| iShares Emerging Markets Corporate Bond ETF | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| iSHARES® EMERGING MARKETS CORPORATE BOND ETF Ticker: CEMB Stock Exchange: BATS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Investment Objective | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The iShares Emerging Markets Corporate Bond ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated, emerging market corporate bonds. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fees and Expenses | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you own shares of the Fund. The investment advisory agreement between iShares, Inc. (the “Company”) and BlackRock Fund Advisors (“BFA”) (the “Investment Advisory Agreement”) provides that BFA will pay all operating expenses of the Fund, except interest expenses, taxes, brokerage expenses, distribution fees or expenses, and extraordinary expenses. You may also incur usual and customary brokerage commissions and other charges when buying or selling shares of the Fund, which are not reflected in the Example that follows: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Annual Fund Operating Expenses (ongoing expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investments) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Example. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of owning shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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 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 22% of the average value of its portfolio. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Principal Investment Strategies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Morningstar® Emerging Markets Corporate Bond IndexSM (the “Underlying Index”), which tracks the performance of the U.S. dollar-denominated emerging market corporate bond market. All bonds included in the Underlying Index are selected according to a set of rule-based inclusion criteria regarding issue size, bond type, maturity, and liquidity. The securities included in the Underlying Index are rebalanced on the first business day of each month. Morningstar Indexes reviews and announces the list of eligible countries annually in August, and it takes effect at the following June rebalance. The Underlying Index includes bonds issued by corporations and quasi-sovereign corporations (more than 50% government ownership) based in Latin American, Eastern European, Middle Eastern/African, and Asian (excluding Japan) countries that meet certain criteria to be classified as emerging market countries by Morningstar, Inc.’s (“Morningstar”) proprietary index methodology. Eligible individual securities must have a minimum outstanding face value of $500 million or more, and eligible issuers must have aggregate outstanding debt of $1 billion or more to be included in the Underlying Index. All securities included in the Underlying Index must be U.S. dollar-denominated fixed rate bonds with a remaining maturity of 13 months or more at the time of rebalancing and a minimum of 36 months to maturity or greater at time of issuance. There are no ratings restrictions on either the individual bonds or the country of risk, but all bonds in the Underlying Index must have at least one credit rating from either Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), S&P Global Ratings or Fitch Ratings, Inc. (“Fitch”). The Underlying Index is market capitalization-weighted with a 5% capping on issuers and a pro rata distribution of any excess weight across the remaining issuers in the Underlying Index. As of September 30, 2016, the Underlying Index included issuers located in Argentina, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ghana, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, the Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. The Underlying Index may include large-, mid- or small-capitalization companies. Components of the Underlying Index primarily include non-U.S. agency securities, energy, financials, industrials and utilities companies. The components of the Underlying Index, and the degree to which these components represent certain industries, are likely to change over time. BFA uses a “passive” or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to “beat” the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued. Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Underlying Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by keeping portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies. BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy to manage the Fund. “Representative sampling” is an indexing strategy that involves investing in a representative sample of securities that collectively has an investment profile similar to that of an applicable underlying index. The securities selected are expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as market capitalization and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability, duration, maturity, credit ratings and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of an applicable underlying index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the securities in an applicable underlying index. The Fund generally will invest at least 90% of its assets in the component securities of the Underlying Index and may invest up to 10% of its assets in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents, including shares of money market funds advised by BFA or its affiliates (“BlackRock Cash Funds”), as well as in securities not included in the Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. From time to time when conditions warrant, however, the Fund may invest at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the Underlying Index and may invest up to 20% of its assets in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents, including shares of BlackRock Cash Funds, as well as in securities not included in the Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Underlying Index before fees and expenses of the Fund. The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund's total assets (including the value of any collateral received). The Underlying Index is sponsored by Morningstar (the “Index Provider”), 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), repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities, and securities of state or municipal governments and their political subdivisions are not considered to be issued by members of any industry. