REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 | ☒ |
Pre-Effective Amendment No. | □ |
Post-Effective Amendment No. 1055 | ☒ |
INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940 | ☒ |
Amendment No. 1057 | ☒ |
Counsel for the Fund: | |
John A. MacKinnon, Esq.
Sidley Austin LLP 787 Seventh Avenue New York, New York 10019 |
Janey Ahn, Esq.
BlackRock Advisors, LLC 55 East 52nd Street New York, New York 10055 |
Prospectus |
• | iShares Russell Mid-Cap Index Fund |
Investor A: BRMAX • Institutional: BRMIX |
Fund Overview | Key facts and details about the Fund, including investment objective, principal investment strategies, principal risk factors, fee and expense information and historical performance information | |
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Details About the Fund | Information about how the Fund invests, including investment objective, investment process, principal strategies and risk factors | |
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Account Information | Information about account services, sales charges and waivers, shareholder transactions, and distribution and other payments | |
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Management of the Fund | Information about BlackRock and the Portfolio Managers | |
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Financial Highlights |
Financial Performance of the Fund
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General Information |
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Glossary |
Glossary of Investment Terms
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For More Information |
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Inside Back Cover |
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Back Cover |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
Investor A
Shares |
Institutional
Shares |
Management Fee1 | 0.02% | 0.02% |
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees | 0.25% | None |
Other Expenses | 0.09% | 0.08% |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | 0.36% | 0.10% |
Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements1,2 | — | — |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements1,2 | 0.36% | 0.10% |
1 | As described in the “Management of the Fund” section of the Fund’s prospectus beginning on page 30, BlackRock Advisors, LLC (“BlackRock”) has contractually agreed to waive the management fee with respect to any portion of the Fund’s assets estimated to be attributable to investments in other equity and fixed-income mutual funds and exchange-traded funds managed by BlackRock or its affiliates that have a contractual management fee, through November 30, 2021. In addition, BlackRock has contractually agreed to waive its management fees by the amount of investment advisory fees the Fund pays to BlackRock indirectly through its investment in money market funds managed by BlackRock or its affiliates, through November 30, 2021. The contractual agreements may be terminated upon 90 days’ notice by a majority of the non-interested trustees of the Trust or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund. |
2 | As described in the “Management of the Fund” section of the Fund’s prospectus beginning on page 30, BlackRock has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse fees or expenses in order to limit Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements (excluding Dividend Expense, Interest Expense, Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses and certain other Fund expenses) to 0.37% of average daily net assets (for Investor A Shares) and 0.12% of average daily net assets (for Institutional Shares) through November 30, 2021. The Fund may have to repay some of these waivers and/or reimbursements to BlackRock in the following two years, and such repayment arrangement will terminate on May 13, 2022. The contractual agreement may be terminated upon 90 days’ notice by a majority of the non-interested trustees of the Trust or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund. |
1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years | |
Investor A Shares | $37 | $116 | $202 | $456 |
Institutional Shares | $10 | $32 | $56 | $128 |
■ | Asset Class Risk — Securities and other assets or financial instruments 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. |
■ | Concentration Risk — The Fund reserves the right to concentrate its investments (i.e., invest 25% or more of its total assets in securities of issuers in a particular industry) to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index concentrates in a particular industry. To the extent the Fund concentrates in a particular industry, it may be more susceptible to economic conditions and risks affecting that industry. |
■ | Consumer Discretionary Sector Risk — The consumer discretionary sector may be affected by changes in domestic and international economies, exchange and interest rates, competition, consumers’ disposable income, consumer preferences, social trends and marketing campaigns. |
■ | Equity Securities Risk — Stock markets are volatile. The price of equity securities fluctuates based on changes in a company’s financial condition and overall market and economic conditions. |
■ | Index Fund Risk — An index fund has operating and other expenses while an index does not. As a result, while the Fund will attempt to track the Underlying Index as closely as possible, it will tend to underperform the Underlying Index to some degree over time. If an index fund is properly correlated to its stated index, the fund will perform poorly when the index performs poorly. |
