadvertently exceeding certain trade or other restrictions or limits placed on the Fund and/or its affiliates, and a heightened risk of erroneous trades, which may negatively impact the Fund.

While A-shares must be designated as eligible to be traded under Stock Connect (such eligible A-shares listed on the SSE, the “SSE Securities,” and such eligible A-shares listed on the SZSE, the “SZSE Securities”), those A-shares may also lose such designation, and if this occurs, such A-shares may be sold but could no longer be purchased through Stock Connect. With respect to sell orders under Stock Connect, the SEHK carries out pre-trade checks to ensure an investor has sufficient A-shares in its account before the market opens on the trading day. Accordingly, if there are insufficient A-shares in an investor’s account before the market opens on the trading day, the sell order will be rejected, which may adversely impact a Fund’s performance.

In addition, Stock Connect will only operate on days when both the Chinese and Hong Kong markets are open for trading and when banking services are available in both markets on the corresponding settlement days. Therefore, an investment in A-shares through Stock Connect may subject a Fund to the risk of price fluctuations on days when the Chinese markets are open, but Stock Connect is not trading. Each of the SEHK, SSE and SZSE reserves the right to suspend trading under Stock Connect under certain circumstances. Where such a suspension of trading is effected, a Fund’s ability to access A-shares through Stock Connect will be adversely affected. In addition, if one or both of the Chinese and Hong Kong markets are closed on a U.S. trading day, a Fund may not be able to acquire or dispose of A-shares through Stock Connect in a timely manner, which could adversely affect the Fund’s performance.

A Fund’s investments in A-shares though Stock Connect are held by its custodian in accounts in Central Clearing and Settlement System (“CCASS”) maintained by the Hong Kong Securities Clearing Company Limited (“HKSCC”), which in turn holds the A-shares, as the nominee holder, through an omnibus securities account in its name registered with the CSDCC. The precise nature and rights of a Fund as the beneficial owner of the SSE Securities or SZSE Securities through HKSCC as nominee is not well defined under PRC law. There is a lack of a clear definition of, and distinction between, legal ownership and beneficial ownership under PRC law and there have been few cases involving a nominee account structure in the PRC courts. The exact nature and methods of enforcement of the rights and interests of a Fund under PRC law is also uncertain. In the unlikely event that HKSCC becomes subject to winding up proceedings in Hong Kong, there is a risk that the SSE Securities or SZSE Securities may not be regarded as held for the beneficial ownership of a Fund or as part of the general assets of HKSCC available for general distribution to its creditors.

Notwithstanding the fact that HKSCC does not claim proprietary interests in the SSE Securities or SZSE Securities held in its omnibus stock account in the CSDCC, the CSDCC as the share registrar for SSE- or SZSE-listed companies will still treat HKSCC as one of the shareholders when it handles corporate actions in respect of such SSE Securities or SZSE Securities. HKSCC monitors the corporate actions affecting SSE Securities and SZSE Securities and keeps participants of CCASS informed of all such corporate actions that require CCASS participants to take steps in order to participate in them. A Fund will therefore depend on HKSCC for both settlement and notification and implementation of corporate actions.

The HKSCC is responsible for the clearing, settlement and the provisions of depositary, nominee and other related services of the trades executed by Hong Kong market participants and investors. Accordingly, investors do not hold SSE Securities or SZSE Securities directly – they are held through their brokers’ or custodians’ accounts with CCASS. The HKSCC and the CSDCC establish clearing links and each has become a participant of the other to facilitate clearing and settlement of cross-border trades. Should CSDCC default and the CSDCC be declared as a defaulter, HKSCC’s liabilities in Stock Connect under its market contracts with clearing participants will be limited to assisting clearing participants in pursuing their claims against the CSDCC. In that event, a Fund may suffer delays in the recovery process or may not be able to fully recover its losses from the CSDCC.

the development of new information technology systems on the part of the SEHK and exchange participants. There is no assurance that these systems will function properly or will continue to be adapted to changes and developments in both markets. In the event that the relevant systems fail to function properly, trading in A-shares through Stock Connect could be disrupted, and a Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective may be adversely affected.

The Shanghai Connect program, launched in November 2014, and the Shenzhen Connect program, launched in December 2016, are both in their initial stages and do not have an extensive operating history. Stock Connect is subject to regulations promulgated by regulatory authorities and implementation rules made by the stock exchanges in the PRC and Hong Kong. The current regulations are untested and there is no certainty as to how they will be applied or interpreted going forward. In addition, the current regulations are subject to change and there can be no assurance that Stock Connect will not be discontinued or abolished. New regulations may be issued from time to time by the regulators and stock exchanges in China and Hong Kong in connection with operations, legal enforcement and cross-border trades under Stock Connect. A Fund may be adversely affected as a result of such changes. Furthermore, the securities regimes and legal systems of China and Hong Kong differ significantly and issues may arise based on these differences. Further, different fees, costs and taxes are imposed on foreign investors acquiring A-shares through Stock Connect, and these fees, costs and taxes may be higher than comparable fees, costs and taxes imposed on owners of other Chinese securities providing similar investment exposure.

A-Share Market Suspension Risk.

A-shares may only be bought from, or sold to, a Fund at times when the relevant A-shares may be sold or purchased on the relevant Chinese stock exchange. The A-shares market can have a higher propensity for trading suspensions than many other global equity markets. Trading suspensions in certain stocks could lead to greater market execution risk, valuation risks, liquidity risks and costs for a Fund, as well as for Authorized Participants that create and redeem Creation Units of the Fund. The SSE and SZSE currently apply a daily limit, set at 10%, of the amount of fluctuation permitted in the prices of A-shares during a single trading day. The daily limit refers to price movements only and does not restrict trading within the relevant limit. There can be no assurance that a liquid market on an exchange will exist for any particular A-share or for any particular time. This could increase a Fund’s tracking error and/or cause a Fund to trade in the market at greater bid-ask spreads or greater premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV. Given that the A-share market is considered volatile and unstable (with the risk of widespread trading suspensions or government intervention), the creation and redemption of Creation Units may also be disrupted.

Risk of Investing in Eastern Europe. Investing in the securities of issuers located or operating in Eastern Europe is highly speculative and involves risks not usually associated with investing in the more developed markets of Western Europe. Political and economic reforms are too recent to establish a definite trend away from centrally planned economies and state-owned industries. In the past, some Eastern European governments have expropriated substantial amounts of private property, and many claims of the property owners have never been fully settled.

Many Eastern European countries continue to move toward market economies at different paces with different characteristics. Most Eastern European securities markets suffer from thin trading activity, dubious investor protections, and often a dearth of reliable corporate information. Information and transaction costs, differential taxes, and sometimes political or transfer risk give a comparative advantage to the domestic investor rather than the foreign investor. In addition, these markets are particularly sensitive to social, political, economic, and currency events in Russia and may suffer heavy losses as a result of their trading and investment links to the Russian economy and currency. Russia also may attempt to assert its influence in the region through economic or even military measures, as it did with Georgia in the summer of 2008 and Ukraine beginning in 2014. Eastern European economies may also be particularly susceptible to changes in the international credit markets due to their reliance on bank related inflows of capital. The global economic crisis has restricted international credit supplies, and several Eastern European economies have faced significant credit and economic crises. Although some Eastern European economies are expanding again, major challenges are still present as a result of their continued dependence on the Western European zone for credit.

Risk of Investing in Emerging Markets. Investments in emerging market countries may be subject to greater risks than investments in developed countries. These risks include: (i) less social, political, and economic stability; (ii) greater illiquidity and price volatility due to smaller or limited local capital markets for such securities, or low or non-existent trading volumes; (iii) custodians, clearinghouses, foreign exchanges and broker-dealers may be subject to less scrutiny and regulation by local authorities; (iv) local governments may decide to seize or confiscate securities held by foreign investors and/or local governments may decide to suspend or limit an issuer's ability to make dividend or interest payments; (v) local governments may limit or entirely restrict repatriation of invested capital, profits, and dividends; (vi) capital gains may be subject to local taxation, including on a retroactive basis; (vii) issuers facing restrictions on dollar or euro payments imposed by local governments may attempt to make dividend or interest payments to foreign investors in the local currency; (viii) investors may experience difficulty in enforcing legal claims related to the securities and/or local judges may favor the interests of the issuer over those of foreign investors; (ix) bankruptcy judgments may only be permitted to be paid in the local currency; (x) limited public information regarding the issuer may result in greater difficulty in determining market valuations of the securities; and (xi) lack of financial reporting on a regular basis, substandard disclosure and differences in accounting standards may make it difficult to ascertain the financial health of an issuer.

including austerity measures and reforms, may not produce the desired results, may result in social unrest and may limit future growth and economic recovery or have other unintended consequences. Further defaults or restructurings by governments and other entities of their debt could have additional adverse effects on economies, financial markets and asset valuations around the world. In addition, one or more countries may abandon the euro and/or withdraw from the EU. The impact of these actions, especially if they occur in a disorderly fashion, is not clear but could be significant and far-reaching and could adversely impact the value of a Fund’s investments in the region. In a referendum held on June 23, 2016, the United Kingdom (the “U.K.”) resolved to leave the EU. The referendum may introduce significant uncertainties and instability in the financial markets as the U.K. negotiates its exit from the EU. Secessionist movements, such as the Catalan movement in Spain, as well as governmental or other responses to such movements, may also create instability and uncertainty in the region. The occurrence of terrorist incidents throughout Europe also could impact financial markets. The impact of these events is not clear but could be significant and far-reaching and could adversely affect the value of a Fund.

Risk of Investing in India. India is an emerging market and demonstrates significantly higher volatility from time to time in comparison to more developed markets. Political, religious, and border disputes persist in India. India has recently experienced and may continue to experience civil unrest and hostilities with certain of its neighboring countries, including Pakistan, and the Indian government has confronted separatist movements in several Indian states, including Kashmir. Government control over the economy, currency fluctuations or blockage, and the risk of nationalization or expropriation of assets offer higher potential for losses. Governmental actions could have a negative effect on the economic conditions in India, which could adversely affect the value and liquidity of investments made by a Fund. The securities markets in India are comparatively underdeveloped and with some exceptions, consist of a small number of listed companies with small market capitalization, greater price volatility and substantially less liquidity than companies in more developed markets. Stockbrokers and other intermediaries in India may not perform as well as their counterparts in the U.S. or other, more developed countries. The limited liquidity of the Indian securities markets may also affect a Fund’s ability to acquire or dispose of securities at the price or time that it desires or the Fund’s ability to track its Underlying Index.

Global factors and foreign actions may inhibit the flow of foreign capital on which India is dependent to sustain its growth. In addition, the Reserve Bank of India has imposed limits on foreign ownership of Indian companies, which may decrease the liquidity of a Fund’s portfolio and result in extreme volatility in the prices of Indian securities. In November of 2016, the Indian government eliminated certain large denomination cash notes as legal tender, causing uncertainty in certain financial markets. These factors, coupled with the lack of extensive accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards and practices, as applicable in the U.S., may increase the risk of loss for a Fund.

Securities laws in India are relatively new and unsettled and, as a result, there is a risk of significant and unpredictable change in laws governing foreign investment, securities regulation, title to securities and shareholder rights. Foreign investors in particular may be adversely affected by new or amended laws and regulations. Certain Indian regulatory approvals, including approvals from SEBI, the central government and the tax authorities (to the extent that tax benefits need to be utilized), may be required before a Fund can make investments in Indian companies. Capital gains from Indian securities may be subject to local taxation.

Technology and software sectors represent a significant portion of the total capitalization of the Indian securities markets. The value of these companies will generally fluctuate in response to technological and regulatory developments, and, as a result, a Fund’s holdings are expected to experience correlated fluctuations.

Natural disasters, such as tsunamis, flooding or droughts, could occur in India or surrounding areas and could negatively affect the Indian economy or operations of a Subsidiary, and, in turn, could negatively affect a Fund.

Risk of Investing in Japan. Japan may be subject to political, economic, nuclear, labor and other risks. Any of these risks, individually or in the aggregate, can impact an investment made in Japan.

Economic Risk. The growth of Japan’s economy has recently lagged that of its Asian neighbors and other major developed economies. Since the year 2000, Japan’s economic growth rate has remained relatively low and it may remain low in the future. The Japanese economy is heavily dependent on international trade and has been adversely affected by trade tariffs, other protectionist measures, competition from emerging economies and the economic conditions of its trading partners. Japan is also heavily dependent on oil imports, and higher commodity prices could therefore have a negative impact on the Japanese economy.

Security Risk. Japan's relations with its neighbors, particularly China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, have at times been strained due to territorial disputes, historical animosities and defense concerns. Most recently, the Japanese government has shown concern over the increased nuclear and military activity by North Korea and China. Strained relations may cause uncertainty in the Japanese markets and adversely affect the overall Japanese economy, particularly in times of crisis.

The legal systems in certain Middle Eastern countries also may have an adverse impact on a Fund. For example, the potential liability of a shareholder in a U.S. corporation with respect to acts of the corporation generally is limited to the amount of the shareholder’s investment. However, the notion of limited liability is less clear in certain Middle Eastern countries. Each Fund therefore may be liable in certain Middle Eastern countries for the acts of a corporation in which it invests for an amount greater than its actual investment in that corporation. Similarly, the rights of investors in Middle Eastern issuers may be more limited than those of shareholders of a U.S. corporation. It may be difficult or impossible to obtain or enforce a legal judgment in a Middle Eastern country. Some Middle Eastern countries prohibit or impose substantial restrictions on investments in their capital markets, particularly their equity markets, by foreign entities such as a Fund. For example, certain countries may require governmental approval prior to investment by foreign persons or limit the amount of investment by

foreign persons in a particular issuer. Certain Middle Eastern countries may also limit investment by foreign persons to only a specific class of securities of an issuer that may have less advantageous terms (including price) than securities of the issuer available for purchase by nationals of the relevant Middle Eastern country.

Risk of Investing in Russia. Investing in the Russian securities market involves a high degree of risk and special considerations not typically associated with investing in the U.S. securities market, and should be considered highly speculative. Risks include: the absence of developed legal structures governing private and foreign investments and private property; the possibility of the loss of all or a substantial portion of a Fund’s assets invested in Russia as a result of expropriation; certain national policies which may restrict the Fund’s investment opportunities, including, without limitation, restrictions on investing in issuers or industries deemed sensitive to relevant national interests; and potentially greater price volatility in, significantly smaller capitalization of, and relative illiquidity of, the Russian market. There can also be no assurance that a Fund’s investments in the Russian securities market would not be expropriated, nationalized or otherwise

confiscated. In the event of the settlement of any such claims or such expropriation, nationalization or other confiscation, a Fund could lose its entire investment. In addition, it may be difficult and more costly to obtain and enforce a judgment in the Russian court system.

Russia may also be subject to a greater degree of economic, political and social instability than is the case in other developed countries. Such instability may result from, among other things, the following: (i) an authoritarian government or military involvement in political and economic decision-making, including changes in government through extra-constitutional means; (ii) popular unrest associated with demands for improved political, economic and social conditions; (iii) internal insurgencies; (iv) hostile relations with neighboring countries; and (v) ethnic, religious and racial disaffection.

The Russian economy is heavily dependent upon the export of a range of commodities including most industrial metals, forestry products and oil and gas. Accordingly, it is strongly affected by international commodity prices and is particularly vulnerable to any weakening in global demand for these products. Any acts of terrorism or armed conflicts in Russia or internationally could have an adverse effect on the financial and commodities markets and the global economy. As Russia produces and exports large amounts of crude oil and gas, any acts of terrorism or armed conflict causing disruptions of Russian oil and gas exports could negatively affect the Russian economy and, thus, adversely affect the financial condition, results of operations or prospects of related companies. Current and future economic sanctions may also adversely affect the Russian oil, banking, mining, metals, rail, pipeline and gas sectors, among other sectors.

The Russian government may exercise substantial influence over many aspects of the private sector and may own or control many companies. Future government actions could have a significant effect on the economic conditions in Russia, which could have a negative impact on private sector companies. There is also the possibility of diplomatic developments that could adversely affect investments in Russia. In recent years, the Russian government has begun to take bolder steps to re-assert its regional geopolitical influence (including military steps). Such steps may increase tensions between Russia and its neighbors and Western countries and may negatively affect economic growth.

Russia Sanctions. The U.S. and the Economic and Monetary Union of the EU, along with the regulatory bodies of a number of countries including Japan, Australia, Norway, Switzerland and Canada (collectively, “Sanctioning Bodies”), have imposed economic sanctions, which can consist of prohibiting certain securities trades, prohibiting certain private transactions in the energy sector, asset freezes and prohibition of all business, against certain Russian individuals and Russian corporate entities. The Sanctioning Bodies could also institute broader sanctions on Russia. These sanctions, or even the threat of further sanctions, may result in the decline of the value and liquidity of Russian securities, a weakening of the ruble or other adverse consequences to the Russian economy. These sanctions could also result in the immediate freeze of Russian securities and/or funds invested in prohibited assets, impairing the ability of a Fund to buy, sell, receive or deliver those securities and/or assets. Additional sanctions against Russia have been, and may in the future be, imposed by the U.S. or other countries.

These sanctions may also lead to changes in a Fund’s Underlying Index. A Fund’s Index Provider may remove securities from the Underlying Index or implement caps on the securities of certain issuers that have been subject to recent economic sanctions. In such an event, it is expected that a Fund will rebalance its portfolio to bring it in line with the Underlying Index as a result of any such changes, which may result in transaction costs and increased tracking error. These sanctions, the volatility that may result in the trading markets for Russian securities and the possibility that Russia may impose investment or currency controls on investors may cause a Fund to invest in, or increase a Fund’s investments in, depositary receipts that represent the securities of the Underlying Index. These investments may result in increased transaction costs and increased tracking error.

Risk of Investing in the United States. The U.S. is a significant, and in some cases the most significant, trading partner of or foreign investor in, certain emerging markets in which a Fund invests, the economic conditions of which may be particularly affected by adverse changes in the U.S. economy. A decrease in U.S. imports, new trade regulations, changes in the U.S. dollar exchange rate or an economic slowdown in the U.S. may have a material adverse effect on a country's economic conditions and, as a result, securities to which a Fund has exposure.

food products, which could affect company profitability. In addition, tobacco companies may be adversely affected by the adoption of proposed legislation and/or by litigation. Companies in the consumer staples sector also may be subject to risks pertaining to the supply of, demand for and prices of raw materials. The prices of raw materials fluctuate in response to a number of factors, including, without limitation, changes in government agricultural support programs, exchange rates, import and export controls, changes in international agricultural and trading policies, and seasonal and weather conditions. Companies in the consumer staples sector may be subject to severe competition, which may also have an adverse impact on their profitability.

rate risk and sovereign debt default. Certain financial businesses are subject to intense competitive pressures, including market share and price competition. Financial companies in foreign countries are subject to market specific and general regulatory and interest rate concerns. In particular, government regulation in certain foreign countries may include taxes and controls on interest rates, credit availability, minimum capital requirements, bans on short sales, limits on prices and restrictions on currency transfers. In addition, companies in the financials sector may be the targets of hacking and potential theft of proprietary or customer information or disruptions in service, which could have a material adverse effect on their businesses.

operators and negatively affecting the prices of their securities. Moreover, in recent years, both local and national governmental budgets have come under pressure to reduce spending and control healthcare costs, which could both adversely affect regulatory processes and public funding available for healthcare products, services and facilities.

Risk of Investing in the Materials Sector. Companies in the materials sector may be adversely affected by commodity price volatility, exchange rates, import controls, increased competition, depletion of resources, technical progress, labor relations and government regulations, and mandated expenditures for safety and pollution control, among other factors. Companies in the materials sector are also at risk of liability for environmental damage and product liability claims. Production of materials may exceed demand as a result of market imbalances or economic downturns, leading to poor investment returns. These risks are heightened for companies in the materials sector located in foreign markets.

Risk of Investing in the Real Estate Industry. Companies in the real estate industry include companies that invest in real estate, such as REITs, real estate holding companies or real estate development companies (collectively, “Real Estate Companies”). Investing in Real Estate Companies exposes investors to the risks of owning real estate directly, as well as to risks that relate specifically to the way in which Real Estate Companies are organized and operated. The real estate industry is highly sensitive to general and local economic conditions and developments, and characterized by intense competition and periodic overbuilding. Investing in Real Estate Companies involves various risks. Some risks that are specific to Real Estate Companies are discussed in greater detail below.

and expense, foreclosure proceedings may not fully uphold the validity of all of the terms of the applicable loan. Claims and defenses asserted by borrowers or other lenders may interfere with the enforcement of rights by a Real Estate Company. Parallel proceedings, such as bankruptcy, may also delay resolution and limit the amount of recovery on a foreclosed loan by a Real Estate Company even where the property underlying the loan is liquidated.

Underlying Investment Risk. Real Estate Companies make investments in a variety of debt and equity instruments with varying risk profiles. For instance, Real Estate Companies may invest in debt instruments secured by commercial property that have high risks of delinquency and foreclosure than loans on single family homes due to a variety of factors associated with commercial property, including the tie between income available to service debt and productive use of the property. Real Estate Companies may also invest in debt instruments and preferred equity that are junior in an issuer’s capital structure and that involve privately negotiated structures. Subordinated debt investments, such as B-Notes and mezzanine loans, involve a greater credit risk of default due to the need to service more senior debt of the issuer. Similarly, preferred equity investments involve a greater risk of loss than conventional debt financing due to their non-collateralized nature and subordinated ranking. Investments in commercial mortgage-backed securities may also be junior in priority in the event of bankruptcy or similar proceedings. Investments in senior loans may be effectively subordinated if the senior loan is pledged as collateral. The ability of a holder of junior claims to proceed against a defaulting issuer is circumscribed by the terms of the particular contractual arrangement, which vary considerably from transaction to transaction.

Regulatory Risk. Real estate income and values may be adversely affected by such factors as applicable domestic and foreign laws (including tax laws). Government actions, such as tax increases, zoning law changes or environmental regulations, also may have a major impact on real estate. In addition, quarterly compliance with regulation limiting the proportion of asset types held by a U.S. REIT may force certain Real Estate Companies to liquidate or restructure otherwise attractive investments. Some countries may not recognize REITs or comparable structures as a viable form of real estate funds.

There are substantial differences among the regulatory practices and policies of various jurisdictions, and any regulatory agency may make major shifts in policy from time to time. There is no assurance that regulatory authorities will, in the future, grant rate increases. Additionally, existing and possible future regulatory legislation may make it even more difficult for utilities to obtain adequate relief. Certain of the issuers of securities held in a Fund's portfolio may own or operate nuclear generating facilities. Governmental authorities may from time to time review existing policies and impose additional requirements governing the licensing, construction and operation of nuclear power plants. Prolonged changes in climate conditions can also have a significant impact on both the revenues of an electric and gas utility as well as the expenses of a utility, particularly a hydro-based electric utility.

Proxy Voting Policy

For all Funds other than the iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF (the “Sustainable Fund”), the Board has delegated the voting of proxies for each Fund’s securities to BFA pursuant to the Funds' Proxy Voting Policy (the “iShares ETFs Proxy Voting Policy”), and BlackRock has adopted policies and procedures (the “BlackRock Proxy Voting Policies”) governing proxy voting by accounts managed by BlackRock, including the Funds. For the Sustainable Fund, the Board has delegated the voting of proxies for the Sustainable Fund’s securities to BFA pursuant to the Sustainable Fund’s Proxy Voting Policy (the “iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy”), and BlackRock has adopted the BlackRock Proxy Voting Policies and supplemental guidelines applicable to environmental and social issues investing (the “Supplemental BlackRock Sustainable Proxy Voting Guidelines”) governing proxy voting by the iShares sustainable ETFs managed by BlackRock, including the Sustainable Fund.

Under the Supplemental BlackRock Sustainable Proxy Voting Guidelines, the Sustainable Fund maintains proxy voting guidelines consistent with the belief that well-managed companies will deal effectively with the material environmental and social (E& S) factors relevant to their businesses. BFA expects companies to identify and report on the material, business-specific E&S risks and opportunities and to explain how these are managed. BFA may vote against the election of directors where BFA has concerns that a company might not be dealing with E&S issues appropriately. For E&S shareholder proposals, BFA may vote differently for different funds based on BFA’s assessment of the materiality of the underlying issues in conjunction with an assessment that investors in the Sustainable Fund may expect more urgent action be taken by the company.

Portfolio Holdings Information

The Board has adopted a policy regarding the disclosure of the Funds' portfolio holdings information that requires that such information be disclosed in a manner that: (i) is consistent with applicable legal requirements and in the best interests of each Fund’s shareholders; (ii) does not put the interests of BFA, the Distributor or any affiliated person of BFA or the Distributor, above those of Fund shareholders; (iii) does not advantage any current or prospective Fund shareholders over any other current or prospective Fund shareholders, except to the extent that certain Entities (as described below) may receive portfolio holdings information not available to other current or prospective Fund shareholders in connection with the dissemination of information necessary for transactions in Creation Units, as discussed below, and certain information may be provided to personnel of BFA and its affiliates who manage funds that invest a significant percentage of their assets in shares of the Fund for the purpose of facilitating risk management and hedging activities; and (iv) does not provide selective access to portfolio holdings information except pursuant to the procedures outlined below and to the extent appropriate confidentiality arrangements limiting the use of such information are in effect. The “Entities” referred to in sub-section (iii) above are generally limited to National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”) members, subscribers to various fee-based

subscription services, large institutional investors (known as “Authorized Participants”) that have been authorized by the Distributor to purchase and redeem large blocks of shares pursuant to legal requirements and market makers and other institutional market participants and entities that provide information or transactional services.

The Board reviews the policy and procedures for disclosure of portfolio holdings information at least annually.

Construction and Maintenance of the Underlying Indexes

Descriptions of the Underlying Indexes are provided below.

Morningstar^® Exponential Technologies Index^TM

Component Selection Criteria. Managers from Morningstar’s global Equity Research team identify technology themes with potential to have significant economic benefits to producers and users. As of July 31, 2017, nine exponential technology themes have been identified:

•	Big Data and Analytics – Capabilities with data sets too large and complex to manipulate or interrogate with standard methods or tools.

•	Nanotechnology – The branch of technology that deals with dimensions and tolerances of less than 100 nanometers, especially the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules.
•	Medicine and Neuroscience – Any or all of the sciences, such as neurochemistry and experimental psychology, which deal with the structure or function of the nervous system and brain.
•	Networks and Computer Systems – A telecommunications network that allows computers to exchange data. In computer networks, networked computing devices pass data to each other along data connections.
•	Energy and Environmental Systems – Exposure to alternate, renewable energy – solar, wind, water, battery (whether positive or negative), and development or benefit of an Environmental Management System (EMS).
•	Robotics – The branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, and application of robots.
•	3D Printing – A process for making a physical object from a three dimensional digital model, typically by laying down many successive thin layers of material.
•	Bioinformatics – The science of collecting and analyzing complex biological data.
•	Financial Services Innovation – The search for and acknowledgement of non-traditional emerging funding sources, platforms, currency, and stored and transferred value.

Morningstar’s Equity Research analysts then score the companies included in Morningstar’s eligible universe from 0 to 2 based on each company’s exposure to the theme. Scores are then calibrated across individual analysts, sectors, and themes. The eligible universe of securities in the Underlying Index must be in Morningstar’s Global Equity Index family, and covered by Morningstar’s Equity Research analysts.

Managers from within the Morningstar Equity Research team review the scores of “2” across each theme and collectively select the “leaders” (whose scores are increased to 3 from 2). “Leaders” are defined as firms expected to have significantly more exposure than other firms that scored “2”. Each theme may have between one and five leaders.

Companies with average three month trailing daily trading volume less than $2 million USD and/or market capitalizations of $300 million USD or less are disqualified from entering the index. Companies that are current index constituents are eliminated if they have average three month trading volume less than $1.5 million USD and/or market capitalization of $200 million USD or less.

The ranking criteria are given below by descending order of absolute preference:

1)	Number of themes in which a constituent is a leader
2)	Number of themes in which a constituent scores “2”
3)	Number of themes in which a constituent scores “1”
4)	Existing constituents are given preference
5)	Market capitalization, preferring smaller over larger.

Index Maintenance. The Underlying Index is reconstituted annually, on the Monday following the third Friday of December. If the Monday is a holiday, reconstitution occurs on the Tuesday immediately following. Reconstitution is carried out after the day’s closing index values have been determined. The data used to reconstitute the Underlying Index is as of the last business day of the month two months before the effective date of the index reconstitution. This selection is subsequently adjusted for corporate actions that occurred between the data cutoff date and the effective date.

Index Availability. Morningstar Indexes are calculated continuously and are available from major data vendors.

Number of Components: approximately 196

Index Description. The Underlying Index measures the performance of equity securities issued by companies that the Equity Research team of Morningstar has determined are involved with the creation of groundbreaking technologies and/or that are users that apply such technologies within their businesses. Exponential technologies displace older technologies, create new

markets and have the potential to effect significant economic impacts. The Index Provider has identified nine exponential technology themes. The Underlying Index is equal weighted.

The MSCI Indexes

MSCI's Global Investable Market Indexes (the “MSCI GIMI”) provide coverage and non-overlapping market segmentation by market capitalization size and by style. The MSCI GIMI intends to target approximately 99% coverage of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each market of large-, mid- and small-cap securities.

•	MSCI Global Standard Indexes cover all investable large- and mid-cap securities by including the largest issuers comprising approximately 85% of each market's free float-adjusted market capitalization.
•	MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes provide coverage of companies with a market capitalization below that of the companies in the MSCI Global Standard Indexes.

MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes

Defining the Equity Universe. MSCI begins with securities listed in countries in the MSCI GIMI. As of October 31, 2016, 23 are classified as developed markets, 23 as emerging markets, and 22 as frontier markets. All listed equity securities and listed securities that exhibit characteristics of equity securities, except mutual funds, exchange traded funds, equity derivatives, limited partnerships and most investment trusts, are eligible for inclusion in the equity universe. REITs in some countries and certain income trusts in Canada are also eligible for inclusion. Each company and its securities (i.e., share classes) are classified in only one country.

Determining Market Capitalization Size Segments for Each Market. In each market, MSCI creates an Investable Market Index, Standard Index, Large Cap Index, Mid Cap Index and Small Cap Index. The MSCI Global Standard Index is the aggregation of the Large Cap Index and Mid Cap Index. The MSCI GIMI is the aggregation of the MSCI Global Standard Index and MSCI Global Small Cap Index. In order to create size components that can be meaningfully aggregated into composites, individual market size segments balance the following two objectives:

•	Achieving global size integrity by ensuring that companies of comparable and relevant sizes are included in a given size segment across all markets in a composite index; and
•	Achieving consistent market coverage by ensuring that each market's size segment is represented in its proportional weight in the composite universe.

Weighting. All indexes of the MSCI GIMI are free float weighted, i.e., companies are included in the indexes at the value of their free public float (free float multiplied by security price).

Price and Exchange Rates

Index maintenance can be described by three broad categories of changes:

•	Semi-Annual Index Reviews (“SAIRs”), conducted on a fixed semi-annual timetable that systematically reassess the various dimensions of the equity universe for all markets;
•	Quarterly Index Reviews (“QIRs”), aimed at promptly reflecting other significant market events; and
•	Ongoing event-related changes, such as mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, bankruptcies, reorganizations and other similar corporate events, which generally are implemented in the indexes as they occur.

Potential changes in the status of countries (stand-alone, frontier, emerging and developed) follow their own implementation time tables.

that were not captured at the time of their actual occurrence, but are significant enough to be included before the next SAIR. The results of the SAIR and QIR are generally announced at least ten business days in advance of implementation.

MSCI 25/50 Indexes

Each of the MSCI 25/50 Indexes (the “25/50 Indexes”) is a sub-index of either an MSCI Global Standard Index or an MSCI GIMI. Their construction reflects the diversification requirements applicable to RICs pursuant to Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code. The 25/50 Indexes are free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted indexes with a capping methodology applied to issuer weights so that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of index weight, and all issuers with a weight above 5% do not cumulatively exceed 50% of the index weight. A software application called the Barra Optimizer is utilized to calculate the capped index weights through an optimization function which is aimed at minimizing index turnover, tracking error and extreme deviation from the uncapped index.

MSCI ACWI Diversified Multiple-Factor Index

Number of Components: approximately 566

Index Description. The MSCI ACWI Diversified Multiple-Factor Index is constructed using optimization at each rebalance that is designed to maximize the Underlying Index’s exposure to the equal-weighted combination of four target style factors (value, quality, momentum and low size) while still maintaining total risk similar to that of the parent index.

Index Methodology. The methodology uses a composite alpha score (by equal weighting the four style factor scores) as an input to the optimizer. At each rebalance, the optimizer aims to maximize overall exposure to the four style factors, which have historically outperformed the broad market, via the composite alpha and maintain a level of forecast risk similar to that of the parent index, while also limiting turnover and extreme exposures to sectors/countries/component weights/non-target style factors. The optimizer selects securities from the parent index and assigns weights such that the optimization objective and constraints are best satisfied.

The Index is rebalanced semi-annually coinciding with the MSCI May and November semi-annual Index Review.

Calculation Methodology. The Fund utilizes the Underlying Index calculated with net dividends reinvested. MSCI uses the index constituent companies’ country of incorporation to determine the relevant dividend withholding tax rates in calculating the net dividends. The regular cash dividend is reinvested after deduction of withholding tax by applying the maximum rate of the company’s country of incorporation applicable to institutional investors. Net dividends means dividends after taxes withheld at the rate applicable to non-resident institutional investors who do not benefit from double taxation treaties. Such withholding rates may differ from those applicable to U.S. residents.

MSCI ACWI ex USA IMI

Number of Components: approximately 6,182

Index Description. The MSCI ACWI ex USA IMI captures large-, mid- and small-capitalization representation across 22 of 23 developed market countries or regions (excluding the U.S.) and 24 emerging market countries. With 6,182 constituents as of July 31, 2017, the Underlying Index covers approximately 99% of the global equity opportunity set outside the U.S.

MSCI ACWI ex USA Index

Number of Components: approximately 1,863

Index Description. The MSCI ACWI ex USA Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index designed to measure the combined equity market performance of developed and emerging markets countries or regions, excluding the U.S.

the net dividends. The regular cash dividend is reinvested after deduction of withholding tax by applying the maximum rate of the company’s country of incorporation applicable to institutional investors. Net dividends means dividends after taxes withheld at the rate applicable to non-resident institutional investors who do not benefit from double taxation treaties. Such withholding rates may differ from those applicable to U.S. residents.

MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target Index

Number of Components: approximately 1,637

Index Description. The MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target Index (the “Underlying Index”), is designed to address two dimensions of carbon exposure – carbon emissions and potential carbon emissions from fossil fuel reserves. By overweighting companies with low carbon emissions relative to sales and those with low potential carbon emissions from fossil fuel reserves relative to market capitalization, the Underlying Index aims to reflect a lower carbon exposure than that of the broad market. The Underlying Index is designed to achieve a target level of tracking error while minimizing carbon exposure.

Calculation Methodology. The Underlying Index begins with the MSCI ACWI Index, the parent index, which serves as the universe of eligible securities for use in constructing the index. The aim of the construction methodology is for the Underlying Index to demonstrate the following characteristics across markets by re-weighting constituents relative to the underlying free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted parent index: (1) lower carbon exposure – in terms of carbon emissions and fossil fuel reserves, (2) low tracking error relative to the parent index, and (3) low active sector, country and regional biases relative to the parent index. The Carbon exposure of an issuer is measured in terms of its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and its potential carbon emissions from fossil fuel reserves. The Underlying Index uses MSCI ESG Carbon Metrics data provided by MSCI ESG Research Inc. MSCI normalizes for size by dividing the annual carbon emissions of the company by the annual sales of the company, and by dividing the potential carbon emissions from fossil fuel reserves of the company by its market capitalization. At each semi-annual index review, the Underlying Index is rebalanced using an optimization process that aims to achieve replicability and investability, subject to the following optimization objectives and constraints:

•	Minimize the carbon exposure subject to a tracking error constraint of 30 basis points relative to the parent index;
•	The maximum weight of an index constituent will be restricted to 20 times its weight in the parent index;
•	The country weights in the Underlying Index will not deviate more than +/-2% from the country weights in the parent index; and
•	The sector weights in the Underlying Index will not deviate more than +/-2% from the sector weights in the parent index with the exception of the energy sector where no sector weight constraint is applied.

MSCI ACWI Index

Number of Components: approximately 2,497

Index Description. The MSCI ACWI is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index designed to measure the combined equity market performance of developed and emerging markets countries or regions.

MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Index

Number of Components: approximately 637

Index Description. As of July 31, 2017, the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index designed to measure equity performance of the following 11 developed, emerging and frontier market countries or regions: China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.

MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Minimum Volatility (USD) Index

Number of Components: approximately 210

Index Description. The MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Minimum Volatility (USD) Index is designed to provide the lowest expected return variance with respect to its parent index, the MSCI AC Asia Ex Japan (USD) Index, by using MSCI's multi-factor risk model in conjunction with an optimization tool subjected to a certain set of constraints. These constraints help maintain Underlying Index replicability and investability and limit, among other things, Underlying Index turnover, minimum and maximum constituent weight, sector and/or country weights relative to the parent index, and other factor constraints, as measured by MSCI, including those related to momentum, value, size, size non-linearity (i.e., the performance differential between mid-capitalization companies versus large- and small-capitalization companies), growth, liquidity and financial leverage. Developed markets countries or regions in the Underlying Index include: Hong Kong and Singapore. Emerging and frontier markets countries include: China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. The Underlying Index is rebalanced (or is re-optimized) semi-annually in May and November.

MSCI EAFE IMI Index

Number of Components: approximately 3,188

Index Description. The MSCI EAFE IMI Index is commonly used as a measure of international stock performance. The Underlying Index captures large-, mid- and small-cap representation across Europe, Australasia and the Far East (EAFE) regions, which is composed of 21 of 23 Developed Markets countries or regions (excluding the U.S. and Canada). With 3,188 constituents as of July 31, 2017, the Underlying Index is comprehensive, covering approximately 99% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each country.

MSCI World ex USA Investable Market Index

Number of Components: approximately 3,503

Index Description. The MSCI World ex USA Investable Market Index measures international stock performance in non-U.S. developed markets. The Underlying Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index that captures large-, mid- and small-capitalization representation across international developed markets (excluding the U.S.). As of July 31, 2017, the Underlying Index covered approximately 99% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in the following countries or regions: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K.

Calculation Methodology. The Fund utilizes the Underlying Index calculated with net dividends reinvested. MSCI uses the index constituent companies’ country of incorporation to determine the relevant dividend withholding tax rates in calculating the net dividends. Effective December 1, 2009, the regular cash dividend is reinvested after deduction of withholding tax by applying the maximum rate of the company’s country of incorporation applicable to institutional investors. Net dividends

means dividends after taxes withheld at the rate applicable to non-resident institutional investors who do not benefit from double taxation treaties. Such withholding rates may differ from those applicable to U.S. residents.

Additional Information. “MSCI,” MSCI ACWI Diversified Multiple-Factor Index, MSCI ACWI ex USA IMI, MSCI ACWI ex USA Index, MSCI ACWI, MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target Index, MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Index, MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Minimum Volatility (USD) Index, MSCI EAFE IMI Index and MSCI World ex USA Investable Market Index are servicemarks of MSCI Inc. and have been licensed for use for certain purposes by BFA or its affiliates. The Funds are neither sponsored, endorsed, sold nor promoted by MSCI Inc., and MSCI Inc. makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in any of the Funds.

Investment Restrictions

Each of the iShares MSCI ACWI ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF will not:

1.	Concentrate its investments (i.e., invest 25% or more of its total assets in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries), except that a Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index concentrates in the securities of such particular industry or group of industries. 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.
2.	Borrow money, except that (i) each Fund may borrow from banks for temporary or emergency (not leveraging) purposes, including the meeting of redemption requests which might otherwise require the untimely disposition of securities; and (ii) each Fund may, to the extent consistent with its investment policies, enter into repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, forward roll transactions and similar investment strategies and techniques. To the extent that it engages in transactions described in (i) and (ii), each Fund will be limited so that no more than 33 1/3% of the value of its total assets (including the amount borrowed) is derived from such transactions. Any borrowings which come to exceed this amount will be reduced in accordance with applicable law.
3.	Issue any senior security, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time.
4.	Make loans, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time.
5.	Purchase or sell real estate unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments (but this restriction shall not prevent each Fund from investing in securities of companies engaged in the real estate business or securities or other instruments backed by real estate or mortgages), or commodities or commodity contracts (but this restriction shall not prevent each Fund from trading in futures contracts and options on futures contracts, including options on currencies to the extent consistent with each Fund’s investment objective and policies).
6.	Engage in the business of underwriting securities issued by other persons, except to the extent that each Fund may technically be deemed to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act, in disposing of portfolio securities.

Each of the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF and iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF will not:

Concentrate its investments (i.e., invest 25% or more of its total assets in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries), except that the Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index concentrates in the securities of such particular industry or group of industries. 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.
2.	Borrow money, except that (i) the Fund may borrow from banks for temporary or emergency (not leveraging) purposes, including the meeting of redemption requests which might otherwise require the untimely disposition of securities; and (ii) the Fund may, to the extent consistent with its investment policies, enter into repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, forward roll transactions and similar investment strategies and techniques. To the extent that it engages in transactions described in (i) and (ii), the Fund will be limited so that no more than 33 1/3% of the value of its total assets (including the amount borrowed) is derived from such transactions. Any borrowings which come to exceed this amount will be reduced in accordance with applicable law.
3.	Issue “senior securities” as defined in the 1940 Act and the rules, regulations and orders thereunder, except as permitted under the 1940 Act and the rules, regulation and orders thereunder.
4.	Make loans, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, and as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time.
5.	Purchase or sell real estate unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments (but this restriction shall not prevent the Fund from investing in securities of companies engaged in the real estate business or securities or other instruments backed by real estate or mortgages), or commodities or commodity contracts (but this restriction shall not prevent the Fund from trading in futures contracts and options on futures contracts, including options on currencies to the extent consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and policies).
6.	Engage in the business of underwriting securities issued by other persons, except to the extent that the Fund may technically be deemed to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act, in disposing of portfolio securities.

Each of the iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF, iShares Exponential Technologies ETF and iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF will not:

1. Concentrate its investments in a particular industry, as that term is used in the Investment Company Act, except that the Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that its Underlying Index concentrates in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries.

2. Borrow money, except as permitted under the Investment Company Act.

3. Issue senior securities to the extent such issuance would violate the Investment Company Act.

4. Purchase or hold real estate, except the Fund may purchase and hold securities or other instruments that are secured by, or linked to, real estate or interests therein, securities of REITs, mortgage-related securities and securities of issuers engaged in the real estate business, and the Fund may purchase and hold real estate as a result of the ownership of securities or other instruments.

5. Underwrite securities issued by others, except to the extent that the sale of portfolio securities by the Fund may be deemed to be an underwriting or as otherwise permitted by applicable law.

6. Purchase or sell commodities or commodity contracts, except as permitted by the Investment Company Act.

7. Make loans to the extent prohibited by the Investment Company Act.

Notations Regarding each of the iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF, iShares Exponential Technologies ETF and iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF's Fundamental Investment Restrictions

The following notations are not considered to be part of each Fund's fundamental investment restrictions and are subject to change without shareholder approval.

in (1) above will be interpreted to refer to concentration as that term may be interpreted from time to time. The policy also will be interpreted to permit investment without limit in the following: securities of the U.S. government and its agencies or instrumentalities; securities of state, territory, possession or municipal governments and their authorities, agencies, instrumentalities or political subdivisions; and repurchase agreements collateralized by any such obligations. Accordingly, issuers of the foregoing securities will not be considered to be members of any industry. There also will be no limit on investment in issuers domiciled in a single jurisdiction or country. Finance companies will be considered to be in the industries of their parents if their activities are primarily related to financing the activities of the parents. Each foreign government will be considered to be a member of a separate industry. With respect to each Fund's industry classifications, the Fund currently utilizes any one or more of the industry sub-classifications used by one or more widely recognized market indexes or rating group indexes, and/or as defined by Fund management. The policy also will be interpreted to give broad authority to each Fund as to how to classify issuers within or among industries.

Under its non-fundamental investment restrictions, which may be changed by the Board without shareholder approval, the iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF and iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF may not:

a.	Purchase securities of other investment companies, except to the extent permitted by the Investment Company Act. As

a matter of policy, however, each Fund will not purchase shares of any registered open-end investment company or registered unit investment trust, in reliance on Section 12(d)(1)(F) or (G) (the “fund of funds” provisions) of the Investment Company Act, at any time each Fund has knowledge that its shares are purchased by another investment company investor in reliance on the provisions of subparagraph (G) of Section 12(d)(1).

Make short sales of securities or maintain a short position, except to the extent permitted by each Fund's Prospectus and SAI, as amended from time to time, and applicable law.

In addition to the investment restrictions adopted as fundamental policies set forth above, each Fund, except iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF, has adopted a non-fundamental policy not to invest in the securities of a company for the purpose of exercising management or control, or purchase or otherwise acquire any illiquid security, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, which currently permits up to 15% of each Fund’s net assets to be invested in illiquid securities (calculated at the time of investment).

BFA monitors the liquidity of restricted securities in each Fund's portfolio. In reaching liquidity decisions, BFA considers the following factors:

•	The frequency of trades and quotes for the security;
•	The number of dealers wishing to purchase or sell the security and the number of other potential purchasers;
•	Dealer undertakings to make a market in the security; and
•	The nature of the security and the nature of the marketplace in which it trades (e.g., the time needed to dispose of the security, the method of soliciting offers and the mechanics of transfer).

Each Fund has adopted a non-fundamental investment policy in accordance with Rule 35d-1 under the 1940 Act to invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the value of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in component securities of the Underlying Index or in Depositary Receipts representing securities in the Underlying Index. Each Fund also has adopted a policy to provide its shareholders with at least 60 days’ prior written notice of any change in such policy. If, subsequent to an investment, the 80% requirement is no longer met, a Fund’s future investments will be made in a manner that will bring the Fund into compliance with this policy.

Each Fund has adopted a non-fundamental limitation such that, under normal market conditions, any borrowings by the Fund will not exceed 10% of the Fund's net assets.

Continuous Offering

Broker-dealer firms should also note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are effecting transactions in shares, whether or not participating in the distribution of shares, generally are required to deliver a prospectus. This is because the prospectus delivery exemption in Section 4(a)(3) of the 1933 Act is not available in respect of such transactions as a result of Section 24(d) of the 1940 Act. Firms that incur a prospectus delivery obligation with respect to shares of the Funds are reminded that, pursuant to Rule 153 under the 1933 Act, a prospectus delivery obligation under Section 5(b)(2) of the 1933 Act owed to an exchange member in connection with a sale on the Listing Exchange generally is satisfied by the fact that the prospectus is available at the Listing Exchange upon request. The prospectus delivery mechanism provided in Rule 153 is available only with respect to transactions on an exchange.

Management

The registered investment companies advised by BFA or its affiliates (the “BlackRock-advised Funds”) are organized into one complex of closed-end funds, two complexes of open-end funds and one complex of ETFs (“Exchange-Traded Fund Complex”) (each, a “BlackRock Fund Complex”). Each Fund is included in the BlackRock Fund Complex referred to as the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex. Each Trustee also serves as a Director of iShares, Inc. and a Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust and, as a result, oversees a total of 347 funds within the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex. Drew E. Lawton, from October 2016 to June 2017, and Richard L. Fagnani, from April 2017 to June 2017, served as a member of the advisory board (“Advisory Board,” members of which are “Advisory Board Members”) for the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust with respect to all funds within the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex. With the exception of Robert S. Kapito, Mark K. Wiedman, Charles Park, Martin Small and Benjamin Archibald, the address of each Trustee and officer is c/o BlackRock, Inc., 400 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. The address of Mr. Kapito, Mr. Wiedman, Mr. Park, Mr. Small and Mr. Archibald is c/o BlackRock, Inc., Park Avenue Plaza, 55 East 52^nd Street, New York, NY 10055. The Board has designated Cecilia H. Herbert as its Independent Board Chair. Additional information about the Funds' Trustees and officers may be found in this SAI, which is available without charge, upon request, by calling toll-free 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737).

Interested Trustees

Name (Age)		Position		Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years		Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Robert S. Kapito¹ (60)		Trustee (since 2009).		President, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2006); Vice Chairman of BlackRock, Inc. and Head of BlackRock’s Portfolio Management Group (since its formation in 1998) and BlackRock, Inc.’s predecessor entities (since 1988); Trustee, University of Pennsylvania (since 2009); President of Board of Directors, Hope & Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund (since 2002).		Director of BlackRock, Inc. (since 2006); Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2009); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).

Name (Age)		Position		Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years		Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Mark K. Wiedman² (47)		Trustee (since 2013).		Senior Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2014); Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2007-2014); Global Head of BlackRock’s ETF and Index Investments Business (since 2016); Global Head of iShares (2011-2016); Head of Corporate Strategy, BlackRock, Inc. (2009-2011).		Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2013); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2013); Director of PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (since 2008).

¹	Robert S. Kapito is deemed to be an “interested person” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust due to his affiliations with BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates.
²	Mark K. Wiedman is deemed to be an “interested person” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust due to his affiliations with BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates.

Independent Trustees

Name (Age)	Position	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years	Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Cecilia H. Herbert (68)	Trustee (since 2005); Independent Board Chair (since 2016).	Trustee and Member of the Finance, Technology and Quality Committee of Stanford Health Care (since 2016); Trustee and Member of the Investment Committee, WNET, a New York public media company (since 2011); Chair (1994-2005) and Member (since 1992) of the Investment Committee, Archdiocese of San Francisco; Director (1998-2013) and President (2007-2011) of the Board of Directors, Catholic Charities CYO; Trustee (2002-2011) and Chair of the Finance and Investment Committee (2006-2010) of the Thacher School.	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011); Independent Board Chair of iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2016); Trustee of Forward Funds (14 portfolios) (since 2009); Trustee of Salient MF Trust (4 portfolios) (since 2015).
Jane D. Carlin (61)	Trustee (since 2015); Risk Committee Chair (since 2016).	Consultant (since 2012); Managing Director and Global Head of Financial Holding Company Governance & Assurance and the Global Head of Operational Risk Management of Morgan Stanley (2006-2012).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2015); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2015); Director of PHH Corporation (mortgage solutions) (since 2012); Director of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (since 2016).
Richard L. Fagnani (63)	Trustee (since 2017); Equity Plus Committee Chair (since 2017).	Partner, KPMG LLP (2002-2016).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2017); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2017).

Name (Age)	Position	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years	Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Charles A. Hurty (74)	Trustee (since 2005); Audit Committee Chair (since 2006).	Retired; Partner, KPMG LLP (1968-2001).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011); Director of SkyBridge Alternative Investments Multi-Adviser Hedge Fund Portfolios LLC (2 portfolios) (since 2002).
John E. Kerrigan (62)	Trustee (since 2005); Securities Lending Committee Chair (since 2016).	Chief Investment Officer, Santa Clara University (since 2002).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).
Drew E. Lawton (58)	Trustee (since 2017); 15(c) Committee Chair (since 2017).	Senior Managing Director of New York Life Insurance Company (2010-2015).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2017); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2017).
John E. Martinez (56)	Trustee (since 2003); Fixed Income Plus Committee Chair (since 2016).	Director of Real Estate Equity Exchange, Inc. (since 2005).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2003); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).
Madhav V. Rajan (53)	Trustee (since 2011); Nominating and Governance Committee Chair (since 2017).	Dean, and George Pratt Shultz Professor of Accounting, University of Chicago Booth School of Business (since 2017); Robert K. Jaedicke Professor of Accounting, Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2001-2017); Professor of Law (by courtesy), Stanford Law School (2005-2017); Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Head of MBA Program, Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2010-2016).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2011); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011); Director, Cavium, Inc. (since 2013).

Officers

Name (Age)	Position	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years
Martin Small (42)	President (since 2016).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2010); Head of U.S. iShares (since 2015); Co-Head of the U.S. Financial Markets Advisory Group, BlackRock, Inc. (2008-2014).
Jack Gee (58)	Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer (since 2008).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009); Senior Director of Fund Administration of Intermediary Investor Business, BGI (2009).

Name (Age)	Position	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years
Charles Park (50)	Chief Compliance Officer (since 2006).	Chief Compliance Officer of BlackRock Advisors, LLC and the BlackRock-advised Funds in the Equity-Bond Complex, the Equity-Liquidity Complex and the Closed-End Complex (since 2014); Chief Compliance Officer of BFA (since 2006).
Benjamin Archibald (42)	Secretary (since 2015).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2014); Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2010-2013); Secretary of the BlackRock-advised mutual funds (since 2012).
Steve Messinger (55)	Executive Vice President (since 2016).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2007-2014 and since 2016); Managing Director, Beacon Consulting Group (2014-2016).
Scott Radell (48)	Executive Vice President (since 2012).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009); Head of Portfolio Solutions, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009).
Alan Mason (57)	Executive Vice President (since 2016).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009).

The Board has concluded that, based on each Trustee’s experience, qualifications, attributes or skills on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other Trustees, each Trustee should serve as a Trustee of the Board. Among the attributes common to all Trustees are their ability to review critically, evaluate, question and discuss information provided to them, to interact effectively with the Funds' investment adviser, other service providers, counsel and the independent registered public accounting firm, and to exercise effective business judgment in the performance of their duties as Trustees. A Trustee’s ability to perform his or her duties effectively may have been attained through the Trustee’s educational background or professional training; business, consulting, public service or academic positions; experience from service as a Board member of the Funds and the other funds in the Trust (and any predecessor funds), other investment funds, public companies, or non-profit entities or other organizations; and/or other life experiences. Also, set forth below is a brief discussion of the specific experience, qualifications, attributes or skills of each Trustee that led the Board to conclude that he or she should serve (or continue to serve) as a Trustee.

Robert S. Kapito has been a Trustee of the Trust since 2009. Mr. Kapito has served as a Director of iShares, Inc. since 2009, a Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2011 and a Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2006. Mr. Kapito served as a Director of iShares MSCI Russia Capped ETF, Inc. from 2010 to 2015. In addition, he has over 20 years of experience as part of BlackRock, Inc. and BlackRock, Inc.’s predecessor entities. Mr. Kapito serves as President of BlackRock, Inc., and is a member of the Global Executive Committee and Chairman of the Global Operating Committee. He is responsible for day-to-day oversight of BlackRock's key operating units, including Investment Strategies, Client Businesses, Technology & Operations, and Risk & Quantitative Analysis. Prior to assuming his current responsibilities in 2007, Mr. Kapito served as Vice Chairman of BlackRock, Inc. and Head of BlackRock's Portfolio Management Group. In that role, he was responsible for overseeing all portfolio management within BlackRock, including the Fixed Income, Equity, Liquidity, and Alternative Investment Groups. Mr. Kapito serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania and the Harvard Business School Board of Dean’s Advisors. He has also been President of the Board of Directors for the Hope & Heroes Children's Cancer Fund since 2002. Mr. Kapito earned a BS degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1979, and an MBA degree from Harvard Business School in 1983.

management audit practice leader responsible for setting strategic direction and execution of the operating plan for the asset management audit practice. In addition, from 1977 to 2002, Mr. Fagnani served as an Audit Partner at Andersen LLP, where he developed and managed the asset management audit practice. Mr. Fagnani served as a Trustee on the Board of the Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia from 2009 to 2014 and as a member of the School of Business Advisory Board at LaSalle University from 2006 to 2014. Mr. Fagnani has a BS degree in Accounting from LaSalle University.

Charles A. Hurty has been a Trustee of the Trust since 2005 and Chair of the Audit Committee of the Trust since 2006. Mr. Hurty has served as a Director of iShares, Inc. since 2005, Chair of the Audit Committee of iShares, Inc. since 2006 and a Trustee and Chair of the Audit Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2011. Mr. Hurty served as a Director of iShares MSCI Russia Capped ETF, Inc. from 2010 to 2015. In addition, Mr. Hurty has served as Director of the SkyBridge Alternative Investments Multi-Adviser Hedge Fund Portfolios LLC (formerly, Citigroup Alternative Investments Multi-Adviser Hedge Fund Portfolios LLC) since 2002. He was a Director of the GMAM Absolute Return Strategy Fund from 2002 to 2015 and was a Director of the CSFB Alternative Investment Funds from 2005 to December 2009, when the funds were liquidated. Mr. Hurty was formerly a Partner at KPMG, LLP from 1968 to 2001, where he held several leadership roles in KPMG’s Investment Management Practice. Prior to joining KPMG, Mr. Hurty was an officer in the United States Army. Mr. Hurty has a BS degree in accounting from the University of Kansas.

Executive Officer of the Capital Markets Group of BGI. From 2003 to 2012, he was a Director and Executive Committee Member for Larkin Street Youth Services, providing governance oversight and strategy development to an agency that provides emergency and transitional housing, healthcare, education, job and life skills training to homeless youth. He now serves on the Larkin Street Honorary Board. From 2010 to 2016, Mr. Martinez served as a Director for Reading Partners, an organization committed to making all children literate through one-on-one tutoring of students in grades K-4 who are not yet reading at grade level. Mr. Martinez has an AB degree in economics from The University of California, Berkeley and holds an MBA degree in finance and statistics from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Board – Leadership Structure and Oversight Responsibilities

compliance, operational, reputational, counterparty and valuation risks, among others. While there are a number of risk management functions performed by BFA and other service providers, as applicable, it is not possible to identify and eliminate all of the risks applicable to the Funds. The Trustees have an oversight role in this area, satisfying themselves that risk management processes and controls are in place and operating effectively. Risk oversight forms part of the Board’s general oversight of each Fund and is addressed as part of various Board and committee activities. In some cases, risk management issues are specifically addressed in presentations and discussions. For example, BFA has an independent dedicated Risk and Quantitative Analysis Group (“RQA”) that assists BFA in managing fiduciary and corporate risks, including investment, operational, counterparty credit and enterprise risk. Representatives of RQA meet with the Board to discuss their analysis and methodologies, as well as specific risk topics such as operational and counterparty risks relating to the Funds. The Board, directly or through a committee, also reviews reports from, among others, management and the independent registered public accounting firm for the Trust, as appropriate, regarding risks faced by each Fund and management’s risk functions. The Board has appointed a Chief Compliance Officer who oversees the implementation and testing of the Trust's compliance program, including assessments by independent third parties, and reports to the Board regarding compliance matters for the Trust and its principal service providers. In testing and maintaining the compliance program, the Chief Compliance Officer (and his or her delegates) assesses key compliance risks affecting each Fund, and addresses them in periodic reports to the Board. In addition, the Audit Committee meets with both the Funds' independent registered public accounting firm and BFA’s internal audit group to review risk controls in place that support each Fund as well as test results. Board oversight of risk is also performed as needed between meetings through communications between BFA and the Board. The Independent Trustees have engaged independent legal counsel to assist them in performing their oversight responsibilities. From time to time, the Board may modify the manner in which it conducts risk oversight. The Board’s oversight role does not make it a guarantor of the Funds' investment performance or other activities.

may be necessary and appropriate for the Board to evaluate the investment advisory and sub-advisory agreements of the Trust. The 15(c) Committee met two times during the fiscal year ended July 31, 2017.

The members of the Securities Lending Committee are John E. Kerrigan (Chair), Jane D. Carlin, Richard L. Fagnani and Madhav V. Rajan, each of whom is an Independent Trustee. The principal responsibilities of the Securities Lending Committee are to support, oversee and organize on behalf of the Board the process for oversight of the Trust's securities lending activities. These responsibilities include: (i) requesting that certain information be provided to the Committee for its review and consideration prior to such information being provided to the Board; (ii) considering and discussing with BlackRock, Inc. such other matters and information as may be necessary and appropriate for the Board to oversee the Trust's securities lending activities and make required findings and approvals; and (iii) providing a recommendation to the Board regarding the annual approval of the Trust's Securities Lending Guidelines and the required findings with respect to, and annual approval of, the Trust's agreement with the securities lending agent. The Securities Lending Committee met two times during the fiscal year ended July 31, 2017.

The members of the Risk Committee are Jane D. Carlin (Chair), Charles A. Hurty, Drew E. Lawton and John E. Martinez, each of whom is an Independent Trustee. The principal responsibility of the Risk Committee is to consider and organize on behalf of the Board risk related matters of the Funds so the Board may most effectively structure itself to oversee them. The Risk Committee commenced on January 1, 2016. The Risk Committee met four times during the fiscal year ended July 31, 2017.

As the Chair of the Board, Cecilia H. Herbert may serve as an ex-officio member of each Committee.

The following table sets forth, as of December 31, 2016, the dollar range of equity securities beneficially owned by each Trustee and Advisory Board Member in the Funds and in other registered investment companies overseen by the Trustee or Advisory Board Member within the same family of investment companies as the Trust. Ownership is not shown for Richard L. Fagnani because he was appointed to serve as an Advisory Board Member effective April 1, 2017. If a fund is not listed below, the Trustee or Advisory Board Member did not own any securities in that fund as of the date indicated above:

Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee or Advisory Board Member in Family of Investment Companies
Robert S. Kapito	None	None	None

Mark K. Wiedman	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	$50,001-$100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$50,001-$100,000

Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee or Advisory Board Member in Family of Investment Companies
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares National Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares New York Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000

Cecilia H. Herbert	iShares California Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares China Large-Cap ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares International Select Dividend ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares MSCI Japan ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares National Muni Bond ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Preferred Stock ETF	$10,001-$50,000

Jane D. Carlin	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	$50,001-$100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Global Tech ETF	$10,001-$50,000

Richard L. Fagnani	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable

Charles A. Hurty	iShares China Large-Cap ETF	$10,001-$50,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core Growth Allocation ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core Moderate Allocation ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF	$10,001-$50,000

Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee or Advisory Board Member in Family of Investment Companies
	iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Global Energy ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Global Healthcare ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Global Tech ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Energy ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Technology ETF	Over $100,000

John E. Kerrigan	iShares MSCI ACWI ETF	$10,001-$50,000	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000

Drew E. Lawton	iShares MSCI Frontier 100 ETF	$50,001-$100,000	$50,001-$100,000

John E. Martinez	iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	$1-$10,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares Global Consumer Staples ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 1000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares TIPS Bond ETF	$50,001-$100,000

Madhav V. Rajan	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Select Dividend ETF	Over $100,000

Name		Fund		Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund		Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee or Advisory Board Member in Family of Investment Companies
		iShares U.S. Preferred Stock ETF		Over $100,000

As of December 31, 2016, none of the Independent Trustees, the Advisory Board Member or their immediate family members owned beneficially or of record any securities of BFA (the Funds' investment adviser), the Distributor or any person controlling, controlled by or under common control with BFA or the Distributor.

Remuneration of Trustees and Advisory Board Members.

Effective January 1, 2017, each current Independent Trustee is paid an annual retainer of $325,000 for his or her services as a Board member to the BlackRock-advised Funds in the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex (prior to January 1, 2017, the annual retainer was $300,000), together with out-of-pocket expenses in accordance with the Board’s policy on travel and other business expenses relating to attendance at meetings. The annual retainer for services as an Advisory Board Member is the same as the annual retainer for services as a Board member.

The Independent Chair of the Board is paid an additional annual retainer of $50,000. The Chair of each of the Equity Plus Committee, Fixed Income Plus Committee, Securities Lending Committee, Risk Committee, Nominating and Governance Committee and 15(c) Committee is paid an additional annual retainer of $25,000. The Chair of the Audit Committee is paid an additional annual retainer of $40,000. Cecilia H. Herbert waived the annual retainer for her service as the Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee. Each Independent Trustee that served as a director of subsidiaries of the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex is paid an additional annual retainer of $10,000 (plus an additional $1,772 paid annually to compensate for taxes due in the Republic of Mauritius in connection with such Trustee’s service on the boards of certain Mauritius-based subsidiaries).

The table below sets forth the compensation earned by each Independent Trustee, Interested Trustee and Advisory Board Member for services to each Fund for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2017 and the aggregate compensation paid to them for services to the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex for the calendar year ended December 31, 2016.

Name	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF	iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF
Independent Trustees:

Robert H. Silver¹	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$0	$0
John E. Martinez	9,568	19	3,057	2	7
Cecilia H. Herbert	10,272	20	3,203	2	7
Charles A. Hurty	9,990	20	2,075	2	7
John E. Kerrigan	9,568	19	1,987	2	7
Madhav V. Rajan	10,213	20	2,121	2	7
Jane D. Carlin	9,568	19	1,987	2	7

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0	0

Advisory Board Members:

Drew E. Lawton²	$7,513	$15	$1,560	$2	$5
Richard L. Fagnani³	3,111	6	646	1	2

Name	iShares Exponential Technologies ETF	iShares MSCI ACWI ETF	iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF	iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF
Independent Trustees:

Robert H. Silver¹	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
John E. Martinez	331	2,098	742	126	2,271
Cecilia H. Herbert	356	2,252	797	135	2,359
Charles A. Hurty	346	2,190	775	131	1,254
John E. Kerrigan	331	2,098	742	126	1,201
Madhav V. Rajan	354	2,239	792	134	1,282
Jane D. Carlin	331	2,098	742	126	1,201

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0	0

Advisory Board Members:

Drew E. Lawton²	$260	$1,647	$583	$99	$943
Richard L. Fagnani³	108	682	241	41	391

Name	Pension or Retirement Benefits Accrued As Part of Trust Expenses⁴	Estimated Annual Benefits Upon Retirement⁴	Total Compensation From the Funds and Fund Complex⁵
Independent Trustees:

Robert H. Silver¹	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	$ 81,250
John E. Martinez	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	336,764
Cecilia H. Herbert	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	361,764
Charles A. Hurty	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	340,000
John E. Kerrigan	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	325,000
Madhav V. Rajan	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	325,000
Jane D. Carlin	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	325,000

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$0	$0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0

Advisory Board Members:

Drew E. Lawton²	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	$75,000 ⁶
Richard L. Fagnani³	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable⁷

¹	Served as an Independent Trustee through March 31, 2016.
²	Compensation is shown for Drew E. Lawton for the period from October 18, 2016 (date of his appointment to the Advisory Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to July 31, 2017.
³	Compensation is shown for Richard L. Fagnani for the period from April 1, 2017 (date of his appointment to the Advisory Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to July 31, 2017.
⁴	No Trustee or officer is entitled to any pension or retirement benefits from the Trust.
⁵	Includes compensation for service on the Board of Trustees or the Advisory Board of iShares U.S. ETF Trust and the Board of Directors or the Advisory Board of iShares, Inc.

⁶	Total compensation is shown for Drew E. Lawton for the period from October 18, 2016 (date of his appointment to the Advisory Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to December 31, 2016.
⁷	Total compensation is not shown for Richard L. Fagnani because he was appointed to serve as an Advisory Board Member of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust effective April 1, 2017.

Control Persons and Principal Holders of Securities.

The Trustees and officers of the Trust collectively owned less than 1% of each Fund's outstanding shares as of November 1, 2017.

Although the Trust does not have information concerning the beneficial ownership of shares held in the names of Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) participants (as defined below), as of November 1, 2017, the name and percentage ownership of each DTC participant that owned of record 5% or more of the outstanding shares of a Fund were as follows:

Fund	Name	Percentage of Ownership
iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	National Financial Services LLC 200 Liberty Street 5^thFloor New York, NY 10281	11.60%
	JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association 14201 Dallas Pkwy 12^thFloor Dallas, TX 75240	10.32%
	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC 1300 Thames Street 6^th Floor Baltimore, MD 21231	8.25%
	State Street Bank and Trust Company 1776 Heritage Drive North Quincy, MA 02171	7.82%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	7.66%
	UBS Financial Services Inc. 1000 Harbor Blvd. 8^th Floor Weehawken, NJ 07087	5.18%
iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF	BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A. 400 Howard Street San Francisco, CA 94105	86.75%
iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A. 400 Howard Street San Francisco, CA 94105	47.29%
	National Financial Services LLC 200 Liberty Street 5^thFloor New York, NY 10281	18.91%
	Northern Trust Company (The) 801 South Canal Street Chicago, IL 60612	6.29%

Fund	Name	Percentage of Ownership
iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF	J.P. Morgan Clearing Corp One Metrotech Center North Brooklyn, NY 11201	33.01%
	Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. 525 Washington Blvd. 11^th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07310	14.38%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated 101 Hudson Street 9^th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	9.59%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 111 Pavonia Avenue Jersey City, NJ 07310	5.40%
	Raymond, James & Associates, Inc. 880 Carillon Parkway P.O. Box 12749 St. Petersburg, FL 33733	5.35%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF	SSB - Trust Custody 1776 Heritage Drive Quincy, MA 02171	57.97%
	Citibank, N.A. 3800 CitiBank Center Tampa Building A/Floor 2 Tampa, FL 33610	10.67%
	TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. 1005 N. Ameritrade Place Bellevue, NE 68005	5.56%
iShares Exponential Technologies ETF	TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. 1005 N. Ameritrade Place Bellevue, NE 68005	65.27%
	Citibank, N.A. 3800 CitiBank Center Tampa Building A/Floor 2 Tampa, FL 33610	7.51%
	National Financial Services LLC 200 Liberty Street 5^thFloor New York, NY 10281	5.77%
iShares MSCI ACWI ETF	National Financial Services LLC 200 Liberty Street 5^thFloor New York, NY 10281	14.60%
	JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association 14201 Dallas Pkwy 12^thFloor Dallas, TX 75240	11.83%
	Citibank, N.A. 3800 CitiBank Center Tampa Building A/Floor 2 Tampa, FL 33610	8.88%

Fund	Name	Percentage of Ownership
	The Bank of New York Mellon 401 Salina Street 2^nd Floor Syracuse, NY 13202	7.78%
	CDS Clearing and Depository Services Inc. 600 De Maisonneuve Blvd W Suite 210 Montreal, QC H3A 3J2	5.03%
iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF	Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. 525 Washington Blvd. 11^th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07310	23.27%
	JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association 14201 Dallas Pkwy 12^thFloor Dallas, TX 75240	15.32%
	The Bank of New York Mellon 401 Salina Street 2^nd Floor Syracuse, NY 13202	9.96%
	State Street Bank and Trust Company 1776 Heritage Drive North Quincy, MA 02171	8.29%
	Citibank, N.A. 3800 CitiBank Center Tampa Building A/Floor 2 Tampa, FL 33610	5.02%

BlackRock is one of the world's largest asset management firms. PNC is a diversified financial services organization spanning the retail, business and corporate markets. BlackRock, PNC and their respective affiliates (including, for these purposes, their directors, partners, trustees, managing members, officers and employees), including the entities and personnel who may be involved in the investment activities and business operations of a Fund, are engaged worldwide in businesses, including managing equities, fixed-income securities, cash and alternative investments, and banking and other financial services, and have interests other than that of managing a Fund. These are considerations of which investors in a Fund should be aware, and which may cause conflicts of interest that could disadvantage a Fund and its shareholders. These businesses and interests include potential multiple advisory, transactional, financial and other relationships with, or interests in, companies and interests in securities or other instruments that may be purchased or sold by a Fund.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates have proprietary interests in, and may manage or advise with respect to, accounts or funds (including separate accounts and other funds and collective investment vehicles) that have investment objectives similar to those of a Fund and/or that engage in transactions in the same types of securities, currencies and instruments as a Fund. One or more Affiliates are also major participants in the global currency, equities, swap and fixed-income markets, in each case, for the accounts of customers and, in some cases, on a proprietary basis. As such, one or more Affiliates are or may be actively engaged in transactions in the same securities, currencies, and instruments in which a Fund invests. Such activities could affect the prices and availability of the securities, currencies, and instruments in which a Fund invests, which could have an adverse impact on a Fund's performance. Such transactions, particularly in respect of most proprietary accounts or

client accounts, will be executed independently of a Fund's transactions and thus at prices or rates that may be more or less favorable than those obtained by a Fund.

At times, these activities may cause departments of BlackRock or the other Affiliates to give advice to clients that may cause these clients to take actions adverse to the interests of a Fund. To the extent affiliated transactions are permitted, a Fund will deal with BlackRock and the other Affiliates (except with respect to BFA or affiliated sub-advisers of a Fund, as applicable) on an arms-length basis.

Subject to applicable law, the Affiliates (and their personnel and other distributors) will be entitled to retain fees and other amounts that they receive in connection with their service to the Funds as broker, dealer, agent, lender, adviser or in other commercial capacities. No accounting to a Fund or its shareholders will be required, and no fees or other compensation payable by a Fund or its shareholders will be reduced by reason of receipt by an Affiliate of any such fees or other amounts.

increase or decrease the amount of securities on loan or to lend particular securities in order to generate additional risk-adjusted revenue for BTC and its affiliates; and (ii) BTC as securities lending agent may have an incentive to allocate loans to clients that would provide more revenue to BlackRock. As described further below, BlackRock seeks to mitigate this conflict by providing its securities lending clients with equal lending opportunities over time in order to approximate pro-rata allocation.

Purchases and sales of securities and other assets for a Fund may be bunched or aggregated with orders for other BlackRock client and fund accounts. BlackRock, however, is not required to bunch or aggregate orders if portfolio management decisions for different accounts or funds are made separately, or if it determines that bunching or aggregating is not practicable or required, is not in the best interest of a Fund, or in cases involving client direction.

Prevailing trading activity frequently may make impossible the receipt of the same price or execution on the entire volume of securities purchased or sold. When this occurs, the various prices may be averaged, and the Funds will be charged or credited with the average price. Thus, the effect of the aggregation may operate on some occasions to the disadvantage of the Funds. In addition, under certain circumstances, the Funds will not be charged the same commission or commission equivalent rates in connection with a bunched or aggregated order.

BlackRock has adopted policies and procedures designed to prevent conflicts of interest from influencing proxy voting decisions that it makes on behalf of advisory clients, including the Funds, and to help ensure that such decisions are made in accordance with BlackRock's fiduciary obligations to its clients. Nevertheless, notwithstanding such proxy voting policies and procedures, actual proxy voting decisions of BlackRock may have the effect of favoring the interests of other clients or businesses of other divisions or units of BlackRock and/or the other Affiliates, provided that BlackRock believes such voting decisions to be in accordance with its fiduciary obligations. For a more detailed discussion of these policies and procedures, see the Proxy Voting Policy section of this SAI.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates may provide valuation assistance to certain clients with respect to certain securities or other investments and the valuation recommendations made for their clients' accounts may differ from the valuations for the same securities or investments assigned by a Fund's pricing vendors, especially if such valuations are based on broker-dealer quotes or other data sources unavailable to the Fund's pricing vendors. While BlackRock will generally communicate its valuation information or determinations to a Fund's pricing vendors and/or fund accountants, there may be instances where the Fund's pricing vendors or fund accountants assign a different valuation to a security or other investment than the valuation for such security or investment determined or recommended by BlackRock.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates and their directors, officers and employees, may buy and sell securities or other investments for their own accounts and may have conflicts of interest with respect to investments made on behalf of a Fund. As a result of differing trading and investment strategies or constraints, positions may be taken by directors, officers, employees and Affiliates that are the same, different from or made at different times than positions taken for the Fund. To lessen the possibility that a Fund will be adversely affected by this personal trading, each Fund, BFA and BlackRock, Inc. have each adopted a code of ethics in compliance with Section 17(j) of the 1940 Act that restricts securities trading in the personal accounts of investment professionals and others who normally come into possession of information regarding a Fund's portfolio transactions. Each code of ethics is available by contacting BlackRock or by accessing the EDGAR Database on the SEC's Internet site at http://www.sec.gov, and copies may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by e-mail at publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the SEC's Public Reference Room, Washington, DC 20549-1520. Information about accessing documents on the SEC’s website may be obtained by calling the SEC at (800) SEC-0330.

The investment activities of one or more Affiliates for their proprietary accounts and for client accounts may also limit the investment strategies and rights of the Funds. For example, in certain circumstances where a Fund invests in securities issued by companies that operate in certain regulated industries or in certain emerging or international markets, are subject to corporate or regulatory ownership definitions, or invest in certain futures and derivative transactions, there may be limits on the aggregate amount invested by Affiliates (including BlackRock) for their proprietary accounts and for client accounts (including the Funds) that may not be exceeded without the grant of a license or other regulatory or corporate consent or, if exceeded, may cause BlackRock, the Funds or other client accounts to suffer disadvantages or business restrictions.

If certain aggregate ownership thresholds are reached either through the actions of BlackRock or a Fund or as a result of third-party transactions, the ability of BlackRock on behalf of clients (including the Funds) to purchase or dispose of investments, or exercise rights or undertake business transactions, may be restricted by regulation or otherwise impaired. As a result, BlackRock, on behalf of clients (including the Funds), may limit purchases, sell existing investments, or otherwise

restrict or limit the exercise of rights (including voting rights) when BlackRock, in its sole discretion, deems it appropriate in light of potential regulatory or other restrictions on ownership or other consequences resulting from reaching investment thresholds.

In those circumstances where ownership thresholds or limitations must be observed, BlackRock seeks to allocate limited investment opportunities equitably among clients (including the Funds), taking into consideration benchmark weight and investment strategy. BlackRock has adopted certain controls designed to prevent the occurrence of a breach of any applicable ownership threshold or limits, including, for example, when ownership in certain securities nears an applicable threshold, BlackRock may remove such securities from Deposit Securities in connection with purchases of Creation Units of a Fund and may limit purchases in such securities to the issuer's weighting in the applicable benchmark used by BlackRock to manage a Fund. If client (including Fund) holdings of an issuer exceed an applicable threshold and BlackRock is unable to obtain relief to enable the continued holding of such investments, it may be necessary to sell down these positions to meet the applicable limitations. In these cases, benchmark overweight positions will be sold prior to benchmark positions being reduced to meet applicable limitations.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates may not serve as Authorized Participants in the creation and redemption of iShares ETFs, but may serve as authorized participants of third-party ETFs.

BlackRock or the other Affiliates own or have an ownership interest in certain trading, portfolio management, operations and/or information systems used by Fund service providers. These systems are, or will be, used by a Fund service provider in connection with the provision of services to accounts managed by BlackRock and funds managed and sponsored by BlackRock, including the Funds, that engage the service provider (typically the custodian). A Fund’s service provider remunerates BlackRock or the other Affiliates for the use of the systems. A Fund service provider’s payments to BlackRock or the other Affiliates for the use of these systems may enhance the profitability of BlackRock and the other Affiliates. BlackRock’s or the other Affiliates’ receipt of fees from a service provider in connection with the use of systems provided by BlackRock or the other Affiliates may create an incentive for BlackRock to recommend that a Fund enter into or renew an arrangement with the service provider.

Present and future activities of BlackRock and the other Affiliates, including BFA, in addition to those described in this section, may give rise to additional conflicts of interest.

Investment Advisory, Administrative and Distribution Services

Pursuant to the investment advisory agreement, BFA may, from time to time, in its sole discretion and to the extent permitted by applicable law, appoint one or more sub-advisers, including, without limitation, affiliates of BFA, to perform investment advisory or other services with respect to a Fund. In addition, BFA may delegate certain of its investment advisory functions under the investment advisory agreement to one or more of its affiliates to the extent permitted by applicable law. BFA may terminate any or all sub-advisers or such delegation arrangements in its sole discretion upon appropriate notice at any time to the extent permitted by applicable law.

Effective June 29, 2018, for its investment advisory services to the iShares MSCI ACWI ETF and iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF, BFA is paid a management fee from each Fund corresponding to the Fund's allocable portion of an aggregate management fee calculated based on the aggregate average daily net assets of the following iShares funds: iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol EAFE ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF, iShares Human Rights ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF and iShares MSCI EAFE ETF. The aggregate management fee is calculated as follows: 0.3500% per annum of the aggregate net assets less than or equal to $30.0 billion, plus 0.3200% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $30.0 billion, up to and including $60.0 billion, plus 0.2800% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $60.0 billion, up to and including $90.0 billion, plus 0.2520% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $90.0 billion, up to and including $120.0 billion, plus 0.2270% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $120.0 billion, up to and including $150.0 billion, plus 0.2040% per annum of the aggregate net assets in excess of $150.0 billion.

For its investment advisory services to the iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF, BFA is entitled to receive a management fee from the Fund corresponding to the Fund’s allocable portion of an aggregate management fee based on the aggregate average daily net assets of the following iShares funds: iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Emerging Markets ETF, iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF, iShares MSCI BRIC ETF, iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF and iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Small-Cap ETF. The aggregate management fee is calculated as follows: 0.75% per annum of the aggregate net assets less than or equal to $14.0 billion, plus 0.68% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $14.0 billion, up to and including $28.0 billion, plus 0.61% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $28.0 billion, up to and including $42.0 billion, plus 0.54% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $42.0 billion, up to and including $56.0 billion, plus 0.47% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $56.0 billion, up to and including $70.0 billion, plus 0.41% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $70.0 billion, up to and including $84.0 billion, plus 0.35% per annum of the aggregate net assets in excess of $84.0 billion.

