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December 29, 2023 |
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2023 Summary Prospectus |
• iShares MSCI India Small-Cap
ETF | SMIN |
CBOE BZX
Before you invest,
you may want to review the Fund’s prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s prospectus
(including amendments and supplements) and other information about the Fund, including the Fund’s statement of additional information and shareholder reports, online at https://www.blackrock.com/prospectus. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) or
by sending an e-mail request to iSharesETFs@blackrock.com, or from your financial professional. The Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated December 29, 2023, as amended and
supplemented from time to time, are incorporated by reference into (legally made a part of) this Summary Prospectus. Information on the Fund’s net asset
value, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads can be found at www.iShares.com.
The Securities and Exchange
Commission has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
iSHARES® MSCI INDIA SMALL-CAP ETF
Ticker: SMINStock
Exchange: Cboe BZX
Investment Objective
The iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF (the
“Fund”) seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of small-capitalization Indian equities.
Fees and Expenses
The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
The investment advisory agreement between iShares Trust (the “Trust”) and BlackRock Fund Advisors
(“BFA”) (the “Investment Advisory Agreement”) provides that BFA will pay all
operating expenses of the Fund, except: (i) the management fees, (ii) interest expenses, (iii) taxes, (iv) expenses incurred with respect to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities and the execution of portfolio transactions,
including brokerage commissions, (v) distribution fees or expenses, and (vi) litigation expenses and any extraordinary expenses.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples
below.
| Annual Fund
Operating Expenses (ongoing expenses that you pay each year as a
percentage of the value of your investments)1 | |||
| Management
Fees |
Distribution and Service (12b-1)
Fees |
Other
Expenses |
Total
Annual Fund
Operating
Expenses |
| 0.74% |
None |
0.05% |
0.79% |
1
Operating expenses paid by BFA under the Investment Advisory Agreement exclude acquired fund fees and expenses, if any.
Example. This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of owning shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time
periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may
be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
| 1
Year |
3
Years |
5
Years |
10 Years |
| $81 |
$252 |
$439 |
$978 |
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Portfolio Turnover. The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or
“turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 150% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund seeks to
track the investment results of the MSCI India Small Cap Index (the “Underlying Index”), which is designed to measure the performance
of equity securities of small-capitalization companies in the equity market in India. As of August 31, 2023, a significant portion of the Underlying Index is represented by securities of companies in the financials, industrials and materials industries or sectors. The components of the Underlying Index are likely to change over time.
BFA uses an
indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to
“beat” the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the
Fund will substantially outperform the Underlying Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active
management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax
performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in
comparison to actively managed investment companies.
BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy to manage the Fund. “Representative sampling” is an indexing strategy that involves investing
in a representative sample of securities that collectively has an investment profile similar to that of an applicable underlying index. The securities selected are expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as market capitalization and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of an applicable underlying index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the securities in the Underlying Index.
The Fund generally will invest at least 80% of
its assets in the component securities of its Underlying Index and in investments that have economic
characteristics that are substantially identical to the component securities of its Underlying Index (i.e.,
depositary receipts representing 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 money market funds advised by BFA or its affiliates, as well as in securities not included in the Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. Cash and cash equivalent investments associated with a derivative position will be treated as part of that position for the purposes of calculating the percentage of investments included in the Underlying Index. The Fund seeks to track the
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investment results of the Underlying Index before fees and expenses of the Fund.
The Underlying Index is sponsored by MSCI Inc.
(the “Index
Provider” or “MSCI”), which is independent of the
Fund and BFA. The Index Provider determines the composition and relative weightings of the securities in the Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index.
Industry Concentration
Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its
total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities) and repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities are not considered to be issued by members of any industry.
Summary of
Principal Risks
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund's performance could trail that of other investments. The Fund is subject to certain risks, including the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund's net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return and
ability to meet its investment objective. Certain key risks are prioritized below (with others following in alphabetical order), but the relative significance of any risk is difficult to predict and may change over time. You should review each risk factor carefully.
Risk of Investing in India. Investments in Indian issuers involve risks that are specific to India, including legal, regulatory, political, currency and economic risks. Political and legal uncertainty, greater government control over the economy, currency fluctuations or blockage, and the risk of nationalization or expropriation of assets may result in higher potential for losses. The securities markets in India are relatively underdeveloped and may subject the Fund to higher transaction costs or greater uncertainty than investments in more developed securities markets.