■ | 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 or high volatility, other unusual market circumstances 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 may cause the index provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance, which could cause the Underlying Index to vary from its normal or expected composition. |
■ | Industrials Sector Risk — Companies in 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 changes in general economic conditions, among other factors. |
■ | Issuer Risk — Fund performance 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. |
■ | Management Risk — As the Fund may not fully replicate the Underlying Index, it is subject to the risk that BlackRock’s investment strategy may not produce the intended results. |
■ | Market Risk and Selection Risk — Market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. The value of a security or other asset may decline due to changes in general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security or other asset, or factors that affect a particular issuer or issuers, exchange, country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues like pandemics or epidemics, recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments. Selection risk is the risk that the securities selected by Fund management will underperform the markets, the relevant indices or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies. This means you may lose money. |
A recent outbreak of an infectious coronavirus has developed into a global pandemic that has resulted in numerous disruptions in the market and has had significant economic impact leaving general concern and uncertainty. The impact of this coronavirus, and other epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future, could affect the economies of many nations, individual companies and the market in general ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen at the present time. | |
■ | Mid Cap Securities Risk — The securities of mid cap companies generally trade in lower volumes and are generally subject to greater and less predictable price changes than the securities of larger capitalization companies. |
■ | Passive Investment Risk — Because BlackRock does not select individual companies in the index that the Fund tracks, the Fund may hold securities of companies that present risks that an investment adviser researching individual securities might seek to avoid. |
■ | Technology Sector Risk — Technology companies, including information technology companies, may have limited product lines, markets, financial resources or personnel. Technology companies typically face intense competition and potentially rapid product obsolescence. They are also heavily dependent on intellectual property rights and may be adversely affected by the loss or impairment of those rights. Companies in the technology sector are facing increased government and regulatory scrutiny and may be subject to adverse government or regulatory action. |
As of 12/31/19
Average Annual Total Returns |
1 Year |
Since Inception
(May 13, 2015) |
iShares Russell Mid-Cap Index Fund — Investor A Shares | ||
Return Before Taxes | 29.98% | 8.95% |
Return After Taxes on Distributions | 28.72% | 7.14% |
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | 18.41% | 6.55% |
iShares Russell Mid-Cap Index Fund — Institutional Shares | ||
Return Before Taxes | 30.29% | 9.21% |
Russell Midcap® Index (Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) | 30.54% | 9.24% |
Name | Portfolio Manager of the Fund Since | Title |
Alan Mason | 2015 | Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. |
Suzanne Henige, CFA | 2020 | Director of BlackRock, Inc. |
Jennifer Hsui, CFA | 2016 | Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. |
Amy Whitelaw | 2019 | Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. |
Rachel Aguirre | 2016 | Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. |
Investor A Shares | Institutional Shares | |
Minimum Initial
Investment |
$1,000 for all accounts except:
• $50, if establishing an Automatic Investment Plan. • There is no investment minimum for employer-sponsored retirement plans (not including SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs or SARSEPs). • There is no investment minimum for certain fee-based programs. |
There is no minimum initial investment for:
• Employer-sponsored retirement plans (not including SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs or SARSEPs), state sponsored 529 college savings plans, collective trust funds, investment companies or other pooled investment vehicles, unaffiliated thrifts and unaffiliated banks and trust companies, each of which may purchase shares of the Fund through a Financial Intermediary that has entered into an agreement with the Fund’s distributor to purchase such shares. • Clients of Financial Intermediaries that: (i) charge such clients a fee for advisory, investment consulting, or similar services or (ii) have entered into an agreement with the Fund’s distributor to offer Institutional Shares through a no-load program or investment platform. • Clients investing through a self-directed IRA brokerage account program sponsored by a retirement plan record-keeper, provided that such program offers only mutual fund options and that the program maintains an account with the Fund on an omnibus basis. • Clients investing through Financial Intermediaries that offer such shares on a platform that charges a transaction based sales commission outside of the Fund. • Tax-qualified accounts for insurance agents that are registered representatives of an insurance company’s broker-dealer that has entered into an agreement with the Fund’s distributor to offer Institutional Shares, and the family members of such persons. |