For its investment advisory services to each Fund, BFA received a management fee at the annual rates (as a percentage of such Fund’s average net assets) set forth below for the fiscal years noted:

Fund	Management Fee for the Fiscal Year Ended July 31, 2017	Fund Inception Date	Management Fees Paid Net of Waivers for Fiscal Year Ended July 31, 2017	Management Fees Paid Net of Waivers for Fiscal Year Ended July 31, 2016	Management Fees Paid Net of Waivers for Fiscal Year Ended July 31, 2015
iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF¹	0.08%	10/18/12	$ 16,130,005	$ 11,054,194	$ 5,096,664
iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF^2,3	0.07%	03/21/17	0	N/A	N/A
iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF^4,5	0.11%	10/18/12	4,817,684	2,595,574	1,725,311
iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF	0.35%	06/03/14	31,688	95,620	15,601
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF^6,7	0.35%	04/28/15	45,174	18,419	3,147
iShares Exponential Technologies ETF⁸	0.47%	03/19/15	4,235,953	2,412,779	695,650
iShares MSCI ACWI ETF⁹	0.32%	03/26/08	19,509,275	18,834,460	21,597,454
iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF¹⁰	0.32%	03/26/08	6,675,996	6,790,374	6,059,693
iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF^11,12	0.20%	12/08/14	671,141	433,107	205,850
iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF¹³	0.69%	08/13/08	20,425,024	17,531,195	23,660,993

¹	Effective October 5, 2016, the management fee for the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF is 0.08%. From December 10, 2014 to October 4, 2016, the management fee for the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF was 0.12%. Prior to December 10, 2014, the management fee for the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF was 0.14%.
²	For the iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF, BFA contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fee such that the Fund’s total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver will not exceed 0.05% effective June 1, 2018 through May 30, 2023. The contractual waiver was discontinued beginning on June 26, 2018. BFA previously voluntarily agreed to waive a portion of its management fee. As of March 22, 2018, the voluntary waiver is no longer in effect. For the fiscal year ended July 31, 2017, BFA waived $8,156 of its management fees.
³	Effective June 26, 2018, the management fee for the iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF is 0.05%. Prior to June 26, 2018, the management fee for the iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF was 0.07%.
⁴	Effective June 26, 2018, the management fee for the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF is 0.10%. From October 5, 2016 to June 25, 2018, the management fee for the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF was 0.11%. From December 10, 2014 to October 4, 2016, the management fee for the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF was 0.14%. Prior to December 10, 2014, the management fee for the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF was 0.16%.
⁵	For the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF, BFA 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. until November 30, 2021. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to November 30, 2021 only upon the written agreement of the Trust and BFA. BFA 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 0.10% effective June 1, 2018 through May 30, 2023. The contractual waiver was discontinued beginning on June 26, 2018. For the fiscal years ended July 31, 2017, July 31, 2016 and July 31, 2015, BFA waived $69,030, $44,853 and $34,809, respectively of its management fees.
⁶	Effective December 16, 2016, the management fee for the iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF is 0.35%. Prior to December 16, 2016, the management fee for the iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF was 0.50%.
⁷	For the iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF, BFA 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. until November 30, 2025. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to November 30, 2025 only upon the written agreement of the Trust and BFA. For the fiscal years ended July 31, 2017, July 31, 2016 and July 31, 2015, BFA waived $613, $222 and $48, respectively of its management fees. BFA may from time to time voluntarily waive and/or reimburse fees or expenses to reduce the Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (excluding Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any). For the fiscal year ended July 31, 2017, BFA waived $1,234 of its management fees. Any such voluntary waiver or reimbursement may be eliminated by BFA at any time.
⁸	For the iShares Exponential Technologies ETF, BFA may voluntarily waive a portion of the management fee, as it determines, from time to time. For the fiscal years ended July 31, 2017, July 31, 2016 and July 31, 2015, BFA waived $0, $734,355 and $394,202, respectively of its management fees. Any such voluntary waiver may be eliminated by BFA at any time.
⁹	For the iShares MSCI ACWI ETF, BFA 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 November 30, 2021. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to November 30, 2021 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA. For the fiscal years ended July 31, 2017, July 31, 2016 and July 31, 2015, BFA waived $0, $0 and $0, respectively of its management fees.
¹⁰	For the iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF, BFA 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 November 30, 2021. The

	contractual waiver may be terminated prior to November 30, 2021 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA. For the fiscal years ended July 31, 2017, July 31, 2016 and July 31, 2015, BFA waived $0, $0 and $0, respectively of its management fees.
¹¹	For the iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF, BFA contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fee for its investment advisory services to the Fund in order to limit Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses to 0.20% of average daily net assets through November 30, 2016. The contractual waiver was discontinued as of August 1, 2016. For the fiscal years ended July 31, 2016 and July 31, 2015, BFA waived $281,467 and $133,802, respectively of its management fees.
¹²	Effective August 1, 2016, the management fee for the iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF is 0.20%. Prior to August 1, 2016, the management fee for the iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF was 0.33%.
¹³	For the iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF, BFA 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 November 30, 2021. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to November 30, 2021 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA. For the fiscal years ended July 31, 2017, July 31, 2016 and July 31, 2015, BFA waived $0, $0 and $0, respectively of its management fees. BFA may from time to time voluntarily waive and/or reimburse fees or expenses to reduce the Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (excluding Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any). Any such voluntary waiver or reimbursement may be eliminated by BFA at any time.

For the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF, each Subsidiary has entered into a separate contract with BFA whereby BFA provides investment advisory services to the Subsidiary. BFA does not receive separate compensation from the Subsidiary for providing it with investment advisory services. Each Applicable Fund pays BFA a management fee based on the Fund's assets, including the assets invested in the Subsidiary. Each Subsidiary has also entered into separate arrangements that provide for the provision of other services to the Subsidiary (including administrative, custody, transfer agency and other services), and BFA shall pay the costs and expenses related to the provision of those services.

Portfolio Managers. As of July 31, 2017, the individuals named as Portfolio Managers in the Funds' Prospectuses were also primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of other iShares funds and certain other types of portfolios and/or accounts as follows:

Diane Hsiung
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	243	$884,969,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	13	4,779,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Jennifer Hsui
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	264	$918,263,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	14	4,802,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Alan Mason
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	351	$ 997,170,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	287	675,184,000,000
Other Accounts	222	61,464,000,000

Greg Savage
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	326	$966,757,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	86	49,572,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Each of the portfolios or accounts for which the Portfolio Managers are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management seeks to track the rate of return, risk profile and other characteristics of independent third-party indexes by either replicating the same combination of securities and other financial instruments that constitute those indexes or through a representative sampling of the securities and other financial instruments that constitute those indexes based on objective criteria and data. Pursuant to BFA’s policy, investment opportunities are allocated equitably among the Funds and other portfolios and accounts. For example, under certain circumstances, an investment opportunity may be restricted due to limited supply in the market, legal constraints or other factors, in which event the investment opportunity will be allocated equitably among those portfolios and accounts, including the Funds, seeking such investment opportunity. As a consequence, from time to time each Fund may receive a smaller allocation of an investment opportunity than it would have if the Portfolio Managers and BFA and its affiliates did not manage other portfolios or accounts.

Like the Funds, the other portfolios or accounts for which the Portfolio Managers are primarily responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management generally pay an asset-based fee to BFA or its affiliates, as applicable, for its advisory services. One or more of those other portfolios or accounts, however, may pay BFA or its affiliates a performance-based fee in lieu of, or in addition to, an asset-based fee for its advisory services. A portfolio or account with a performance-based fee would pay BFA or its affiliates a portion of that portfolio’s or account’s gains, or would pay BFA or its affiliates more for its services than would otherwise be the case if BFA or any of its affiliates meets or exceeds specified performance targets. Performance-based fee arrangements could present an incentive for BFA or its affiliates to devote greater resources, and allocate more investment opportunities, to the portfolios or accounts that have those fee arrangements, relative to other portfolios or accounts, in order to earn larger fees. Although BFA and each of its affiliates have an obligation to allocate resources and opportunities equitably among portfolios and accounts and intend to do so, shareholders of the Funds should be aware that, as with any group of portfolios and accounts managed by an investment adviser and/or its affiliates pursuant to varying fee arrangements, including performance-based fee arrangements, there is the potential for a conflict of interest, which may result in the Portfolio Managers favoring those portfolios or accounts with performance-based fee arrangements.

Diane Hsiung
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	2	$26,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Jennifer Hsui
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	2	$26,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Alan Mason
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	0	N/A
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Greg Savage
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	1	$956,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

The discussion below describes the Portfolio Managers' compensation as of July 31, 2017.

Portfolio Manager Compensation Overview

Base compensation. Generally, portfolio managers receive base compensation based on their position with the firm.

Other Compensation Benefits. In addition to base compensation and discretionary incentive compensation, portfolio managers may be eligible to receive or participate in one or more of the following:

purchase of 1,000 shares of common stock or a dollar value of $25,000 based on its fair market value on the Purchase Date. Diane Hsiung, Jennifer Hsui, Alan Mason and Greg Savage are each eligible to participate in these plans.

As of July 31, 2017, the Portfolio Managers beneficially owned shares of the Funds, for which they are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management, in the amounts reflected in the following tables:

Diane Hsiung

Dollar Range

Fund

None

$1 to $10k

$10,001
to $50k

$50,001
to $100k

$100,001
to $500k

$500,001
to $1m

over
$1m

iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF

iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF

IShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF

iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF

iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF

iShares Exponential Technologies ETF

iShares MSCI ACWI ETF

iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF

IShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF

iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF

Jennifer Hsui

Dollar Range

Fund

None

$1 to $10k

$10,001
to $50k

$50,001
to $100k

$100,001
to $500k

$500,001
to $1m

over
$1m

iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF

iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF

IShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF

iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF

iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF

iShares Exponential Technologies ETF

iShares MSCI ACWI ETF

iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF

IShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF

iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF

Alan Mason

Dollar Range

Fund

None

$1 to $10k

$10,001
to $50k

$50,001
to $100k

$100,001
to $500k

$500,001
to $1m

over
$1m

iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF

iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF

IShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF

iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF

iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF

iShares Exponential Technologies ETF

Alan Mason

Dollar Range

Fund

None

$1 to $10k

$10,001
to $50k

$50,001
to $100k

$100,001
to $500k

$500,001
to $1m

over
$1m

iShares MSCI ACWI ETF

iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF

IShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF

iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF

Greg Savage

Dollar Range

Fund

None

$1 to $10k

$10,001
to $50k

$50,001
to $100k

$100,001
to $500k

$500,001
to $1m

over
$1m

iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF

iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF

IShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF

iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF

iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF

iShares Exponential Technologies ETF

iShares MSCI ACWI ETF

iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF

IShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF

iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF

Codes of Ethics. The Trust, BFA and the Distributor have adopted codes of ethics pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act. The codes of ethics permit personnel subject to the codes of ethics to invest in securities, subject to certain limitations, including securities that may be purchased or held by the Funds. The codes of ethics are on public file with, and are available from, the SEC.

Administrator, Custodian and Transfer Agent. State Street serves as administrator, custodian and transfer agent for the Funds under the Master Services Agreement and related Service Schedule (the “Service Module”). State Street’s principal address is 1 Iron Street, Boston, MA 02210. Pursuant to the Service Module for Fund Administration and Accounting Services with the Trust, State Street provides necessary administrative, legal, tax and accounting and financial reporting services for the maintenance and operations of the Trust and each Fund. In addition, State Street makes available the office space, equipment, personnel and facilities required to provide such services. Pursuant to the Service Module for Custodial Services with the Trust, State Street maintains, in separate accounts, cash, securities and other assets of the Trust and each Fund, keeps all necessary accounts and records and provides other services. State Street is required, upon the order of the Trust, to deliver securities held by State Street and to make payments for securities purchased by the Trust for each Fund. State Street is authorized to appoint certain foreign custodians or foreign custody managers for Fund investments outside the U.S. Pursuant to the Service Module for Transfer Agency Services with the Trust, State Street acts as a transfer agent for each

Fund’s authorized and issued shares of beneficial interest, and as dividend disbursing agent of the Trust. As compensation for these services, State Street receives certain out-of-pocket costs, transaction fees and asset-based fees which are accrued daily and paid monthly by BFA from its management fee.

The following table sets forth the administration, custodian and transfer agency expenses of each Fund paid by BFA to State Street for the fiscal years noted:

Fund	Fund Inception Date	Custody, Administration, Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended July 31, 2017	Custody, Administration, Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended July 31, 2016	Custody, Administration, Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended July 31, 2015
iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	10/18/12	$1,005,015	$ 560,227	$ 326,474
iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF	03/21/17	26,743	N/A	N/A
iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	10/18/12	530,953	293,145	225,976
iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF	06/03/14	25,977	19,736	12,319
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF	04/28/15	21,862	12,517	10,715
iShares Exponential Technologies ETF	03/19/15	41,408	33,835	12,094
iShares MSCI ACWI ETF	03/26/08	396,698	409,047	491,870
iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	03/26/08	293,783	339,383	252,453
iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF	12/08/14	57,323	46,108	49,057
iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF	08/13/08	454,524	416,084	543,231

Subsidiary Administrator. International Financial Services Limited (“IFS”) serves as the Subsidiary's Mauritius administrator. Pursuant to an agreement with IFS, the Subsidiary pays a fee for administrative, legal, tax and accounting services to IFS, for certain shareholder services and for providing office space, equipment, personnel and facilities required to provide such services to the Subsidiary.

BFA Entities make payments for Intermediaries’ participation in activities that are designed to make registered representatives, other professionals and individual investors more knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, including the Funds and other iShares funds, or for other activities, such as participation in marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems (“Education Costs”). BFA Entities also make payments to Intermediaries for certain printing, publishing and mailing costs or materials relating to the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products (“Publishing Costs”). In addition, BFA Entities make payments to Intermediaries that make shares of the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products available to their clients, develop new products that feature iShares or otherwise promote the Funds, other iShares funds and exchange-traded products. BFA Entities may also reimburse expenses or make payments from their own assets to Intermediaries or other persons in consideration of services or other activities that the BFA Entities believe may benefit the iShares business or facilitate investment in the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products. Payments of the type described above are sometimes referred to as revenue-sharing payments.

Payments to an Intermediary may be significant to the Intermediary, and amounts that Intermediaries pay to your salesperson or other investment professional may also be significant for your salesperson or other investment professional. Because an Intermediary may make decisions about which investment options it will recommend or make available to its clients or what services to provide for various products based on payments it receives or is eligible to receive, such payments may create conflicts of interest between the Intermediary and its clients and these financial incentives may cause the Intermediary to recommend the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products over other investments. The same conflicts of interest and financial incentives exist with respect to your salesperson or other investment professional if he or she receives similar payments from his or her Intermediary firm.

In addition to the payments described above, BFA Entities have developed proprietary tools, calculators and related interactive or digital content that is made available through the www.BlackRock.com website at no additional cost to Intermediaries. BlackRock may configure these tools and calculators and localizes the content for Intermediaries as part of its customary digital marketing support and promotion of the Funds, other iShares funds, exchange-traded products and BlackRock mutual funds.

In addition, BFA Entities may enter into other contractual arrangements with Intermediaries and certain other third parties that the BFA Entities believe may benefit the iShares business or facilitate investment in iShares funds. Such agreements may include payments by BFA Entities to such Intermediaries and third parties for data collection and provision, technology support, platform enhancement, or co-marketing and cross-promotional efforts. Payments made pursuant to such arrangements may vary in any year and may be different for different Intermediaries and third parties. In certain cases, the payments described in the preceding sentence may be subject to certain minimum payment levels. Such payments will not be asset- or revenue-based. As of the date of this SAI, the Intermediaries and other third parties receiving such contractual payments include: Commonwealth Equity Services, Inc., Ladenburg Thalmann Advisor Network LLC, LPL Financial LLC, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, Orion Advisors Services, LLC, Pershing LLC, Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., TD Ameritrade, Inc. and UBS Financial Services Inc. Any additions, modifications, or deletions to Intermediaries and other third parties listed above that have occurred since the date noted above are not included in the list.

or an amount based on the Intermediary’s net sales of one or more iShares funds in a year or other period, any of which arrangements may include an agreed-upon minimum or maximum payment, or any combination of the foregoing. As of the date of this SAI, BFA anticipates that the payments paid by BFA Entities in connection with the Funds, iShares funds and exchange-traded products in general will be immaterial to BFA Entities in the aggregate for the next year. Please contact your salesperson or other investment professional for more information regarding any such payments or financial incentives his or her Intermediary firm may receive. Any payments made, or financial incentives offered, by the BFA Entities to an Intermediary may create the incentive for the Intermediary to encourage customers to buy shares of the Funds, other iShares funds or other exchange-traded products.

Determination of Net Asset Value

Valuation of Shares. The NAV for each Fund is generally calculated as of the close of business on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) (normally 4:00 p.m., Eastern time) on each business day the NYSE is open. Valuation of securities held by a Fund is as follows:

Equity Investments. Equity securities traded on a recognized securities exchange (e.g., NYSE), on separate trading boards of a securities exchange or through a market system that provides contemporaneous transaction pricing information (each, an “Exchange”) are valued using information obtained via independent pricing services, generally at the closing price on the Exchange on which the security is primarily traded, or if an Exchange closing price is not available, the last traded price on that Exchange prior to the time as of which a Fund’s assets or liabilities are valued. However, under certain circumstances, other means of determining current market value may be used. If an equity security is traded on more than one Exchange, the current market value of the security where it is primarily traded generally will be used. In the event that there are no sales involving an equity security held by a Fund on a day on which a Fund values such security, the prior day’s price will be used, unless, in accordance with valuation procedures approved by the Board (the “Valuation Procedures”), BlackRock determines in good faith that such prior day’s price no longer reflects the fair value of the security, in which case such asset would be treated as a Fair Value Asset (as defined below).

Fixed-Income Investments. Fixed-income securities for which market quotations are readily available are generally valued using such securities’ current market value. A Fund values fixed-income portfolio securities using the last available bid prices or current market quotations provided by dealers or prices (including evaluated prices) supplied by a Fund’s approved independent third-party pricing services, each in accordance with the Valuation Procedures. The pricing services may use matrix pricing or valuation models that utilize certain inputs and assumptions to derive values, including transaction data (e.g., recent representative bids and offers), credit quality information, perceived market movements, news, and other relevant information and by other methods, which may include consideration of: yields or prices of securities of comparable quality, coupon, maturity and type; indications as to values from dealers; general market conditions; and/or other factors and assumptions. Pricing services generally value fixed-income securities assuming orderly transactions of an institutional round lot size, but a Fund may hold or transact in such securities in smaller, odd lot sizes. Odd lots often trade at lower prices than institutional round lots. The amortized cost method of valuation may be used with respect to debt obligations with sixty days or less remaining to maturity unless BlackRock determines in good faith that such method does not represent fair value. Loan participation notes are generally valued at the mean of the last available bid prices from one or more brokers or dealers as obtained from independent third-party pricing services. Certain fixed-income investments, including asset-backed and mortgage-related securities, may be valued based on valuation models that consider the estimated cash flows of each tranche of the entity, establish a benchmark yield and develop an estimated tranche-specific spread to the benchmark yield based on the unique attributes of the tranche.

options are traded. In the event that there is no mean price available for an exchange traded equity option held by a Fund on a day on which a Fund values such option, the last bid (long positions) or ask (short positions) price, if available, will be used as the value of such option. If no such bid or ask price is available on a day on which a Fund values such option, the prior day’s price will be used, unless BlackRock determines in good faith that such prior day’s price no longer reflects the fair value of the option, in which case such option will be treated as a Fair Value Asset (as defined below). OTC derivatives are valued using the last available bid prices or current market quotations provided by dealers or prices (including evaluated prices) supplied by a Fund’s approved independent third-party pricing services, each in accordance with the Valuation Procedures. OTC derivatives may be valued using a mathematical model which may incorporate a number of market data factors. Financial futures contracts and options thereon, which are traded on exchanges, are valued at their settle price as of the close of such exchanges. Swap agreements and other derivatives are generally valued daily based upon quotations from market makers or by a pricing service in accordance with the Valuation Procedures.

Underlying Funds. Shares of underlying ETFs will be valued at their most recent closing price on an Exchange. Shares of underlying money market funds will be valued at their NAV.

All cash, receivables and current payables are carried on a Fund’s books at their face value.

to the occurrence of a significant event subsequent to the most recent market quotation. For this purpose, a “significant event” is deemed to occur if BlackRock determines, in its reasonable business judgment, that an event has occurred after the close of trading for an asset or liability but prior to or at the time of pricing a Fund’s assets or liabilities, and that the event is likely to cause a material change to the closing market price of the assets or liabilities held by a Fund. Non-U.S. securities whose values are affected by volatility that occurs in the markets or in related or highly correlated assets (e.g., ADRs, GDRs or ETFs that invest in components of the Underlying Index) on a trading day after the close of non-U.S. securities markets may be fair valued. On any day the NYSE is open and a foreign market or the primary exchange on which a foreign asset or liability is traded is closed, such asset or liability will be valued using the prior day’s price, provided that BlackRock is not aware of any significant event or other information that would cause such price to no longer reflect the fair value of the asset or liability, in which case such asset or liability would be treated as a Fair Value Asset.

BlackRock, with input from the BlackRock Investment Strategy Group, will submit its recommendations regarding the valuation and/or valuation methodologies for Fair Value Assets to BlackRock’s Valuation Committee. The BlackRock Valuation Committee may accept, modify or reject any recommendations. In addition, a Fund’s accounting agent periodically endeavors to confirm the prices it receives from all third-party pricing services, index providers and broker-dealers, and, with the assistance of BlackRock, to regularly evaluate the values assigned to the securities and other assets and liabilities of a Fund. The pricing of all Fair Value Assets is subsequently reported to and, where appropriate, ratified by the Board.

Brokerage Transactions

commission or dealer spread), size of order, difficulty of execution, operational facilities of the firm and the firm’s risk and skill in positioning blocks of securities. While BFA generally seeks reasonable trade execution costs, a Fund does not necessarily pay the lowest spread or commission available, and payment of the lowest commission or spread is not necessarily consistent with obtaining the best price and execution in particular transactions. Subject to applicable legal requirements, BFA may select a broker based partly upon brokerage or research services provided to BFA and its clients, including a Fund. In return for such services, BFA may cause a Fund to pay a higher commission than other brokers would charge if BFA determines in good faith that the commission is reasonable in relation to the services provided.

OTC issues, including most fixed-income securities such as corporate debt and U.S. Government securities, are normally traded on a “net” basis without a stated commission, through dealers acting for their own account and not as brokers. The Funds will primarily engage in transactions with these dealers or deal directly with the issuer unless a better price or execution could be obtained by using a broker. Prices paid to a dealer with respect to both foreign and domestic securities will generally include a “spread,” which is the difference between the prices at which the dealer is willing to purchase and sell the specific security at the time, and includes the dealer’s normal profit.

Because different accounts may have differing investment objectives and policies, BFA may buy and sell the same securities at the same time for different clients based on the particular investment objective, guidelines and strategies of those accounts. For example, BFA may decide that it may be entirely appropriate for a growth fund to sell a security at the same time a value fund is buying that security. To the extent that transactions on behalf of more than one client of BFA or the other Affiliates during the same period may increase the demand for securities being purchased or the supply of securities being sold, there may be an adverse effect on price. For example, sales of a security by BlackRock on behalf of one or more of its clients may decrease the market price of such security, adversely impacting other BlackRock clients that still hold the security. If purchases or sales of securities arise for consideration at or about the same time that would involve the Funds or other clients or funds for which BFA or another Affiliate act as investment manager, transactions in such securities will be made, insofar as feasible, for the respective funds and clients in a manner deemed equitable to all.

more favorable execution at a potentially lower execution cost. The costs associated with a bunched order will be shared pro rata among the clients in the bunched order. Generally, if an order for a particular portfolio manager or management team is filled at several different prices through multiple trades, all accounts participating in the order will receive the average price (except in the case of certain international markets where average pricing is not permitted). While in some cases this practice could have a detrimental effect upon the price or value of the security as far as the Funds are concerned, in other cases it could be beneficial to the Funds. Transactions effected by BFA or the other Affiliates on behalf of more than one of its clients during the same period may increase the demand for securities being purchased or the supply of securities being sold, causing an adverse effect on price. The trader will give the bunched order to the broker-dealer that the trader has identified as being able to provide the best execution of the order. Orders for purchase or sale of securities will be placed within a reasonable amount of time of the order receipt and bunched orders will be kept bunched only long enough to execute the order.

The table below sets forth the brokerage commissions paid by each Fund for the fiscal years noted. Any differences in brokerage commissions paid by a Fund from year to year are due to increases or decreases in that Fund’s assets over those periods:

Fund	Fund Inception Date	Brokerage Commissions Paid During Fiscal Year Ended July 31, 2017	Brokerage Commissions Paid During Fiscal Year Ended July 31, 2016	Brokerage Commissions Paid During Fiscal Year Ended July 31, 2015
iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	10/18/12	$1,180,786	$1,072,947	$ 306,346
iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF	03/21/17	5,710	N/A	N/A
iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	10/18/12	631,937	250,573	172,007
iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF	06/03/14	6,838	28,129	1,164
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF	04/28/15	3,455	277	642
iShares Exponential Technologies ETF	03/19/15	56,995	68,393	5,994
iShares MSCI ACWI ETF	03/26/08	104,293	109,740	219,057
iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	03/26/08	101,500	150,313	117,702
iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF	12/08/14	16,097	9,391	16,746
iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF	08/13/08	463,432	385,070	555,240

None of the Funds paid any brokerage commissions to BRIL, an affiliate of BFA, or to any other broker-dealer that is part of the BlackRock group of companies, during the fiscal year ended July 31, 2017.

Fund	Issuer	Market Value of Investment
iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	UBS Group AG	$127,107,477
	Barclays PLC	90,378,058
	Societe Generale SA	89,325,157
	Credit Suisse Group AG	72,794,437
	Nomura Holdings, Inc.	43,526,709
iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF	UBS Group AG	$ 223,558
	Societe Generale SA	167,482
	Barclays PLC	161,391
	Credit Suisse Group AG	130,039
	Nomura Holdings, Inc.	80,841
iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	UBS Group AG	$ 18,194,451
	Societe Generale SA	12,856,073
	Barclays PLC	12,816,308

Fund	Issuer	Market Value of Investment
	Credit Suisse Group AG	10,330,747
	Nomura Holdings, Inc.	6,282,383
iShares MSCI ACWI ETF	J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.	$ 56,815,387
	Bank of America Corp.	41,222,286
	Citigroup, Inc.	32,291,424
	Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The)	15,359,845
	Morgan Stanley	10,149,160
	UBS Group AG	10,051,626
	Societe Generale SA	7,403,018
	Barclays PLC	6,937,494
	Credit Suisse Group AG	5,353,854
	Nomura Holdings, Inc.	4,023,008
iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	UBS Group AG	$ 8,268,777
	Societe Generale SA	6,002,694
	Barclays PLC	5,879,888
	Credit Suisse Group AG	4,441,345
	Nomura Holdings, Inc.	2,855,575
iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF	J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.	$ 3,426,435
	Bank of America Corp.	2,667,672
	Citigroup, Inc.	2,168,428
	Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The)	1,050,263
	Morgan Stanley	855,878
	UBS Group AG	725,778
	Societe Generale SA	600,573
	Barclays PLC	549,490
	Credit Suisse Group AG	468,847
	Nomura Holdings, Inc.	422,630

Portfolio turnover may vary from year to year, as well as within a year. High turnover rates may result in comparatively greater brokerage expenses. The table below sets forth the portfolio turnover rates of each Fund for the fiscal years noted:

Fund	Fiscal Year ended July 31, 2017	Fiscal Year ended July 31, 2016
iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	2%	2%
iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF	2%	N/A
iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	3%	7%

Fund	Fiscal Year ended July 31, 2017	Fiscal Year ended July 31, 2016
iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF	13%	44%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF	31%	43%
iShares Exponential Technologies ETF	23%	28%
iShares MSCI ACWI ETF	4%	5%
iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	7%	11%
iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF	12%	16%
iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF	12%	17%

Creation or redemption transactions, to the extent consisting of cash, may require a Fund to contemporaneously transact with broker-dealers for purchases of Deposit Securities (as defined below under Fund Deposit) or sales of Fund Securities (as defined below under Redemption of Creation Units), as applicable. Such transactions with a particular broker-dealer may be conditioned upon the broker-dealers agreement to transact at guaranteed price levels in order to reduce transaction costs the Funds would otherwise incur as a consequence of settling creation or redemption baskets in cash rather than in-kind.

Following a Fund's receipt of an order to purchase or redeem creation or redemption baskets, to the extent such purchases or redemptions consist of a cash portion, the Funds will enter an order with a broker or dealer to purchase or sell the Deposit Securities or Fund Securities, as applicable. The terms of such order may, depending on the timing of the transaction and certain other factors, require the broker or dealer to guarantee that the Funds will achieve execution of their order at a price at least as favorable to the Funds as the Funds' valuation of the Deposit Securities/Fund Securities used for purposes of calculating the NAV applied to the creation or redemption transactions giving rise to the orders (the “Execution Performance Guarantee”). Such orders may be placed with the purchasing or redeeming Authorized Participant in its capacity as a broker-dealer, with its affiliated broker-dealer or with a third-party broker-dealer. The amount payable to the Funds in respect of any Execution Performance Guarantee will depend on the results achieved by the executing firm and will vary depending on market activity, timing and a variety of other factors.

To ensure that an Execution Performance Guarantee will be honored on orders arising from creation transactions executed by an Authorized Participant or its affiliate as broker-dealer, an Authorized Participant is required to deposit an amount with the Funds (the “Execution Performance Deposit”). If the broker-dealer executing the order achieves executions in market transactions at a price equal to or more favorable than the Funds' valuation of the Deposit Securities, the Funds receive the benefit of the favorable executions and returns to the Authorized Participant the Execution Performance Deposit. If, however, the broker-dealer executing the order is unable to achieve executions in market transactions at a price at least equal to the Funds' valuation of the securities, the Funds retain the portion of the Execution Performance Deposit equal to the full amount of the execution shortfall (including any taxes, brokerage commissions or other costs) and may require the Authorized Participant to deposit any additional amount required to cover the full amount of the actual Execution Performance Guarantee.

To ensure that an Execution Performance Guarantee will be honored for brokerage orders arising from redemption transactions executed by an Authorized Participant or its affiliate as broker-dealer, an Authorized Participant agrees to pay the shortfall amount (the “Execution Performance Offset”). If the broker-dealer executing the order achieves executions in market transactions at a price equal to or more favorable than the Funds' valuation of the Fund Securities, the Funds receive the benefit of the favorable executions and the Authorized Participant is not called upon to honor the Execution Performance Offset. If, however, the broker-dealer is unable to achieve executions in market transactions at a price at least equal to the Funds' valuation of the securities, the Funds will be entitled to the portion of the Execution Performance Offset equal to the full amount of the execution shortfall (including any taxes, brokerage commissions or other costs).

The circumstances under which the Execution Performance Guarantee will be used and the expected amount, if any, of any Execution Performance Deposit or Execution Performance Offset for the Funds will be disclosed in the procedures handbook for Authorized Participants and may change from time to time based on the actual experience of the Funds.

Additional Information Concerning the Trust

Shareholders may make inquiries by writing to iShares Trust, c/o BlackRock Investments, LLC, 1 University Square Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540.

Absent an applicable exemption or other relief from the SEC or its staff, beneficial owners of more than 5% of the shares of a fund may be subject to the reporting provisions of Section 13 of the 1934 Act and the SEC’s rules promulgated thereunder. In addition, absent an applicable exemption or other relief from the SEC or its staff, officers and trustees of a fund and beneficial owners of 10% of the shares of a fund (“Insiders”) may be subject to the insider reporting, short-swing profit and short sale provisions of Section 16 of the 1934 Act and the SEC’s rules promulgated thereunder. Beneficial owners and Insiders should consult with their own legal counsel concerning their obligations under Sections 13 and 16 of the 1934 Act and existing guidance provided by the SEC staff.

In accordance with the Trust's current Agreement and Declaration of Trust (the “Declaration of Trust”), the Board may, without shareholder approval (unless such shareholder approval is required by the Declaration of Trust or applicable law, including the 1940 Act), authorize certain funds to merge, reorganize, consolidate, sell all or substantially all of their assets, or take other similar actions with, to or into another fund. The Trust or a Fund may be terminated by a majority vote of the Board, subject to the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders of the Trust or such Fund entitled to vote on termination; however, in certain circumstances described in the Declaration of Trust, only a majority vote of the Board is required. Although the shares are not automatically redeemable upon the occurrence of any specific event, the Declaration of Trust provides that the Board will have the unrestricted power to alter the number of shares in a Creation Unit. Therefore, in the event of a termination of the Trust or a Fund, the Board, in its sole discretion, could determine to permit the shares to be redeemable in aggregations smaller than Creation Units or to be individually redeemable. In such circumstance, the Trust or a Fund may make redemptions in-kind, for cash or for a combination of cash or securities. Further, in the event of a termination of the Trust or a Fund, the Trust or a Fund might elect to pay cash redemptions to all shareholders, with an in-kind election for shareholders owning in excess of a certain stated minimum amount.

DTC as Securities Depository for Shares of the Funds. Shares of each Fund are represented by securities registered in the name of DTC or its nominee and deposited with, or on behalf of, DTC.

Conveyance of all notices, statements and other communications to Beneficial Owners is effected as follows. Pursuant to the Depositary Agreement between the Trust and DTC, DTC is required to make available to the Trust upon request and for a fee to be charged to the Trust a listing of the shares of each Fund held by each DTC Participant. The Trust shall inquire of each such DTC Participant as to the number of Beneficial Owners holding shares, directly or indirectly, through such DTC Participant. The Trust shall provide each such DTC Participant with copies of such notice, statement or other communication, in such form, number and at such place as such DTC Participant may reasonably request, in order that such notice, statement or communication may be transmitted by such DTC Participant, directly or indirectly, to such Beneficial Owners. In addition, the Trust shall pay to each such DTC Participant a fair and reasonable amount as reimbursement for the expenses attendant to such transmittal, all subject to applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

Share distributions shall be made to DTC or its nominee, Cede & Co., as the registered holder of all shares of the Trust. DTC or its nominee, upon receipt of any such distributions, shall credit immediately DTC Participants’ accounts with payments in amounts proportionate to their respective beneficial interests in shares of each Fund as shown on the records of DTC or its nominee. Payments by DTC Participants to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners of shares held through such DTC Participants will be governed by standing instructions and customary practices, as is now the case with securities held for the accounts of customers in bearer form or registered in a “street name,” and will be the responsibility of such DTC Participants.

Any Selling Shareholder and any other person participating in such distribution will be subject to applicable provisions of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.

Creation and Redemption of Creation Units

General. The Trust issues and sells shares of each Fund only in Creation Units on a continuous basis through the Distributor or its agent, without a sales load, at a price based on each Fund's NAV next determined after receipt, on any Business Day (as defined below), of an order received by the Distributor or its agent in proper form. On days when the applicable Listing Exchange closes earlier than normal, a Fund may require orders to be placed earlier in the day. The following table sets forth the number of shares of a Fund that constitute a Creation Unit for such Fund and the approximate value of such Creation Unit as of August 31, 2017:

Fund	Shares Per Creation Unit	Approximate Value Per Creation Unit (U.S.$)
iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	200,000	$12,492,000
iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF	150,000	$8,232,000
iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	100,000	$5,961,000
iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF	50,000	$1,742,000
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF	50,000	$1,398,500
iShares Exponential Technologies ETF	50,000	$1,676,500
iShares MSCI ACWI ETF	200,000	$13,486,000
iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	200,000	$9,458,000
iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF	50,000	$5,509,500
iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF	200,000	$ 14,378,000

Fund Deposit. The consideration for purchase of Creation Units of each Fund generally consists of Deposit Securities and the Cash Component computed as described below. Together, the Deposit Securities and the Cash Component constitute the “Fund Deposit,” which, when combined with a Fund's portfolio securities, is designed to generate performance that has a collective investment profile similar to that of the Underlying Index. The Fund Deposit represents the minimum initial and subsequent investment amount for a Creation Unit of any Fund.

BFA makes available through the NSCC on each Business Day prior to the opening of business on the Listing Exchange, the list of names and the required number of shares of each Deposit Security and the amount of the Cash Component to be included in the current Fund Deposit (based on information as of the end of the previous Business Day for each Fund). Such Fund Deposit is applicable, subject to any adjustments as described below, to purchases of Creation Units of shares of a given Fund until such time as the next-announced Fund Deposit is made available.

the investment objective of the Fund. The composition of the Deposit Securities may also change in response to adjustments to the weighting or composition of the component securities constituting the relevant Underlying Index.

The Funds reserve the right to permit or require the substitution of a “cash in lieu” amount to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security that may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery or that may not be eligible for transfer through DTC or the clearing process (as discussed below) or that the Authorized Participant is not able to trade due to a trading restriction, during times the Fund has elected to receive Deposit Securities. The Funds also reserve the right to permit or require a “cash in lieu” amount in certain circumstances, including circumstances in which the delivery of the Deposit Security by the Authorized Participant would be restricted under applicable securities or other local laws or in certain other situations.

Cash Purchase Method. Although the Trust does not generally permit partial or full cash purchases of Creation Units of its funds, when partial or full cash purchases of Creation Units are available or specified (Creation Units of each Fund are generally offered partially for cash), they will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind purchases thereof. In the case of a partial or full cash purchase, the Authorized Participant must pay the cash equivalent of the Deposit Securities it would otherwise be required to provide through an in-kind purchase, plus the same Cash Component required to be paid by an in-kind purchaser. The Authorized Participant will also be required to pay certain transaction fees and charges for cash purchases, as described below, and, if transacting as broker with each Fund, may be required to cover certain brokerage, tax, foreign exchange, execution and price movement costs through an Execution Performance Guarantee, as described in the Brokerage Transactions section of this SAI.

The Authorized Participant is responsible for any and all expenses and costs incurred by a Fund, including any applicable cash amounts, in connection with any purchase order.

Timing of Submission of Purchase Orders. An Authorized Participant must submit an irrevocable order to purchase shares of a Fund generally before 4:00 p.m., Eastern time on any Business Day in order to receive that day's NAV. Creation Orders must be transmitted by an Authorized Participant in the form required by the Funds to the Distributor or its agent pursuant to procedures set forth in the Authorized Participant Agreement. Economic or market disruptions or changes, or telephone or other communication failure, may impede the ability to reach the Distributor or its agent or an Authorized Participant. Orders to create shares of a Fund that are submitted on the Business Day immediately preceding a holiday or a day (other than a weekend) when the equity markets in the relevant non-U.S. market are closed may not be accepted. Each Fund's deadline specified above for the submission of purchase orders is referred to as that Fund's “Cutoff Time.” The Distributor or its agent, in their discretion, may permit the submission of such orders and requests by or through an Authorized Participant at any time (including on days on which the Listing Exchange is not open for business) via communication through the facilities of the Distributor's or its agent's proprietary website maintained for this purpose. Purchase orders and redemption requests, if accepted by the Trust, will be processed based on the NAV next determined after such acceptance in accordance with a Fund's Cutoff Times as provided in the Authorized Participant Agreement and disclosed in this SAI.

Acceptance of Orders for Creation Units. Subject to the conditions that (i) an irrevocable purchase order has been submitted by the Authorized Participant (either on its own or another investor's behalf) and (ii) arrangements satisfactory to the Funds are in place for payment of the Cash Component and any other cash amounts which may be due, the Funds will accept the order, subject to each Fund's right (and the right of the Distributor and BFA) to reject any order until acceptance, as set forth below.

In addition, each of the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF may exercise its right to reject any creation order for shares of the Fund on any Business Day that is a holiday in the Indian market that is not a holiday observed in the U.S. equity market and certain other holidays during the settlement cycle for Fund shares in order to protect Fund shareholders from any dilutive costs that may be associated with the purchase of Deposit Securities in connection with creation orders on such days.

Issuance of a Creation Unit. Except as provided herein, a Creation Unit will not be issued until the transfer of good title to the applicable Fund of the Deposit Securities and the payment of the Cash Component have been completed. When the sub-custodian has confirmed to the custodian that the securities included in the Fund Deposit (or the cash value thereof) have been delivered to the account of the relevant sub-custodian or sub-custodians, the Distributor or its agent and BFA shall be notified of such delivery and the applicable Fund will issue and cause the delivery of the Creation Unit. For the iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF and iShares Exponential Technologies ETF, Creation Units are generally issued on a “T+2 basis” (i.e., two Business Days after trade date). For the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF and iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF, Creation Units are generally issued on a “T+1 basis” (i.e., one Business Day after trade date). For the iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF, Creation Units are generally issued on a “T+3 basis” (i.e., three Business Days after trade date) However, each Fund reserves the right to settle Creation Unit transactions on a basis other than T+1, T+2 or T+3, including a shorter settlement period, if necessary or appropriate under the circumstances and compliant with applicable law. For example, each Fund reserves the right to settle Creation Unit transactions on a basis other than T+1, T+2 or T+3 in order to accommodate non-U.S. market holiday schedules (as discussed in Appendix B of this SAI), to account for different treatment among non-U.S. and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and ex-dividend dates (i.e., the last day the holder of a security can sell the security and still receive dividends payable on the security) and in certain other circumstances.

To the extent contemplated by an Authorized Participant Agreement with the Distributor, each Fund will issue Creation Units to such Authorized Participant, notwithstanding the fact that the corresponding Fund Deposits have not been received in part or in whole, in reliance on the undertaking of the Authorized Participant to deliver the missing Deposit Securities as soon as possible, which undertaking shall be secured by such Authorized Participant's delivery and maintenance of collateral having a value at least equal to 105% and up to 115%, which percentage BFA may change at any time, in its sole discretion, of the value of the missing Deposit Securities in accordance with the Funds' then-effective procedures. The Trust may use such cash deposit at any time to buy Deposit Securities for the Funds. The only collateral that is acceptable to the Funds is cash in U.S. dollars. Such cash collateral must be delivered no later than the time specified by a Fund or its custodian on the contractual settlement date. The cash collateral posted by the Authorized Participant may be invested at the risk of the Authorized Participant, and income, if any, on invested cash collateral will be paid to that Authorized Participant. Information concerning the Funds' current procedures for collateralization of missing Deposit Securities is available from the Distributor or its agent. The Authorized Participant Agreement will permit the Funds to buy the missing Deposit Securities at any time and will subject the Authorized Participant to liability for any shortfall between the cost to the Funds of purchasing such securities and the cash collateral including, without limitation, liability for related brokerage, borrowings and other charges.

Costs Associated with Creation Transactions. A standard creation transaction fee is imposed to offset the transfer, processing and other transaction costs associated with the issuance of Creation Units. The standard creation transaction fee is charged on each Creation Unit created by an Authorized Participant on the day of the transaction. The standard creation transaction fee is generally fixed at the amount shown in the table regardless of the number of Creation Units being purchased, but may be reduced by a Fund if transfer and processing expenses associated with the creation are anticipated to be lower than the stated fee. If a purchase consists of a cash portion, the Authorized Participant may also be required to pay an additional transaction charge (up to the maximum amount shown below) to cover brokerage and certain other costs related to the creation transaction (which may, in certain instances, be based on a good faith estimate of transaction costs). Authorized Participants will also bear the costs of transferring the Deposit Securities to the Funds. Certain fees/costs associated with creation transactions may be waived in certain circumstances. Investors who use the services of a broker or other financial intermediary to acquire Fund shares may be charged a fee for such services.

The following table sets forth each Fund's standard creation transaction fees and maximum additional charge (as described above):

Fund	Standard Creation Transaction Fee	Maximum Additional Charge for Creations*
iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	$ 15,000	7.0%
iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF	17,500	7.0%
iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	15,000	7.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF	7,900	7.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF	7,000	7.0%
iShares Exponential Technologies ETF	1,600	3.0%
iShares MSCI ACWI ETF	7,800	7.0%
iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	11,700	7.0%
iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF	5,000	7.0%
iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF	4,500	7.0%

*	As a percentage of the net asset value per Creation Unit.

If a purchase consists of a cash portion and each Fund places a brokerage transaction to purchase portfolio securities with the Authorized Participant or its affiliated broker-dealer, the Authorized Participant (or its affiliated broker-dealer) may be required, in its capacity as broker-dealer with respect to that transaction, to cover certain brokerage, tax, foreign exchange, execution, and price movement costs through an Execution Performance Guarantee, as described in the Brokerage Transactions section of this SAI.

Each Fund generally redeems Creation Units partially for cash. Please see the Cash Redemption Method section below and the following discussion summarizing the in-kind method for further information on redeeming Creation Units of the Funds.

BFA makes available through the NSCC, prior to the opening of business on the Listing Exchange on each Business Day, the designated portfolio of securities (including any portion of such securities for which cash may be substituted) that will be applicable (subject to possible amendment or correction) to redemption requests received in proper form (as defined below) on that day (“Fund Securities”), and an amount of cash (the “Cash Amount,” as described below). Such Fund Securities and the corresponding Cash Amount (each subject to possible amendment or correction) are applicable, in order to effect redemptions of Creation Units of a Fund until such time as the next announced composition of the Fund Securities and Cash Amount is made available. When redemptions are permitted in-kind, Fund Securities received on redemption may not be identical to Deposit Securities that are applicable to creations of Creation Units. Procedures and requirements governing redemption transactions are set forth in the handbook for Authorized Participants and may change from time to time.

generally redeems Creation Units partially for cash. Each Fund may, in its sole discretion, provide such redeeming Authorized Participant a portfolio of securities that differs from the exact composition of the Fund Securities, but does not differ in NAV.

Cash Redemption Method. Although the Trust does not generally permit partial or full cash redemptions of Creation Units of its funds, when partial or full cash redemptions of Creation Units are available or specified (e.g., Creation Units of each Fund are generally redeemed partially for cash), they will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind redemptions thereof. In the case of partial or full cash redemption, the Authorized Participant receives the cash equivalent of the Fund Securities it would otherwise receive through an in-kind redemption, plus the same Cash Amount to be paid to an in-kind redeemer. The Authorized Participant will also be required to pay certain transaction fees and charges for cash redemptions, as described below, and, if transacting as broker with each Fund, may be required to cover certain brokerage, tax, foreign exchange, execution and price movement costs through an Execution Performance Guarantee, as described in the Brokerage Transactions section of this SAI.

Costs Associated with Redemption Transactions. A redemption transaction fee is imposed to offset transfer, processing and other transaction costs that may be incurred by the relevant Fund. The standard redemption transaction fee is charged on each Creation Unit redeemed by an Authorized Participant on the day of the transaction. The standard redemption transaction fee is generally fixed at the amount shown in the table regardless of the number of Creation Units being redeemed, but may be reduced by each Fund if transfer and processing expenses associated with the redemption are anticipated to be lower than the stated fee. If a redemption consists of a cash portion, the Authorized Participant may also be required to pay an additional transaction charge (up to the maximum amount shown below) to cover brokerage and certain other costs related to the redemption transaction (which may, in certain instances, be based on a good faith estimate of transaction costs). Authorized Participants will also bear the costs of transferring the Fund Securities from a Fund to their account on their order. Certain fees/costs associated with redemption transactions may be waived in certain circumstances. Investors who use the services of a broker or other financial intermediary to dispose of Fund shares may be charged a fee for such services.

The following table sets forth each Fund's standard redemption transaction fees and maximum additional charge (as described above):

Fund	Standard Redemption Transaction Fee	Maximum Additional Charge for Redemptions*
iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	$ 15,000	2.0%
iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF	17,500	2.0%
iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	15,000	2.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF	7,900	2.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF	7,000	2.0%
iShares Exponential Technologies ETF	1,600	2.0%
iShares MSCI ACWI ETF	7,800	2.0%
iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	11,700	2.0%
iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF	5,000	2.0%
iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF	4,500	2.0%

*	As a percentage of the net asset value per Creation Unit, inclusive of the standard redemption transaction fee.

If a redemption consists of a cash portion and each Fund places a brokerage transaction to sell portfolio securities with the Authorized Participant or its affiliated broker-dealer, the Authorized Participant (or its affiliated broker-dealer) may be required, in its capacity as broker-dealer with respect to that transaction, to cover certain brokerage, tax, foreign exchange, execution, and price movement costs through an Execution Performance Guarantee, as described in the Brokerage Transactions section of this SAI.

Units to be placed earlier that day. Investors, other than Authorized Participants, are responsible for making arrangements for a redemption request to be made through an Authorized Participant. The Distributor or its agent will provide a list of current Authorized Participants upon request.

For the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF, iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF, iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares Exponential Technologies ETF, deliveries of redemption proceeds are generally made within two Business Days (i.e., “T+2”). For the iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Asia ex Japan ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF, iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF, deliveries of redemption proceeds are generally made within three Business Days (i.e., “T+3”). However, each Fund reserves the right to settle redemption transactions on a basis other than T+2 or T+3, including a shorter settlement period, if necessary or appropriate under the circumstances and compliant with applicable law. For example, each Fund reserves the right to settle redemption transactions on a basis other than T+2 or T+3 in order to accommodate non-U.S. market holiday schedules (as discussed in Appendix B to the SAI), to account for different treatment among non-U.S. and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and dividend ex-dates (i.e., the last date the holder of a security can sell the security and still receive dividends payable on the security sold) and in certain other circumstances. Appendix B of this SAI identifies the instances, if any, where more than seven days would be needed to deliver redemption proceeds. Pursuant to an order of the SEC, the Trust will make delivery of redemption proceeds within the number of days stated in Appendix B of this SAI to be the maximum number of days necessary to deliver redemption proceeds.

If neither the redeeming Beneficial Owner nor the Authorized Participant acting on behalf of such redeeming Beneficial Owner has appropriate arrangements to take delivery of Fund Securities in the applicable non-U.S. jurisdiction and it is not possible to make other such arrangements, or if it is not possible to effect deliveries of Fund Securities in such jurisdiction, the Trust may in its discretion exercise its option to redeem such shares in cash, and the redeeming Beneficial Owner will be required to receive its redemption proceeds in cash. In such case, the investor will receive a cash payment equal to the net asset value of its shares based on the NAV of the relevant Fund next determined after the redemption request is received in proper form (minus a redemption transaction fee and additional charges specified above to offset the Trust's brokerage and other transaction costs associated with the disposition of Fund Securities). Redemptions of shares for Fund Securities will be

subject to compliance with applicable U.S. federal and state securities laws and each Fund (whether or not it otherwise permits cash redemptions) reserves the right to redeem Creation Units for cash to the extent that the Fund cannot lawfully deliver specific Fund Securities upon redemptions or cannot do so without first registering the Fund Securities under such laws.

Although the Trust does not ordinarily permit cash redemptions of Creation Units (except that, as noted above, Creation Units of each Fund generally will be redeemed partially for cash), in the event that cash redemptions are permitted or required by the Trust, proceeds will be paid to the Authorized Participant redeeming shares as soon as practicable after the date of redemption (within seven calendar days thereafter, except for the instances listed in Appendix B to this SAI in which more than seven calendar days would be needed).

To the extent contemplated by an Authorized Participant's Agreement with the Distributor or its agent, in the event an Authorized Participant has submitted a redemption request in proper form but is unable to transfer all or part of the Creation Unit to be redeemed to a Fund, at or prior to 10:00 a.m., Eastern time on the Listing Exchange business day after the date of submission of such redemption request, the Distributor or its agent will accept the redemption request in reliance on the undertaking by the Authorized Participant to deliver the missing shares as soon as possible. Such undertaking shall be secured by the Authorized Participant's delivery and maintenance of collateral consisting of cash, in U.S. dollars in immediately available funds, having a value at least equal to 105% and up to 115%, which percentage BFA may change at any time, in its sole discretion, of the value of the missing shares. Such cash collateral must be delivered no later than the time specified by a Fund or its custodian on the day after the date of submission of such redemption request and shall be held by State Street and marked-to-market daily. The fees of State Street and any sub-custodians in respect of the delivery, maintenance and redelivery of the cash collateral shall be payable by the Authorized Participant. The cash collateral posted by the Authorized Participant may be invested at the risk of the Authorized Participant, and income, if any, on invested cash collateral will be paid to that Authorized Participant. The Authorized Participant Agreement permits the Funds to acquire shares of the Funds at any time and subjects the Authorized Participant to liability for any shortfall between the aggregate of the cost to the Funds of purchasing such shares, plus the value of the Cash Amount, and the value of the cash collateral together with liability for related brokerage and other charges.

Because the portfolio securities of a Fund may trade on exchange(s) on days that the Listing Exchange is closed or are otherwise not Business Days for such Fund, shareholders may not be able to redeem their shares of such Fund, or purchase or sell shares of such Fund on the Listing Exchange on days when the NAV of such Fund could be significantly affected by events in the relevant non-U.S. markets.

Taxes

The following is a summary of certain material U.S. federal income tax considerations regarding the purchase, ownership and disposition of shares of a Fund. This summary does not address all of the potential U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be applicable to a Fund or to all categories of investors, some of which may be subject to special tax rules. Current and prospective shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisors with respect to the specific U.S. federal, state, local and non-U.S. tax consequences of investing in a Fund. The summary is based on the laws and judicial and administrative interpretations thereof in effect on the date of this SAI, all of which are subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect.

Regulated Investment Company Qualifications. Each Fund intends to qualify for treatment as a separate RIC under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code. To qualify for treatment as a RIC, each Fund must annually distribute at least 90% of its investment company taxable income (which includes dividends, interest and net short-term capital gains) and meet several other requirements. Among such other requirements are the following: (i) at least 90% of each Fund’s annual gross income must be derived from dividends, interest, payments with respect to securities loans, gains from the sale or other disposition of stock or securities or non-U.S. currencies, other income (including, but not limited to, gains from options, futures or forward contracts) derived with respect to its business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies, and net income derived from interests in qualified publicly-traded partnerships (i.e., partnerships that are traded on an established securities market or tradable on a secondary market, other than partnerships that derive at least 90% of their income from interest, dividends, capital gains and other traditionally permitted RIC income); and (ii) at the close of each quarter of each Fund's taxable year, (a) at least 50% of the market value of each Fund’s total assets must be represented by cash and cash items, U.S. government securities, securities of other RICs and other securities, with such other securities limited for purposes of this calculation in respect of any one issuer to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the Fund’s assets and not greater than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer, and (b) not more than 25% of the value of each Fund's total assets may be invested in the securities (other than U.S. government securities or the securities of other RICs) of any one issuer, of two or more issuers of which 20% or more of the voting stock is held by the Fund and that are engaged in the same or similar trades or businesses or related trades or businesses, or the securities of one or more qualified publicly-traded partnerships.

Although, in general, the passive loss rules of the Internal Revenue Code do not apply to RICs, such rules do apply to a RIC with respect to items attributable to interests in qualified publicly-traded partnerships. A Fund's investments in partnerships, including in qualified publicly-traded partnerships, may result in the Fund being subject to state, local, or non-U.S. income, franchise or withholding tax liabilities.

Taxation of RICs. As a RIC, a Fund will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the portion of its taxable investment income and capital gains that it distributes to its shareholders, provided that it satisfies a minimum distribution requirement. To satisfy the minimum distribution requirement, a Fund must distribute to its shareholders at least the sum of (i) 90% of its “investment company taxable income” (i.e., income other than its net realized long-term capital gain over its net realized short-term capital loss), plus or minus certain adjustments, and (ii) 90% of its net tax-exempt income for the taxable year. A Fund will be subject to income tax at regular corporate rates on any taxable income or gains that it does not distribute to its shareholders. If a Fund fails to qualify for any taxable year as a RIC or fails to meet the distribution requirement, all of its taxable income will be subject to tax at regular corporate income tax rates without any deduction for distributions to shareholders, and such distributions generally will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary dividends to the extent of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits. In such event, distributions to individuals should be eligible to be treated as qualified dividend income and distributions to corporate shareholders generally should be eligible for the dividends received deduction. Although each Fund intends to distribute substantially all of its net investment income and its capital gains for each taxable year, each Fund will be subject to U.S. federal income taxation to the extent any such income or gains are not distributed. If a Fund fails to qualify as a RIC in any year, it must pay out its earnings and profits accumulated in that

year in order to qualify again as a RIC. If a Fund fails to qualify as a RIC for a period greater than two taxable years, the Fund may be required to recognize any net built-in gains with respect to certain of its assets (i.e., the excess of the aggregate gains, including items of income, over aggregate losses that would have been realized with respect to such assets if the Fund had been liquidated) if it qualifies as a RIC in a subsequent year.

Excise Tax. A Fund will be subject to a 4% excise tax on certain undistributed income if it does not distribute to its shareholders in each calendar year at least 98% of its ordinary income for the calendar year plus 98.2% of its capital gain net income for the 12 months ended October 31 of such year. For this purpose, however, any ordinary income or capital gain net income retained by a Fund that is subject to corporate income tax will be considered to have been distributed by year-end. In addition, the minimum amounts that must be distributed in any year to avoid the excise tax will be increased or decreased to reflect any underdistribution or overdistribution, as the case may be, from the previous year. Each Fund intends to declare and distribute dividends and distributions in the amounts and at the times necessary to avoid the application of this 4% excise tax.

The following Funds had tax basis net capital loss carryforwards as set forth in the table below as of July 31, 2017, the tax year-end for the Funds listed:

Fund	Non-Expiring ¹	Expiring 2018	Expiring 2019	Total
iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	$ 26,606,194	$ —	$ —	$26,606,194
iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF	33,761	—	—	33,761
iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	39,507,114	—	—	39,507,114
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Global ETF	350,393	—	—	350,393
iShares Exponential Technologies ETF	22,795,782	—	—	22,795,782
iShares MSCI ACWI ETF	194,328,263	5,090,715	6,821,554	206,240,532
iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	135,132,609	7,365,062	7,522,978	150,020,649
iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF	7,032,548	—	—	7,032,548
iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF	606,340,877	5,230,616	2,799,079	614,370,572

¹	Must be utilized prior to losses subject to expiration.

Taxation of U.S. Shareholders. Dividends and other distributions by a Fund are generally treated under the Internal Revenue Code as received by the shareholders at the time the dividend or distribution is made. However, any dividend or distribution declared by a Fund in October, November or December of any calendar year and payable to shareholders of record on a specified date in such a month shall be deemed to have been received by each shareholder on December 31 of such calendar year and to have been paid by the Fund not later than such December 31, provided such dividend is actually paid by the Fund during January of the following calendar year.

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maximum rate of 35%) on the amount retained. In that event, the Fund will designate such retained amounts as undistributed capital gains in a notice to its shareholders who (a) will be required to include in income for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as long-term capital gains, their proportionate shares of the undistributed amount, (b) will be entitled to credit their proportionate shares of the 35% tax paid by the Fund on the undistributed amount against their U.S. federal income tax liabilities, if any, and to claim refunds to the extent their credits exceed their liabilities, if any, and (c) will be entitled to increase their tax basis, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, in their shares by an amount equal to 65% of the amount of undistributed capital gains included in the shareholder’s income. Organizations or persons not subject to U.S. federal income tax on such capital gains will be entitled to a refund of their pro rata share of such taxes paid by the Fund upon filing appropriate returns or claims for refund with the IRS.

Distributions of net realized long-term capital gains, if any, that a Fund reports as capital gains dividends are taxable as long-term capital gains, whether paid in cash or in shares and regardless of how long a shareholder has held shares of the Fund. All other dividends of a Fund (including dividends from short-term capital gains) from its current and accumulated earnings and profits (“regular dividends”) are generally subject to tax as ordinary income, subject to the discussion of qualified dividend income below. Married couples filing jointly with income over approximately $471,000 and unmarried individuals with income over approximately $418,000, amounts adjusted annually for inflation, are subject to a 20% tax on any income in excess of those amounts that is long-term capital gain or qualified dividend income, and generally all other long-term capital gain is taxed at 15% (0% at certain income levels). In addition, the top marginal ordinary income tax rate is 39.6% for income in excess of the above thresholds.

Distributions in excess of a Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits will, as to each shareholder, be treated as a tax-free return of capital to the extent of a shareholder’s basis in shares of the Fund, and as a capital gain thereafter (if the shareholder holds shares of the Fund as capital assets). Distributions in excess of a Fund’s minimum distribution requirements, but not in excess of a Fund’s earnings and profits, will be taxable to shareholders and will not constitute nontaxable returns of capital. Shareholders receiving dividends or distributions in the form of additional shares should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as receiving a distribution in an amount equal to the amount of money that the shareholders receiving cash dividends or distributions will receive and should have a cost basis in the shares received equal to such amount. Dividends paid by a Fund that are attributable to dividends received by a Fund from domestic corporations may qualify for the federal dividends received deduction for corporations.

Investors considering buying shares just prior to a dividend or capital gain distribution should be aware that, although the price of shares purchased at that time may reflect the amount of the forthcoming distribution, such dividend or distribution may nevertheless be taxable to them. If a Fund is the holder of record of any security on the record date for any dividends payable with respect to such security, such dividends will be included in the Fund’s gross income not as of the date received but as of the later of (a) the date such security became ex-dividend with respect to such dividends (i.e., the date on which a buyer of the security would not be entitled to receive the declared, but unpaid, dividends); or (b) the date the Fund acquired such security. Accordingly, in order to satisfy its income distribution requirements, a Fund may be required to pay dividends based on anticipated earnings, and shareholders may receive dividends in an earlier year than would otherwise be the case.

In certain situations, a Fund may, for a taxable year, defer all or a portion of its net capital loss (or if there is no net capital loss, then any net long-term or short-term capital loss) realized after October and its late-year ordinary loss (defined as the sum of (i) the excess of post-October foreign currency and passive foreign investment company (“PFIC”) losses over post-October foreign currency and PFIC gains and (ii) the excess of post-December ordinary losses over post-December ordinary income) until the next taxable year in computing its investment company taxable income and net capital gain, which will

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defer the recognition of such realized losses. Such deferrals and other rules regarding gains and losses realized after October (or December) may affect the tax character of shareholder distributions.

Sales of Shares. Upon the sale or exchange of shares of a Fund, a shareholder will realize a taxable gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized and the shareholder’s basis in shares of the Fund. A redemption of shares by a Fund will be treated as a sale for this purpose. Such gain or loss will be treated as capital gain or loss if the shares are capital assets in the shareholder’s hands and will be long-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for more than one year and short-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for one year or less. Any loss realized on a sale or exchange will be disallowed to the extent the shares disposed of are replaced, including replacement through the reinvesting of dividends or capital gains distributions, or by an option or contract to acquire substantially identical shares, within a 61-day period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the disposition of the shares. In such a case, the basis of the shares acquired will be increased to reflect the disallowed loss. Any loss realized by a shareholder on the sale of Fund shares held by the shareholder for six months or less will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any distributions or deemed distributions of long-term capital gains received by the shareholder with respect to such share. The Medicare contribution tax described above will apply to the sale of Fund shares.

Back-Up Withholding. In certain cases, a Fund will be required to withhold at a 28% rate and remit to the U.S. Treasury such amounts withheld from any distributions paid to a shareholder who: (i) has failed to provide a correct taxpayer identification number; (ii) is subject to back-up withholding by the IRS; (iii) has failed to certify to a Fund that such shareholder is not subject to back-up withholding; or (iv) has not certified that such shareholder is a U.S. person (including a U.S. resident alien). Back-up withholding is not an additional tax and any amount withheld may be credited against a shareholder's U.S. federal income tax liability.

Taxation of Certain Derivatives. A Fund’s transactions in zero coupon securities, non-U.S. currencies, forward contracts, options and futures contracts (including options and futures contracts on non-U.S. currencies), to the extent permitted, will be subject to special provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (including provisions relating to “hedging transactions” and “straddles”) that, among other consequences, may affect the character of gains and losses realized by the Fund (i.e., may affect whether gains or losses are ordinary or capital), accelerate recognition of income to the Fund and defer Fund losses. These rules could therefore affect the character, amount and timing of distributions to shareholders. These provisions also (a) will require a Fund to mark-to-market certain types of the positions in its portfolio (i.e., treat them as if they were closed out at the end of each year) and (b) may cause a Fund to recognize income without receiving cash with which to pay dividends or make distributions in amounts necessary to satisfy the distribution requirements for avoiding income and excise taxes. Each Fund will monitor its transactions, will make the appropriate tax elections and will make the appropriate entries in its books and records when it acquires any zero coupon security, non-U.S. currency, forward contract, option, futures contract or hedged investment in order to mitigate the effect of these rules and prevent disqualification of a Fund as a RIC.

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Qualified Dividend Income. Distributions by a Fund of investment company taxable income (including any short-term capital gains), whether received in cash or shares, will be taxable either as ordinary income or as qualified dividend income, which is eligible to be taxed at long-term capital gain rates to the extent a Fund receives qualified dividend income on the securities it holds and a Fund reports the distribution as qualified dividend income. Qualified dividend income is, in general, dividend income from taxable U.S. corporations (but generally not from U.S. REITs) and certain non-U.S. corporations (e.g., non-U.S. corporations that are not PFICs and which are incorporated in a possession of the U.S. or in certain countries with a comprehensive tax treaty with the U.S., or the stock of which is readily tradable on an established securities market in the U.S. (where the dividends are paid with respect to such stock)). Under current IRS guidance, the U.S. has appropriate comprehensive income tax treaties with the following countries: Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China (but not with Hong Kong, which is treated as a separate jurisdiction for U.S. tax purposes), Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, the U.K and Venezuela. Substitute payments received by a Fund for securities lent out by a Fund will not be qualified dividend income.

A dividend from a Fund will not be treated as qualified dividend income to the extent that: (i) the shareholder has not held the shares on which the dividend was paid for 61 days during the 121-day period that begins on the date that is 60 days before the date on which the shares become ex-dividend with respect to such dividend or a Fund fails to satisfy those holding period requirements with respect to the securities it holds that paid the dividends distributed to the shareholder (or, in the case of certain preferred stocks, the holding requirement of 91 days during the 181-day period beginning on the date that is 90 days before the date on which the stock becomes ex-dividend with respect to such dividend); (ii) a Fund or the shareholder is under an obligation (whether pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to substantially similar or related property; or (iii) the shareholder elects to treat such dividend as investment income under Section 163(d)(4)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code. Dividends received by a Fund from a REIT or another RIC may be treated as qualified dividend income only to the extent the dividend distributions are attributable to qualified dividend income received by such REIT or other RIC. It is expected that dividends received by a Fund from a REIT and distributed to a shareholder generally will be taxable to the shareholder as ordinary income. Distributions by a Fund of its net short-term capital gains will be taxable as ordinary income.

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Issues Related to India and Mauritius Taxes. The following discussion does not address the effect on investors, including residents of India and citizens of India (whether or not residing in India or other countries, including the U.S.), of holding shares of the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF. Investors should consult their own tax advisors as to these issues based upon their own personal situations.

Indian tax matters discussed herein are based on the provisions of the IT Act, the provisions of the DTAA and other laws currently in force as of the date of this SAI. All such laws and the DTAA are subject to prospective and retroactive legislative amendment, administrative rulings and judicial review.

Each of the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF invests in India through its Subsidiary. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, each Subsidiary has elected to be treated as an entity disregarded from its owner. Thus, for U.S. federal tax purposes, any income or loss realized by a Subsidiary will be treated as realized by the applicable fund . Therefore, any investment made by each Fund into a Subsidiary and any distributions received by the Fund from a Subsidiary are disregarded for U.S. federal tax purposes. Furthermore, there is no tax on each Fund's investment in a Subsidiary or on distributions made from a Subsidiary to the Fund .

No investor in the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF will be subject to taxation in India unless such investor is a resident of India or, if a non-resident, has an Indian source income or income received (whether accrued or otherwise) in India or triggers the indirect transfer provisions (discussed below). Finance Act, 2015 (“FA 15”) had introduced the concept of place of effective management (“POEM”) for the determination of the residency of a foreign company. Accordingly, a company would be said to be resident in India if its POEM is situated in India. POEM is defined as a place where the key management and commercial decisions that are necessary for the conduct of the business of an entity as a whole are, in substance made. Final guidelines for the determination of POEM have been issued for the benefit of the taxpayer as well as the tax authorities. The taxation of a Subsidiary and a Fund in India is governed by the provisions of the IT Act, read with the provisions of the DTAA. As per Section 90(2) of the IT Act, the provisions of the IT Act would apply to the extent they are more beneficial than the provisions of the DTAA. In order to claim the beneficial provisions of the DTAA, a Subsidiary must be a tax resident of Mauritius.

An investor is required to submit a TRC as issued in the country of residence and provide other documents and information as prescribed by the Government to claim benefits under the DTAA.

Each Subsidiary has been incorporated in Mauritius and has obtained its TRC from the Mauritius authorities that establishes its residency in Mauritius under the DTAA. The TRC must be renewed annually. Each of the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF expects its Subsidiary to maintain its Mauritius tax residency, but it cannot be assured that the Mauritius authorities will successfully renew its TRC annually or that it will continue to be eligible to the DTAA benefits, particularly in light of the new requirements that may be introduced if the DTAA is re-negotiated.

Each Subsidiary holds a Category 1 Global Business License issued by the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius. Each Subsidiary is subject to tax in Mauritius on its net income at the rate of 15%. However, a system of foreign tax credits which allows a tax credit against Mauritian taxes for foreign tax on a Mauritian entity’s foreign source income effectively reduces the Mauritius income tax rate to a maximum of 3% because the system presumes, in the absence of evidence, that the foreign tax paid is equal to 80% of the Mauritian tax. Further, a Subsidiary is not subject to capital gains tax in Mauritius nor is it subject to tax in Mauritius on any gains from the sale of securities. Any dividends paid by a Subsidiary to each of the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF will also be exempt from tax in Mauritius.

India and Mauritius signed a protocol (Protocol) amending the double tax avoidance arrangement between the two countries (India Mauritius DTAA) on May 10, 2016. The Protocol gives India the right to tax capital gains that arise from alienation of shares of an Indian company acquired by a Mauritian tax resident. However, the Protocol provides for grandfathering of investments made before April 1, 2017. Returns from investments made on or after April 1, 2017 will be subject to capital gains tax in India, although the Protocol introduces a limitation of benefits provision which shall be a prerequisite for a reduced rate of tax (50% of domestic tax rate) on capital gains arising during a two year transition period from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2019.

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DTAA or in its applicability to a Subsidiary could result in a Subsidiary and indirectly each of the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF being subject to Indian income taxes, withholding taxes, and other taxes, as well as being subject to administrative or judicial assertion of such tax liabilities by the tax authorities of India. This could significantly reduce the return of a Fund on its investments and the return received by Fund shareholders.

Each Subsidiary is expected to have income in the form of capital gains, income from dividends and income from interest. The Indian tax consequences for a Subsidiary on account of the application of the DTAA, read with the provisions of the IT Act, would be as follows (the rates are inclusive of the highest applicable surcharges):

•	Capital gains resulting from the sale of Indian securities (including depositary receipts issued by Indian companies) acquired prior to April 1, 2017 will not be subject to tax in India, provided the Subsidiary does not have a Permanent Establishment in India. Capital gains resulting from sale of shares in Indian companies acquired on or after April 1, 2017 will be subject to tax in India as per the domestic tax rates (provided below). If the Subsidiaries are able to satisfy the conditions under the limitation of benefits article introduced by the Protocol, capital gains on shares acquired on or after April 1, 2017 and sold prior to April 1, 2019 may be taxed at 50% of the applicable Indian tax rate;
•	Dividends on shares received from an Indian company on which dividend distribution tax has been paid are exempt from tax in the hands of the shareholders. However, the Indian company distributing dividends is subject to a dividend distribution tax at the rate of 20.36%; and
•	Interest paid to a Subsidiary in respect of the debt obligations of Indian issuers will be subject to Indian income tax. The tax rate, in the case of rupee-denominated debt obligations, is 43.26%. However if the Subsidiary is a SEBI registered foreign portfolio investor, interest income earned from June 1, 2013 to June 30, 2020 on rupee-denominated bonds of Indian companies and Government securities, will be subject to tax at the rate of 5.41%, provided that the rate of interest does not exceed the prescribed rates. In the case of foreign currency-denominated debt obligations, the tax rate is 21.63%. For approved foreign currency loans advanced from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2020, the tax rate on interest is 5.41% and for approved foreign currency long-term bonds issued from October 1, 2014 to June 30, 2020, the tax rate on interest is 5.41%. FA 17 reduced the withholding tax rate on rupee-denominated bonds issued before July 1, 2020 to 5.41%. The Protocol provides for a withholding rate of 7.5% on the interest payments made on or after April 1, 2017.

In the event that the benefits of the DTAA are not available to the Subsidiary, taxation of dividend income of the Subsidiary would be the same as described above, however, the reduced interest withholding rate under the DTAA, as applicable, from April 1, 2017 will not be available.

In view of the amendment by the Finance Act 2014, since the Subsidiary is a SEBI registered foreign portfolio investor, the gains arising from transfer of securities would be characterized as “capital gains” and not business income. The taxation of capital gains under the IT Act would be as follows, assuming total income will be more than INR 100 million:

•	Long-term capital gains (being gains on sale of shares held for a period of more than twelve months) listed on a recognized stock exchange would not be taxable in India provided Securities Transaction Tax (“STT”) has been paid on the same (as discussed below). FA 17 introduced an additional requirement of payment of STT at the time of acquisition of shares in order to avail the long term capital gain exemption. This additional condition is applicable with respect to certain notified transactions, however, it is not applicable to shares acquired by Qualified Institutional Buyers, which includes Category I and II FPIs;
•	Short-term capital gains (being gains on sale of shares held for a period of twelve months or less) from the sale of Indian shares listed on a recognized stock exchange will be taxed at the rate of 16.22% provided STT has been paid on the same;
•	Long-term capital gains (being gains on sale of shares held for a period of more than 24 months) arising to the Subsidiary from the sale of unlisted securities will be taxed at the rate of 10.82% (without indexation) and short-term capital gains (being gains on sale of shares held for a period of 24 months or less) will be taxed at the rate of 43.26%;*
•	Capital gains realized on sale of listed equity shares not executed on a recognized stock exchange in India would be taxed at the rate of 10.815% for long-term gains (being gains on sale of shares held for a period of more than 12

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	months) and at 43.26% in the case of short-term gains (being gains on sale of shares held for a period of 12 months or less);* and
•	Capital gains arising from the transfer of depositary receipts outside India between non-resident investors will not be subject to tax in India.

*	However, as the Subsidiary is a SEBI registered foreign portfolio investor, the rates will be 10.82% and 32.45%, respectively.

As an anti-evasionary measure, FA 2017 intends to restrict exemption to instances where STT was not paid at the time of acquisition of shares except where acquisition done in prescribed manner. Investments made by the Subsidiary are unlikely to be affected by this amendment.

As per current provisions, gains arising from transfer of securities to foreign portfolio investor will be regarded as capital gains and will be taxable at the aforesaid rates.

Indian Minimum Alternate Tax

The question of whether foreign companies (which would include FIIs) are liable for MAT has been a subject matter of controversy in India. Under the MAT provisions, in the event a company’s tax liability is less than 18.5% of its book profits, then instead of paying income tax at rates provided otherwise under the IT Act, the company is liable to pay MAT on the adjusted book profits at the rate of 21.34% (inclusive of applicable taxes and surcharges, assuming total income of more than INR 100 million).

It has been clarified that the MAT provisions are not applicable on foreign companies, on income from capital gains arising on transactions in securities as well as income from interest, royalty, or fees for technical services which are liable to tax at a lower rate, with effect from April 1, 2015. Thus, it is clear that MAT would not be applicable to the Subsidiary for the periods starting from April 1, 2015 onwards. It was further clarified that MAT shall not apply to foreign companies having no place of business in India, with retroactive effect from April 1, 2001.

Indian Securities Transaction Tax

All transactions entered on a recognized stock exchange in India are subject to an STT. STT has been introduced under Section 98 of the Finance (No.2) Act, 2004 on transactions relating to sale, purchases and redemption of investments made by purchasers or sellers of Indian securities and equity oriented mutual fund units. The current STT as levied on the transaction value as follows:

•	0.1% payable by the buyer and 0.1% by the seller on the value of transactions of delivery based transfer of an equity share in an Indian company entered in a recognized stock exchange;
•	0.001% on the value of transactions of delivery based sale of a unit of an equity oriented mutual fund entered in a recognized stock exchange, payable by the seller;
•	0.025% on the value of transactions of non-delivery based sale of an equity share in an Indian company or a unit of an equity oriented mutual fund, entered in a recognized stock exchange payable by the seller;
•	0.05% on the value of transactions of derivatives being options, entered in a recognized stock exchange. STT is to be paid by the seller;
•	0.01% on the value of transactions of sale of derivatives being futures, entered in a recognized stock exchange. STT is to be paid by the seller;
•	0.001% on the value of transactions of sale of units of an equity-oriented fund to the Mutual Fund, payable by the seller in accordance with the Finance Act, 2013;
•	0.125% on the value of transactions of sale of derivatives being options, where the option is exercised, entered in a recognized stock exchange. STT is to be paid by buyer;
•	The Finance Act, 2012 has exempted from tax the capital gains (under the IT Act) arising from the sale of unlisted shares by existing shareholders of a Sub-Fund in an initial public offer. However, such sale is subject to STT at 0.2% of the sale consideration payable by the seller.

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of the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF. Further, it is possible that the Indian tax authorities may seek to take the position that a Fund is not entitled to the benefits of the DTAA.

Indirect Transfers

The current legislation imposes Indian tax and withholding obligations with respect to the transfer of shares in an overseas company that derives its value substantially from assets situated in India (indirect transfers). It has been clarified that Indian tax authorities will not reopen any assessment proceedings that were completed before April 1, 2012 and where no notice for reassessment has been issued prior to that date. The CBDT also clarified that any assessment or any other order which stands validated due to the amendments in the Finance Act would be enforced. Given this clarification issued by the CBDT, the Funds do not expect that shareholders or the Funds will become subject to tax or to withholding obligations with respect to completed assessments.

It has been clarified that the share or interest of the foreign entity shall be deemed to derive its value substantially from the assets located in India, if the value of such Indian assets exceeds INR 100 million, and represents at least 50% of the value of all the assets owned by the foreign entity. The value of an asset shall be the fair market value as of the specified date, of such an asset without reduction of liabilities. The fair market value will be determined in accordance with the final rules ratified on June 28, 2016. It also provides that where all the assets of the foreign entity are not located in India, only such part of the income as is reasonably attributable to the Indian assets shall be subject to capital gains tax in India.

Further, it provides exemption from indirect transfer provisions to the small shareholders of such foreign entity in the following cases:

•

FA 2017 has clarified that aforesaid indirect transfer provisions will not apply to foreign investors making an investment directly or indirectly in a SEBI registered foreign portfolio investor, with effect from April 1, 2015.

Under FA 15, gains realized when a non-resident acquires shares of a foreign company from another non-resident and the foreign company derives “substantial value” from Indian assets, (meaning that the value of Indian assets (i) exceeds INR 100 million, and (ii) represents at least 50% of the value the company’s assets), such gains are taxable in India and subject to withholding, to the extent that they are reasonably attributable to the Indian assets.

Because certain Funds invest in Indian securities through the Subsidiaries, the Subsidiaries or the Funds may be considered to derive “substantial value” from Indian assets. Accordingly, shareholder redemptions of Fund/Subsidiary shares and sales of Fund investments may have been subject to Indian tax and withholding obligations. However, through FA 17, the government had introduced an exemption to shareholders in Category I and Category II FPI from the applicability of indirect transfer taxation. Each Subsidiary is a Category II FPI. Therefore, any redemptions or transfers by the Funds or the shareholders in the Funds should not be subject to Indian indirect transfer tax.

General Anti-Avoidance Rules.

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benefit(s) under a treaty. The provisions of GAAR will be applicable to arrangements (including a step in or a part thereof) entered into by a taxpayer, which may be declared as an “impermissible avoidance arrangement”.

GAAR became applicable with effect from April 1, 2017. Further, investments made up until March 31, 2017 are exempted from the applicability of GAAR. CBDT issued GAAR Circular providing clarifications on implementation of GAAR by way of responses to queries raised by various stakeholders in the context of its applicability. The GAAR Circular specifically provides where a FPI (such as the Subsidiaries) is located in a particular jurisdiction based on non-tax commercial reasons and the main purpose of the choice of location/residence of the FPI is not to obtain a treaty benefit, the GAAR provisions will not be resorted to by the tax authorities.

As per the provisions of the IT Rules, GAAR shall not apply in the following circumstances:

•	any arrangement where the aggregate tax benefit to all the parties of the arrangement in the relevant financial year does not exceed INR 30 Million;
•	FIIs that choose not to take any benefit under any tax treaty entered with India and have invested in listed or unlisted securities with prior permission of the competent authority in accordance with the applicable regulations;
•	non-resident investor in an FII who has invested in an FII, directly or indirectly, by way of an offshore derivative instrument or otherwise; or
•	any income derived from the transfer of investments made prior to April 1, 2017.

If the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF's and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF's use of the Subsidiaries were considered to be such an impermissible avoidance arrangement, the Funds may become subject directly to taxation in India. The burden of proof in enforcing the rule will reside with the Indian government, not the taxpayer, and India’s current double tax treaty arrangements will remain in force. However, GAAR may, irrespective of existing treaty provisions, lead to the imposition of tax liabilities and withholding obligations, which may lead the Funds to modify the structure.