Small-Capitalization Companies Risk. Compared
to mid- and large-capitalization companies, small-capitalization companies may be less stable and more susceptible to adverse developments. In addition, the securities of small-capitalization companies may be more volatile and less liquid than those of mid- and large-capitalization companies.
Equity Securities Risk. Equity securities are subject
to changes in value, and their values may be more volatile than those of other asset classes. The Underlying Index is composed of common stocks, which generally subject their
holders to more risks than preferred stocks and debt securities because common stockholders’ claims are subordinated to those of holders of preferred stocks and debt securities upon the bankruptcy of the issuer.
Market Risk. The Fund could lose money over
short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of
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terrorism, public health issues, recessions, the prospect or occurrence of a sovereign default or other financial crisis, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments
and could result in increased premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV.
Index-Related Risk. There is no guarantee that the Fund’s investment results will have a high degree of correlation to those of the Underlying Index or that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track the Underlying Index. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index Provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Unusual market conditions or other unforeseen circumstances (such as natural disasters, political unrest or war) may impact the Index Provider or a third-party data provider, and could cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance. This could cause the Underlying Index to vary from its normal or expected composition.
Asset Class Risk. Securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or in the Fund's portfolio may underperform in comparison to the general financial markets, a particular financial market or other asset classes.
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an Authorized Participant (as defined in the Creations and
Redemptions section of the Prospectus) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund, and none of those Authorized Participants is obligated to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants on an agency basis (i.e., on
behalf of other market participants). To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, Fund shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting. Authorized Participant concentration risk may be heightened for exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), such as the Fund, that invest in
securities issued by non-U.S. issuers or other securities or instruments that have lower trading volumes.
Cash Transactions Risk. The Fund expects to effect all
of its creations and redemptions for cash, rather than in-kind securities. As a result, the Fund may have to sell portfolio securities at inopportune times in order 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. The use of cash creations and redemptions may also cause the Fund’s shares to trade in the market at wider bid-ask spreads or greater premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV.
Concentration Risk. The Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more
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than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund's investments are concentrated in the securities and/or other assets of a particular issuer or issuers, country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, sector, market segment or asset class.
Currency Risk. Because the Fund's NAV is
determined in U.S. dollars, the Fund's NAV could decline if the currency of a non-U.S. market in which the
Fund invests depreciates against the U.S. dollar or if there are delays or limits on repatriation of such currency. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the Fund's NAV may change quickly and without warning.
Custody Risk. The Indian securities market is less developed and is more likely than more developed securities markets to experience problems with the clearing and settling of trades, as well as the holding of securities by local banks, agents and depositories.
Cybersecurity Risk. Failures or breaches of the electronic systems of
the Fund, the Fund's adviser, distributor, the Index Provider and other service providers, market makers, Authorized Participants or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests have the ability to cause disruptions, negatively impact the Fund’s business operations and/or potentially result in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders. While the Fund has established business continuity plans and risk management systems seeking to address system breaches or failures, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems. Furthermore, the Fund cannot control the cybersecurity plans and systems of the Fund’s Index Provider and other
service providers, market makers, Authorized Participants or
issuers of securities in which the Fund invests.
Financials Sector Risk. The performance of companies in the financials
sector may be adversely impacted by many factors, including, among others, changes in government regulations, economic conditions, and interest rates, credit rating downgrades, adverse public perception, exposure concentration and decreased liquidity in credit markets. The impact of changes in regulation of any individual financial company, or of the financials sector as a whole, cannot be predicted. Cybersecurity incidents and technology malfunctions and failures have become increasingly frequent and have caused significant losses to companies in this sector, which may negatively impact the Fund.
Geographic Risk. A natural disaster could occur
in India, which could adversely affect the Indian economy, causing an adverse impact on the Fund's investments in India.
High Portfolio Turnover Risk. High portfolio turnover (considered by the Fund to mean higher than 100% annually) may result in increased transaction costs to the Fund, including brokerage commissions, dealer mark-ups and other transaction costs on the sale of the securities and on reinvestment in other securities.
Indexing Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively
managed, and BFA generally does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions,
including declining markets.
Industrials Sector Risk. Companies in the industrials sector may be adversely affected by changes in the supply of and demand for products and services,
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product obsolescence, claims for environmental damage or product liability and changes in general economic conditions, among other factors.
Infectious Illness Risk. A widespread outbreak of an infectious illness, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, may result in travel restrictions, disruption of healthcare services, prolonged quarantines, cancellations, supply chain disruptions, business closures, lower consumer demand, layoffs, ratings downgrades, defaults and other significant economic, social and political impacts. Markets may experience temporary closures, extreme volatility, severe losses, reduced liquidity and increased trading costs. Such events may adversely affect the Fund and its investments and may impact the Fund’s ability to purchase or sell securities or cause elevated tracking error and increased premiums or discounts to the Fund's NAV. Despite the development of vaccines, the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects cannot be predicted with certainty.