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Summary of Principal Risks | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund's performance could trail that of other investments. The Fund is subject to certain risks, including the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund's net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective. Asset Class Risk. Securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or in the Fund's portfolio may underperform in comparison to the general financial markets, a particular financial market or other asset classes. Assets Under Management (AUM) Risk. From time to time, an Authorized Participant (as defined in the Creations and Redemptions section of this prospectus (the “Prospectus”)), a third party investor, the Fund’s adviser or an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, or a fund may invest in the Fund and hold its investment for a specific period of time in order to facilitate commencement of the Fund’s operations or for the Fund to achieve size or scale. There can be no assurance that any such entity would not redeem its investment or that the size of the Fund would be maintained at such levels, which could negatively impact the Fund. Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units (as defined in the Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares section of the Prospectus), Fund shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. Authorized Participant concentration risk may be heightened for exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), such as the Fund, that invest in non-U.S. securities or other securities or instruments that are less widely traded. Call Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of a callable bond held by the Fund may “call” or repay the security before its stated maturity, and the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds in securities with lower yields, which would result in a decline in the Fund's income, or in securities with greater risks or with other less favorable features. Concentration Risk. The Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund's investments are concentrated in the securities of a particular issuer or issuers, country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. Credit Risk. Debt issuers and other counterparties may be unable or unwilling to make timely interest and/or principal payments when due or otherwise honor their obligations. Changes in an issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also adversely affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer. The degree of credit risk depends on the issuer’s financial condition and on the terms of the securities. Custody Risk. Less developed securities markets are more likely to experience problems with the clearing and settling of trades, as well as the holding of securities by local banks, agents and depositories. Cyber Security Risk. Failures or breaches of the electronic systems of the Fund, the Fund's adviser, the Fund's distributor, and the Fund's other service providers, market makers, Authorized Participants or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests have the ability to cause disruptions and negatively impact the Fund’s business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders. While the Fund has established business continuity plans and risk management systems seeking to address system breaches or failures, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems. Furthermore, the Fund cannot control the cyber security plans and systems of the Fund’s service providers, the Index Provider, market makers, Authorized Participants or issuers of securities in which the Fund invests. Energy Sector Risk. The market value of securities issued by companies in the energy sector may decline for many reasons, including, among others, changes in energy prices, energy supply and demand, government regulations, energy conservation efforts and potential civil liabilities. Extension Risk. During periods of rising interest rates, certain debt obligations may be paid off substantially more slowly than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income and potentially in the value of the Fund’s investments. Financials Sector Risk. Performance of companies in the financials sector may be adversely impacted by many factors, including, among others, government regulations, economic conditions, credit rating downgrades, changes in interest rates, and decreased liquidity in credit markets. The impact of more stringent capital requirements, recent or future regulation of any individual financial company or of the financials sector as a whole cannot be predicted. In recent years, cyber attacks and technology malfunctions and failures have become increasingly frequent in this sector and have caused significant losses to companies in this sector, which may negatively impact the Fund. Geographic Risk. A natural or other disaster could occur in a geographic region in which the Fund invests, which could affect the economy or particular business operations of companies in the specific geographic region, causing an adverse impact on the Fund's investments in the affected region. High Yield Securities Risk. Securities that are rated below investment-grade (commonly referred to as “junk bonds,” including those bonds rated lower than “BBB-” by S&P Global Ratings and Fitch, or “Baa3” by Moody's), or are unrated, may be deemed speculative, involve greater levels of risk than higher-rated securities of similar maturity and are more likely to default. Income Risk. The Fund's income may decline when interest rates fall. This decline can occur because the Fund may subsequently invest in lower-yielding bonds as bonds in its portfolio mature, are near maturity or are called, bonds in the Underlying Index are substituted, or the Fund otherwise needs to purchase additional bonds. Index-Related Risk. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the Underlying Index and therefore achieve its investment objective. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track the Underlying Index. Errors in index data, index computations and/or the construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index Provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Industrials Sector Risk. The industrials sector may be adversely affected by changes in the supply of and demand for products and services, product obsolescence, claims for environmental damage or product liability and general economic conditions, among other factors. Interest Rate Risk. An increase in interest rates may cause the value of securities held by the Fund to decline, may lead to heightened volatility in the fixed-income markets and may adversely affect the liquidity of certain fixed-income investments. The current historically low interest rate environment increases the risks associated with rising interest rates. Issuer Risk. The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of individual securities to which the Fund has exposure. Changes in the financial condition or credit rating of an issuer of those securities may cause the value of the securities to decline. Liquidity Risk. Liquidity risk exists when particular investments are difficult to purchase or sell. This can reduce the Fund's returns because the Fund may be unable to transact at advantageous times or prices. Management Risk. As the Fund may not fully replicate the Underlying Index, it is subject to the risk that BFA's investment strategy may not produce the intended results. Market Risk. The Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. Market Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruptions in the creation/redemption process. ANY OF THESE FACTORS, AMONG OTHERS, MAY LEAD TO THE FUND'S SHARES TRADING AT A PREMIUM OR DISCOUNT TO NAV. Non-U.S. Agency Debt Risk. The Fund invests in uncollateralized bonds issued by agencies, subdivisions or instrumentalities of foreign governments. Bonds issued by government agencies, subdivisions or instrumentalities are generally backed only by the general creditworthiness and reputation of the entity 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 provide that support. A non-U.S. agency’s operations and financial condition are influenced by the foreign government’s economic and other policies. Non-U.S. Issuers Risk. Securities issued by non-U.S. issuers carry different risks from securities issued by U.S. issuers. These risks 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, regulatory and economic differences, and potential restrictions on the flow of international capital. The Fund is specifically exposed to Asian Economic Risk and Central and South American 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 these risks. Passive Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively managed, and BFA generally does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. Privately-Issued Securities Risk. The Fund may invest in privately-issued securities, including those that are normally purchased pursuant to Rule 144A or Regulation S promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”). Privately-issued securities are securities that have not been registered under the 1933 Act and as a result are subject to legal restrictions on resale. Privately-issued securities are not traded on established markets and may be illiquid, difficult to value and subject to wide fluctuations in value. Delay or difficulty in selling such securities may result in a loss to the Fund. Privatization Risk. Some countries in which the Fund invests have privatized, or have begun the process of privatizing, certain entities and industries. Privatized entities may lose money or be re-nationalized. Reliance on Trading Partners Risk. The Fund invests in countries or regions whose economies are heavily dependent upon trading with key partners. Any reduction in this trading may have an adverse impact on the Fund's investments. Through its portfolio companies' trading partners, the Fund is specifically exposed to Asian Economic Risk, Eastern European Economic Risk, European Economic Risk and U.S. Economic Risk. Risk of Investing in Emerging Markets. The Fund's investments in emerging market issuers 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, political turmoil and rapid changes in economic conditions than more developed markets. Emerging markets often have less uniformity in accounting and reporting requirements, less reliable securities valuations and greater risk associated with custody of securities than developed markets. Risk of Investing in Russia. Investing in Russian securities involves significant risks, including legal, regulatory and economic risks that are specific to Russia. In addition, investing in Russian securities involves risks associated with the settlement of portfolio transactions and loss of the Fund’s ownership rights in its portfolio securities as a result of the system of share registration and custody in Russia. A number of countries have imposed economic sanctions on certain Russian individuals and Russian corporate entities. These sanctions, or even the threat of further sanctions, may adversely affect Russia’s economy and the Fund’s investments. Securities Lending Risk. The Fund may engage in securities lending. Securities lending involves the risk that the Fund may lose money because the borrower of the loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. The Fund could also lose money in the event of a decline in the value of collateral provided for loaned securities or a decline in the value of any investments made with cash collateral. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund. Security Risk. Some countries and regions in which the Fund invests have experienced security concerns, such as terrorism and strained international relations. Incidents involving a country's or region's security may cause uncertainty in these markets and may adversely affect their economies and the Fund's investments. Structural Risk. The countries in which the Fund invests may be subject to considerable degrees of economic, political and social instability. Tracking Error Risk. Tracking error is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the applicable underlying index. Tracking error may occur because of differences between the securities and other instruments held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the applicable underlying index, pricing differences (including 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), differences in transaction costs, the Fund’s holding of uninvested cash, differences in timing of the accrual of or the valuation of distributions, tax gains or losses, changes to the applicable underlying index or the costs to the Fund of complying with various new or existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the Underlying Index does not. INDEX ETFs THAT TRACK INDICES WITH SIGNIFICANT WEIGHT IN EMERGING MARKETS ISSUERS MAY EXPERIENCE HIGHER TRACKING ERROR THAN OTHER ETFs THAT DO NOT TRACK SUCH INDICES. Utilities Sector Risk. The utilities sector is subject to significant government regulation and oversight. Deregulation, however, may subject utility companies to greater competition and may reduce their profitability. Companies in the utilities sector may be adversely affected due to increases in fuel and operating costs, rising costs of financing capital construction and the cost of complying with regulations, among other factors. Valuation Risk. The sale price the Fund could receive for 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. 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. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Performance Information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The bar chart and table that follow show how the Fund has performed on a calendar year basis and provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. Both assume that all dividends and distributions have been reinvested in the Fund. Past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Supplemental information about the Fund’s performance is shown under the heading Total Return Information in the Supplemental Information section of the Prospectus. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year by Year Returns (Years Ended December 31) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The best calendar quarter return during the periods shown above was 4.80% in the 1st quarter of 2016; the worst was -5.00% in the 2nd quarter of 2013. Updated performance information is available 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, 2016) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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