Recent amendments to DTAA and GAAR could change the manner in which the Subsidiaries are currently taxed in India and could adversely impact the returns to each of the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF and iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF/Subsidiaries and their respective shareholders. The Funds will continue to monitor developments in India with respect to these matters. Investors are urged to consult their own tax advisers with respect to their own tax situations and the tax consequences of an investment in each of the Funds.

Excess Inclusion Income. Under current law, the Funds serve to block unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”) from being realized by their respective tax-exempt shareholders. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a tax-exempt shareholder could realize UBTI by virtue of its investment in a Fund if shares in the Fund constitute debt-financed property in the hands of the tax-exempt shareholder within the meaning of Section 514(b) of the Internal Revenue Code. Certain types of income received by a Fund from REITs, real estate mortgage investment conduits, taxable mortgage pools or other investments may cause the Fund to report some or all of its distributions as “excess inclusion income.” To Fund shareholders, such excess inclusion income may: (i) constitute taxable income, as UBTI for those shareholders who would otherwise be tax-exempt such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) accounts, Keogh plans, pension plans and certain charitable entities; (ii) not be offset by otherwise allowable deductions for tax purposes; (iii) not be eligible for reduced U.S. withholding for non-U.S. shareholders even from tax treaty countries; and (iv) cause the Fund to be subject to tax if certain “disqualified organizations,” as defined by the Internal Revenue Code, are Fund shareholders. If a charitable remainder annuity trust or a charitable remainder unitrust (each as defined in Section 664 of the Internal Revenue Code) has UBTI for a taxable year, a 100% excise tax on the UBTI is imposed on the trust.

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Each Fund may be subject to non-U.S. income taxes withheld at the source. Each Fund, if permitted to do so, may elect to “pass through” to its investors the amount of non-U.S. income taxes paid by the Fund provided that the Fund held the security on the dividend settlement date and for at least 15 additional days immediately before and/or thereafter, with the result that each investor with respect to shares of the Fund held for a minimum 16-day holding period at the time of deemed distribution will (i) include in gross income, even though not actually received, the investor’s pro rata share of the Fund’s non-U.S. income taxes, and (ii) either deduct (in calculating U.S. taxable income, but only for investors who itemize their deductions on their personal tax returns) or credit (in calculating U.S. federal income tax) the investor’s pro rata share of the Fund’s non-U.S. income taxes. Withholding taxes on dividends on non-U.S. securities while such securities are lent out by a Fund are not eligible for non-U.S. tax credit pass through. Taxes not “passed through” for tax purposes will not be available to shareholders for foreign tax credit purposes. A non-U.S. person invested in the Fund in a year that the Fund elects to “pass through” its non-U.S. taxes may be treated as receiving additional dividend income subject to U.S. withholding tax. A non-U.S. tax credit may not exceed the investor’s U.S. federal income tax otherwise payable with respect to the investor’s non-U.S. source income. For this purpose, shareholders must treat as non-U.S. source gross income (i) their proportionate shares of non-U.S. taxes paid by the Fund and (ii) the portion of any dividend paid by the Fund that represents income derived from non-U.S. sources; the Fund’s gain from the sale of securities will generally be treated as U.S.-source income. Certain limitations will be imposed to the extent to which the non-U.S. tax credit may be claimed. If your Fund shares are loaned pursuant to securities lending arrangements, you may lose the ability to use any non-U.S. tax credits passed through by a Fund or to treat Fund dividends (paid while the shares are held by the borrower) as qualified dividends. Regarding a short sale with respect to shares of a Fund, substitute payments made to the lender of such shares may not be deductible under certain circumstances. Consult your financial intermediary or tax advisor.

Certain of the Funds have filed refund claims in various EU countries to recover taxes withheld on dividend income based upon certain provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Except for certain countries, collection of such tax refund claims is uncertain. Pending confirmatory guidance from the IRS, the Fund anticipates that in most cases tax refunds received will reduce the Fund’s pass-through of foreign tax credits in such year and potentially future years and in other cases may result in the Fund paying an IRS compliance fee to cover the effect of the tax credits previously passed through to shareholders on refunded foreign taxes.

A Fund will make the appropriate tax elections, if possible, and take any additional steps that are necessary to mitigate the effects of these rules.

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Other Taxes. Dividends, distributions and redemption proceeds may also be subject to additional state, local and non-U.S. taxes depending on each shareholder’s particular situation.

Properly-reported dividends are generally exempt from U.S. federal withholding tax where they (i) are paid in respect of the Fund’s “qualified net interest income” (generally, the Fund’s U.S. source interest income, other than certain contingent interest and interest from obligations of a corporation or partnership in which the Fund is at least a 10% shareholder, reduced by expenses that are allocable to such income) or (ii) are paid in respect of the Fund’s “qualified short-term capital gains” (generally, the excess of the Fund’s net short-term capital gain over the Fund’s long-term capital loss for such taxable year). However, depending on its circumstances, the Fund may report all, some or none of its potentially eligible dividends as such qualified net interest income or as qualified short-term capital gains and/or treat such dividends, in whole or in part, as ineligible for this exemption from withholding. In order to qualify for this exemption from withholding, a non-U.S. shareholder will need to comply with applicable certification requirements relating to its non-U.S. status (including, in general, furnishing an IRS Form W-8BEN, IRS Form W-8BEN-E or substitute Form). In the case of shares held through an intermediary, the intermediary may withhold even if the Fund reports the payment as qualified net interest income or qualified short-term capital gain. Non-U.S. shareholders should contact their intermediaries with respect to the application of these rules to their accounts.

Distributions that the Fund reports as “short-term capital gain dividends” or “long-term capital gain dividends” will not be treated as such to a recipient foreign shareholder if the distribution is attributable to gain received from the sale or exchange of U.S. real property or an interest in a U.S. real property holding corporation and the Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property exceeded certain levels. Instead, if the foreign shareholder has not owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of the Fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of distribution, such distributions will be subject to 30% withholding by the Fund and will be treated as ordinary dividends to the foreign shareholder; if the foreign shareholder owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of the Fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of the distribution, such distribution will be treated as real property gain subject to 35% withholding tax and could subject the foreign shareholder to U.S. filing requirements. Additionally, if the Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property were to exceed certain levels, a foreign shareholder realizing gains upon redemption from the Fund could be subject to the 35% withholding tax and U.S. filing requirements unless more than 50% of the Fund’s shares were owned by U.S. persons at such time or unless the foreign person had not held more than 5% of the Fund’s outstanding shares throughout either such person’s holding period for the redeemed shares or, if shorter, the previous five years.

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shares of the Fund will cause the Fund to recognize gain, provided that more than 50% of the value of a Fund’s stock is held by U.S. shareholders. If the Fund is required to recognize gain, the amount of gain recognized will be equal to the fair market value of such interests over the Fund’s adjusted bases to the extent of the greatest foreign ownership percentage of the Fund during the five-year period ending on the date of redemption.

A 30% withholding tax is currently imposed on U.S.-source dividends, interest and other income items, and will be imposed on proceeds from the sale, redemption or other disposition of property producing U.S.-source dividends and interest paid after December 31, 2018, to: (i) foreign financial institutions, including non-U.S. investment funds, unless they agree to collect and disclose to the IRS information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. account holders; and (ii) certain other foreign entities, unless they certify certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners. To avoid withholding, foreign financial institutions will need to: (i) enter into agreements with the IRS that state that they will provide the IRS information, including the names, addresses and taxpayer identification numbers of direct and indirect U.S. account holders; comply with due diligence procedures with respect to the identification of U.S. accounts; report to the IRS certain information with respect to U.S. accounts maintained; agree to withhold tax on certain payments made to non-compliant foreign financial institutions or to account holders who fail to provide the required information; and determine certain other information concerning their account holders, or (ii) in the event an intergovernmental agreement and implementing legislation are adopted, provide local revenue authorities with similar account holder information. Other foreign entities may need to report the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of each substantial U.S. owner or provide certifications of no substantial U.S. ownership unless certain exceptions apply.

Shares of a Fund held by a non-U.S. shareholder at death will be considered situated within the U.S. and subject to the U.S. estate tax.

Financial Statements

Miscellaneous Information

Counsel. Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, located at 787 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019, is counsel to the Trust.

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, located at Three Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA 94111, serves as the Trust's independent registered public accounting firm, audits the Funds' financial statements, and may perform other services.

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BFA has registered the following Funds for marketing to investors in Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the U.K.

iShares MSCI ACWI ETF
iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF

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Appendix A1 - iShares ETFs Proxy Voting Policy

BlackRock U.S. Registered Funds

Open-End Mutual Funds and iShares ETFs¹ Proxy Voting Policy

Procedures Governing Delegation of Proxy Voting to Fund Adviser

December 29, 2017

BlackRock has adopted guidelines and procedures (together and as from time to time amended, the “BlackRock Proxy Voting Guidelines”) governing proxy voting by accounts managed by BlackRock.

A-1

Appendix A2 – iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy

BlackRock U.S. Registered Funds

iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy

Procedures Governing Delegation of Proxy Voting to Fund Adviser

September 28, 2018

A-2

INTRODUCTION TO BLACKROCK

PHILOSOPHY ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, ENGAGEMENT AND VOTING

The six key themes are:

A-6

•	Boards and directors;
•	Auditors and audit-related issues;
•	Capital structure, mergers, asset sales and other special transactions;
•	Remuneration and benefits;
•	Environmental and social issues; and
•	General corporate governance matters.

Boards and directors

We expect the board of directors to promote and protect shareholder interests by:

•	establishing an appropriate corporate governance structure;
•	supporting and overseeing management in setting strategy;
•	ensuring the integrity of financial statements;
•	making decisions regarding mergers, acquisitions and disposals;
•	establishing appropriate executive compensation structures; and
•	addressing business issues including environmental and social issues when they have the potential to materially impact company reputation and performance.

•	current employment at the company or a subsidiary;
•	former employment within the past several years as an executive of the company;
•	providing substantial professional services to the company and/or members of the company’s management;
•	having had a substantial business relationship in the past three years;

A-7

•	having, or representing a shareholder with, a substantial shareholding in the company;
•	being an immediate family member of any of the aforementioned; and
•	interlocking directorships.

Auditors and audit-related issues

Capital structure, mergers, asset sales and other special transactions

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Remuneration and benefits

Environmental and social issues

General corporate governance matters

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corporate governance matters, including on changes to governance mechanisms, to submit proposals to the shareholders’ meeting and to call special meetings of shareholders.

BLACKROCK’S OVERSIGHT OF ITS INVESTMENT STEWARDSHIP ACTIVITIES

Oversight

Vote execution

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Conflicts management policies and procedures

•	BlackRock clients who may be issuers of securities or proponents of shareholder resolutions
•	BlackRock business partners or vendors who may be issuers of securities or proponents of shareholder resolutions
•	BlackRock employees who may sit on the boards of public companies held in BlackRock portfolios
•	Significant BlackRock, Inc. investors who may be issuers of securities held in BlackRock portfolios
•	Securities of BlackRock, Inc. or BlackRock investment funds held in BlackRock portfolios
•	BlackRock, Inc. board members who actively serve as senior executives of public companies held in BlackRock portfolios

BlackRock has taken certain steps to mitigate perceived or potential conflicts including, but not limited to, the following:

•

Adopted the Guidelines which are designed to protect and enhance the economic value of the companies in which BlackRock invests on behalf of clients.

•

A-11

•

Voting guidelines

Reporting

A-12

Appendix A4 – Supplemental BlackRock Sustainable Proxy Voting Guidelines

September 28, 2018

Environmental and social issues

We may vote against the election of directors where we have concerns that a company might not be dealing with E&S issues appropriately. Sometimes we may reflect such concerns by supporting a shareholder proposal on the issue, where there seems to be either a significant potential threat or realized harm to shareholders’ interests caused by poor management of material E&S matters. In deciding our course of action, we will assess the nature of our engagement with the company on the issue over time, including whether:

•	The company has already taken sufficient steps to address the concern
•	The company is in the process of actively implementing a response
•	There is a clear and material economic disadvantage to the company in the near-term if the issue is not addressed in the manner requested by the shareholder proposal

Environmental shareholder proposals:

Climate risks and opportunities:

A-13

¹	As envisioned by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCC”) Conference of the Parties to the Paris Climate Accord in 2015.

Sustainability Disclosures

Social and political shareholder proposals:

Data Privacy and cybersecurity:

Human Capital Management:

A-14

Human Rights

Opioids:

Product safety, supply chains and distribution channels:

Corporate political activities:

A-15

Appendix B - Regular Holidays and Redemptions

In calendar years 2017 and 2018 (the only years for which holidays are known at the time of filing of this SAI), the dates of regular holidays affecting the relevant securities markets in which a Fund invests are as follows (please note that these holiday schedules are subject to potential changes in the relevant securities markets):

2017

Albania
January 2	May 1	November 28
March 14	June 26	November 29
March 22	September 1	December 8
April 17	October 19	December 25

Argentina
February 27	May 1	November 6
February 28	May 25	November 27
March 24	June 20	December 8
April 13	August 21	December 25
April 14	October 9

Australia
January 2	April 25	September 29
January 26	May 1	October 2
March 6	June 5	November 7
March 13	June 12	December 25
April 14	August 7	December 26
April 17	August 8
April 18	September 25

Austria
January 6	May 25	October 26	December 26
April 14	June 5	November 1
April 17	June 15	December 8
May 1	August 15	December 25

Bahrain
January 1	June 27	December 17
May 1	September 3
June 25	September 21
June 26	November 30

The Bahraini market is closed every Friday.

B-1

Bangladesh
February 21	June 27	December 31
March 26	August 14
May 1	August 15
May 10	September 3
June 25	October 1
June 26	December 25

The Bangladeshi market is closed every Friday.

Belgium
April 14	May 1	December 26
April 17	December 25

Benin
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

Bermuda
January 2	June 19	September 4	December 26
April 14	August 3	November 13
May 24	August 4	December 25

Bosnia and Herzegovina
January 2	April 17	June 26
January 6	May 1	September 1
March 1	May 2

Botswana
January 2	May 1	October 2
January 3	May 25	December 25
April 14	July 17	December 26
April 17	July 18

Brazil
January 25	April 14	September 7	November 20
February 27	April 21	October 12	December 25
February 28	May 1	November 2
March 1	June 15	November 15

Bulgaria
January 2	May 1	December 25
March 3	May 24	December 26
April 14	September 6
April 17	September 22

Burkina Faso
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

Canada
January 2	May 22	October 9
January 3	June 26	November 13
February 13	July 3	December 25
February 20	August 7	December 26
April 14	September 4

Chile
January 2	August 15	October 27
April 14	September 18	November 1
May 1	September 19	December 8
June 26	October 9	December 25

China
January 2	April 3	October 3
January 27	April 4	October 4
January 30	May 1	October 5
January 31	May 29	October 6
February 1	May 30
February 2	October 2

Colombia
January 9	June 19	October 16
March 20	June 26	November 6
April 13	July 3	November 13
April 14	July 20	December 8
May 1	August 7	December 25
May 29	August 21

B-2

Costa Rica
April 11	July 25	October 16
April 13	August 2	December 25
April 14	August 15
May 1	September 15

Croatia
January 6	May 1	August 15	December 26
April 14	June 15	November 1
April 17	June 22	December 25

Cyprus
January 6	April 18	December 25
February 27	May 1	December 26
April 14	June 5
April 17	August 15

The Czech Republic
April 14	May 8	September 28	December 26
April 17	July 5	November 17
May 1	July 6	December 25

Denmark
April 13	May 12	June 5
April 14	May 25	December 25
April 17	May 26	December 26

Egypt
January 1	April 25	July 23
January 25	May 1	August 31
April 16	June 25	September 21
April 17	June 26	November 30

The Egyptian market is closed every Friday.

Estonia
February 23	April 17	June 22	December 26
February 24	May 1	June 23
April 14	May 25	December 25

Finland
January 6	April 17	December 6
April 13	May 1	December 25
April 14	May 25	December 26

France
April 14	May 1	December 26
April 17	December 25

Georgia
January 2	April 14	May 26
January 19	April 17	August 28
March 3	May 9	November 23
March 8	May 12

Germany
April 14	June 5	December 25
April 17	October 3	December 26
May 1	October 31

Ghana
January 2	April 17	June 26	September 21
March 6	May 1	July 7	December 25
April 14	May 25	September 13	December 26

Greece
January 6	May 1	December 26
February 27	June 5
April 14	August 15
April 17	December 25

Guinea-Bissau
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

B-3

Hong Kong
January 2	April 4	May 3	December 25
January 27	April 14	May 30	December 26
January 30	April 17	October 2
January 31	May 1	October 5

Hungary
March 15	May 1	November 1
April 14	June 5	December 25
April 17	October 23	December 26

Iceland
April 13	April 20	June 5	December 26
April 14	May 1	August 7
April 17	May 25	December 25

India
January 26	June 26	December 25
February 24	August 15
March 13	August 17
March 28	August 25
April 4	October 2
April 14	October 19
May 1	October 20
May 10	December 1

Indonesia
January 2	June 1	September 1
March 28	June 26	September 21
April 14	June 27	December 1
April 24	June 28	December 25
May 1	June 29	December 26
May 11	June 30
May 25	August 17

Ireland
January 2	May 1	December 22
March 17	June 5	December 25
April 14	August 7	December 26
April 17	October 30	December 29

Israel
March 12	May 1	October 4
April 10	May 2	October 5
April 11	May 30	October 8
April 12	May 31	October 9
April 13	August 1	October 10
April 16	September 20	October 11
April 17	September 21	October 12

The Israeli market is closed every Friday.

Italy
April 14	May 1	December 25
April 17	August 15	December 26

Ivory Coast
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

Jamaica
January 2	April 17	August 7	December 26
March 1	May 23	October 16
April 14	August 1	December 25

Japan
January 2	May 3	August 11	November 23
January 3	May 4	September 18
January 9	May 5	October 9
March 20	July 17	November 3

Jordan
January 1	June 27	September 21
May 1	June 28	November 30
May 25	August 31	December 25
June 25	September 3
June 26	September 4

B-4

The Jordanian market is closed every Friday.

Kazakhstan
January 2	March 23	August 30
January 3	May 1	September 1
March 8	May 8	December 1
March 21	May 9	December 18
March 22	July 6	December 19

Kenya
January 2	June 1	December 25
April 14	June 27	December 26
April 17	October 20
May 1	December 12

Kuwait
January 1	June 25	August 31
February 26	June 26	September 3
April 24	June 27	September 21

The Kuwaiti market is closed every Friday.

Latvia
April 13	May 5	November 20
April 14	May 25	December 25
April 17	June 22	December 26
May 1	June 23
May 4	November 17

Lebanon
January 2	April 25	September 1
January 6	May 1	September 21
February 9	May 25	November 22
February 14	June 26	December 1
April 14	June 27	December 25
April 17	August 15

Lithuania
February 16	May 25	December 25
April 14	July 6	December 26
April 17	August 15
May 1	November 1

Luxembourg
April 14	May 1	December 26
April 17	December 25

Malawi
January 2	April 14	May 15	December 25
January 16	April 17	June 26	December 26
March 3	May 1	July 6

Malaysia
January 2	May 10	September 21
January 27	June 12	October 18
January 30	June 26	December 1
February 1	June 27	December 25
February 9	August 31
May 1	September 1

Mali
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

Mauritius
January 2	February 24	June 26	November 2
February 1	March 29	October 19	December 25
February 9	May 1	November 1

Mexico
February 6	April 14	November 20
March 20	May 1	December 12
April 13	November 2	December 25

Morocco
January 11	August 14	September 22
May 1	August 21	November 6
June 26	September 1

B-5

Namibia
January 2	April 27	June 16	December 25
March 21	May 1	August 9	December 26
April 14	May 4	September 25	December 27
April 17	May 25	December 11

The Netherlands
April 14	May 1	December 26
April 17	December 25

New Zealand
January 2	April 17	December 25
January 3	April 25	December 26
February 6	June 5
April 14	October 23

Niger
April 17	June 21	November 15
May 1	June 26	December 1
May 25	September 1	December 25
June 5	November 1

Nigeria
January 2	May 29	October 2
April 14	June 26	December 1
April 17	June 27	December 25
May 1	September 1	December 26

Norway
April 12	April 17	May 25	December 26
April 13	May 1	June 5
April 14	May 17	December 25

Oman
April 24	July 23	November 19
June 26

The Omani market is closed every Friday.

Pakistan
January 2	June 26	August 14
March 23	June 27	September 1
May 1	June 28	September 29

Panama
January 2	March 1	November 10
January 9	April 14	December 8
February 27	May 1	December 25
February 28	November 3

Peru
April 13	June 29	November 1
April 14	July 28	December 8
May 1	August 30	December 25

The Philippines
January 2	June 12	November 1
April 13	August 21	November 30
April 14	August 28	December 25
May 1	October 31

Poland
January 6	May 1	August 15	December 26
April 14	May 3	November 1
April 17	June 15	December 25

Portugal
April 14	May 1	December 26
April 17	December 25

Puerto Rico
January 2	May 29	October 9
January 16	July 3	November 23
February 20	July 4	November 24
April 14	September 4	December 25

B-6

Qatar
January 1	June 25	September 3
February 14	June 26	December 18
March 5	June 27

The Qatari market is closed every Friday.

Romania
January 2	May 1	August 15	December 25
January 24	June 1	November 30	December 26
April 17	June 5	December 1

Russia
January 2	May 1	June 12
February 23	May 8	November 6
March 8	May 9

Saudi Arabia
June 26	June 29	September 5
June 27	September 3
June 28	September 4

The Saudi Arabian market is closed every Friday.

Senegal
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

Serbia
January 2	February 16	May 1
January 3	April 14	May 2
February 15	April 17

Singapore
January 2	May 10	October 18
January 30	June 26	December 25
April 14	August 9
May 1	September 1

The Slovak Republic
January 6	May 8	September 15	December 26
April 14	July 5	November 1
April 17	August 29	November 17
May 1	September 1	December 25

Slovenia
January 2	April 27	October 31
February 8	May 1	November 1
April 14	May 2	December 25
April 17	August 15	December 26

South Africa
January 2	April 27	September 25
March 21	May 1	December 25
April 14	June 16	December 26
April 17	August 9

South Korea
January 27	June 6	October 9
January 30	August 15	December 20
March 1	October 3	December 25
May 1	October 4	December 29
May 3	October 5
May 5	October 6

Spain
April 14	May 1	December 26
April 17	December 25

Sri Lanka
January 12	April 13	June 26	November 3
January 20	April 14	August 7	December 1
February 10	May 1	September 1	December 25
February 17	May 10	September 5
February 24	May 11	October 5
April 10	June 8	October 18

B-7

Srpska
January 2	April 14	May 2
January 6	April 17	May 9
January 9	May 1	November 21

Swaziland
January 2	April 19	May 5	December 26
April 14	April 25	September 6
April 17	May 1	December 25

Sweden
January 5	April 17	June 6	December 26
January 6	May 1	June 23
April 13	May 24	November 3
April 14	May 25	December 25

Switzerland
January 2	May 25	December 26
April 14	June 5
April 17	August 1
May 1	December 25

Taiwan
January 2	January 31	April 4	October 9
January 25	February 1	May 1	October 10
January 26	February 27	May 29
January 27	February 28	May 30
January 30	April 3	October 4

Tanzania
January 12	April 26	July 27	December 25
April 7	May 1	August 8	December 26
April 14	July 7	September 1
April 17	July 26	December 15

Thailand
January 2	April 14	August 14
January 3	May 1	October 23
February 13	May 5	December 5
April 6	May 10	December 11
April 13	July 10

Togo
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

Tunisia
March 20	July 25	December 1
May 1	September 1
June 26	September 21

Turkey
May 1	June 27	September 1
May 19	August 30	September 4
June 26	August 31

Uganda
January 2	April 14	June 26	November 30
January 26	April 17	July 7	December 25
February 16	May 1	September 13	December 26
March 8	June 9	October 9

Ukraine
January 2	April 17	June 5
January 3	May 1	June 28
January 9	May 2	August 24
March 8	May 9	October 16

The United Arab Emirates
January 1	June 26	November 30
April 24	August 31	December 3
June 25	September 21

The United Arab Emirates market is closed every Friday.

B-8

The United Kingdom
January 2	May 1	December 22	December 29
April 14	May 29	December 25
April 17	August 28	December 26

The United States Bond Market
January 2	April 14	July 4	November 24*
January 16	May 26*	September 4	December 22*
February 20	May 29	October 9	December 25
April 13*	July 3*	November 23	December 29*

*	The U.S. bond market has recommended early close.

Uruguay
January 6	April 17	August 25
February 27	May 1	October 16
February 28	May 22	November 2
April 13	June 19	December 25
April 14	July 18

Venezuela
January 9	May 1	August 14
February 27	May 29	September 11
February 28	June 19	October 12
April 13	July 3	November 6
April 14	July 5	December 11
April 19	July 24	December 25

Vietnam
January 2	January 30	April 6	September 4
January 26	January 31	May 1
January 27	February 1	May 2

Zambia
January 2	April 17	July 4	December 25
March 8	May 1	August 7
March 13	May 25	October 18
April 14	July 3	October 24

Zimbabwe
January 2	May 1	December 22
April 14	May 25	December 25
April 17	August 14	December 26
April 18	August 15

2018

Albania
January 1	April 9	November 28
January 2	May 1	November 29
March 14	June 14	December 10
March 22	August 21	December 25
April 2	October 19

Argentina
January 1	April 2	August 20
February 12	May1	October 15
February 13	May 25	November 6
March 29	June 20	November 19
March 30	July 9	December 25

B-9

Australia
January 1	April 25	October 1
January 26	May 7	October 8
March 5	June 4	November 6
March 12	June 11	December 24
March 30	August 6	December 25
April 2	August 15	December 26
April 3	September 24	December 31

Austria
January 1	May 21	December 24
March 30	May 31	December 25
April 2	August 15	December 26
May 1	October 26	December 31
May 10	November 1

Bahrain
January 1	August 23	November 20
May 1	September 11	December 16
June 17	September 19	December 17
August 22	September 20

The Bahraini market is closed every Friday.

Bangladesh
February 21	June 17	September 2
March 26	July 1	November 21
April 29	August 15	December 16
May 1	August 21	December 25
May 2	August 22	December 31
June 12	August 23

The Bangladeshi market is closed every Friday.

Belgium
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Benin
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Bermuda
January 1	August 2	November 12
March 30	August 3	December 25
May 25	September 3	December 26
June 18

Bosnia and Herzegovina
January 1	April 30	August 20
January 2	May 1	August 21
March 1	May 2	November 26
March 2	June 14	December 25
April 2	June 15

Botswana
January 1	May 10	October 2
January 2	July 2	December 25
March 30	July 16	December 26
April 2	July 17
May 1	October 1

Brazil
January 1	May 1	November 15
January 25	May 31	November 20
February 12	July 9	December 24
February 13	September 7	December 25
February 14	October 12	December 31
March 30	November 2

Bulgaria
January 1	May 1	September 24
March 5	May 7	December 24
April 6	May 24	December 25
April 9	September 6	December 26

Burkina Faso
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

B-10

Canada
January 1	May 21	October 8
January 2	June 25	November 12
February 12	July 2	December 25
February 19	August 6	December 26
March 30	September 3

Chile
January 1	July 16	October 15
March 30	August 15	November 1
May 1	September 17	November 2
May 21	September 18	December 25
July 2	September 19	December 31

China
January 1	April 5	October 1
February 15	April 6	October 2
February 16	April 30	October 3
February 19	May 1	October 4
February 20	June 18	October 5
February 21	September 24

Colombia
January 1	May 14	August 20
January 8	June 4	October 15
March 19	June 11	November 5
March 29	July 2	November 12
March 30	July 20	December 25
May 1	August 7

Costa Rica
January 1	May 1	October 15
March 29	July 25	December 25
March 30	August 2
April 11	August 15

Croatia
January 1	June 22	December 24
March 30	June 25	December 25
April 2	August 15	December 26
May 1	October 8	December 31
May 31	November 1

Cyprus
January 1	April 9	October 1
February 19	April 10	December 24
March 30	May 1	December 25
April 2	May 28	December 26
April 6	August 15

Czechia
January 1	May 8	December 24
March 30	July 5	December 25
April 2	July 6	December 26
May 1	September 28	December 31

Denmark
January 1	May 10	December 25
March 29	May 11	December 26
March 30	May 21	December 31
April 2	June 5
April 27	December 24

Egypt
January 1	April 25	August 20
January 7	May 1	August 21
January 25	June 17	August 22
April 8	July 1	September 11
April 9	July 23	November 20

The Egyptian market is closed every Friday.

Estonia
January 1	May 10	December 26
March 30	August 20	December 31
April 2	December 24
May 1	December 25

Finland
January 1	May 10	December 25
March 30	June 22	December 26
April 2	December 6	December 31
May 1	December 24

B-11

France
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Georgia
January 1	March 8	May 9
January 2	April 6	August 28
January 19	April 9	November 23

Germany
January 1	May 21	December 26
March 30	October 3	December 31
April 2	December 24
May 1	December 25

Ghana
January 1	May 25	December 7
March 6	June 15	December 25
March 30	July 2	December 26
April 2	August 22
May 1	September 21

Greece
January 1	April 6	August 15
February 19	April 9	December 24
March 30	May 1	December 25
April 2	May 28	December 26

Guinea-Bissau
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Hong Kong
January 1	April 5	October 17
January 27	May 1	December 24
February 15	May 22	December 25
February 16	June 18	December 26
February 19	July 2	December 31
March 30	September 25
April 2	October 1

Hungary
January 1	May 1	November 2
March 15	May 21	December 24
March 16	August 20	December 25
March 30	October 22	December 26
April 2	October 23	December 31
April 30	November 1

Iceland
January 1	May 1	December 25
March 29	May 10	December 26
March 30	May 21	December 31
April 2	August 6
April 19	December 24

India
January 26	May 1	October 18
February 13	August 15	November 7
February 19	August 17	November 8
March 2	August 22	November 21
March 29	September 13	November 23
March 30	September 20	December 25
April 30	October 2

Indonesia
January 1	June 13	September 11
February 16	June 14	November 20
March 30	June 15	December 24
May 1	June 18	December 25
May 10	June 19	December 31
May 29	August 17
June 1	August 22

Ireland
January 1	May 28	December 24
March 19	June 4	December 25
March 30	August 6	December 26
April 2	August 27	December 31
May 7	October 29

B-12

Israel
March 1	May 20	September 24
April 1	July 22	September 25
April 2	September 9	September 26
April 3	September 10	September 27
April 4	September 11	September 30
April 5	September 18	October 1
April 18	September 19
April 19	September 23

The Israeli market is closed every Friday.

Italy
January 1	May 1	December 25
March 30	August 15	December 26
April 2	December 24	December 31

Ivory Coast
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Jamaica
January 1	May 23	December 25
February 14	August 1	December 26
March 30	August 6
April 2	October 15

Japan
January 1	April 30	October 8
January 2	May 3	November 23
January 3	May 4	December 24
January 8	July 16	December 31
February 12	September 17
March 21	September 24

Jordan
January 1	August 21	November 21
May 1	August 22	December 25
May 25	August 23
June 17	September 12

The Jordanian market is closed every Friday.

Kazakhstan
January 1	April 30	August 30
January 2	May 1	August 31
March 8	May 7	December 3
March 9	May 8	December 17
March 21	May 9	December 18
March 22	July 6	December 31
March 23	August 21

Kenya
January 1	June 1	December 25
March 30	June 15	December 26
April 2	October 10
May 1	December 12

Kuwait
January 1	June 17	August 23
February 25	August 20	September 11
February 26	August 21	November 22
April 15	August 22

The Kuwaiti market is closed every Friday.

Latvia
January 1	May 4	December 26
March 30	May 10	December 31
April 2	November 19
April 30	December 24
May 1	December 25

B-13

Lithuania
January 1	May 1	November 1
February 16	May 10	December 24
March 30	July 6	December 25
April 2	August 15	December 26

Luxembourg
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Malawi
January 1	April 2	July 6
January 15	May 1	October 15
March 5	May 14	December 25
March 30	June 15	December 26

Malaysia
January 1	May 29	September 11
January 31	June 14	September 17
February 1	June 15	November 6
February 15	August 22	November 20
February 16	August 31	December 25
May 1	September 10

Mali
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Mauritius
January 1	February 16	November 2
January 2	March 12	November 7
January 31	May 1	December 25
February 1	August 15
February 13	September 14

Mexico
January 1	March 30	November 2
February 5	April 2	November 19
March 19	April 30	December 12
March 29	May 1	December 25

Morocco
January 1	July 30	August 22
January 11	August 14	September 11
May 1	August 20	November 6
June 14	August 21	November 20

Namibia
January 1	May 1	September 24
March 21	May 4	December 10
March 30	May 25	December 17
April 2	August 9	December 25
April 27	August 27	December 26

The Netherlands
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

New Zealand
January 1	April 2	December 25
January 2	April 25	December 26
February 6	June 4
March 30	October 22

Niger
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Nigeria
January 1	June 15	November 19
March 30	June 18	December 25
April 2	August 22	December 26
May 1	August 23
May 29	October 1

B-14

Norway
January 1	May 1	December 25
March 28	May 10	December 26
March 29	May 17	December 31
March 30	May 21
April 2	December 24

Oman
January 1	August 22	November 19
June 17	August 23	November 20
June 18	September 11
July 23	November 18

The Omani market is closed every Friday.

Pakistan
January 1	June 18	September 20
February 5	July 2	September 21
March 23	August 22	November 20
May 1	August 23	December 25
June 15	August 24

Panama
January 1	March 30	November 26
January 8	May 1	December 25
February 13	November 5	December 31

Peru
January 1	May 1	October 8
March 29	June 29	November 1
March 30	August 30	December 25

The Philippines
January 1	May 1	November 30
January 2	June 12	December 24
February 16	August 21	December 25
March 29	August 27	December 31
March 30	November 1
April 9	November 2

Poland
January 1	May 3	December 25
January 2	May 31	December 26
March 30	August 15	December 31
April 2	November 1
May 1	December 24

Portugal
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Puerto Rico
January 1	July 4	November 23
January 15	September 3	December 24
February 19	October 8	December 25
March 30	November 12
May 28	November 22

Qatar
January 1	June 18	August 22
February 13	June 19	December 18
March 4	August 20
June 17	August 21

The Qatari market is closed every Friday.

Romania
January 1	May 1	November 30
January 2	May 28	December 25
January 24	June 1	December 26
April 9	August 15

Russia
January 1	March 8	November 5
January 2	May 1	December 31
January 8	May 9
February 23	June 12

B-15

Saudi Arabia
June 17	June 21	August 22
June 18	August 19	August 23
June 19	August 20	September 23
June 20	August 21

The Saudi Arabian market is closed every Friday.

Senegal
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Serbia
January 1	April 6	November 12
January 2	April 9	December 31
February 15	May 1
February 16	May 2

Singapore
January 1	May 29	November 6
February 16	June 15	December 25
March 30	August 9
May 1	August 22

The Slovak Republic
January 1	May 8	December 24
March 30	July 5	December 25
April 2	August 29	December 26
May 1	November 1

Slovenia
January 1	May 1	December 24
January 2	May 2	December 25
February 8	June 25	December 26
March 30	August 15	December 31
April 2	October 31
April 27	November 1

South Africa
January 1	April 27	December 17
March 21	May 1	December 25
March 30	August 9	December 26
April 2	September 24

South Korea
January 1	May 22	September 26
February 15	June 6	October 3
February 16	June 13	October 9
March 1	August 15	December 25
May 1	September 24	December 31
May 7	September 25

Spain
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Sri Lanka
January 1	April 20	September 24
January 15	April 30	October 24
January 31	May 1	November 6
February 5	May 29	November 20
February 13	June 15	November 22
March 1	June 27	December 25
March 30	July 27
April 13	August 22

Srpska
January 1	April 6	May 2
January 2	April 9	May 9
January 9	May 1	November 21

B-16

Swaziland
January 1	April 25	September 6
January 5	May 1	December 25
March 30	May 10	December 26
April 2	July 23
April 19	August 27

Sweden
January 1	May 1	November 2
January 5	May 9	December 24
March 29	May 10	December 25
March 30	June 6	December 26
April 2	June 22	December 31

Switzerland
January 1	May 1	December 25
January 2	May 10	December 26
March 30	May 21
April 2	August 1

Taiwan
January 1	February 20	June 18
February 13	February 28	September 24
February 14	April 4	October 10
February 15	April 5	December 31
February 16	April 6
February 19	May 1

Tanzania
January 1	May 1	December 20
January 12	June 15	December 25
March 30	August 8	December 26
April 2	August 22
April 26	November 21

Thailand
January 1	May 1	October 23
January 2	May 29	December 5
March 1	July 27	December 10
April 6	July 30	December 31
April 13	August 13
April 16	October 15

Togo
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Tunisia
January 1	June 15	September 12
March 20	July 25	October 15
April 9	August 13	November 20
May 1	August 21

Turkey
January 1	June 15	August 23
April 23	August 20	August 24
May 1	August 21	August 30
June 14	August 22	October 29

Uganda
January 1	April 2	November 30
January 26	May 1	December 25
February 16	June 15	December 26
March 8	August 21
March 30	October 9

Ukraine
January 1	May 1	June 28
January 8	May 2	August 24
March 8	May 9	October 15
April 9	May 28	December 25

The United Arab Emirates
January 1	August 21	November 20
June 14	August 22	December 2
August 20	September 11	December 3

The United Arab Emirates market is closed every Friday.

B-17

The United Kingdom
January 1	May 28	December 26
March 30	August 27	December 31
April 2	December 24
May 7	December 25

The United States Bond Market
January 1	May 25*	October 8	December 25
January 15	May 28	November 12	December 31*
February 19	July 3*	November 22
March 29*	July 4	November 23*
March 30	September 3	December 24*

*	The U.S. bond market has recommended early close.

Uruguay
January 1	April 23	October 15
February 12	May 1	November 2
February 13	May 21	December 25
March 29	June 19
March 30	July 18

Venezuela
January 1	May 1	September 10
February 12	May 14	October 12
February 13	June 4	November 5
March 19	July 2	December 24
March 29	July 5	December 25
March 30	July 24	December 31
April 19	August 20

Vietnam
January 1	February 19	May 1
February 14	February 20	September 3
February 15	April 25
February 16	April 30

Zambia
January 1	May 1	October 18
March 8	May 25	October 24
March 12	July 2	December 25
March 30	July 3
April 2	August 6

Zimbabwe
January 1	April 18	August 14
February 21	May 1	December 25
March 30	May 25	December 26
April 2	August 13

Redemptions.The longest redemption cycle for a Fund is a function of the longest redemption cycle among the countries and regions whose securities comprise the Fund. In the calendar years 2017 and 2018 (the only years for which holidays are known at the time of this SAI filing), the dates of regular holidays affecting the following securities markets present the worst-case redemption cycles* for a Fund as follows:

2017
Country	Trade Date	Settlement Date	Number of Days to Settle
Australia	04/11/17	04/19/17	8
	04/12/17	04/20/17	8
	04/13/17	04/21/17	8

Bangladesh	06/20/17	06/28/17	8
	06/21/17	06/29/17	8
	06/22/17	07/02/17	10

B-18

iShares^® Trust

Statement of Additional Information

Dated December 29, 2017
(as revised September 28, 2018)

Fund	Ticker	Listing Exchange
iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF	AGT	Cboe BZX
iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF	EWZS	NASDAQ
iShares MSCI China ETF	MCHI	NASDAQ
iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF	ECNS	NYSE Arca
iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF	MPCT	NASDAQ
iShares MSCI India ETF	INDA	Cboe BZX
iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF	SMIN	Cboe BZX
iShares MSCI Peru ETF	EPU	NYSE Arca
iShares MSCI Qatar ETF	QAT	NASDAQ
iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF	KSA	NYSE Arca
iShares MSCI UAE ETF	UAE	NASDAQ

The Prospectuses for the above-listed funds (each, a “Fund” and collectively, the “Funds”) are dated December 29, 2017, as amended and supplemented from time to time. Capitalized terms used herein that are not defined have the same meaning as in the applicable Prospectus, unless otherwise noted. The Financial Statements and Notes contained in the applicable Annual Report and Semi-Annual Report of the Trust for the Funds are incorporated by reference into and are deemed to be part of this SAI. A copy of each Fund's Prospectus, Annual Report and Semi-Annual Report may be obtained without charge by writing to the Trust's distributor, BlackRock Investments, LLC (the “Distributor” or “BRIL”), 1 University Square Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540, calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) or visiting www.iShares.com. Each Fund's Prospectus is incorporated by reference into this SAI.

iShares^® and BlackRock^® are registered trademarks of BlackRock Fund Advisors and its affiliates.

General Description of the Trust and its Funds

•	iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF
•	iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF
•	iShares MSCI China ETF
•	iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF
•	iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF
•	iShares MSCI India ETF
•	iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF
•	iShares MSCI Peru ETF¹
•	iShares MSCI Qatar ETF²
•	iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF³
•	iShares MSCI UAE ETF⁴

¹	Effective December 29, 2017, the name of the Fund changed from iShares MSCI All Peru Capped ETF to iShares MSCI Peru ETF.
²	Effective December 29, 2017, the name of the Fund changed from iShares MSCI Qatar Capped ETF to iShares MSCI Qatar ETF.
³	Effective December 29, 2017, the name of the Fund changed from iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia Capped ETF to iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF.
⁴	Effective December 29, 2017, the name of the Fund changed from iShares MSCI UAE Capped ETF to iShares MSCI UAE ETF.

Each Fund offers and issues shares at their net asset value per share (“NAV”) only in aggregations of a specified number of shares (each, a “Creation Unit”), generally in exchange for a designated portfolio of securities (including any portion of such securities for which cash may be substituted) included in the Underlying Index (the “Deposit Securities”), together with the deposit of a specified cash payment (the “Cash Component”). Shares of the Funds are listed for trading on national securities exchanges such as Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (“Cboe BZX”) (formerly known as BATS Exchange, Inc.), NYSE Arca, Inc. (“NYSE Arca”) or The Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC (“NASDAQ”) (each, a “Listing Exchange”). Shares of each Fund are traded in the secondary market and elsewhere at market prices that may be at, above or below the Fund's NAV. Shares are redeemable only in Creation Units by Authorized Participants (as defined in the Portfolio Holdings Information section of this SAI), and, generally, in exchange for portfolio securities and a Cash Amount (as defined in the Redemption of Creation Units section of this SAI) (other than the iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI India ETF, iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF and iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF, which currently redeem Creation Units of its shares solely for cash). Creation Units typically are a specified number of shares, generally ranging from 50,000 to 200,000 shares or multiples thereof.

redemptions of shares and fees will be limited in accordance with the requirements of SEC rules and regulations applicable to management investment companies offering redeemable securities.

Exchange Listing and Trading

Shares of each Fund are listed for trading, and trade throughout the day, on the applicable Listing Exchange and in other secondary markets. Shares of the Funds may also be listed on certain non-U.S. exchanges. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Listing Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of shares of any Fund will continue to be met. The Listing Exchange may, but is not required to, remove the shares of a Fund from listing if, among other things: (i) following the initial 12-month period beginning upon the commencement of trading of Fund shares, there are fewer than 50 record and/or beneficial owners of shares of the Fund for 30 or more consecutive trading days, (ii) the value of the Underlying Index on which a Fund is based is no longer calculated or available, or (iii) any other event shall occur or condition shall exist that, in the opinion of the Listing Exchange, makes further dealings on the Listing Exchange inadvisable. The Listing Exchange will also remove shares of a Fund from listing and trading upon termination of the Fund or in the event a Fund does not comply with the continuous listing standards of the Listing Exchange, as described in the Fund’s prospectus.

As in the case of other publicly-traded securities, when you buy or sell shares of a Fund through a broker, you may incur a brokerage commission determined by that broker, as well as other charges.

Investment Strategies and Risks

Each of the iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF, iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI China ETF, iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF, iShares MSCI Peru ETF, iShares MSCI Qatar ETF, iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF and iShares MSCI UAE ETF seeks to achieve its objective by investing primarily in securities issued by issuers that comprise its relevant Underlying Index and through transactions that provide substantially similar exposure to securities in the Underlying Index.

Each of the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF carries out its investment strategies by investing substantially all of its assets in a wholly-owned subsidiary in the Republic of Mauritius (each, a “Subsidiary” and collectively, the “Subsidiaries”). The remaining assets will be invested directly by each Fund. BFA will serve as investment adviser to both

the Funds and the Subsidiaries. Unless otherwise indicated, references made in this SAI to the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF refer to each Subsidiary and/or each Fund, as applicable.

Each Fund engages in representative sampling, which is investing in a sample of securities selected by BFA to have a collective investment profile similar to that of the Fund's Underlying Index. Securities selected have aggregate investment characteristics (based on market capitalization and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability, earnings valuation and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of the Underlying Index. A fund that uses representative sampling generally does not hold all of the securities that are in its underlying index.

Although the Funds do not seek leveraged returns, certain instruments used by the Funds may have a leveraging effect as described below.

Borrowing. Each Fund may borrow for temporary or emergency purposes, including to meet payments due from redemptions or to facilitate the settlement of securities or other transactions. Under normal market conditions, any borrowing by a Fund (except for the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF) will not exceed 10% of the Fund’s net assets; however, each Fund (except for the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF) generally does not intend to borrow money. The iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF, along with certain other iShares funds, have entered into a line of credit with State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”) that may be used for temporary or emergency purposes, including redemption, settlement of trades and rebalancing of portfolio holdings.

Currency Transactions. A foreign currency forward contract is an over-the-counter (“OTC”) obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days greater than two days from the date on which the contract is agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract. A non-deliverable currency forward is an OTC currency forward settled in a specified currency, on a specified date, based on the difference between the agreed-upon exchange rate and the market exchange rate. A currency futures contract is a contract that trades on an organized futures exchange involving an obligation to deliver or acquire a specified amount of a specific currency, at a specified price and at a specified future time. Currency futures contracts may be settled on a net cash payment basis rather than by the sale and delivery of the underlying currency. To the extent required by law, liquid assets committed to futures contracts will be maintained. The Funds do not expect to engage in currency transactions for the purpose of hedging against declines in the value of each Fund's assets that are denominated in a non-U.S. currency. A Fund may enter into non-U.S. currency forward and non-U.S. currency futures transactions to facilitate local securities settlements or to protect against currency exposure in connection with its distributions to shareholders, but may not enter into such contracts for speculative purposes.

A forward currency contract is an obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract. A currency futures contract is a contract involving an obligation to deliver or acquire the specified amount of a specific currency, at a specified price and at a specified future time. Currency futures contracts may be settled on a net cash payment basis rather than by the sale and delivery of the underlying currency. To the extent required by law, liquid assets committed to futures contracts will be maintained.

Diversification Status. The following table sets forth the diversification status of each Fund:

Diversified Funds		Non-Diversified Funds
iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF		iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF
iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF		iShares MSCI China ETF
iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF		iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF
		iShares MSCI India ETF
		iShares MSCI Peru ETF
		iShares MSCI Qatar ETF
		iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF
		iShares MSCI UAE ETF

Each Fund (whether diversified or non-diversified) intends to maintain the required level of diversification and otherwise conduct its operations so as to qualify as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) for purposes of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”), and to relieve the Fund of any liability for U.S. federal income tax to the extent that its earnings are distributed to shareholders, provided that the Fund satisfies a minimum distribution requirement. Compliance with the diversification requirements of the Internal Revenue Code may limit the investment flexibility of the Funds and may make it less likely that the Funds will meet their respective investment objectives.

Futures, Options on Futures and Securities Options. Futures contracts, options on futures and securities options may be used by a Fund to simulate investment in its Underlying Index, to facilitate trading or to reduce transaction costs. Each Fund may enter into futures contracts and options on futures that are traded on a U.S. or non-U.S. futures exchange. Each Fund will not use futures, options on futures or securities options for speculative purposes. Each Fund intends to use futures and options on futures in accordance with Rule 4.5 of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) promulgated under the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”). BFA, with respect to certain Funds, has claimed an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” in accordance with Rule 4.5 so that BFA, in respect of such Funds, is not subject to registration or regulation as a commodity pool operator under the CEA. See the Regulation Regarding Derivatives section of this SAI for more information.

Futures contracts provide for the future sale by one party and purchase by another party of a specified amount of a specific instrument or index at a specified future time and at a specified price. Stock index contracts are based on investments that reflect the market value of common stock of the firms included in the investments. Each Fund may enter into futures contracts to purchase securities indexes when BFA anticipates purchasing the underlying securities and believes prices will rise before the purchase will be made. Upon entering into a futures contract, a Fund will be required to deposit with the broker an amount of cash or cash equivalents known as “initial margin,” which is similar to a performance bond or good faith deposit on the contract and is returned to the Fund upon termination of the futures contract if all contractual obligations have been satisfied. Subsequent payments, known as “variation margin,” will be made to and from the broker daily as the price of the instrument or index underlying the futures contract fluctuates, making the long and short positions in the futures contract more or less valuable, a process known as “marking-to-market.” At any time prior to the expiration of a futures contract, each Fund may elect to close the position by taking an opposite position, which will operate to terminate the Fund’s existing position in the contract. To the extent required by law, each Fund will segregate liquid assets in an amount equal to its delivery obligations under the futures contracts. An option on a futures contract, as contrasted with a direct investment in such a contract, gives the purchaser the right, but no obligation, in return for the premium paid, to assume a position in the underlying futures contract at a specified exercise price at any time prior to the expiration date of the option. Upon exercise of an option, the delivery of the futures position by the writer of the option to the holder of the option will be accompanied by delivery of the accumulated balance in the writer’s futures margin account that represents the amount by which the market price of the futures contract exceeds (in the case of a call) or is less than (in the case of a put) the exercise price of the option on the futures contract. The potential for loss related to the purchase of an option on a futures contract is limited to the premium paid for the option plus transaction costs. Because the value of the option is fixed at the point of sale, there are no daily cash payments by the purchaser to reflect changes in the value of the underlying contract; however, the value of the option changes daily and that change would be reflected in the NAV of each Fund. The potential for loss related to writing call options is unlimited. The potential for loss related to writing put options is limited to the agreed-upon price per share, also known as the “strike price,” less the premium received from writing the put. Certain of the Funds may purchase and write put and call options on futures contracts that are traded on an exchange as a hedge against changes in value of their portfolio securities or in anticipation of the purchase of securities, and may enter into closing transactions with respect to such options to terminate existing positions. There is no guarantee that such closing transactions can be effected.

Non-U.S. Securities. Each Fund intends to purchase publicly-traded common stocks of non-U.S. issuers. To the extent a Fund invests in stocks of non-U.S. issuers, certain of the Fund's investments in such stocks may be in the form of American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”) and European Depositary Receipts (“EDRs”) (collectively, “depositary receipts”). Depositary receipts are receipts, typically issued by a bank or trust issuer, which evidence ownership of underlying securities issued by a non-U.S. issuer. Depositary receipts may not necessarily be denominated in the same currency as their underlying securities. ADRs typically are issued by an American bank or trust company and evidence ownership of underlying securities issued by a foreign corporation. EDRs, which are sometimes referred to as Continental Depositary Receipts, are receipts issued in Europe, typically by foreign banks and trust companies, that evidence ownership of either foreign or domestic underlying securities. GDRs are depositary receipts structured like global debt issues to facilitate trading on an international basis. Generally, ADRs, issued in registered form, are designed for use in the U.S. securities markets, and EDRs, issued in bearer form, are designed for use in European securities markets. GDRs are tradable both in the U.S. and in Europe and are designed for use throughout the world.

Depositary receipts are generally subject to the same risks as the foreign securities that they evidence or into which they may be converted. In addition to investment risks associated with the underlying issuer, depository receipts expose a Fund to additional risks associated with the non-uniform terms that apply to depository receipt programs, credit exposure to the depository bank and to the sponsors and other parties with whom the depository bank establishes the programs, currency risk and liquidity risk. Unsponsored programs, which are not sanctioned by the issuer of the underlying common stock, generally expose investors to greater risks than sponsored programs and do not provide holders with many of the shareholder benefits that come from investing in a sponsored depository receipts.

BFA has claimed an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” under the CEA pursuant to Rule 4.5 under the CEA with respect to the iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF, iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI China ETF, iShares MSCI India ETF, iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI Peru ETF, iShares MSCI Qatar ETF, iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF and iShares MSCI UAE ETF. BFA is not, therefore, subject to registration or regulation as a “commodity pool operator” under the CEA with respect to the Funds.

The iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF and iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF (the “No-Action Letter Funds”) may also have investments in “underlying funds” (and such underlying funds themselves may invest in underlying funds) not advised by BFA (which for purposes of the no-action letter referenced below may include certain securitized vehicles, mortgage real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and/or investment companies that may invest in CFTC Derivatives), and therefore may be viewed by the CFTC as commodity pools. BFA has no transparency into the holdings of these underlying funds because they are not advised by BFA. To address this issue of lack of transparency, the CFTC staff issued a no-action letter on November 29, 2012 permitting the adviser of a fund that invests in such underlying funds and that would otherwise have filed a claim of exclusion pursuant to CFTC Rule 4.5 to delay registration as a “commodity pool operator” until six months from the date on which the CFTC issues additional guidance on the treatment of CFTC Derivatives held by underlying funds. BFA, the adviser of the No-Action Letter Funds, has filed a claim with the CFTC for such Funds to rely on this no-action relief. Accordingly, BFA is not currently subject to registration or regulation as a “commodity pool operator” under the CEA in respect of such Funds.

Derivative contracts, including, without limitation, swaps, currency forwards, and non-deliverable forwards, are subject to regulation under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”) in the United States and under comparable regimes in Europe, Asia and other non-U.S. jurisdictions. Swaps, non-deliverable forwards and certain other derivatives traded in the OTC market are subject to variation margin requirements, and initial margining requirements will be phased in through 2020. Implementation of the margining and other provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act regarding clearing, mandatory trading, reporting and documentation of swaps and other derivatives have impacted and may continue to impact the costs to a Fund of trading these instruments and, as a result, may affect returns to investors in such Fund.

As a result of regulatory requirements under the 1940 Act, a Fund is required to maintain an amount of liquid assets, accrued on a daily basis, having an aggregate value at least equal to the value of a Fund’s obligations under the applicable derivatives contract. To the extent that derivatives contracts are settled on a physical basis, a Fund will generally be required to maintain

an amount of liquid assets equal to the notional value of the contract. On the other hand, in connection with derivatives contracts that are performed on a net basis, a Fund will generally be required to maintain liquid assets, accrued daily, equal only to the accrued excess, if any, of a Fund’s obligations over those of its counterparty under the contract. Accordingly, reliance by a Fund on physically-settled derivatives contracts may adversely impact investors by requiring a Fund to set aside a greater amount of liquid assets than would generally be required if a Fund were relying on cash-settled derivatives contracts.

Reverse Repurchase Agreements. Reverse repurchase agreements involve the sale of securities with an agreement to repurchase the securities at an agreed-upon price, date and interest payment and have the characteristics of borrowing. Generally, the effect of such transactions is that a Fund can recover all or most of the cash invested in the portfolio securities involved during the term of the reverse repurchase agreement, while in many cases the Fund is able to keep some of the interest income associated with those securities. Such transactions are advantageous only if a Fund has an opportunity to earn a rate of interest on the cash derived from these transactions that is greater than the interest cost of obtaining the same amount of cash. Opportunities to realize earnings from the use of the proceeds equal to or greater than the interest required to be paid may not always be available, and a Fund intends to use the reverse repurchase technique only when BFA believes it will be advantageous to the Fund. The use of reverse repurchase agreements may exaggerate any increase or decrease in the value of a Fund’s assets. A Fund’s exposure to reverse repurchase agreements will be covered by liquid assets having a value equal to or greater than the Fund’s obligations under such commitments. The use of reverse repurchase agreements is a form of leverage, and the proceeds obtained by a Fund through reverse repurchase agreements may be invested in additional securities.

issued by the SEC staff, fees and expenses of money market funds used for cash collateral received in connection with loans of securities are not treated as Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, which reflect a Fund’s pro rata share of the fees and expenses incurred by investing in other investment companies (as disclosed in the Prospectus, as applicable).

Short-Term Instruments and Temporary Investments. Each Fund may invest in short-term instruments, including money market instruments, on an ongoing basis to provide liquidity or for other reasons. Money market instruments are generally short-term investments that may include, but are not limited to: (i) shares of money market funds (including those advised by BFA or otherwise affiliated with BFA); (ii) obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities (including government-sponsored enterprises); (iii) negotiable certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances, fixed-time deposits and other obligations of U.S. and non-U.S. banks (including non-U.S. branches) and similar institutions; (iv) commercial paper rated, at the date of purchase, “Prime-1” by Moody's^® Investors Service, Inc., “F-1” by Fitch Ratings, Inc., or “A-1” by Standard & Poor's^® Financial Services LLC, a subsidiary of S&P Global, Inc., or if unrated, of comparable quality as determined by BFA; (v) non-convertible corporate debt securities (e.g., bonds and debentures) with remaining maturities at the date of purchase of not more than 397 days and that satisfy the rating requirements set forth in Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act; (vi) repurchase agreements; and (vii) short-term U.S. dollar-denominated obligations of non-U.S. banks (including U.S. branches) that, in the opinion of BFA, are of comparable quality to obligations of U.S. banks that may be purchased by a Fund. Any of these instruments may be purchased on a current or forward-settled basis. Time deposits are non-negotiable deposits maintained in banking institutions for specified periods of time at stated interest rates. Bankers’ acceptances are time drafts drawn on commercial banks by borrowers, usually in connection with international transactions.

The Funds may enter into currency, interest rate or index swaps. The use of currency, interest rate and index swaps is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio security transactions. These transactions generally do not involve the delivery of securities or other underlying assets.

General Considerations and Risks

A discussion of some of the principal risks associated with an investment in a Fund is contained in the applicable Prospectus.

Assets Under Management (AUM) Risk. From time to time, an Authorized Participant, a third-party investor, a Fund’s adviser or an affiliate of a 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 a Fund’s operations or to allow a 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 a Fund would be maintained at such levels, which could negatively impact a Fund.

Cash Transactions Risk. Unlike most other ETFs, the iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF expects to effect all of its creations and redemptions for cash, rather than in-kind securities. Paying redemption proceeds in cash rather than through in-kind delivery of portfolio securities may require the Fund to dispose of or sell portfolio securities or other assets at an inopportune time to obtain the cash needed to meet redemption orders. This may cause the Fund to sell a security and recognize a capital gain or loss that might not have been incurred if it had made a redemption in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher or lower annual capital gains distributions than ETFs that redeem in-kind. The use of cash creations and redemptions may also cause the Fund’s shares to trade in the market at greater bid-ask spreads or greater premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV. As a practical matter, only institutions and large investors, such as market makers or other large broker dealers, create or redeem shares directly through the Fund. Most investors will buy and sell shares of the Fund on an exchange through a broker-dealer. Furthermore, the Fund may not be able to execute cash transactions for creation and redemption purposes at the same price used to determine the Fund’s NAV. To the extent that the maximum additional charge for creation or redemption transactions is insufficient to cover the execution shortfall, the Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted.

A sustained decline in demand for such commodities could also adversely affect the financial performance of commodity-related companies. Factors that could lead to a decline in demand include economic recession or other adverse economic conditions, higher taxes on commodities or increased governmental regulations, increases in fuel economy, consumer shifts to the use of alternative commodities or fuel sources, changes in commodity prices, or weather.

limits is referred to as a “limit price.” If the limit price has been reached in a particular contract, no trades may be made beyond the limit price. Limit prices have the effect of precluding trading in a particular contract or forcing the liquidation of contracts at disadvantageous times or prices.

Liquidity Risk Management Rule Risk. In October 2016, the SEC adopted a liquidity risk management rule requiring open-end funds, including ETFs such as the Funds, to establish a liquidity risk management program and enhance disclosures regarding fund liquidity. There are exclusions from certain portions of the liquidity risk management program requirements for “in-kind” ETFs . The Funds will be required to comply with portions of the rule by December 1, 2018. The effect the rule will have on the Funds, including a Fund’s ability to rely on the exclusions, is not yet known, but the rule may impact a Fund’s performance and ability to achieve its investment objective.

Pre-Funding and Associated Risks. Saudi Arabian equities can only be purchased on a pre-funded basis, whereby the iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF or its broker (on behalf of the Fund), must deliver the applicable pre-funding amount to cover purchases before trade executions may take place. In the event that the pre-funding amount is not delivered by the deadline established with the Fund’s custodian, or if the pre-funding amount is insufficient to purchase all the underlying securities in connection with the creation or portfolio rebalance, the Fund would not be able to acquire all the requisite underlying securities during such purchase. In this situation, additional local currency would have to be delivered to the Fund’s onshore custody account to enable additional purchases on subsequent days. This could result in higher brokerage costs for Authorized Participants in a creation and higher tracking error in the case of a portfolio rebalance.

Risk of Derivatives. A derivative is a financial contract, the value of which depends on, or is derived from, the value of an underlying asset, such as a security, a commodity (such as gold or silver), a currency or an index (a measure of value or rates, such as the S&P 500^® or the prime lending rate). A Fund may invest in stock index futures contracts, securities options and other derivatives. Compared to conventional securities, derivatives can be more sensitive to changes in interest rates or to sudden fluctuations in market prices and thus a Fund’s losses may be greater if it invests in derivatives than if it invests only in conventional securities. Derivatives are also subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the other party in the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligations. Derivatives generally involve the incurrence of leverage. To address such leverage and to prevent a Fund from being deemed to have issued senior securities as a result of an investment in derivatives, such Fund will segregate liquid assets equal to its obligations under the derivatives throughout the life of the investment.

Risk of Futures and Options on Futures Transactions. There are several risks accompanying the utilization of futures contracts and options on futures contracts. A position in futures contracts and options on futures contracts may be closed only on the exchange on which the contract was made (or a linked exchange). While each Fund plans to utilize futures contracts only if an active market exists for such contracts, there is no guarantee that a liquid market will exist for the contract at a specified time. Futures contracts, by definition, project price levels in the future and not current levels of valuation; therefore, market circumstances may result in a discrepancy between the price of the stock index future and the movement in a Fund's Underlying Index. In the event of adverse price movements, a Fund would continue to be required to make daily cash payments to maintain its required margin. In such situations, if a Fund has insufficient cash, it may have to sell portfolio securities to meet daily margin requirements at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so. In addition, a Fund may be required to deliver the instruments underlying the futures contracts it has sold.

The risk of loss in trading futures contracts or uncovered call options in some strategies (e.g., selling uncovered stock index futures contracts) is potentially unlimited. The Funds do not plan to use futures and options contracts in this way. The risk of a futures position may still be large as traditionally measured due to the low margin deposits required. In many cases, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in immediate and substantial loss or gain to the investor relative to the size of a required margin deposit. The Funds, however, intend to utilize futures and options contracts in a manner designed to limit their risk exposure to levels comparable to a direct investment in the types of stocks in which they invest.

option. The purchase of put or call options will be based upon predictions by BFA as to anticipated trends, which predictions could prove to be incorrect.

Because the futures market generally imposes less burdensome margin requirements than the securities market, an increased amount of participation by speculators in the futures market could result in price fluctuations. Certain financial futures exchanges limit the amount of fluctuation permitted in futures contract prices during a single trading day. The daily limit establishes the maximum amount by which the price of a futures contract may vary either up or down from the previous day’s settlement price at the end of a trading session. Once the daily limit has been reached in a particular type of contract, no trades may be made on that day at a price beyond that limit. It is possible that futures contract prices could move to the daily limit for several consecutive trading days with little or no trading, thereby preventing prompt liquidation of futures positions and subjecting each Fund to substantial losses. In the event of adverse price movements, each Fund would be required to make daily cash payments of variation margin.

Risk of Investing in Non-U.S. Equity Securities. An investment in a Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in portfolios of equity securities traded on non-U.S. exchanges. These risks include market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic and political developments in those foreign countries, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. Investing in securities issued by issuers domiciled in countries other than the domicile of the investor and denominated in currencies other than an investor’s local currency entails certain considerations and risks not typically encountered by the investor in making investments in its home country and in that country’s currency. These considerations include favorable or unfavorable changes in interest rates, currency exchange rates, exchange control regulations and the costs that may be incurred in connection with conversions between various currencies. Investing in any of the Funds also involves certain risks and considerations not typically associated with investing in a fund whose portfolio contains exclusively securities of U.S. issuers. These risks include generally less liquid and less efficient securities markets; generally greater price volatility; less publicly available information about issuers; the imposition of withholding or other taxes; the imposition of restrictions on the expatriation of funds or other assets of the Funds; higher transaction and custody costs; delays and risks attendant in settlement procedures; difficulties in enforcing contractual obligations; lower liquidity and significantly smaller market capitalization; different accounting and disclosure standards; lower levels of regulation of the securities markets; more substantial government interference with the economy and businesses; higher rates of inflation; greater social, economic, and political uncertainty; the risk of nationalization or expropriation of assets; and the risk of war.

Treaty/Tax Risk. Each of the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF operate, in part, through the Subsidiaries, which in turn invest in securities of Indian issuers. The Subsidiaries should be eligible to take advantage of the benefits of the Double Tax Avoidance Agreement between India and Mauritius (“DTAA”) in relation to investments in shares made until March 31, 2017. Numerous investors have relied on the benefits of the DTAA to invest in India through Mauritius in the past.

grandfathering of investments in shares made before April 1, 2017. Returns from investments in shares made on or after April 1, 2017 are subject to capital gains tax in India, although the Protocol introduces a limitation of benefits provision which shall be a prerequisite for a reduced rate of tax (50% of domestic tax rate) on capital gains arising during a two year transition period from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2019. The Protocol is now in effect, which could result in the imposition of withholding and capital gains taxes and/or other taxes on the Subsidiaries by tax authorities in India. This could significantly reduce the return to each of the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF on its investments in shares and the return received by each Fund’s shareholders.

Criteria for Residence of Companies in India.

Indirect Transfers.

The Income Tax Act, 1961 (“IT Act”) imposes Indian tax and withholding obligations with respect to the transfer of shares and interest in an overseas company that derives its value substantially from assets situated in India (“indirect transfers”). It has been clarified that Indian tax authorities will not reopen any assessment proceedings that were completed before April 1, 2012 and where no notice for reassessment has been issued prior to that date. It has also been clarified that any assessment or any other order which stands validated due to the amendments in the Finance Act would be enforced. Given this clarification issued by the CBDT, the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF do not expect that their respective shareholders or each Fund will become subject to tax or to withholding obligations with respect to completed assessments.

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With respect to a foreign entity that holds the Indian assets indirectly, if the transferor of share or interest in such foreign entity (along with its associated enterprises), at any time in the twelve months preceding the year of transfer does not hold the right of control or management in relation to the foreign entity, which would entitle them to the right of control or management in the foreign entity which directly holds the Indian assets; or does not hold voting power or share capital or interest exceeding 5% of the total voting power or total share capital or total interest in the foreign entity, which results in holding the same share capital or voting power in the entity which directly holds the Indian assets.

and (ii) represents at least 50% of the value of the company’s assets), such gains are taxable in India and subject to withholding, to the extent that they are reasonably attributable to the Indian assets.

Because the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF invest in Indian securities through the Subsidiary, the Subsidiary or the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF may be considered to derive “substantial value” from Indian assets. Accordingly, shareholder redemptions of the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF shares and sales of the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF shares may have been subject to Indian tax and withholding obligations. However, through Finance Act 2017 (“FA 2017”), the government had introduced an exemption to shareholders in Category I and Category II foreign portfolio investors (“FPI”) from the applicability of indirect transfer taxation. The Subsidiary is a Category II FPI. Therefore, any redemptions or transfers by the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF or the shareholders in the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF should not be subject to Indian indirect transfer tax.

FA 2017 provides that aforesaid indirect transfer provisions will not apply to foreign investors making an investment directly or indirectly in a Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) registered Category I and Category II foreign portfolio investor. This provision is applicable from April 1, 2014 (FY 2014-15).

General Anti-Avoidance Rules.

The current legislation provides for the general anti-avoidance rules (“GAAR”) to curb aggressive tax planning with the use of sophisticated structures. GAAR became applicable with effect from April 1, 2017. Further, transactions undertaken and investments in shares made up until March 31, 2017 are exempted from the applicability of GAAR. CBDT issued Circular No. 7 of 2017 (“GAAR Circular”) providing clarifications on implementation of GAAR by way of responses to queries raised by various stakeholders in the context of its applicability. The GAAR Circular specifically provides where a FPI (such as the Subsidiary) is located in a particular jurisdiction based on non-tax commercial reasons and the main purpose of the choice of location/residence of the FPI is not to obtain a treaty benefit, the GAAR provisions will not be resorted to by the tax authorities.

•	creates rights, or obligations, which are not ordinarily created between persons dealing at arm's length;
•	results, directly or indirectly, in the misuse, or abuse, of the provisions of IT Act;
•	lacks commercial substance; or
•	is entered into, or carried out, by means, or in a manner, which are not ordinarily employed for bona fide purposes.

As per the provisions of Indian Income Tax Rules, 1962 (“IT Rules”), GAAR shall not apply in the following circumstances:

•	any arrangement where the aggregate tax benefit to all the parties of the arrangement in the relevant financial year does not exceed INR 30 Million;
•	foreign institutional investors (“FIIs”) that choose not to take any benefit under any tax treaty entered with India and has invested in listed or unlisted securities with prior permission of the competent authority in accordance with the applicable regulations;
•	non-resident investor in an FII who has invested in an FII, directly or indirectly, by way of an offshore derivative instrument or otherwise; or
•	any income derived from the transfer of shares or interests made prior to April 1, 2017.

GAAR may, irrespective of existing treaty provisions, lead to the imposition of tax liabilities and withholding obligations, and may lead each of the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF to modify the structure.

Indian Minimum Alternate Tax.

The FA 2016 inserted a provision in the IT Act which states that Minimum Alternate Tax (“MAT”) is not applicable on foreign company where the foreign company is a resident of a country with which India has signed a DTAA and the foreign company does not have a permanent establishment in India in accordance with such DTAA. This provision is applicable in case of foreign company with retrospective effect from April 1, 2001.

Recent amendments to the DTAA and GAAR could change the manner in which Subsidiaries are currently taxed in India and could adversely impact the returns to each of the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF/Subsidiaries and their shareholders. Each of the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF will continue to monitor developments in India with respect to these matters. Investors are urged to consult their own tax advisers with respect to their own tax situations and the tax consequences of an investment in each of the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF.

Risk of Investing in Large-Capitalization Companies. Large-capitalization companies may be less able than smaller capitalization companies to adapt to changing market conditions. Large-capitalization companies may be more mature and subject to more limited growth potential compared with smaller capitalization companies. Over certain periods, the performance of large-capitalization companies has trailed the performance of overall markets.

with market volatility, lower market capitalization, lower trading volume, illiquidity, inflation, greater price fluctuations and uncertainty regarding the existence of trading markets. Moreover, trading on African securities markets may be suspended altogether.

Investment in countries in Africa may be subject to a greater degree of risk associated with governmental approval in connection with the repatriation of investment income, capital or the proceeds of sales of securities by foreign investors. In addition, there is the risk that if an African country’s balance of payments declines, such African country may impose temporary restrictions on foreign capital remittances. Consequently, a Fund could be adversely affected by delays in, or a refusal to grant, required governmental approval for repatriation of capital, as well as by the application to the Funds of any restrictions on investments. Additionally, investments in countries in Africa may require a Fund to adopt special procedures, seek local government approvals or take other actions, each of which may involve additional costs to the Fund.

addition, certain issuers located in countries in Africa in which a Fund invests may operate in, or have dealings with, countries subject to sanctions and/or embargoes imposed by the U.S. government and the United Nations, and/or countries identified by the U.S. government as state sponsors of terrorism. As a result, an issuer may sustain damage to its reputation if it is identified as an issuer which operates in, or has dealings with, such countries. A Fund, as an investor in such issuers, will be indirectly subject to those risks.

Risk of Investing in Argentina. Investments in Argentinian issuers and companies that have significant linkage to and/or economic exposure to Argentina involve risks that are specific to Argentina, including legal, regulatory, political and economic risks. Argentina has experienced high interest rates, economic volatility, inflation, currency devaluations, political instability and high unemployment rates. The Argentinian economy depends heavily on commodity exports, making it vulnerable to commodity prices. Argentina’s key trading and foreign investment partners are Brazil, China and the United States. Reduction in spending on Argentinian products and services, changes to the economies of its trading partners, trade regulations or currency exchange rates may adversely affect the Argentinian economy.

Argentina has experienced a high level of debt and public spending. Argentina defaulted on its debt in 2001 and nationalized private pensions in 2008. In 2014, minority bondholders of Argentina’s previously defaulted debt sought, and won, an injunction that prohibited Argentina from repaying bonds that had been renegotiated, unless they simultaneously paid the holdout minority bondholders their full amount due as well. As a result, the Argentinian government, in 2014, subsequently entered a technical default on its debt. In 2016, after a series of court appeals and negotiations, the government and minority bondholders entered into a settlement to resolve the dispute. Further defaults and related actions by Argentina may continue to impact the confidence of investors in Argentina, which could limit the government’s ability to borrow in the future.

Argentina has experienced periods of significant political instability and certain sectors and regions of Argentina experience high unemployment, which may cause downturns in the Argentinian market and adversely impact investments in a Fund. Heavy regulation of labor and product markets is pervasive in Argentina and may stifle Argentinian economic growth or contribute to prolonged periods of recession. For example, in 2012, Argentina’s government made the decision to nationalize YPF S.A., the country’s largest energy company.

In addition, Argentina has previously imposed capital controls that affected the inflow and repatriation of capital and the free transfer of securities. Such capital controls, if reinstituted, could disrupt the creation/redemption process, which could affect the trading of Fund shares, resulting in Fund shares trading at a price that is materially different from NAV.

securities markets. Indonesia and the Philippines have each experienced violence and terrorism, which has negatively impacted their economies. North Korea and South Korea each have substantial military capabilities, and historical tensions between the two countries present the risk of war; in the recent past, these tensions have escalated. Any outbreak of hostilities between the two countries could have a severe adverse effect on the South Korean economy and securities market. Political, religious, and border disputes persist in India. India has recently experienced and may continue to experience civil unrest and hostilities with certain of its neighboring countries. Increased political and social unrest in these geographic areas could adversely affect the performance of investments in this region.

Risk of Investing in Australasia. The economies of Australasia, which include Australia and New Zealand, are dependent on exports from the agricultural and mining sectors. This makes Australasian economies susceptible to fluctuations in the commodity markets. Australasian economies are also increasingly dependent on their growing service industries. Australia and New Zealand are located in a part of the world that has historically been prone to natural disasters, such as drought and flooding. Any such event in the future could have a significant adverse impact on the economies of Australia and New Zealand and affect the value of securities held by a relevant Fund. The economies of Australia and New Zealand are dependent on trading with certain key trading partners, including Asia, Europe and the U.S. The Australia–U.S. Free Trade Agreement has significantly expanded the trading relationship between the United States and Australia. Economic events in the United States, Asia, or in other key trading countries can have a significant economic effect on the Australian economy. The economies of Australia and New Zealand are heavily dependent on the mining sector. Passage of new regulations limiting foreign ownership of companies in the mining sector or imposition of new taxes on profits of mining companies may dissuade foreign investment, and as a result, have a negative impact on companies to which a Fund has exposure.

Risk of Investing in Brazil. Investment in securities of companies domiciled in Brazil involves a high degree of risk and special considerations not typically associated with investing in the U.S. securities markets. Such heightened risks include, among others, a high level of price volatility in the Brazilian equity and currency markets, chronic structural public sector deficits, a rising unemployment rate and disparities of wealth.

Brazil has historically experienced high rates of inflation and may continue to do so in the future. An increase in prices for commodities, the depreciation of the Brazilian currency (the real) and potential future governmental measures seeking to maintain the value of the real in relation to the U.S. dollar, may trigger increases in inflation in Brazil and may slow the rate of growth of the Brazilian economy. Inflationary pressures also may limit the ability of certain Brazilian issuers to access foreign financial markets and may lead to further government intervention in the economy, including the introduction of government policies that may adversely affect the overall performance of the Brazilian economy, which in turn could adversely affect a Fund's investments.

The Brazilian government has exercised, and continues to exercise, significant influence over the Brazilian economy, which may have significant effects on Brazilian companies and on market conditions and prices of Brazilian securities. The Brazilian economy has been characterized by frequent, and occasionally drastic, intervention by the Brazilian government. The Brazilian government has often changed monetary, taxation, credit, tariff and other policies to influence the core of Brazil’s economy. The Brazilian government’s actions to control inflation and affect other economic policies have involved, among others, the

setting of wage and price controls, blocking access to bank accounts, fluctuation of the base interest rates, imposing exchange controls and limiting imports into Brazil. In the past, the Brazilian government has maintained domestic price controls, and no assurances can be given that price controls will not be re-imposed in the future.

Investments in Brazilian securities may be subject to certain restrictions on foreign investment. Brazilian law provides that whenever a serious imbalance in Brazil’s balance of payments exists or is anticipated, the Brazilian government may impose temporary restrictions on the remittance to foreign investors of the proceeds of their investment in Brazil and on the conversion of Brazilian currency into foreign currency. The likelihood of such restrictions may be affected by the extent of Brazil’s foreign currency reserves, the size of Brazil’s debt service burden relative to the economy as a whole, and political constraints to which Brazil may be subject. There can be no assurance that the Brazilian government will not impose restrictions or restrictive exchange control policies in the future, which could have the effect of preventing or restricting access to foreign currency.

The market for Brazilian securities is directly influenced by the flow of international capital, and economic and market conditions of certain countries, especially other emerging market countries in Central and South America. Adverse economic conditions or developments in other emerging market countries have at times significantly affected the availability of credit in the Brazilian economy and resulted in considerable outflows of funds and declines in the amount of foreign currency invested in Brazil. Crises in neighboring emerging market countries also may increase investors’ risk aversion, which may adversely impact the market value of the securities issued by Brazilian companies, including securities in which a Fund may invest.

The governments of certain countries in Central and South America may exercise substantial influence over many aspects of the private sector and may own or control many companies. Future government actions could have a significant effect on the economic conditions in such countries, which could have a negative impact on the securities in which a Fund invests. Diplomatic developments may also adversely affect investments in certain countries in Central and South America. Some countries in Central and South America may be affected by public corruption and crime, including organized crime.

Certain countries in Central and South America may be heavily dependent upon international trade and, consequently, have been and may continue to be negatively affected by trade barriers, exchange controls, managed adjustments in relative currency values and other protectionist measures imposed or negotiated by the countries with which they trade. These countries also have been and may continue to be adversely affected by economic conditions in the countries with which they trade. In addition, certain issuers located in countries in Central and South America in which a Fund invests may have dealings with countries subject to sanctions and/or embargoes imposed by the U.S. government and the United Nations and/or countries identified by the U.S. government as state sponsors of terrorism. An issuer may sustain damage to its reputation if it is identified as an issuer that has dealings with such countries. A Fund may be adversely affected if it invests in such issuers.

Risk of Investing in A-shares through Stock Connect.

The iShares MSCI China ETF and iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF may invest in A-shares through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect (“Shanghai Connect”) or the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect program (“Shenzhen Connect,” and together with Shanghai Connect, “Stock Connect”). Stock Connect is a securities trading and clearing program with an aim to achieve mutual stock market access between the PRC and Hong Kong. Stock Connect was developed by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, the SSE (in the case of Shanghai Connect) or the SZSE (in the case of Shenzhen Connect), and China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation Limited (“CSDCC”). Under Stock Connect, a Fund’s trading of eligible A-shares listed on the SSE or the SZSE, as applicable, would be effectuated through its Hong Kong brokers. Investing in A-shares through Stock Connect is subject to trading, clearance, settlement and other procedures, which could pose risks to a Fund.

Market participants are able to participate in Stock Connect subject to meeting certain information technology capability, risk management and other requirements as may be specified by the relevant exchange and/or clearing house. Further, the “connectivity” in Stock Connect requires the routing of orders across the borders of Hong Kong and the PRC. This requires the development of new information technology systems on the part of the SEHK and exchange participants. There is no assurance that these systems will function properly or will continue to be adapted to changes and developments in both markets. In the event that the relevant systems fail to function properly, trading in A-shares through Stock Connect could be disrupted, and a Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective may be adversely affected.

