1875 K Street N.W. |
Washington, DC 20006-1238 |
Tel: 202 303 1000 |
Fax: 202 303 2000 |
December 14, 2018
VIA EDGAR
Mr. James E. OConnor
Division of Investment Management
Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, DC 20549
Re: | iShares, Inc. (the Company) |
(Securities Act File No. 33-97598 and
Investment Company Act File No. 811-09102)
Post-Effective Amendment No. 492
Dear Mr. OConnor:
This letter responds to your comments with respect to post-effective amendment (PEA) number 492 to the registration statement of the Company filed pursuant to Rule 485(a) under the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act) on behalf of iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Asia ETF and iShares ESG MSCI EM ETF (formerly known as iShares MSCI EM ESG Optimized ETF) (each, a Fund), each a series of the Company.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) staff (the Staff) provided comments to the Company on December 5, 2018 and December 7, 2018. For your convenience, the Staffs comments are summarized below and each comment is followed by the Companys response, which is applicable to each Fund, unless otherwise noted. Capitalized terms have the meanings assigned in each Funds prospectus unless otherwise defined in this letter.
Comment 1: In the Principal Investment Strategies section of each Funds prospectus, please disclose the number or range of the Underlying Index components.
Response: The Company respectfully submits that the Principal Investment Strategies section of each Funds prospectus discloses pertinent information regarding each of the Funds Underlying Index, including the index methodology and significant sector exposures. The disclosure also states that the components of the Underlying Index are likely to change over time. As a result, the Company provides more detailed disclosure regarding each of the Funds Underlying Index, including the approximate number of component securities in the Underlying Index, in each of the Funds SAI.
Comment 2: Please consider using the term common stocks as opposed to equity securities in Equity Securities Risk.
Securities and Exchange Commission
December 14, 2018
Page 2
Response: The Company respectfully notes that each Fund may invest in certain equity securities other than common stocks.
Comment 3: With respect to the Average Annual Total Returns table, please clarify in the name of each index whether the index presents the gross return or the net of foreign source withholding version of the index. It is permissible to use the gross version of an international index, but use of the net version would reflect the reality that the Fund will receive dividends net of foreign source withholding. Foreign withholding taxes on dividends are effectively paid by the Funds shareholders, but they are not an expense of the Fund and, thus, it is permissible to show the effect of withholding taxes on the benchmarks performance under Instruction 5 to Item 27(b)(7). The use of the net version of a foreign index results in a more realistic (and lower) performance bar for the adviser to clear.
Response: The Company confirms that the net version of the applicable Funds Underlying Index, where available, is an appropriate benchmark for the Fund under Form N-lA, and the disclosure under the Average Annual Total Returns table has been revised to provide clarification.
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Sincerely, |
/s/ Benjamin J. Haskin |
Benjamin J. Haskin |
cc: | Deepa Damre |
Adithya Attawar
Nicole Hwang
Jaeyoung Choi
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