Minimum Additional
Investment |
$50 for all accounts (with the exception of certain employer-sponsored retirement plans which may have a lower minimum). | No subsequent minimum. |
■ | Borrowing — The Fund may borrow up to the limits set forth under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief. |
■ | Derivatives — The Fund may invest in derivative instruments, including futures and swap contracts. Derivatives allow the Fund to increase or decrease its exposure to the Underlying Index quickly and at less cost than buying or selling stocks. The Fund will invest in derivative instruments in order to gain market exposure quickly in the event of |
subscriptions, to maintain liquidity in the event of redemptions and to keep trading costs low. The Fund may use derivatives for hedging purposes, including anticipatory hedges, and to seek to enhance returns. | |
■ | Illiquid Investments — The Fund may invest up to an aggregate amount of 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments. An illiquid investment is any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. |
■ | Investment Companies — The Fund has the ability to invest in other investment companies, such as exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), unit investment trusts, and open-end and closed-end funds. The Fund may invest in affiliated investment companies, including affiliated money market funds and affiliated ETFs. |
■ | Securities Lending — The Fund may lend securities with a value up to 33 1⁄3% of its total assets to financial institutions that provide cash or securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government as collateral. |
■ | Asset Class Risk — The securities or other assets in the Underlying Index or in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to other securities or indexes that track other countries, groups of countries, regions, industries, groups of industries, markets, asset classes or sectors. Various types of securities, currencies and indexes or assets may experience cycles of outperformance and underperformance in comparison to the general financial markets depending upon a number of factors including, among other things, inflation, interest rates, productivity, global demand for local products or resources, and regulation and governmental controls. This may cause the Fund to underperform other investment vehicles that invest in different asset classes. |
■ | Concentration Risk — The Fund reserves the right to concentrate its investments (i.e., invest 25% or more of its total assets in securities of issuers in a particular industry) to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index concentrates in a particular industry. To the extent the Fund concentrates in a particular industry, it may be more susceptible to economic conditions and risks affecting that industry. |
■ | Consumer Discretionary Sector Risk — The success of consumer product manufacturers and retailers is tied closely to the performance of domestic and international economies, interest rates, exchange rates, competition, consumer confidence, changes in demographics and consumer preferences. Companies in the consumer discretionary sector depend heavily on disposable household income and consumer spending, and may be strongly affected by social trends and marketing campaigns. These companies may be subject to severe competition, which may have an adverse impact on their profitability. |
■ | Equity Securities Risk — Common and preferred stocks represent equity ownership in a company. Stock markets are volatile. The price of equity securities will fluctuate and can decline and reduce the value of a portfolio investing in equities. The value of equity securities purchased by the Fund could decline if the financial condition of the companies the Fund invests in declines or if overall market and economic conditions deteriorate. The value of equity securities may also decline due to factors that affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages or an increase in production costs and competitive conditions within an industry. In addition, the value may decline due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a company or industry, such as real or |
perceived adverse economic conditions, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates or generally adverse investor sentiment. | |
■ | Index Fund Risk — An index fund has operating and other expenses while an index does not. As a result, while the Fund will attempt to track the Underlying Index as closely as possible, it will tend to underperform the Underlying Index to some degree over time. If an index fund is properly correlated to its stated index, the fund will perform poorly when the index performs poorly. |
■ | Index-Related Risk — The Fund seeks to achieve a return that corresponds generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Underlying Index as published by the Index Provider. There is no assurance that the Index Provider or any agents that may act on its behalf will compile the Underlying Index accurately, or that the Underlying Index will be determined, composed or calculated accurately. While the Index Provider provides descriptions of what the Underlying Index is designed to achieve, neither the Index Provider nor its agents provide any warranty or accept any liability in relation to the quality, accuracy or completeness of the Underlying Index or its related data, and they do not guarantee that the Underlying Index will be in line with the Index Provider’s methodology. BlackRock’s mandate as described in this prospectus is to manage