A-Share Market Suspension Risk.

to credit rating downgrades and, as a result, impact, among other things, revenue growth for such companies. If financial companies experience a prolonged decline in revenue growth, certain developed countries that rely heavily on financial companies as an economic driver may experience a correlative slowdown. Recently, new concerns have emerged with respect to the economic health of certain developed countries. These concerns primarily stem from heavy indebtedness of many developed countries and their perceived inability to continue to service high debt loads without simultaneously implementing stringent austerity measures. Such concerns have led to tremendous downward pressure on the economies of these countries. As a result, it is possible that interest rates on debt of certain developed countries may rise to levels that make it difficult for such countries to service such debt. Spending on health care and retirement pensions in most developed countries has risen dramatically over the last few years. Medical innovation, extended life expectancy and higher public expectations are likely to continue the increase in health care and pension costs. Any increase in health care and pension costs will likely have a negative impact on the economic growth of many developed countries. Certain developed countries rely on imports of certain key items, such as crude oil, natural gas, and other commodities. As a result, an increase in demand for, or price fluctuations of, certain commodities may negatively affect developed country economies. Developed market countries generally are dependent on the economies of certain key trading partners. Changes in any one economy may cause an adverse impact on several developed countries. In addition, heavy regulation of, among others, labor and product markets may have an adverse effect on certain issuers. Such regulations may negatively affect economic growth or cause prolonged periods of recession. Such risks, among others, may adversely affect the value of a Fund’s investments.

developed countries. Although some emerging markets have become more established and tend to issue securities of higher credit quality, the markets for securities in other emerging market countries are in the earliest stages of their development, and these countries issue securities across the credit spectrum. Even the markets for relatively widely traded securities in emerging market countries may not be able to absorb, without price disruptions, a significant increase in trading volume or trades of a size customarily undertaken by institutional investors in the securities markets of developed countries. The limited size of many of these securities markets can cause prices to be erratic for reasons apart from factors that affect the soundness and competitiveness of the securities issuers. For example, prices may be unduly influenced by traders who control large positions in these markets. Additionally, market making and arbitrage activities are generally less extensive in such markets, which may contribute to increased volatility and reduced liquidity of such markets. The limited liquidity of emerging market country securities may also affect a Fund's ability to accurately value its portfolio securities or to acquire or dispose of securities at the price and time it wishes to do so or in order to meet redemption requests.

requires member countries to comply with restrictions on inflation rates, deficits, interest rates, debt levels and fiscal and monetary controls, each of which may significantly affect every country in Europe. Changes in imports or exports, changes in governmental or EU regulations on trade, changes in the exchange rate of the euro (the common currency of certain EU countries), the default or threat of default by an EU member country on its sovereign debt, and/or an economic recession in an EU member country may have a significant adverse effect on the economies of EU member countries and their trading partners, including some or all of the MSCI ACWI Index countries. Although certain European countries do not use the euro, many of these countries are obliged to meet the criteria for joining the euro zone. Consequently, these countries must comply with many of the restrictions noted above. The European financial markets have experienced volatility and adverse trends in recent years due to concerns about economic downturns, rising government debt levels and the possible default of government debt in several European countries, including, but not limited to, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Ukraine. In order to prevent further economic deterioration, certain countries, without prior warning, can institute “capital controls.” Countries may use these controls to restrict volatile movements of capital entering and exiting their country. Such controls may negatively affect a Fund’s investments. A default or debt restructuring by any European country would adversely impact holders of that country's debt and sellers of credit default swaps linked to that country's creditworthiness, which may be located in countries other than those listed above. In addition, the credit ratings of certain European countries were recently downgraded. These downgrades may result in further deterioration of investor confidence. These events have adversely affected the value and exchange rate of the euro and may continue to significantly affect the economies of every country in Europe, including countries that do not use the euro and non-EU member countries. Responses to the financial problems by European governments, central banks and others, including austerity measures and reforms, may not produce the desired results, may result in social unrest and may limit future growth and economic recovery or have other unintended consequences. Further defaults or restructurings by governments and other entities of their debt could have additional adverse effects on economies, financial markets and asset valuations around the world. In addition, one or more countries may abandon the euro and/or withdraw from the EU. The impact of these actions, especially if they occur in a disorderly fashion, is not clear but could be significant and far-reaching and could adversely impact the value of a Fund’s investments in the region. In a referendum held on June 23, 2016, the United Kingdom resolved to leave the EU. The referendum may introduce significant uncertainties and instability in the financial markets as the U.K. negotiates its exit from the EU. Secessionist movements, such as the Catalan movement in Spain, as well as governmental or other responses to such movements, may also create instability and uncertainty in the region. The occurrence of terrorist incidents throughout Europe also could impact financial markets. The impact of these events is not clear but could be significant and far-reaching and could adversely affect the value of a Fund.

Risk of Investing in Frontier Markets. Investments in frontier market countries, such as Argentina, may be subject to greater risks than investments in more developed countries. Frontier market countries are subject to similar risks as those of emerging market countries, but the risks are more pronounced in frontier market countries. These risks include: (i) less social, political, and economic stability; (ii) greater illiquidity and price volatility due to smaller or limited local capital markets for such securities, or low or non-existent trading volumes; (iii) foreign exchanges and broker-dealers may be subject to less scrutiny and regulation by local authorities; (iv) local governments may decide to seize or confiscate securities held by foreign investors and/or local governments may decide to suspend or limit an issuer’s ability to make dividend or interest payments; (v) local governments may limit or entirely restrict repatriation of invested capital, profits, and dividends; (vi) capital gains may be subject to local taxation, including on a retroactive basis; (vii) issuers facing restrictions on U.S. dollar or euro payments imposed by local governments may attempt to make dividend or interest payments to foreign investors in the local currency; (viii) investors may experience difficulty in enforcing legal claims related to the securities and/or local judges may favor the interests of the issuer over those of foreign investors; (ix) bankruptcy judgments may only be permitted to be paid in the local currency; (x) limited public information regarding the issuer may result in greater difficulty in determining market valuations of the securities; and (xi) lax financial reporting on a regular basis, substandard disclosure and differences in accounting standards may make it difficult to ascertain the financial health of an issuer.

Frontier market securities markets are typically marked by a high concentration of market capitalization and trading volume in a small number of issuers representing a limited number of industries, as well as a high concentration of ownership of such securities by a limited number of investors. In addition, brokerage and other costs associated with transactions in frontier securities markets can be higher, sometimes significantly, than similar costs incurred in securities markets in developed countries. The markets for securities in certain frontier countries are in the earliest stages of their development, and these countries issue securities across the credit spectrum. Even the markets for relatively widely traded securities in frontier countries may not be able to absorb, without price disruptions, a significant increase in trading volume or trades of a size customarily undertaken by institutional investors in the securities markets of developed countries. The limited size of

many of these securities markets can cause prices to be erratic for reasons apart from factors that affect the soundness and competitiveness of the securities issuers. For example, prices may be unduly influenced by traders who control large positions in these markets. Additionally, market making and arbitrage activities are generally less extensive in such markets, which may contribute to increased volatility and reduced liquidity of such markets. The limited liquidity of frontier country securities may also affect a Fund’s ability to accurately value its portfolio securities or to acquire or dispose of securities at the price and time it wishes to do so or in order to meet redemption requests.

Many frontier market countries suffer from uncertainty and corruption in their legal frameworks. Legislation may be difficult to interpret and laws may be too new to provide any precedential value. Laws regarding foreign investment and private property may be weak or non-existent. Sudden changes in governments may result in policies which are less favorable to investors such as policies designed to expropriate or nationalize “sovereign” assets. Certain frontier market countries in the past have expropriated large amounts of private property, in many cases with little or no compensation, and there can be no assurance that such expropriation will not occur in the future.

Foreign investment in the securities markets of certain frontier countries is restricted or controlled to varying degrees. These restrictions may limit a Fund’s investment in certain frontier countries and may increase the expenses of the Fund. Certain frontier countries require governmental approval prior to investments by foreign persons or limit investment by foreign persons to only a specified percentage of an issuer’s outstanding securities or a specific class of securities which may have less advantageous terms (including price) than securities of the company available for purchase by nationals.

Many frontier market countries lack the social, political, and economic stability characteristic of the U.S. and other developed countries. Political instability among frontier market countries can be common and may be caused by an uneven distribution of wealth, social unrest, labor strikes, civil wars, and religious oppression. Economic instability in frontier market countries may take the form of: (i) high interest rates; (ii) high levels of inflation, including hyperinflation; (iii) high levels of unemployment or underemployment; (iv) changes in government economic and tax policies, including confiscatory taxation; and (v) imposition of trade barriers.

A Fund’s income and, in some cases, capital gains from foreign securities will be subject to applicable taxation in certain of the frontier market countries in which it invests, and treaties between the U.S. and such countries may not be available in some cases to reduce the otherwise applicable tax rates.

Frontier markets also have different clearance and settlement procedures, and in certain of these frontier markets there have been times when settlements have been unable to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions, making it difficult to conduct such transactions.

In the past, governments within the frontier markets have become overly reliant on the international capital markets and other forms of foreign credit to finance large public spending programs, which in the past have caused huge budget deficits. Often, interest payments have become too overwhelming for a government to meet, representing a large percentage of total GDP. These foreign obligations have become the subject of political debate and served as fuel for political parties of the opposition, which pressure the government not to make payments to foreign creditors, but instead to use these funds for, among other things, social programs. Either due to an inability to pay or submission to political pressure, foreign governments have been forced to seek a restructuring of their loan and/or bond obligations, have declared a temporary suspension of interest payments or have defaulted. These events have adversely affected the values of securities issued by foreign governments and corporations domiciled in those countries and have negatively affected not only their cost of borrowing, but their ability to borrow in the future as well.

and other intermediaries in India may not perform as well as their counterparts in the United States or other, more developed countries. The limited liquidity of the Indian securities markets may also affect a Fund’s ability to acquire or dispose of securities at the price or time that it desires or the Fund’s ability to track its Underlying Index.

Global factors and foreign actions may inhibit the flow of foreign capital on which India is dependent to sustain its growth. In addition, the Reserve Bank of India has imposed limits on foreign ownership of Indian companies, which may decrease the liquidity of a Fund’s portfolio and result in extreme volatility in the prices of Indian securities. In November 2016, the Indian government eliminated certain large denomination cash notes as legal tender, causing uncertainty in certain financial markets. These factors, coupled with the lack of extensive accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards and practices, as applicable in the U.S., may increase the risk of loss for a Fund.

Securities laws in India are relatively new and unsettled and, as a result, there is a risk of significant and unpredictable change in laws governing foreign investment, securities regulation, title to securities and shareholder rights. Foreign investors in particular may be adversely affected by new or amended laws and regulations. Certain Indian regulatory approvals, including approvals from the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the central government and the tax authorities (to the extent that tax benefits need to be utilized), may be required before a Fund can make investments in Indian companies. Capital gains from Indian securities may be subject to local taxation.

Fund may be required to invest initially through a local broker or other entity and then have the shares that were purchased re-registered in the name of a Fund. Re-registration in some instances may not be possible on a timely basis. This may result in a delay during which a Fund may be denied certain of its rights as an investor, including rights as to dividends or to be made aware of certain corporate actions. There also may be instances where a Fund places a purchase order but is subsequently informed, at the time of re-registration, that the permissible allocation of the investment to foreign investors has already been filled and, consequently, a Fund may not be able to invest in the relevant company.

Risk of Investing in Peru. Investment in securities of Peruvian issuers involves risks not typically associated with investments in securities of issuers in developed countries. Such heightened risks include, among others, less publicly available financial and other information, political instability and social unrest. In addition, Peru faces economic development problems, including heavy regulation of labor which may stifle economic growth, significant unemployment in certain regions and widespread underemployment.

The securities market of Peru is considered an emerging market characterized by a small number of listed companies and a secondary trading market with small trading volumes and limited participants. These factors and others limit the supply of securities available for investment by a Fund. This may affect the rate at which a Fund is able to invest in Peru, the purchase and sale prices for such securities and the timing of purchases and sales.

The Peruvian economy is heavily dependent on commodities markets. Peru is a major world producer of silver, zinc, copper, tin, lead and gold. Mineral exports generally account for the most significant portion of Peru's export revenue, and any changes in this sector could adversely impact the Peruvian economy. In addition, the agriculture and fisheries sectors

account for a large portion of Peruvian exports, and any changes in these sectors or fluctuations in the commodities markets could have an adverse impact on the Peruvian economy.

The Peruvian economy is dependent on the economies of other Central and South American countries, Europe, China, and the United States as key trading partners. Reduction in spending on Peruvian products and services by any of these trading partners or a downturn in any of these economies could adversely affect the Peruvian economy. Any change in the price or demand for Peruvian exports could adversely impact Peru’s economy. Peru’s economy may also be negatively affected if trade barriers, exchange controls or other protectionist measures are imposed or negotiated by the countries with which it trades.

Risk of Investing in Qatar. Qatar is highly reliant on income from the sale of oil and natural gas and trade with other countries involved in the sale of oil and natural gas, and its economy is therefore vulnerable to changes in foreign currency values and the market for oil and natural gas. As global demand for oil and natural gas fluctuates, Qatar may be significantly impacted. As a host to U.S. regional military operations, Qatar is susceptible to potential terrorist attacks. Qatar has periodically deployed troops to other Gulf Cooperation Council Countries to support their forces, which could lead to hostilities against Qatar. Political, economic and social unrest could adversely affect the Qatari economy and could decrease the value of the Fund’s investments.

Like most Middle Eastern governments, the federal government of Qatar exercises substantial influence over many aspects of the private sector. Although liberalization in the wider economy is underway, in many areas it has lagged significantly: restrictions on foreign ownership persist, and the government has an ownership stake in many key industries. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that Qatar is governed by a monarchic, emirate-type government. Governmental actions in the future could have a significant effect on economic conditions in Qatar, which could affect private sector companies and the Fund, as well as the value of securities in the Fund’s portfolio.

Qatar’s economy relies heavily on cheap, foreign labor, and changes in the availability of this labor supply could have an adverse effect on the economy. Allegations of human rights abuses against foreign laborers continue to surface and could affect relationships with key trading partners.

Although the political situation in Qatar is largely stable, there remains the possibility that instability in the larger Middle East region could adversely impact the economy of Qatar. Recent political instability and protests in North Africa and the Middle East have caused significant disruptions to many industries. Continued political and social unrest in these areas may negatively affect the value of your investment in the Fund.

Certain issuers located in Qatar may operate in, or have dealings with, countries subject to sanctions and/or embargoes imposed by the U.S. government and the United Nations and/or countries identified by the U.S. government as state sponsors of terrorism. As a result, an issuer may sustain damage to its reputation if it is identified as an issuer which operates in, or has dealings with, such countries. The Fund, as an investor in such issuers will be indirectly subject to those risks.

Risk of Investing in Saudi Arabia. The ability of foreign investors (such as the iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF) to invest in Saudi Arabian issuers is new and untested. Such ability could be restricted or revoked by the Saudi Arabian government at any time, and unforeseen risks could materialize due to foreign ownership in such securities. In addition, the Capital Market Authority (“CMA”) places investment limitations on the ownership of Saudi Arabian issuers by foreign investors, including a limitation on the Fund’s ownership of any single issuer listed on the Saudi Arabian Stock Exchange, which may prevent the Fund from investing in accordance with its strategy and contribute to tracking error against the Underlying Index. These restrictions may be changed or new restrictions, such as licensing requirements, special approvals or additional foreign taxes, may be instituted at any time. The Fund may not be able to obtain or maintain any such licenses or approvals and may not be able to buy and sell securities at full value. Major disruptions or regulatory changes could occur in the Saudi Arabian market, any of which could negatively impact the Fund. These risks may be exacerbated, compared to more developed markets, given the limited history of foreign investment in the Saudi Arabian market. Saudi Arabia is highly reliant on income from the sale of petroleum and trade with other countries involved in the sale of petroleum, and its economy is therefore vulnerable to changes in foreign currency values and the market for petroleum. As global demand for petroleum fluctuates, Saudi Arabia may be significantly impacted.

Like most Middle Eastern governments, the government of Saudi Arabia exercises substantial influence over many aspects of the private sector. Although liberalization in the wider economy is underway, in many areas it has lagged significantly: restrictions on foreign ownership persists, and the government has an ownership stake in many key industries. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that Saudi Arabia is governed by an absolute monarchy. Governmental actions in the future could

have a significant effect on economic conditions in Saudi Arabia, which could affect private sector companies and the Fund, as well as the value of securities in the Fund’s portfolio. In addition, Saudi Arabia’s economy relies heavily on cheap, foreign labor, and changes in the availability of this labor supply could have an adverse effect on the economy.

The securities markets in Saudi Arabia may not be as developed as those in other countries. As a result, securities markets in Saudi Arabia are subject to greater risks associated with market volatility, lower market capitalization, lower trading volume, illiquidity, inflation, greater price fluctuations, uncertainty regarding the existence of trading markets, governmental control and heavy regulation of labor and industry. Shares of certain Saudi Arabian companies tend to trade less frequently than those of companies on exchanges in more developed markets. Such infrequent trading may adversely affect the pricing of these securities and the Fund’s ability to sell these securities in the future. Current regulations in Saudi Arabian markets may require the Fund to execute trades of securities through a single broker. As a result, the Adviser will have less flexibility to choose among brokers on behalf of the Fund than is typically the case for investment managers.

Although the political situation in Saudi Arabia is largely stable, there remains the possibility that the stability will not hold in the future or that instability in the larger Middle East region could adversely impact the economy of Saudi Arabia. Instability may be caused by military developments, government interventions in the marketplace, terrorism, extremist attitudes, attempted social or political reforms, religious differences, or other factors. Additionally, anti-Western views held by certain groups in the Middle East may influence government policies regarding foreign investment. Further developments in U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia and other Middle-Eastern countries may affect these attitudes and policies. Recent political instability and protests in North Africa and the Middle East have caused significant disruptions to many industries. Continued political and social unrest in these areas may negatively affect the value of securities in the Fund’s portfolio.

Certain issuers located in Saudi Arabia may operate in, or have dealings with, countries subject to sanctions and/or embargoes imposed by the U.S. government and the United Nations and/or countries identified by the U.S. government as state sponsors of terrorism. As a result, an issuer may sustain damage to its reputation if it is identified as an issuer which operates in, or has dealings with, such countries. The Fund, as an investor in such issuers will be indirectly subject to those risks.

Risk of Investing in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”). The UAE economy is dominated by petroleum export. The non-oil economy, concentrated in Dubai’s service sector, notably in tourism, real estate, banking and re-export trade, has grown rapidly over the past several years. However, as the recent global credit crisis and the corresponding fallout in Dubai’s service sector have shown, the UAE economy remains anchored by Abu Dhabi’s oil production. A sustained decrease in commodity prices could have a significant negative impact on all aspects of the UAE economy.

Like most Middle Eastern governments, the federal government of the UAE and the governments of the individual emirates exercise substantial influence over many aspects of the private sector. Although free zones have played a crucial part in the growth of the UAE’s non-oil economy, liberalization in the wider economy has lagged: restrictions on foreign ownership persist, and the government has an ownership stake in many key industries. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the UAE is governed by an authoritarian government. Governmental actions in the future could have a significant effect on economic conditions in the UAE, which could affect private sector companies and the value of securities in the Fund’s portfolio.

Although the political situation in the UAE is largely stable, instability in the larger Middle East region could adversely impact the economy of the UAE. Recent political instability and protests in North Africa and the Middle East have caused significant disruptions to many industries. Continued political and social unrest in these areas may negatively affect the value of the Fund.

Certain issuers located in the UAE may operate in, or have dealings with, countries subject to sanctions and/or embargoes imposed by the U.S. government and the United Nations and/or countries identified by the U.S. government as state sponsors of terrorism. As a result, an issuer may sustain damage to its reputation if it is identified as an issuer which operates in, or has dealings with, such countries. The Fund, as an investor in such issuers will be indirectly subject to those risks.

Risk of Investing in the United States. Decreasing imports or exports, changes in trade regulations and/or an economic recession in the U.S. may have a material adverse effect on the U.S. economy and the securities listed on U.S. exchanges. Policy and legislative changes in the U.S. are changing many aspects of financial and other regulation and may have a significant effect on the U.S. markets generally, as well as on the value of certain securities. In addition, a continued rise in the U.S. public debt level or U.S. austerity measures may adversely affect U.S. economic growth and the securities to which a Fund has exposure.

Risk of Investing in the Capital Goods Industry. Companies in the capital goods industry may be affected by fluctuations in the business cycle and by other factors affecting manufacturing demands. Companies in the capital goods industry depends heavily on corporate spending. Companies in the capital goods industry may perform well during times of economic expansion, and as economic conditions worsen, the demand for capital goods may decrease due to weakening demand, worsening business cash flows, tighter credit controls and deteriorating profitability. During times of economic volatility, corporate spending may fall and adversely affect the capital goods industry. This industry may also be affected by changes in interest rates, corporate tax rates and other government policies. Many capital goods are sold internationally and such companies are subject to market conditions in other countries and regions.

Risk of Investing in the Consumer Staples Sector. Companies in the consumer staples sector may be adversely affected by changes in the global economy, consumer spending, competition, demographics and consumer preferences, and production spending. Companies in the consumer staples sector may also be affected by changes in global economic, environmental and political events, economic conditions, the depletion of resources, and government regulation. For instance, government regulations may affect the permissibility of using various food additives and production methods of companies that make food products, which could affect company profitability. In addition, tobacco companies may be adversely affected by the adoption of proposed legislation and/or by litigation. Companies in the consumer staples sector also may be subject to risks pertaining to the supply of, demand for and prices of raw materials. The prices of raw materials fluctuate in response to a number of factors, including, without limitation, changes in government agricultural support programs, exchange rates, import and export controls, changes in international agricultural and trading policies, and seasonal and weather conditions. Companies in the consumer staples sector may be subject to severe competition, which may also have an adverse impact on their profitability.

Most financial companies are subject to extensive governmental regulation, which limits their activities and may affect their ability to earn a profit from a given line of business. Government regulation may change frequently and may have significant adverse consequences for companies in the financials sector, including effects not intended by the regulation. Direct governmental intervention in the operations of financial companies and financial markets may materially and adversely affect the companies in which a Fund invests, including legislation in many countries that may increase government regulation, repatriation and other intervention. The impact of governmental intervention and legislative changes on any individual financial company or on the financials sector as a whole cannot be predicted. The valuation of financial companies has been and continues to be subject to unprecedented volatility and may be influenced by unpredictable factors, including interest rate risk and sovereign debt default. Certain financial businesses are subject to intense competitive pressures, including market share and price competition. Financial companies in foreign countries are subject to market specific and general regulatory and interest rate concerns. In particular, government regulation in certain foreign countries may include taxes and controls on interest rates, credit availability, minimum capital requirements, bans on short sales, limits on prices and restrictions on currency transfers. In addition, companies in the financials sector may be the targets of hacking and potential theft of proprietary or customer information or disruptions in service, which could have a material adverse effect on their businesses.

Risk of Investing in the Materials Sector. Companies in the materials sector may be adversely affected by commodity price volatility, exchange rates, import controls, increased competition, depletion of resources, technical progress, labor relations and government regulations, and mandated expenditures for safety and pollution control, among other factors. Companies in the materials sector are also at risk of liability for environmental damage and product liability claims. Production of materials may exceed demand as a result of market imbalances or economic downturns, leading to poor investment returns. These risks are heightened for companies in the materials sector located in foreign markets.

Parallel proceedings, such as bankruptcy, may also delay resolution and limit the amount of recovery on a foreclosed loan by a Real Estate Company even where the property underlying the loan is liquidated.

Underlying Investment Risk. Real Estate Companies make investments in a variety of debt and equity instruments with varying risk profiles. For instance, Real Estate Companies may invest in debt instruments secured by commercial property that have high risks of delinquency and foreclosure than loans on single family homes due to a variety of factors associated with commercial property, including the tie between income available to service debt and productive use of the property. Real Estate Companies may also invest in debt instruments and preferred equity that are junior in an issuer’s capital structure and that involve privately negotiated structures. Subordinated debt investments, such as B-Notes and mezzanine loans, involve a greater credit risk of default due to the need to service more senior debt of the issuer. Similarly, preferred equity investments involve a greater risk of loss than conventional debt financing due to their non-collateralized nature and subordinated ranking. Investments in commercial mortgage-backed securities may also be junior in priority in the event of bankruptcy or similar proceedings. Investments in senior loans may be effectively subordinated if the senior loan is pledged as collateral. The ability of a holder of junior claims to proceed against a defaulting issuer is circumscribed by the terms of the particular contractual arrangement, which vary considerably from transaction to transaction.

types held by a U.S. REIT may force certain Real Estate Companies to liquidate or restructure otherwise attractive investments. Some countries may not recognize REITs or comparable structures as a viable form of real estate funds.

There are substantial differences among the regulatory practices and policies of various jurisdictions, and any regulatory agency may make major shifts in policy from time to time. There is no assurance that regulatory authorities will, in the future, grant rate increases. Additionally, existing and possible future regulatory legislation may make it even more difficult for utilities to obtain adequate relief. Certain of the issuers of securities held in a Fund's portfolio may own or operate nuclear generating facilities. Governmental authorities may from time to time review existing policies and impose additional requirements governing the licensing, construction and operation of nuclear power plants. Prolonged changes in climate conditions can also have a significant impact on both the revenues of an electric and gas utility as well as the expenses of a utility, particularly a hydro-based electric utility.

be forced to defend their core business and may be less profitable. Deregulation may also permit a utility company to expand outside of its traditional lines of business and engage in riskier ventures.

Saudi Arabia Broker Risk. There are a number of different ways of conducting transactions in the Saudi Arabian market. The iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF generally expects to conduct its transactions in a manner in which the Fund would not be limited by Saudi Arabian regulations to a single broker. However, there may be a limited number of brokers who can provide services to the Fund, which may have an adverse impact on the prices, quantity and timing of Fund transactions. The limited number of brokers may impact the Fund’s ability to achieve best execution on securities transactions. In addition, the limited number of brokers available to the Fund may make the Fund more susceptible to credit loss or trading disruptions in the event of a default or business disruption by one or more of the available brokers. Should the Fund’s ability to use one or more brokers be affected for any reason, this could disrupt the operations of the Fund and affect the ability of the Fund to track the Underlying Index and/or cause the Fund’s shares to trade at a premium or discount to NAV. The Fund may also incur losses due to the acts or omissions of its brokers in the execution or settlement of any transaction or in the transfer of any funds or securities.

Special Risk Considerations Relating to the QFI Regime and Investments in Saudi Arabian Equities. The iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF’s ability to achieve its investment objective depends on the ability of BFA as a foreign investor registered with the CMA as a Qualified Foreign Investor (“QFI”), and the Fund as a client of a QFI who has been approved by the CMA (a “QFI Client”), to maintain their respective authorizations from the CMA, and thereby allow the Fund to invest in the constituent securities of the Underlying Index. A failure to maintain such authorization could limit the Fund’s ability to gain exposure to the securities of the Underlying Index and could increase the cost to the Fund of gaining such exposure. Even with QFI Client status, the Fund will not have an exclusive investment quota and will be subject to foreign investment limitations and other regulations imposed by the CMA on QFIs and QFI Clients (individually and in the aggregate), as well as local market participants. If such limitations are reached or other market factors impact the Fund’s ability to invest in securities of the Underlying Index or otherwise meet investor demand for Fund shares, BFA may invest a portion of the Fund’s assets in securities not included in the Underlying Index or in derivatives, which may increase the Fund’s tracking error. If the Fund is unable to invest in a manner consistent with its investment objective and tracking risk tolerance, BFA may reject new creation orders for Fund shares. Rejection of new creation orders could cause the Fund’s shares to trade in the secondary market at a higher than usual premium or discount to NAV. QFI regulations and local market infrastructure are relatively new and have not been tested through multiple business cycles or market events, and the CMA may discontinue the QFI regime and other avenues for foreign investment in Saudi Arabian equities at any time, or impose additional barriers or restrictions on foreign investment. Any change in the QFI system generally, including the possibility of BFA or the Fund losing their respective QFI and QFI Client status, may affect the Fund’s ability to invest in securities of the Underlying Index.

Proxy Voting Policy

For all Funds other than the iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF (the “Sustainable Fund”) and iShares MSCI Peru ETF, the Board has delegated the voting of proxies for each Fund’s securities to BFA pursuant to the Funds' Proxy Voting Policy (the “iShares ETFs Proxy Voting Policy”), and BlackRock has adopted policies and procedures (the “BlackRock Proxy Voting Policies”) governing proxy voting by accounts managed by BlackRock, including the Funds. For the Sustainable Fund, the Board has delegated the voting of proxies for the Sustainable Fund’s securities to BFA pursuant to the Sustainable Fund’s Proxy Voting Policy (the “iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy”), and BlackRock has adopted the BlackRock Proxy Voting Policies and supplemental guidelines applicable to environmental and social issues investing (the “Supplemental BlackRock Sustainable Proxy Voting Guidelines”) governing proxy voting by the iShares sustainable ETFs managed by BlackRock, including the Sustainable Fund.

shareholder. In certain instances, BFA may determine to engage an independent fiduciary to vote proxies as a further safeguard to avoid potential conflicts of interest or as otherwise required by applicable law.

The iShares MSCI Peru ETF:

The Trust has adopted, as its proxy voting policies for the iShares MSCI Peru ETF, the proxy voting guidelines of Governance for Owners LLP (“Governance for Owners”). The Trust has delegated to Governance for Owners the responsibility for making voting determinations with respect to the portfolio securities held by the Fund, and the Fund (acting through its relevant service providers) votes proxies on the portfolio securities in accordance with those voting determinations. The remainder of this section discusses the Fund’s proxy voting guidelines and Governance for Owners’ role in implementing such guidelines.

Pursuant to a consulting services agreement with the Trust, Governance for Owners makes voting determinations for the Fund in a manner that Governance for Owners, in the exercise of its independent business judgment, concludes is in the best economic interests of the Fund. In some cases, the Fund may determine that it is in its best economic interests to refrain from exercising its proxy voting rights (such as, for example, proxies on certain non-U.S. securities that might impose costly or time-consuming in-person voting requirements). With regard to the relationship between securities lending and proxy voting, the Fund’s approach is also driven by shareholders’ economic interests. The evaluation of the economic desirability of recalling loans involves balancing the revenue-producing value of loans against the likely economic value of casting votes. Based on our evaluation of this relationship, we believe that the likely economic value of casting a vote generally is less than the securities lending income, either because the votes will not have significant economic consequences or because the outcome of the vote would not be affected by the Fund recalling loaned securities in order to ensure they are voted. Periodically, the Fund analyzes the process and benefits of voting proxies for securities on loan, and will consider whether any modifications of its proxy voting policies or procedures are necessary in light of any regulatory changes. Governance for Owners periodically reviews its proxy voting guidelines and will consider whether any modifications of the guidelines are necessary in light of any regulatory changes. Governance for Owners will normally make voting determinations on specific proxy issues in accordance with its proxy voting guidelines. Governance for Owners’ proxy voting guidelines provide guidance as to how to vote proxies on certain important or commonly raised issues. Governance for Owners makes voting determinations without regard to the relationship of the issuer of the proxy (or any shareholder of such issuer) to the Fund, the Fund’s affiliates (if any), Governance for Owners or Governance for Owners’ affiliates, BFA or BFA’s affiliates, or the Distributor or the Distributor’s affiliates. When voting proxies, the Fund attempts to encourage issuers to follow practices that enhance shareholder value and increase transparency and allow the market to place a proper value on their assets. With respect to certain specific issues:

•	Governance for Owners normally makes voting determinations in favor of the re-election of directors, except where there are strong concerns that a lack of independent directors has resulted in decisions or outcomes that were detrimental to minority shareholders;
•	Governance for Owners would normally determine to withhold votes or vote against such resolutions generic matters (such as, “any other business”) depending on their overall assessment of the board and its past actions;
•	Governance for Owners would normally determine to vote in favor of amendments to corporate charter documents but would determine to withhold votes or vote against such proposals where the proposed changes weakened minority shareholder rights or were otherwise detrimental to the interests of minority shareholders; and

•	Governance for Owners assesses proposals related to significant acquisitions or divestments on a case-by-case bases, taking into account the merits of the proposed transaction and its likely benefit for all shareholders.

BFA maintains institutional policies and procedures that are designed to prevent any relationship between the issuer of the proxy (or any shareholder of the issuer) and the Fund, the Fund’s affiliates (if any), BFA or BFA’s affiliates (if any) or the Distributor or the Distributor’s affiliates, from having undue influence on the Fund’s proxy voting activity.

Portfolio Holdings Information

Daily access to information concerning the Funds' portfolio holdings is permitted: (i) to certain personnel of those service providers that are involved in portfolio management and providing administrative, operational, risk management, or other support to portfolio management; and (ii) to other personnel of BFA, the Distributor and their affiliates, and the administrator, custodian and fund accountant who deal directly with, or assist in, functions related to investment management, distribution, administration, custody, securities lending and fund accounting, as may be necessary to conduct business in the ordinary course in a manner consistent with federal securities laws and regulations thereunder. In addition, each Fund discloses its fixed-income and/or equity portfolio holdings daily at www.iShares.com. More information about this disclosure is available at www.iShares.com.

discussed above, in advance of required filings with the SEC, provided that such information is made generally available to all shareholders and other interested parties in a manner that is consistent with the above policy for disclosure of portfolio holdings information. Such information may be made available through a publicly available website or other means that make the information available to all likely interested parties contemporaneously.

The Board reviews the policy and procedures for disclosure of portfolio holdings information at least annually.

Construction and Maintenance of the Underlying Indexes

Descriptions of the Underlying Indexes are provided below.

The MSCI Indexes

•	MSCI Global Standard Indexes cover all investable large- and mid-cap securities by including the largest issuers comprising approximately 85% of each market's free float-adjusted market capitalization.
•	MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes provide coverage of companies with a market capitalization below that of the companies in the MSCI Global Standard Indexes.

MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes

Determining Market Capitalization Size Segments for Each Market. In each market, MSCI creates an Investable Market Index, Standard Index, Large Cap Index, Mid Cap Index and Small Cap Index. The MSCI Global Standard Index is the aggregation of the Large Cap Index and Mid Cap Index. The MSCI GIMI are the aggregation of the MSCI Global Standard Index and MSCI Global Small Cap Index. In order to create size components that can be meaningfully aggregated into composites, individual market size segments balance the following two objectives:

•	Achieving global size integrity by ensuring that companies of comparable and relevant sizes are included in a given size segment across all markets in a composite index; and
•	Achieving consistent market coverage by ensuring that each market's size segment is represented in its proportional weight in the composite universe.

Weighting. All indexes of the MSCI GIMI are free float weighted, i.e., companies are included in the indexes at the value of their free public float (free float multiplied by security price).

Price and Exchange Rates

minimizing turnover in the indexes. Maintaining the MSCI indexes involves many aspects, including: (i) additions to, and deletions from, the indexes; (ii) changes in number of shares; and (iii) changes in inclusion factors as a result of updated free float estimates.

Index maintenance can be described by three broad categories of changes:

•	Semi-Annual Index Reviews (“SAIRs”), conducted on a fixed semi-annual timetable that systematically reassess the various dimensions of the equity universe for all markets;
•	Quarterly Index Reviews (“QIRs”), aimed at promptly reflecting other significant market events; and
•	Ongoing event-related changes, such as mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, bankruptcies, reorganizations and other similar corporate events, which generally are implemented in the indexes as they occur.

Potential changes in the status of countries (stand-alone, frontier, emerging and developed) follow their own implementation time tables.

MSCI 25/50 Indexes

MSCI ACWI Sustainable Impact Index

Number of Components: 90

Index Description. The MSCI ACWI Sustainable Impact Index is composed exclusively of companies whose core business addresses at least one of the world’s major social and environmental challenges, as defined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (“UN SDGs”). Examples of sustainable impact categories within the UN SDGs include nutritious food, treatment of major diseases, sanitary products, education, affordable housing, energy efficiency, green building, sustainable water, and pollution prevention. To be eligible for inclusion in the Underlying Index, companies must generate at least 50% of their annual sales from one or more of the sustainable impact categories and maintain minimum environmental, social and governance standards. The latest reported sustainable impact sales percentage data would be used for all quarterly index reviews.

MSCI All Argentina 25/50 Index

Number of Components: approximately 25

Index Description. The MSCI All Argentina 25/50 Index includes equity securities of companies (i) that are classified in Argentina according to the MSCI Global Investable Market Index Methodology, together with (ii) companies that are not classified in Argentina according to the MSCI Global Investable Market Index Methodology, but are either headquartered or

listed in Argentina and have significant linkage to Argentina (based on geographic distribution of any of the following criteria: company’s shareholder base, revenues, assets, management, employee base, history and country of incorporation), as defined by MSCI, or (iii) have economic exposure (based on the geographic distribution of a company’s revenues) greater than 10% to Argentina, as defined by MSCI, where the criteria outlined in (i) and (ii) do not result in a target number of securities and issuers. The Underlying Index targets a minimum of 25 securities and 20 issuers at construction. The index is designed to take into account the 25% and 50% concentration constraints required for a fund to qualify as a RIC in the United States. At each quarterly rebalance, no single index constituent may exceed 25% of the index weight, and the sum of all constituents with index weights greater than 5% may not exceed 50%.

MSCI All Peru Capped Index

Number of Components: approximately 25

Weighting. The MSCI All Peru Capped Index is an index in which, at each quarterly index review, the weight of any single group entity is capped at 22.5% and all group entities with a weight greater than 4.5% will have their weights capped such that, in the aggregate, these group entities do not have a weight greater than 45% of the Index.

Selection Criteria. The Underlying Index is an MSCI index designed to measure the performance of the “Broad Peru Equity Universe.” MSCI identifies the “Broad Peru Equity Universe” as securities of companies (i) that are classified in Peru according to the MSCI Global Investable Market Index Methodology (a methodology employed by MSCI to construct its GIMI, which classifies eligible securities according to their country of listing), together with (ii) companies that are not classified in Peru according to the MSCI Global Investable Market Index Methodology but are either headquartered or listed in Peru and have significant linkage to Peru, as defined by MSCI, or (iii) that have economic exposure greater than 10% to Peru, as defined by MSCI, where the criteria outlined in (i) and (ii) do not result in the target number of securities and issuers. MSCI's index construction process involves: (i) defining the equity universe and (ii) determining security selection.

(i) Defining the Equity Universe. MSCI begins by identifying Peruvian equity securities. Peruvian equity securities are defined as securities of companies (i) that are classified in Peru according to the MSCI Global Investable Market Index Methodology, together with (ii) companies that are not classified in Peru according to the MSCI Global Investable Market Index Methodology but are either headquartered or listed in Peru and have significant linkage to Peru, as defined by MSCI, or (iii) that have economic exposure greater than 10% to Peru, as defined by MSCI, where the criteria outlined in (i) and (ii) do not result in the target number of securities and issuers. All listed Peruvian equity securities, or listed Peruvian securities that exhibit characteristics of equity securities, except mutual funds, ETFs, equity derivatives, limited partnerships, and most investment trusts are eligible for inclusion in the Broad Peru Equity Universe.

(ii) Determining security selection. The securities of the Broad Peru Equity Universe are ranked by their decreasing free float-adjusted market capitalization. Some investability requirements are applied at the individual security level and some at the overall company level, represented by the aggregation of individual securities of the company. Only one security per issuer is considered. The top 25 securities are selected for inclusion in the initial Underlying Index according to the following rules:

1. If a company eligible for inclusion within the Underlying Index has more than one equity security outstanding, the security with the most liquidity, as defined by MSCI, will be included in the Underlying Index. If a company has two types of shares or more in the local market, the eligible security for inclusion is the one that has the most liquidity, as defined by MSCI to be measured by the Annualized Traded Value Ratio (ATVR).

2. If a company eligible for inclusion within the Underlying Index has a secondary listing in a foreign market or dual listing in addition to its local listing, the security with the most liquidity, as defined by MSCI, will be included in the Underlying Index.

3. If a company eligible for inclusion within the Underlying Index has an ADR or a GDR listing in a foreign market in addition to its local listing, the security with the most liquidity, as defined by MSCI, will be included in the Underlying Index.

MSCI All Qatar Capped Index

Number of Components: approximately 27

Index Description. The MSCI All Qatar Capped Index is designed to measure the equity market in Qatar. The Underlying Index consists of equity securities of companies (i) that are classified in Qatar according to the MSCI Global Investable Market Index Methodology, together with (ii) companies that are not classified in Qatar according to the MSCI Global Investable Market Index Methodology but are either headquartered or listed in Qatar and have significant linkage to Qatar, as defined by MSCI, or (iii) that have economic exposure greater than 10% to Qatar, as defined by MSCI, where the criteria outlined in (i) and (ii) do not result in the target number of securities and issuers.

The Underlying Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index with a capping methodology applied to issuer weights so that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the Underlying Index weight and all issuers with a weight above 5% do not, in the aggregate, exceed 50% of the Underlying Index weight.

MSCI All UAE Capped Index

Number of Components: approximately 30

Index Description. The MSCI All UAE Capped Index is designed to measure the equity market in the UAE. The Underlying Index consists of equity securities of companies (i) that are classified in the UAE according to the MSCI Global Investable Market Index Methodology, together with (ii) companies that are not classified in the UAE according to the MSCI Global Investable Market Index Methodology but are either headquartered or listed in the UAE and have significant linkage to the UAE, as defined by MSCI, or (iii) that have economic exposure greater than 10% to the UAE, as defined by MSCI, where the criteria outlined in (i) and (ii) do not result in the target number of securities and issuers.

MSCI Brazil Small Cap Index

Number of Components: approximately 61

Index Description. The MSCI Brazil Small Cap Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure the performance of equity securities in the bottom 14% by market capitalization of equity securities listed on stock exchanges in Brazil.

MSCI China Index

Number of Components: approximately 149

Index Description. The MSCI China Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure the performance of equity securities in the top 85% in market capitalization of Chinese equity securities markets, as represented by the H-shares (the securities of companies incorporated in the PRC that are denominated in Hong Kong dollars and listed on the SEHK) and B-shares (securities of companies incorporated in the PRC that are denominated in U.S. dollars (in the case of the SSE) or Hong Kong dollars (in the case of the SZSE) and listed on the SSE and the SZSE) markets. The Underlying Index also includes certain Hong Kong listed securities known as Red-Chips (issued by companies incorporated in certain foreign jurisdictions, which are controlled, directly or indirectly, by entities owned by the national government or local governments in the PRC and derive substantial revenues or allocate substantial assets in the PRC) and P-Chips (issued by companies incorporated in certain foreign jurisdictions, which are controlled, directly or indirectly, by individuals in the PRC and derive substantial revenues or allocate substantial assets in the PRC). Beginning on May 31, 2018, the Underlying Index will also include A-shares (securities of companies incorporated in the PRC that are denominated in renminbi and listed on the SSE and the SZSE).

MSCI China Small Cap Index

Number of Components: approximately 397

Index Description. The MSCI China Small Cap Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure the performance of equity securities in the bottom 14% by market capitalization of the Chinese equity securities market, as represented by the H-Share (i.e. securities of companies incorporated by the PRC that are denominated in Hong Kong dollars and listed on the Hong Kong Exchange) and B-Share (i.e. securities of companies incorporated in the PRC and listed for foreign investment on stock exchanges in the PRC) markets. The Underlying Index also includes certain Hong Kong-listed securities known as Red-Chips (issued by companies incorporated in certain foreign jurisdictions, which are controlled, directly or indirectly, by entities owned by the national government or local governments in the PRC and derive substantial revenues or allocate substantial assets in the PRC) and P-Chips (issued by companies incorporated in certain foreign jurisdictions, which are controlled, directly or indirectly, by individuals in the PRC and derive substantial revenues or allocate substantial assets in the PRC).

MSCI India Index

Number of Components: approximately 78

Index Description. The MSCI India Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure the performance of equity securities of companies whose market capitalization represents the top 85% of companies in the Indian securities market. Free-float market capitalization is calculated by taking the security's price and multiplying it by the number of shares readily available in the market rather than the total number of shares outstanding.

withheld at the rate applicable to non-resident institutional investors who do not benefit from double taxation treaties. Such withholding rates may differ from those applicable to U.S. residents.

MSCI India Small Cap Index

Number of Components: approximately 253

Index Description. The MSCI India Small Cap Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure the performance of equity securities of small capitalization companies whose market capitalization represents the bottom 14% of the companies in the Indian securities market. Free-float market capitalization is calculated by taking the security's price and multiplying it by the number of shares readily available in the market rather than the total number of shares outstanding.

MSCI Saudi Arabia IMI 25/50 Index

Number of Components: approximately 71

Index Description. The MSCI Saudi Arabia IMI 25/50 Index is designed to measure the performance of the large-, mid- and small-cap segments of the Saudi Arabia market. The Underlying Index incorporates foreign ownership limit restrictions. It also applies certain investment limits that are imposed on RICs under the current Internal Revenue Code. The Underlying Index covers approximately 99% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in Saudi Arabia.

Calculation Methodology. The MSCI 25/50 Indexes take into account the investment limits required of RICs under the current Internal Revenue Code. One requirement of a RIC is that at the end of each quarter of its tax year no more than 25% of the value of the RIC's assets may be invested in a single issuer and the sum of the weights of all issuers representing more than 5% of the fund should not exceed 50% of the fund’s total assets.

The MSCI 25/50 Index methodology aims to minimize index turnover, tracking error and extreme deviation from the parent index. The indexes are rebalanced quarterly. Changes resulting from each rebalancing are made as of the close of the last business day of February, May, August and November, coinciding with the quarterly index reviews of their parent indexes.

Additional Information. “MSCI,” MSCI ACWI Sustainable Impact Index, MSCI All Argentina 25/50 Index, MSCI All Peru Capped Index, MSCI All Qatar Capped Index, MSCI All UAE Capped Index, MSCI Brazil Small Cap Index, MSCI China Index, MSCI China Small Cap Index, MSCI India Index, MSCI India Small Cap Index and MSCI Saudi Arabia IMI 25/50 Index are servicemarks of MSCI Inc. and have been licensed for use for certain purposes by BFA or its affiliates. The Funds are neither sponsored, endorsed, sold nor promoted by MSCI Inc., and MSCI Inc. makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in any of the Funds.

Investment Restrictions

The Board has adopted as a non-fundamental policy the investment objective of each Fund. Therefore, each Fund may change its investment objective and its Underlying Index without shareholder approval. The Board has adopted as fundamental policies the following numbered investment restrictions, which cannot be changed without the approval of the holders of a majority of the applicable Fund’s outstanding voting securities. A vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of a Fund is defined in the 1940 Act as the lesser of (i) 67% or more of the voting securities present at a shareholder meeting, if the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund are present or represented by proxy, or (ii) more than 50% of outstanding voting securities of the Fund.

The iShares MSCI Peru ETF will not:

1.	Concentrate its investments (i.e., invest 25% or more of its total assets in the securities of a particular industry or group

	of industries), except that the Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that its Underlying Index concentrates in the securities of such particular industry or group of industries. 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.
2.	Borrow money, except that (i) the Fund may borrow from banks for temporary or emergency (not leveraging) purposes, including the meeting of redemption requests which might otherwise require the untimely disposition of securities, and (ii) the Fund may, to the extent consistent with its investment policies, enter into repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, forward roll transactions and similar investment strategies and techniques. To the extent that it engages in transactions described in (i) and (ii), the Fund will be limited so that no more than 33 1/3% of the value of its total assets (including the amount borrowed) is derived from such transactions. Any borrowings which come to exceed this amount will be reduced in accordance with applicable law.
3.	Issue any senior security, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as amended, and as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by any regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time.
4.	Make loans, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time.
5.	Purchase or sell real estate unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments (but this restriction shall not prevent the Fund from investing in securities of companies engaged in the real estate business or securities or other instruments backed by real estate or mortgages), or commodities or commodity contracts (but this restriction shall not prevent the Fund from trading in futures contracts and options on futures contracts, including options on currencies to the extent consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and policies).
6.	Engage in the business of underwriting securities issued by other persons, except to the extent that the Fund may technically be deemed to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act, in disposing of portfolio securities.
7.	The Fund will not acquire more than 24.9% of the outstanding securities of any portfolio issuer (determined at the time of acquisition).
8.	The Fund will abstain from voting the securities of a portfolio issuer on any matter, if the Fund's aggregate holdings of the securities of such portfolio issuer constitute in excess of 9.9% of the outstanding voting securities of such portfolio issuer at the time of the vote.
9.	The Fund will not make any investment for the purpose of exercising control or management of a portfolio issuer.

Each of the iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI China ETF, iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF will not:

1.	Concentrate its investments (i.e., invest 25% or more of its total assets in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries), except that each Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that its Underlying Index concentrates in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries. 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.
2.	Borrow money, except that (i) each Fund may borrow from banks for temporary or emergency (not leveraging) purposes, including the meeting of redemption requests which might otherwise require the untimely disposition of securities; and (ii) each Fund may, to the extent consistent with its investment policies, enter into repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, forward roll transactions and similar investment strategies and techniques. To the extent that it engages in transactions described in (i) and (ii), each Fund will be limited so that no more than 33 1/3% of the value of its total assets (including the amount borrowed) is derived from such transactions. Any borrowings which come to exceed this amount will be reduced in accordance with applicable law.
3.	Issue any senior security, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by any regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time.
4.	Make loans, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time.
5.	Purchase or sell real estate unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments (but this restriction shall not prevent each Fund from investing in securities of companies engaged in the real estate business or

	securities or other instruments backed by real estate or mortgages), or commodities or commodity contracts (but this restriction shall not prevent each Fund from trading in futures contracts and options on futures contracts, including options on currencies to the extent consistent with each Fund’s investment objective and policies).
6.	Engage in the business of underwriting securities issued by other persons, except to the extent that each Fund may technically be deemed to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act, in disposing of portfolio securities.

Each of the iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF , iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF, iShares MSCI Qatar ETF, iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF and iShares MSCI UAE ETF will not:

1.	Concentrate its investments in a particular industry, as that term is used in the Investment Company Act, except that the Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that its Underlying Index concentrates in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries.
2.	Borrow money, except as permitted under the Investment Company Act.
3.	Issue senior securities to the extent such issuance would violate the Investment Company Act.
4.	Purchase or hold real estate, except the Fund may purchase and hold securities or other instruments that are secured by, or linked to, real estate or interests therein, securities of REITs, mortgage-related securities and securities of issuers engaged in the real estate business, and the Fund may purchase and hold real estate as a result of the ownership of securities or other instruments.
5.	Underwrite securities issued by others, except to the extent that the sale of portfolio securities by the Fund may be deemed to be an underwriting or as otherwise permitted by applicable law.
6.	Purchase or sell commodities or commodity contracts, except as permitted by the Investment Company Act.
7.	Make loans to the extent prohibited by the Investment Company Act.

Notations Regarding each of the iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF, iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF, iShares MSCI Qatar ETF, iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF and iShares MSCI UAE ETF's Fundamental Investment Restrictions

The following notations are not considered to be part of each Fund's fundamental investment restrictions and are subject to change without shareholder approval.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to concentration set forth in (1) above, the Investment Company Act does not define what constitutes “concentration” in an industry. The SEC staff has taken the position that investment of 25% or more of a fund’s total assets in one or more issuers conducting their principal activities in the same industry or group of industries constitutes concentration. It is possible that interpretations of concentration could change in the future. The policy in (1) above will be interpreted to refer to concentration as that term may be interpreted from time to time. The policy also will be interpreted to permit investment without limit in the following: securities of the U.S. government and its agencies or instrumentalities; securities of state, territory, possession or municipal governments and their authorities, agencies, instrumentalities or political subdivisions; and repurchase agreements collateralized by any such obligations. Accordingly, issuers of the foregoing securities will not be considered to be members of any industry. There also will be no limit on investment in issuers domiciled in a single jurisdiction or country. Finance companies will be considered to be in the industries of their parents if their activities are primarily related to financing the activities of the parents. Each foreign government will be considered to be a member of a separate industry. With respect to a Fund's industry classifications, the Fund currently utilizes any one or more of the industry sub-classifications used by one or more widely recognized market indexes or rating group indexes, and/or as defined by Fund management. The policy also will be interpreted to give broad authority to a Fund as to how to classify issuers within or among industries.

bears to the aggregate amount of all borrowings. Borrowing money to increase portfolio holdings is known as “leveraging.” Certain trading practices and investments, such as reverse repurchase agreements, may be considered to be borrowings or involve leverage and thus are subject to the Investment Company Act restrictions. In accordance with SEC staff guidance and interpretations, when a Fund engages in such transactions, the Fund instead of maintaining asset coverage of at least 300%, may segregate or earmark liquid assets, or enter into an offsetting position, in an amount at least equal to the Fund’s exposure, on a mark-to-market basis, to the transaction (as calculated pursuant to requirements of the SEC). The policy in (2) above will be interpreted to permit each Fund to engage in trading practices and investments that may be considered to be borrowing or to involve leverage to the extent permitted by the Investment Company Act and to permit each Fund to segregate or earmark liquid assets or enter into offsetting positions in accordance with the Investment Company Act. Short-term credits necessary for the settlement of securities transactions and arrangements with respect to securities lending will not be considered to be borrowings under the policy. Practices and investments that may involve leverage but are not considered to be borrowings are not subject to the policy.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to underwriting set forth in (5) above, the Investment Company Act does not prohibit each Fund from engaging in the underwriting business or from underwriting the securities of other issuers; in fact, in the case of diversified funds, the Investment Company Act permits the Fund to have underwriting commitments of up to 25% of its assets under certain circumstances. Those circumstances currently are that the amount of each Fund's underwriting commitments, when added to the value of the Fund’s investments in issuers where each Fund owns more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of those issuers, cannot exceed the 25% cap. A fund engaging in transactions involving the acquisition or disposition of portfolio securities may be considered to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act. Although it is not believed that the application of the 1933 Act provisions described above would cause a Fund to be engaged in the business of underwriting, the policy in (5) above will be interpreted not to prevent the Fund from engaging in transactions involving the acquisition or disposition of portfolio securities, regardless of whether the Fund may be considered to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act or is otherwise engaged in the underwriting business to the extent permitted by applicable law.

Under its non-fundamental investment restrictions, which may be changed by the Board without shareholder approval, the iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF, iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF, iShares MSCI Qatar ETF, iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF and iShares MSCI UAE ETF may not:

Purchase securities of other investment companies, except to the extent permitted by the Investment Company Act. As a matter of policy, however, each Fund will not purchase shares of any registered open-end investment company or registered unit investment trust, in reliance on Section 12(d)(1)(F) or (G) (the “fund of funds” provisions) of the Investment Company Act, at any time each Fund has knowledge that its shares are purchased by another investment company investor in reliance on the provisions of subparagraph (G) of Section 12(d)(1).

Make short sales of securities or maintain a short position, except to the extent permitted by each Fund's Prospectus and SAI, as amended from time to time, and applicable law.

Unless otherwise indicated, all limitations under each Fund's fundamental or non-fundamental investment restrictions apply only at the time that a transaction is undertaken. Any change in the percentage of a Fund's assets invested in certain securities or other instruments resulting from market fluctuations or other changes in a Fund’s total assets will not require a Fund to dispose of an investment until BFA determines that it is practicable to sell or close out the investment without undue market or tax consequences.

In addition to the investment restrictions adopted as fundamental policies set forth above, the iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI China ETF, iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF have adopted a non-fundamental policy not to invest in the securities of a company for the purpose of exercising

management or control, or purchase or otherwise acquire any illiquid security, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, which currently permits up to 15% of each Fund’s net assets to be invested in illiquid securities (calculated at the time of investment).

BFA monitors the liquidity of restricted securities in each Fund's portfolio. In reaching liquidity decisions, BFA considers the following factors:

•	The frequency of trades and quotes for the security;
•	The number of dealers wishing to purchase or sell the security and the number of other potential purchasers;
•	Dealer undertakings to make a market in the security; and
•	The nature of the security and the nature of the marketplace in which it trades (e.g., the time needed to dispose of the security, the method of soliciting offers and the mechanics of transfer).

Each Fund has adopted a non-fundamental investment policy in accordance with Rule 35d-1 under the 1940 Act to invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the value of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in the component securities of its Underlying Index or in depositary receipts representing component securities in its Underlying Index. Each Fund also has adopted a policy to provide its shareholders with at least 60 days’ prior written notice of any change in such policy. If, subsequent to an investment, the 80% requirement is no longer met, a Fund’s future investments will be made in a manner that will bring the Fund into compliance with this policy.

Each Fund (except for the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF) has adopted a non-fundamental limitation such that, under normal market conditions, any borrowings by the Fund will not exceed 10% of the Fund's net assets.

Continuous Offering

Broker-dealer firms should also note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are effecting transactions in shares, whether or not participating in the distribution of shares, generally are required to deliver a prospectus. This is because the prospectus delivery exemption in Section 4(a)(3) of the 1933 Act is not available in respect of such transactions as a result of Section 24(d) of the 1940 Act. Firms that incur a prospectus delivery obligation with respect to shares of the Funds are reminded that, pursuant to Rule 153 under the 1933 Act, a prospectus delivery obligation under Section 5(b)(2) of the 1933 Act owed to an exchange member in connection with a sale on the Listing Exchange generally is satisfied by the fact that the

prospectus is available at the Listing Exchange upon request. The prospectus delivery mechanism provided in Rule 153 is available only with respect to transactions on an exchange.

Management

The registered investment companies advised by BFA or its affiliates (the “BlackRock-advised Funds”) are organized into one complex of closed-end funds, two complexes of open-end funds and one complex of ETFs (“Exchange-Traded Fund Complex”) (each, a “BlackRock Fund Complex”). Each Fund is included in the BlackRock Fund Complex referred to as the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex. Each Trustee also serves as a Director of iShares, Inc. and a Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust and, as a result, oversees a total of 347 funds within the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex. Drew E. Lawton, from October 2016 to June 2017, and Richard L. Fagnani, from April 2017 to June 2017, served as members of the advisory board (“Advisory Board,” members of which are “Advisory Board Members”) for the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust with respect to all funds within the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex. With the exception of Robert S. Kapito, Mark K. Wiedman, Charles Park, Martin Small and Benjamin Archibald, the address of each Trustee and officer is c/o BlackRock, Inc., 400 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. The address of Mr. Kapito, Mr. Wiedman, Mr. Park, Mr. Small and Mr. Archibald is c/o BlackRock, Inc., Park Avenue Plaza, 55 East 52^nd Street, New York, NY 10055. The Board has designated Cecilia H. Herbert as its Independent Board Chair. Additional information about the Funds' Trustees and officers may be found in this SAI, which is available without charge, upon request, by calling toll-free 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737).

Interested Trustees

Name (Age)	Position	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years	Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Robert S. Kapito¹ (60)	Trustee (since 2009).	President, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2006); Vice Chairman of BlackRock, Inc. and Head of BlackRock’s Portfolio Management Group (since its formation in 1998) and BlackRock, Inc.’s predecessor entities (since 1988); Trustee, University of Pennsylvania (since 2009); President of Board of Directors, Hope & Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund (since 2002).	Director of BlackRock, Inc. (since 2006); Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2009); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).
Mark K. Wiedman² (47)	Trustee (since 2013).	Senior Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2014); Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2007-2014); Global Head of BlackRock’s ETF and Index Investments Business (since 2016); Global Head of iShares (2011-2016); Head of Corporate Strategy, BlackRock, Inc. (2009-2011).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2013); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2013); Director of PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (since 2008).

¹	Robert S. Kapito is deemed to be an “interested person” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust due to his affiliations with BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates.
²	Mark K. Wiedman is deemed to be an “interested person” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust due to his affiliations with BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates.

Independent Trustees

Name (Age)	Position	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years	Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Cecilia H. Herbert (68)	Trustee (since 2005); Independent Board Chair (since 2016).	Trustee and Member of the Finance, Technology and Quality Committee of Stanford Health Care (since 2016); Trustee and Member of the Investment Committee, WNET, a New York public media company (since 2011); Chair (1994-2005) and Member (since 1992) of the Investment Committee, Archdiocese of San Francisco; Director (1998-2013) and President (2007-2011) of the Board of Directors, Catholic Charities CYO; Trustee (2002-2011) and Chair of the Finance and Investment Committee (2006-2010) of the Thacher School.	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011); Independent Board Chair of iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2016); Trustee of Forward Funds (14 portfolios) (since 2009); Trustee of Salient MF Trust (4 portfolios) (since 2015).
Jane D. Carlin (61)	Trustee (since 2015); Risk Committee Chair (since 2016).	Consultant (since 2012); Managing Director and Global Head of Financial Holding Company Governance & Assurance and the Global Head of Operational Risk Management of Morgan Stanley (2006-2012).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2015); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2015); Director of PHH Corporation (mortgage solutions) (since 2012); Director of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (since 2016).
Richard L. Fagnani (63)	Trustee (since 2017); Equity Plus Committee Chair (since 2017).	Partner, KPMG LLP (2002-2016).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2017); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2017).
Charles A. Hurty (74)	Trustee (since 2005); Audit Committee Chair (since 2006).	Retired; Partner, KPMG LLP (1968-2001).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011); Director of SkyBridge Alternative Investments Multi-Adviser Hedge Fund Portfolios LLC (2 portfolios) (since 2002).
John E. Kerrigan (62)	Trustee (since 2005); Securities Lending Committee Chair (since 2016).	Chief Investment Officer, Santa Clara University (since 2002).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).
Drew E. Lawton (58)	Trustee (since 2017); 15(c) Committee Chair (since 2017).	Senior Managing Director of New York Life Insurance Company (2010-2015).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2017); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2017).
John E. Martinez (56)	Trustee (since 2003); Fixed Income Plus Committee Chair (since 2016).	Director of Real Estate Equity Exchange, Inc. (since 2005).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2003); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).

Name (Age)		Position		Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years		Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Madhav V. Rajan (53)		Trustee (since 2011); Nominating and Governance Committee Chair (since 2017).		Dean, and George Pratt Shultz Professor of Accounting, University of Chicago Booth School of Business (since 2017); Robert K. Jaedicke Professor of Accounting, Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2001-2017); Professor of Law (by courtesy), Stanford Law School (2005-2017); Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Head of MBA Program, Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2010-2016).		Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2011); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011); Director, Cavium, Inc. (since 2013).

Officers

Name (Age)	Position	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years
Martin Small (42)	President (since 2016).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2010); Head of U.S. iShares (since 2015); Co-Head of the U.S. Financial Markets Advisory Group, BlackRock, Inc. (2008-2014).
Jack Gee (58)	Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer (since 2008).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009); Senior Director of Fund Administration of Intermediary Investor Business, BGI (2009).
Charles Park (50)	Chief Compliance Officer (since 2006).	Chief Compliance Officer of BlackRock Advisors, LLC and the BlackRock-advised Funds in the Equity-Bond Complex, the Equity-Liquidity Complex and the Closed-End Complex (since 2014); Chief Compliance Officer of BFA (since 2006).
Benjamin Archibald (42)	Secretary (since 2015).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2014); Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2010-2013); Secretary of the BlackRock-advised mutual funds (since 2012).
Steve Messinger (55)	Executive Vice President (since 2016).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2007-2014 and since 2016); Managing Director, Beacon Consulting Group (2014-2016).
Scott Radell (49)	Executive Vice President (since 2012).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009); Head of Portfolio Solutions, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009).

Name (Age)		Position		Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years
Alan Mason (57)		Executive Vice President (since 2016).		Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009).

The Board has concluded that, based on each Trustee’s experience, qualifications, attributes or skills on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other Trustees, each Trustee should serve as a Trustee of the Board. Among the attributes common to all Trustees are their ability to review critically, evaluate, question and discuss information provided to them, to interact effectively with the Funds' investment adviser, other service providers, counsel and the independent registered public accounting firm, and to exercise effective business judgment in the performance of their duties as Trustees. A Trustee’s ability to perform his or her duties effectively may have been attained through the Trustee’s educational background or professional training; business, consulting, public service or academic positions; experience from service as a Board member of the Funds and the other funds in the Trust (and any predecessor funds), other investment funds, public companies, or non-profit entities or other organizations; and/or other life experiences. Also, set forth below is a brief discussion of the specific experience, qualifications, attributes or skills of each Trustee that led the Board to conclude that he or she should serve (or continue to serve) as a Trustee.

Robert S. Kapito has been a Trustee of the Trust since 2009. Mr. Kapito has served as a Director of iShares, Inc. since 2009, a Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2011 and a Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2006. Mr. Kapito served as a Director of iShares MSCI Russia Capped ETF, Inc. from 2010 to 2015. In addition, he has over 20 years of experience as part of BlackRock, Inc. and BlackRock, Inc.’s predecessor entities. Mr. Kapito serves as President of BlackRock, Inc., and is a member of the Global Executive Committee and Chairman of the Global Operating Committee. He is responsible for day-to-day oversight of BlackRock's key operating units, including Investment Strategies, Client Businesses, Technology & Operations, and Risk & Quantitative Analysis. Prior to assuming his current responsibilities in 2007, Mr. Kapito served as Vice Chairman of BlackRock, Inc. and Head of BlackRock's Portfolio Management Group. In that role, he was responsible for overseeing all portfolio management within BlackRock, including the Fixed Income, Equity, Liquidity, and Alternative Investment Groups. Mr. Kapito serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania and the Harvard Business School Board of Dean’s Advisors. He has also been President of the Board of Directors for the Hope & Heroes Children's Cancer Fund since 2002. Mr. Kapito earned a BS degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1979, and an MBA degree from Harvard Business School in 1983.

Charles A. Hurty has been a Trustee of the Trust since 2005 and Chair of the Audit Committee of the Trust since 2006. Mr. Hurty has served as a Director of iShares, Inc. since 2005, Chair of the Audit Committee of iShares, Inc. since 2006 and a Trustee and Chair of the Audit Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2011. Mr. Hurty served as a Director of iShares MSCI Russia Capped ETF, Inc. from 2010 to 2015. In addition, Mr. Hurty has served as Director of the SkyBridge Alternative Investments Multi-Adviser Hedge Fund Portfolios LLC (formerly, Citigroup Alternative Investments Multi-Adviser Hedge Fund Portfolios LLC) since 2002. He was a Director of the GMAM Absolute Return Strategy Fund from 2002 to 2015 and was a Director of the CSFB Alternative Investment Funds from 2005 to December 2009, when the funds were liquidated. Mr. Hurty was formerly a Partner at KPMG, LLP from 1968 to 2001, where he held several leadership roles in KPMG’s Investment Management Practice. Prior to joining KPMG, Mr. Hurty was an officer in the United States Army. Mr. Hurty has a BS degree in accounting from the University of Kansas.

Board – Leadership Structure and Oversight Responsibilities

The members of the Risk Committee are Jane D. Carlin (Chair), Charles A. Hurty, Drew E. Lawton and John E. Martinez, each of whom is an Independent Trustee. The principal responsibility of the Risk Committee is to consider and organize on behalf of the Board risk related matters of the Funds so the Board may most effectively structure itself to oversee them. The Risk Committee commenced on January 1, 2016. The Risk Committee met four times during the fiscal year ended August 31, 2017.

As the Chair of the Board, Cecilia H. Herbert may serve as an ex-officio member of each Committee.

Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee or Advisory Board Member in Family of Investment Companies
Robert S. Kapito	None	None	None

Mark K. Wiedman	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	$50,001-$100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares National Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares New York Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000

Cecilia H. Herbert	iShares California Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares China Large-Cap ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF	$50,001-$100,000

Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee or Advisory Board Member in Family of Investment Companies
	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares International Select Dividend ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares MSCI Japan ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares National Muni Bond ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Preferred Stock ETF	$10,001-$50,000

Jane D. Carlin	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	$50,001-$100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Global Tech ETF	$10,001-$50,000

Richard L. Fagnani	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable

Charles A. Hurty	iShares China Large-Cap ETF	$10,001-$50,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core Growth Allocation ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core Moderate Allocation ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Global Energy ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Global Healthcare ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Global Tech ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Energy ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Technology ETF	Over $100,000

John E. Kerrigan	iShares MSCI ACWI ETF	$10,001-$50,000	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000

Drew E. Lawton	iShares MSCI Frontier 100 ETF	$50,001-$100,000	$50,001-$100,000

Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee or Advisory Board Member in Family of Investment Companies

John E. Martinez	iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	$1-$10,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares Global Consumer Staples ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 1000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares TIPS Bond ETF	$50,001-$100,000

Madhav V. Rajan	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Select Dividend ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares U.S. Preferred Stock ETF	Over $100,000

Remuneration of Trustees and Advisory Board Members.

The tables below set forth the compensation earned by each Independent Trustee, Interested Trustee and Advisory Board Member for services to each Fund for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2017 and the aggregate compensation paid to them for services to the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex for the calendar year ended December 31, 2016.

Name	iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF⁴	iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF	iShares MSCI China ETF	iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF
Independent Trustees:

Robert H. Silver¹	$0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
John E. Martinez	4	18	753	6
Cecilia H. Herbert	5	19	808	7
Charles A. Hurty	5	19	786	7
John E. Kerrigan	4	18	753	6
Madhav V. Rajan	5	19	799	7
Jane D. Carlin	4	18	753	6
Drew E. Lawton²	4	16	652	5
Richard L. Fagnani³	2	7	308	3

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0

Name	iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF	iShares MSCI India ETF	iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF	iShares MSCI Peru ETF
Independent Trustees:

Robert H. Silver¹	$0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
John E. Martinez	8	2,585	1,129	49
Cecilia H. Herbert	9	2,696	1,133	53
Charles A. Hurty	8	1,582	62	51
John E. Kerrigan	8	1,515	59	49
Madhav V. Rajan	9	1,608	63	52
Jane D. Carlin	8	1,515	59	49
Drew E. Lawton²	7	1,312	51	43
Richard L. Fagnani³	3	619	24	20

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0

Name	iShares MSCI Qatar ETF	iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF	iShares MSCI UAE ETF
Independent Trustees:

Robert H. Silver¹	$ 0	$0	$0
John E. Martinez	14	5	14
Cecilia H. Herbert	15	6	15
Charles A. Hurty	15	5	15
John E. Kerrigan	14	5	14
Madhav V. Rajan	15	6	15

Name	iShares MSCI Qatar ETF	iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF	iShares MSCI UAE ETF
Jane D. Carlin	14	5	14
Drew E. Lawton²	12	5	12
Richard L. Fagnani³	6	2	6

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$ 0	$0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0

Name	Pension or Retirement Benefits Accrued As Part of Trust Expenses⁵	Estimated Annual Benefits Upon Retirement⁶	Total Compensation From the Funds and Fund Complex⁶
Independent Trustees:

Robert H. Silver¹	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	$81,250
John E. Martinez	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	336,764
Cecilia H. Herbert	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	361,764
Charles A. Hurty	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	340,000
John E. Kerrigan	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	325,000
Madhav V. Rajan	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	325,000
Jane D. Carlin	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	325,000

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	0

Advisory Board Members:

Drew E. Lawton²	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	$75,000⁷
Richard L. Fagnani³	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable⁸

¹	Served as an Independent Trustee through March 31, 2016.
²	Compensation from each Fund is shown for Drew E. Lawton for his services as an Advisory Board Member for the period from October 18, 2016 (date of his appointment to the Advisory Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to June 18, 2017, and for his services as an Independent Trustee for the period from June 19, 2017 (date of his election to the Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to August 31, 2017.
³	Compensation from each Fund is shown for Richard L. Fagnani for his services as an Advisory Board Member for the period from April 1, 2017 (date of his appointment to the Advisory Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to June 18, 2017, and for his services as an Independent Trustee for the period from June 19, 2017 (date of his election to the Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to August 31, 2017.
⁴	Compensation reported is from the Fund’s inception to August 31, 2017.
⁵	No Trustee or officer is entitled to any pension or retirement benefits from the Trust.
⁶	Also includes compensation for service on the Board of Trustees or the Advisory Board of iShares U.S. ETF Trust and the Board of Directors or the Advisory Board of iShares, Inc.
⁷	Total compensation is shown for Drew E. Lawton for the period from October 18, 2016 (date of his appointment to the Advisory Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to December 31, 2016.
⁸	Total compensation is not shown for Richard L. Fagnani because he was appointed to serve as an Advisory Board Member of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust effective April 1, 2017.

The board of directors of each Subsidiary , which is responsible for the overall management and operations of the Subsidiary, is partially comprised of certain members of the Board of Trustees of the Trust.

Control Persons and Principal Holders of Securities.

The Trustees and officers of the Trust collectively owned less than 1% of each Fund's outstanding shares as of November 30, 2017.

Although the Trust does not have information concerning the beneficial ownership of shares held in the names of Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) participants (as defined below), as of November 30, 2017, the name and percentage ownership of each DTC participant that owned of record 5% or more of the outstanding shares of a Fund were as follows:

Fund	Name and Address	Percentage of Ownership
iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF	Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. 525 Washington Blvd. 11^th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07310	43.61%
	JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association 14201 Dallas Pkwy 12^thFloor Dallas, TX 75240	35.64%

iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF	Pershing LLC One Pershing Plaza Jersey City, NJ 07399	15.43%
	Cor Clearing LLC 9300 Underwood Ave Suite 400 Omaha, NE 68114	13.81%
	National Financial Services LLC 200 Liberty Street 5^thFloor New York, NY 10281	9.07%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 111 Pavonia Avenue Jersey City, NJ 07310	8.67%
	State Street Bank and Trust Company 1776 Heritage Drive North Quincy, MA 02171	6.11%

iShares MSCI China ETF	Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. 525 Washington Blvd. 11^th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07310	18.99%
	Deutsche Bank Securities Inc./Cedear 1251 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020	14.24%
	State Street Bank and Trust Company 1776 Heritage Drive North Quincy, MA 02171	12.31%
	Citibank, N.A. 3800 CitiBank Center Tampa Building A/Floor 2 Tampa, FL 33610	10.38%

Fund	Name and Address	Percentage of Ownership
	Penson Financial Services Inc./CDS 330 Bay Street Suite 711 Toronto, ON M5H 2S8	6.28%
	Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated One Pierrepont Plaza 8^th Floor Brooklyn, NY 11201	5.93%
	Goldman, Sachs & Co. 30 Hudson Street 16^th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302	5.29%

iShares MSCI UAE ETF	Northern Trust Company/ United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund 50 South LaSalle Street Chicago, IL 60675	52.98%
	The Bank of New York Mellon 401 Salina Street 2^nd Floor Syracuse, NY 13202	16.10%
	State Street Bank and Trust Company 1776 Heritage Drive North Quincy, MA 02171	7.58%
	Citibank, N.A. 3800 CitiBank Center Tampa Building A/Floor 2 Tampa, FL 33610	5.83%

BlackRock is one of the world's largest asset management firms. PNC is a diversified financial services organization spanning the retail, business and corporate markets. BlackRock, PNC and their respective affiliates (including, for these purposes, their directors, partners, trustees, managing members, officers and employees), including the entities and personnel who may be involved in the investment activities and business operations of a Fund, are engaged worldwide in businesses, including managing equities, fixed-income securities, cash and alternative investments, and banking and other financial services, and have interests other than that of managing a Fund. These are considerations of which investors in a Fund should be aware, and which may cause conflicts of interest that could disadvantage a Fund and its shareholders. These businesses and interests include potential multiple advisory, transactional, financial and other relationships with, or interests in, companies and interests in securities or other instruments that may be purchased or sold by a Fund.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates have proprietary interests in, and may manage or advise with respect to, accounts or funds (including separate accounts and other funds and collective investment vehicles) that have investment objectives similar to those of a Fund and/or that engage in transactions in the same types of securities, currencies and instruments as a Fund. One or more Affiliates are also major participants in the global currency, equities, swap and fixed-income markets, in each case, for the accounts of customers and, in some cases, on a proprietary basis. As such, one or more Affiliates are or may be actively engaged in transactions in the same securities, currencies, and instruments in which a Fund invests. Such activities could affect the prices and availability of the securities, currencies, and instruments in which a Fund invests, which could

other markets in which limitations are imposed upon the amount of investment, in the aggregate or in individual issuers, by affiliated foreign investors.

At times, these activities may cause departments of BlackRock or the other Affiliates to give advice to clients that may cause these clients to take actions adverse to the interests of a Fund. To the extent affiliated transactions are permitted, a Fund will deal with BlackRock and the other Affiliates (except with respect to BFA or affiliated sub-advisers of a Fund, as applicable) on an arms-length basis.

Subject to applicable law, the Affiliates (and their personnel and other distributors) will be entitled to retain fees and other amounts that they receive in connection with their service to the Funds as broker, dealer, agent, lender, adviser or in other commercial capacities. No accounting to a Fund or its shareholders will be required, and no fees or other compensation payable by a Fund or its shareholders will be reduced by reason of receipt by an Affiliate of any such fees or other amounts.

Lending on behalf of a Fund is done by BTC pursuant to SEC exemptive relief, enabling BTC to act as securities lending agent to, and receive a share of securities lending revenues from, a Fund. An Affiliate will also receive compensation for managing the reinvestment of the cash collateral from securities lending. There are potential conflicts of interest in managing a securities lending program, including but not limited to: (i) BTC as securities lending agent may have an incentive to increase or decrease the amount of securities on loan or to lend particular securities in order to generate additional risk-adjusted revenue for BTC and its affiliates; and (ii) BTC as securities lending agent may have an incentive to allocate loans to clients that would provide more revenue to BlackRock. As described further below, BlackRock seeks to mitigate this conflict by providing its securities lending clients with equal lending opportunities over time in order to approximate pro-rata allocation.

Prevailing trading activity frequently may make impossible the receipt of the same price or execution on the entire volume of securities purchased or sold. When this occurs, the various prices may be averaged, and the Funds will be charged or credited with the average price. Thus, the effect of the aggregation may operate on some occasions to the disadvantage of the Funds. In addition, under certain circumstances, the Funds will not be charged the same commission or commission equivalent rates in connection with a bunched or aggregated order.

addition, other BlackRock client accounts may receive the benefit, including disproportionate benefits, of economies of scale or price discounts in connection with products and services that may be provided to the Funds and to such other BlackRock client accounts. To the extent that BlackRock uses soft dollars, it will not have to pay for those products and services itself.

BlackRock has adopted policies and procedures designed to prevent conflicts of interest from influencing proxy voting decisions that it makes on behalf of advisory clients, including the Funds, and to help ensure that such decisions are made in accordance with BlackRock's fiduciary obligations to its clients. Nevertheless, notwithstanding such proxy voting policies and procedures, actual proxy voting decisions of BlackRock may have the effect of favoring the interests of other clients or businesses of other divisions or units of BlackRock and/or the other Affiliates, provided that BlackRock believes such voting decisions to be in accordance with its fiduciary obligations. For a more detailed discussion of these policies and procedures, see the Proxy Voting Policy section of this SAI.

of BlackRock in the course of these activities. In addition, from time to time, the activities of an Affiliate may limit a Fund's flexibility in purchases and sales of securities. When an Affiliate is engaged in an underwriting or other distribution of securities of an entity, BlackRock may be prohibited from purchasing or recommending the purchase of certain securities of that entity for a Fund. As indicated below, BlackRock or the other Affiliates may engage in transactions with companies in which BlackRock-advised funds or other clients of BlackRock or of an Affiliate have an investment.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates may provide valuation assistance to certain clients with respect to certain securities or other investments and the valuation recommendations made for their clients' accounts may differ from the valuations for the same securities or investments assigned by a Fund's pricing vendors, especially if such valuations are based on broker-dealer quotes or other data sources unavailable to the Fund's pricing vendors. While BlackRock will generally communicate its valuation information or determinations to a Fund's pricing vendors and/or fund accountants, there may be instances where the Fund's pricing vendors or fund accountants assign a different valuation to a security or other investment than the valuation for such security or investment determined or recommended by BlackRock.

used in determining a Fund’s net asset value. As a result, a Fund’s sale or redemption of its shares at net asset value, at a time when a holding or holdings are valued by BlackRock (pursuant to Board-adopted procedures) at fair value, may have the effect of diluting or increasing the economic interest of existing shareholders and may affect the amount of revenue received by BlackRock with respect to services for which it receives an asset-based fee.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates and their directors, officers and employees, may buy and sell securities or other investments for their own accounts and may have conflicts of interest with respect to investments made on behalf of a Fund. As a result of differing trading and investment strategies or constraints, positions may be taken by directors, officers, employees and Affiliates that are the same, different from or made at different times than positions taken for the Fund. To lessen the possibility that a Fund will be adversely affected by this personal trading, each Fund, BFA and BlackRock, Inc. have each adopted a code of ethics in compliance with Section 17(j) of the 1940 Act that restricts securities trading in the personal accounts of investment professionals and others who normally come into possession of information regarding a Fund's portfolio transactions. Each code of ethics is available by contacting BlackRock or by accessing the EDGAR Database on the SEC's Internet site at http://www.sec.gov, and copies may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by e-mail at publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the SEC's Public Reference Room, Washington, DC 20549-1520. Information about accessing documents on the SEC’s website may be obtained by calling the SEC at (800) SEC-0330.

The investment activities of one or more Affiliates for their proprietary accounts and for client accounts may also limit the investment strategies and rights of the Funds. For example, in certain circumstances where a Fund invests in securities issued by companies that operate in certain regulated industries or in certain emerging or international markets, are subject to corporate or regulatory ownership definitions, or invest in certain futures and derivative transactions, there may be limits on the aggregate amount invested by Affiliates (including BlackRock) for their proprietary accounts and for client accounts (including the Funds) that may not be exceeded without the grant of a license or other regulatory or corporate consent or, if exceeded, may cause BlackRock, the Funds or other client accounts to suffer disadvantages or business restrictions.

transactions, may be restricted by regulation or otherwise impaired. As a result, BlackRock, on behalf of clients (including the Funds), may limit purchases, sell existing investments, or otherwise restrict or limit the exercise of rights (including voting rights) when BlackRock, in its sole discretion, deems it appropriate in light of potential regulatory or other restrictions on ownership or other consequences resulting from reaching investment thresholds.