Issuer Risk. The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of individual securities to which the Fund has exposure. Changes in the financial condition or credit rating of an issuer of those securities may cause the value of the securities to decline.
Large Shareholder and Large-Scale Redemption
Risk. Certain shareholders, including an Authorized Participant, a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser or an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, a market maker, or another entity, may from time to time own or manage a substantial amount of Fund shares, or may invest in the Fund and hold their investment for a limited
period of time. There can be no assurance that any large
shareholder or large group of shareholders would not redeem their investment. Redemptions of a large number of Fund shares could require the Fund to dispose of assets to meet the redemption requests, which can accelerate the realization of taxable income and/or capital gains and cause the Fund to make taxable distributions to its shareholders earlier than the Fund otherwise would have. In addition, under certain circumstances, non-redeeming shareholders may be treated as receiving a disproportionately large taxable distribution during or with respect to such year. In some circumstances, the Fund may hold a relatively large proportion of its assets in cash in anticipation of large redemptions, diluting its investment returns. These large redemptions may also force the Fund to sell portfolio securities when it might not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV, increase the Fund’s brokerage costs and/or have a material effect on the market price of the Fund shares.
Management Risk. As the Fund will not fully
replicate the Underlying Index, it is subject to the risk that BFA's investment strategy may not produce
the intended results.
Market Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks,
including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruptions in the creation/redemption process. ANY OF THESE FACTORS, AMONG OTHERS, MAY LEAD TO THE FUND'S SHARES TRADING AT A PREMIUM OR DISCOUNT TO NAV.
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Materials
Sector Risk. Companies in the materials sector may be adversely impacted by the volatility of commodity prices, changes in exchange rates, social and political unrest, war, depletion of resources, decreases in demand, over-production, litigation and changes in government regulations, among other factors.
National Closed Market Trading Risk. To the extent that the underlying securities or other instruments held by the Fund trade on foreign exchanges or in foreign markets that may be closed when the securities exchange on which the 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.,
the Fund’s quote from the closed foreign market). The impact of a closed foreign market on the Fund is likely to be greater where a large portion of the Fund’s underlying securities or other instruments trade on that closed foreign market or when the foreign market is closed for unscheduled reasons. These deviations could result in premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV that may be greater than those experienced by other ETFs.
Non-U.S. Securities Risk. Investments in the securities
of non-U.S. issuers are subject to the risks associated with investing in those non-U.S. markets, such as heightened risks of inflation or nationalization. The Fund may lose money due to political, economic and geographic events affecting issuers of non-U.S. securities or
non-U.S. markets. In addition, non-U.S. securities markets may trade a small number of securities and may be unable to respond effectively to changes in trading volume, potentially making prompt liquidation of
holdings difficult or impossible at times. The Fund is
specifically exposed to Asian Economic Risk.
Operational Risk. The Fund is exposed to
operational risks arising from a number of factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing
and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund and BFA seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address significant operational risks.
Privatization Risk. The country in which the Fund invests has privatized, or has begun the process of privatizing, certain entities and industries. Privatized entities may lose money or be re-nationalized.
Reliance on Trading Partners Risk. The Fund
invests in India, which is heavily dependent upon trading with key partners. Any reduction in this trading
may have an adverse impact on the Fund's investments. Through its holdings of securities of certain issuers, the Fund is specifically exposed to Asian Economic Risk, Middle Eastern Economic Risk and U.S. Economic Risk.
Risk of Investing in Emerging Markets. Investments in India may be
subject to a greater risk of loss than investments in issuers located or operating in more developed markets. Emerging markets may be more likely to experience inflation, social instability, political turmoil or rapid changes in economic conditions than more developed markets. Companies in many
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emerging markets are not subject to the
same degree of regulatory requirements, accounting standards or auditor oversight as companies in more developed countries, and as a result, information about the securities in which the Fund invests may be less reliable or complete. Emerging markets often have less reliable securities valuations and greater risk associated with custody of securities than developed markets. There may be significant obstacles to obtaining information necessary for investigations into or litigation against companies and shareholders may have limited legal remedies. The Fund is not actively managed and does not select investments based on investor protection considerations.