the Fund consistently with the Underlying Index provided by the Index Provider to BlackRock. BlackRock does not provide any warranty or guarantee against the Index Provider’s or any agent’s errors. Errors in respect of the quality, accuracy and completeness of the data used to compile the Underlying Index 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, particularly where the indices are less commonly used as benchmarks by funds or managers. Such errors may negatively or positively impact the Fund and its shareholders. For example, during a period where the Underlying Index contains incorrect constituents, the Fund would have market exposure to such constituents and would be underexposed to the Underlying Index’s other constituents. Shareholders should understand that any gains from Index Provider errors will be kept by the Fund and its shareholders and any losses or costs resulting from Index Provider errors will be borne by the Fund and its shareholders. |
Unusual market conditions may cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance, which could cause the Underlying Index to vary from its normal or expected composition. The postponement of a scheduled rebalance in a time of market volatility could mean that constituents that would otherwise be removed at rebalance due to changes in market capitalizations, issuer credit ratings, or other reasons may remain, causing the performance and constituents of the Underlying Index to vary from those expected under normal conditions. Apart from scheduled rebalances, the Index Provider or its agents may carry out additional ad hoc rebalances to the Underlying Index due to reaching certain weighting constraints, unusual market conditions or in order, for example, to correct an error in the selection of index constituents. When the Underlying Index is rebalanced and the Fund in turn rebalances its portfolio to attempt to increase the correlation between the Fund’s portfolio and the Underlying Index, any transaction costs and market exposure arising from such portfolio rebalancing will be borne directly by the Fund and its shareholders. Therefore, errors and additional ad hoc rebalances carried out by the Index Provider or its agents to the Underlying Index may increase the costs to and the tracking error risk of the Fund. | |
■ | Industrials Sector Risk — The value of securities issued by companies in the industrials sector may be adversely affected by supply and demand changes related to their specific products or services and industrials sector products in general. The products of manufacturing companies may face obsolescence due to rapid technological developments and frequent new product introduction. Global events, trade disputes and changes in government regulations, economic conditions and exchange rates may adversely affect the performance of companies in the industrials sector. Companies in the industrials sector may be adversely affected by liability for environmental damage and product liability claims. 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. Companies in the industrials sector, particularly aerospace and defense companies, may also be adversely affected by government spending policies because companies in this sector tend to rely to a significant extent on government demand for their products and services. |
■ | Issuer Risk — The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of individual securities to which the Fund has exposure. Any issuer of these securities may perform poorly, causing the value of its securities to decline. Poor performance may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, changes in technology, expiration of patent protection, disruptions in supply, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, |
fraudulent disclosures, credit deterioration of the issuer or other factors. Issuers may, in times of distress or at their own discretion, decide to reduce or eliminate dividends, which may also cause their stock prices to decline. | |
■ | Management Risk — The Fund may not fully replicate the Underlying Index and may hold securities not included in the Underlying Index. As a result, the Fund is subject to the risk that BlackRock’s investment strategy, the implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may not produce the intended results. |
■ | Market Risk and Selection Risk — Market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. The value of a security or other asset may decline due to changes in general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security or other asset, or factors that affect a particular issuer or issuers, exchange, country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues like pandemics or epidemics, recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments. Selection risk is the risk that the securities selected by Fund management will underperform the markets, the relevant indices or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies. This means you may lose money. |
A recent outbreak of an infectious coronavirus has developed into a global pandemic that has resulted in numerous disruptions in the market and has had significant economic impact leaving general concern and uncertainty. The impact of this coronavirus, and other epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future, could affect the economies of many nations, individual companies and the market in general ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen at the present time. | |
■ | Mid Cap Securities Risk — The securities of mid cap companies generally trade in lower volumes and are generally subject to greater and less predictable price changes than the securities of larger capitalization companies. |