In those circumstances where ownership thresholds or limitations must be observed, BlackRock seeks to allocate limited investment opportunities equitably among clients (including the Funds), taking into consideration benchmark weight and investment strategy. BlackRock has adopted certain controls designed to prevent the occurrence of a breach of any applicable ownership threshold or limits, including, for example, when ownership in certain securities nears an applicable threshold, BlackRock may remove such securities from Deposit Securities in connection with purchases of Creation Units of a Fund and may limit purchases in such securities to the issuer's weighting in the applicable benchmark used by BlackRock to manage a Fund. If client (including Fund) holdings of an issuer exceed an applicable threshold and BlackRock is unable to obtain relief to enable the continued holding of such investments, it may be necessary to sell down these positions to meet the applicable limitations. In these cases, benchmark overweight positions will be sold prior to benchmark positions being reduced to meet applicable limitations.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates may not serve as Authorized Participants in the creation and redemption of iShares ETFs, but may serve as authorized participants of third-party ETFs.

BlackRock or the other Affiliates own or have an ownership interest in certain trading, portfolio management, operations and/or information systems used by Fund service providers. These systems are, or will be, used by a Fund service provider in connection with the provision of services to accounts managed by BlackRock and funds managed and sponsored by BlackRock, including the Funds, that engage the service provider (typically the custodian). A Fund’s service provider remunerates BlackRock or the other Affiliates for the use of the systems. A Fund service provider’s payments to BlackRock or the other Affiliates for the use of these systems may enhance the profitability of BlackRock and the other Affiliates. BlackRock’s or the other Affiliates’ receipt of fees from a service provider in connection with the use of systems provided by BlackRock or the other Affiliates may create an incentive for BlackRock to recommend that a Fund enter into or renew an arrangement with the service provider.

Present and future activities of BlackRock and the other Affiliates, including BFA, in addition to those described in this section, may give rise to additional conflicts of interest.

Legal Proceedings. On June 16, 2016, investors (the “Plaintiffs”) in certain iShares funds (iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF, iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF, iShares Core S&P 500 ETF, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF, iShares Russell Mid-Cap ETF, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF, iShares Select Dividend ETF, iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF, iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF, iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF and iShares U.S. Preferred Stock ETF) filed a putative class action lawsuit against the Trust, BlackRock, Inc. and certain of its advisory affiliates, and certain directors/trustees and officers of the Trust (collectively, “Defendants”). The lawsuit alleges the Defendants violated federal securities laws by failing to adequately disclose in the prospectuses issued by the funds noted above the risks of using stop-loss orders in the event of a “flash crash,” such as the one that occurred on May 6, 2010. On September 18, 2017, the Court issued a Statement of Decision holding that the Plaintiffs lack standing to assert their claims. On October 11, 2017, the Court entered final judgment dismissing all of Plaintiffs’ claims with prejudice. Plaintiffs have appealed the Court’s decision.

Investment Advisory, Administrative and Distribution Services

Pursuant to the investment advisory agreement, BFA may, from time to time, in its sole discretion and to the extent permitted by applicable law, appoint one or more sub-advisers, including, without limitation, affiliates of BFA, to perform investment advisory or other services with respect to the Funds. In addition, BFA may delegate certain of its investment advisory functions under the investment advisory agreement to one or more of its affiliates to the extent permitted by applicable law. BFA may terminate any or all sub-advisers or such delegation arrangements in its sole discretion upon appropriate notice at any time to the extent permitted by applicable law.

For its investment advisory services to certain of the Funds included in this SAI, BFA is paid a management fee from each Fund corresponding to the Fund's allocable portion of an aggregate management fee based on the aggregate average daily net assets of the following iShares funds: iShares MSCI Brazil ETF, iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI Chile ETF, iShares MSCI China ETF, iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF, iShares MSCI Israel ETF, iShares MSCI Peru ETF, iShares MSCI Philippines ETF, iShares MSCI Poland ETF, iShares MSCI Qatar ETF, iShares MSCI Russia ETF, iShares MSCI South Africa ETF, iShares MSCI South Korea ETF, iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF, iShares MSCI Thailand ETF, iShares MSCI Turkey ETF and iShares MSCI UAE ETF. The aggregate management fee is calculated as follows: 0.74% per annum of aggregate net assets less than or equal to $2.0 billion, plus 0.69% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $2.0 billion, up to and including $4.0 billion, plus 0.64% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $4.0 billion, up to and including $8.0 billion, plus 0.57% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $8.0 billion, up to and including $16.0 billion, plus 0.51% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $16.0 billion, up to and including $24.0 billion, plus 0.48% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $24.0 billion, up to and including $32.0 billion, plus 0.45% per annum of the aggregate net assets in excess of $32.0 billion.

Effective July 1, 2017, for its investment advisory services to the iShares MSCI India ETF, BFA is paid a management fee from the iShares MSCI India ETF based on the aggregate average daily net assets of the iShares MSCI India ETF. The aggregate management fee is calculated as follows: 0.6500% per annum of the aggregate net assets less than or equal to $4.0 billion, plus 0.6175% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $4.0 billion, up to and including $6.0 billion, plus 0.5867% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $6.0 billion, up to and including $8.0 billion, plus 0.5573% per annum of the aggregate net assets in excess of $8.0 billion.

For its investment advisory services to each Fund, BFA received a management fee at the annual rates (as a percentage of such Fund’s average net assets) set forth below for the fiscal years noted:

Fund ¹

Management
Fee for
Fiscal Year
Ended
August 31, 2017

Fund
Inception
Date

Management
Fees Paid
Net of Waivers
for
Fiscal Year
Ended
August 31, 2017

Management
Fees Paid
Net of Waivers
for
Fiscal Year Ended
August 31, 2016

Management
Fees Paid
Net of Waivers
for
Period from
August 1, 2015 to
August 31, 2015¹

Management
Fees Paid
Net of Waivers
for
Fiscal Year
Ended
July 31, 2015

iShares MSCI Qatar ETF

0.62%

04/29/14

$281,769

$286,616

$24,707

$249,036

Fund ¹

Management
Fee for
Fiscal Year
Ended
August 31, 2017

Fund
Inception
Date

Management
Fees Paid
Net of Waivers
for
Fiscal Year
Ended
August 31, 2017

Management
Fees Paid
Net of Waivers
for
Fiscal Year Ended
August 31, 2016

Management
Fees Paid
Net of Waivers
for
Period from
August 1, 2015 to
August 31, 2015¹

Management
Fees Paid
Net of Waivers
for
Fiscal Year
Ended
July 31, 2015

iShares MSCI UAE ETF

0.62%

04/29/14

267,537

185,858

17,094

264,159

¹	Each Fund’s fiscal year-end was changed from July 31 to August 31.

Fund	Management Fee for Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2017	Fund Inception Date	Management Fees Paid Net of Waivers for Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2017	Management Fees Paid Net of Waivers for Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2016	Management Fees Paid Net of Waivers for Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2015
iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF	0.59%	04/25/17	$ 24,707	N/A	N/A
iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF	0.62%	09/28/10	318,008	$ 183,129	$ 196,376
iShares MSCI China ETF	0.62%	03/29/11	14,298,287	12,113,646	10,432,632
iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF	0.62%	09/28/10	123,953	140,070	226,146
iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF	0.49%	04/20/16	96,746	25,930	N/A
iShares MSCI India ETF	0.65%	02/02/12	28,822,712	22,897,521	18,369,726
iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF	0.74%	02/08/12	912,540	476,262	313,582
iShares MSCI Peru ETF¹	0.62%	06/19/09	1,298,945	1,008,652	1,321,115
iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF	0.74%	09/16/15	61,727	31,187	N/A

¹	For the iShares MSCI Peru ETF, for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2015, BFA waived $7,732, of its management fees. As of September 12, 2014, the voluntary waiver is no longer in effect.

Portfolio Managers. As of August 31, 2017, the individuals named as Portfolio Managers in the Funds' Prospectuses were also primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of other iShares funds and certain other types of portfolios and/or accounts as follows:

Diane Hsiung
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	249	$942,312,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	11	4,876,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Jennifer Hsui
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	270	$976,118,000,000

Jennifer Hsui
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	12	4,899,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Alan Mason
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	341	$1,045,897,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	302	676,584,000,000
Other Accounts	219	61,456,000,000

Greg Savage
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	332	$1,042,045,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	80	29,287,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Each of the portfolios or accounts for which the Portfolio Managers are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management seeks to track the rate of return, risk profile and other characteristics of independent third-party indexes by either replicating the same combination of securities and other financial instruments that constitute those indexes or through a representative sampling of the securities and other financial instruments that constitute those indexes based on objective criteria and data. Pursuant to BFA’s policy, investment opportunities are allocated equitably among the Funds and other portfolios and accounts. For example, under certain circumstances, an investment opportunity may be restricted due to limited supply in the market, legal constraints or other factors, in which event the investment opportunity will be allocated equitably among those portfolios and accounts, including the Funds, seeking such investment opportunity. As a consequence, from time to time each Fund may receive a smaller allocation of an investment opportunity than it would have if the Portfolio Managers and BFA and its affiliates did not manage other portfolios or accounts.

Like the Funds, the other portfolios or accounts for which the Portfolio Managers are primarily responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management generally pay an asset-based fee to BFA or its affiliates, as applicable, for its advisory services. One or more of those other portfolios or accounts, however, may pay BFA or its affiliates a performance-based fee in lieu of, or in addition to, an asset-based fee for its advisory services. A portfolio or account with a performance-based fee would pay BFA or its affiliates a portion of that portfolio’s or account’s gains, or would pay BFA or its affiliates more for its services than would otherwise be the case if BFA or any of its affiliates meets or exceeds specified performance targets. Performance-based fee arrangements could present an incentive for BFA or its affiliates to devote greater resources, and allocate more investment opportunities, to the portfolios or accounts that have those fee arrangements, relative to other portfolios or accounts, in order to earn larger fees. Although BFA and each of its affiliates have an obligation to allocate resources and opportunities equitably among portfolios and accounts and intend to do so, shareholders of the Funds should be aware that, as with any group of portfolios and accounts managed by an investment adviser and/or its affiliates pursuant to varying fee arrangements, including performance-based fee arrangements, there is the potential for a conflict of interest, which may result in the Portfolio Managers favoring those portfolios or accounts with performance-based fee arrangements.

Diane Hsiung
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	2	$26,000,000

Diane Hsiung
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Jennifer Hsui
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	2	$26,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Alan Mason
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	0	N/A
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Greg Savage
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	1	$1,070,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

The discussion below describes the Portfolio Managers' compensation as of August 31, 2017.

Portfolio Manager Compensation Overview

Base compensation. Generally, portfolio managers receive base compensation based on their position with the firm.

Other Compensation Benefits. In addition to base compensation and discretionary incentive compensation, portfolio managers may be eligible to receive or participate in one or more of the following:

As of August 31, 2017, the Portfolio Managers did not beneficially own shares of the Funds.

Codes of Ethics. The Trust, BFA and the Distributor have adopted codes of ethics pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act. The codes of ethics permit personnel subject to the codes of ethics to invest in securities, subject to certain limitations, including securities that may be purchased or held by the Funds. The codes of ethics are on public file with, and are available from, the SEC.

Administrator, Custodian and Transfer Agent. State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”) serves as administrator, custodian and transfer agent for the Funds under the Master Services Agreement and related Service Schedule (the “Service Module”). State Street’s principal address is 1 Iron Street, Boston, MA 02210. Pursuant to the Service Module for Fund Administration and Accounting Services with the Trust, State Street provides necessary administrative, legal, tax and accounting and financial reporting services for the maintenance and operations of the Trust and each Fund. In addition, State Street makes available the office space, equipment, personnel and facilities required to provide such services. Pursuant to the Service Module for Custodial Services with the Trust, State Street maintains, in separate accounts, cash, securities and other assets of the Trust and each Fund, keeps all necessary accounts and records and provides other services. State Street is required, upon the order of the Trust, to deliver securities held by State Street and to make payments for securities purchased by the Trust for each Fund. State Street is authorized to appoint certain foreign custodians or foreign custody managers for Fund investments outside the U.S. Pursuant to the Service Module for Transfer Agency Services with the Trust, State Street acts as a transfer agent for each Fund’s authorized and issued shares of beneficial interest, and as dividend disbursing agent of the Trust. As compensation for these services, State Street receives certain out-of-pocket costs, transaction fees and asset-based fees which are accrued daily and paid monthly by BFA from its management fee.

The following table sets forth the administration, custodian and transfer agency expenses of each Fund paid by BFA to State Street for the fiscal years noted:

Fund ¹	Fund Inception Date	Administration, Custodian, Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2017	Administration, Custodian, Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2016¹	Administration, Custodian, Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Period from August 1, 2015 to August 31, 2015¹	Administration, Custodian, Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended July 31, 2015
iShares MSCI Qatar ETF	04/29/14	$288,354	$ 270,194	$ 15,434	$ 191,490
iShares MSCI UAE ETF	04/29/14	264,716	199,275	10,041	213,525

¹	Each Fund’s fiscal year-end was changed from July 31 to August 31.

Fund	Fund Inception Date	Administration, Custodian, Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2017	Administration, Custodian, Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2016	Administration, Custodian, Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2015
iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF	04/25/17	$ 3,352	N/A	N/A
iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF	09/28/10	30,035	$ 27,452	$ 49,585
iShares MSCI China ETF	03/29/11	126,991	131,783	192,434
iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF	09/28/10	19,516	40,765	23,435
iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF	04/20/16	12,000	8,696	N/A
iShares MSCI India ETF	02/02/12	142,585	86,628	75,823
iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF	02/08/12	6,442	3,576	10,105
iShares MSCI Peru ETF	06/19/09	221,436	178,028	248,516
iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF	09/16/15	194,057	75,940	N/A

Subsidiary Administrator. International Financial Services Limited (“IFS”) serves as the Subsidiary's Mauritius administrator. Pursuant to an agreement with IFS, the Subsidiary pays a fee for administrative, legal, tax and accounting services to IFS for certain shareholder services and for providing office space, equipment, personnel and facilities required to provide such services to the Subsidiary.

Each Fund retains a portion of the securities lending income and remits the remaining portion to BTC as compensation for its services as securities lending agent. Securities lending income is generally equal to the total of income earned from the reinvestment of cash collateral (and excludes collateral investment fees as defined below), and any fees or other payments to and from borrowers of securities. As securities lending agent, BTC bears all operational costs directly related to securities lending. Each Fund is responsible for fees in connection with the investment of cash collateral received for securities on loan in a money market fund managed by BFA; however, BTC has agreed to reduce the amount of securities lending income it receives in order to effectively limit the collateral investment fees the Fund bears to an annual rate of 0.04% (the “collateral investment fees”). Such money market fund shares will not be subject to a sales load, redemption fee, distribution fee or service fee.

Pursuant to the Securities Lending Agency Agreement:

(i) International equity funds, such as the Funds, retain 80% of securities lending income (which excludes collateral investment fees) and (ii) this amount can never be less than 70% of the sum of securities lending income plus collateral investment fees.

In addition, commencing the business day following the date that the aggregate securities lending income (which includes, for this purpose, collateral investment fees) earned across the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex (as defined under “Management—Trustees and Officers”) in a calendar year exceeds the aggregate securities lending income earned across the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex in calendar year 2013 (the Hurdle Date), each applicable international equity fund, pursuant to the securities lending agreement, will receive for the remainder of that calendar year securities lending income as follows:

The services provided to the Funds by BTC in the most recent fiscal year ended August 31, 2017 primarily included the following:

(1) selecting borrowers from an approved list of borrowers and executing a securities lending agreement as agent on behalf of the Funds with each such borrower;

(2) negotiating the terms of securities loans, including the amount of fees;

(3) directing the delivery of loaned securities;

(4) monitoring the daily value of the loaned securities and directing the payment of additional collateral or the return of excess collateral, as necessary;

(5) investing cash collateral received in connection with any loaned securities;

(6) monitoring distributions on loaned securities (for example, interest and dividend activity);

(8) terminating securities loans and arranging for the return of loaned securities to the Funds at loan termination.

The following tables show the dollar amounts of income and fees/compensation related to the securities lending activities of each Fund during its most recent fiscal year ended August 31, 2017.

Fund	iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF	iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF	iShares MSCI China ETF	iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF
Gross income from securities lending activities	N/A	N/A	$ 4,120,307	$ 278,674
Fees and/or compensation for securities lending activities and related services
Securities lending income paid to BTC for services as securities lending agent	N/A	N/A	426,288	49,900
Cash collateral management expenses not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	N/A	N/A	118,643	2,299
Administrative fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	N/A	N/A	0	0
Indemnification fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	N/A	N/A	0	0
Rebates (paid to borrowers)	N/A	N/A	1,713,548	6,193
Other fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	N/A	N/A	0	0
Aggregate fees/compensation for securities lending activities	N/A	N/A	2,258,479	58,392
Net income from securities lending activities	N/A	N/A	1,861,828	220,282

Fund	iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF	iShares MSCI India ETF	iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF	iShares MSCI Peru ETF
Gross income from securities lending activities	$18,423	N/A	N/A	N/A
Fees and/or compensation for securities lending activities and related services
Securities lending income paid to BTC for services as securities lending agent	2,776	N/A	N/A	N/A
Cash collateral management expenses not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	276	N/A	N/A	N/A

Fund	iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF	iShares MSCI India ETF	iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF	iShares MSCI Peru ETF
Administrative fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
Indemnification fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
Rebates (paid to borrowers)	1,823	N/A	N/A	N/A
Other fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
Aggregate fees/compensation for securities lending activities	4,875	N/A	N/A	N/A
Net income from securities lending activities	13,548	N/A	N/A	N/A

Fund	iShares MSCI Qatar ETF	iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF	iShares MSCI UAE ETF
Gross income from securities lending activities	N/A	N/A	N/A
Fees and/or compensation for securities lending activities and related services
Securities lending income paid to BTC for services as securities lending agent	N/A	N/A	N/A
Cash collateral management expenses not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	N/A	N/A	N/A
Administrative fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	N/A	N/A	N/A
Indemnification fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	N/A	N/A	N/A
Rebates (paid to borrowers)	N/A	N/A	N/A
Other fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	N/A	N/A	N/A
Aggregate fees/compensation for securities lending activities	N/A	N/A	N/A
Net income from securities lending activities	N/A	N/A	N/A

representatives, other professionals and individual investors more knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, including the Funds and other iShares funds, or for other activities, such as participation in marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems (“Education Costs”). BFA Entities also make payments to Intermediaries for certain printing, publishing and mailing costs or materials relating to the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products (“Publishing Costs”). In addition, BFA Entities make payments to Intermediaries that make shares of the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products available to their clients, develop new products that feature iShares or otherwise promote the Funds, other iShares funds and exchange-traded products. BFA Entities may also reimburse expenses or make payments from their own assets to Intermediaries or other persons in consideration of services or other activities that the BFA Entities believe may benefit the iShares business or facilitate investment in the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products. Payments of the type described above are sometimes referred to as revenue-sharing payments.

Payments to an Intermediary may be significant to the Intermediary, and amounts that Intermediaries pay to your salesperson or other investment professional may also be significant for your salesperson or other investment professional. Because an Intermediary may make decisions about which investment options it will recommend or make available to its clients or what services to provide for various products based on payments it receives or is eligible to receive, such payments may create conflicts of interest between the Intermediary and its clients and these financial incentives may cause the Intermediary to recommend the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products over other investments. The same conflicts of interest and financial incentives exist with respect to your salesperson or other investment professional if he or she receives similar payments from his or her Intermediary firm.

In addition to the payments described above, BFA Entities have developed proprietary tools, calculators and related interactive or digital content that is made available through the www.BlackRock.com website at no additional cost to Intermediaries. BlackRock may configure these tools and calculators and localizes the content for Intermediaries as part of its customary digital marketing support and promotion of the Funds, other iShares funds, exchange-traded products and BlackRock mutual funds.

In addition, BFA Entities may enter into other contractual arrangements with Intermediaries and certain other third parties that the BFA Entities believe may benefit the iShares business or facilitate investment in iShares funds. Such agreements may include payments by BFA Entities to such Intermediaries and third parties for data collection and provision, technology support, platform enhancement, or co-marketing and cross-promotional efforts. Payments made pursuant to such arrangements may vary in any year and may be different for different Intermediaries and third parties. In certain cases, the payments described in the preceding sentence may be subject to certain minimum payment levels. Such payments will not be asset- or revenue-based. As of the date of this SAI, the Intermediaries and other third parties receiving such contractual payments include: Commonwealth Equity Services, Inc., Ladenburg Thalmann Advisor Network LLC, LPL Financial LLC, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, Orion Advisors Services, LLC, Pershing LLC, Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., TD Ameritrade, Inc. and UBS Financial Services Inc. Any additions, modifications, or deletions to Intermediaries and other third parties listed above that have occurred since the date noted above are not included in the list.

arrangements may include an agreed-upon minimum or maximum payment, or any combination of the foregoing. As of the date of this SAI, BFA anticipates that the payments paid by BFA Entities in connection with the Funds, iShares funds and exchange-traded products in general will be immaterial to BFA Entities in the aggregate for the next year. Please contact your salesperson or other investment professional for more information regarding any such payments or financial incentives his or her Intermediary firm may receive. Any payments made, or financial incentives offered, by the BFA Entities to an Intermediary may create the incentive for the Intermediary to encourage customers to buy shares of the Funds, other iShares funds or other exchange-traded products.

Determination of Net Asset Value

Equity Investments. Equity securities traded on a recognized securities exchange (e.g., NYSE), on separate trading boards of a securities exchange or through a market system that provides contemporaneous transaction pricing information (each, an “Exchange”) are valued using information obtained via independent pricing services, generally at the closing price on the Exchange on which the security is primarily traded, or if an Exchange closing price is not available, the last traded price on that Exchange prior to the time as of which a Fund’s assets or liabilities are valued. However, under certain circumstances, other means of determining current market value may be used. If an equity security is traded on more than one Exchange, the current market value of the security where it is primarily traded generally will be used. In the event that there are no sales involving an equity security held by a Fund on a day on which a Fund values such security, the prior day’s price will be used, unless, in accordance with valuation procedures approved by the Board (the “Valuation Procedures”), BlackRock determines in good faith that such prior day’s price no longer reflects the fair value of the security, in which case such asset would be treated as a Fair Value Asset (as defined below).

Fixed-Income Investments. Fixed-income securities for which market quotations are readily available are generally valued using such securities’ current market value. A Fund values fixed-income portfolio securities using the last available bid prices or current market quotations provided by dealers or prices (including evaluated prices) supplied by a Fund’s approved independent third-party pricing services, each in accordance with the Valuation Procedures. The pricing services may use matrix pricing or valuation models that utilize certain inputs and assumptions to derive values, including transaction data (e.g., recent representative bids and offers), credit quality information, perceived market movements, news, and other relevant information and by other methods, which may include consideration of: yields or prices of securities of comparable quality, coupon, maturity and type; indications as to values from dealers; general market conditions; and/or other factors and assumptions. Pricing services generally value fixed-income securities assuming orderly transactions of an institutional round lot size, but a Fund may hold or transact in such securities in smaller, odd lot sizes. Odd lots often trade at lower prices than institutional round lots. The amortized cost method of valuation may be used with respect to debt obligations with sixty days or less remaining to maturity unless BlackRock determines in good faith that such method does not represent fair value. Loan participation notes are generally valued at the mean of the last available bid prices from one or more brokers or dealers as obtained from independent third-party pricing services. Certain fixed-income investments, including asset-backed and mortgage-related securities, may be valued based on valuation models that consider the estimated cash flows of each tranche of the entity, establish a benchmark yield and develop an estimated tranche-specific spread to the benchmark yield based on the unique attributes of the tranche.

a day on which a Fund values such option, the last bid (long positions) or ask (short positions) price, if available, will be used as the value of such option. If no such bid or ask price is available on a day on which a Fund values such option, the prior day’s price will be used, unless BlackRock determines in good faith that such prior day’s price no longer reflects the fair value of the option, in which case such option will be treated as a Fair Value Asset (as defined below). OTC derivatives are valued using the last available bid prices or current market quotations provided by dealers or prices (including evaluated prices) supplied by a Fund’s approved independent third-party pricing services, each in accordance with the Valuation Procedures. OTC derivatives may be valued using a mathematical model which may incorporate a number of market data factors. Financial futures contracts and options thereon, which are traded on exchanges, are valued at their settle price as of the close of such exchanges. Swap agreements and other derivatives are generally valued daily based upon quotations from market makers or by a pricing service in accordance with the Valuation Procedures.

Underlying Funds. Shares of underlying ETFs will be valued at their most recent closing price on an Exchange. Shares of underlying money market funds will be valued at their NAV.

All cash, receivables and current payables are carried on a Fund’s books at their face value.

Use of fair value prices and certain current market valuations could result in a difference between the prices used to calculate a Fund’s NAV and the prices used in its Underlying Index, which, in turn, could result in a difference between a Fund’s performance and the performance of its Underlying Index.

event” is deemed to occur if BlackRock determines, in its reasonable business judgment, that an event has occurred after the close of trading for an asset or liability but prior to or at the time of pricing a Fund’s assets or liabilities, and that the event is likely to cause a material change to the closing market price of the assets or liabilities held by a Fund. Non-U.S. securities whose values are affected by volatility that occurs in the markets or in related or highly correlated assets (e.g., ADRs, GDRs or ETFs that invest in components of the Underlying Index) on a trading day after the close of non-U.S. securities markets may be fair valued. On any day the NYSE is open and a foreign market or the primary exchange on which a foreign asset or liability is traded is closed, such asset or liability will be valued using the prior day’s price, provided that BlackRock is not aware of any significant event or other information that would cause such price to no longer reflect the fair value of the asset or liability, in which case such asset or liability would be treated as a Fair Value Asset.

BlackRock, with input from the BlackRock Investment Strategy Group, will submit its recommendations regarding the valuation and/or valuation methodologies for Fair Value Assets to BlackRock’s Valuation Committee. The BlackRock Valuation Committee may accept, modify or reject any recommendations. In addition, a Fund’s accounting agent periodically endeavors to confirm the prices it receives from all third-party pricing services, index providers and broker-dealers, and, with the assistance of BlackRock, to regularly evaluate the values assigned to the securities and other assets and liabilities of a Fund. The pricing of all Fair Value Assets is subsequently reported to and, where appropriate, ratified by the Board.

Brokerage Transactions

in positioning blocks of securities. While BFA generally seeks reasonable trade execution costs, a Fund does not necessarily pay the lowest spread or commission available, and payment of the lowest commission or spread is not necessarily consistent with obtaining the best price and execution in particular transactions. Subject to applicable legal requirements, BFA may select a broker based partly upon brokerage or research services provided to BFA and its clients, including a Fund. In return for such services, BFA may cause a Fund to pay a higher commission than other brokers would charge if BFA determines in good faith that the commission is reasonable in relation to the services provided.

The Funds anticipate that brokerage transactions involving foreign equity securities generally will be conducted primarily on the principal stock exchanges of the applicable country. Foreign equity securities may be held by the Funds in the form of depositary receipts, or other securities convertible into foreign equity securities. Depositary receipts may be listed on stock exchanges, or traded in OTC markets in the United States or Europe, as the case may be. ADRs, like other securities traded in the United States, will be subject to negotiated commission rates.

OTC issues, including most fixed-income securities such as corporate debt and U.S. Government securities, are normally traded on a “net” basis without a stated commission, through dealers acting for their own account and not as brokers. The Funds will primarily engage in transactions with these dealers or deal directly with the issuer unless a better price or execution could be obtained by using a broker. Prices paid to a dealer with respect to both foreign and domestic securities will generally include a “spread,” which is the difference between the prices at which the dealer is willing to purchase and sell the specific security at the time, and includes the dealer’s normal profit.

Because different accounts may have differing investment objectives and policies, BFA may buy and sell the same securities at the same time for different clients based on the particular investment objective, guidelines and strategies of those accounts. For example, BFA may decide that it may be entirely appropriate for a growth fund to sell a security at the same time a value fund is buying that security. To the extent that transactions on behalf of more than one client of BFA or the other Affiliates during the same period may increase the demand for securities being purchased or the supply of securities being sold, there may be an adverse effect on price. For example, sales of a security by BlackRock on behalf of one or more of its clients may decrease the market price of such security, adversely impacting other BlackRock clients that still hold the security. If purchases or sales of securities arise for consideration at or about the same time that would involve the Funds or other clients or funds for which BFA or another Affiliate act as investment manager, transactions in such securities will be made, insofar as feasible, for the respective funds and clients in a manner deemed equitable to all.

Fund ¹	Fund Inception Date	Brokerage Commissions Paid During Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2017	Brokerage Commissions Paid During Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2016	Brokerage Commissions Paid During Period from August 1, 2015 to August 31, 2015¹	Brokerage Commissions Paid During Fiscal Year Ended July 31, 2015
iShares MSCI Qatar ETF	04/29/14	$121,260	$ 103,801	$ 199,472	$219,126
iShares MSCI UAE ETF	04/29/14	88,929	121,020	160,831	174,398

¹	Each Fund’s fiscal year-end was changed from July 31 to August 31.

Fund	Fund Inception Date	Brokerage Commissions Paid During Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2017	Brokerage Commissions Paid During Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2016	Brokerage Commissions Paid During Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2015
iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF	04/25/17	$ 1,226	N/A	N/A
iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF	09/28/10	26,741	$ 11,797	$ 40,724
iShares MSCI China ETF	03/29/11	39,181	206,250	98,898
iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF	09/28/10	2,158	4,557	4,010
iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF	04/20/16	2,098	1,554	N/A
iShares MSCI India ETF	02/02/12	679,343	941,753	1,703,337
iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF	02/08/12	82,528	32,365	37,999
iShares MSCI Peru ETF	06/19/09	71,316	29,216	44,062
iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF	09/16/15	56,162	8,279	N/A

other brokers or dealers in comparable transactions. The Funds will not deal with affiliates in principal transactions unless permitted by applicable SEC rules or regulations, or by SEC exemptive order.

Portfolio turnover may vary from year to year, as well as within a year. High turnover rates may result in comparatively greater brokerage expenses.

The table below sets forth the portfolio turnover rates of each Fund for the fiscal years noted:

Fund	Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2017	Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2016
iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF	17%	N/A
iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF	58%	38%
iShares MSCI China ETF	6%	27%
iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF	26%	31%
iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF	32%	28%
iShares MSCI India ETF	13%	25%
iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF	38%	53%
iShares MSCI Peru ETF	13%	22%
iShares MSCI Qatar ETF	47%	29%
iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF	21%	17%
iShares MSCI UAE ETF	33%	55%

Creation or redemption transactions, to the extent consisting of cash, may require a Fund to contemporaneously transact with broker-dealers for purchases of Deposit Securities (as defined below under Fund Deposit) or sales of Fund Securities (as defined below under Redemption of Creation Units) as applicable. Such transactions with a particular broker-dealer may be conditioned upon the broker-dealer’s agreement to transact at guaranteed price levels in order to reduce transaction costs the Funds would otherwise incur as a consequence of settling creation or redemption baskets in cash rather than in-kind.

Following each Fund’s receipt of an order to purchase or redeem creation or redemption baskets, to the extent such purchases or redemptions consist of a cash portion, the Fund will enter an order with a broker or dealer to purchase or sell the Deposit Securities or Fund Securities, as applicable. The terms of such order may, depending on the timing of the transaction and certain other factors, require the broker or dealer to guarantee that a Fund will achieve execution of its order at a price at least as favorable to the Fund as the Fund’s valuation of the Deposit Securities/Fund Securities used for purposes of calculating the NAV applied to the creation or redemption transaction giving rise to the order (the “Execution Performance Guarantee”). Such orders may be placed with the purchasing or redeeming Authorized Participant in its capacity as a broker-dealer, with its affiliated broker-dealer or with a third-party broker-dealer. The amount payable to each Fund in respect of any Execution Performance Guarantee will depend on the results achieved by the executing firm and will vary depending on market activity, timing and a variety of other factors.

To ensure that an Execution Performance Guarantee will be honored on orders arising from creation transactions executed by an Authorized Participant or its affiliate as broker-dealer, an Authorized Participant is required to deposit an amount with each Fund (the “Execution Performance Deposit”). If the broker-dealer executing the order achieves executions in market transactions at a price equal to or more favorable than a Fund’s valuation of the Deposit Securities, the Fund receives the benefit of the favorable executions and returns to the Authorized Participant the Execution Performance Deposit. If, however, the broker-dealer executing the order is unable to achieve executions in market transactions at a price at least equal to a Fund’s valuation of the securities, the Fund retains the portion of the Execution Performance Deposit equal to the full amount of the execution shortfall (including any taxes, brokerage commissions, foreign exchange or other costs) and may require the Authorized Participant to deposit any additional amount required to cover the full amount of the actual Execution Performance Guarantee.

Offset. If, however, the broker-dealer is unable to achieve executions in market transactions at a price at least equal to a Fund’s valuation of the securities, the Fund will be entitled to the portion of the Execution Performance Offset equal to the full amount of the execution shortfall (including any taxes, brokerage commissions, foreign exchange or other costs).

The circumstances under which the Execution Performance Guarantee will be used and the expected amount, if any, of any Execution Performance Deposit or Execution Performance Offset for a Fund will be disclosed in the procedures handbook for Authorized Participants and may change from time to time based on the actual experience of the Fund.

Additional Information Concerning the Trust

Shareholders may make inquiries by writing to iShares Trust, c/o BlackRock Investments, LLC, 1 University Square Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540.

Absent an applicable exemption or other relief from the SEC or its staff, beneficial owners of more than 5% of the shares of a fund may be subject to the reporting provisions of Section 13 of the 1934 Act and the SEC’s rules promulgated thereunder. In addition, absent an applicable exemption or other relief from the SEC or its staff, officers and trustees of a fund and beneficial owners of 10% of the shares of a fund (“Insiders”) may be subject to the insider reporting, short-swing profit and short sale provisions of Section 16 of the 1934 Act and the SEC’s rules promulgated thereunder. Beneficial owners and Insiders should consult with their own legal counsel concerning their obligations under Sections 13 and 16 of the 1934 Act and existing guidance provided by the SEC staff.

The Trust or a Fund may be terminated by a majority vote of the Board, subject to the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders of the Trust or such Fund entitled to vote on termination; however, in certain circumstances described in the Declaration of Trust, only a majority vote of the Board is required. Although the shares are not automatically redeemable upon the occurrence of any specific event, the Declaration of Trust provides that the Board will have the unrestricted power to alter the number of shares in a Creation Unit. Therefore, in the event of a termination of the Trust or a Fund, the Board, in its sole discretion, could determine to permit the shares to be redeemable in aggregations smaller than Creation Units or to be individually redeemable. In such circumstance, the Trust or a Fund may make redemptions in-kind, for cash or for a

combination of cash or securities. Further, in the event of a termination of the Trust or a Fund, the Trust or a Fund might elect to pay cash redemptions to all shareholders, with an in-kind election for shareholders owning in excess of a certain stated minimum amount.

DTC as Securities Depository for Shares of the Funds. Shares of each Fund are represented by securities registered in the name of DTC or its nominee and deposited with, or on behalf of, DTC.

Conveyance of all notices, statements and other communications to Beneficial Owners is effected as follows. Pursuant to the Depositary Agreement between the Trust and DTC, DTC is required to make available to the Trust upon request and for a fee to be charged to the Trust a listing of the shares of each Fund held by each DTC Participant. The Trust shall inquire of each such DTC Participant as to the number of Beneficial Owners holding shares, directly or indirectly, through such DTC Participant. The Trust shall provide each such DTC Participant with copies of such notice, statement or other communication, in such form, number and at such place as such DTC Participant may reasonably request, in order that such notice, statement or communication may be transmitted by such DTC Participant, directly or indirectly, to such Beneficial Owners. In addition, the Trust shall pay to each such DTC Participant a fair and reasonable amount as reimbursement for the expenses attendant to such transmittal, all subject to applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

Share distributions shall be made to DTC or its nominee, Cede & Co., as the registered holder of all shares of the Trust. DTC or its nominee, upon receipt of any such distributions, shall credit immediately DTC Participants’ accounts with payments in amounts proportionate to their respective beneficial interests in shares of each Fund as shown on the records of DTC or its nominee. Payments by DTC Participants to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners of shares held through such DTC Participants will be governed by standing instructions and customary practices, as is now the case with securities held for the accounts of customers in bearer form or registered in a “street name,” and will be the responsibility of such DTC Participants.

initial investor may sell some or all of the shares underlying the Creation Unit(s) held by them pursuant to the registration statement for each Fund (each, a “Selling Shareholder”), which shares have been registered to permit the resale from time to time after purchase. Each Fund will not receive any of the proceeds from the resale by the Selling Shareholders of these shares.

Any Selling Shareholder and any other person participating in such distribution will be subject to applicable provisions of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.

Creation and Redemption of Creation Units

General. The Trust issues and sells shares of each Fund only in Creation Units on a continuous basis through the Distributor or its agent, without a sales load, at a price based on the NAV next determined after receipt, on any Business Day (as defined below), of an order received by the Distributor or its agent in proper form. On days when the applicable Listing Exchange closes earlier than normal, the Funds may require orders to be placed earlier in the day. The following table sets forth the number of shares of a Fund that constitute a Creation Unit for the Fund and the approximate value of such Creation Unit as of September 30, 2017:

Fund	Shares Per Creation Unit	Approximate Value Per Creation Unit (U.S.$)
iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF	50,000	$1,365,500
iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF	50,000	846,500
iShares MSCI China ETF	200,000	12,534,000
iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF	50,000	2,556,500
iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF	50,000	2,874,500
iShares MSCI India ETF	50,000	1,637,500
iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF	50,000	2,267,500
iShares MSCI Peru ETF	50,000	1,934,500
iShares MSCI Qatar ETF	50,000	773,500
iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF	50,000	1,310,500
iShares MSCI UAE ETF	50,000	874,500

Fund Deposit. The consideration for purchase of Creation Units of a Fund (except for the iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI India ETF, iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF and iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF (each, a “Cash Fund” and collectively, the “Cash Funds”), which are generally offered in Creation Units solely for cash), generally consists of Deposit Securities and the Cash Component computed as described below. Together, the Deposit Securities and the Cash Component constitute the “Fund Deposit,” which, when combined with the Fund's portfolio securities, is designed to generate performance that has a collective investment profile similar to that of the Underlying Index. The Fund Deposit represents the minimum initial and subsequent investment amount for a Creation Unit of any Fund.

Each Cash Fund’s current policy is to accept cash in substitution for the Deposit Securities it might otherwise accept as in-kind consideration for the purchase of Creation Units. A Cash Fund may, at times, elect to receive Deposit Securities (i.e., the in-kind deposit of a designated portfolio of securities) and a Cash Component as consideration for the purchase of Creation Units. If a Cash Fund elects to accept Deposit Securities, a purchaser's delivery of the Deposit Securities together with the Cash Component will constitute the “Fund Deposit,” which will represent the consideration for a Creation Unit of the Fund. The iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF, iShares MSCI China ETF, iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF, iShares MSCI Peru ETF, iShares MSCI Qatar ETF and iShares MSCI UAE ETF (each, a “Partial Cash Fund” and collectively, the “Partial Cash Funds”) generally offer Creation Units partially for cash, but may, in certain circumstances, offer Creation Units solely for cash or solely in-kind. Please see the Cash Purchase Method section below and the following discussion summarizing the Deposit Security method for further information on purchasing Creation Units of the Funds.

BFA makes available through the NSCC on each Business Day prior to the opening of business on the Listing Exchange, the list of names and the required number of shares of each Deposit Security and the amount of the Cash Component to be included in the current Fund Deposit (based on information as of the end of the previous Business Day for each Fund). Such Fund Deposit is applicable, subject to any adjustments as described below, to purchases of Creation Units of shares of a given Fund until such time as the next-announced Fund Deposit is made available.

Cash Purchase Method. Although the Trust does not generally permit partial or full cash purchases of Creation Units of its funds, when partial or full cash purchases of Creation Units are available or specified (Creation Units of the Cash Funds are generally offered solely for cash, while Creation Units of the Partial Cash Funds are generally offered partially for cash), they will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind purchases thereof. In the case of a partial or full cash purchase, the Authorized Participant must pay the cash equivalent of the Deposit Securities it would otherwise be required to provide through an in-kind purchase, plus the same Cash Component required to be paid by an in-kind purchaser. The Authorized Participant will also be required to pay certain transaction fees and charges for cash purchases, as described below, and, if transacting as broker with each Fund, may be required to cover certain brokerage, tax, foreign exchange, execution and price movement costs through an Execution Performance Guarantee, as described in the Brokerage Transactions section of this SAI.

Purchase Orders. Unless otherwise described below, to initiate an order for a Creation Unit, an Authorized Participant must submit to the Distributor or its agent an irrevocable order to purchase shares of a Fund, in proper form, generally before 4:00 p.m., Eastern time on any Business Day to receive that day’s NAV. The Distributor or its agent will notify BFA and the custodian of such order. The custodian will then provide such information to any appropriate sub-custodian. Procedures and requirements governing the delivery of the Fund Deposit are set forth in the procedures handbook for Authorized Participants and may change from time to time. Investors, other than Authorized Participants, are responsible for making arrangements for a creation request to be made through an Authorized Participant. The Distributor or its agent will provide a list of current Authorized Participants upon request. Those placing orders to purchase Creation Units through an Authorized Participant should allow sufficient time to permit proper submission of the purchase order to the Distributor or its agent by the Cutoff Time (as defined below) on such Business Day.

The Authorized Participant is responsible for any and all expenses and costs incurred by a Fund, including any applicable cash amounts, in connection with any purchase order.

weekend) when the equity markets in the relevant non-U.S. market are closed may not be accepted. Each Fund's deadline specified above for the submission of purchase orders is referred to as that Fund's “Cutoff Time.” The Distributor or its agent, in their discretion, may permit the submission of such orders and requests by or through an Authorized Participant at any time (including on days on which the Listing Exchange is not open for business) via communication through the facilities of the Distributor's or its agent's proprietary website maintained for this purpose. Purchase orders and redemption requests, if accepted by the Trust, will be processed based on the NAV next determined after such acceptance in accordance with a Fund's Cutoff Times as provided in the Authorized Participant Agreement and disclosed in this SAI.

Acceptance of Orders for Creation Units. Subject to the conditions that (i) an irrevocable purchase order has been submitted by the Authorized Participant (either on its own or another investor's behalf) and (ii) arrangements satisfactory to the Funds are in place for payment of the Cash Component and any other cash amounts which may be due, the Funds will accept the order, subject to each Fund's right (and the right of the Distributor and BFA) to reject any order until acceptance, as set forth below.

In addition, the Trust may exercise its right to reject any creation order for shares of the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF on any Business Day that is a holiday in the Indian market, but not a holiday observed in the U.S. equity market, and certain other holidays during the settlement cycle for Fund shares, in order to protect Fund shareholders from any dilutive costs that may be associated with the purchase of Deposit Securities in connection with creation orders on such days.

Issuance of a Creation Unit. Except as provided herein, a Creation Unit will not be issued until the transfer of good title to the applicable Fund of the Deposit Securities and the payment of the Cash Component have been completed. When the sub-custodian has confirmed to the custodian that the securities included in the Fund Deposit (or the cash value thereof) have been delivered to the account of the relevant sub-custodian or sub-custodians, the Distributor or its agent and BFA shall be notified of such delivery and the applicable Fund will issue and cause the delivery of the Creation Unit. For the iShares MSCI China ETF, iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI India ETF, iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI Peru ETF, iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF and iShares MSCI UAE ETF, Creation Units are generally issued on a “T+2 basis” (i.e., two Business Days after trade date). For the iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF, iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF and iShares MSCI Qatar ETF, Creation Units are generally issued on a “T+3 basis” (i.e., three Business Days after trade date). However, each Fund reserves the right to settle Creation Unit transactions on a basis other than T+2 or T+3, including a shorter settlement period, if necessary or appropriate under the circumstances and compliant with applicable law. For example, each Fund reserves the right to settle Creation Unit transactions on a basis other than T+2 or T+3 in order to accommodate non-U.S. market holiday schedules (as discussed in Appendix B of this SAI), to account for different treatment among non-U.S. and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and ex-dividend dates (i.e., the last day the holder of a security can sell the security and still receive dividends payable on the security) and in certain other circumstances.

as possible, which undertaking shall be secured by such Authorized Participant's delivery and maintenance of collateral having a value at least equal to 105% and up to 115%, which percentage BFA may change at any time, in its sole discretion, of the value of the missing Deposit Securities in accordance with the Funds' then-effective procedures. The Trust may use such cash deposit at any time to buy Deposit Securities for the Funds. The only collateral that is acceptable to the Funds is cash in U.S. dollars. Such cash collateral must be delivered no later than the time specified by a Fund or its custodian on the contractual settlement date. The cash collateral posted by the Authorized Participant may be invested at the risk of the Authorized Participant, and income, if any, on invested cash collateral will be paid to that Authorized Participant. Information concerning the Funds' current procedures for collateralization of missing Deposit Securities is available from the Distributor or its agent. The Authorized Participant Agreement will permit the Funds to buy the missing Deposit Securities at any time and will subject the Authorized Participant to liability for any shortfall between the cost to the Funds of purchasing such securities and the cash collateral including, without limitation, liability for related brokerage, borrowings and other charges.

Costs Associated with Creation Transactions. A standard creation transaction fee is imposed to offset the transfer, processing and other transaction costs associated with the issuance of Creation Units. The standard creation transaction fee is charged on each Creation Unit created by an Authorized Participant on the day of the transaction. The standard creation transaction fee is generally fixed at the amount shown in the table regardless of the number of Creation Units being purchased, but may be reduced by each Fund if transfer and processing expenses associated with the creation are anticipated to be lower than the stated fee. If a purchase consists of a cash portion, the Authorized Participant may also be required to pay an additional transaction charge (up to the maximum amount shown below) to cover brokerage and certain other costs related to the creation transaction (which may, in certain instances, be based on a good faith estimate of transaction costs). Authorized Participants will also bear the costs of transferring the Deposit Securities to the Funds. Certain fees/costs associated with creation transactions may be waived in certain circumstances. Investors who use the services of a broker or other financial intermediary to acquire Fund shares may be charged a fee for such services.

The following table sets forth each Fund's standard creation transaction fees and maximum additional charge (as described above):

Fund	Standard Creation Transaction Fee	Maximum Additional Charge*
iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF	$ 500	7.0%
iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF	3,200	3.0%
iShares MSCI China ETF	3,200	7.0%
iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF	7,500	7.0%
iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF	3,500	7.0%
iShares MSCI India ETF	3,500	3.0%
iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF	6,900	3.0%
iShares MSCI Peru ETF	1,500	3.0%
iShares MSCI Qatar ETF	5,650	3.0%
iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF	12,000	12.0%
iShares MSCI UAE ETF	5,650	3.0%

*	As a percentage of the net asset value per Creation Unit.

100

Each Cash Fund generally redeems Creation Units solely for cash. However, each Cash Fund reserves the right to distribute securities in-kind as payment for Creation Units being redeemed. Each Partial Cash Fund generally redeems Creation Units partially for cash. Please see the Cash Redemption Method section below and the following discussion summarizing the in-kind method for further information on redeeming Creation Units of the Funds.

The Trust may, in its sole discretion, substitute a “cash in lieu” amount to replace any Fund Security. The Trust also reserves the right to permit or require a “cash in lieu” amount in certain circumstances, including circumstances in which: (i) the delivery of a Fund Security to the Authorized Participant would be restricted under applicable securities or other local laws; or (ii) the delivery of a Fund Security to the Authorized Participant would result in the disposition of the Fund Security by the Authorized Participant due to restrictions under applicable securities or other local laws, or in certain other situations. The amount of cash paid out in such cases will be equivalent to the value of the substituted security listed as a Fund Security. In the event that the Fund Securities have a value greater than the NAV of the shares, a compensating cash payment equal to the difference is required to be made by or through an Authorized Participant by the redeeming shareholder. The Cash Funds generally redeem Creation Units solely for cash. The Partial Cash Funds generally redeem Creation Units partially for cash. Each Fund may, in its sole discretion, provide such redeeming Authorized Participant a portfolio of securities that differs from the exact composition of the Fund Securities, but does not differ in NAV.

Cash Redemption Method. Although the Trust does not generally permit partial or full cash redemptions of Creation Units of its funds or for the Funds, including the Cash Funds, that are normally redeemed on a cash basis only, when partial or full cash redemptions of Creation Units are available or specified (e.g., Creation Units of the Cash Funds are generally redeemed solely for cash and Creation Units of the Partial Cash Funds are generally redeemed partially for cash), they will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind redemptions thereof. In the case of partial or full cash redemption, the Authorized Participant receives the cash equivalent of the Fund Securities and other instruments it would otherwise receive through an in-kind redemption, plus the same Cash Amount to be paid to an in-kind redeemer. The Authorized Participant will also be required to pay certain transaction fees and charges for cash redemptions, as described below, and, if transacting as broker with each Fund, may be required to cover certain brokerage, tax, foreign exchange, execution and price movement costs through an Execution Performance Guarantee, as described in the Brokerage Transactions section of this SAI.

Costs Associated with Redemption Transactions. A standard redemption transaction fee is imposed to offset transfer, processing and other transaction costs that may be incurred by the relevant Fund. The standard redemption transaction fee is charged on each Creation Unit redeemed by an Authorized Participant on the day of the transaction. The standard redemption transaction fee is generally fixed at the amount shown in the table regardless of the number of Creation Units being redeemed, but may be reduced by each Fund if transfer and processing expenses associated with the redemption are

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anticipated to be lower than the stated fee. If a redemption consists of a cash portion, the Authorized Participant may also be required to pay an additional transaction charge (up to the maximum amount shown below) to cover brokerage and certain other costs related to the redemption transaction (which may, in certain instances, be based on a good faith estimate of transaction costs). Authorized Participants will also bear the costs of transferring the Fund Securities from a Fund to their account on their order. Certain fees/costs associated with redemption transactions may be waived in certain circumstances. Investors who use the services of a broker or other financial intermediary to dispose of Fund shares may be charged a fee for such services.

The following table sets forth each Fund's standard redemption transaction fees and maximum additional charge (as described above):

Fund	Standard Redemption Transaction Fee	Maximum Additional Charge*
iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF	$ 500	2.0%
iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF	3,200	2.0%
iShares MSCI China ETF	3,200	2.0%
iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF	7,500	2.0%
iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF	3,500	2.0%
iShares MSCI India ETF	3,500	2.0%
iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF	6,900	2.0%
iShares MSCI Peru ETF	1,500	2.0%
iShares MSCI Qatar ETF	5,650	2.0%
iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF	12,000	2.0%
iShares MSCI UAE ETF	5,650	2.0%

*	As a percentage of the net asset value per Creation Unit, inclusive of the standard redemption transaction fee.

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on behalf of itself or another redeeming investor within the time periods specified above; and (iii) all other procedures set forth in the Authorized Participant Agreement are properly followed.

For the iShares MSCI China ETF, iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI Peru ETF, iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF and iShares MSCI UAE ETF, deliveries of redemption proceeds are generally made within two Business Days (i.e., “T+2”). For the iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF, iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF, iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF, deliveries of redemption proceeds are generally made within three Business Days (i.e., “T+3”). For the iShares MSCI Qatar ETF, deliveries of redemption proceeds are generally made within four Business Days (i.e., “T+4”). However, each Fund reserves the right to settle redemption transactions on a basis other than T+2, T+3 or T+4, including a shorter settlement period, if necessary or appropriate under the circumstances and compliant with applicable law. For example, each Fund reserves the right to settle redemption transactions on a basis other than T+2, T+3 or T+4 in order to accommodate non-U.S. market holiday schedules (as discussed in Appendix B to the SAI), to account for different treatment among non-U.S. and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and dividend ex-dates (i.e., the last date the holder of a security can sell the security and still receive dividends payable on the security sold) and in certain other circumstances. Appendix B of this SAI identifies the instances, if any, where more than seven days would be needed to deliver redemption proceeds. Pursuant to an order of the SEC, the Trust will make delivery of redemption proceeds within the number of days stated in Appendix B of this SAI to be the maximum number of days necessary to deliver redemption proceeds.

Although the Trust does not ordinarily permit cash redemptions of Creation Units (except that, as noted above, Creation Units of the Partial Cash Funds generally will be redeemed partially for cash, with the exception of Creation Units of the Cash Funds, which generally will be redeemed for cash), in the event that cash redemptions are permitted or required by the Trust, proceeds will be paid to the Authorized Participant redeeming shares as soon as practicable after the date of redemption (within seven calendar days thereafter, except for the instances listed in Appendix B to this SAI in which more than seven calendar days would be needed).

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any time, in its sole discretion, of the value of the missing shares. Such cash collateral must be delivered no later than the time specified by a Fund or its custodian on the day after the date of submission of such redemption request and shall be held by State Street and marked-to-market daily. The fees of State Street and any sub-custodians in respect of the delivery, maintenance and redelivery of the cash collateral shall be payable by the Authorized Participant. The cash collateral posted by the Authorized Participant may be invested at the risk of the Authorized Participant, and income, if any, on invested cash collateral will be paid to that Authorized Participant. The Authorized Participant Agreement permits the Funds to acquire shares of the Funds at any time and subjects the Authorized Participant to liability for any shortfall between the aggregate of the cost to the Funds of purchasing such shares, plus the value of the Cash Amount, and the value of the cash collateral together with liability for related brokerage and other charges.

Taxes

The following is a summary of certain material U.S. federal income tax considerations regarding the purchase, ownership and disposition of shares of a Fund. This summary does not address all of the potential U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be applicable to a Fund or to all categories of investors, some of which may be subject to special tax rules. Current and prospective shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisors with respect to the specific U.S. federal, state, local and non-U.S. tax consequences of investing in a Fund. The summary is based on the laws and judicial and administrative interpretations thereof in effect on the date of this SAI, all of which are subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect.

Regulated Investment Company Qualifications. Each Fund intends to continue to qualify for treatment as a separate RIC under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code. To qualify for treatment as a RIC, each Fund must annually distribute at least 90% of its investment company taxable income (which includes dividends, interest and net short-term capital gains) and meet several other requirements. Among such other requirements are the following: (i) at least 90% of each Fund’s annual gross income must be derived from dividends, interest, payments with respect to securities loans, gains from the sale or other disposition of stock or securities or non-U.S. currencies, other income (including, but not limited to, gains from options, futures or forward contracts) derived with respect to its business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies, and net income derived from interests in qualified publicly-traded partnerships (i.e., partnerships that are traded on an established securities market or tradable on a secondary market, other than partnerships that derive at least 90% of their income from interest, dividends, capital gains and other traditionally permitted RIC income); and (ii) at the close of each quarter of each Fund's taxable year, (a) at least 50% of the market value of each Fund’s total assets must be represented by cash and cash items, U.S. government securities, securities of other RICs and other securities, with such other securities limited for purposes of this calculation in respect of any one issuer to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the Fund’s assets and not greater than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer, and (b) not more than 25% of the

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value of each Fund's total assets may be invested in the securities (other than U.S. government securities or the securities of other RICs) of any one issuer, of two or more issuers of which 20% or more of the voting stock is held by the Fund and that are engaged in the same or similar trades or businesses or related trades or businesses, or the securities of one or more qualified publicly-traded partnerships.

Although, in general, the passive loss rules of the Internal Revenue Code do not apply to RICs, such rules do apply to a RIC with respect to items attributable to interests in qualified publicly-traded partnerships. A Fund's investments in partnerships, including in qualified publicly-traded partnerships, may result in the Fund being subject to state, local, or non-U.S. income, franchise or withholding tax liabilities.

Taxation of RICs. As a RIC, a Fund will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the portion of its taxable investment income and capital gains that it distributes to its shareholders, provided that it satisfies a minimum distribution requirement. To satisfy the minimum distribution requirement, a Fund must distribute to its shareholders at least the sum of (i) 90% of its “investment company taxable income” (i.e., income other than its net realized long-term capital gain over its net realized short-term capital loss), plus or minus certain adjustments, and (ii) 90% of its net tax-exempt income for the taxable year. A Fund will be subject to income tax at regular corporate rates on any taxable income or gains that it does not distribute to its shareholders. If a Fund fails to qualify for any taxable year as a RIC or fails to meet the distribution requirement, all of its taxable income will be subject to tax at regular corporate income tax rates without any deduction for distributions to shareholders, and such distributions generally will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary dividends to the extent of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits. In such event, distributions to individuals should be eligible to be treated as qualified dividend income and distributions to corporate shareholders generally should be eligible for the dividends received deduction. Although each Fund intends to distribute substantially all of its net investment income and its capital gains for each taxable year, each Fund will be subject to U.S. federal income taxation to the extent any such income or gains are not distributed. If a Fund fails to qualify as a RIC in any year, it must pay out its earnings and profits accumulated in that year in order to qualify again as a RIC. If a Fund fails to qualify as a RIC for a period greater than two taxable years, the Fund may be required to recognize any net built-in gains with respect to certain of its assets (i.e., the excess of the aggregate gains, including items of income, over aggregate losses that would have been realized with respect to such assets if the Fund had been liquidated) if it qualifies as a RIC in a subsequent year.

The following Funds had tax basis net capital loss carryforwards as set forth in the table below as of August 31, 2017, the tax year-end for the Funds listed:

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Fund	Non-Expiring ¹	Expiring 2019	Total
iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF	$ 7,706	—	$7,706
iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF	41,539,751	—	41,539,751
iShares MSCI China ETF	195,451,853	—	195,451,853
iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF	4,446,803	—	4,446,803
iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF	212,446	—	212,446
iShares MSCI India ETF	259,187,469	—	259,187,469
iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF	4,917,427	—	4,917,427
iShares MSCI Peru ETF	76,077,364	$481,024	76,558,388
iShares MSCI Qatar ETF	8,614,500	—	8,614,500
iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF	186,869	—	186,869
iShares MSCI UAE ETF	11,910,059	—	11,910,059

¹	Must be utilized prior to losses subject to expiration.

Taxation of U.S. Shareholders. Dividends and other distributions by a Fund are generally treated under the Internal Revenue Code as received by the shareholders at the time the dividend or distribution is made. However, any dividend or distribution declared by a Fund in October, November or December of any calendar year and payable to shareholders of record on a specified date in such a month shall be deemed to have been received by each shareholder on December 31 of such calendar year and to have been paid by the Fund not later than such December 31, provided such dividend is actually paid by the Fund during January of the following calendar year.

Each Fund intends to distribute annually to its shareholders substantially all of its investment company taxable income and any net realized long-term capital gains in excess of net realized short-term capital losses (including any capital loss carryovers). However, if a Fund retains for investment an amount equal to all or a portion of its net long-term capital gains in excess of its net short-term capital losses (including any capital loss carryovers), it will be subject to a corporate tax (at a maximum rate of 35%) on the amount retained. In that event, the Fund will designate such retained amounts as undistributed capital gains in a notice to its shareholders who (a) will be required to include in income for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as long-term capital gains, their proportionate shares of the undistributed amount, (b) will be entitled to credit their proportionate shares of the 35% tax paid by the Fund on the undistributed amount against their U.S. federal income tax liabilities, if any, and to claim refunds to the extent their credits exceed their liabilities, if any, and (c) will be entitled to increase their tax basis, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, in their shares by an amount equal to 65% of the amount of undistributed capital gains included in the shareholder’s income. Organizations or persons not subject to U.S. federal income tax on such capital gains will be entitled to a refund of their pro rata share of such taxes paid by the Fund upon filing appropriate returns or claims for refund with the IRS.

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Distributions in excess of a Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits will, as to each shareholder, be treated as a tax-free return of capital to the extent of a shareholder’s basis in shares of the Fund, and as a capital gain thereafter (if the shareholder holds shares of the Fund as capital assets). Distributions in excess of a Fund’s minimum distribution requirements, but not in excess of a Fund’s earnings and profits, will be taxable to shareholders and will not constitute nontaxable returns of capital. Shareholders receiving dividends or distributions in the form of additional shares should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as receiving a distribution in an amount equal to the amount of money that the shareholders receiving cash dividends or distributions will receive and should have a cost basis in the shares received equal to such amount. Dividends paid by the Fund that are attributable to dividends received by the Fund from domestic corporations may qualify for the federal dividends received deduction for corporations, although such amounts are not expected to be significant for the Fund.

Investors considering buying shares just prior to a dividend or capital gain distribution should be aware that, although the price of shares purchased at that time may reflect the amount of the forthcoming distribution, such dividend or distribution may nevertheless be taxable to them. If a Fund is the holder of record of any security on the record date for any dividends payable with respect to such security, such dividends will be included in the Fund’s gross income not as of the date received but as of the later of (a) the date such security became ex-dividend with respect to such dividends (i.e., the date on which a buyer of the security would not be entitled to receive the declared, but unpaid, dividends); or (b) the date the Fund acquired such security. Accordingly, in order to satisfy its income distribution requirements, a Fund may be required to pay dividends based on anticipated earnings, and shareholders may receive dividends in an earlier year than would otherwise be the case.

In certain situations, a Fund may, for a taxable year, defer all or a portion of its net capital loss (or if there is no net capital loss, then any net long-term or short-term capital loss) realized after October and its late-year ordinary loss (defined as the sum of (i) the excess of post-October foreign currency and passive foreign investment company (“PFIC”) losses over post-October foreign currency and PFIC gains and (ii) the excess of post-December ordinary losses over post-December ordinary income) until the next taxable year in computing its investment company taxable income and net capital gain, which will defer the recognition of such realized losses. Such deferrals and other rules regarding gains and losses realized after October (or December) may affect the tax character of shareholder distributions.

Sales of Shares. Upon the sale or exchange of shares of a Fund, a shareholder will realize a taxable gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized and the shareholder’s basis in shares of the Fund. A redemption of shares by a Fund will be treated as a sale for this purpose. Such gain or loss will be treated as capital gain or loss if the shares are capital assets in the shareholder’s hands and will be long-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for more than one year and short-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for one year or less. Any loss realized on a sale or exchange will be disallowed to the extent the shares disposed of are replaced, including replacement through the reinvesting of dividends or capital gains distributions, or by an option or contract to acquire substantially identical shares, within a 61-day period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the disposition of the shares. In such a case, the basis of the shares acquired will be increased to reflect the disallowed loss. Any loss realized by a shareholder on the sale of Fund shares held by the shareholder for six months or less will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any distributions or deemed distributions of long-term capital gains received by the shareholder with respect to such share. The Medicare contribution tax described above will apply to the sale of Fund shares.

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BackUp Withholding. In certain cases, a Fund will be required to withhold at a 28% rate and remit to the U.S. Treasury such amounts withheld from any distributions paid to a shareholder who: (i) has failed to provide a correct taxpayer identification number; (ii) is subject to backup withholding by the IRS; (iii) has failed to certify to a Fund that such shareholder is not subject to backup withholding; or (iv) has not certified that such shareholder is a U.S. person (including a U.S. resident alien). Backup withholding is not an additional tax and any amount withheld may be credited against a shareholder's U.S. federal income tax liability.

Taxation of Certain Derivatives. A Fund’s transactions in zero coupon securities, non-U.S. currencies, forward contracts, options and futures contracts (including options and futures contracts on non-U.S. currencies), to the extent permitted, will be subject to special provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (including provisions relating to “hedging transactions” and “straddles”) that, among other consequences, may affect the character of gains and losses realized by the Fund (i.e., may affect whether gains or losses are ordinary or capital), accelerate recognition of income to the Fund and defer Fund losses. These rules could therefore affect the character, amount and timing of distributions to shareholders. These provisions also (a) will require a Fund to mark-to-market certain types of the positions in its portfolio (i.e., treat them as if they were closed out at the end of each year) and (b) may cause a Fund to recognize income without receiving cash with which to pay dividends or make distributions in amounts necessary to satisfy the distribution requirements for avoiding income and excise taxes. Each Fund will monitor its transactions, will make the appropriate tax elections and will make the appropriate entries in its books and records when it acquires any zero coupon security, non-U.S. currency, forward contract, option, futures contract or hedged investment in order to mitigate the effect of these rules and prevent disqualification of a Fund as a RIC.

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comprehensive income tax treaties with the following countries: Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China (but not with Hong Kong, which is treated as a separate jurisdiction for U.S. tax purposes), Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, the U.K and Venezuela. Substitute payments received by a Fund for securities lent out by a Fund will not be qualified dividend income.

A dividend from a Fund will not be treated as qualified dividend income to the extent that: (i) the shareholder has not held the shares on which the dividend was paid for 61 days during the 121-day period that begins on the date that is 60 days before the date on which the shares become ex-dividend with respect to such dividend or a Fund fails to satisfy those holding period requirements with respect to the securities it holds that paid the dividends distributed to the shareholder (or, in the case of certain preferred stocks, the holding requirement of 91 days during the 181-day period beginning on the date that is 90 days before the date on which the stock becomes ex-dividend with respect to such dividend); (ii) a Fund or the shareholder is under an obligation (whether pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to substantially similar or related property; or (iii) the shareholder elects to treat such dividend as investment income under Section 163(d)(4)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code. Dividends received by a Fund from a REIT or another RIC may be treated as qualified dividend income only to the extent the dividend distributions are attributable to qualified dividend income received by such REIT or other RIC. It is expected that dividends received by a Fund from a REIT and distributed to a shareholder generally will be taxable to the shareholder as ordinary income. Distributions by a Fund of its net short-term capital gains will be taxable as ordinary income.

Issues Related to India and Mauritius Taxes. The following discussion does not address the effect on investors, including residents of India and citizens of India (whether or not residing in India or other countries, including the U.S.), of holding shares of the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF. Investors should consult their own tax advisors as to these issues based upon their own personal situations.

Each of the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF invest in India through its Subsidiary. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, each Subsidiary has elected to be treated as an entity disregarded from its owner. Thus, for U.S. federal tax purposes, any income or loss realized by a Subsidiary will be treated as realized by the applicable fund . Therefore, any investment made by each Fund into a Subsidiary and any distributions received by the Fund from a Subsidiary are disregarded for U.S. federal tax purposes. Furthermore, there is no tax on each Fund's investment in a Subsidiary or on distributions made from a Subsidiary to the Fund .

No investor in the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF will be subject to taxation in India unless such investor is a resident of India or, if a non-resident, has an Indian source income or income received (whether accrued or otherwise) in India or triggers the indirect transfer provisions (discussed below). Finance Act, 2015 (“FA 15”) had introduced the concept of POEM for the determination of the residency of a foreign company. Accordingly, a company would be said to be resident in India if its POEM is situated in India. POEM is defined as a place where the key management and commercial decisions that are necessary for the conduct of the business of an entity as a whole are, in substance made. Final guidelines for the determination of POEM have been issued for the benefit of the taxpayer as well as the tax authorities. The taxation of a Subsidiary and a Fund in India is governed by the provisions of the IT Act, read with the provisions of the DTAA. As per Section 90(2) of the IT Act, the provisions of the IT Act would apply to the extent they are more beneficial than the provisions of the DTAA. In order to claim the beneficial provisions of the DTAA, a Subsidiary must be a tax resident of Mauritius.

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An investor is required to submit a TRC as issued in the country of residence and provide other documents and information as prescribed by the Government to claim benefits under the DTAA.

Each Subsidiary has been incorporated in Mauritius and has obtained its TRC from the Mauritius authorities that establishes its residency in Mauritius under the DTAA. The TRC must be renewed annually. Each of the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF expect its Subsidiary to maintain its Mauritius tax residency, but it cannot be assured that the Mauritius authorities will successfully renew its TRC annually or that it will continue to be eligible to the DTAA benefits, particularly in light of the new requirements that may be introduced if the DTAA is re-negotiated.

Each Subsidiary holds a Category 1 Global Business License issued by the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius. Each Subsidiary is subject to tax in Mauritius on its net income at the rate of 15%. However, a system of foreign tax credits which allows a tax credit against Mauritian taxes for foreign tax on a Mauritian entity’s foreign source income effectively reduces the Mauritius income tax rate to a maximum of 3% because the system presumes, in the absence of evidence, that the foreign tax paid is equal to 80% of the Mauritian tax. Further, a Subsidiary is not subject to capital gains tax in Mauritius nor is it subject to tax in Mauritius on any gains from the sale of securities. Any dividends paid by a Subsidiary to each of the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF will also be exempt from tax in Mauritius.

India and Mauritius signed a protocol (Protocol) amending the double tax avoidance arrangement between the two countries (India Mauritius DTAA) on May 10, 2016. The Protocol gives India the right to tax capital gains that arise from alienation of shares of an Indian company acquired by a Mauritian tax resident. However, the Protocol provides for grandfathering of investments in shares made before April 1, 2017. Returns from investments in shares made on or after April 1, 2017 will be subject to capital gains tax in India, although the Protocol introduces a limitation of benefits provision which shall be a prerequisite for a reduced rate of tax (50% of domestic tax rate) on capital gains arising during a two year transition period from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2019.

Each Subsidiary will attempt to abide by the requirements of the DTAA, to maintain its residency in Mauritius, and to ensure that management and control of the Subsidiary remain in Mauritius. Any change in the applicability of the provisions of the DTAA or in its applicability to a Subsidiary could result in a Subsidiary and indirectly each of the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF being subject to Indian income taxes, withholding taxes, and other taxes, as well as being subject to administrative or judicial assertion of such tax liabilities by the tax authorities of India. This could significantly reduce the return of a Fund on its investments in shares and the return received by Fund shareholders.

•	Capital gains resulting from the sale of Indian securities (including depositary receipts issued by Indian companies) acquired prior to April 1, 2017 will not be subject to tax in India, provided the Subsidiary does not have a Permanent Establishment in India. Capital gains resulting from sale of shares in Indian companies acquired on or after April 1, 2017 will be subject to tax in India as per the domestic tax rates (provided below). If the Subsidiaries are able to satisfy the conditions under the limitation of benefits article introduced by the Protocol, capital gains on shares acquired on or after April 1, 2017 and sold prior to April 1, 2019 may be taxed at 50% of the applicable Indian tax rate;
•	Dividends on shares received from an Indian company on which dividend distribution tax has been paid are exempt from tax in the hands of the shareholders. However, the Indian company distributing dividends is subject to a dividend distribution tax at the rate of 20.36%; and
•	Interest paid to a Subsidiary in respect of the debt obligations of Indian issuers will be subject to Indian income tax. The tax rate, in the case of rupee-denominated debt obligations, is 43.26%. However if the Subsidiary is a SEBI registered foreign portfolio investor, interest income earned from June 1, 2013 to June 30, 2020 on rupee-denominated bonds of Indian companies and Government securities, will be subject to tax at the rate of 5.41%, provided that the rate of interest does not exceed the prescribed rates. In the case of foreign currency-denominated debt obligations, the tax rate is 21.63%. For approved foreign currency loans advanced from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2020, the tax rate on interest is 5.41% and for approved foreign currency long-term bonds issued from October 1, 2014 to June 30, 2020, the tax rate on interest is 5.41%. FA 17 reduced the withholding tax rate on rupee-denominated bonds issued before July 1, 2020 to 5.41%. The Protocol provides for a withholding rate of 7.5% on the interest payments made on or after April 1, 2017.

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•	Long-term capital gains (being gains on sale of shares held for a period of more than twelve months) listed on a recognized stock exchange would not be taxable in India provided Securities Transaction Tax (“STT”) has been paid on the same (as discussed below). FA 17 introduced an additional requirement of payment of STT at the time of acquisition of shares in order to avail the long term capital gain exemption. This additional condition is applicable with respect to certain notified transactions, however, it is not applicable to shares acquired by Qualified Institutional Buyers, which includes Category I and II FPIs;
•	Short-term capital gains (being gains on sale of shares held for a period of twelve months or less) from the sale of Indian shares listed on a recognized stock exchange will be taxed at the rate of 16.22% provided STT has been paid on the same;
•	Long-term capital gains (being gains on sale of shares held for a period of more than 24 months) arising to the Subsidiary from the sale of unlisted securities will be taxed at the rate of 10.82% (without indexation) and short-term capital gains (being gains on sale of shares held for a period of 24 months or less) will be taxed at the rate of 43.26%;*
•	Capital gains realized on sale of listed equity shares not executed on a recognized stock exchange in India would be taxed at the rate of 10.815% for long-term gains (being gains on sale of shares held for a period of more than 12 months) and at 43.26% in the case of short-term gains (being gains on sale of shares held for a period of 12 months or less);* and
•	Capital gains arising from the transfer of depositary receipts outside India between non-resident investors will not be subject to tax in India.

*	However, as the Subsidiary is a SEBI registered foreign portfolio investor, the rates will be 10.82% and 32.45%, respectively.

As per current provisions, gains arising from transfer of securities to foreign portfolio investor will be regarded as capital gains and will be taxable at the aforesaid rates.

Indian Minimum Alternate Tax

The FA 2016 inserted a provision in the IT Act which states that MAT is not applicable on foreign company where the foreign company is a resident of a country with which India has signed a DTAA and the foreign company does not have a permanent establishment in India in accordance with such DTAA. This provision is applicable in case of foreign company with retrospective effect from April 1, 2001.

Indian Securities Transaction Tax

All transactions entered on a recognized stock exchange in India are subject to an STT. STT has been introduced under Section 98 of the Finance (No.2) Act, 2004 on transactions relating to sale, purchases and redemption of shares made by purchasers or sellers of Indian securities and equity oriented mutual fund units. The current STT as levied on the transaction value as follows:

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•	0.1% payable by the buyer and 0.1% by the seller on the value of transactions of delivery based transfer of an equity share in an Indian company entered in a recognized stock exchange;
•	0.001% on the value of transactions of delivery based sale of a unit of an equity oriented mutual fund entered in a recognized stock exchange, payable by the seller;
•	0.025% on the value of transactions of non-delivery based sale of an equity share in an Indian company or a unit of an equity oriented mutual fund, entered in a recognized stock exchange payable by the seller;
•	0.05% on the value of transactions of derivatives being options, entered in a recognized stock exchange. STT is to be paid by the seller;
•	0.01% on the value of transactions of sale of derivatives being futures, entered in a recognized stock exchange. STT is to be paid by the seller;
•	0.001% on the value of transactions of sale of units of an equity-oriented fund to the Mutual Fund, payable by the seller in accordance with the Finance Act, 2013;
•	0.125% on the value of transactions of sale of derivatives being options, where the option is exercised, entered in a recognized stock exchange. STT is to be paid by buyer;
•	The Finance Act, 2012 has exempted from tax the capital gains (under the IT Act) arising from the sale of unlisted shares by existing shareholders of a Sub-Fund in an initial public offer. However, such sale is subject to STT at 0.2% of the sale consideration payable by the seller.

The foregoing is based upon current interpretation and practice and is subject to future changes in the tax laws of India or Mauritius and in the DTAA. Any change in the DTAA's application could have a material adverse effect on the returns of each of the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF. Further, it is possible that the Indian tax authorities may seek to take the position that a Fund is not entitled to the benefits of the DTAA.

Indirect Transfers

The current legislation imposes Indian tax and withholding obligations with respect to the transfer of shares and interest in an overseas company that derives its value substantially from assets situated in India (indirect transfers). It has been clarified that Indian tax authorities will not reopen any assessment proceedings that were completed before April 1, 2012 and where no notice for reassessment has been issued prior to that date. The CBDT also clarified that any assessment or any other order which stands validated due to the amendments in the Finance Act would be enforced. Given this clarification issued by the CBDT, the Funds do not expect that shareholders or the Funds will become subject to tax or to withholding obligations with respect to completed assessments.

It has been clarified that the share or interest of the foreign entity shall be deemed to derive its value substantially from the assets located in India, if the value of such Indian assets exceeds INR 100 million, and represents at least 50% of the value of all the assets owned by the foreign entity. The value of an asset shall be the fair market value as of the specified date, of such an asset without reduction of liabilities. The fair market value will be determined in accordance with the final rules ratified on June 28, 2016. It also provides that where all the assets of the foreign entity are not located in India, only such part of the income as is reasonably attributable to the Indian assets shall be subject to capital gains tax in India.

Further, it provides exemption from indirect transfer provisions to the small shareholders of such foreign entity in the following cases:

•

With respect to a foreign entity that holds the Indian assets indirectly, if the transferor of share or interest in such foreign entity (along with its associated enterprises), at any time in the twelve months preceding the year of transfer does not hold the right of control or management in relation to the foreign entity, which would entitle them to the right of control or management in the foreign entity which directly holds the Indian assets; or does not hold voting power or share capital or interest exceeding 5% of the total voting power or total share capital or total interest in the foreign entity, which results in holding the same share capital or voting power in the entity which directly holds the Indian assets.

112

FA 2017 provides that aforesaid indirect transfer provisions will not apply to foreign investors making an investment directly or indirectly in a SEBI registered Category I and Category II foreign portfolio investor. This provision is applicable from April 1, 2014 (FY 2014-15).

Because certain Funds invest in Indian securities through the Subsidiary, the Subsidiary or the Funds may be considered to derive “substantial value” from Indian assets. Accordingly, shareholder redemptions of Fund/Subsidiary shares and sales of Fund shares may have been subject to Indian tax and withholding obligations. However, through FA 17, the government had introduced an exemption to shareholders in Category I and Category II FPI from the applicability of indirect transfer taxation. The Subsidiary is a Category II FPI. Therefore, any redemptions or transfers by the Funds or the shareholders in the Funds should not be subject to Indian indirect transfer tax.

General Anti-Avoidance Rules.

The GAAR introduced in the IT Act provides the Indian tax authorities a mechanism to deny any tax benefits in a transaction or any other arrangement that is believed to not have any commercial substance or purpose other than to obtain tax benefit(s) under a treaty. The provisions of GAAR will be applicable to arrangements (including a step in or a part thereof) entered into by a taxpayer, which may be declared as an “impermissible avoidance arrangement”.

GAAR became applicable with effect from April 1, 2017. Further, investments in shares made up until March 31, 2017 are exempted from the applicability of GAAR. CBDT issued GAAR Circular providing clarifications on implementation of GAAR by way of responses to queries raised by various stakeholders in the context of its applicability. The GAAR Circular specifically provides where a FPI (such as the Subsidiary) is located in a particular jurisdiction based on non-tax commercial reasons and the main purpose of the choice of location/residence of the FPI is not to obtain a treaty benefit, the GAAR provisions will not be resorted to by the tax authorities.

As per the provisions of the IT Rules, GAAR shall not apply in the following circumstances:

•	any arrangement where the aggregate tax benefit to all the parties of the arrangement in the relevant financial year does not exceed INR 30 Million;
•	FIIs that choose not to take any benefit under any tax treaty entered with India and have invested in listed or unlisted securities with prior permission of the competent authority in accordance with the applicable regulations;
•	non-resident investor in an FII who has invested in an FII, directly or indirectly, by way of an offshore derivative instrument or otherwise; or
•	any income derived from the transfer of shares or interests made prior to April 1, 2017.

If the iShares MSCI India and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap's use of the Subsidiaries were considered to be such an impermissible avoidance arrangement, the Funds may become subject directly to taxation in India. The burden of proof in enforcing the rule will reside with the Indian government, not the taxpayer, and India’s current double tax treaty arrangements will remain in force. However, GAAR may, irrespective of existing treaty provisions, lead to the imposition of tax liabilities and withholding obligations, which may lead the Funds to modify the structure.

Recent amendments to DTAA and GAAR could change the manner in which the Subsidiaries are currently taxed in India and could adversely impact the returns to each of the iShares MSCI India ETF and iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF/Subsidiaries and their respective shareholders. The Funds will continue to monitor developments in India with respect to these matters. Investors are urged to consult their own tax advisers with respect to their own tax situations and the tax consequences of an investment in each of the Funds.

113

With respect to Brazil, a 6% Imposto sobre Operacões Financeiras (“IOF”) tax, with the rate subject to change, applies to certain foreign exchange inflows into Brazil. A previous 1% IOF tax on currency derivatives has been eliminated. A previous 1.5% IOF tax applicable to the creation of new ADR or GDR issuances with respect to Brazilian equities and a previous 0.38% IOF tax applicable to the cancellation of ADRs or GDRs if the underlying equities are issued in the Brazil (local) markets have been removed. If incurred by the Fund, an IOF tax would not be creditable against U.S. income tax liability.

114

A Fund will make the appropriate tax elections, if possible, and take any additional steps that are necessary to mitigate the effects of these rules.

Other Taxes. Dividends, distributions and redemption proceeds may also be subject to additional state, local and non-U.S. taxes depending on each shareholder’s particular situation.

Properly-reported dividends are generally exempt from U.S. federal withholding tax where they (i) are paid in respect of a Fund’s “qualified net interest income” (generally, the Fund’s U.S. source interest income, other than certain contingent interest and interest from obligations of a corporation or partnership in which the Fund is at least a 10% shareholder, reduced by expenses that are allocable to such income) or (ii) are paid in respect of a Fund’s “qualified short-term capital gains” (generally, the excess of the Fund’s net short-term capital gain over the Fund’s long-term capital loss for such taxable year). However, depending on its circumstances, a Fund may report all, some or none of its potentially eligible dividends as such qualified net interest income or as qualified short-term capital gains and/or treat such dividends, in whole or in part, as ineligible for this exemption from withholding. In order to qualify for this exemption from withholding, a non-U.S. shareholder will need to comply with applicable certification requirements relating to its non-U.S. status (including, in general, furnishing an IRS Form W-8BEN, IRS Form W-8BEN-E or substitute Form). In the case of shares held through an intermediary, the intermediary may withhold even if a Fund reports the payment as qualified net interest income or qualified short-term capital gain. Non-U.S. shareholders should contact their intermediaries with respect to the application of these rules to their accounts.