Security Risk. India has experienced security concerns, such as war, terrorism and strained international relations. Incidents involving a country's or region's security may cause uncertainty in Indian markets and may adversely affect its economy and the Fund's investments.
Tax Risk. The Fund is subject to tax in
India on the purchase and sale of Indian securities, which will reduce the Fund's returns. For more information regarding the tax implications of investing in Indian securities, please see the section entitled
“Indian Tax
Disclosure.”
Tracking Error Risk. The Fund may be subject to “tracking error,” which is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the Underlying Index. Tracking error may occur because of
differences between the securities and other instruments held in
the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index, pricing differences (including,
as applicable, differences between a security’s price at the local market close and the Fund's
valuation of a security at the time of calculation of the Fund's NAV), transaction costs incurred by the Fund, the Fund’s holding of uninvested cash, differences in timing of the accrual or the valuation of dividends or interest received by the Fund or distributions paid to the Fund’s shareholders, the requirements to maintain pass-through tax treatment, portfolio transactions carried out to minimize the distribution of capital gains to shareholders, acceptance of custom baskets, changes to the Underlying Index or the costs to the Fund of complying with various new or existing regulatory requirements, among other reasons. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the Underlying Index does not. Tracking error may occur due to differences between the methodologies used in calculating the value of the Underlying Index and determining the Fund’s NAV. INDEX ETFs THAT TRACK INDICES WITH SIGNIFICANT WEIGHT IN EMERGING MARKETS ISSUERS MAY EXPERIENCE HIGHER TRACKING ERROR THAN OTHER INDEX ETFs THAT DO NOT TRACK SUCH INDICES.
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Valuation
Risk. The price the Fund could receive upon the sale of a security or other asset may differ from the Fund's valuation of the security or other asset and from the value used by the Underlying Index, particularly for securities or other assets that trade in low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology as a result of trade suspensions or for other reasons. In addition, the value of the securities or other assets in the Fund's portfolio may change on days or during time periods when shareholders will not be able to
purchase or sell the Fund's shares. Authorized Participants who purchase or redeem Fund shares on days when the Fund is holding fair-valued securities may receive fewer or more shares, or lower or higher redemption proceeds, than they would have received had the securities not been fair valued or been valued using a different methodology. The ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
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Performance
Information
The bar chart and table that follow show how the Fund has performed on a calendar year basis and provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing how the Fund’s average
annual returns for 1, 5, and 10 years compare with the Underlying Index. Both assume that all dividends and distributions have been reinvested in the Fund. Past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will
perform in the future.
Calendar Year by Year Returns1
1
The Fund’s year-to-date return as of September 30, 2023 was 21.71%.
The best calendar quarter return during the periods
shown above was 32.67% in the 2nd quarter of 2014; the worst was -35.35% in the 1st quarter of 2020.
Updated performance information, including the Fund’s current NAV, may be obtained by visiting our website at www.iShares.com or by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) (toll free).
Average Annual Total Returns
(for the periods ended December 31, 2022)
(for the periods ended December 31, 2022)
| |
One Year |
Five Years |
Ten Years |
| (Inception Date: 2/8/2012) |
|
|
|
| Return Before Taxes |
-13.98% |
0.94% |
8.56% |
| Return After Taxes on Distributions2
|
-13.16% |
0.93% |
8.43% |
| Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares2
|
-7.44% |
0.90% |
7.09% |
| MSCI India Small Cap Index (Index returns do not
reflect deductions for fees, expenses or taxes) |
-13.43% |
2.23% |
9.94% |
2
After-tax returns in the table above are calculated using the historical highest individual
U.S. federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state or local taxes. Actual
after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after-tax returns shown are not relevant to tax-exempt investors or investors
who hold shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts
(“IRAs”). Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares are calculated assuming that an investor has
sufficient capital gains of the same character from other investments to offset any capital losses from the sale of Fund shares. As a result, Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares may exceed Fund returns before taxes
and/or returns after taxes on distributions.
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Management
Investment Adviser. BlackRock
Fund Advisors.
Portfolio Managers. Jennifer
Hsui, Greg Savage and Paul Whitehead (the “Portfolio Managers”) are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Each Portfolio Manager supervises a portfolio management team. Ms. Hsui and Mr. Savage have been Portfolio Managers of the Fund since 2012. Mr. Whitehead has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since 2022.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund is an ETF.
Individual shares of the Fund may only be bought and sold in the secondary market through a
broker-dealer. Because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”).
Tax
Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA, in which case, your distributions generally will be taxed when withdrawn.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a
broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), BFA or other related companies may pay the intermediary for marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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