115

Distributions that a Fund reports as “short-term capital gain dividends” or “long-term capital gain dividends” will not be treated as such to a recipient foreign shareholder if the distribution is attributable to gain received from the sale or exchange of U.S. real property or an interest in a U.S. real property holding corporation and the Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property exceeded certain levels. Instead, if the foreign shareholder has not owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of a Fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of distribution, such distributions will be subject to 30% withholding by the Fund and will be treated as ordinary dividends to the foreign shareholder; if the foreign shareholder owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of the Fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of the distribution, such distribution will be treated as real property gain subject to 35% withholding tax and could subject the foreign shareholder to U.S. filing requirements. Additionally, if a Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property were to exceed certain levels, a foreign shareholder realizing gains upon redemption from the Fund could be subject to the 35% withholding tax and U.S. filing requirements unless more than 50% of the Fund’s shares were owned by U.S. persons at such time or unless the foreign person had not held more than 5% of the Fund’s outstanding shares throughout either such person’s holding period for the redeemed shares or, if shorter, the previous five years.

The rules laid out in the previous paragraph, other than the withholding rules, will apply notwithstanding a Fund’s participation in a wash sale transaction or its payment of a substitute dividend.

Distributions of U.S. real property interests (including securities in a U.S. real property holding corporation, unless such corporation is regularly traded on an established securities market and a Fund has held 5% or less of the outstanding shares of the corporation during the five-year period ending on the date of distribution) in redemption of a foreign shareholder’s shares of the Fund will cause the Fund to recognize gain, provided that more than 50% of the value of the Fund’s stock is held by U.S. shareholders. If a Fund is required to recognize gain, the amount of gain recognized will be equal to the fair market value of such interests over the Fund’s adjusted bases to the extent of the greatest foreign ownership percentage of the Fund during the five-year period ending on the date of redemption.

Shares of a Fund held by a non-U.S. shareholder at death will be considered situated within the U.S. and subject to the U.S. estate tax.

Financial Statements

116

hereby incorporated by reference in this SAI. The applicable Annual Report to Shareholders, which contains the referenced audited financial statements, is available upon request and without charge.

Miscellaneous Information

Counsel. Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, located at 787 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019, is counsel to the Trust.

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, located at Three Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA 94111, serves as the Trust's independent registered public accounting firm, audits the Funds' financial statements, and may perform other services.

BFA has registered the following Funds for marketing to investors in the respective countries listed below:

•	iShares MSCI China ETF: Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom
•	iShares MSCI India ETF: Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom

In Belgium, offers may only be made to professional investors. “Professional Investors” means an investor that is considered to be a professional client or may, on request, be treated as a professional client within the meaning of Annex II to Directive 2004/39/EC.

117

Appendix A1 - iShares ETFs Proxy Voting Policy

BlackRock U.S. Registered Funds

Open-End Mutual Funds and iShares ETFs¹ Proxy Voting Policy

Procedures Governing Delegation of Proxy Voting to Fund Adviser

December 29, 2017

BlackRock has adopted guidelines and procedures (together and as from time to time amended, the “BlackRock Proxy Voting Guidelines”) governing proxy voting by accounts managed by BlackRock.

A-1

Appendix A2 – iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy

BlackRock U.S. Registered Funds

iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy

Procedures Governing Delegation of Proxy Voting to Fund Adviser

September 28, 2018

A-2

INTRODUCTION TO BLACKROCK

PHILOSOPHY ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, ENGAGEMENT AND VOTING

The six key themes are:

A-6

•	Boards and directors;
•	Auditors and audit-related issues;
•	Capital structure, mergers, asset sales and other special transactions;
•	Remuneration and benefits;
•	Environmental and social issues; and
•	General corporate governance matters.

Boards and directors

We expect the board of directors to promote and protect shareholder interests by:

•	establishing an appropriate corporate governance structure;
•	supporting and overseeing management in setting strategy;
•	ensuring the integrity of financial statements;
•	making decisions regarding mergers, acquisitions and disposals;
•	establishing appropriate executive compensation structures; and
•	addressing business issues including environmental and social issues when they have the potential to materially impact company reputation and performance.

•	current employment at the company or a subsidiary;
•	former employment within the past several years as an executive of the company;
•	providing substantial professional services to the company and/or members of the company’s management;
•	having had a substantial business relationship in the past three years;

A-7

•	having, or representing a shareholder with, a substantial shareholding in the company;
•	being an immediate family member of any of the aforementioned; and
•	interlocking directorships.

Auditors and audit-related issues

Capital structure, mergers, asset sales and other special transactions

A-8

Remuneration and benefits

Environmental and social issues

General corporate governance matters

A-9

corporate governance matters, including on changes to governance mechanisms, to submit proposals to the shareholders’ meeting and to call special meetings of shareholders.

BLACKROCK’S OVERSIGHT OF ITS INVESTMENT STEWARDSHIP ACTIVITIES

Oversight

Vote execution

A-10

Conflicts management policies and procedures

•	BlackRock clients who may be issuers of securities or proponents of shareholder resolutions
•	BlackRock business partners or vendors who may be issuers of securities or proponents of shareholder resolutions
•	BlackRock employees who may sit on the boards of public companies held in BlackRock portfolios
•	Significant BlackRock, Inc. investors who may be issuers of securities held in BlackRock portfolios
•	Securities of BlackRock, Inc. or BlackRock investment funds held in BlackRock portfolios
•	BlackRock, Inc. board members who actively serve as senior executives of public companies held in BlackRock portfolios

BlackRock has taken certain steps to mitigate perceived or potential conflicts including, but not limited to, the following:

•

Adopted the Guidelines which are designed to protect and enhance the economic value of the companies in which BlackRock invests on behalf of clients.

•

A-11

•

Voting guidelines

Reporting

A-12

Appendix A4 – Supplemental BlackRock Sustainable Proxy Voting Guidelines

September 28, 2018

Environmental and social issues

We may vote against the election of directors where we have concerns that a company might not be dealing with E&S issues appropriately. Sometimes we may reflect such concerns by supporting a shareholder proposal on the issue, where there seems to be either a significant potential threat or realized harm to shareholders’ interests caused by poor management of material E&S matters. In deciding our course of action, we will assess the nature of our engagement with the company on the issue over time, including whether:

•	The company has already taken sufficient steps to address the concern
•	The company is in the process of actively implementing a response
•	There is a clear and material economic disadvantage to the company in the near-term if the issue is not addressed in the manner requested by the shareholder proposal

Environmental shareholder proposals:

Climate risks and opportunities:

A-13

¹	As envisioned by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCC”) Conference of the Parties to the Paris Climate Accord in 2015.

Sustainability Disclosures

Social and political shareholder proposals:

Data Privacy and cybersecurity:

Human Capital Management:

A-14

Human Rights

Opioids:

Product safety, supply chains and distribution channels:

Corporate political activities:

A-15

Appendix B - Regular Holidays and Redemptions

2017

Albania
January 2	May 1	November 28
March 14	June 26	November 29
March 22	September 1	December 8
April 17	October 19	December 25

Argentina
February 27	May 1	November 6
February 28	May 25	November 27
March 24	June 20	December 8
April 13	August 21	December 25
April 14	October 9

Australia
January 2	April 25	September 29
January 26	May 1	October 2
March 6	June 5	November 7
March 13	June 12	December 25
April 14	August 7	December 26
April 17	August 8
April 18	September 25

Austria
January 6	May 25	October 26	December 26
April 14	June 5	November 1
April 17	June 15	December 8
May 1	August 15	December 25

Bahrain
January 1	June 27	December 17
May 1	September 3
June 25	September 21
June 26	November 30

The Bahraini market is closed every Friday.

B-1

Bangladesh
February 21	June 27	December 31
March 26	August 14
May 1	August 15
May 10	September 3
June 25	October 1
June 26	December 25

The Bangladeshi market is closed every Friday.

Belgium
April 14	May 1	December 26
April 17	December 25

Benin
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

Bermuda
January 2	June 19	September 4	December 26
April 14	August 3	November 13
May 24	August 4	December 25

Bosnia and Herzegovina
January 2	April 17	June 26
January 6	May 1	September 1
March 1	May 2

Botswana
January 2	May 1	October 2
January 3	May 25	December 25
April 14	July 17	December 26
April 17	July 18

Brazil
January 25	April 14	September 7	November 20
February 27	April 21	October 12	December 25
February 28	May 1	November 2
March 1	June 15	November 15

Bulgaria
January 2	May 1	December 25
March 3	May 24	December 26
April 14	September 6
April 17	September 22

Burkina Faso
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

Canada
January 2	May 22	October 9
January 3	June 26	November 13
February 13	July 3	December 25
February 20	August 7	December 26
April 14	September 4

Chile
January 2	August 15	October 27
April 14	September 18	November 1
May 1	September 19	December 8
June 26	October 9	December 25

China
January 2	April 3	October 3
January 27	April 4	October 4
January 30	May 1	October 5
January 31	May 29	October 6
February 1	May 30
February 2	October 2

Colombia
January 9	June 19	October 16
March 20	June 26	November 6
April 13	July 3	November 13
April 14	July 20	December 8
May 1	August 7	December 25
May 29	August 21

B-2

Costa Rica
April 11	July 25	October 16
April 13	August 2	December 25
April 14	August 15
May 1	September 15

Croatia
January 6	May 1	August 15	December 26
April 14	June 15	November 1
April 17	June 22	December 25

Cyprus
January 6	April 18	December 25
February 27	May 1	December 26
April 14	June 5
April 17	August 15

The Czech Republic
April 14	May 8	September 28	December 26
April 17	July 5	November 17
May 1	July 6	December 25

Denmark
April 13	May 12	June 5
April 14	May 25	December 25
April 17	May 26	December 26

Egypt
January 1	April 25	July 23
January 25	May 1	August 31
April 16	June 25	September 21
April 17	June 26	November 30

The Egyptian market is closed every Friday.

Estonia
February 23	April 17	June 22	December 26
February 24	May 1	June 23
April 14	May 25	December 25

Finland
January 6	April 17	December 6
April 13	May 1	December 25
April 14	May 25	December 26

France
April 14	May 1	December 26
April 17	December 25

Georgia
January 2	April 14	May 26
January 19	April 17	August 28
March 3	May 9	November 23
March 8	May 12

Germany
April 14	June 5	December 25
April 17	October 3	December 26
May 1	October 31

Ghana
January 2	April 17	June 26	September 21
March 6	May 1	July 7	December 25
April 14	May 25	September 13	December 26

Greece
January 6	May 1	December 26
February 27	June 5
April 14	August 15
April 17	December 25

Guinea-Bissau
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

B-3

Hong Kong
January 2	April 4	May 3	December 25
January 27	April 14	May 30	December 26
January 30	April 17	October 2
January 31	May 1	October 5

Hungary
March 15	May 1	November 1
April 14	June 5	December 25
April 17	October 23	December 26

Iceland
April 13	April 20	June 5	December 26
April 14	May 1	August 7
April 17	May 25	December 25

India
January 26	June 26	December 25
February 24	August 15
March 13	August 17
March 28	August 25
April 4	October 2
April 14	October 19
May 1	October 20
May 10	December 1

Indonesia
January 2	June 1	September 1
March 28	June 26	September 21
April 14	June 27	December 1
April 24	June 28	December 25
May 1	June 29	December 26
May 11	June 30
May 25	August 17

Ireland
January 2	May 1	December 22
March 17	June 5	December 25
April 14	August 7	December 26
April 17	October 30	December 29

Israel
March 12	May 1	October 4
April 10	May 2	October 5
April 11	May 30	October 8
April 12	May 31	October 9
April 13	August 1	October 10
April 16	September 20	October 11
April 17	September 21	October 12

The Israeli market is closed every Friday.

Italy
April 14	May 1	December 25
April 17	August 15	December 26

Ivory Coast
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

Jamaica
January 2	April 17	August 7	December 26
March 1	May 23	October 16
April 14	August 1	December 25

Japan
January 2	May 3	August 11	November 23
January 3	May 4	September 18
January 9	May 5	October 9
March 20	July 17	November 3

B-4

Jordan
January 1	June 27	September 21
May 1	June 28	November 30
May 25	August 31	December 25
June 25	September 3
June 26	September 4

The Jordanian market is closed every Friday.

Kazakhstan
January 2	March 23	August 30
January 3	May 1	September 1
March 8	May 8	December 1
March 21	May 9	December 18
March 22	July 6	December 19

Kenya
January 2	June 1	December 25
April 14	June 27	December 26
April 17	October 20
May 1	December 12

Kuwait
January 1	June 25	August 31
February 26	June 26	September 3
April 24	June 27	September 21

The Kuwaiti market is closed every Friday.

Latvia
April 13	May 5	November 20
April 14	May 25	December 25
April 17	June 22	December 26
May 1	June 23
May 4	November 17

Lebanon
January 2	April 25	September 1
January 6	May 1	September 21
February 9	May 25	November 22
February 14	June 26	December 1
April 14	June 27	December 25
April 17	August 15

Lithuania
February 16	May 25	December 25
April 14	July 6	December 26
April 17	August 15
May 1	November 1

Luxembourg
April 14	May 1	December 26
April 17	December 25

Malawi
January 2	April 14	May 15	December 25
January 16	April 17	June 26	December 26
March 3	May 1	July 6

Malaysia
January 2	May 10	September 21
January 27	June 12	October 18
January 30	June 26	December 1
February 1	June 27	December 25
February 9	August 31
May 1	September 1

Mali
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

Mauritius
January 2	February 24	June 26	November 2
February 1	March 29	October 19	December 25
February 9	May 1	November 1

Mexico
February 6	April 14	November 20
March 20	May 1	December 12
April 13	November 2	December 25

B-5

Morocco
January 11	August 14	September 22
May 1	August 21	November 6
June 26	September 1

Namibia
January 2	April 27	June 16	December 25
March 21	May 1	August 9	December 26
April 14	May 4	September 25	December 27
April 17	May 25	December 11

The Netherlands
April 14	May 1	December 26
April 17	December 25

New Zealand
January 2	April 17	December 25
January 3	April 25	December 26
February 6	June 5
April 14	October 23

Niger
April 17	June 21	November 15
May 1	June 26	December 1
May 25	September 1	December 25
June 5	November 1

Nigeria
January 2	May 29	October 2
April 14	June 26	December 1
April 17	June 27	December 25
May 1	September 1	December 26

Norway
April 12	April 17	May 25	December 26
April 13	May 1	June 5
April 14	May 17	December 25

Oman
April 24	July 23	November 19
June 26

The Omani market is closed every Friday.

Pakistan
January 2	June 26	August 14
March 23	June 27	September 1
May 1	June 28	September 29

Panama
January 2	March 1	November 10
January 9	April 14	December 8
February 27	May 1	December 25
February 28	November 3

Peru
April 13	June 29	November 1
April 14	July 28	December 8
May 1	August 30	December 25

The Philippines
January 2	June 12	November 1
April 13	August 21	November 30
April 14	August 28	December 25
May 1	October 31

Poland
January 6	May 1	August 15	December 26
April 14	May 3	November 1
April 17	June 15	December 25

Portugal
April 14	May 1	December 26
April 17	December 25

B-6

Puerto Rico
January 2	May 29	October 9
January 16	July 3	November 23
February 20	July 4	November 24
April 14	September 4	December 25

Qatar
January 1	June 25	September 3
February 14	June 26	December 18
March 5	June 27

The Qatari market is closed every Friday.

Romania
January 2	May 1	August 15	December 25
January 24	June 1	November 30	December 26
April 17	June 5	December 1

Russia
January 2	May 1	June 12
February 23	May 8	November 6
March 8	May 9

Saudi Arabia
June 26	June 29	September 5
June 27	September 3
June 28	September 4

The Saudi Arabian market is closed every Friday.

Senegal
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

Serbia
January 2	February 16	May 1
January 3	April 14	May 2
February 15	April 17

Singapore
January 2	May 10	October 18
January 30	June 26	December 25
April 14	August 9
May 1	September 1

The Slovak Republic
January 6	May 8	September 15	December 26
April 14	July 5	November 1
April 17	August 29	November 17
May 1	September 1	December 25

Slovenia
January 2	April 27	October 31
February 8	May 1	November 1
April 14	May 2	December 25
April 17	August 15	December 26

South Africa
January 2	April 27	September 25
March 21	May 1	December 25
April 14	June 16	December 26
April 17	August 9

South Korea
January 27	June 6	October 9
January 30	August 15	December 20
March 1	October 3	December 25
May 1	October 4	December 29
May 3	October 5
May 5	October 6

Spain
April 14	May 1	December 26
April 17	December 25

B-7

Sri Lanka
January 12	April 13	June 26	November 3
January 20	April 14	August 7	December 1
February 10	May 1	September 1	December 25
February 17	May 10	September 5
February 24	May 11	October 5
April 10	June 8	October 18

Srpska
January 2	April 14	May 2
January 6	April 17	May 9
January 9	May 1	November 21

Swaziland
January 2	April 19	May 5	December 26
April 14	April 25	September 6
April 17	May 1	December 25

Sweden
January 5	April 17	June 6	December 26
January 6	May 1	June 23
April 13	May 24	November 3
April 14	May 25	December 25

Switzerland
January 2	May 25	December 26
April 14	June 5
April 17	August 1
May 1	December 25

Taiwan
January 2	January 31	April 4	October 9
January 25	February 1	May 1	October 10
January 26	February 27	May 29
January 27	February 28	May 30
January 30	April 3	October 4

Tanzania
January 12	April 26	July 27	December 25
April 7	May 1	August 8	December 26
April 14	July 7	September 1
April 17	July 26	December 15

Thailand
January 2	April 14	August 14
January 3	May 1	October 23
February 13	May 5	December 5
April 6	May 10	December 11
April 13	July 10

Togo
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

Tunisia
March 20	July 25	December 1
May 1	September 1
June 26	September 21

Turkey
May 1	June 27	September 1
May 19	August 30	September 4
June 26	August 31

Uganda
January 2	April 14	June 26	November 30
January 26	April 17	July 7	December 25
February 16	May 1	September 13	December 26
March 8	June 9	October 9

Ukraine
January 2	April 17	June 5
January 3	May 1	June 28
January 9	May 2	August 24
March 8	May 9	October 16

B-8

The United Arab Emirates
January 1	June 26	November 30
April 24	August 31	December 3
June 25	September 21

The United Arab Emirates market is closed every Friday.

The United Kingdom
January 2	May 1	December 22	December 29
April 14	May 29	December 25
April 17	August 28	December 26

The United States Bond Market
January 2	April 14	July 4	November 24*
January 16	May 26*	September 4	December 22*
February 20	May 29	October 9	December 25
April 13*	July 3*	November 23	December 29*

*	The U.S. bond market has recommended early close.

Uruguay
January 6	April 17	August 25
February 27	May 1	October 16
February 28	May 22	November 2
April 13	June 19	December 25
April 14	July 18

Venezuela
January 9	May 1	August 14
February 27	May 29	September 11
February 28	June 19	October 12
April 13	July 3	November 6
April 14	July 5	December 11
April 19	July 24	December 25

Vietnam
January 2	January 30	April 6	September 4
January 26	January 31	May 1
January 27	February 1	May 2

Zambia
January 2	April 17	July 4	December 25
March 8	May 1	August 7
March 13	May 25	October 18
April 14	July 3	October 24

Zimbabwe
January 2	May 1	December 22
April 14	May 25	December 25
April 17	August 14	December 26
April 18	August 15

2018

Albania
January 1	April 9	November 28
January 2	May 1	November 29
March 14	June 14	December 10
March 22	August 21	December 25
April 2	October 19

Argentina
January 1	April 2	August 20
February 12	May1	October 15
February 13	May 25	November 6
March 29	June 20	November 19
March 30	July 9	December 25

B-9

Australia
January 1	April 25	October 1
January 26	May 7	October 8
March 5	June 4	November 6
March 12	June 11	December 24
March 30	August 6	December 25
April 2	August 15	December 26
April 3	September 24	December 31

Austria
January 1	May 21	December 24
March 30	May 31	December 25
April 2	August 15	December 26
May 1	October 26	December 31
May 10	November 1

Bahrain
January 1	August 23	November 20
May 1	September 11	December 16
June 17	September 19	December 17
August 22	September 20

The Bahraini market is closed every Friday.

Bangladesh
February 21	June 17	September 2
March 26	July 1	November 21
April 29	August 15	December 16
May 1	August 21	December 25
May 2	August 22	December 31
June 12	August 23

The Bangladeshi market is closed every Friday.

Belgium
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Benin
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Bermuda
January 1	August 2	November 12
March 30	August 3	December 25
May 25	September 3	December 26
June 18

Bosnia and Herzegovina
January 1	April 30	August 20
January 2	May 1	August 21
March 1	May 2	November 26
March 2	June 14	December 25
April 2	June 15

Botswana
January 1	May 10	October 2
January 2	July 2	December 25
March 30	July 16	December 26
April 2	July 17
May 1	October 1

Brazil
January 1	May 1	November 15
January 25	May 31	November 20
February 12	July 9	December 24
February 13	September 7	December 25
February 14	October 12	December 31
March 30	November 2

Bulgaria
January 1	May 1	September 24
March 5	May 7	December 24
April 6	May 24	December 25
April 9	September 6	December 26

Burkina Faso
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

B-10

Canada
January 1	May 21	October 8
January 2	June 25	November 12
February 12	July 2	December 25
February 19	August 6	December 26
March 30	September 3

Chile
January 1	July 16	October 15
March 30	August 15	November 1
May 1	September 17	November 2
May 21	September 18	December 25
July 2	September 19	December 31

China
January 1	April 5	October 1
February 15	April 6	October 2
February 16	April 30	October 3
February 19	May 1	October 4
February 20	June 18	October 5
February 21	September 24

Colombia
January 1	May 14	August 20
January 8	June 4	October 15
March 19	June 11	November 5
March 29	July 2	November 12
March 30	July 20	December 25
May 1	August 7

Costa Rica
January 1	May 1	October 15
March 29	July 25	December 25
March 30	August 2
April 11	August 15

Croatia
January 1	June 22	December 24
March 30	June 25	December 25
April 2	August 15	December 26
May 1	October 8	December 31
May 31	November 1

Cyprus
January 1	April 9	October 1
February 19	April 10	December 24
March 30	May 1	December 25
April 2	May 28	December 26
April 6	August 15

Czechia
January 1	May 8	December 24
March 30	July 5	December 25
April 2	July 6	December 26
May 1	September 28	December 31

Denmark
January 1	May 10	December 25
March 29	May 11	December 26
March 30	May 21	December 31
April 2	June 5
April 27	December 24

Egypt
January 1	April 25	August 20
January 7	May 1	August 21
January 25	June 17	August 22
April 8	July 1	September 11
April 9	July 23	November 20

The Egyptian market is closed every Friday.

Estonia
January 1	May 10	December 26
March 30	August 20	December 31
April 2	December 24
May 1	December 25

Finland
January 1	May 10	December 25
March 30	June 22	December 26
April 2	December 6	December 31
May 1	December 24

B-11

France
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Georgia
January 1	March 8	May 9
January 2	April 6	August 28
January 19	April 9	November 23

Germany
January 1	May 21	December 26
March 30	October 3	December 31
April 2	December 24
May 1	December 25

Ghana
January 1	May 25	December 7
March 6	June 15	December 25
March 30	July 2	December 26
April 2	August 22
May 1	September 21

Greece
January 1	April 6	August 15
February 19	April 9	December 24
March 30	May 1	December 25
April 2	May 28	December 26

Guinea-Bissau
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Hong Kong
January 1	April 5	October 17
January 27	May 1	December 24
February 15	May 22	December 25
February 16	June 18	December 26
February 19	July 2	December 31
March 30	September 25
April 2	October 1

Hungary
January 1	May 1	November 2
March 15	May 21	December 24
March 16	August 20	December 25
March 30	October 22	December 26
April 2	October 23	December 31
April 30	November 1

Iceland
January 1	May 1	December 25
March 29	May 10	December 26
March 30	May 21	December 31
April 2	August 6
April 19	December 24

India
January 26	May 1	October 18
February 13	August 15	November 7
February 19	August 17	November 8
March 2	August 22	November 21
March 29	September 13	November 23
March 30	September 20	December 25
April 30	October 2

Indonesia
January 1	June 13	September 11
February 16	June 14	November 20
March 30	June 15	December 24
May 1	June 18	December 25
May 10	June 19	December 31
May 29	August 17
June 1	August 22

Ireland
January 1	May 28	December 24
March 19	June 4	December 25
March 30	August 6	December 26
April 2	August 27	December 31
May 7	October 29

B-12

Israel
March 1	May 20	September 24
April 1	July 22	September 25
April 2	September 9	September 26
April 3	September 10	September 27
April 4	September 11	September 30
April 5	September 18	October 1
April 18	September 19
April 19	September 23

The Israeli market is closed every Friday.

Italy
January 1	May 1	December 25
March 30	August 15	December 26
April 2	December 24	December 31

Ivory Coast
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Jamaica
January 1	May 23	December 25
February 14	August 1	December 26
March 30	August 6
April 2	October 15

Japan
January 1	April 30	October 8
January 2	May 3	November 23
January 3	May 4	December 24
January 8	July 16	December 31
February 12	September 17
March 21	September 24

Jordan
January 1	August 21	November 21
May 1	August 22	December 25
May 25	August 23
June 17	September 12

The Jordanian market is closed every Friday.

Kazakhstan
January 1	April 30	August 30
January 2	May 1	August 31
March 8	May 7	December 3
March 9	May 8	December 17
March 21	May 9	December 18
March 22	July 6	December 31
March 23	August 21

Kenya
January 1	June 1	December 25
March 30	June 15	December 26
April 2	October 10
May 1	December 12

Kuwait
January 1	June 17	August 23
February 25	August 20	September 11
February 26	August 21	November 22
April 15	August 22

The Kuwaiti market is closed every Friday.

Latvia
January 1	May 4	December 26
March 30	May 10	December 31
April 2	November 19
April 30	December 24
May 1	December 25

B-13

Lithuania
January 1	May 1	November 1
February 16	May 10	December 24
March 30	July 6	December 25
April 2	August 15	December 26

Luxembourg
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Malawi
January 1	April 2	July 6
January 15	May 1	October 15
March 5	May 14	December 25
March 30	June 15	December 26

Malaysia
January 1	May 29	September 11
January 31	June 14	September 17
February 1	June 15	November 6
February 15	August 22	November 20
February 16	August 31	December 25
May 1	September 10

Mali
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Mauritius
January 1	February 16	November 2
January 2	March 12	November 7
January 31	May 1	December 25
February 1	August 15
February 13	September 14

Mexico
January 1	March 30	November 2
February 5	April 2	November 19
March 19	April 30	December 12
March 29	May 1	December 25

Morocco
January 1	July 30	August 22
January 11	August 14	September 11
May 1	August 20	November 6
June 14	August 21	November 20

Namibia
January 1	May 1	September 24
March 21	May 4	December 10
March 30	May 25	December 17
April 2	August 9	December 25
April 27	August 27	December 26

The Netherlands
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

New Zealand
January 1	April 2	December 25
January 2	April 25	December 26
February 6	June 4
March 30	October 22

Niger
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Nigeria
January 1	June 15	November 19
March 30	June 18	December 25
April 2	August 22	December 26
May 1	August 23
May 29	October 1

B-14

Norway
January 1	May 1	December 25
March 28	May 10	December 26
March 29	May 17	December 31
March 30	May 21
April 2	December 24

Oman
January 1	August 22	November 19
June 17	August 23	November 20
June 18	September 11
July 23	November 18

The Omani market is closed every Friday.

Pakistan
January 1	June 18	September 20
February 5	July 2	September 21
March 23	August 22	November 20
May 1	August 23	December 25
June 15	August 24

Panama
January 1	March 30	November 26
January 8	May 1	December 25
February 13	November 5	December 31

Peru
January 1	May 1	October 8
March 29	June 29	November 1
March 30	August 30	December 25

The Philippines
January 1	May 1	November 30
January 2	June 12	December 24
February 16	August 21	December 25
March 29	August 27	December 31
March 30	November 1
April 9	November 2

Poland
January 1	May 3	December 25
January 2	May 31	December 26
March 30	August 15	December 31
April 2	November 1
May 1	December 24

Portugal
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Puerto Rico
January 1	July 4	November 23
January 15	September 3	December 24
February 19	October 8	December 25
March 30	November 12
May 28	November 22

Qatar
January 1	June 18	August 22
February 13	June 19	December 18
March 4	August 20
June 17	August 21

The Qatari market is closed every Friday.

Romania
January 1	May 1	November 30
January 2	May 28	December 25
January 24	June 1	December 26
April 9	August 15

Russia
January 1	March 8	November 5
January 2	May 1	December 31
January 8	May 9
February 23	June 12

B-15

Saudi Arabia
June 17	June 21	August 22
June 18	August 19	August 23
June 19	August 20	September 23
June 20	August 21

The Saudi Arabian market is closed every Friday.

Senegal
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Serbia
January 1	April 6	November 12
January 2	April 9	December 31
February 15	May 1
February 16	May 2

Singapore
January 1	May 29	November 6
February 16	June 15	December 25
March 30	August 9
May 1	August 22

The Slovak Republic
January 1	May 8	December 24
March 30	July 5	December 25
April 2	August 29	December 26
May 1	November 1

Slovenia
January 1	May 1	December 24
January 2	May 2	December 25
February 8	June 25	December 26
March 30	August 15	December 31
April 2	October 31
April 27	November 1

South Africa
January 1	April 27	December 17
March 21	May 1	December 25
March 30	August 9	December 26
April 2	September 24

South Korea
January 1	May 22	September 26
February 15	June 6	October 3
February 16	June 13	October 9
March 1	August 15	December 25
May 1	September 24	December 31
May 7	September 25

Spain
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Sri Lanka
January 1	April 20	September 24
January 15	April 30	October 24
January 31	May 1	November 6
February 5	May 29	November 20
February 13	June 15	November 22
March 1	June 27	December 25
March 30	July 27
April 13	August 22

Srpska
January 1	April 6	May 2
January 2	April 9	May 9
January 9	May 1	November 21

B-16

Swaziland
January 1	April 25	September 6
January 5	May 1	December 25
March 30	May 10	December 26
April 2	July 23
April 19	August 27

Sweden
January 1	May 1	November 2
January 5	May 9	December 24
March 29	May 10	December 25
March 30	June 6	December 26
April 2	June 22	December 31

Switzerland
January 1	May 1	December 25
January 2	May 10	December 26
March 30	May 21
April 2	August 1

Taiwan
January 1	February 20	June 18
February 13	February 28	September 24
February 14	April 4	October 10
February 15	April 5	December 31
February 16	April 6
February 19	May 1

Tanzania
January 1	May 1	December 20
January 12	June 15	December 25
March 30	August 8	December 26
April 2	August 22
April 26	November 21

Thailand
January 1	May 1	October 23
January 2	May 29	December 5
March 1	July 27	December 10
April 6	July 30	December 31
April 13	August 13
April 16	October 15

Togo
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Tunisia
January 1	June 15	September 12
March 20	July 25	October 15
April 9	August 13	November 20
May 1	August 21

Turkey
January 1	June 15	August 23
April 23	August 20	August 24
May 1	August 21	August 30
June 14	August 22	October 29

Uganda
January 1	April 2	November 30
January 26	May 1	December 25
February 16	June 15	December 26
March 8	August 21
March 30	October 9

Ukraine
January 1	May 1	June 28
January 8	May 2	August 24
March 8	May 9	October 15
April 9	May 28	December 25

The United Arab Emirates
January 1	August 21	November 20
June 14	August 22	December 2
August 20	September 11	December 3

The United Arab Emirates market is closed every Friday.

B-17

The United Kingdom
January 1	May 28	December 26
March 30	August 27	December 31
April 2	December 24
May 7	December 25

The United States Bond Market
January 1	May 25*	October 8	December 25
January 15	May 28	November 12	December 31*
February 19	July 3*	November 22
March 29*	July 4	November 23*
March 30	September 3	December 24*

*	The U.S. bond market has recommended early close.

Uruguay
January 1	April 23	October 15
February 12	May 1	November 2
February 13	May 21	December 25
March 29	June 19
March 30	July 18

Venezuela
January 1	May 1	September 10
February 12	May 14	October 12
February 13	June 4	November 5
March 19	July 2	December 24
March 29	July 5	December 25
March 30	July 24	December 31
April 19	August 20

Vietnam
January 1	February 19	May 1
February 14	February 20	September 3
February 15	April 25
February 16	April 30

Zambia
January 1	May 1	October 18
March 8	May 25	October 24
March 12	July 2	December 25
March 30	July 3
April 2	August 6

Zimbabwe
January 1	April 18	August 14
February 21	May 1	December 25
March 30	May 25	December 26
April 2	August 13

Redemptions. The longest redemption cycle for a Fund is a function of the longest redemption cycle among the countries and regions whose securities comprise the Fund. In the calendar years 2017 and 2018 (the only years for which holidays are known at the time of this SAI filing), the dates of regular holidays affecting the following securities markets present the worst-case redemption cycles* for a Fund as follows:

2017
Country	Trade Date	Settlement Date	Number of Days to Settle
Australia	04/11/17	04/19/17	8
	04/12/17	04/20/17	8
	04/13/17	04/21/17	8

Bangladesh	06/20/17	06/28/17	8
	06/21/17	06/29/17	8
	06/22/17	07/02/17	10

B-18

iShares^® Trust

Statement of Additional Information

Dated December 29, 2017
(as revised September 28, 2018)

Fund	Ticker	Listing Exchange
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF	CNDF	Cboe BZX
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF	CNSF	Cboe BZX
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF	ERGF	Cboe BZX
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF	FNCF	Cboe BZX
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF	HCRF	Cboe BZX
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF	INDF	Cboe BZX
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF	MATF	Cboe BZX
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF	TCHF	Cboe BZX
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF	UTLF	Cboe BZX
iShares MSCI Denmark ETF	EDEN	Cboe BZX
iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF	ESGD	NASDAQ
iShares MSCI Finland ETF	EFNL	Cboe BZX
iShares MSCI Germany Small-Cap ETF	EWGS	Cboe BZX
iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF	EIDO	NYSE Arca
iShares MSCI Ireland ETF	EIRL	NYSE Arca
iShares MSCI New Zealand ETF	ENZL	NASDAQ
iShares MSCI Norway ETF	ENOR	Cboe BZX
iShares MSCI Philippines ETF	EPHE	NYSE Arca
iShares MSCI Poland ETF	EPOL	NYSE Arca
iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF	EWU	NYSE Arca
iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small-Cap ETF	EWUS	Cboe BZX
iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF	ESGU	NASDAQ

iShares^® and BlackRock^® are registered trademarks of BlackRock Fund Advisors and its affiliates.

General Description of the Trust and its Funds

•	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF
•	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF
•	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF
•	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF
•	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF
•	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF
•	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF
•	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF
•	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF
•	iShares MSCI Denmark ETF¹
•	iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF²
•	iShares MSCI Finland ETF³
•	iShares MSCI Germany Small-Cap ETF
•	iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF
•	iShares MSCI Ireland ETF⁴
•	iShares MSCI New Zealand ETF⁵
•	iShares MSCI Norway ETF⁶
•	iShares MSCI Philippines ETF
•	iShares MSCI Poland ETF⁷
•	iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF⁸
•	iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small-Cap ETF
•	iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF⁹

¹	Effective December 29, 2017, the name of the Fund changed from iShares MSCI Denmark Capped ETF to iShares MSCI Denmark ETF.
²	On June 1, 2018, the Fund’s Underlying Index changed from the MSCI EAFE ESG Focus Index to the MSCI EAFE Extended ESG Focus Index.
³	Effective December 29, 2017, the name of the Fund changed from iShares MSCI Finland Capped ETF to iShares MSCI Finland ETF.
⁴	Effective December 29, 2017, the name of the Fund changed from iShares MSCI Ireland Capped ETF to iShares MSCI Ireland ETF.
⁵	Effective December 29, 2017, the name of the Fund changed from iShares MSCI New Zealand Capped ETF to iShares MSCI New Zealand ETF.
⁶	Effective December 29, 2017, the name of the Fund changed from iShares MSCI Norway Capped ETF to iShares MSCI Norway ETF.
⁷	Effective December 29, 2017, the name of the Fund changed from iShares MSCI Poland Capped ETF to iShares MSCI Poland ETF.
⁸	The iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF previously operated as a series of iShares, Inc. (the “Predecessor Fund”). Before the Fund commenced operations, all of the assets and liabilities of the Predecessor Fund were transferred to the Fund in a reorganization (the “Reorganization”), which was tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The Reorganization occurred on September 29, 2014. As a result of the Reorganization, the Fund assumed the performance and accounting history of the Predecessor Fund. A portion of the financial and performance information for the Fund included in this SAI is that of the Predecessor Fund.
⁹	On June 1, 2018, the Fund’s Underlying Index changed from the MSCI USA ESG Focus Index to the MSCI USA Extended ESG Focus Index.

Each Fund offers and issues shares at their net asset value per share (“NAV”) only in aggregations of a specified number of shares (each, a “Creation Unit”), generally in exchange for a designated portfolio of securities (including any portion of such securities for which cash may be substituted) included in its Underlying Index (the “Deposit Securities”), together with the deposit of a specified cash payment (the “Cash Component”). Shares of the Funds are listed for trading on national securities exchanges such as Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (“Cboe BZX”) (formerly known as BATS Exchange, Inc.), NYSE Arca, Inc. (“NYSE Arca”) or The Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC (“NASDAQ”) (each a “Listing Exchange”). Shares of each Fund are traded in the secondary market and elsewhere at market prices that may be at, above or below the Fund's NAV. Shares are redeemable only in Creation Units by Authorized Participants (as defined in the Portfolio Holdings Information section of this SAI), and, generally, in exchange for portfolio securities and a Cash Amount (as defined in the Redemption of Creation Units section of this SAI). Creation Units typically are a specified number of shares, generally ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 shares or multiples thereof.

Exchange Listing and Trading

As in the case of other publicly-traded securities, when you buy or sell shares of a Fund through a broker, you may incur a brokerage commission determined by that broker, as well as other charges.

include securities that are not a part of the current Deposit Securities. Therefore, a Fund’s IOPV disseminated during the Listing Exchange trading hours should not be viewed as a real-time update of the Fund’s NAV, which is calculated only once a day.

Investment Strategies and Risks

Each Fund engages in representative sampling, which is investing in a sample of securities selected by BFA to have a collective investment profile similar to that of the Fund's Underlying Index. Securities selected have aggregate investment characteristics (based on market capitalization and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability, earnings valuation and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of the Underlying Index. A fund that uses representative sampling generally does not hold all of the securities that are in its underlying index.

Although the Funds do not seek leveraged returns, certain instruments used by the Funds may have a leveraging effect as described below.

Currency Transactions. A foreign currency forward contract is an over-the-counter (“OTC”) obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days greater than two days from the date on which the contract is agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract. A non-deliverable currency forward is an OTC currency forward settled in a specified currency, on a specified date, based on the difference between the agreed-upon exchange rate and the market exchange rate. A currency futures contract is a contract that trades on an organized futures exchange involving an obligation to deliver or acquire a specified amount of a specific currency, at a specified price and at a specified future time. Currency futures contracts may be settled on a net cash payment basis rather than by the sale and delivery of the underlying currency. To the extent required by law, liquid assets committed to futures contracts will be maintained. The Funds do not expect to engage in currency transactions for the purpose of hedging against declines in the

value of each Fund's assets that are denominated in a non-U.S. currency. A Fund may enter into non-U.S. currency forward and non-U.S. currency futures transactions to facilitate local securities settlements or to protect against currency exposure in connection with its distributions to shareholders, but may not enter into such contracts for speculative purposes.

Diversification Status. The following table sets forth the diversification status of each Fund:

Diversified Funds		Non-Diversified Funds
iShares MSCI Germany Small-Cap ETF		iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF
iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small-Cap ETF		iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF
		iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF
		iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF
		iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF
		iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF
		iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF
		iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF
		iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF
		iShares MSCI Denmark ETF
		iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF
		iShares MSCI Finland ETF
		iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF
		iShares MSCI Ireland ETF
		iShares MSCI New Zealand ETF
		iShares MSCI Norway ETF
		iShares MSCI Philippines ETF
		iShares MSCI Poland ETF
		iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF
		iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF

Each Fund (whether diversified or non-diversified) intends to maintain the required level of diversification and otherwise conduct its operations so as to qualify as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) for purposes of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”), and to relieve the Fund of any liability for U.S. federal income tax to the extent that its earnings are distributed to shareholders, provided that the Fund satisfies a minimum distribution requirement. Compliance with the diversification requirements of the Internal Revenue Code may limit the investment flexibility of the Funds and may make it less likely that the Funds will meet their respective investment objectives.

Futures, Options on Futures and Securities Options. Futures contracts, options on futures and securities options may be used by a Fund to simulate investment in its Underlying Index, to facilitate trading or to reduce transaction costs. Each Fund may enter into futures contracts and options on futures that are traded on a U.S. or non-U.S. futures exchange. Each Fund will not use futures, options on futures or securities options for speculative purposes. Each Fund intends to use futures and options on futures in accordance with Rule 4.5 of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) promulgated under the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”). BFA, with respect to certain Funds, has claimed an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” in accordance with Rule 4.5 so that BFA, in respect of such Funds, is not subject to registration or regulation as a commodity pool operator under the CEA. See the Regulation Regarding Derivatives section of this SAI for more information.

Futures contracts provide for the future sale by one party and purchase by another party of a specified amount of a specific instrument or index at a specified future time and at a specified price. Stock index contracts are based on investments that reflect the market value of common stock of the firms included in the investments. Each Fund may enter into futures contracts to purchase securities indexes when BFA anticipates purchasing the underlying securities and believes prices will rise before the purchase will be made. Upon entering into a futures contract, a Fund will be required to deposit with the broker an amount of cash or cash equivalents known as “initial margin,” which is similar to a performance bond or good faith deposit on the contract and is returned to the Fund upon termination of the futures contract if all contractual obligations have been satisfied. Subsequent payments, known as “variation margin,” will be made to and from the broker daily as the price of the instrument or index underlying the futures contract fluctuates, making the long and short positions in the futures contract more or less valuable, a process known as “marking-to-market.” At any time prior to the expiration of a futures contract, each Fund may elect to close the position by taking an opposite position, which will operate to terminate the Fund’s existing position in the contract. To the extent required by law, each Fund will segregate liquid assets in an amount equal to its delivery obligations under the futures contracts. An option on a futures contract, as contrasted with a direct investment in such a contract, gives the purchaser the right, but no obligation, in return for the premium paid, to assume a position in the underlying futures contract at a specified exercise price at any time prior to the expiration date of the option. Upon exercise of an option, the delivery of the futures position by the writer of the option to the holder of the option will be accompanied by delivery of the accumulated balance in the writer’s futures margin account that represents the amount by which the market price of the futures contract exceeds (in the case of a call) or is less than (in the case of a put) the exercise price of the option on the futures contract. The potential for loss related to the purchase of an option on a futures contract is limited to the premium paid for the option plus transaction costs. Because the value of the option is fixed at the point of sale, there are no daily cash payments by the purchaser to reflect changes in the value of the underlying contract; however, the value of the option changes daily and that change would be reflected in the NAV of each Fund. The potential for loss related to writing call options is unlimited. The potential for loss related to writing put options is limited to the agreed-upon price per share, also known as the “strike price,” less the premium received from writing the put. Certain of the Funds may purchase and write put and call options on futures contracts that are traded on an exchange as a hedge against changes in value of their portfolio securities or in anticipation of the purchase of securities, and may enter into closing transactions with respect to such options to terminate existing positions. There is no guarantee that such closing transactions can be effected.

Depositary receipts are generally subject to the same risks as the foreign securities that they evidence or into which they may be converted. In addition to investment risks associated with the underlying issuer, depository receipts expose a Fund to additional risks associated with the non-uniform terms that apply to depository receipt programs, credit exposure to the depository bank and to the sponsors and other parties with whom the depository bank establishes the programs, currency risk and liquidity risk. Unsponsored programs, which are not sanctioned by the issuer of the underlying common stock, generally expose investors to greater risks than sponsored programs and do not provide holders with many of the shareholder benefits that come from investing in a sponsored depository receipts.

BFA has claimed an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” under the CEA pursuant to Rule 4.5 under the CEA with respect to the iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF, iShares MSCI Denmark ETF, iShares MSCI Finland ETF, iShares MSCI Germany Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF, iShares MSCI Ireland ETF,

iShares MSCI New Zealand ETF, iShares MSCI Norway ETF, iShares MSCI Philippines ETF, iShares MSCI Poland ETF and iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF. BFA is not, therefore, subject to registration or regulation as a “commodity pool operator” under the CEA with respect to the Funds.

The iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF, iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF and iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small-Cap ETF (the “No-Action Letter Funds”) may also have investments in “underlying funds” (and such underlying funds themselves may invest in underlying funds) not advised by BFA (which for purposes of the no-action letter referenced below may include certain securitized vehicles, mortgage real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and/or investment companies that may invest in CFTC Derivatives), and therefore may be viewed by the CFTC as commodity pools. BFA has no transparency into the holdings of these underlying funds because they are not advised by BFA. To address this issue of lack of transparency, the CFTC staff issued a no-action letter on November 29, 2012 permitting the adviser of a fund that invests in such underlying funds and that would otherwise have filed a claim of exclusion pursuant to CFTC Rule 4.5 to delay registration as a “commodity pool operator” until six months from the date on which the CFTC issues additional guidance on the treatment of CFTC Derivatives held by underlying funds. BFA, the adviser of the No-Action Letter Funds, has filed a claim with the CFTC for such Funds to rely on this no-action relief. Accordingly, BFA is not currently subject to registration or regulation as a “commodity pool operator” under the CEA in respect of such Funds.

Derivative contracts, including, without limitation, swaps, currency forwards, and non-deliverable forwards, are subject to regulation under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”) in the United States and under comparable regimes in Europe, Asia and other non-U.S. jurisdictions. Swaps, non-deliverable forwards and certain other derivatives traded in the OTC market are subject to variation margin requirements, and initial margining requirements will be phased in through 2020. Implementation of the margining and other provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act regarding clearing, mandatory trading, reporting and documentation of swaps and other derivatives have impacted and may continue to impact the costs to a Fund of trading these instruments and, as a result, may affect returns to investors in such Fund.

Fund would normally be in if it were to hold, pursuant to its investment policies, other unsecured debt securities of the defaulting counterparty) with respect to the amount of the shortfall. As an unsecured creditor, a Fund would be at risk of losing some or all of the principal and income involved in the transaction.

Reverse Repurchase Agreements. Reverse repurchase agreements involve the sale of securities with an agreement to repurchase the securities at an agreed-upon price, date and interest payment and have the characteristics of borrowing. Generally, the effect of such transactions is that a Fund can recover all or most of the cash invested in the portfolio securities involved during the term of the reverse repurchase agreement, while in many cases the Fund is able to keep some of the interest income associated with those securities. Such transactions are advantageous only if a Fund has an opportunity to earn a rate of interest on the cash derived from these transactions that is greater than the interest cost of obtaining the same amount of cash. Opportunities to realize earnings from the use of the proceeds equal to or greater than the interest required to be paid may not always be available, and a Fund intends to use the reverse repurchase technique only when BFA believes it will be advantageous to the Fund. The use of reverse repurchase agreements may exaggerate any increase or decrease in the value of a Fund’s assets. A Fund’s exposure to reverse repurchase agreements will be covered by liquid assets having a value equal to or greater than the Fund’s obligations under such commitments. The use of reverse repurchase agreements is a form of leverage, and the proceeds obtained by a Fund through reverse repurchase agreements may be invested in additional securities.

Short-Term Instruments and Temporary Investments. Each Fund may invest in short-term instruments, including money market instruments, on an ongoing basis to provide liquidity or for other reasons. Money market instruments are generally short-term investments that may include, but are not limited to: (i) shares of money market funds (including those advised by BFA or otherwise affiliated with BFA); (ii) obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities (including government-sponsored enterprises); (iii) negotiable certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances, fixed-time deposits and other obligations of U.S. and non-U.S. banks (including non-U.S. branches) and similar institutions; (iv) commercial paper rated, at the date of purchase, “Prime-1” by Moody's^® Investors Service, Inc., “F-1” by Fitch Ratings, Inc., or “A-1” by Standard & Poor's^® Financial Services LLC, a subsidiary of S&P Global, Inc., or if unrated, of comparable quality as determined by BFA; (v) non-convertible corporate debt securities (e.g., bonds and debentures) with remaining maturities at the date of purchase of not more than 397 days and that satisfy the rating requirements set forth in Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act; (vi) repurchase agreements; and (vii) short-term U.S. dollar-denominated obligations of non-U.S. banks (including U.S. branches) that, in the opinion of BFA, are of comparable quality to obligations of U.S. banks that may be purchased by a Fund. Any of these instruments may be purchased on a current or forward-settled basis. Time deposits are non-negotiable deposits maintained in banking institutions for specified periods of time at stated interest rates. Bankers’ acceptances are time drafts drawn on commercial banks by borrowers, usually in connection with international transactions.

General Considerations and Risks

A discussion of some of the principal risks associated with an investment in a Fund is contained in the applicable Prospectus.

or commodity-related company that devotes a portion of its business to that commodity. Production declines and volume decreases could be caused by various factors, including catastrophic events affecting production, depletion of resources, labor difficulties, environmental proceedings, increased regulations, equipment failures and unexpected maintenance problems, import supply disruption, governmental expropriation, political upheaval or conflicts or increased competition from alternative energy sources or commodity prices. Agricultural commodities may be adversely affected by weather or other natural phenomena, such as drought, floods and pests.

Liquidity Risk Management Rule Risk. In October 2016, the SEC adopted a liquidity risk management rule requiring open-end funds, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) such as the Funds, to establish a liquidity risk management program and enhance disclosures regarding fund liquidity. There are exclusions from certain portions of the liquidity risk management program requirements for “in-kind” ETFs . The Funds will be required to comply with portions of the rule by December 1, 2018. The effect the rule will have on the Funds, including a Fund’s ability to rely on the exclusions, is not yet known, but the rule may impact a Fund’s performance and ability to achieve its investment objective.

service providers, seeks to ensure that service providers take appropriate precautions to avoid and mitigate risks that could lead to disruptions and operating errors. However, it is not possible for BFA or the other Fund service providers to identify all of the operational risks that may affect a Fund or to develop processes and controls to completely eliminate or mitigate their occurrence or effects.

Risk of Derivatives. A derivative is a financial contract, the value of which depends on, or is derived from, the value of an underlying asset, such as a security, a commodity (such as gold or silver), a currency or an index (a measure of value or rates, such as the S&P 500^® or the prime lending rate). A Fund may invest in stock index futures contracts, securities options and other derivatives. Compared to conventional securities, derivatives can be more sensitive to changes in interest rates or to sudden fluctuations in market prices and thus a Fund’s losses may be greater if it invests in derivatives than if it invests only in conventional securities. Derivatives are also subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the other party in the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligations. Derivatives generally involve the incurrence of leverage. To address such leverage and to prevent a Fund from being deemed to have issued senior securities as a result of an investment in derivatives, such Fund will segregate liquid assets equal to its obligations under the derivatives throughout the life of the investment.

Risk of Futures and Options on Futures Transactions. There are several risks accompanying the utilization of futures contracts and options on futures contracts. A position in futures contracts and options on futures contracts may be closed only on the exchange on which the contract was made (or a linked exchange). While each Fund plans to utilize futures contracts only if an active market exists for such contracts, there is no guarantee that a liquid market will exist for the contract at a specified time. Futures contracts, by definition, project price levels in the future and not current levels of valuation; therefore, market circumstances may result in a discrepancy between the price of the stock index future and the movement in a Fund's Underlying Index. In the event of adverse price movements, a Fund would continue to be required to make daily cash payments to maintain its required margin. In such situations, if a Fund has insufficient cash, it may have to sell portfolio securities to meet daily margin requirements at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so. In addition, a Fund may be required to deliver the instruments underlying the futures contracts it has sold.

The risk of loss in trading futures contracts or uncovered call options in some strategies (e.g., selling uncovered stock index futures contracts) is potentially unlimited. The Funds do not plan to use futures and options contracts in this way. The risk of a futures position may still be large as traditionally measured due to the low margin deposits required. In many cases, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in immediate and substantial loss or gain to the investor relative to the size of a required margin deposit. The Funds, however, intend to utilize futures and options contracts in a manner designed to limit their risk exposure to levels comparable to a direct investment in the types of stocks in which they invest.

Utilization of futures and options on futures by a Fund involves the risk of imperfect or even negative correlation to its Underlying Index if the index underlying the futures contract differs from the Underlying Index. There is also the risk of loss of margin deposits in the event of bankruptcy of a broker with whom a Fund has an open position in the futures contract or option. The purchase of put or call options will be based upon predictions by BFA as to anticipated trends, which predictions could prove to be incorrect.

Because the futures market generally imposes less burdensome margin requirements than the securities market, an increased amount of participation by speculators in the futures market could result in price fluctuations. Certain financial futures exchanges limit the amount of fluctuation permitted in futures contract prices during a single trading day. The daily limit establishes the maximum amount by which the price of a futures contract may vary either up or down from the previous day’s settlement price at the end of a trading session. Once the daily limit has been reached in a particular type of contract, no trades may be made on that day at a price beyond that limit. It is possible that futures contract prices could move to the daily limit for several consecutive trading days with little or no trading, thereby preventing prompt liquidation of futures positions and subjecting each Fund to substantial losses. In the event of adverse price movements, each Fund would be required to make daily cash payments of variation margin.

Risk of Investing in Large-Capitalization Companies. Large-capitalization companies may be less able than smaller capitalization companies to adapt to changing market conditions. Large-capitalization companies may be more mature and subject to more limited growth potential compared with smaller capitalization companies. Over certain periods, the performance of large-capitalization companies has trailed the performance of overall markets.

Risk of Investing in Micro-Capitalization Companies. Certain of the Funds may invest in securities of micro-capitalization companies. Micro-capitalization companies may have limited operational histories and new or unproven product lines, or may have product lines that are still in development. These companies may be more vulnerable than larger companies to key personnel losses due to reliance on a smaller number of management personnel. Micro-capitalization companies may have

limited financial resources and little or no access to additional credit and therefore may be more susceptible to market down turns or rising credit costs than larger, more established companies. Share prices of micro-capitalization companies may be more volatile than those of larger companies and therefore a Fund’s share price may be more volatile than the share prices of funds that invest a larger percentage of assets in shares issued by small-, mid-, or large-capitalization companies. The shares of micro-capitalization companies may be thinly traded and may be at risk for delisting from a securities exchange, making it difficult for a Fund to buy and sell shares of a particular micro-capitalization company. In addition, there may be less public information available about these companies.

same rules and regulations as issuers located or operating in more developed countries. Therefore, there may be less financial and other information publicly available with regard to issuers located or operating in countries in Africa and such issuers are generally not subject to the uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards applicable to issuers located or operating in more developed countries.

Investment in countries in Africa may be subject to a greater degree of risk associated with governmental approval in connection with the repatriation of investment income, capital or the proceeds of sales of securities by foreign investors. In addition, there is the risk that if an African country’s balance of payments declines, such African country may impose temporary restrictions on foreign capital remittances. Consequently, a Fund could be adversely affected by delays in, or a refusal to grant, required governmental approval for repatriation of capital, as well as by the application to the Funds of any restrictions on investments. Additionally, investments in countries in Africa may require a Fund to adopt special procedures, seek local government approvals or take other actions, each of which may involve additional costs to the Fund.

Risk of Investing in Australasia. The economies of Australasia, which include Australia and New Zealand, are dependent on exports from the agricultural and mining sectors. This makes Australasian economies susceptible to fluctuations in the commodity markets. Australasian economies are also increasingly dependent on their growing service industries. Australia and New Zealand are located in a part of the world that has historically been prone to natural disasters, such as drought and flooding. Any such event in the future could have a significant adverse impact on the economies of Australia and New Zealand and affect the value of securities held by a relevant Fund. The economies of Australia and New Zealand are dependent on trading with certain key trading partners, including Asia, Europe and the U.S. The Australia–U.S. Free Trade Agreement has significantly expanded the trading relationship between the United States and Australia. Economic events in the United States, Asia, or in other key trading countries can have a significant economic effect on the Australian economy. The economies of Australia and New Zealand are heavily dependent on the mining sector. Passage of new regulations limiting foreign ownership of companies in the mining sector or imposition of new taxes on profits of mining companies may dissuade foreign investment, and as a result, have a negative impact on companies to which a Fund has exposure.

The governments of certain countries in Central and South America may exercise substantial influence over many aspects of the private sector and may own or control many companies. Future government actions could have a significant effect on the economic conditions in such countries, which could have a negative impact on the securities in which a Fund invests. Diplomatic developments may also adversely affect investments in certain countries in Central and South America. Some countries in Central and South America may be affected by public corruption and crime, including organized crime.

Certain countries in Central and South America may be heavily dependent upon international trade and, consequently, have been and may continue to be negatively affected by trade barriers, exchange controls, managed adjustments in relative currency values and other protectionist measures imposed or negotiated by the countries with which they trade. These countries also have been and may continue to be adversely affected by economic conditions in the countries with which they trade. In addition, certain issuers located in countries in Central and South America in which a Fund invests may have dealings with countries subject to sanctions and/or embargoes imposed by the U.S. government and the United Nations and/or countries identified by the U.S. government as state sponsors of terrorism. An issuer may sustain damage to its reputation if it is identified as an issuer that has dealings with such countries. A Fund may be adversely affected if it invests in such issuers.

Risk of Investing in Denmark. Investments in Danish issuers subject the Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks specific to Denmark. Denmark’s industrialized market economy depends on imported raw materials and foreign trade. As a result, Denmark is dependent on trading relationships with certain key trading partners, including other European Union (“EU”) countries and the United States. Denmark’s economy has also been characterized by slow growth and is facing demographic challenges that could lead to labor supply shortages in the near future. Secessionist movements, such as the Catalan movement in Spain, may have an adverse effect on the Danish economy.

or transfer risk give a comparative advantage to the domestic investor rather than the foreign investor. In addition, these markets are particularly sensitive to social, political, economic, and currency events in Russia and may suffer heavy losses as a result of their trading and investment links to the Russian economy and currency. Russia also may attempt to assert its influence in the region through economic or even military measures, as it did with Georgia in the summer of 2008 and Ukraine beginning in 2014. Eastern European economies may also be particularly susceptible to changes in the international credit markets due to their reliance on bank related inflows of capital. The global economic crisis has restricted international credit supplies, and several Eastern European economies have faced significant credit and economic crises. Although some Eastern European economies are expanding again, major challenges are still present as a result of their continued dependence on the Western European zone for credit.

Risk of Investing in Europe. Investing in European countries may expose a Fund to the economic and political risks associated with Europe in general and the specific European countries in which it invests. The economies and markets of European countries are often closely connected and interdependent, and events in one European country can have an adverse impact on other European countries. A Fund makes investments in securities of issuers that are domiciled in, or have significant operations in, member countries of the Economic and Monetary Union (the “EMU”) of the EU, which requires member countries to comply with restrictions on inflation rates, deficits, interest rates, debt levels and fiscal and monetary controls, each of which may significantly affect every country in Europe. Changes in imports or exports, changes in governmental or EU regulations on trade, changes in the exchange rate of the euro (the common currency of certain EU countries), the default or threat of default by an EU member country on its sovereign debt, and/or an economic recession in an EU member country may have a significant adverse effect on the economies of EU member countries and their trading partners. Although certain European countries do not use the euro, many of these countries are obliged to meet the criteria for joining the euro zone. Consequently, these countries must comply with many of the restrictions noted above. The European financial markets have experienced volatility and adverse trends in recent years due to concerns about economic downturns, rising government debt levels and the possible default of government debt in several European countries, including, but not limited to, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Ukraine. In order to prevent further economic deterioration, certain countries, without prior warning, can institute “capital controls.” Countries may use these controls to restrict volatile movements of capital entering and exiting their country. Such controls may negatively affect a Fund’s investments. A default or debt restructuring by any European country would adversely impact holders of that country's debt and sellers of credit default swaps linked to that country's creditworthiness, which may be located in countries other than those listed above. In addition, the credit ratings of certain European countries were recently downgraded. These downgrades may result in further deterioration of investor confidence. These events have adversely affected the value and exchange rate of the euro and may continue to significantly affect the economies of every country in Europe, including countries that do not use the euro and non-EU member countries. Responses to the financial problems by European governments, central banks and others, including austerity measures and reforms, may not produce the desired results, may result in social unrest and may limit future growth and economic recovery or have other unintended consequences. Further defaults or restructurings by governments and other entities of their debt could have additional adverse effects on economies, financial markets and asset valuations around the world. In addition, one or more countries may abandon the euro and/or withdraw from the EU. The impact of these actions, especially if they occur in a disorderly fashion, is not clear but could be significant and far-reaching and could adversely impact the value of a Fund’s investments in the region. In a referendum held on June 23, 2016, the United Kingdom resolved to leave the EU. The referendum may introduce significant

uncertainties and instability in the financial markets as the U.K. negotiates its exit from the EU. Secessionist movements, such as the Catalan movement in Spain, as well as governmental or other responses to such movements, may also create instability and uncertainty in the region. The occurrence of terrorist incidents throughout Europe also could impact financial markets. The impact of these events is not clear but could be significant and far-reaching and could adversely affect the value of a Fund.

Risk of Investing in Finland. Investment in Finnish issuers involves risks that are specific to Finland, including, legal, regulatory, political, currency, security and economic risks. Finland’s economy, among other things, depends on imported raw materials, energy and components for its manufactured products. As a result, Finland is dependent on trading relationships with certain key trading partners, including other EU countries, Russia, China and the United States. Metals, engineering and timber are Finland’s main industries, and major exports include electronics and machinery. Finland’s reliance on these sectors makes it vulnerable to economic downturns in, among other sectors, the technology and industrials sectors. Secessionist movements, such as the Catalan movement in Spain, may have an adverse effect on the Finnish economy.

Risk of Investing in Germany. Investment in German issuers may subject a Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks specific to Germany. Recently, new concerns emerged in relation to the economic health of the EU. These concerns have led to tremendous downward pressure on certain financial institutions, including German financial services companies. Secessionist movements, such as the Catalan movement in Spain, may have an adverse effect on the German economy. The German economy is dependent to a significant extent on the economies of certain key trading partners, including the United States, France, Italy and other European countries. Reduction in spending on German products and services, or changes in any of the economies may have an adverse impact on the German economy. In addition, heavy regulation of labor and product markets in Germany may have an adverse effect on German issuers. Such regulations may negatively impact economic growth or cause prolonged periods of recession.

Risk of Investing in Indonesia. Investment in securities of Indonesian issuers involves risks not typically associated with investments in securities of issuers in developed countries. Such heightened risks include, among others, expropriation and/or nationalization of assets, confiscatory taxation, political instability, including authoritarian and/or military involvement in governmental decision-making, armed conflict and social instability as a result of religious, ethnic and/or socioeconomic unrest.

The securities market of Indonesia is considered an emerging market characterized by a small number of listed companies, high price volatility and a relatively illiquid secondary trading market. These factors, coupled with restrictions on foreign investment and other factors, limit the supply of securities available for investment by a Fund. This will affect the rate at which a Fund is able to invest in Indonesia, the purchase and sale prices for such securities and the timing of purchases and sales.

Indonesia’s political institutions and democracy have a relatively short history, increasing the risk of political instability. In the recent past, Indonesia has faced political and militant unrest, and further unrest could present a risk to the local economy and securities markets. Indonesia has also experienced acts of terrorism, predominantly targeted at foreigners, which has had a negative impact on tourism and consequently has negatively impacted the economy of Indonesia. Corruption and the perceived lack of a rule of law in dealings with international companies may discourage foreign direct investment and could negatively impact the long-term growth of the economy of Indonesia. In addition, many economic development problems remain, including high unemployment, a fragile banking sector, endemic corruption, inadequate infrastructure, a poor investment climate, and unequal resource distribution among regions.

The Indonesian economy is dependent on a range of commodities including oil, natural gas and coal. Accordingly, it is strongly affected by international commodity prices and is particularly vulnerable to any weakening in global demand for these products. Any acts of terrorism or armed conflicts in Indonesia or internationally could have an adverse effect on the financial and commodities markets and the global economy.

The Indonesian government plays a significant role in Indonesia’s economy, including administering prices on several basic goods, including fuel, rice and electricity. The Indonesian government may exercise substantial influence over many aspects of the private sector and may own or control many companies. Future government actions could have a significant effect on the economic conditions in Indonesia, which could have a negative impact on private sector companies. There is also the possibility of diplomatic developments that could adversely affect investments in Indonesia.

The market for Indonesian securities is directly influenced by the flow of international capital, and economic and market conditions of certain countries, especially emerging market countries in Southeastern Asia. Adverse economic conditions or developments in other emerging market countries have at times significantly affected the availability of credit in the Indonesian economy and resulted in considerable outflows of funds and declines in the amount of foreign currency invested in Indonesia. A crisis in neighboring emerging market countries also may increase investors’ perception of risk in Indonesia, which may adversely impact the market value of the securities issued by Indonesian companies, including securities in which a Fund may invest.

Risk of Investing in Ireland. Investing in securities of companies domiciled in Ireland involves special considerations not typically associated with investing in the U.S. market. Such heightened risks include, among others, ongoing sectarian conflict, social instability as a result of religious, ethnic and/or socioeconomic unrest, potential armed conflict and/or threats of terrorism within the country, continued lack of unification as a country, and internal hostile relations, all which can adversely impact the Irish economy. Consumer indebtedness in Ireland has been high and increasing in recent years, leading to concern with respect to overall economic growth in Ireland.

Ireland relies heavily on exports to its key trading partners that include the other members of the EU and the United States. Reduction in spending by these economies on Irish products and services or negative changes in any of these economies may cause an adverse impact on the Irish economy. Any changes in the price or demand for Irish exports could adversely impact Ireland’s economy. Ireland’s economy may also be negatively affected if trade barriers, exchange controls, or other protectionist measures are imposed or negotiated by the countries with which they trade. Secessionist movements, such as the Catalan movement in Spain, may have an adverse effect on the Irish economy.

As a member of the EU, Ireland is heavily dependent on the other member states both economically and politically. The referendum by the United Kingdom in June 2016 resolving to leave the EU may have an adverse impact on a Fund and its shareholders. The European Central Bank has control over each member country’s monetary policies, including inflation rates, deficit levels, interest rates, debt levels and fiscal and monetary controls. However, the Irish government has retained the authority to set tax and spending policies and public debt levels. Any event within the EU, including economic and political developments, can cause market disruptions, and can adversely affect the values of securities held by a Fund.

Risk of Investing in Japan. Japan may be subject to political, economic, nuclear, labor and other risks. Any of these risks, individually or in the aggregate, can impact an investment made in Japan.

by the U.S. government as state sponsors of terrorism. As a result, an issuer may sustain damage to its reputation if it is identified as an issuer which operates in, or has dealings with, such countries. A Fund, as an investor in such issuers, will be indirectly subject to those risks.

Risk of Investing in New Zealand. Investment in the New Zealand market involves special considerations not typically associated with investing in the U.S. market. Although New Zealand encourages foreign investment, its Overseas Investment Office must give consent to certain foreign investments based on a national interest determination. A delay in obtaining such approval can delay investments in New Zealand and, as a result, a Fund may not be able to invest in certain securities while approval is pending. Furthermore, approval could be rejected or a Fund's investments may be affected by a limitation in the number of investors interested in a particular industry and/or issuer, and any one of these factors could cause a decline in the value of the Fund.

New Zealand’s economy historically has been based on a foundation of agricultural exports. Accordingly, natural disasters, particularly earthquakes which occur regularly in New Zealand, can have a significant adverse impact on the economy. New Zealand is heavily dependent upon international trade and, consequently, has been and may continue to be adversely affected by economic conditions in the countries with which it trades. Reduction in spending, particularly by key trading partners, on New Zealand products and services may cause an adverse impact on the New Zealand economy. New Zealand’s economy may be negatively affected if trade barriers, exchange controls, managed adjustments in relative currency values or other protectionist measures are imposed or negotiated by the countries with which it trades.

Risk of Investing in Norway. Investment in Norwegian issuers may subject the Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks specific to Norway. Norway is a major producer of oil and gas, and Norway’s economy is subject to the risk of fluctuations in oil and gas prices. The high value of the Norwegian krone as compared to other currencies could have a damaging effect on Norwegian exports and investments. The influx of oil and gas revenue has permitted Norway to expand its social welfare system. In recent years, labor costs in Norway have increased faster than those of its major trading partners, eroding industrial competitiveness. Secessionist movements, such as the Catalan movement in Spain, may have an adverse effect on the Norwegian economy.

Risk of Investing in the Philippines. Investment in securities of Philippine issuers involves risks not typically associated with investments in securities of issuers in developed countries. The Philippines has experienced a high level of debt and public spending, which may stifle economic growth, contribute to prolonged periods of recession or lower the country’s sovereign debt rating and adversely impact investments in a Fund. Large, unprofitable public enterprises, especially in the energy sector, contribute to the government’s debt because of slow progress on privatization.

The Philippines’ democracy has a relatively short history, increasing the risk of political instability. The Philippines has in the past faced political and militant unrest, and further unrest could present a risk to the local economy and securities markets.

The Philippines’ political history is marred with widespread fraud and violence. The Philippines has periodically experienced and is currently experiencing violence and terrorism, including international terrorist organizations. Any acts of terrorism or armed conflicts in the Philippines or internationally could have an adverse effect on the financial and commodities markets and the global economy. Furthermore, the geopolitical conflict created by China’s claims in the South China Sea has created diplomatic tension. Such increased political and social unrest in any neighboring country could cause further economic and market uncertainty in the region.

The Philippines’ economy is heavily dependent on exports, particularly electronics and semiconductors. The Philippines’ reliance on these sectors makes it vulnerable to economic downturns during periods of slumps in the information technology sectors. In addition, many economic development problems remain, including high unemployment, inadequate infrastructure, endemic corruption, poverty, and intensifying global competition from neighboring countries.

The Philippine government may exercise substantial influence over many aspects of the private sector and may own or control many companies. Future government actions could have a significant effect on the economic conditions in the Philippines, which could have a negative impact on private sector companies. There is also the possibility of diplomatic developments that could adversely affect investments in the Philippines.

The market for Philippine securities is directly influenced by the flow of international capital, and economic and market conditions of certain countries, especially emerging market countries in Southeastern Asia. Adverse economic conditions or developments in other emerging market countries have at times significantly affected the availability of credit in the Philippine economy and resulted in considerable outflows of funds and declines in the amount of foreign currency invested in the Philippines. A crisis in neighboring emerging market countries also may increase investors’ perception of risk in the Philippines, which may adversely impact the market value of the securities issued by Philippine companies, including securities in which a Fund may invest.

Risk of Investing in Poland. Investment in securities of Polish issuers involves risks not typically associated with investments in securities of issuers in developed countries. Such heightened risks include, among others, a relatively short history of democracy, expropriation and/or nationalization of assets, confiscatory taxation, less publicly available financial and other information, and potential difficulties in enforcing contractual obligations. In addition, Poland faces many economic development problems, including high unemployment, inadequate infrastructure, endemic corruption, poverty, and intensifying global competition from neighboring countries.

Securities laws in Poland are relatively new and unsettled and, consequently, there is a risk of rapid and unpredictable change in laws regarding foreign investment, securities regulation, custody and title to securities and shareholder rights. Accordingly, foreign investors may be adversely affected by new or amended laws and regulations. In circumstances where adequate laws and shareholder rights exist, it may not be possible to obtain swift and equitable enforcement of the law.

The securities market of Poland is considered an emerging market characterized by a small number of listed companies and a relatively illiquid secondary trading market, particularly for corporate bonds. These factors, coupled with restrictions on foreign investment and other factors, limit the supply of securities available for investment by a Fund. This will affect the rate at which a Fund is able to invest in Poland, the purchase and sale prices for such securities and the timing of purchases and sales.

The government in Poland may restrict or control to varying degrees the ability of foreign investors to invest in securities of issuers located or operating in Poland. Moreover, governmental approval or special licenses prior to investments by foreign investors may be required and may limit the amount of investments by foreign investors in a particular industry and/or issuer. A delay in obtaining a required government approval or license would delay investments in Poland, and, as a result, a Fund may not be able to invest in certain securities while approval is pending. The government of Poland may also withdraw or decline to renew a license that enables a Fund to invest in Poland. Any one of these factors could cause a decline in the value of a Fund.

The Polish government may exercise substantial influence over many aspects of the private sector and may own or control many companies. Future government actions could have a significant effect on the economic conditions in Poland, which could have a negative impact on private sector companies. There is also the possibility of diplomatic developments that could adversely affect investments in Poland.

The market for Polish securities is directly influenced by the flow of international capital, and economic and market conditions of certain countries, especially emerging market countries in Eastern Europe. Adverse economic conditions or developments in other emerging market countries have at times significantly affected the availability of credit in the Polish economy and resulted in considerable outflows of funds and declines in the amount of foreign currency invested in Poland.

Risk of Investing in the United Kingdom. Investment in United Kingdom issuers may subject a Fund to regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks specific to the U.K. The U.K. economy relies heavily on the export of financial services to the U.S. and other European countries. A prolonged slowdown in the financial services sector may have a negative impact on the U.K.’s economy. In the past, the U.K. has been a target of terrorism. Acts of terrorism in the U.K. or against U.K. interests abroad may cause uncertainty in the U.K. financial markets and adversely affect the performance of the issuers to which a Fund has exposure. Secessionist movements, such as the Catalan movement in Spain, may have an adverse effect on the U.K. economy. In a referendum held on June 23, 2016, the U.K. resolved to leave the EU. The referendum may introduce significant uncertainties and instability in the financial markets as the U.K. negotiates its exit from the EU.

Risk of Investing in the Capital Goods Industry. Companies in the capital goods industry may be affected by fluctuations in the business cycle and by other factors affecting manufacturing demands. Companies in the capital goods industry depends heavily on corporate spending. Companies in the capital goods industry may perform well during times of economic expansion, and as economic conditions worsen, the demand for capital goods may decrease due to weakening demand, worsening business cash flows, tighter credit controls and deteriorating profitability. During times of economic volatility, corporate spending may fall and adversely affect the capital goods industry. This industry may also be affected by changes in interest rates, corporate tax rates and other government policies. Many capital goods are sold internationally and such companies are subject to market conditions in other countries and regions.

Risk of Investing in the Consumer Staples Sector. Companies in the consumer staples sector may be adversely affected by changes in the global economy, consumer spending, competition, demographics and consumer preferences, and production spending. Companies in the consumer staples sector may also be affected by changes in global economic, environmental and political events, economic conditions, the depletion of resources, and government regulation. For instance, government regulations may affect the permissibility of using various food additives and production methods of companies that make food products, which could affect company profitability. In addition, tobacco companies may be adversely affected by the adoption of proposed legislation and/or by litigation. Companies in the consumer staples sector also may be subject to risks pertaining to the supply of, demand for and prices of raw materials. The prices of raw materials fluctuate in response to a number of factors, including, without limitation, changes in government agricultural support programs, exchange rates, import and export controls, changes in international agricultural and trading policies, and seasonal and weather conditions. Companies in the consumer staples sector may be subject to severe competition, which may also have an adverse impact on their profitability.

governmental intervention in the operations of financial companies and financial markets may materially and adversely affect the companies in which a Fund invests, including legislation in many countries that may increase government regulation, repatriation and other intervention. The impact of governmental intervention and legislative changes on any individual financial company or on the financials sector as a whole cannot be predicted. The valuation of financial companies has been and continues to be subject to unprecedented volatility and may be influenced by unpredictable factors, including interest rate risk and sovereign debt default. Certain financial businesses are subject to intense competitive pressures, including market share and price competition. Financial companies in foreign countries are subject to market specific and general regulatory and interest rate concerns. In particular, government regulation in certain foreign countries may include taxes and controls on interest rates, credit availability, minimum capital requirements, bans on short sales, limits on prices and restrictions on currency transfers. In addition, companies in the financials sector may be the targets of hacking and potential theft of proprietary or customer information or disruptions in service, which could have a material adverse effect on their businesses.

penalties related to healthcare insurance premiums, and promotion of prepaid healthcare plans. In addition, a number of legislative proposals concerning healthcare have been considered by the U.S. Congress in recent years. It is unclear what proposals will ultimately be enacted, if any, and what effect they may have on companies in the healthcare sector.

Risk of Investing in the Materials Sector. Companies in the materials sector may be adversely affected by commodity price volatility, exchange rates, import controls, increased competition, depletion of resources, technical progress, labor relations and government regulations, and mandated expenditures for safety and pollution control, among other factors. Companies in the materials sector are also at risk of liability for environmental damage and product liability claims. Production of materials may exceed demand as a result of market imbalances or economic downturns, leading to poor investment returns. These risks are heightened for companies in the materials sector located in foreign markets.

subject to the quality of credit extended and defaults by borrowers and tenants. If the properties do not generate sufficient income to meet operating expenses, including, where applicable, debt service, ground lease payments, tenant improvements, third-party leasing commissions and other capital expenditures, the income and ability of a Real Estate Company to make payments of any interest and principal on its debt securities will be adversely affected.

Underlying Investment Risk. Real Estate Companies make investments in a variety of debt and equity instruments with varying risk profiles. For instance, Real Estate Companies may invest in debt instruments secured by commercial property that have high risks of delinquency and foreclosure than loans on single family homes due to a variety of factors associated with commercial property, including the tie between income available to service debt and productive use of the property. Real Estate Companies may also invest in debt instruments and preferred equity that are junior in an issuer’s capital structure and that involve privately negotiated structures. Subordinated debt investments, such as B-Notes and mezzanine loans, involve a greater credit risk of default due to the need to service more senior debt of the issuer. Similarly, preferred equity investments involve a greater risk of loss than conventional debt financing due to their non-collateralized nature and subordinated ranking. Investments in commercial mortgage-backed securities may also be junior in priority in the event of bankruptcy or similar proceedings. Investments in senior loans may be effectively subordinated if the senior loan is pledged as collateral. The ability of a holder of junior claims to proceed against a defaulting issuer is circumscribed by the terms of the particular contractual arrangement, which vary considerably from transaction to transaction.

Regulatory Risk. Real estate income and values may be adversely affected by such factors as applicable domestic and foreign laws (including tax laws). Government actions, such as tax increases, zoning law changes or environmental regulations, also may have a major impact on real estate. In addition, quarterly compliance with regulation limiting the proportion of asset types held by a U.S. REIT may force certain Real Estate Companies to liquidate or restructure otherwise attractive investments. Some countries may not recognize REITs or comparable structures as a viable form of real estate funds.

There are substantial differences among the regulatory practices and policies of various jurisdictions, and any regulatory agency may make major shifts in policy from time to time. There is no assurance that regulatory authorities will, in the future, grant rate increases. Additionally, existing and possible future regulatory legislation may make it even more difficult for utilities to obtain adequate relief. Certain of the issuers of securities held in a Fund's portfolio may own or operate nuclear generating facilities. Governmental authorities may from time to time review existing policies and impose additional requirements governing the licensing, construction and operation of nuclear power plants. Prolonged changes in climate

conditions can also have a significant impact on both the revenues of an electric and gas utility as well as the expenses of a utility, particularly a hydro-based electric utility.

Proxy Voting Policy

For all Funds other than the iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF and iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF (these two Funds together, the “Sustainable Funds”), the Board has delegated the voting of proxies for each Fund’s securities to BFA pursuant to the Funds' Proxy Voting Policy (the “iShares ETFs Proxy Voting Policy”), and BlackRock has adopted policies and procedures (the “BlackRock Proxy Voting Policies”) governing proxy voting by accounts managed by BlackRock, including the Funds. For the Sustainable Funds, the Board has delegated the voting of proxies for each Sustainable Fund’s securities to BFA pursuant to the Sustainable Funds’ Proxy Voting Policy (the “iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy”), and BlackRock has adopted the BlackRock Proxy Voting Policies and supplemental guidelines applicable to environmental and social issues investing (the “Supplemental BlackRock Sustainable Proxy Voting Guidelines”) governing proxy voting by the iShares sustainable ETFs managed by BlackRock, including the Sustainable Funds.

Portfolio Holdings Information

Daily access to information concerning the Funds' portfolio holdings is permitted: (i) to certain personnel of those service providers that are involved in portfolio management and providing administrative, operational, risk management, or other support to portfolio management; and (ii) to other personnel of BFA, the Distributor and their affiliates, and the administrator, custodian and fund accountant who deal directly with, or assist in, functions related to investment management, distribution, administration, custody, securities lending and fund accounting, as may be necessary to conduct business in the ordinary course in a manner consistent with federal securities laws and regulations thereunder. In addition, each Fund discloses its fixed-income and/or equity portfolio holdings daily at www.iShares.com. More information about this disclosure is available at www.iShares.com.

The Board reviews the policy and procedures for disclosure of portfolio holdings information at least annually.

Construction and Maintenance of the Underlying Indexes

Descriptions of the Underlying Indexes are provided below.

The MSCI Indexes

•	MSCI Global Standard Indexes cover all investable large- and mid-cap securities by including the largest issuers comprising approximately 85% of each market's free float-adjusted market capitalization.
•	MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes provide coverage of companies with a market capitalization below that of the companies in the MSCI Global Standard Indexes.

MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes

Determining Market Capitalization Size Segments for Each Market. In each market, MSCI creates an Investable Market Index, Standard Index, Large Cap Index, Mid Cap Index and Small Cap Index. The MSCI Global Standard Index is the aggregation of the Large Cap Index and Mid Cap Index. The MSCI GIMI are the aggregation of the MSCI Global Standard Index and MSCI Global Small Cap Index. In order to create size components that can be meaningfully aggregated into composites, individual market size segments balance the following two objectives:

•	Achieving global size integrity by ensuring that companies of comparable and relevant sizes are included in a given size segment across all markets in a composite index; and
•	Achieving consistent market coverage by ensuring that each market's size segment is represented in its proportional weight in the composite universe.

Weighting. All indexes of the MSCI GIMI are free float weighted, i.e., companies are included in the indexes at the value of their free public float (free float multiplied by security price).

Price and Exchange Rates

Index maintenance can be described by three broad categories of changes:

•	Semi-Annual Index Reviews (“SAIRs”), conducted on a fixed semi-annual timetable that systematically reassess the various dimensions of the equity universe for all markets;
•	Quarterly Index Reviews (“QIRs”), aimed at promptly reflecting other significant market events; and
•	Ongoing event-related changes, such as mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, bankruptcies, reorganizations and other similar corporate events, which generally are implemented in the indexes as they occur.

Potential changes in the status of countries (stand-alone, frontier, emerging and developed) follow their own implementation time tables.

MSCI 25/50 Indexes

MSCI All Ireland Capped Index

Number of Components: approximately 25

Index Description. The MSCI All Ireland Capped Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index that aims to reflect the performance of securities of companies that: (i) are classified in Ireland according to the MSCI Global Investable Market Index Methodology; (ii) are not classified in Ireland according to the MSCI Global Investable Market Index Methodology but are either headquartered or listed in Ireland and have significant linkage to Ireland, as defined by MSCI; or (iii) have economic exposure greater than 10% to Ireland, as defined by MSCI, where the criteria outlined in (i) and (ii) do not result in the target number of securities and issuers.

MSCI Denmark IMI 25/50 Index

Number of Components: approximately 45

Index Description. The MSCI Denmark IMI 25/50 Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure broad based equity market performance in Denmark and consists of stocks traded primarily on the Danish Stock Exchange. Free-float market capitalization is calculated by taking the security's price and multiplying it by the number of shares readily available in the market rather than the total number of shares outstanding. A capping methodology is applied such that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the Underlying Index.

MSCI EAFE Extended ESG Focus Index

Number of Components: approximately 412

Index Description. The MSCI EAFE Extended ESG Focus Index is an optimized index designed to reflect the equity performance of companies that have favorable environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) characteristics, which exhibit risk and return characteristics similar to the MSCI Market Cap Weighted Index (the MSCI EAFE Index). The index is constructed by selecting constituents from the MSCI EAFE Index, the parent index, through an optimization process that aims to maximize exposure to ESG factors, subject to a target tracking error constraint of 50 basis points relative to the parent index. The Fund’s 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.

MSCI Finland IMI 25/50 Index

Number of Components: approximately 40

Index Description. The MSCI Finland IMI 25/50 Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure broad based equity market performance in Finland and consists of stocks traded primarily on the Finnish Stock Exchange. Free-float market capitalization is calculated by taking the security's price and multiplying it by the number of shares readily available in the market rather than the total number of shares outstanding. A capping methodology is applied such that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the Underlying Index.

MSCI Germany Small Cap Index

Number of Components: approximately 117

Index Description. The MSCI Germany Small Cap Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure the performance of equity securities of small capitalization companies whose market capitalization represents the bottom 14% of the companies in the German securities market. Free-float market capitalization is calculated by taking the security's price and multiplying it by the number of shares readily available in the market rather than the total number of shares outstanding.

MSCI Indonesia Investable Market Index (IMI)

Number of Components: approximately 85

Index Description. The MSCI Indonesia IMI is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure the performance of equity securities in the top 99% by market capitalization of equity securities listed on stock exchanges in Indonesia.

MSCI New Zealand IMI 25/50 Index

Number of Components: approximately 26

Index Description. The MSCI New Zealand IMI 25/50 Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure the performance of equity securities in the top 99% by market capitalization of equity securities listed on stock exchanges in New Zealand. A capping methodology is applied such that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the Underlying Index.

MSCI Norway IMI 25/50 Index

Number of Components: approximately 58

Index Description. The MSCI Norway IMI 25/50 Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure broad based equity market performance in Norway and consists of stocks traded primarily on the Norwegian Stock Exchange. Free-float market capitalization is calculated by taking the security's price and multiplying it by the number of shares readily available in the market rather than the total number of shares outstanding. A capping methodology is applied such that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the Underlying Index.

MSCI Philippines Investable Market Index (IMI)

Number of Components: approximately 43

Index Description. The MSCI Philippines IMI is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure the performance of equity securities in the top 99% by market capitalization of equity securities listed on stock exchanges in the Philippines.

of the company’s country of incorporation applicable to institutional investors. Net dividends means dividends after taxes withheld at the rate applicable to non-resident institutional investors who do not benefit from double taxation treaties. Such withholding rates may differ from those applicable to U.S. residents.

MSCI Poland IMI 25/50 Index

Number of Components: approximately 37

Index Description. The MSCI Poland IMI 25/50 Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure the performance of equity securities listed on stock exchanges in Poland. A capping methodology is applied such that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the Underlying Index.

MSCI United Kingdom Index

Number of Components: approximately 108

Index Description. The MSCI United Kingdom Index consists of stocks traded primarily on the London Stock Exchange.

MSCI United Kingdom Small Cap Index

Number of Components: approximately 267

Index Description. The MSCI United Kingdom Small Cap Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure the performance of equity securities of small capitalization companies whose market capitalization represents the bottom 14% of the companies in the United Kingdom securities market. Free-float market capitalization is calculated by taking the security's price and multiplying it by the number of shares readily available in the market rather than the total number of shares outstanding.

MSCI USA Consumer Discretionary Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index

Number of Components: approximately 45

Index Description. The MSCI USA Consumer Discretionary Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index is constructed using optimization at each rebalance that is designed to maximize the Underlying Index’s exposure to the equal-weighted combination of four target style factors (Value, Quality, Momentum and Low Size) while still maintaining total risk similar to that of the MSCI USA Consumer Discretionary Index, the parent index. A capping methodology is applied such that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the Underlying Index.

Index Methodology. The methodology uses a composite alpha score (by equal weighting the four style factor scores) as an input to the MSCI’s proprietary model. At each rebalance, MSCI aims to maximize overall exposure to the four style factors, which have historically outperformed the broad market, as represented by the composite alpha and maintain a level of forecast risk similar to that of the parent index, while also limiting turnover and extreme exposures to component weights/non-target style factors. The optimizer selects securities from the parent index and assigns weights such that the optimization objective and constraints are best satisfied. The Underlying Index is rebalanced semi-annually coinciding with MSCI’s May and November Semi-Annual Index Review.

MSCI USA Consumer Staples Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index

Number of Components: approximately 28

Index Description. The MSCI USA Consumer Staples Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index is constructed using optimization at each rebalance that is designed to maximize the Underlying Index’s exposure to the equal-weighted combination of four target style factors (Value, Quality, Momentum and Low Size) while still maintaining total risk similar to that of the MSCI USA Consumer Staples Index, the parent index. A capping methodology is applied such that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the Underlying Index.

MSCI USA Energy Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index

Number of Components: approximately 27

Index Description. The MSCI USA Energy Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index is constructed using optimization at each rebalance that is designed to maximize the Underlying Index’s exposure to the equal-weighted combination of four target style factors (Value, Quality, Momentum and Low Size) while still maintaining total risk similar to that of the MSCI USA Energy Index, the parent index. A capping methodology is applied such that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the Underlying Index.

MSCI USA Extended ESG Focus Index

Number of Components: approximately 271

Index Description. The MSCI USA Extended ESG Focus Index is designed to maximize exposure to favorable environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors while exhibiting risk and return characteristics similar to those of the MSCI USA Index, the parent index. The Underlying Index is constructed by selecting constituents from the parent index through an optimization process that aims to maximize exposure to ESG factors for a target tracking error constraint of 50 basis points relative to the parent index. The Fund’s 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 those of 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.

MSCI USA Financials Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index

Number of Components: approximately 42

Index Description. The MSCI USA Financials Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index is constructed using optimization at each rebalance that is designed to maximize the Underlying Index’s exposure to the equal-weighted combination of four target style factors (Value, Quality, Momentum and Low Size) while still maintaining total risk similar to that of the MSCI USA Financials Index, the parent index. A capping methodology is applied such that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the Underlying Index.

MSCI USA Health Care Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index

Number of Components: approximately 41

Index Description. The MSCI USA Health Care Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index is constructed using optimization at each rebalance that is designed to maximize the Underlying Index’s exposure to the equal-weighted combination of four target style factors (Value, Quality, Momentum and Low Size) while still maintaining total risk similar to that of the MSCI USA Health Care Index, the parent index. A capping methodology is applied such that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the Underlying Index.

weights/non-target style factors. The optimizer selects securities from the parent index and assigns weights such that the optimization objective and constraints are best satisfied. The Underlying Index is rebalanced semi-annually coinciding with MSCI’s May and November Semi-Annual Index Review.

MSCI USA Industrials Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index

Number of Components: approximately 43

Index Description. The MSCI USA Industrials Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index is constructed using optimization at each rebalance that is designed to maximize the Underlying Index’s exposure to the equal-weighted combination of four target style factors (Value, Quality, Momentum and Low Size) while still maintaining total risk similar to that of the MSCI USA Industrials Index, the parent index. A capping methodology is applied such that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the Underlying Index.

MSCI USA Information Technology Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index

Number of Components: approximately 43

Index Description. The MSCI USA Information Technology Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index is constructed using optimization at each rebalance that is designed to maximize the Underlying Index’s exposure to the equal-weighted combination of four target style factors (Value, Quality, Momentum and Low Size) while still maintaining total risk similar to that of the MSCI USA Information Technology Index, the parent index. A capping methodology is applied such that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the Underlying Index.

MSCI USA Materials Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index

Number of Components: approximately 25

Index Description. The MSCI USA Materials Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index is constructed using optimization at each rebalance that is designed to maximize the Underlying Index’s exposure to the equal-weighted combination of four

target style factors (Value, Quality, Momentum and Low Size) while still maintaining total risk similar to that of the MSCI USA Materials Index, the parent index. A capping methodology is applied such that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the Underlying Index.

MSCI USA Utilities Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index

Number of Components: approximately 26

Index Description. The MSCI USA Utilities Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index is constructed using optimization at each rebalance that is designed to maximize the Underlying Index’s exposure to the equal-weighted combination of four target style factors (Value, Quality, Momentum and Low Size) while still maintaining total risk similar to that of the MSCI USA Utilities Index, the parent index. A capping methodology is applied such that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the Underlying Index.

Additional Information. “MSCI,” MSCI All Ireland Capped Index, MSCI Denmark IMI 25/50 Index, MSCI EAFE Extended ESG Focus Index, “MSCI EAFE Index,” MSCI Finland IMI 25/50 Index, MSCI Germany Small Cap Index, MSCI Indonesia IMI, MSCI New Zealand IMI 25/50 Index, MSCI Norway IMI 25/50 Index, MSCI Philippines IMI, MSCI Poland IMI 25/50 Index, MSCI United Kingdom Index, MSCI United Kingdom Small Cap Index, MSCI USA Consumer Discretionary Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index, “MSCI USA Consumer Discretionary Index,” MSCI USA Consumer Staples Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index, “MSCI USA Consumer Staples Index,” MSCI USA Energy Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index, “MSCI USA Energy Index,” MSCI USA Extended ESG Focus Index, “MSCI USA Index,” MSCI USA Financials Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index, “MSCI USA Financials Index,” MSCI USA Health Care Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index, “MSCI USA Health Care Index,” MSCI USA Industrials Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index, “MSCI USA Industrials Index,” MSCI USA Information Technology Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index, “MSCI USA Information Technology Index,” MSCI USA Materials Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index, “MSCI USA Materials Index,” MSCI USA Utilities Diversified Multiple-Factor Capped Index and “MSCI USA Utilities Index” are servicemarks of MSCI Inc. and have been licensed for use for certain purposes by BFA or its affiliates. The Funds are neither sponsored, endorsed, sold nor promoted by MSCI Inc., and MSCI Inc. makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in any of the Funds.

Investment Restrictions

Each of the iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF, iShares MSCI Ireland ETF and iShares MSCI Poland ETF will not:

1.	Concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in the stocks of a particular industry or group of industries), except that each Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that its Underlying Index concentrates in the stocks of such particular industry or group of industries. 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.
2.	Borrow money, except that (i) each Fund may borrow from banks for temporary or emergency (not leveraging) purposes, including the meeting of redemption requests which might otherwise require the untimely disposition of securities, and (ii) each Fund may, to the extent consistent with its investment policies, enter into repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, forward roll transactions and similar investment strategies and techniques. To the extent that it engages in transactions described in (i) and (ii), each Fund will be limited so that no more than 33 1/3% of the value of its total assets (including the amount borrowed) is derived from such transactions. Any borrowings which come to exceed this amount will be reduced in accordance with applicable law.
3.	Issue any senior security, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time.
4.	Make loans, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time.
5.	Purchase or sell real estate, real estate mortgages, commodities or commodity contracts, but this restriction shall not prevent each Fund from trading in futures contracts and options on futures contracts (including options on currencies to the extent consistent with each Fund’s investment objective and policies).
6.	Engage in the business of underwriting securities issued by other persons, except to the extent that each Fund may technically be deemed to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act, in disposing of portfolio securities.

Each of the iShares MSCI Denmark ETF, iShares MSCI Finland ETF, iShares MSCI Germany Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI New Zealand ETF, iShares MSCI Norway ETF, iShares MSCI Philippines ETF and iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small-Cap ETF will not:

1.	Concentrate its investments (i.e., invest 25% or more of its total assets in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries), except that each Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that its Underlying Index concentrates in the securities of such particular industry or group of industries. 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.
2.	Borrow money, except that (i) each Fund may borrow from banks for temporary or emergency (not leveraging) purposes, including the meeting of redemption requests which might otherwise require the untimely disposition of securities; and (ii) each Fund may, to the extent consistent with its investment policies, enter into repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, forward roll transactions and similar investment strategies and techniques. To the extent that it engages in transactions described in (i) and (ii), each Fund will be limited so that no more than 33 1/3% of the value of its total assets (including the amount borrowed) is derived from such transactions. Any borrowings which come to exceed this amount will be reduced in accordance with applicable law.
3.	Issue any senior security, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by any regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time.

4.	Make loans, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time.
5.	Purchase or sell real estate unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments (but this restriction shall not prevent each Fund from investing in securities of companies engaged in the real estate business or securities or other instruments backed by real estate or mortgages), or commodities or commodity contracts (but this restriction shall not prevent each Fund from trading in futures contracts and options on futures contracts, including options on currencies to the extent consistent with each Fund’s investment objective and policies).
6.	Engage in the business of underwriting securities issued by other persons, except to the extent that each Fund may technically be deemed to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act, in disposing of portfolio securities.

Each of the iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF, iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF and iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF will not:

1.	Concentrate its investments in a particular industry, as that term is used in the Investment Company Act, except that the Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that its Underlying Index concentrates in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries.
2.	Borrow money, except as permitted under the Investment Company Act.
3.	Issue senior securities to the extent such issuance would violate the Investment Company Act.
4.	Purchase or hold real estate, except the Fund may purchase and hold securities or other instruments that are secured by, or linked to, real estate or interests therein, securities of REITs, mortgage-related securities and securities of issuers engaged in the real estate business, and the Fund may purchase and hold real estate as a result of the ownership of securities or other instruments.
5.	Underwrite securities issued by others, except to the extent that the sale of portfolio securities by the Fund may be deemed to be an underwriting or as otherwise permitted by applicable law.
6.	Purchase or sell commodities or commodity contracts, except as permitted by the Investment Company Act.
7.	Make loans to the extent prohibited by the Investment Company Act.

Notations Regarding iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF, iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF and iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF's Fundamental Investment Restrictions

The following notations are not considered to be part of each Fund's fundamental investment restrictions and are subject to change without shareholder approval.

Fund currently utilizes any one or more of the industry sub-classifications used by one or more widely recognized market indexes or rating group indexes, and/or as defined by Fund management. The policy also will be interpreted to give broad authority to a Fund as to how to classify issuers within or among industries.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to borrowing money set forth in (2) above, the Investment Company Act permits each Fund to borrow money in amounts of up to one-third of the Fund’s total assets from banks for any purpose, and to borrow up to 5% of the Fund’s total assets from banks or other lenders for temporary purposes. (The Fund’s total assets include the amounts being borrowed.) To limit the risks attendant to borrowing, the Investment Company Act requires each Fund to maintain at all times an “asset coverage” of at least 300% of the amount of its borrowings. Asset coverage means the ratio that the value of a Fund's total assets (including amounts borrowed), minus liabilities other than borrowings, bears to the aggregate amount of all borrowings. Borrowing money to increase portfolio holdings is known as “leveraging.” Certain trading practices and investments, such as reverse repurchase agreements, may be considered to be borrowings or involve leverage and thus are subject to the Investment Company Act restrictions. In accordance with SEC staff guidance and interpretations, when a Fund engages in such transactions, the Fund instead of maintaining asset coverage of at least 300%, may segregate or earmark liquid assets, or enter into an offsetting position, in an amount at least equal to the Fund’s exposure, on a mark-to-market basis, to the transaction (as calculated pursuant to requirements of the SEC). The policy in (2) above will be interpreted to permit each Fund to engage in trading practices and investments that may be considered to be borrowing or to involve leverage to the extent permitted by the Investment Company Act and to permit each Fund to segregate or earmark liquid assets or enter into offsetting positions in accordance with the Investment Company Act. Short-term credits necessary for the settlement of securities transactions and arrangements with respect to securities lending will not be considered to be borrowings under the policy. Practices and investments that may involve leverage but are not considered to be borrowings are not subject to the policy.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to underwriting set forth in (5) above, the Investment Company Act does not prohibit each Fund from engaging in the underwriting business or from underwriting the securities of other issuers; in fact, in the case of diversified funds, the Investment Company Act permits the Fund to have underwriting commitments of up to 25% of its assets under certain circumstances. Those circumstances currently are that the amount of each Fund's underwriting commitments, when added to the value of the Fund’s investments in issuers where each Fund owns more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of those issuers, cannot exceed the 25% cap. A fund engaging in transactions involving the acquisition or disposition of portfolio securities may be considered to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act. Although it is not believed that the application of the 1933 Act provisions described above would cause a Fund to be engaged in the business of underwriting, the policy in (5) above will be interpreted not to prevent the Fund from engaging in transactions involving the acquisition or disposition of portfolio securities, regardless of whether the Fund may be considered to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act or is otherwise engaged in the underwriting business to the extent permitted by applicable law.

Under its non-fundamental investment restrictions, which may be changed by the Board without shareholder approval, the iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF, iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF and iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF may not:

b.	Make short sales of securities or maintain a short position, except to the extent permitted by each Fund's Prospectus and SAI, as amended from time to time, and applicable law.

Unless otherwise indicated, all limitations under each Fund's fundamental or non-fundamental investment restrictions apply only at the time that a transaction is undertaken. Any change in the percentage of a Fund's assets invested in certain securities or other instruments resulting from market fluctuations or other changes in a Fund’s total assets will not require a Fund to dispose of an investment until BFA determines that it is practicable to sell or close out the investment without undue market or tax consequences.

The iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF will not:

1.	Make loans, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time;
2.	Issue any senior security, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as interpreted, modified or otherwise permitted by regulatory authority having jurisdiction, from time to time;
3.	Pledge, hypothecate, mortgage or otherwise encumber its assets, except to secure permitted borrowings. (The deposit of underlying securities and other assets in escrow and collateral arrangements with respect to initial or variation margin for currency transactions and futures contracts will not be deemed to be pledges of the Fund’s assets);
4.	Purchase, hold or deal in real estate, or oil, gas or mineral interests or leases, but a Fund may purchase and sell securities that are issued by companies that invest or deal in such assets;
5.	Act as an underwriter of securities of other issuers, except to the extent the Fund may be deemed an underwriter in connection with the sale of securities in its portfolio;
6.	Purchase securities on margin, except for such short-term credits as are necessary for the clearance of transactions, except that a Fund may make margin deposits in connection with transactions in currencies, options, futures and options on futures;
7.	Sell securities short; or
8.	Invest in commodities or commodity contracts, except that the Fund may buy and sell currencies and forward contracts with respect thereto, and may transact in futures contracts on securities, stock indices and currencies and options on such futures contracts and make margin deposits in connection with such contracts.

Industry concentration. The iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF will not concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in the stocks of a particular industry or group of industries), except that, to the extent practicable, the Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that its benchmark MSCI Index concentrates in the stocks of such particular industry or group of industries, provided that the Fund will comply with the diversification requirements of the Internal Revenue Code applicable to RICs, any underlying Treasury regulations or any successor provision.

In addition to the investment limitations adopted as fundamental as set forth above, the iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF observes the following restrictions, which may be changed by the Board without a shareholder vote. The Fund will not:

1.	Invest in the securities of a company for the purpose of exercising management or control, or in any event purchase and hold more than 10% of the securities of a single issuer, provided that the Trust may vote the investment securities owned by the Fund in accordance with its views; or
2.	Hold illiquid assets in excess of 15% of its net assets. An illiquid asset is any asset which may not be sold or disposed of in the ordinary course of business within seven days at approximately the value at which the Fund has valued the investment.

For purposes of the percentage limitation on the iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF’s investments in illiquid securities, foreign equity securities, though not registered under the 1933 Act, are not deemed illiquid with respect to the Fund if they are otherwise readily marketable. Such securities ordinarily are considered to be “readily marketable” if they are

traded on an exchange or other organized market and are not legally restricted from sale by the Fund. BFA monitors the liquidity of restricted securities in the Fund's portfolio. In reaching liquidity decisions, BFA considers the following factors:

1.	The frequency of trades and quotes for the security;
2.	The number of dealers wishing to purchase or sell the security and the number of other potential purchasers;
3.	Dealer undertakings to make a market in the security; and
4.	The nature of the security and the nature of the marketplace in which it trades (e.g., the time needed to dispose of the security, the method of soliciting offers and the mechanics of transfer).

If any percentage restriction described above is complied with to at the time of investment, a later increase or decrease in percentage resulting from any change in value or total or net assets will not constitute in a violation of such restriction, except that certain percentage limitations will be observed continuously in accordance with applicable law.

The iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF has adopted a non-fundamental investment policy in accordance with Rule 35d-1 under the 1940 Act to invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the value of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in component securities, and in ADRs based on securities, in its Underlying Index. The Fund also has adopted a policy to provide its shareholders with at least 60 days' prior written notice of any change in such policy. If, subsequent to an investment, the 80% requirement is no longer met, the Fund's future investments will be made in a manner that will bring the Fund into compliance with this policy.

In addition to the investment restrictions adopted as fundamental policies set forth above, each Fund (other than the iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF, iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF, iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF and iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF) has adopted a non-fundamental policy not to invest in the securities of a company for the purpose of exercising management or control, or purchase or otherwise acquire any illiquid security, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, which currently permits up to 15% of each Fund’s net assets to be invested in illiquid securities (calculated at the time of investment).

BFA monitors the liquidity of restricted securities in each Fund's portfolio. In reaching liquidity decisions, BFA considers the following factors:

•	The frequency of trades and quotes for the security;
•	The number of dealers wishing to purchase or sell the security and the number of other potential purchasers;
•	Dealer undertakings to make a market in the security; and
•	The nature of the security and the nature of the marketplace in which it trades (e.g., the time needed to dispose of the security, the method of soliciting offers and the mechanics of transfer).

Each Fund (other than the iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF) has adopted a non-fundamental investment policy in accordance with Rule 35d-1 under the 1940 Act to invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the value of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in component securities of its Underlying Index or in Depositary Receipts representing component securities in its Underlying Index. Each Fund also has adopted a policy to provide its shareholders with at least 60 days’ prior written notice of any change in such policy. If, subsequent to an investment, the 80% requirement is no longer met, a Fund’s future investments will be made in a manner that will bring the Fund into compliance with this policy.

Each Fund has adopted a non-fundamental limitation such that, under normal market conditions, any borrowings by the Fund will not exceed 10% of the Fund’s net assets.

Continuous Offering

Broker-dealer firms should also note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are effecting transactions in shares, whether or not participating in the distribution of shares, generally are required to deliver a prospectus. This is because the prospectus delivery exemption in Section 4(a)(3) of the 1933 Act is not available in respect of such transactions as a result of Section 24(d) of the 1940 Act. Firms that incur a prospectus delivery obligation with respect to shares of the Funds are reminded that, pursuant to Rule 153 under the 1933 Act, a prospectus delivery obligation under Section 5(b)(2) of the 1933 Act owed to an exchange member in connection with a sale on the Listing Exchange generally is satisfied by the fact that the prospectus is available at the Listing Exchange upon request. The prospectus delivery mechanism provided in Rule 153 is available only with respect to transactions on an exchange.

Management

The registered investment companies advised by BFA or its affiliates (the “BlackRock-advised Funds”) are organized into one complex of closed-end funds, two complexes of open-end funds and one complex of ETFs (“Exchange-Traded Fund Complex”) (each, a “BlackRock Fund Complex”). Each Fund is included in the BlackRock Fund Complex referred to as the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex. Each Trustee also serves as a Director of iShares, Inc. and a Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust and, as a result, oversees a total of 347 funds within the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex. Drew E. Lawton, from October 2016 to June 2017, and Richard L. Fagnani, from April 2017 to June 2017, served as members of the advisory board (“Advisory Board,” members of which are “Advisory Board Members”) for the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust with respect to all funds within the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex. With the exception of Robert S. Kapito, Mark K. Wiedman, Charles Park, Martin Small and Benjamin Archibald, the address of each Trustee and officer is c/o BlackRock, Inc., 400 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. The address of Mr. Kapito, Mr. Wiedman, Mr. Park, Mr. Small and Mr. Archibald is c/o BlackRock, Inc., Park Avenue Plaza, 55 East 52^nd Street, New York, NY 10055. The Board has designated Cecilia H. Herbert as its Independent Board Chair. Additional information about the Funds' Trustees and officers may be found in this SAI, which is available without charge, upon request, by calling toll-free 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737).

Interested Trustees

Name (Age)	Position	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years	Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Robert S. Kapito¹ (60)	Trustee (since 2009).	President, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2006); Vice Chairman of BlackRock, Inc. and Head of BlackRock’s Portfolio Management Group (since its formation in 1998) and BlackRock, Inc.’s predecessor entities (since 1988); Trustee, University of Pennsylvania (since 2009); President of Board of Directors, Hope & Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund (since 2002).	Director of BlackRock, Inc. (since 2006); Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2009); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).
Mark K. Wiedman² (47)	Trustee (since 2013).	Senior Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2014); Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2007-2014); Global Head of BlackRock’s ETF and Index Investments Business (since 2016); Global Head of iShares (2011-2016); Head of Corporate Strategy, BlackRock, Inc. (2009-2011).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2013); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2013); Director of PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (since 2008).

¹	Robert S. Kapito is deemed to be an “interested person” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust due to his affiliations with BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates.
²	Mark K. Wiedman is deemed to be an “interested person” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust due to his affiliations with BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates.

Independent Trustees

Name (Age)		Position		Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years		Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Cecilia H. Herbert (68)		Trustee (since 2005); Independent Board Chair (since 2016).		Trustee and Member of the Finance, Technology and Quality Committee of Stanford Health Care (since 2016); Trustee and Member of the Investment Committee, WNET, a New York public media company (since 2011); Chair (1994-2005) and Member (since 1992) of the Investment Committee, Archdiocese of San Francisco; Director (1998-2013) and President (2007-2011) of the Board of Directors, Catholic Charities CYO; Trustee (2002-2011) and Chair of the Finance and Investment Committee (2006-2010) of the Thacher School.		Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011); Independent Board Chair of iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2016); Trustee of Forward Funds (14 portfolios) (since 2009); Trustee of Salient MF Trust (4 portfolios) (since 2015).

Name (Age)	Position	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years	Other Directorships Held by Trustee
Jane D. Carlin (61)	Trustee (since 2015); Risk Committee Chair (since 2016).	Consultant (since 2012); Managing Director and Global Head of Financial Holding Company Governance & Assurance and the Global Head of Operational Risk Management of Morgan Stanley (2006-2012).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2015); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2015); Director of PHH Corporation (mortgage solutions) (since 2012); Director of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (since 2016).
Richard L. Fagnani (63)	Trustee (since 2017); Equity Plus Committee Chair (since 2017).	Partner, KPMG LLP (2002-2016).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2017); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2017).
Charles A. Hurty (74)	Trustee (since 2005); Audit Committee Chair (since 2006).	Retired; Partner, KPMG LLP (1968-2001).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011); Director of SkyBridge Alternative Investments Multi-Adviser Hedge Fund Portfolios LLC (2 portfolios) (since 2002).
John E. Kerrigan (62)	Trustee (since 2005); Securities Lending Committee Chair (since 2016).	Chief Investment Officer, Santa Clara University (since 2002).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2005); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).
Drew E. Lawton (58)	Trustee (since 2017); 15(c) Committee Chair (since 2017).	Senior Managing Director of New York Life Insurance Company (2010-2015).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2017); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2017).
John E. Martinez (56)	Trustee (since 2003); Fixed Income Plus Committee Chair (since 2016).	Director of Real Estate Equity Exchange, Inc. (since 2005).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2003); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011).
Madhav V. Rajan (53)	Trustee (since 2011); Nominating and Governance Committee Chair (since 2017).	Dean, and George Pratt Shultz Professor of Accounting, University of Chicago Booth School of Business (since 2017); Robert K. Jaedicke Professor of Accounting, Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2001-2017); Professor of Law (by courtesy), Stanford Law School (2005-2017); Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Head of MBA Program, Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2010-2016).	Director of iShares, Inc. (since 2011); Trustee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust (since 2011); Director, Cavium, Inc. (since 2013).

Officers

Name (Age)	Position	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years
Martin Small (42)	President (since 2016).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2010); Head of U.S. iShares (since 2015); Co-Head of the U.S. Financial Markets Advisory Group, BlackRock, Inc. (2008-2014).
Jack Gee (58)	Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer (since 2008).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009); Senior Director of Fund Administration of Intermediary Investor Business, BGI (2009).
Charles Park (50)	Chief Compliance Officer (since 2006).	Chief Compliance Officer of BlackRock Advisors, LLC and the BlackRock-advised Funds in the Equity-Bond Complex, the Equity-Liquidity Complex and the Closed-End Complex (since 2014); Chief Compliance Officer of BFA (since 2006).
Benjamin Archibald (42)	Secretary (since 2015).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2014); Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2010-2013); Secretary of the BlackRock-advised mutual funds (since 2012).
Steve Messinger (55)	Executive Vice President (since 2016).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (2007-2014 and since 2016); Managing Director, Beacon Consulting Group (2014-2016).
Scott Radell (49)	Executive Vice President (since 2012).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009); Head of Portfolio Solutions, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009).
Alan Mason (57)	Executive Vice President (since 2016).	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. (since 2009).

The Board has concluded that, based on each Trustee’s experience, qualifications, attributes or skills on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other Trustees, each Trustee should serve as a Trustee of the Board. Among the attributes common to all Trustees are their ability to review critically, evaluate, question and discuss information provided to them, to interact effectively with the Funds' investment adviser, other service providers, counsel and the independent registered public accounting firm, and to exercise effective business judgment in the performance of their duties as Trustees. A Trustee’s ability to perform his or her duties effectively may have been attained through the Trustee’s educational background or professional training; business, consulting, public service or academic positions; experience from service as a Board member of the Funds and the other funds in the Trust (and any predecessor funds), other investment funds, public companies, or non-profit entities or other organizations; and/or other life experiences. Also, set forth below is a brief discussion of the specific experience, qualifications, attributes or skills of each Trustee that led the Board to conclude that he or she should serve (or continue to serve) as a Trustee.

Inc. and BlackRock, Inc.’s predecessor entities. Mr. Kapito serves as President of BlackRock, Inc., and is a member of the Global Executive Committee and Chairman of the Global Operating Committee. He is responsible for day-to-day oversight of BlackRock's key operating units, including Investment Strategies, Client Businesses, Technology & Operations, and Risk & Quantitative Analysis. Prior to assuming his current responsibilities in 2007, Mr. Kapito served as Vice Chairman of BlackRock, Inc. and Head of BlackRock's Portfolio Management Group. In that role, he was responsible for overseeing all portfolio management within BlackRock, including the Fixed Income, Equity, Liquidity, and Alternative Investment Groups. Mr. Kapito serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania and the Harvard Business School Board of Dean’s Advisors. He has also been President of the Board of Directors for the Hope & Heroes Children's Cancer Fund since 2002. Mr. Kapito earned a BS degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1979, and an MBA degree from Harvard Business School in 1983.

Charles A. Hurty has been a Trustee of the Trust since 2005 and Chair of the Audit Committee of the Trust since 2006. Mr. Hurty has served as a Director of iShares, Inc. since 2005, Chair of the Audit Committee of iShares, Inc. since 2006 and a Trustee and Chair of the Audit Committee of iShares U.S. ETF Trust since 2011. Mr. Hurty served as a Director of iShares MSCI Russia Capped ETF, Inc. from 2010 to 2015. In addition, Mr. Hurty has served as Director of the SkyBridge Alternative Investments Multi-Adviser Hedge Fund Portfolios LLC (formerly, Citigroup Alternative Investments Multi-Adviser Hedge Fund Portfolios LLC) since 2002. He was a Director of the GMAM Absolute Return Strategy Fund from 2002 to 2015 and was a Director of the CSFB Alternative Investment Funds from 2005 to December 2009, when the funds were liquidated. Mr. Hurty was formerly a Partner at KPMG, LLP from 1968 to 2001, where he held several leadership roles in KPMG’s Investment Management Practice. Prior to joining KPMG, Mr. Hurty was an officer in the United States Army. Mr. Hurty has a BS degree in accounting from the University of Kansas.

Board – Leadership Structure and Oversight Responsibilities

the Funds with respect to certain specified matters. The Chair of each standing Committee is an Independent Trustee. The role of the Chair of each Committee is to preside at all meetings of the Committee and to act as a liaison with service providers, officers, attorneys and other Trustees between meetings. Each standing Committee meets regularly to conduct the oversight functions delegated to the Committee by the Board and reports its finding to the Board. The Board and each standing Committee conduct annual assessments of their oversight function and structure. The Board has determined that the Board’s leadership structure is appropriate because it allows the Board to exercise independent judgment over management and it allocates areas of responsibility among committees of Independent Trustees and the full Board to enhance effective oversight.

The members of the Risk Committee are Jane D. Carlin (Chair), Charles A. Hurty, Drew E. Lawton and John E. Martinez, each of whom is an Independent Trustee. The principal responsibility of the Risk Committee is to consider and organize on behalf of the Board risk related matters of the Funds so the Board may most effectively structure itself to oversee them. The Risk Committee commenced on January 1, 2016. The Risk Committee met four times during the fiscal year ended August 31, 2017.

As the Chair of the Board, Cecilia H. Herbert may serve as an ex-officio member of each Committee.

Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee or Advisory Board Member in Family of Investment Companies
Robert S. Kapito	None	None	None

Mark K. Wiedman	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	$50,001-$100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares National Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares New York Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000

Cecilia H. Herbert	iShares California Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares China Large-Cap ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares International Select Dividend ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares MSCI Japan ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares National Muni Bond ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Preferred Stock ETF	$10,001-$50,000

Jane D. Carlin	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	$50,001-$100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Global Tech ETF	$10,001-$50,000

Richard L. Fagnani	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable

Charles A. Hurty	iShares China Large-Cap ETF	$10,001-$50,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core Growth Allocation ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	Over $100,000

Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee or Advisory Board Member in Family of Investment Companies
	iShares Core Moderate Allocation ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	$50,001-$100,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Global Energy ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Global Healthcare ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Global Tech ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Energy ETF	$10,001-$50,000
	iShares U.S. Technology ETF	Over $100,000

John E. Kerrigan	iShares MSCI ACWI ETF	$10,001-$50,000	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF	Over $100,000

Drew E. Lawton	iShares MSCI Frontier 100 ETF	$50,001-$100,000	$50,001-$100,000

John E. Martinez	iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF	$1-$10,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF	$1-$10,000
	iShares Global Consumer Staples ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares MSCI EAFE ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 1000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares TIPS Bond ETF	$50,001-$100,000

Madhav V. Rajan	iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF	Over $100,000	Over $100,000
	iShares Core High Dividend ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000

Name	Fund	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee or Advisory Board Member in Family of Investment Companies
	iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares Select Dividend ETF	Over $100,000
	iShares U.S. Preferred Stock ETF	Over $100,000

Remuneration of Trustees and Advisory Board Members.

Name	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF
Independent Trustees:

Robert H. Silver¹	$0	$0	$0	$0
John E. Martinez	1	1	1	1
Cecilia H. Herbert	1	1	1	1
Charles A. Hurty	1	1	1	1
John E. Kerrigan	1	1	1	1
Madhav V. Rajan	1	1	1	1
Jane D. Carlin	1	1	1	1
Drew E. Lawton²	1	1	1	1
Richard L. Fagnani³	0	0	0	0

Interested Trustees:

Name	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF
Robert S. Kapito	$0	$0	$0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0

Name	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF
Independent Trustees:

Robert H. Silver¹	$0	$0	$0	$0
John E. Martinez	3	1	1	1
Cecilia H. Herbert	3	1	1	1
Charles A. Hurty	3	1	1	1
John E. Kerrigan	3	1	1	1
Madhav V. Rajan	3	1	1	1
Jane D. Carlin	3	1	1	1
Drew E. Lawton²	2	1	1	1
Richard L. Fagnani³	1	0	1	0

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$0	$0	$0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0

Name	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF	iShares MSCI Denmark ETF	iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF	iShares MSCI Finland ETF
Independent Trustees:

Robert H. Silver¹	$0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
John E. Martinez	1	19	35	13
Cecilia H. Herbert	1	21	38	14
Charles A. Hurty	1	20	37	14
John E. Kerrigan	1	19	35	13
Madhav V. Rajan	1	21	37	14
Jane D. Carlin	1	19	35	13
Drew E. Lawton²	1	17	30	11
Richard L. Fagnani³	0	8	14	5

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0	0	0

Name	iShares MSCI Germany Small-Cap ETF	iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF	iShares MSCI Ireland ETF	iShares MSCI New Zealand ETF
Independent Trustees:

Robert H. Silver¹	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$0
John E. Martinez	12	144	20	51
Cecilia H. Herbert	12	155	21	54

Name	Pension or Retirement Benefits Accrued As Part of Trust Expenses⁵	Estimated Annual Benefits Upon Retirement⁵	Total Compensation From the Funds and Fund Complex⁶
Independent Trustees:

Robert H. Silver¹	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	$81,250
John E. Martinez	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	336,764
Cecilia H. Herbert	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	361,764
Charles A. Hurty	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	340,000
John E. Kerrigan	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	325,000
Madhav V. Rajan	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	325,000
Jane D. Carlin	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	325,000

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	0

Advisory Board Members:

Drew E. Lawton²	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	$75,000⁷
Richard L. Fagnani³	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable⁸

¹	Served as an Independent Trustee through March 31, 2016.
²	Compensation from each Fund is shown for Drew E. Lawton for his services as an Advisory Board Member for the period from October 18, 2016 (date of his appointment to the Advisory Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to June 18, 2017, and for his services as an Independent Trustee for the period from June 19, 2017 (date of his election to the Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to August 31, 2017.
³	Compensation from each Fund is shown for Richard L. Fagnani for his services as an Advisory Board Member for the period from April 1, 2017 (date of his appointment to the Advisory Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to June 18, 2017, and for his services as an Independent Trustee for the period from June 19, 2017 (date of his election to the Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to August 31, 2017.
⁴	Compensation reported is from the Fund’s inception to August 31, 2017.
⁵	No Trustee or officer is entitled to any pension or retirement benefits from the Trust.
⁶	Also includes compensation for service on the Board of Trustees or the Advisory Board of iShares U.S. ETF Trust and the Board of Directors or the Advisory Board of iShares, Inc.
⁷	Total compensation is shown for Drew E. Lawton for the period from October 18, 2016 (date of his appointment to the Advisory Board of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust) to December 31, 2016.
⁸	Total compensation is not shown for Richard L. Fagnani because he was appointed to serve as an Advisory Board Member of the Trust, iShares, Inc. and iShares U.S. ETF Trust effective April 1, 2017.

Control Persons and Principal Holders of Securities.

The Trustees and officers of the Trust collectively owned less than 1% of each Fund's outstanding shares as of November 30, 2017.

Although the Trust does not have information concerning the beneficial ownership of shares held in the names of Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) participants (as defined below), as of November 30, 2017, the name and percentage ownership of each DTC participant that owned of record 5% or more of the outstanding shares of a Fund were as follows:

Fund	Name and Address	Percentage of Ownership
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	63.76%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated 101 Hudson Street 9^th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	22.42%

iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	51.67%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated 101 Hudson Street 9^th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	29.79%

iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	52.65%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated 101 Hudson Street 9^th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	22.33%
	Pershing LLC One Pershing Plaza Jersey City, NJ 07399	9.01%
	National Financial Services LLC 200 Liberty Street 5^thFloor New York, NY 10281	5.37%
	LPL Financial Corporation 9785 Towne Centre Drive San Diego, CA 92121-1968	5.18%

iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF	Citigroup Global Markets Inc. 333 W 34^th Street New York, NY 10001-2402	25.00%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	16.85%

Fund	Name and Address	Percentage of Ownership

iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	42.49%
	State Street Bank and Trust Company 1776 Heritage Drive North Quincy, MA 02171	7.23%

iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small-Cap ETF	National Financial Services LLC 200 Liberty Street 5^thFloor New York, NY 10281	40.72%
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated - TS Sub 101 Hudson Street 9th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07302-3997	10.87%
	SG Americas Securities, LLC 480 Washington Boulevard Jersey City, NJ 07310	10.24%
	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. 111 Pavonia Avenue Jersey City, NJ 07310	6.39%

iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF	National Financial Services LLC 200 Liberty Street 5^thFloor New York, NY 10281	58.91%
	Citigroup Global Markets Inc. 333 W 34^th Street New York, NY 10001-2402	14.08%
	TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. 1005 N. Ameritrade Place Bellevue, NE 68005	12.79%

BlackRock is one of the world's largest asset management firms. PNC is a diversified financial services organization spanning the retail, business and corporate markets. BlackRock, PNC and their respective affiliates (including, for these purposes, their directors, partners, trustees, managing members, officers and employees), including the entities and personnel who may be involved in the investment activities and business operations of a Fund, are engaged worldwide in businesses, including managing equities, fixed-income securities, cash and alternative investments, and banking and other financial services, and have interests other than that of managing a Fund. These are considerations of which investors in a Fund should be aware, and which may cause conflicts of interest that could disadvantage a Fund and its shareholders. These businesses and

interests include potential multiple advisory, transactional, financial and other relationships with, or interests in, companies and interests in securities or other instruments that may be purchased or sold by a Fund.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates have proprietary interests in, and may manage or advise with respect to, accounts or funds (including separate accounts and other funds and collective investment vehicles) that have investment objectives similar to those of a Fund and/or that engage in transactions in the same types of securities, currencies and instruments as a Fund. One or more Affiliates are also major participants in the global currency, equities, swap and fixed-income markets, in each case, for the accounts of customers and, in some cases, on a proprietary basis. As such, one or more Affiliates are or may be actively engaged in transactions in the same securities, currencies, and instruments in which a Fund invests. Such activities could affect the prices and availability of the securities, currencies, and instruments in which a Fund invests, which could have an adverse impact on a Fund's performance. Such transactions, particularly in respect of most proprietary accounts or client accounts, will be executed independently of a Fund's transactions and thus at prices or rates that may be more or less favorable than those obtained by a Fund.

At times, these activities may cause departments of BlackRock or the other Affiliates to give advice to clients that may cause these clients to take actions adverse to the interests of a Fund. To the extent affiliated transactions are permitted, a Fund will deal with BlackRock and the other Affiliates (except with respect to BFA or affiliated sub-advisers of a Fund, as applicable) on an arms-length basis.

Subject to applicable law, the Affiliates (and their personnel and other distributors) will be entitled to retain fees and other amounts that they receive in connection with their service to the Funds as broker, dealer, agent, lender, adviser or in other commercial capacities. No accounting to a Fund or its shareholders will be required, and no fees or other compensation payable by a Fund or its shareholders will be reduced by reason of receipt by an Affiliate of any such fees or other amounts.

Prevailing trading activity frequently may make impossible the receipt of the same price or execution on the entire volume of securities purchased or sold. When this occurs, the various prices may be averaged, and the Funds will be charged or credited with the average price. Thus, the effect of the aggregation may operate on some occasions to the disadvantage of the Funds. In addition, under certain circumstances, the Funds will not be charged the same commission or commission equivalent rates in connection with a bunched or aggregated order.

industries and securities; economic and financial data; financial publications; proxy analysis; trade industry seminars; computer data bases; research-oriented software and other services and products. Research or other services obtained in this manner may be used in servicing other BlackRock client accounts, including in connection with BlackRock client accounts other than those that pay commissions to the broker relating to the research or other service arrangements. Such products and services may disproportionately benefit other BlackRock client accounts relative to the Funds based on the amount of brokerage commissions paid by the Funds and such other BlackRock client accounts. For example, research or other services that are paid for through one client's commissions may not be used in managing that client's account. In addition, other BlackRock client accounts may receive the benefit, including disproportionate benefits, of economies of scale or price discounts in connection with products and services that may be provided to the Funds and to such other BlackRock client accounts. To the extent that BlackRock uses soft dollars, it will not have to pay for those products and services itself.

BlackRock has adopted policies and procedures designed to prevent conflicts of interest from influencing proxy voting decisions that it makes on behalf of advisory clients, including the Funds, and to help ensure that such decisions are made in accordance with BlackRock's fiduciary obligations to its clients. Nevertheless, notwithstanding such proxy voting policies and procedures, actual proxy voting decisions of BlackRock may have the effect of favoring the interests of other clients or businesses of other divisions or units of BlackRock and/or the other Affiliates, provided that BlackRock believes such voting decisions to be in accordance with its fiduciary obligations. For a more detailed discussion of these policies and procedures, see the Proxy Voting Policy section of this SAI.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates may provide valuation assistance to certain clients with respect to certain securities or other investments and the valuation recommendations made for their clients' accounts may differ from the valuations for the same securities or investments assigned by a Fund's pricing vendors, especially if such valuations are based on broker-dealer quotes or other data sources unavailable to the Fund's pricing vendors. While BlackRock will generally communicate its valuation information or determinations to a Fund's pricing vendors and/or fund accountants, there may be instances where the Fund's pricing vendors or fund accountants assign a different valuation to a security or other investment than the valuation for such security or investment determined or recommended by BlackRock.

seeks to determine the price that a Fund might reasonably expect to receive from the current sale of that asset or liability in an arm’s-length transaction. The price generally may not be determined based on what a Fund might expect to receive for selling an asset or liability at a later time or if it holds the asset or liability to maturity. While fair value determinations will be based upon all available factors that BlackRock deems relevant at the time of the determination, and may be based on analytical values determined by BlackRock using proprietary or third-party valuation models, fair value represents only a good faith approximation of the value of an asset or liability. The fair value of one or more assets or liabilities may not, in retrospect, be the price at which those assets or liabilities could have been sold during the period in which the particular fair values were used in determining a Fund’s net asset value. As a result, a Fund’s sale or redemption of its shares at net asset value, at a time when a holding or holdings are valued by BlackRock (pursuant to Board-adopted procedures) at fair value, may have the effect of diluting or increasing the economic interest of existing shareholders and may affect the amount of revenue received by BlackRock with respect to services for which it receives an asset-based fee.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates and their directors, officers and employees, may buy and sell securities or other investments for their own accounts and may have conflicts of interest with respect to investments made on behalf of a Fund. As a result of differing trading and investment strategies or constraints, positions may be taken by directors, officers, employees and Affiliates that are the same, different from or made at different times than positions taken for the Fund. To lessen the possibility that a Fund will be adversely affected by this personal trading, each Fund, BFA and BlackRock, Inc. have each adopted a code of ethics in compliance with Section 17(j) of the 1940 Act that restricts securities trading in the personal accounts of investment professionals and others who normally come into possession of information regarding a Fund's portfolio transactions. Each code of ethics is available by contacting BlackRock or by accessing the EDGAR Database on the SEC's Internet site at http://www.sec.gov, and copies may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by e-mail at publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the SEC's Public Reference Room, Washington, DC 20549-1520. Information about accessing documents on the SEC’s website may be obtained by calling the SEC at (800) SEC-0330.

corporate or regulatory ownership definitions, or invest in certain futures and derivative transactions, there may be limits on the aggregate amount invested by Affiliates (including BlackRock) for their proprietary accounts and for client accounts (including the Funds) that may not be exceeded without the grant of a license or other regulatory or corporate consent or, if exceeded, may cause BlackRock, the Funds or other client accounts to suffer disadvantages or business restrictions.

If certain aggregate ownership thresholds are reached or certain transactions are undertaken, the ability of BlackRock on behalf of clients (including the Funds) to purchase or dispose of investments, or exercise rights or undertake business transactions, may be restricted by regulation or otherwise impaired. As a result, BlackRock, on behalf of clients (including the Funds), may limit purchases, sell existing investments, or otherwise restrict or limit the exercise of rights (including voting rights) when BlackRock, in its sole discretion, deems it appropriate in light of potential regulatory or other restrictions on ownership or other consequences resulting from reaching investment thresholds.

In those circumstances where ownership thresholds or limitations must be observed, BlackRock seeks to allocate limited investment opportunities equitably among clients (including the Funds), taking into consideration benchmark weight and investment strategy. BlackRock has adopted certain controls designed to prevent the occurrence of a breach of any applicable ownership threshold or limits, including, for example, when ownership in certain securities nears an applicable threshold, BlackRock may remove such securities from Deposit Securities in connection with purchases of Creation Units of a Fund and may limit purchases in such securities to the issuer's weighting in the applicable benchmark used by BlackRock to manage a Fund. If client (including Fund) holdings of an issuer exceed an applicable threshold and BlackRock is unable to obtain relief to enable the continued holding of such investments, it may be necessary to sell down these positions to meet the applicable limitations. In these cases, benchmark overweight positions will be sold prior to benchmark positions being reduced to meet applicable limitations.

BlackRock and the other Affiliates may not serve as Authorized Participants in the creation and redemption of iShares ETFs, but may serve as authorized participants of third-party ETFs.

BlackRock or the other Affiliates own or have an ownership interest in certain trading, portfolio management, operations and/or information systems used by Fund service providers. These systems are, or will be, used by a Fund service provider in connection with the provision of services to accounts managed by BlackRock and funds managed and sponsored by BlackRock, including the Funds, that engage the service provider (typically the custodian). A Fund’s service provider remunerates BlackRock or the other Affiliates for the use of the systems. A Fund service provider’s payments to BlackRock or the other Affiliates for the use of these systems may enhance the profitability of BlackRock and the other Affiliates. BlackRock’s or the other Affiliates’ receipt of fees from a service provider in connection with the use of systems provided by BlackRock or the other Affiliates may create an incentive for BlackRock to recommend that a Fund enter into or renew an arrangement with the service provider.

Present and future activities of BlackRock and the other Affiliates, including BFA, in addition to those described in this section, may give rise to additional conflicts of interest.

“flash crash,” such as the one that occurred on May 6, 2010. On September 18, 2017, the Court issued a Statement of Decision holding that the Plaintiffs lack standing to assert their claims. On October 11, 2017, the Court entered final judgment dismissing all of Plaintiffs’ claims with prejudice. Plaintiffs have appealed the Court’s decision.

Investment Advisory, Administrative and Distribution Services

Pursuant to the investment advisory agreement, BFA may, from time to time, in its sole discretion and to the extent permitted by applicable law, appoint one or more sub-advisers, including, without limitation, affiliates of BFA, to perform investment advisory or other services with respect to the Funds. In addition, BFA may delegate certain of its investment advisory functions under the investment advisory agreement to one or more of its affiliates to the extent permitted by applicable law. BFA may terminate any or all sub-advisers or such delegation arrangements in its sole discretion upon appropriate notice at any time to the extent permitted by applicable law.

Effective July 1, 2017, for its investment advisory services to certain of the Funds included in this SAI, BFA is paid a management fee from each Fund corresponding to the Fund’s allocable portion of an aggregate management fee based on the aggregate average daily net assets of the following iShares funds: iShares MSCI Australia ETF, iShares MSCI Austria ETF, iShares MSCI Belgium ETF, iShares MSCI Canada ETF, iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF, iShares MSCI France ETF, iShares MSCI Germany ETF, iShares MSCI Hong Kong ETF, iShares MSCI Ireland ETF, iShares MSCI Italy ETF, iShares MSCI Japan ETF, iShares MSCI Japan Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI Malaysia ETF, iShares MSCI Mexico ETF, iShares MSCI Netherlands ETF, iShares MSCI New Zealand ETF, iShares MSCI Singapore ETF, iShares MSCI Spain ETF, iShares MSCI Sweden ETF, iShares MSCI Switzerland ETF and iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF. The aggregate management fee is calculated as follows: 0.59% per annum of the aggregate net assets less than or equal to $7.0 billion, plus 0.54% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $7.0 billion, up to and including $11.0 billion, plus 0.49% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $11.0 billion, up to and including $24.0 billion, plus 0.44% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $24.0 billion, up to and including $48.0 billion, plus 0.40% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $48.0 billion, up to and including $72.0 billion, plus 0.36% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $72.0 billion, up to and including $96.0 billion, plus 0.32% per annum of the aggregate net assets in excess of $96.0 billion.

For its investment advisory services to certain of the Funds included in this SAI, BFA is entitled to receive a management fee from such Funds corresponding to each of the Fund's allocable portion of an aggregate management fee based on the aggregate average daily net assets of the following iShares funds: iShares MSCI Peru ETF, iShares MSCI Brazil ETF, iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI Chile ETF, iShares MSCI China ETF, iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF, iShares MSCI Israel ETF, iShares MSCI Philippines ETF, iShares MSCI Poland ETF, iShares MSCI Qatar ETF, iShares MSCI Russia ETF, iShares MSCI South Africa ETF, iShares MSCI South Korea ETF, iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF, iShares MSCI Thailand ETF, iShares MSCI Turkey ETF and iShares MSCI UAE ETF. The aggregate management fee is calculated as follows: 0.74% per annum of aggregate net assets less than or equal to $2.0 billion, plus 0.69% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $2.0 billion, up to and including $4.0 billion, plus 0.64% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $4.0 billion, up to and including $8.0 billion, plus 0.57% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $8.0 billion, up to and including $16.0 billion, plus 0.51% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $16.0 billion, up to and including $24.0 billion,

plus 0.48% per annum of the aggregate net assets over $24.0 billion, up to and including $32.0 billion, plus 0.45% per annum of the aggregate net assets in excess of $32.0 billion.

For its investment advisory services to each Fund, BFA received a management fee at the annual rates (as a percentage of such Fund’s average net assets) set forth below for the fiscal years noted:

Fund	Management Fee for Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2017	Fund Inception Date	Management Fees Paid Net of Waivers for Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2017	Management Fees Paid Net of Waivers for Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2016	Management Fees Paid Net of Waivers for Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2015
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF	0.35%	05/10/16	$ 9,468	$ 2,711	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF	0.35%	05/10/16	8,761	2,752	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF	0.35%	05/10/16	9,036	2,751	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF	0.35%	05/10/16	10,549	2,765	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF	0.35%	05/10/16	10,217	2,839	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF	0.35%	05/10/16	9,948	2,746	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF	0.35%	05/10/16	10,068	2,817	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF	0.35%	05/10/16	11,396	2,922	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF	0.35%	05/10/16	9,329	2,804	N/A
iShares MSCI Denmark ETF	0.53%	01/25/12	300,693	397,191	$ 325,691
iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF¹	0.20%	06/28/16	322,530	3,835	N/A
iShares MSCI Finland ETF	0.53%	01/25/12	195,087	146,974	139,994
iShares MSCI Germany Small-Cap ETF	0.59%	01/25/12	146,091	148,906	168,903
iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF	0.62%	05/05/10	3,257,735	2,618,299	3,202,074
iShares MSCI Ireland ETF	0.49%	05/05/10	379,076	753,992	480,393
iShares MSCI New Zealand ETF	0.49%	09/01/10	732,829	432,091	635,624
iShares MSCI Norway ETF	0.53%	01/23/12	148,790	123,807	136,883
iShares MSCI Philippines ETF	0.62%	09/28/10	1,131,578	1,738,932	2,577,107
iShares MSCI Poland ETF	0.62%	05/25/10	1,498,182	1,120,883	1,366,416
iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF	0.49%	03/12/96	11,471,919	10,827,655	15,347,971
iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small-Cap ETF	0.59%	01/25/12	170,471	95,059	109,112
iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF²	0.15%	12/01/16	12,206	N/A	N/A

¹	Effective August 4, 2017, the management fee for the iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF is 0.20%. Prior to August 4, 2017, the management fee for the iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF was 0.40%.
²	Effective August 4, 2017, the management fee for the iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF is 0.15%. Prior to August 4, 2017, the management fee for the iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF was 0.28%.

Diane Hsiung
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	238	$946,450,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	11	4,876,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Jennifer Hsui
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	259	$980,257,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	12	4,899,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Alan Mason
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	330	$1,050,535,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	302	676,584,000,000
Other Accounts	219	61,456,000,000

Greg Savage
Types of Accounts	Number	Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	321	$1,046,184,000,000
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	80	29,287,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Each of the portfolios or accounts for which the Portfolio Managers are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management seeks to track the rate of return, risk profile and other characteristics of independent third-party indexes by either replicating the same combination of securities and other financial instruments that constitute those indexes or through a representative sampling of the securities and other financial instruments that constitute those indexes based on objective criteria and data. Pursuant to BFA’s policy, investment opportunities are allocated equitably among the Funds and other portfolios and accounts. For example, under certain circumstances, an investment opportunity may be restricted due to limited supply in the market, legal constraints or other factors, in which event the investment opportunity will be allocated equitably among those portfolios and accounts, including the Funds, seeking such investment opportunity. As a consequence, from time to time each Fund may receive a smaller allocation of an investment opportunity than it would have if the Portfolio Managers and BFA and its affiliates did not manage other portfolios or accounts.

Like the Funds, the other portfolios or accounts for which the Portfolio Managers are primarily responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management generally pay an asset-based fee to BFA or its affiliates, as applicable, for its advisory services. One or more of those other portfolios or accounts, however, may pay BFA or its affiliates a performance-based fee in lieu of, or in addition to, an asset-based fee for its advisory services. A portfolio or account with a performance-based fee would pay BFA or its affiliates a portion of that portfolio’s or account’s gains, or would pay BFA or its affiliates more for its services than would otherwise be the case if BFA or any of its affiliates meets or exceeds specified performance targets. Performance-based fee arrangements could present an incentive for BFA or its affiliates to devote greater resources, and allocate more investment opportunities, to the portfolios or accounts that have those fee arrangements, relative to other portfolios or accounts, in order to earn larger fees. Although BFA and each of its affiliates have an obligation to allocate resources and opportunities equitably among portfolios and accounts and intend to do so, shareholders of the Funds should be aware that, as with any group of portfolios and accounts managed by an investment adviser and/or its affiliates pursuant to varying fee arrangements, including performance-based fee arrangements, there is the potential for a conflict of interest, which may result in the Portfolio Managers favoring those portfolios or accounts with performance-based fee arrangements.

Diane Hsiung
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	2	$26,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Jennifer Hsui
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	2	$26,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Alan Mason
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	0	N/A
Other Accounts	0	N/A

Greg Savage
Types of Accounts	Number of Other Accounts with Performance Fees Managed by Portfolio Manager	Aggregate of Total Assets
Registered Investment Companies	0	N/A
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles	1	$1,070,000,000
Other Accounts	0	N/A

The discussion below describes the Portfolio Managers' compensation as of August 31, 2017.

Portfolio Manager Compensation Overview

Base compensation. Generally, portfolio managers receive base compensation based on their position with the firm.

Other Compensation Benefits. In addition to base compensation and discretionary incentive compensation, portfolio managers may be eligible to receive or participate in one or more of the following:

As of August 31, 2017, the Portfolio Managers did not beneficially own shares of the Funds.

Codes of Ethics. The Trust, BFA and the Distributor have adopted codes of ethics pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act. The codes of ethics permit personnel subject to the codes of ethics to invest in securities, subject to certain limitations, including securities that may be purchased or held by the Funds. The codes of ethics are on public file with, and are available from, the SEC.

Administrator, Custodian and Transfer Agent. State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”) serves as administrator, custodian and transfer agent for the Funds under the Master Services Agreement and related Service Schedule (the “Service Module”). State Street’s principal address is 1 Iron Street, Boston, MA 02210. Pursuant to the Service Module for Fund Administration and Accounting Services with the Trust, State Street provides necessary administrative, legal, tax and accounting and financial reporting services for the maintenance and operations of the Trust and each Fund. In addition, State Street makes available the office space, equipment, personnel and facilities required to provide such services. Pursuant to the Service Module for Custodial Services with the Trust, State Street maintains, in separate accounts, cash, securities and other assets of the Trust and each Fund, keeps all necessary accounts and records and provides other services. State Street is required, upon the order of the Trust, to deliver securities held by State Street and to make payments for securities purchased by the Trust for each Fund. State Street is authorized to appoint certain foreign custodians or foreign custody managers for

Fund investments outside the U.S. Pursuant to the Service Module for Transfer Agency Services with the Trust, State Street acts as a transfer agent for each Fund’s authorized and issued shares of beneficial interest, and as dividend disbursing agent of the Trust. As compensation for these services, State Street receives certain out-of-pocket costs, transaction fees and asset-based fees which are accrued daily and paid monthly by BFA from its management fee.

The following table sets forth the administration, custodian and transfer agency expenses of each Fund paid by BFA to State Street for the fiscal years noted:

Fund	Fund Inception Date	Administration, Custodian & Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2017	Administration, Custodian & Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2016	Administration, Custodian & Transfer Agency Expenses Paid During Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2015
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF	05/10/16	$ 2,928	$ 885	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF	05/10/16	2,812	664	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF	05/10/16	2,948	938	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF	05/10/16	2,745	799	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF	05/10/16	2,495	739	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF	05/10/16	2,697	919	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF	05/10/16	2,567	986	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF	05/10/16	2,821	711	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF	05/10/16	2,747	835	N/A
iShares MSCI Denmark ETF	01/25/12	29,451	53,521	$ 21,898
iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF	06/28/16	22,966	8,556	N/A
iShares MSCI Finland ETF	01/25/12	22,800	22,243	19,177
iShares MSCI Germany Small-Cap ETF	01/25/12	26,731	26,377	23,606
iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF	05/05/10	178,941	150,783	171,690
iShares MSCI Ireland ETF	05/05/10	9,652	12,752	10,441
iShares MSCI New Zealand ETF	09/01/10	35,608	33,873	35,477
iShares MSCI Norway ETF	01/23/12	16,085	19,265	21,288
iShares MSCI Philippines ETF	09/28/10	52,649	79,194	111,566
iShares MSCI Poland ETF	05/25/10	122,272	100,765	120,047
iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF	03/12/96	62,379	62,593	82,911
iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small-Cap ETF	01/25/12	19,700	19,875	18,424
iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF	12/01/16	8,096	N/A	N/A

Each Fund retains a portion of the securities lending income and remits the remaining portion to BTC as compensation for its services as securities lending agent. Securities lending income is generally equal to the total of income earned from the reinvestment of cash collateral (and excludes collateral investment fees as defined below), and any fees or other payments to and from borrowers of securities. As securities lending agent, BTC bears all operational costs directly related to securities lending. Each Fund is responsible for fees in connection with the investment of cash collateral received for securities on loan in a money market fund managed by BFA; however, BTC has agreed to reduce the amount of securities lending income it receives in order to effectively limit the collateral investment fees the Fund bears to an annual rate of 0.04% (the “collateral investment fees”). Such money market fund shares will not be subject to a sales load, redemption fee, distribution fee or service fee.

Pursuant to the Securities Lending Agency Agreement:

(i) The iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF and iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF (“Domestic Equity Funds”) retain 71.5% of securities lending income (which excludes collateral investment fees) and (ii) this amount can never be less than 65% of the sum of securities lending income plus collateral investment fees.

(i) All Funds except for the iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF and iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF (“International Equity Funds”) retain 80% of securities lending income (which excludes collateral investment fees) and (ii) this amount can never be less than 70% of the sum of securities lending income plus collateral investment fees.

In addition, commencing the business day following the date that the aggregate securities lending income (which includes, for this purpose, collateral investment fees) earned across the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex (as defined under “Management—Trustees and Officers”) in a calendar year exceeds the aggregate securities lending income earned across the Exchange-Traded Fund Complex in calendar year 2013 (the Hurdle Date), each applicable Fund, pursuant to the securities lending agreement, will receive for the remainder of that calendar year securities lending income as follows:

Domestic Equity Funds

International Equity Funds

The services provided to the Funds by BTC in the most recent fiscal year ended August 31, 2017 primarily included the following:

(1) selecting borrowers from an approved list of borrowers and executing a securities lending agreement as agent on behalf of the Funds with each such borrower;

(2) negotiating the terms of securities loans, including the amount of fees;

(3) directing the delivery of loaned securities;

(4) monitoring the daily value of the loaned securities and directing the payment of additional collateral or the return of excess collateral, as necessary;

(5) investing cash collateral received in connection with any loaned securities;

(6) monitoring distributions on loaned securities (for example, interest and dividend activity);

(8) terminating securities loans and arranging for the return of loaned securities to the Funds at loan termination.

The following tables show the dollar amounts of income and fees/compensation related to the securities lending activities of each Fund during its most recent fiscal year ended August 31, 2017.

Fund	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF
Gross income from securities lending activities	$290	$105	$ 516	$ 13
Fees and/or compensation for securities lending activities and related services
Securities lending income paid to BTC for services as securities lending agent	57	25	62	1
Cash collateral management expenses not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	6	1	16	0
Administrative fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	0	0
Indemnification fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	0	0
Rebates (paid to borrowers)	61	3	278	10
Other fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	0	0
Aggregate fees/compensation for securities lending activities	124	29	356	11
Net income from securities lending activities	166	76	160	2

Fund	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF
Gross income from securities lending activities	$157	$10	N/A	$ 752
Fees and/or compensation for securities lending activities and related services
Securities lending income paid to BTC for services as securities lending agent	15	2	N/A	156
Cash collateral management expenses not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	6	0	N/A	18
Administrative fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	N/A	0
Indemnification fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	N/A	0
Rebates (paid to borrowers)	95	4	N/A	174
Other fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	N/A	0
Aggregate fees/compensation for securities lending activities	116	6	N/A	348
Net income from securities lending activities	41	4	N/A	404

Fund	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF	iShares MSCI Denmark ETF	iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF	iShares MSCI Finland ETF
Gross income from securities lending activities	N/A	$52,590	$9,294	$5,502
Fees and/or compensation for securities lending activities and related services
Securities lending income paid to BTC for services as securities lending agent	N/A	8,711	1,462	913
Cash collateral management expenses not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	N/A	536	88	111
Administrative fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	N/A	0	0	0
Indemnification fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	N/A	0	0	0
Rebates (paid to borrowers)	N/A	3,309	1,804	825

Fund	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF	iShares MSCI Denmark ETF	iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF	iShares MSCI Finland ETF
Other fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	N/A	0	0	0
Aggregate fees/compensation for securities lending activities	N/A	12,556	3,354	1,849
Net income from securities lending activities	N/A	40,034	5,940	3,653

Fund	iShares MSCI Germany Small-Cap ETF	iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF	iShares MSCI Ireland ETF	iShares MSCI New Zealand ETF
Gross income from securities lending activities	$ 143,305	N/A	N/A	$ 134,810
Fees and/or compensation for securities lending activities and related services
Securities lending income paid to BTC for services as securities lending agent	24,003	N/A	N/A	25,370
Cash collateral management expenses not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	1,933	N/A	N/A	1,797
Administrative fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	N/A	N/A	0
Indemnification fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	N/A	N/A	0
Rebates (paid to borrowers)	12,946	N/A	N/A	1,025
Other fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	N/A	N/A	0
Aggregate fees/compensation for securities lending activities	38,882	N/A	N/A	28,192
Net income from securities lending activities	104,423	N/A	N/A	106,618

Fund	iShares MSCI Norway ETF	iShares MSCI Philippines ETF	iShares MSCI Poland ETF	iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF
Gross income from securities lending activities	$112,673	N/A	$536,232	$98,826
Fees and/or compensation for securities lending activities and related services
Securities lending income paid to BTC for services as securities lending agent	19,219	N/A	94,832	13,442

Fund	iShares MSCI Norway ETF	iShares MSCI Philippines ETF	iShares MSCI Poland ETF	iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF
Cash collateral management expenses not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	810	N/A	5,618	2,599
Administrative fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	N/A	0	0
Indemnification fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	N/A	0	0
Rebates (paid to borrowers)	3,317	N/A	4,273	23,165
Other fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	N/A	0	0
Aggregate fees/compensation for securities lending activities	23,346	N/A	104,723	39,206
Net income from securities lending activities	89,327	N/A	431,509	59,620

Fund	iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small-Cap ETF	iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF
Gross income from securities lending activities	$ 43,437	$174
Fees and/or compensation for securities lending activities and related services
Securities lending income paid to BTC for services as securities lending agent	7,899	33
Cash collateral management expenses not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	366	5
Administrative fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0
Indemnification fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0
Rebates (paid to borrowers)	640	50
Other fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0
Aggregate fees/compensation for securities lending activities	8,905	88
Net income from securities lending activities	34,532	86

Payments by BFA and its Affiliates. BFA and/or its affiliates (“BFA Entities”) may pay certain broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, banks and other financial intermediaries (“Intermediaries”) for certain activities related to the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products in general. BFA Entities make these payments from their own assets and not from the assets of the Funds. Although a portion of BFA Entities’ revenue comes directly or indirectly in part from fees paid by the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products, these payments do not increase the price paid by investors for the purchase of shares of, or the cost of owning, the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products. BFA Entities make payments for Intermediaries’ participation in activities that are designed to make registered representatives, other professionals and individual investors more knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, including the Funds and other iShares funds, or for other activities, such as participation in marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems (“Education Costs”). BFA Entities also make payments to Intermediaries for certain printing, publishing and mailing costs or materials relating to the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products (“Publishing Costs”). In addition, BFA Entities make payments to Intermediaries that make shares of the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products available to their clients, develop new products that feature iShares or otherwise promote the Funds, other iShares funds and exchange-traded products. BFA Entities may also reimburse expenses or make payments from their own assets to Intermediaries or other persons in consideration of services or other activities that the BFA Entities believe may benefit the iShares business or facilitate investment in the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products. Payments of the type described above are sometimes referred to as revenue-sharing payments.

Payments to an Intermediary may be significant to the Intermediary, and amounts that Intermediaries pay to your salesperson or other investment professional may also be significant for your salesperson or other investment professional. Because an Intermediary may make decisions about which investment options it will recommend or make available to its clients or what services to provide for various products based on payments it receives or is eligible to receive, such payments may create conflicts of interest between the Intermediary and its clients and these financial incentives may cause the Intermediary to recommend the Funds, other iShares funds or exchange-traded products over other investments. The same conflicts of interest and financial incentives exist with respect to your salesperson or other investment professional if he or she receives similar payments from his or her Intermediary firm.

In addition to the payments described above, BFA Entities have developed proprietary tools, calculators and related interactive or digital content that is made available through the www.BlackRock.com website at no additional cost to Intermediaries. BlackRock may configure these tools and calculators and localizes the content for Intermediaries as part of its customary digital marketing support and promotion of the Funds, other iShares funds, exchange-traded products and BlackRock mutual funds.

In addition, BFA Entities may enter into other contractual arrangements with Intermediaries and certain other third parties that the BFA Entities believe may benefit the iShares business or facilitate investment in iShares funds. Such agreements may include payments by BFA Entities to such Intermediaries and third parties for data collection and provision, technology support, platform enhancement, or co-marketing and cross-promotional efforts. Payments made pursuant to such arrangements may vary in any year and may be different for different Intermediaries and third parties. In certain cases, the payments described in the preceding sentence may be subject to certain minimum payment levels. Such payments will not be asset- or revenue-based. As of the date of this SAI, the Intermediaries and other third parties receiving such contractual payments include: Commonwealth Equity Services, Inc., Ladenburg Thalmann Advisor Network LLC, LPL Financial LLC, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, Orion Advisors Services, LLC, Pershing LLC, Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., TD

Ameritrade, Inc. and UBS Financial Services Inc. Any additions, modifications, or deletions to Intermediaries and other third parties listed above that have occurred since the date noted above are not included in the list.

Further, BFA Entities make Education Costs and Publishing Costs payments to other Intermediaries that are not listed above. BFA Entities may determine to make such payments based on any number of metrics. For example, BFA Entities may make payments at year-end or other intervals in a fixed amount, an amount based upon an Intermediary’s services at defined levels or an amount based on the Intermediary’s net sales of one or more iShares funds in a year or other period, any of which arrangements may include an agreed-upon minimum or maximum payment, or any combination of the foregoing. As of the date of this SAI, BFA anticipates that the payments paid by BFA Entities in connection with the Funds, iShares funds and exchange-traded products in general will be immaterial to BFA Entities in the aggregate for the next year. Please contact your salesperson or other investment professional for more information regarding any such payments or financial incentives his or her Intermediary firm may receive. Any payments made, or financial incentives offered, by the BFA Entities to an Intermediary may create the incentive for the Intermediary to encourage customers to buy shares of the Funds, other iShares funds or other exchange-traded products.

Determination of Net Asset Value

Equity Investments. Equity securities traded on a recognized securities exchange (e.g., NYSE), on separate trading boards of a securities exchange or through a market system that provides contemporaneous transaction pricing information (each, an “Exchange”) are valued using information obtained via independent pricing services, generally at the closing price on the Exchange on which the security is primarily traded, or if an Exchange closing price is not available, the last traded price on that Exchange prior to the time as of which a Fund’s assets or liabilities are valued. However, under certain circumstances, other means of determining current market value may be used. If an equity security is traded on more than one Exchange, the current market value of the security where it is primarily traded generally will be used. In the event that there are no sales involving an equity security held by a Fund on a day on which a Fund values such security, the prior day’s price will be used, unless, in accordance with valuation procedures approved by the Board (the “Valuation Procedures”), BlackRock determines in good faith that such prior day’s price no longer reflects the fair value of the security, in which case such asset would be treated as a Fair Value Asset (as defined below).

Fixed-Income Investments. Fixed-income securities for which market quotations are readily available are generally valued using such securities’ current market value. A Fund values fixed-income portfolio securities using the last available bid prices or current market quotations provided by dealers or prices (including evaluated prices) supplied by a Fund’s approved independent third-party pricing services, each in accordance with the Valuation Procedures. The pricing services may use matrix pricing or valuation models that utilize certain inputs and assumptions to derive values, including transaction data (e.g., recent representative bids and offers), credit quality information, perceived market movements, news, and other relevant information and by other methods, which may include consideration of: yields or prices of securities of comparable quality, coupon, maturity and type; indications as to values from dealers; general market conditions; and/or other factors and assumptions. Pricing services generally value fixed-income securities assuming orderly transactions of an institutional round lot size, but a Fund may hold or transact in such securities in smaller, odd lot sizes. Odd lots often trade at lower prices than institutional round lots. The amortized cost method of valuation may be used with respect to debt obligations with sixty days or less remaining to maturity unless BlackRock determines in good faith that such method does not represent fair value. Loan participation notes are generally valued at the mean of the last available bid prices from one or more brokers or dealers as obtained from independent third-party pricing services. Certain fixed-income investments, including asset-backed and

mortgage-related securities, may be valued based on valuation models that consider the estimated cash flows of each tranche of the entity, establish a benchmark yield and develop an estimated tranche-specific spread to the benchmark yield based on the unique attributes of the tranche.

Options, Futures, Swaps and Other Derivatives. Exchange-traded equity options for which market quotations are readily available are valued at the mean of the last bid and ask prices as quoted on the Exchange or the board of trade on which such options are traded. In the event that there is no mean price available for an exchange traded equity option held by a Fund on a day on which a Fund values such option, the last bid (long positions) or ask (short positions) price, if available, will be used as the value of such option. If no such bid or ask price is available on a day on which a Fund values such option, the prior day’s price will be used, unless BlackRock determines in good faith that such prior day’s price no longer reflects the fair value of the option, in which case such option will be treated as a Fair Value Asset (as defined below). OTC derivatives are valued using the last available bid prices or current market quotations provided by dealers or prices (including evaluated prices) supplied by a Fund’s approved independent third-party pricing services, each in accordance with the Valuation Procedures. OTC derivatives may be valued using a mathematical model which may incorporate a number of market data factors. Financial futures contracts and options thereon, which are traded on exchanges, are valued at their settle price as of the close of such exchanges. Swap agreements and other derivatives are generally valued daily based upon quotations from market makers or by a pricing service in accordance with the Valuation Procedures.

Underlying Funds. Shares of underlying ETFs will be valued at their most recent closing price on an Exchange. Shares of underlying money market funds will be valued at their NAV.

All cash, receivables and current payables are carried on a Fund’s books at their face value.

Fair Value. When market quotations are not readily available or are believed in good faith by BlackRock to be unreliable, a Fund’s investments are valued at fair value (“Fair Value Assets”). Fair Value Assets are valued by BlackRock in accordance with the Valuation Procedures. BlackRock may reasonably conclude that a market quotation is not readily available or is unreliable if, among other things, a security or other asset or liability does not have a price source due to its complete lack of trading, if BlackRock believes in good faith that a market quotation from a broker-dealer or other source is unreliable (e.g., where it varies significantly from a recent trade, or no longer reflects the fair value of the security or other asset or liability subsequent to the most recent market quotation), or where the security or other asset or liability is only thinly traded or due to the occurrence of a significant event subsequent to the most recent market quotation. For this purpose, a “significant event” is deemed to occur if BlackRock determines, in its reasonable business judgment, that an event has occurred after the close of trading for an asset or liability but prior to or at the time of pricing a Fund’s assets or liabilities, and that the event is likely to cause a material change to the closing market price of the assets or liabilities held by a Fund. Non-U.S. securities whose values are affected by volatility that occurs in the markets or in related or highly correlated assets (e.g., ADRs, GDRs or ETFs that invest in components of the Underlying Index) on a trading day after the close of non-U.S. securities markets may be fair valued. On any day the NYSE is open and a foreign market or the primary exchange on which a foreign asset or liability is traded is closed, such asset or liability will be valued using the prior day’s price, provided that BlackRock is not aware of any significant event or other information that would cause such price to no longer reflect the fair value of the asset or liability, in which case such asset or liability would be treated as a Fair Value Asset.

BlackRock, with input from the BlackRock Investment Strategy Group, will submit its recommendations regarding the valuation and/or valuation methodologies for Fair Value Assets to BlackRock’s Valuation Committee. The BlackRock Valuation Committee may accept, modify or reject any recommendations. In addition, a Fund’s accounting agent periodically endeavors to confirm the prices it receives from all third-party pricing services, index providers and broker-dealers, and, with the assistance of BlackRock, to regularly evaluate the values assigned to the securities and other assets and liabilities of a Fund. The pricing of all Fair Value Assets is subsequently reported to and, where appropriate, ratified by the Board.

Brokerage Transactions

The Funds anticipate that brokerage transactions involving foreign equity securities generally will be conducted primarily on the principal stock exchanges of the applicable country. Foreign equity securities may be held by the Funds in the form of depositary receipts, or other securities convertible into foreign equity securities. Depositary receipts may be listed on stock exchanges, or traded in OTC markets in the United States or Europe, as the case may be. ADRs, like other securities traded in the United States, will be subject to negotiated commission rates.

OTC issues, including most fixed-income securities such as corporate debt and U.S. Government securities, are normally traded on a “net” basis without a stated commission, through dealers acting for their own account and not as brokers. The Funds will primarily engage in transactions with these dealers or deal directly with the issuer unless a better price or execution could be obtained by using a broker. Prices paid to a dealer with respect to both foreign and domestic securities will generally include a “spread,” which is the difference between the prices at which the dealer is willing to purchase and sell the specific security at the time, and includes the dealer’s normal profit.

affiliated person (as defined in the 1940 Act) thereof is a member except pursuant to procedures adopted by the Board in accordance with Rule 10f-3 under the 1940 Act.

If purchases or sales of securities arise for consideration at or about the same time that would involve the Funds or other clients or funds for which BFA or another Affiliate act as investment manager, transactions in such securities will be made, insofar as feasible, for the respective funds and clients in a manner deemed equitable to all.

In certain instances, BFA may find it efficient for purposes of seeking to obtain best execution, to aggregate or “bunch” certain contemporaneous purchases or sale orders of its advisory accounts and advisory accounts of affiliates. In general, all contemporaneous trades for client accounts under management by the same portfolio manager or investment team will be bunched in a single order if the trader believes the bunched trade would provide each client with an opportunity to achieve a more favorable execution at a potentially lower execution cost. The costs associated with a bunched order will be shared pro rata among the clients in the bunched order. Generally, if an order for a particular portfolio manager or management team is filled at several different prices through multiple trades, all accounts participating in the order will receive the average price (except in the case of certain international markets where average pricing is not permitted). While in some cases this practice could have a detrimental effect upon the price or value of the security as far as the Funds are concerned, in other cases it could be beneficial to the Funds. Transactions effected by BFA or the other Affiliates on behalf of more than one of its clients during the same period may increase the demand for securities being purchased or the supply of securities being sold, causing an adverse effect on price. The trader will give the bunched order to the broker-dealer that the trader has identified as being able to provide the best execution of the order. Orders for purchase or sale of securities will be placed within a reasonable amount of time of the order receipt and bunched orders will be kept bunched only long enough to execute the order.

Fund	Fund Inception Date	Brokerage Commissions Paid During Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2017	Brokerage Commissions Paid During Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2016	Brokerage Commissions Paid During Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2015
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF	05/10/16	$ 117	$ 17	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF	05/10/16	58	16	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF	05/10/16	144	48	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF	05/10/16	148	26	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF	05/10/16	63	6	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF	05/10/16	89	21	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF	05/10/16	67	24	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF	05/10/16	158	7	N/A
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF	05/10/16	81	4	N/A
iShares MSCI Denmark ETF	01/25/12	2,030	8,191	$ 841
iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF	06/28/16	3,742	194	N/A
iShares MSCI Finland ETF	01/25/12	1,331	1,284	393
iShares MSCI Germany Small-Cap ETF	01/25/12	1,309	414	2,417
iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF	05/05/10	23,655	19,540	10,134
iShares MSCI Ireland ETF	05/05/10	2,977	9,527	2,781
iShares MSCI New Zealand ETF	09/01/10	3,992	2,779	4,914
iShares MSCI Norway ETF	01/23/12	845	488	738
iShares MSCI Philippines ETF	09/28/10	9,437	23,583	12,240
iShares MSCI Poland ETF	05/25/10	31,303	23,446	22,495
iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF	03/12/96	62,270	46,522	60,031
iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small-Cap ETF	01/25/12	1,676	770	488
iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF	12/01/16	374	N/A	N/A

Fund	Issuer	Market Value of Investment
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF	J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.	$ 268,853
	Bank of America Corp.	182,878
	Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The)	20,136

iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF	HSBC Holdings PLC	$ 1,392,572
	UBS Group AG	524,803
	Societe Generale SA	343,144
	Credit Suisse Group AG	236,208

iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF	HSBC Holdings PLC	$214,598,452

iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF	J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.	$ 160,784
	Bank of America Corp.	119,999
	Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The)	50,118
	Morgan Stanley	45,045

Portfolio turnover may vary from year to year, as well as within a year. High turnover rates may result in comparatively greater brokerage expenses.

The table below sets forth the portfolio turnover rates of each Fund for the fiscal years noted:

Fund	Fiscal Year ended August 31, 2017	Fiscal Year ended August 31, 2016
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF	41%	22%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF	32%	18%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF	39%	29%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF	42%	28%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF	31%	20%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF	41%	26%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF	21%	26%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF	39%	20%

Fund	Fiscal Year ended August 31, 2017	Fiscal Year ended August 31, 2016
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF	20%	21%
iShares MSCI Denmark ETF	14%	40%
iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF	9%	5%
iShares MSCI Finland ETF	12%	21%
iShares MSCI Germany Small-Cap ETF	14%	12%
iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF	6%	5%
iShares MSCI Ireland ETF	14%	31%
iShares MSCI New Zealand ETF	9%	11%
iShares MSCI Norway ETF	10%	19%
iShares MSCI Philippines ETF	7%	10%
iShares MSCI Poland ETF	6%	10%
iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF	4%	5%
iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small-Cap ETF	19%	21%
iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF	22%	N/A

Additional Information Concerning the Trust

Shareholders may make inquiries by writing to iShares Trust, c/o BlackRock Investments, LLC, 1 University Square Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540.

Absent an applicable exemption or other relief from the SEC or its staff, beneficial owners of more than 5% of the shares of a fund may be subject to the reporting provisions of Section 13 of the 1934 Act and the SEC’s rules promulgated thereunder. In addition, absent an applicable exemption or other relief from the SEC or its staff, officers and trustees of a fund and beneficial owners of 10% of the shares of a fund (“Insiders”) may be subject to the insider reporting, short-swing profit and short sale provisions of Section 16 of the 1934 Act and the SEC’s rules promulgated thereunder. Beneficial owners and Insiders should consult with their own legal counsel concerning their obligations under Sections 13 and 16 of the 1934 Act and existing guidance provided by the SEC staff.

including the 1940 Act), authorize certain funds to merge, reorganize, consolidate, sell all or substantially all of their assets, or take other similar actions with, to or into another fund.

DTC as Securities Depository for Shares of the Funds. Shares of each Fund are represented by securities registered in the name of DTC or its nominee and deposited with, or on behalf of, DTC.

Conveyance of all notices, statements and other communications to Beneficial Owners is effected as follows. Pursuant to the Depositary Agreement between the Trust and DTC, DTC is required to make available to the Trust upon request and for a fee to be charged to the Trust a listing of the shares of each Fund held by each DTC Participant. The Trust shall inquire of each such DTC Participant as to the number of Beneficial Owners holding shares, directly or indirectly, through such DTC Participant. The Trust shall provide each such DTC Participant with copies of such notice, statement or other communication, in such form, number and at such place as such DTC Participant may reasonably request, in order that such notice, statement or communication may be transmitted by such DTC Participant, directly or indirectly, to such Beneficial Owners. In addition, the Trust shall pay to each such DTC Participant a fair and reasonable amount as reimbursement for the expenses attendant to such transmittal, all subject to applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

Share distributions shall be made to DTC or its nominee, Cede & Co., as the registered holder of all shares of the Trust. DTC or its nominee, upon receipt of any such distributions, shall credit immediately DTC Participants’ accounts with payments in amounts proportionate to their respective beneficial interests in shares of each Fund as shown on the records of DTC or its nominee. Payments by DTC Participants to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners of shares held through such DTC Participants will be governed by standing instructions and customary practices, as is now the case with securities held for the accounts of customers in bearer form or registered in a “street name,” and will be the responsibility of such DTC Participants.

time by giving reasonable notice to the Trust and discharging its responsibilities with respect thereto under applicable law. Under such circumstances, the Trust shall take action to find a replacement for DTC to perform its functions at a comparable cost.

Any Selling Shareholder and any other person participating in such distribution will be subject to applicable provisions of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.

Creation and Redemption of Creation Units

Fund	Shares Per Creation Unit	Approximate Value Per Creation Unit (U.S.$)
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF	50,000	$1,411,500
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF	50,000	1,241,000
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF	50,000	1,300,000
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF	50,000	1,665,000
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF	50,000	1,514,000
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF	50,000	1,564,500
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF	50,000	1,609,000
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF	50,000	1,877,500
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF	50,000	1,329,500
iShares MSCI Denmark ETF	50,000	3,372,500
iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF	100,000	6,596,000
iShares MSCI Finland ETF	50,000	2,013,000
iShares MSCI Germany Small-Cap ETF	50,000	3,018,500
iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF	50,000	1,329,500
iShares MSCI Ireland ETF	50,000	2,316,000
iShares MSCI New Zealand ETF	50,000	2,359,000

Fund	Shares Per Creation Unit	Approximate Value Per Creation Unit (U.S.$)
iShares MSCI Norway ETF	100,000	2,593,000
iShares MSCI Philippines ETF	50,000	1,847,000
iShares MSCI Poland ETF	50,000	1,324,000
iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF	100,000	3,486,000
iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small-Cap ETF	50,000	2,096,000
iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF	50,000	2,746,500

Fund Deposit. The consideration for purchase of Creation Units of a Fund generally consists of Deposit Securities and the Cash Component computed as described below. Together, the Deposit Securities and the Cash Component constitute the “Fund Deposit,” which when combined with the Fund's portfolio securities, is intended to generate performance that has a collective investment profile similar to that of the Underlying Index. The Fund Deposit represents the minimum initial and subsequent investment amount for a Creation Unit of any Fund.

BFA makes available through the NSCC on each Business Day prior to the opening of business on the Listing Exchange, the list of names and the required number of shares of each Deposit Security and the amount of the Cash Component to be included in the current Fund Deposit (based on information as of the end of the previous Business Day for each Fund). Such Fund Deposit is applicable, subject to any adjustments as described below, to purchases of Creation Units of shares of a given Fund until such time as the next-announced Fund Deposit is made available.

Cash Purchase Method. Although the Trust does not generally permit partial or full cash purchases of Creation Units of its funds, when partial or full cash purchases of Creation Units are available or specified for a Fund, they will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind purchases thereof. In the case of a partial or full cash purchase, the Authorized Participant must pay the cash equivalent of the Deposit Securities it would otherwise be required to provide through an in-kind purchase, plus the same Cash Component required to be paid by an in-kind purchaser.

100

The Authorized Participant is responsible for any and all expenses and costs incurred by a Fund, including any applicable cash amounts, in connection with any purchase order.

101

Acceptance of Orders for Creation Units. Subject to the conditions that (i) an irrevocable purchase order has been submitted by the Authorized Participant (either on its own or another investor's behalf) and (ii) arrangements satisfactory to the Funds are in place for payment of the Cash Component and any other cash amounts which may be due, the Funds will accept the order, subject to each Fund's right (and the right of the Distributor and BFA) to reject any order until acceptance, as set forth below.

Issuance of a Creation Unit. Except as provided herein, a Creation Unit will not be issued until the transfer of good title to the applicable Fund of the Deposit Securities and the payment of the Cash Component have been completed. When the sub-custodian has confirmed to the custodian that the securities included in the Fund Deposit (or the cash value thereof) have been delivered to the account of the relevant sub-custodian or sub-custodians, the Distributor or its agent and BFA shall be notified of such delivery and the applicable Fund will issue and cause the delivery of the Creation Unit. For the iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF, iShares MSCI Denmark ETF, iShares MSCI Finland ETF, iShares MSCI Germany Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI Ireland ETF, iShares MSCI New Zealand ETF, iShares MSCI Norway ETF, iShares MSCI Poland ETF, iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF, iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small-Cap ETF and iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF, Creation Units are generally issued on a “T+2 basis” (i.e., two Business Days after trade date). For the iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF, iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF and iShares MSCI Philippines ETF, Creation Units are generally issued on a “T+3 basis” (i.e., three Business Days after trade date). However, each Fund reserves the right to settle Creation Unit transactions on a basis other than T+2 or T+3, including a shorter settlement period, if necessary or appropriate under the circumstances and compliant with applicable law. For example, certain Funds reserve the right to settle Creation Unit transactions on a basis other than T+2 or T+3 in order to accommodate non-U.S. market holiday schedules (as discussed in Appendix B of this SAI), to account for different treatment among non-U.S. and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and ex-dividend dates (i.e., the last day the holder of a security can sell the security and still receive dividends payable on the security) and in certain other circumstances.

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of the value of the missing Deposit Securities in accordance with the Funds' then-effective procedures. The Trust may use such cash deposit at any time to buy Deposit Securities for the Funds. The only collateral that is acceptable to the Funds is cash in U.S. dollars. Such cash collateral must be delivered no later than the time specified by a Fund or its custodian on the contractual settlement date. The cash collateral posted by the Authorized Participant may be invested at the risk of the Authorized Participant, and income, if any, on invested cash collateral will be paid to that Authorized Participant. Information concerning the Funds' current procedures for collateralization of missing Deposit Securities is available from the Distributor or its agent. The Authorized Participant Agreement will permit the Funds to buy the missing Deposit Securities at any time and will subject the Authorized Participant to liability for any shortfall between the cost to the Funds of purchasing such securities and the cash collateral including, without limitation, liability for related brokerage, borrowings and other charges.

Costs Associated with Creation Transactions. A standard creation transaction fee is imposed to offset the transfer and other transaction costs associated with the issuance of Creation Units. The standard creation transaction fee is charged to the Authorized Participant on the day such Authorized Participant creates a Creation Unit, and is the same, regardless of the number of Creation Units purchased by the Authorized Participant on the applicable Business Day. If a purchase consists solely or partially of cash, the Authorized Participant may also be required to cover (up to the maximum amount shown below) certain brokerage, tax, foreign exchange, execution, price movement and other costs and expenses related to the execution of trades resulting from such transaction (which may, in certain instances, be based on a good faith estimate of transaction costs). Authorized Participants will also bear the costs of transferring the Deposit Securities to the Funds. Certain fees/costs associated with creation transactions may be waived in certain circumstances. Investors who use the services of a broker or other financial intermediary to acquire Fund shares may be charged a fee for such services.

The following table sets forth each Fund's standard creation transaction fees and maximum additional charge (as described above):

Fund	Standard Creation Transaction Fee	Maximum Additional Charge*
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF	$ 150	3.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF	125	3.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF	100	3.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF	150	3.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF	150	3.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF	150	3.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF	100	3.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF	150	3.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF	100	3.0%
iShares MSCI Denmark ETF	1,200	3.0%
iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF	7,800	3.0%
iShares MSCI Finland ETF	1,000	3.0%
iShares MSCI Germany Small-Cap ETF	1,600	3.0%
iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF	1,700	3.0%
iShares MSCI Ireland ETF	900	3.0%
iShares MSCI New Zealand ETF	600	3.0%
iShares MSCI Norway ETF	1,300	3.0%
iShares MSCI Philippines ETF	1,000	3.0%
iShares MSCI Poland ETF	600	3.0%
iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF	3,500	3.0%
iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small-Cap ETF	2,200	3.0%

103

Fund		Standard Creation Transaction Fee		Maximum Additional Charge*
iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF		925		3.0%

*	As a percentage of the net asset value per Creation Unit.

BFA makes available through the NSCC, prior to the opening of business on the Listing Exchange on each Business Day, the designated portfolio of securities (including any portion of such securities for which cash may be substituted) that will be applicable (subject to possible amendment or correction) to redemption requests received in proper form (as defined below) on that day (“Fund Securities”), and an amount of cash (the “Cash Amount,” as described below). Such Fund Securities and the corresponding Cash Amount (each subject to possible amendment or correction) are applicable, in order to effect redemptions of Creation Units of a Fund until such time as the next announced composition of the Fund Securities and Cash Amount is made available. Fund Securities received on redemption may not be identical to Deposit Securities that are applicable to creations of Creation Units. Procedures and requirements governing redemption transactions are set forth in the handbook for Authorized Participants and may change from time to time.

The Trust may, in its sole discretion, substitute a “cash in lieu” amount to replace any Fund Security. The Trust also reserves the right to permit or require a “cash in lieu” amount in certain circumstances, including circumstances in which: (i) the delivery of a Fund Security to the Authorized Participant would be restricted under applicable securities or other local laws; or (ii) the delivery of a Fund Security to the Authorized Participant would result in the disposition of the Fund Security by the Authorized Participant due to restrictions under applicable securities or other local laws, or in certain other situations. The amount of cash paid out in such cases will be equivalent to the value of the substituted security listed as a Fund Security. In the event that the Fund Securities have a value greater than the NAV of the shares, a compensating cash payment equal to the difference is required to be made by or through an Authorized Participant by the redeeming shareholder. Each Fund generally redeems Creation Units for Fund Securities, but the Fund reserves the right to utilize a cash option for redemption of Creation Units. Each Fund may, in its sole discretion, provide such redeeming Authorized Participant a portfolio of securities that differs from the exact composition of the Fund Securities, but does not differ in NAV.

Cash Redemption Method. Although the Trust does not generally permit partial or full cash redemptions of Creation Units of its funds, when partial or full cash redemptions of Creation Units are available or specified for a Fund, they will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind redemptions thereof. In the case of partial or full cash redemption, the Authorized Participant receives the cash equivalent of the Fund Securities it would otherwise receive through an in-kind redemption, plus the same Cash Amount to be paid to an in-kind redeemer.

Costs Associated with Redemption Transactions. A redemption transaction fee is imposed to offset transfer and other transaction costs that may be incurred by the relevant Fund. The standard redemption transaction fee is charged to the Authorized Participant on the day such Authorized Participant redeems a Creation Unit, and is the same regardless of the number of Creation Units redeemed by an Authorized Participant on the applicable Business Day. If a redemption consists solely or partially of cash, the Authorized Participant may also be required to cover (up to the maximum amount shown

104

The following table sets forth each Fund's standard redemption transaction fees and maximum additional charge (as described above):

Fund	Standard Redemption Transaction Fee	Maximum Additional Charge*
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF	$ 150	2.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF	125	2.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF	100	2.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF	150	2.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF	150	2.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF	150	2.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF	100	2.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF	150	2.0%
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF	100	2.0%
iShares MSCI Denmark ETF	1,200	2.0%
iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF	7,800	2.0%
iShares MSCI Finland ETF	1,000	2.0%
iShares MSCI Germany Small-Cap ETF	1,600	2.0%
iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF	1,700	2.0%
iShares MSCI Ireland ETF	900	2.0%
iShares MSCI New Zealand ETF	600	2.0%
iShares MSCI Norway ETF	1,300	2.0%
iShares MSCI Philippines ETF	1,000	2.0%
iShares MSCI Poland ETF	600	2.0%
iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF	3,500	2.0%
iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small-Cap ETF	2,200	2.0%
iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF	925	2.0%

*	As a percentage of the net asset value per Creation Unit, inclusive of the standard redemption transaction fee.

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For the iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Financials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Healthcare ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Materials ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Technology ETF, iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Utilities ETF, iShares MSCI Denmark ETF, iShares MSCI Finland ETF, iShares MSCI Germany Small-Cap ETF, iShares MSCI Ireland ETF, iShares MSCI New Zealand ETF, iShares MSCI Norway ETF, iShares MSCI Poland ETF, iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF, iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small-Cap ETF and iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF, deliveries of redemption proceeds are generally made within two Business Days (i.e., “T+2”). For the iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF, iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF and iShares MSCI Philippines ETF, deliveries of redemption proceeds are generally made within three Business Days (i.e., “T+3”). However, each Fund reserves the right to settle deliveries of redemption proceeds on a basis other than T+2 or T+3, including a shorter settlement period, if necessary or appropriate under the circumstances and compliant with applicable law. For example, certain Funds reserve the right to settle redemption transactions on a basis other than T+2 or T+3 to accommodate non-U.S. market holiday schedules (as discussed in Appendix B of this SAI), to account for different treatment among non-U.S. and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and dividend ex-dates (i.e., the last date the holder of a security can sell the security and still receive dividends payable on the security sold) and in certain other circumstances. Appendix B of this SAI identifies the instances, if any, where more than seven days would be needed to deliver redemption proceeds for such Funds. Pursuant to an order of the SEC, the Trust will make delivery of redemption proceeds within the number of days stated in Appendix B of this SAI to be the maximum number of days necessary to deliver redemption proceeds.

106

Unit to be redeemed to a Fund, at or prior to 10:00 a.m., Eastern time on the Listing Exchange business day after the date of submission of such redemption request, the Distributor or its agent will accept the redemption request in reliance on the undertaking by the Authorized Participant to deliver the missing shares as soon as possible. Such undertaking shall be secured by the Authorized Participant's delivery and maintenance of collateral consisting of cash, in U.S. dollars in immediately available funds, having a value at least equal to 105% and up to 115%, which percentage BFA may change at any time, in its sole discretion, of the value of the missing shares. Such cash collateral must be delivered no later than the time specified by a Fund or its custodian on the day after the date of submission of such redemption request and shall be held by State Street and marked-to-market daily. The fees of State Street and any sub-custodians in respect of the delivery, maintenance and redelivery of the cash collateral shall be payable by the Authorized Participant. The cash collateral posted by the Authorized Participant may be invested at the risk of the Authorized Participant, and income, if any, on invested cash collateral will be paid to that Authorized Participant. The Authorized Participant Agreement permits the Funds to acquire shares of the Funds at any time and subjects the Authorized Participant to liability for any shortfall between the aggregate of the cost to the Funds of purchasing such shares, plus the value of the Cash Amount, and the value of the cash collateral together with liability for related brokerage and other charges.

Taxes

The following is a summary of certain material U.S. federal income tax considerations regarding the purchase, ownership and disposition of shares of a Fund. This summary does not address all of the potential U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be applicable to a Fund or to all categories of investors, some of which may be subject to special tax rules. Current and prospective shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisors with respect to the specific U.S. federal, state, local and non-U.S. tax consequences of investing in a Fund. The summary is based on the laws and judicial and administrative interpretations thereof in effect on the date of this SAI, all of which are subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect.

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income from interest, dividends, capital gains and other traditionally permitted RIC income); and (ii) at the close of each quarter of each Fund's taxable year, (a) at least 50% of the market value of each Fund’s total assets must be represented by cash and cash items, U.S. government securities, securities of other RICs and other securities, with such other securities limited for purposes of this calculation in respect of any one issuer to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the Fund’s assets and not greater than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer, and (b) not more than 25% of the value of each Fund's total assets may be invested in the securities (other than U.S. government securities or the securities of other RICs) of any one issuer, of two or more issuers of which 20% or more of the voting stock is held by the Fund and that are engaged in the same or similar trades or businesses or related trades or businesses, or the securities of one or more qualified publicly-traded partnerships.

Although, in general, the passive loss rules of the Internal Revenue Code do not apply to RICs, such rules do apply to a RIC with respect to items attributable to interests in qualified publicly-traded partnerships. A Fund's investments in partnerships, including in qualified publicly-traded partnerships, may result in the Fund being subject to state, local, or non-U.S. income, franchise or withholding tax liabilities.

Taxation of RICs. As a RIC, a Fund will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the portion of its taxable investment income and capital gains that it distributes to its shareholders, provided that it satisfies a minimum distribution requirement. To satisfy the minimum distribution requirement, a Fund must distribute to its shareholders at least the sum of (i) 90% of its “investment company taxable income” (i.e., income other than its net realized long-term capital gain over its net realized short-term capital loss), plus or minus certain adjustments, and (ii) 90% of its net tax-exempt income for the taxable year. A Fund will be subject to income tax at regular corporate rates on any taxable income or gains that it does not distribute to its shareholders. If a Fund fails to qualify for any taxable year as a RIC or fails to meet the distribution requirement, all of its taxable income will be subject to tax at regular corporate income tax rates without any deduction for distributions to shareholders, and such distributions generally will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary dividends to the extent of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits. In such event, distributions to individuals should be eligible to be treated as qualified dividend income and distributions to corporate shareholders generally should be eligible for the dividends received deduction. Although each Fund intends to distribute substantially all of its net investment income and its capital gains for each taxable year, each Fund will be subject to U.S. federal income taxation to the extent any such income or gains are not distributed. If a Fund fails to qualify as a RIC in any year, it must pay out its earnings and profits accumulated in that year in order to qualify again as a RIC. If a Fund fails to qualify as a RIC for a period greater than two taxable years, the Fund may be required to recognize any net built-in gains with respect to certain of its assets (i.e., the excess of the aggregate gains, including items of income, over aggregate losses that would have been realized with respect to such assets if the Fund had been liquidated) if it qualifies as a RIC in a subsequent year.

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The following Funds had tax basis net capital loss carryforwards as set forth in the table below as of August 31, 2017, the tax year-end for the Funds listed:

Fund	Non- Expiring¹	Expiring 2018	Expiring 2019	Total
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF	$ 20,147	—	—	$20,147
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Staples ETF	11,988	—	—	11,988
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Energy ETF	1,767	—	—	1,767
iShares MSCI Denmark ETF	2,001,523	—	—	2,001,523
iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Optimized ETF	232,713	—	—	232,713
iShares MSCI Finland ETF	685,174	—	—	685,174
iShares MSCI Germany Small-Cap ETF	503,164	—	—	503,164
iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF	60,273,859	—	$ 20,329	60,294,188
iShares MSCI Ireland ETF	6,135,894	—	—	6,135,894
iShares MSCI New Zealand ETF	9,106,295	—	—	9,106,295
iShares MSCI Norway ETF	3,028,907	—	—	3,028,907
iShares MSCI Philippines ETF	34,129,389	—	—	34,129,389
iShares MSCI Poland ETF	38,643,165	—	5	38,643,170
iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF	136,016,930	$23,559,917	22,514,433	182,091,280
iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small-Cap ETF	1,235,076	—	—	1,235,076

Must be utilized prior to losses subject to expiration.

Taxation of U.S. Shareholders. Dividends and other distributions by a Fund are generally treated under the Internal Revenue Code as received by the shareholders at the time the dividend or distribution is made. However, any dividend or distribution declared by a Fund in October, November or December of any calendar year and payable to shareholders of record on a specified date in such a month shall be deemed to have been received by each shareholder on December 31 of such calendar year and to have been paid by the Fund not later than such December 31, provided such dividend is actually paid by the Fund during January of the following calendar year.

Each Fund intends to distribute annually to its shareholders substantially all of its investment company taxable income and any net realized long-term capital gains in excess of net realized short-term capital losses (including any capital loss carryovers). However, if a Fund retains for investment an amount equal to all or a portion of its net long-term capital gains in excess of its net short-term capital losses (including any capital loss carryovers), it will be subject to a corporate tax (at a maximum rate of 35%) on the amount retained. In that event, the Fund will designate such retained amounts as undistributed capital gains in a notice to its shareholders who (a) will be required to include in income for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as long-term capital gains, their proportionate shares of the undistributed amount, (b) will be entitled to credit their proportionate shares of the 35% tax paid by the Fund on the undistributed amount against their U.S. federal income tax liabilities, if any, and to claim refunds to the extent their credits exceed their liabilities, if any, and (c) will be entitled to increase their tax basis, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, in their shares by an amount equal to 65% of the amount of undistributed capital gains included in the shareholder’s income. Organizations or persons not subject to U.S. federal income tax on such capital gains will be entitled to a refund of their pro rata share of such taxes paid by the Fund upon filing appropriate returns or claims for refund with the IRS.

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dividend income below. Married couples filing jointly with income over approximately $471,000 and unmarried individuals with income over approximately $418,000, amounts adjusted annually for inflation, are subject to a 20% tax on any income in excess of those amounts that is long-term capital gain or qualified dividend income, and generally all other long-term capital gain is taxed at 15% (0% at certain income levels). In addition, the top marginal ordinary income tax rate is 39.6% for income in excess of the above thresholds.

Investors considering buying shares just prior to a dividend or capital gain distribution should be aware that, although the price of shares purchased at that time may reflect the amount of the forthcoming distribution, such dividend or distribution may nevertheless be taxable to them. If a Fund is the holder of record of any security on the record date for any dividends payable with respect to such security, such dividends will be included in the Fund’s gross income not as of the date received but as of the later of (a) the date such security became ex-dividend with respect to such dividends (i.e., the date on which a buyer of the security would not be entitled to receive the declared, but unpaid, dividends); or (b) the date the Fund acquired such security. Accordingly, in order to satisfy its income distribution requirements, a Fund may be required to pay dividends based on anticipated earnings, and shareholders may receive dividends in an earlier year than would otherwise be the case.

In certain situations, a Fund may, for a taxable year, defer all or a portion of its net capital loss (or if there is no net capital loss, then any net long-term or short-term capital loss) realized after October and its late-year ordinary loss (defined as the sum of (i) the excess of post-October foreign currency and passive foreign investment company (“PFIC”) losses over post-October foreign currency and PFIC gains and (ii) the excess of post-December ordinary losses over post-December ordinary income) until the next taxable year in computing its investment company taxable income and net capital gain, which will defer the recognition of such realized losses. Such deferrals and other rules regarding gains and losses realized after October (or December) may affect the tax character of shareholder distributions.

Sales of Shares. Upon the sale or exchange of shares of a Fund, a shareholder will realize a taxable gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized and the shareholder’s basis in shares of the Fund. A redemption of shares by a Fund will be treated as a sale for this purpose. Such gain or loss will be treated as capital gain or loss if the shares are capital assets in the shareholder’s hands and will be long-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for more than one year and short-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for one year or less. Any loss realized on a sale or exchange will be disallowed to the extent the shares disposed of are replaced, including replacement through the reinvesting of dividends or capital gains distributions, or by an option or contract to acquire substantially identical shares, within a 61-day period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the disposition of the shares. In such a case, the basis of the shares acquired will be increased to reflect the disallowed loss. Any loss realized by a shareholder on the sale of Fund shares held by the shareholder for six months or less will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any distributions or deemed distributions of long-term capital gains received by the shareholder with respect to such share. The Medicare contribution tax described above will apply to the sale of Fund shares.

110

Taxation of Certain Derivatives. A Fund’s transactions in zero coupon securities, non-U.S. currencies, forward contracts, options and futures contracts (including options and futures contracts on non-U.S. currencies), to the extent permitted, will be subject to special provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (including provisions relating to “hedging transactions” and “straddles”) that, among other consequences, may affect the character of gains and losses realized by the Fund (i.e., may affect whether gains or losses are ordinary or capital), accelerate recognition of income to the Fund and defer Fund losses. These rules could therefore affect the character, amount and timing of distributions to shareholders. These provisions also (a) will require a Fund to mark-to-market certain types of the positions in its portfolio (i.e., treat them as if they were closed out at the end of each year) and (b) may cause a Fund to recognize income without receiving cash with which to pay dividends or make distributions in amounts necessary to satisfy the distribution requirements for avoiding income and excise taxes. Each Fund will monitor its transactions, will make the appropriate tax elections and will make the appropriate entries in its books and records when it acquires any zero coupon security, non-U.S. currency, forward contract, option, futures contract or hedged investment in order to mitigate the effect of these rules and prevent disqualification of a Fund as a RIC.

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Qualified Dividend Income. Distributions by a Fund of investment company taxable income (including any short-term capital gains), whether received in cash or shares, will be taxable either as ordinary income or as qualified dividend income, which is eligible to be taxed at long-term capital gain rates to the extent a Fund receives qualified dividend income on the securities it holds and a Fund reports the distribution as qualified dividend income. Qualified dividend income is, in general, dividend income from taxable U.S. corporations (but generally not from U.S. REITs) and certain non-U.S. corporations (e.g., non-U.S. corporations that are not PFICs and which are incorporated in a possession of the U.S. or in certain countries with a comprehensive tax treaty with the U.S., or the stock of which is readily tradable on an established securities market in the U.S. (where the dividends are paid with respect to such stock)). Under current IRS guidance, the U.S. has appropriate comprehensive income tax treaties with the following countries: Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China (but not with Hong Kong, which is treated as a separate jurisdiction for U.S. tax purposes), Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, the U.K and Venezuela. Substitute payments received by a Fund for securities lent out by a Fund will not be qualified dividend income.

A dividend from a Fund will not be treated as qualified dividend income to the extent that: (i) the shareholder has not held the shares on which the dividend was paid for 61 days during the 121-day period that begins on the date that is 60 days before the date on which the shares become ex-dividend with respect to such dividend or a Fund fails to satisfy those holding period requirements with respect to the securities it holds that paid the dividends distributed to the shareholder (or, in the case of certain preferred stocks, the holding requirement of 91 days during the 181-day period beginning on the date that is 90 days before the date on which the stock becomes ex-dividend with respect to such dividend); (ii) a Fund or the shareholder is under an obligation (whether pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to substantially similar or related property; or (iii) the shareholder elects to treat such dividend as investment income under Section 163(d)(4)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code. Dividends received by a Fund from a REIT or another RIC may be treated as qualified dividend income only to the extent the dividend distributions are attributable to qualified dividend income received by such REIT or other RIC. It is expected that dividends received by a Fund from a REIT and distributed to a shareholder generally will be taxable to the shareholder as ordinary income. Distributions by a Fund of its net short-term capital gains will be taxable as ordinary income.

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loss) to the extent attributable to changes in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the currencies in which the instruments are denominated. Similarly, gains or losses on non-U.S. currency, non-U.S. currency forward contracts and certain non-U.S. currency options or futures contracts denominated in non-U.S. currency, to the extent attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates between the acquisition and disposition dates, are also treated as ordinary income or loss unless a Fund was to elect otherwise.

Certain Funds may be subject to non-U.S. income taxes withheld at the source. Each Fund, if permitted to do so, may elect to “pass through” to its investors the amount of non-U.S. income taxes paid by the Fund provided that the Fund held the security on the dividend settlement date and for at least 15 additional days immediately before and/or thereafter, with the result that each investor with respect to shares of the Fund held for a minimum 16-day holding period at the time of deemed distribution will (i) include in gross income, even though not actually received, the investor’s pro rata share of the Fund’s non-U.S. income taxes, and (ii) either deduct (in calculating U.S. taxable income, but only for investors who itemize their deductions on their personal tax returns) or credit (in calculating U.S. federal income tax) the investor’s pro rata share of the Fund’s non-U.S. income taxes. Withholding taxes on dividends on non-U.S. securities while such securities are lent out by a Fund are not eligible for non-U.S. tax credit pass through. Taxes not “passed through” for tax purposes will not be available to shareholders for foreign tax credit purposes. A non-U.S. person invested in the Fund in a year that the Fund elects to “pass through” its non-U.S. taxes may be treated as receiving additional dividend income subject to U.S. withholding tax. A non-U.S. tax credit may not exceed the investor’s U.S. federal income tax otherwise payable with respect to the investor’s non-U.S. source income. For this purpose, shareholders must treat as non-U.S. source gross income (i) their proportionate shares of non-U.S. taxes paid by the Fund and (ii) the portion of any dividend paid by the Fund that represents income derived from non-U.S. sources; the Fund’s gain from the sale of securities will generally be treated as U.S.-source income. Certain limitations will be imposed to the extent to which the non-U.S. tax credit may be claimed. If your Fund shares are loaned pursuant to securities lending arrangements, you may lose the ability to use any non-U.S. tax credits passed through by a Fund or to treat Fund dividends (paid while the shares are held by the borrower) as qualified dividends. Regarding a short sale with respect to shares of a Fund, substitute payments made to the lender of such shares may not be deductible under certain circumstances. Consult your financial intermediary or tax advisor.

A Fund will make the appropriate tax elections, if possible, and take any additional steps that are necessary to mitigate the effects of these rules.

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but under current guidance, shareholders of a RIC are not exempted. The fact that a loss is reportable under these regulations does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances.

Other Taxes. Dividends, distributions and redemption proceeds may also be subject to additional state, local and non-U.S. taxes depending on each shareholder’s particular situation.

Properly-reported dividends are generally exempt from U.S. federal withholding tax where they (i) are paid in respect of a Fund’s “qualified net interest income” (generally, the Fund’s U.S. source interest income, other than certain contingent interest and interest from obligations of a corporation or partnership in which the Fund is at least a 10% shareholder, reduced by expenses that are allocable to such income) or (ii) are paid in respect of a Fund’s “qualified short-term capital gains” (generally, the excess of the Fund’s net short-term capital gain over the Fund’s long-term capital loss for such taxable year). However, depending on its circumstances, a Fund may report all, some or none of its potentially eligible dividends as such qualified net interest income or as qualified short-term capital gains and/or treat such dividends, in whole or in part, as ineligible for this exemption from withholding. In order to qualify for this exemption from withholding, a non-U.S. shareholder will need to comply with applicable certification requirements relating to its non-U.S. status (including, in general, furnishing an IRS Form W-8BEN, IRS Form W-8BEN-E or substitute Form). In the case of shares held through an intermediary, the intermediary may withhold even if a Fund reports the payment as qualified net interest income or qualified short-term capital gain. Non-U.S. shareholders should contact their intermediaries with respect to the application of these rules to their accounts.

Distributions that a Fund reports as “short-term capital gain dividends” or “long-term capital gain dividends” will not be treated as such to a recipient foreign shareholder if the distribution is attributable to gain received from the sale or exchange of U.S. real property or an interest in a U.S. real property holding corporation and the Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property exceeded certain levels. Instead, if the foreign shareholder has not owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of a Fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of distribution, such distributions will be subject to 30% withholding by the Fund and will be treated as ordinary dividends to the foreign shareholder; if the foreign shareholder owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of the Fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of the distribution, such distribution will be treated as real property gain subject to 35% withholding tax and could subject the foreign shareholder to U.S. filing requirements. Additionally, if a Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property were to exceed certain levels, a foreign shareholder realizing gains upon redemption from the Fund could be subject to the 35% withholding tax and U.S. filing requirements unless more than 50% of the Fund’s shares were owned by U.S. persons at such time or unless the foreign person had not held more than 5% of the Fund’s outstanding shares throughout either such person’s holding period for the redeemed shares or, if shorter, the previous five years.

The rules laid out in the previous paragraph, other than the withholding rules, will apply notwithstanding a Fund’s participation in a wash sale transaction or its payment of a substitute dividend.

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market value of such interests over the Fund’s adjusted bases to the extent of the greatest foreign ownership percentage of the Fund during the five-year period ending on the date of redemption.

Shares of a Fund held by a non-U.S. shareholder at death will be considered situated within the U.S. and subject to the U.S. estate tax.

Financial Statements

Miscellaneous Information

Counsel. Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, located at 787 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019, is counsel to the Trust.

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, located at Three Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA 94111, serves as the Trust's independent registered public accounting firm, audits the Funds' financial statements, and may perform other services.

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BFA has registered the following Funds for marketing to investors in Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

iShares MSCI Philippines ETF
iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF

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Appendix A1 - iShares ETFs Proxy Voting Policy

BlackRock U.S. Registered Funds

Open-End Mutual Funds and iShares ETFs¹ Proxy Voting Policy

Procedures Governing Delegation of Proxy Voting to Fund Adviser

December 29, 2017

BlackRock has adopted guidelines and procedures (together and as from time to time amended, the “BlackRock Proxy Voting Guidelines”) governing proxy voting by accounts managed by BlackRock.

A-1

Appendix A2 – iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy

BlackRock U.S. Registered Funds

iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy

Procedures Governing Delegation of Proxy Voting to Fund Adviser

September 28, 2018

A-2

INTRODUCTION TO BLACKROCK

PHILOSOPHY ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, ENGAGEMENT AND VOTING

The six key themes are:

A-6

•	Boards and directors;
•	Auditors and audit-related issues;
•	Capital structure, mergers, asset sales and other special transactions;
•	Remuneration and benefits;
•	Environmental and social issues; and
•	General corporate governance matters.

Boards and directors

We expect the board of directors to promote and protect shareholder interests by:

•	establishing an appropriate corporate governance structure;
•	supporting and overseeing management in setting strategy;
•	ensuring the integrity of financial statements;
•	making decisions regarding mergers, acquisitions and disposals;
•	establishing appropriate executive compensation structures; and
•	addressing business issues including environmental and social issues when they have the potential to materially impact company reputation and performance.

•	current employment at the company or a subsidiary;
•	former employment within the past several years as an executive of the company;
•	providing substantial professional services to the company and/or members of the company’s management;
•	having had a substantial business relationship in the past three years;

A-7

•	having, or representing a shareholder with, a substantial shareholding in the company;
•	being an immediate family member of any of the aforementioned; and
•	interlocking directorships.

Auditors and audit-related issues

Capital structure, mergers, asset sales and other special transactions

A-8

Remuneration and benefits

Environmental and social issues

General corporate governance matters

A-9

corporate governance matters, including on changes to governance mechanisms, to submit proposals to the shareholders’ meeting and to call special meetings of shareholders.

BLACKROCK’S OVERSIGHT OF ITS INVESTMENT STEWARDSHIP ACTIVITIES

Oversight

Vote execution

A-10

Conflicts management policies and procedures

•	BlackRock clients who may be issuers of securities or proponents of shareholder resolutions
•	BlackRock business partners or vendors who may be issuers of securities or proponents of shareholder resolutions
•	BlackRock employees who may sit on the boards of public companies held in BlackRock portfolios
•	Significant BlackRock, Inc. investors who may be issuers of securities held in BlackRock portfolios
•	Securities of BlackRock, Inc. or BlackRock investment funds held in BlackRock portfolios
•	BlackRock, Inc. board members who actively serve as senior executives of public companies held in BlackRock portfolios

BlackRock has taken certain steps to mitigate perceived or potential conflicts including, but not limited to, the following:

•

Adopted the Guidelines which are designed to protect and enhance the economic value of the companies in which BlackRock invests on behalf of clients.

•

A-11

•

Voting guidelines

Reporting

A-12

Appendix A4 – Supplemental BlackRock Sustainable Proxy Voting Guidelines

September 28, 2018

Environmental and social issues

We may vote against the election of directors where we have concerns that a company might not be dealing with E&S issues appropriately. Sometimes we may reflect such concerns by supporting a shareholder proposal on the issue, where there seems to be either a significant potential threat or realized harm to shareholders’ interests caused by poor management of material E&S matters. In deciding our course of action, we will assess the nature of our engagement with the company on the issue over time, including whether:

•	The company has already taken sufficient steps to address the concern
•	The company is in the process of actively implementing a response
•	There is a clear and material economic disadvantage to the company in the near-term if the issue is not addressed in the manner requested by the shareholder proposal

Environmental shareholder proposals:

Climate risks and opportunities:

A-13

¹	As envisioned by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCC”) Conference of the Parties to the Paris Climate Accord in 2015.

Sustainability Disclosures

Social and political shareholder proposals:

Data Privacy and cybersecurity:

Human Capital Management:

A-14

Human Rights

Opioids:

Product safety, supply chains and distribution channels:

Corporate political activities:

A-15

Appendix B - Regular Holidays and Redemptions

2017

Albania
January 2	May 1	November 28
March 14	June 26	November 29
March 22	September 1	December 8
April 17	October 19	December 25

Argentina
February 27	May 1	November 6
February 28	May 25	November 27
March 24	June 20	December 8
April 13	August 21	December 25
April 14	October 9

Australia
January 2	April 25	September 29
January 26	May 1	October 2
March 6	June 5	November 7
March 13	June 12	December 25
April 14	August 7	December 26
April 17	August 8
April 18	September 25

Austria
January 6	May 25	October 26	December 26
April 14	June 5	November 1
April 17	June 15	December 8
May 1	August 15	December 25

Bahrain
January 1	June 27	December 17
May 1	September 3
June 25	September 21
June 26	November 30

The Bahraini market is closed every Friday.

B-1

Bangladesh
February 21	June 27	December 31
March 26	August 14
May 1	August 15
May 10	September 3
June 25	October 1
June 26	December 25

The Bangladeshi market is closed every Friday.

Belgium
April 14	May 1	December 26
April 17	December 25

Benin
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

Bermuda
January 2	June 19	September 4	December 26
April 14	August 3	November 13
May 24	August 4	December 25

Brazil
January 25	April 14	September 7	November 20
February 27	April 21	October 12	December 25
February 28	May 1	November 2
March 1	June 15	November 15

Bosnia and Herzegovina
January 2	April 17	June 26
January 6	May 1	September 1
March 1	May 2

Botswana
January 2	May 1	October 2
January 3	May 25	December 25
April 14	July 17	December 26
April 17	July 18

Bulgaria
January 2	May 1	December 25
March 3	May 24	December 26
April 14	September 6
April 17	September 22

Burkina Faso
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

Canada
January 2	May 22	October 9
January 3	June 26	November 13
February 13	July 3	December 25
February 20	August 7	December 26
April 14	September 4

Chile
January 2	August 15	October 27
April 14	September 18	November 1
May 1	September 19	December 8
June 26	October 9	December 25

China
January 2	April 3	October 3
January 27	April 4	October 4
January 30	May 1	October 5
January 31	May 29	October 6
February 1	May 30
February 2	October 2

Colombia
January 9	June 19	October 16
March 20	June 26	November 6
April 13	July 3	November 13
April 14	July 20	December 8
May 1	August 7	December 25
May 29	August 21

B-2

Costa Rica
April 11	July 25	October 16
April 13	August 2	December 25
April 14	August 15
May 1	September 15

Croatia
January 6	May 1	August 15	December 26
April 14	June 15	November 1
April 17	June 22	December 25

Cyprus
January 6	April 18	December 25
February 27	May 1	December 26
April 14	June 5
April 17	August 15

The Czech Republic
April 14	May 8	September 28	December 26
April 17	July 5	November 17
May 1	July 6	December 25

Denmark
April 13	May 12	June 5
April 14	May 25	December 25
April 17	May 26	December 26

Egypt
January 1	April 25	July 23
January 25	May 1	August 31
April 16	June 25	September 21
April 17	June 26	November 30

The Egyptian market is closed every Friday.

Estonia
February 23	April 17	June 22	December 26
February 24	May 1	June 23
April 14	May 25	December 25

Finland
January 6	April 17	December 6
April 13	May 1	December 25
April 14	May 25	December 26

France
April 14	May 1	December 26
April 17	December 25

Georgia
January 2	April 14	May 26
January 19	April 17	August 28
March 3	May 9	November 23
March 8	May 12

Germany
April 14	June 5	December 25
April 17	October 3	December 26
May 1	October 31

Ghana
January 2	April 17	June 26	September 21
March 6	May 1	July 7	December 25
April 14	May 25	September 13	December 26

Greece
January 6	May 1	December 26
February 27	June 5
April 14	August 15
April 17	December 25

Guinea-Bissau
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

B-3

Hong Kong
January 2	April 4	May 3	December 25
January 27	April 14	May 30	December 26
January 30	April 17	October 2
January 31	May 1	October 5

Hungary
March 15	May 1	November 1
April 14	June 5	December 25
April 17	October 23	December 26

Iceland
April 13	April 20	June 5	December 26
April 14	May 1	August 7
April 17	May 25	December 25

India
January 26	June 26	December 25
February 24	August 15
March 13	August 17
March 28	August 25
April 4	October 2
April 14	October 19
May 1	October 20
May 10	December 1

Indonesia
January 2	June 1	September 1
March 28	June 26	September 21
April 14	June 27	December 1
April 24	June 28	December 25
May 1	June 29	December 26
May 11	June 30
May 25	August 17

Ireland
January 2	May 1	December 22
March 17	June 5	December 25
April 14	August 7	December 26
April 17	October 30	December 29

Israel
March 12	May 1	October 4
April 10	May 2	October 5
April 11	May 30	October 8
April 12	May 31	October 9
April 13	August 1	October 10
April 16	September 20	October 11
April 17	September 21	October 12

The Israeli market is closed every Friday.

Italy
April 14	May 1	December 25
April 17	August 15	December 26

Ivory Coast
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

Jamaica
January 2	April 17	August 7	December 26
March 1	May 23	October 16
April 14	August 1	December 25

Japan
January 2	May 3	August 11	November 23
January 3	May 4	September 18
January 9	May 5	October 9
March 20	July 17	November 3

Jordan
January 1	June 27	September 21
May 1	June 28	November 30
May 25	August 31	December 25
June 25	September 3
June 26	September 4

B-4

The Jordanian market is closed every Friday.

Kazakhstan
January 2	March 23	August 30
January 3	May 1	September 1
March 8	May 8	December 1
March 21	May 9	December 18
March 22	July 6	December 19

Kenya
January 2	June 1	December 25
April 14	June 27	December 26
April 17	October 20
May 1	December 12

Kuwait
January 1	June 25	August 31
February 26	June 26	September 3
April 24	June 27	September 21

The Kuwaiti market is closed every Friday.

Latvia
April 13	May 5	November 20
April 14	May 25	December 25
April 17	June 22	December 26
May 1	June 23
May 4	November 17

Lebanon
January 2	April 25	September 1
January 6	May 1	September 21
February 9	May 25	November 22
February 14	June 26	December 1
April 14	June 27	December 25
April 17	August 15

Lithuania
February 16	May 25	December 25
April 14	July 6	December 26
April 17	August 15
May 1	November 1

Luxembourg
April 14	May 1	December 26
April 17	December 25

Malawi
January 2	April 14	May 15	December 25
January 16	April 17	June 26	December 26
March 3	May 1	July 6

Malaysia
January 2	May 10	September 21
January 27	June 12	October 18
January 30	June 26	December 1
February 1	June 27	December 25
February 9	August 31
May 1	September 1

Mali
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

Mauritius
January 2	February 24	June 26	November 2
February 1	March 29	October 19	December 25
February 9	May 1	November 1

Mexico
February 6	April 14	November 20
March 20	May 1	December 12
April 13	November 2	December 25

Morocco
January 11	August 14	September 22
May 1	August 21	November 6
June 26	September 1

B-5

Namibia
January 2	April 27	June 16	December 25
March 21	May 1	August 9	December 26
April 14	May 4	September 25	December 27
April 17	May 25	December 11

The Netherlands
April 14	May 1	December 26
April 17	December 25

New Zealand
January 2	April 17	December 25
January 3	April 25	December 26
February 6	June 5
April 14	October 23

Niger
April 17	June 21	November 15
May 1	June 26	December 1
May 25	September 1	December 25
June 5	November 1

Nigeria
January 2	May 29	October 2
April 14	June 26	December 1
April 17	June 27	December 25
May 1	September 1	December 26

Norway
April 12	April 17	May 25	December 26
April 13	May 1	June 5
April 14	May 17	December 25

Oman
April 24	July 23	November 19
June 26

The Omani market is closed every Friday.

Pakistan
January 2	June 26	August 14
March 23	June 27	September 1
May 1	June 28	September 29

Panama
January 2	March 1	November 10
January 9	April 14	December 8
February 27	May 1	December 25
February 28	November 3

Peru
April 13	June 29	November 1
April 14	July 28	December 8
May 1	August 30	December 25

The Philippines
January 2	June 12	November 1
April 13	August 21	November 30
April 14	August 28	December 25
May 1	October 31

Poland
January 6	May 1	August 15	December 26
April 14	May 3	November 1
April 17	June 15	December 25

Portugal
April 14	May 1	December 26
April 17	December 25

Puerto Rico
January 2	May 29	October 9
January 16	July 3	November 23
February 20	July 4	November 24
April 14	September 4	December 25

B-6

Qatar
January 1	June 25	September 3
February 14	June 26	December 18
March 5	June 27

The Qatari market is closed every Friday.

Romania
January 2	May 1	August 15	December 25
January 24	June 1	November 30	December 26
April 17	June 5	December 1

Russia
January 2	May 1	June 12
February 23	May 8	November 6
March 8	May 9

Saudi Arabia
June 26	June 29	September 5
June 27	September 3
June 28	September 4

The Saudi Arabian market is closed every Friday.

Senegal
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

Serbia
January 2	February 16	May 1
January 3	April 14	May 2
February 15	April 17

Singapore
January 2	May 10	October 18
January 30	June 26	December 25
April 14	August 9
May 1	September 1

The Slovak Republic
January 6	May 8	September 15	December 26
April 14	July 5	November 1
April 17	August 29	November 17
May 1	September 1	December 25

Slovenia
January 2	April 27	October 31
February 8	May 1	November 1
April 14	May 2	December 25
April 17	August 15	December 26

South Africa
January 2	April 27	September 25
March 21	May 1	December 25
April 14	June 16	December 26
April 17	August 9

South Korea
January 27	June 6	October 9
January 30	August 15	December 20
March 1	October 3	December 25
May 1	October 4	December 29
May 3	October 5
May 5	October 6

Spain
April 14	May 1	December 26
April 17	December 25

Sri Lanka
January 12	April 13	June 26	November 3
January 20	April 14	August 7	December 1
February 10	May 1	September 1	December 25
February 17	May 10	September 5
February 24	May 11	October 5
April 10	June 8	October 18

B-7

Srpska
January 2	April 14	May 2
January 6	April 17	May 9
January 9	May 1	November 21

Swaziland
January 2	April 19	May 5	December 26
April 14	April 25	September 6
April 17	May 1	December 25

Sweden
January 5	April 17	June 6	December 26
January 6	May 1	June 23
April 13	May 24	November 3
April 14	May 25	December 25

Switzerland
January 2	May 25	December 26
April 14	June 5
April 17	August 1
May 1	December 25

Taiwan
January 2	January 31	April 4	October 9
January 25	February 1	May 1	October 10
January 26	February 27	May 29
January 27	February 28	May 30
January 30	April 3	October 4

Tanzania
January 12	April 26	July 27	December 25
April 7	May 1	August 8	December 26
April 14	July 7	September 1
April 17	July 26	December 15

Thailand
January 2	April 14	August 14
January 3	May 1	October 23
February 13	May 5	December 5
April 6	May 10	December 11
April 13	July 10

Togo
April 17	June 26	November 15
May 1	August 7	December 1
May 25	August 15	December 25
June 5	September 1
June 21	November 1

Tunisia
March 20	July 25	December 1
May 1	September 1
June 26	September 21

Turkey
May 1	June 27	September 1
May 19	August 30	September 4
June 26	August 31

Uganda
January 2	April 14	June 26	November 30
January 26	April 17	July 7	December 25
February 16	May 1	September 13	December 26
March 8	June 9	October 9

Ukraine
January 2	April 17	June 5
January 3	May 1	June 28
January 9	May 2	August 24
March 8	May 9	October 16

The United Arab Emirates
January 1	June 26	November 30
April 24	August 31	December 3
June 25	September 21

The United Arab Emirates market is closed every Friday.

B-8

The United Kingdom
January 2	May 1	December 22	December 29
April 14	May 29	December 25
April 17	August 28	December 26

The United States Bond Market
January 2	April 14	July 4	November 24*
January 16	May 26*	September 4	December 22*
February 20	May 29	October 9	December 25
April 13*	July 3*	November 23	December 29*

*	The U.S. bond market has recommended early close.

Uruguay
January 6	April 17	August 25
February 27	May 1	October 16
February 28	May 22	November 2
April 13	June 19	December 25
April 14	July 18

Venezuela
January 9	May 1	August 14
February 27	May 29	September 11
February 28	June 19	October 12
April 13	July 3	November 6
April 14	July 5	December 11
April 19	July 24	December 25

Vietnam
January 2	January 30	April 6	September 4
January 26	January 31	May 1
January 27	February 1	May 2

Zambia
January 2	April 17	July 4	December 25
March 8	May 1	August 7
March 13	May 25	October 18
April 14	July 3	October 24

Zimbabwe
January 2	May 1	December 22
April 14	May 25	December 25
April 17	August 14	December 26
April 18	August 15

2018

Albania
January 1	April 9	November 28
January 2	May 1	November 29
March 14	June 14	December 10
March 22	August 21	December 25
April 2	October 19

Argentina
January 1	April 2	August 20
February 12	May1	October 15
February 13	May 25	November 6
March 29	June 20	November 19
March 30	July 9	December 25

B-9

Australia
January 1	April 25	October 1
January 26	May 7	October 8
March 5	June 4	November 6
March 12	June 11	December 24
March 30	August 6	December 25
April 2	August 15	December 26
April 3	September 24	December 31

Austria
January 1	May 21	December 24
March 30	May 31	December 25
April 2	August 15	December 26
May 1	October 26	December 31
May 10	November 1

Bahrain
January 1	August 23	November 20
May 1	September 11	December 16
June 17	September 19	December 17
August 22	September 20

The Bahraini market is closed every Friday.

Bangladesh
February 21	June 17	September 2
March 26	July 1	November 21
April 29	August 15	December 16
May 1	August 21	December 25
May 2	August 22	December 31
June 12	August 23

The Bangladeshi market is closed every Friday.

Belgium
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Benin
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Bermuda
January 1	August 2	November 12
March 30	August 3	December 25
May 25	September 3	December 26
June 18

Bosnia and Herzegovina
January 1	April 30	August 20
January 2	May 1	August 21
March 1	May 2	November 26
March 2	June 14	December 25
April 2	June 15

Botswana
January 1	May 10	October 2
January 2	July 2	December 25
March 30	July 16	December 26
April 2	July 17
May 1	October 1

Brazil
January 1	May 1	November 15
January 25	May 31	November 20
February 12	July 9	December 24
February 13	September 7	December 25
February 14	October 12	December 31
March 30	November 2

Bulgaria
January 1	May 1	September 24
March 5	May 7	December 24
April 6	May 24	December 25
April 9	September 6	December 26

Burkina Faso
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

B-10

Canada
January 1	May 21	October 8
January 2	June 25	November 12
February 12	July 2	December 25
February 19	August 6	December 26
March 30	September 3

Chile
January 1	July 16	October 15
March 30	August 15	November 1
May 1	September 17	November 2
May 21	September 18	December 25
July 2	September 19	December 31

China
January 1	April 5	October 1
February 15	April 6	October 2
February 16	April 30	October 3
February 19	May 1	October 4
February 20	June 18	October 5
February 21	September 24

Colombia
January 1	May 14	August 20
January 8	June 4	October 15
March 19	June 11	November 5
March 29	July 2	November 12
March 30	July 20	December 25
May 1	August 7

Costa Rica
January 1	May 1	October 15
March 29	July 25	December 25
March 30	August 2
April 11	August 15

Croatia
January 1	June 22	December 24
March 30	June 25	December 25
April 2	August 15	December 26
May 1	October 8	December 31
May 31	November 1

Cyprus
January 1	April 9	October 1
February 19	April 10	December 24
March 30	May 1	December 25
April 2	May 28	December 26
April 6	August 15

Czechia
January 1	May 8	December 24
March 30	July 5	December 25
April 2	July 6	December 26
May 1	September 28	December 31

Denmark
January 1	May 10	December 25
March 29	May 11	December 26
March 30	May 21	December 31
April 2	June 5
April 27	December 24

Egypt
January 1	April 25	August 20
January 7	May 1	August 21
January 25	June 17	August 22
April 8	July 1	September 11
April 9	July 23	November 20

The Egyptian market is closed every Friday.

Estonia
January 1	May 10	December 26
March 30	August 20	December 31
April 2	December 24
May 1	December 25

Finland
January 1	May 10	December 25
March 30	June 22	December 26
April 2	December 6	December 31
May 1	December 24

B-11

France
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Georgia
January 1	March 8	May 9
January 2	April 6	August 28
January 19	April 9	November 23

Germany
January 1	May 21	December 26
March 30	October 3	December 31
April 2	December 24
May 1	December 25

Ghana
January 1	May 25	December 7
March 6	June 15	December 25
March 30	July 2	December 26
April 2	August 22
May 1	September 21

Greece
January 1	April 6	August 15
February 19	April 9	December 24
March 30	May 1	December 25
April 2	May 28	December 26

Guinea-Bissau
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Hong Kong
January 1	April 5	October 17
January 27	May 1	December 24
February 15	May 22	December 25
February 16	June 18	December 26
February 19	July 2	December 31
March 30	September 25
April 2	October 1

Hungary
January 1	May 1	November 2
March 15	May 21	December 24
March 16	August 20	December 25
March 30	October 22	December 26
April 2	October 23	December 31
April 30	November 1

Iceland
January 1	May 1	December 25
March 29	May 10	December 26
March 30	May 21	December 31
April 2	August 6
April 19	December 24

India
January 26	May 1	October 18
February 13	August 15	November 7
February 19	August 17	November 8
March 2	August 22	November 21
March 29	September 13	November 23
March 30	September 20	December 25
April 30	October 2

Indonesia
January 1	June 13	September 11
February 16	June 14	November 20
March 30	June 15	December 24
May 1	June 18	December 25
May 10	June 19	December 31
May 29	August 17
June 1	August 22

Ireland
January 1	May 28	December 24
March 19	June 4	December 25
March 30	August 6	December 26
April 2	August 27	December 31
May 7	October 29

B-12

Israel
March 1	May 20	September 24
April 1	July 22	September 25
April 2	September 9	September 26
April 3	September 10	September 27
April 4	September 11	September 30
April 5	September 18	October 1
April 18	September 19
April 19	September 23

The Israeli market is closed every Friday.

Italy
January 1	May 1	December 25
March 30	August 15	December 26
April 2	December 24	December 31

Ivory Coast
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Jamaica
January 1	May 23	December 25
February 14	August 1	December 26
March 30	August 6
April 2	October 15

Japan
January 1	April 30	October 8
January 2	May 3	November 23
January 3	May 4	December 24
January 8	July 16	December 31
February 12	September 17
March 21	September 24

Jordan
January 1	August 21	November 21
May 1	August 22	December 25
May 25	August 23
June 17	September 12

The Jordanian market is closed every Friday.

Kazakhstan
January 1	April 30	August 30
January 2	May 1	August 31
March 8	May 7	December 3
March 9	May 8	December 17
March 21	May 9	December 18
March 22	July 6	December 31
March 23	August 21

Kenya
January 1	June 1	December 25
March 30	June 15	December 26
April 2	October 10
May 1	December 12

Kuwait
January 1	June 17	August 23
February 25	August 20	September 11
February 26	August 21	November 22
April 15	August 22

The Kuwaiti market is closed every Friday.

Latvia
January 1	May 4	December 26
March 30	May 10	December 31
April 2	November 19
April 30	December 24
May 1	December 25

B-13

Lithuania
January 1	May 1	November 1
February 16	May 10	December 24
March 30	July 6	December 25
April 2	August 15	December 26

Luxembourg
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Malawi
January 1	April 2	July 6
January 15	May 1	October 15
March 5	May 14	December 25
March 30	June 15	December 26

Malaysia
January 1	May 29	September 11
January 31	June 14	September 17
February 1	June 15	November 6
February 15	August 22	November 20
February 16	August 31	December 25
May 1	September 10

Mali
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Mauritius
January 1	February 16	November 2
January 2	March 12	November 7
January 31	May 1	December 25
February 1	August 15
February 13	September 14

Mexico
January 1	March 30	November 2
February 5	April 2	November 19
March 19	April 30	December 12
March 29	May 1	December 25

Morocco
January 1	July 30	August 22
January 11	August 14	September 11
May 1	August 20	November 6
June 14	August 21	November 20

Namibia
January 1	May 1	September 24
March 21	May 4	December 10
March 30	May 25	December 17
April 2	August 9	December 25
April 27	August 27	December 26

The Netherlands
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

New Zealand
January 1	April 2	December 25
January 2	April 25	December 26
February 6	June 4
March 30	October 22

Niger
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Nigeria
January 1	June 15	November 19
March 30	June 18	December 25
April 2	August 22	December 26
May 1	August 23
May 29	October 1

B-14

Norway
January 1	May 1	December 25
March 28	May 10	December 26
March 29	May 17	December 31
March 30	May 21
April 2	December 24

Oman
January 1	August 22	November 19
June 17	August 23	November 20
June 18	September 11
July 23	November 18

The Omani market is closed every Friday.

Pakistan
January 1	June 18	September 20
February 5	July 2	September 21
March 23	August 22	November 20
May 1	August 23	December 25
June 15	August 24

Panama
January 1	March 30	November 26
January 8	May 1	December 25
February 13	November 5	December 31

Peru
January 1	May 1	October 8
March 29	June 29	November 1
March 30	August 30	December 25

The Philippines
January 1	May 1	November 30
January 2	June 12	December 24
February 16	August 21	December 25
March 29	August 27	December 31
March 30	November 1
April 9	November 2

Poland
January 1	May 3	December 25
January 2	May 31	December 26
March 30	August 15	December 31
April 2	November 1
May 1	December 24

Portugal
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Puerto Rico
January 1	July 4	November 23
January 15	September 3	December 24
February 19	October 8	December 25
March 30	November 12
May 28	November 22

Qatar
January 1	June 18	August 22
February 13	June 19	December 18
March 4	August 20
June 17	August 21

The Qatari market is closed every Friday.

Romania
January 1	May 1	November 30
January 2	May 28	December 25
January 24	June 1	December 26
April 9	August 15

Russia
January 1	March 8	November 5
January 2	May 1	December 31
January 8	May 9
February 23	June 12

B-15

Saudi Arabia
June 17	June 21	August 22
June 18	August 19	August 23
June 19	August 20	September 23
June 20	August 21

The Saudi Arabian market is closed every Friday.

Senegal
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Serbia
January 1	April 6	November 12
January 2	April 9	December 31
February 15	May 1
February 16	May 2

Singapore
January 1	May 29	November 6
February 16	June 15	December 25
March 30	August 9
May 1	August 22

The Slovak Republic
January 1	May 8	December 24
March 30	July 5	December 25
April 2	August 29	December 26
May 1	November 1

Slovenia
January 1	May 1	December 24
January 2	May 2	December 25
February 8	June 25	December 26
March 30	August 15	December 31
April 2	October 31
April 27	November 1

South Africa
January 1	April 27	December 17
March 21	May 1	December 25
March 30	August 9	December 26
April 2	September 24

South Korea
January 1	May 22	September 26
February 15	June 6	October 3
February 16	June 13	October 9
March 1	August 15	December 25
May 1	September 24	December 31
May 7	September 25

Spain
January 1	May 1	December 26
March 30	December 24	December 31
April 2	December 25

Sri Lanka
January 1	April 20	September 24
January 15	April 30	October 24
January 31	May 1	November 6
February 5	May 29	November 20
February 13	June 15	November 22
March 1	June 27	December 25
March 30	July 27
April 13	August 22

Srpska
January 1	April 6	May 2
January 2	April 9	May 9
January 9	May 1	November 21

B-16

Swaziland
January 1	April 25	September 6
January 5	May 1	December 25
March 30	May 10	December 26
April 2	July 23
April 19	August 27

Sweden
January 1	May 1	November 2
January 5	May 9	December 24
March 29	May 10	December 25
March 30	June 6	December 26
April 2	June 22	December 31

Switzerland
January 1	May 1	December 25
January 2	May 10	December 26
March 30	May 21
April 2	August 1

Taiwan
January 1	February 20	June 18
February 13	February 28	September 24
February 14	April 4	October 10
February 15	April 5	December 31
February 16	April 6
February 19	May 1

Tanzania
January 1	May 1	December 20
January 12	June 15	December 25
March 30	August 8	December 26
April 2	August 22
April 26	November 21

Thailand
January 1	May 1	October 23
January 2	May 29	December 5
March 1	July 27	December 10
April 6	July 30	December 31
April 13	August 13
April 16	October 15

Togo
January 1	June 11	November 1
April 2	June 15	November 15
May 1	August 7	November 21
May 10	August 15	December 25
May 21	August 22

Tunisia
January 1	June 15	September 12
March 20	July 25	October 15
April 9	August 13	November 20
May 1	August 21

Turkey
January 1	June 15	August 23
April 23	August 20	August 24
May 1	August 21	August 30
June 14	August 22	October 29

Uganda
January 1	April 2	November 30
January 26	May 1	December 25
February 16	June 15	December 26
March 8	August 21
March 30	October 9

Ukraine
January 1	May 1	June 28
January 8	May 2	August 24
March 8	May 9	October 15
April 9	May 28	December 25

The United Arab Emirates
January 1	August 21	November 20
June 14	August 22	December 2
August 20	September 11	December 3

The United Arab Emirates market is closed every Friday.

B-17

The United Kingdom
January 1	May 28	December 26
March 30	August 27	December 31
April 2	December 24
May 7	December 25

The United States Bond Market
January 1	May 25*	October 8	December 25
January 15	May 28	November 12	December 31*
February 19	July 3*	November 22
March 29*	July 4	November 23*
March 30	September 3	December 24*

*	The U.S. bond market has recommended early close.

Uruguay
January 1	April 23	October 15
February 12	May 1	November 2
February 13	May 21	December 25
March 29	June 19
March 30	July 18

Venezuela
January 1	May 1	September 10
February 12	May 14	October 12
February 13	June 4	November 5
March 19	July 2	December 24
March 29	July 5	December 25
March 30	July 24	December 31
April 19	August 20

Vietnam
January 1	February 19	May 1
February 14	February 20	September 3
February 15	April 25
February 16	April 30

Zambia
January 1	May 1	October 18
March 8	May 25	October 24
March 12	July 2	December 25
March 30	July 3
April 2	August 6

Zimbabwe
January 1	April 18	August 14
February 21	May 1	December 25
March 30	May 25	December 26
April 2	August 13

Redemptions. The longest redemption cycle for a Fund is a function of the longest redemption cycle among the countries and regions whose securities comprise the Fund. In the calendar years 2017 and 2018 (the only years for which holidays are known at the time of this SAI filing), the dates of regular holidays affecting the following securities markets present the worst-case redemption cycles* for a Fund as follows:

2017
Country	Trade Date	Settlement Date	Number of Days to Settle
Australia	04/11/17	04/19/17	8
	04/12/17	04/20/17	8
	04/13/17	04/21/17	8

Bangladesh	06/20/17	06/28/17	8
	06/21/17	06/29/17	8
	06/22/17	07/02/17	10

B-18

	Page
General Description of the Trust and the Fund	1
Exchange Listing and Trading	1
Investment Strategies and Risks	2
Borrowing	2
Diversification Status	3
Futures, Options on Futures and Securities Options	3
Illiquid Securities	4
Lending Portfolio Securities	4
Regulation Regarding Derivatives	5
Repurchase Agreements	5
Reverse Repurchase Agreements	6
Securities of Investment Companies	6
Short-Term Instruments and Temporary Investments	6
Swap Agreements	6
Tracking Stocks	7
Future Developments	7
General Considerations and Risks	7
Borrowing Risk	7
Dividend Risk	7
Liquidity Risk Management Rule Risk	7
Operational Risk	7
Risk of Derivatives	7
Risk of Equity Securities	8
Risk of Futures and Options on Futures Transactions	8
Risk of Swap Agreements	9
Risk of Investing in Small-Capitalization Companies	9
Risk of Investing in the Consumer Discretionary Sector	9
Risk of Investing in the Consumer Staples Sector	9
Risk of Investing in the Energy Sector	9
Risk of Investing in the Financials Sector	10
Risk of Investing in the Healthcare Sector	11
Risk of Investing in the Industrials Sector	11
Risk of Investing in the Information Technology Sector	12
Risk of Investing in the Materials Sector	12
Risk of Investing in the Real Estate Industry	12
Risk of Investing in the Utilities Sector	14

	Page
Acceptance of Orders for Creation Units	57
Issuance of a Creation Unit	57
Costs Associated with Creation Transactions	58
Redemption of Creation Units	58
Cash Redemption Method	59
Costs Associated with Redemption Transactions	59
Placement of Redemption Orders	59
Taxation on Creations and Redemptions of Creation Units	60
Taxes	61
Regulated Investment Company Qualifications	61
Taxation of RICs	61
Excise Tax	62
Net Capital Loss Carryforwards	62
Taxation of U.S. Shareholders	62
Sales of Shares	63
Backup Withholding	64
Sections 351 and 362	64
Taxation of Certain Derivatives	64
Qualified Dividend Income	65
Corporate Dividends Received Deduction	65
Excess Inclusion Income	65
Reporting	66
Other Taxes	66
Taxation of Non-U.S. Shareholders	66
Financial Statements	67
Miscellaneous Information	67
Counsel	67
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm	67
Shareholder Communications to the Board	67
Investors’ Rights	67
Appendix A1 – iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy	A-1
Appendix A2 – BlackRock Proxy Voting Policies	A-3
Appendix A3 – Supplemental BlackRock Sustainable Proxy Voting Guidelines	A-12

Contents
Introduction to BlackRock	A-5
Philosophy on corporate governance	A-5
Corporate governance, engagement and voting	A-5
- Boards and directors	A-6
- Auditors and audit-related issues	A-7
- Capital structure, mergers, asset sales and other special transactions	A-7
- Remuneration and benefits	A-8
- Environmental and social issues	A-8
- General corporate governance matters	A-8
BlackRock’s oversight of its investment stewardship activities	A-9
- Oversight	A-9
- Vote execution	A-9
- Conflicts management policies and procedures	A-10
- Voting guidelines	A-11
- Reporting	A-11

	Page
Liquidity Risk Management Rule Risk	19
Municipal Market Disruption Risk	19
Operational Risk	19
Prepayment Risk	19
Repurchase Agreement Risk	19
Risk of Derivatives	20
Risk of Futures and Options on Futures Transactions	20
Risk of Investing in Non-U.S. Agency Debt Securities	20
Risk of Investing in Non-U.S. Debt Securities	21
Risk of Swap Agreements	22
Securities Lending Risk	22
Special Considerations Regarding Investments in California Municipal Securities	22
Special Considerations Regarding Investments in New York Municipal Securities	37
Supranational Entities Risk	72
Tax Risks Associated with Municipal Securities	72
U.S. Economic Trading Partners Risk	72
U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk	72
Valuation Risk	73
Risk of Investing in Asia	73
Risk of Investing in Australasia	74
Risk of Investing in Central and South America	74
Risk of Investing in Developed Countries	74
Risk of Investing in Emerging Markets	75
Risk of Investing in Europe	76
Risk of Investing in the Middle East	77
Risk of Investing in North America	78
Risk of Investing in the Automotive Sub-Industry	78
Risk of Investing in the Basic Materials Industry	78
Risk of Investing in the Capital Goods Industry	78
Risk of Investing in the Consumer Cyclical Industry	78
Risk of Investing in the Consumer Goods Industry	79
Risk of Investing in the Consumer Services Industry	79
Risk of Investing in the Consumer Staples Sector	79
Risk of Investing in the Energy Sector	79
Risk of Investing in the Financials Sector	80
Risk of Investing in the Healthcare Sector	81
Risk of Investing in the Industrials Sector	81

	Page
Placement of Creation Orders	166
Purchase Orders	166
Timing of Submission of Purchase Orders	167
Acceptance of Orders for Creation Units	167
Issuance of a Creation Unit	167
Costs Associated with Creation Transactions	168
Redemption of Creation Units	169
Cash Redemption Method	169
Costs Associated with Redemption Transactions	169
Placement of Redemption Orders	170
Taxation on Creations and Redemptions of Creation Units	172
Taxes	172
Regulated Investment Company Qualifications	172
Taxation of RICs	173
Net Capital Loss Carryforwards	173
Excise Tax	174
Taxation of U.S. Shareholders	174
Sales of Shares	175
Backup Withholding	176
Sections 351 and 362	176
Tax-Exempt Interest Income	176
Taxation of Certain Derivatives	177
Market Discount	178
Non-U.S. Investments	178
Original Issue Discount	178
Reporting	178
Taxation of Non-U.S. Shareholders	179
Financial Statements	180
Miscellaneous Information	180
Counsel	180
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm	180
Shareholder Communications to the Board	180
Regulation Under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive	180
Investors’ Rights	181
Appendix A1 - iShares ETFs Proxy Voting Policy	A-1
Appendix A2 – iShares Sustainable ETFs Proxy Voting Policy	A-2
Appendix A3 – BlackRock Proxy Voting Policies	A-4

Fund	iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF	iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF
Gross income from securities lending activities	$2,485	$14,500	$67,579,943	$44,786,033
Fees and/or compensation for securities lending activities and related services
Securities lending income paid to BTC for services as securities lending agent	82	1,503	5,968,503	2,023,281

Fund Name	Current Name of Underlying Index	New Name of Underlying Index
iShares Europe Developed Real Estate ETF	FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Europe Index	FTSE EPRA Nareit Developed Europe Index

	Page
Cash Purchase Method	122
Procedures for Creation of Creation Units	122
Role of the Authorized Participant	122
Purchase Orders	122
Timing of Submission of Purchase Orders	123
Acceptance of Orders for Creation Units	123
Issuance of a Creation Unit	123
Costs Associated with Creation Transactions	124
Redemption of Creation Units	125
Cash Redemption Method	126
Costs Associated with Redemption Transactions	126
Placement of Redemption Orders	127
Taxation on Creations and Redemptions of Creation Units	129
Taxes	129
Regulated Investment Company Qualifications	129
Taxation of RICs	130
Excise Tax	130
Net Capital Loss Carryforwards	131
Taxation of U.S. Shareholders	132
Sales of Shares	133
Backup Withholding	133
Sections 351 and 362	133
Taxation of Certain Derivatives	133
Qualified Dividend Income	134
Corporate Dividends Received Deduction	135
Excess Inclusion Income	135
Non-U.S. Investments	135
Passive Foreign Investment Companies	136
Reporting	136
Other Taxes	136
Taxation of Non-U.S. Shareholders	136
Financial Statements	138
Miscellaneous Information	138
Counsel	138
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm	138
Shareholder Communications to the Board	138
Regulation Under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive	138

Fund	iShares U.S. Consumer Services ETF	iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF	iShares U.S. Energy ETF	iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF
Gross income from securities lending activities	$400,402	$ 81	$413,969	$44,449
Fees and/or compensation for securities lending activities and related services
Securities lending income paid to BTC for services as securities lending agent	59,216	18	37,361	3,639
Cash collateral management expenses not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	7,634	1	10,485	1,139
Administrative fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	0	0
Indemnification fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	0	0
Rebates (paid to borrowers)	176,074	16	267,111	29,807
Other fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC	0	0	0	0
Aggregate fees/compensation for securities lending activities	242,924	35	314,957	34,585
Net income from securities lending activities	157,478	46	99,012	9,864

	Page
Indian Economic Trading Partner Risk	17
Risk of Investing in Africa	17
Risk of Investing in Asia	19
Risk of Investing in Australasia	19
Risk of Investing in Central and South America	19
Risk of Investing in China	20
Risk of Investing in the Chinese Equity Markets	21
Risk of Investing in Developed Countries	23
Risk of Investing in Eastern Europe	24
Risk of Investing in Emerging Markets	24
Risk of Investing in Europe	25
Risk of Investing in India	26
Risk of Investing in Japan	26
Risk of Investing in the Middle East	27
Risk of Investing in North America	28
Risk of Investing in Russia	28
Risk of Investing in the United States	30
Risk of Investing in the Basic Materials Industry	30
Risk of Investing in the Consumer Cyclical Industry	30
Risk of Investing in the Consumer Discretionary Sector	30
Risk of Investing in the Consumer Staples Sector	30
Risk of Investing in the Energy Sector	31
Risk of Investing in the Financials Sector	31
Risk of Investing in the Healthcare Sector	32
Risk of Investing in the Industrials Sector	33
Risk of Investing in the Information Technology Sector	33
Risk of Investing in the Materials Sector	33
Risk of Investing in the Real Estate Industry	33
Risk of Investing in the Technology Sector	35
Risk of Investing in the Telecommunications Sector	35
Risk of Investing in the Utilities Sector	35
Proxy Voting Policy	36
Portfolio Holdings Information	36
Construction and Maintenance of the Underlying Indexes	37
Morningstar^® Exponential Technologies Index^TM	37
The MSCI Indexes	39
MSCI ACWI Diversified Multiple-Factor Index	41

	Page
Payments by BFA and its Affiliates	85
Determination of Net Asset Value	87
Brokerage Transactions	89
Additional Information Concerning the Trust	94
Shares	94
DTC as Securities Depository for Shares of the Funds	95
Distribution of Shares	95
Creation and Redemption of Creation Units	96
General	96
Fund Deposit	97
Cash Purchase Method	97
Procedures for Creation of Creation Units	98
Role of the Authorized Participant	98
Purchase Orders	98
Timing of Submission of Purchase Orders	98
Acceptance of Orders for Creation Units	99
Issuance of a Creation Unit	99
Costs Associated with Creation Transactions	100
Redemption of Creation Units	101
Cash Redemption Method	101
Costs Associated with Redemption Transactions	101
Placement of Redemption Orders	102
Taxation on Creations and Redemptions of Creation Units	104
Taxes	104
Regulated Investment Company Qualifications	104
Taxation of RICs	105
Excise Tax	105
Net Capital Loss Carryforwards	105
Taxation of U.S. Shareholders	106
Sales of Shares	107
BackUp Withholding	108
Sections 351 and 362	108
Taxation of Certain Derivatives	108
Qualified Dividend Income	108
Corporate Dividends Received Deduction	109
Issues Related to India and Mauritius Taxes	109
Excess Inclusion Income	114

	Page
Portfolio Managers	79
Codes of Ethics	82
Anti-Money Laundering Requirements	82
Administrator, Custodian and Transfer Agent	82
Distributor	83
Securities Lending	84
Payments by BFA and its Affiliates	89
Determination of Net Asset Value	90
Brokerage Transactions	93
Additional Information Concerning the Trust	97
Shares	97
DTC as Securities Depository for Shares of the Funds	98
Distribution of Shares	99
Creation and Redemption of Creation Units	99
General	99
Fund Deposit	100
Cash Purchase Method	100
Procedures for Creation of Creation Units	101
Role of the Authorized Participant	101
Purchase Orders	101
Timing of Submission of Purchase Orders	101
Acceptance of Orders for Creation Units	102
Issuance of a Creation Unit	102
Costs Associated with Creation Transactions	103
Redemption of Creation Units	104
Cash Redemption Method	104
Costs Associated with Redemption Transactions	104
Placement of Redemption Orders	105
Taxation on Creations and Redemptions of Creation Units	107
Taxes	107
Regulated Investment Company Qualifications	107
Taxation of RICs	108
Excise Tax	108
Net Capital Loss Carryforwards	108
Taxation of U.S. Shareholders	109
Sales of Shares	110
BackUp Withholding	111

Name	iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small-Cap ETF	iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF⁴
Independent Trustees:

Robert H. Silver¹	$ 0	$0
John E. Martinez	9	3
Cecilia H. Herbert	10	3
Charles A. Hurty	10	3
John E. Kerrigan	9	3
Madhav V. Rajan	10	3
Jane D. Carlin	9	3
Drew E. Lawton²	8	3
Richard L. Fagnani³	4	1

Interested Trustees:

Robert S. Kapito	$ 0	$0
Mark K. Wiedman	0	0