■ | Passive Investment Risk — Because BlackRock does not select individual companies in the index that the Fund tracks, the Fund may hold securities of companies that present risks that an investment adviser researching individual securities might seek to avoid. |
■ | Technology Sector Risk — Technology companies, including information technology companies, face intense competition, both domestically and internationally, which may have an adverse effect on a company’s profit margins. Technology companies may have limited product lines, markets, financial resources or personnel. The products of technology companies may face obsolescence due to rapid technological developments, frequent new product introduction, unpredictable changes in growth rates, aggressive pricing, changes in demand, and competition for the services of qualified personnel. Companies in the technology sector are heavily dependent on patent and other intellectual property rights. A technology company’s loss or impairment of these rights may adversely affect the company’s profitability. Companies in the technology sector are facing increased government and regulatory scrutiny and may be subject to adverse government or regulatory action. The technology sector may also be adversely affected by changes or trends in commodity prices, which may be influenced or characterized by unpredictable factors. |
■ | 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. |
■ | Cyber Security Risk — Failures or breaches of the electronic systems of the Fund, the Fund’s adviser, distributor, and other service providers, 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 or issuers of securities in which the Fund invests. |
■ | Derivatives Risk — The Fund’s use of derivatives may increase its costs, reduce the Fund’s returns and/or increase volatility. Derivatives involve significant risks, including: |
Volatility Risk — The Fund’s use of derivatives may reduce the Fund’s returns and/or increase volatility. Volatility is defined as the characteristic of a security, an index or a market to fluctuate significantly in price within a short time |
period. A risk of the Fund’s use of derivatives is that the fluctuations in their values may not correlate with the overall securities markets. | |
Counterparty Risk — Derivatives are also subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the other party in the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligation. | |
Market and Illiquidity Risk — Some derivatives are more sensitive to interest rate changes and market price fluctuations than other securities. The possible lack of a liquid secondary market for derivatives and the resulting inability of the Fund to sell or otherwise close a derivatives position could expose the Fund to losses and could make derivatives more difficult for the Fund to value accurately. The Fund could also suffer losses related to its derivatives positions as a result of unanticipated market movements, which losses are potentially unlimited. Finally, BlackRock may not be able to predict correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates and other economic factors, which could cause the Fund’s derivatives positions to lose value. | |
Valuation Risk — Valuation may be more difficult in times of market turmoil since many investors and market makers may be reluctant to purchase complex instruments or quote prices for them. Derivatives may also expose the Fund to greater risk and increase its costs. Certain transactions in derivatives involve substantial leverage risk and may expose the Fund to potential losses that exceed the amount originally invested by the Fund. | |
Hedging Risk — When a derivative is used as a hedge against a position that the Fund holds, 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. Hedges are sometimes subject to imperfect matching between the derivative and the underlying security, and there can be no assurance that the Fund’s hedging transactions will be effective. The use of hedging may result in certain adverse tax consequences noted below. | |
Tax Risk — The federal income tax treatment of a derivative may not be as favorable as a direct investment in an underlying asset and may adversely affect the timing, character and amount of income the Fund realizes from its investments. As a result, a larger portion of the Fund’s distributions may be treated as ordinary income rather than capital gains. In addition, certain derivatives are subject to mark-to-market or straddle provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. If such provisions are applicable, there could be an increase (or decrease) in the amount of taxable dividends paid by the Fund. In addition, the tax treatment of certain derivatives, such as swaps, is unsettled and may be subject to future legislation, regulation or administrative pronouncements issued by the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”). | |
Regulatory Risk — 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 (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) in the United States and under comparable regimes in Europe, Asia and other non-U.S. jurisdictions. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, certain derivatives are subject to margin requirements and swap dealers are required to collect margin from the Fund with respect to such derivatives. Specifically, regulations are now in effect that require swap dealers to post and collect variation margin (comprised of specified liquid instruments and subject to a required haircut) in connection with trading of over-the-counter (“OTC”) swaps with the Fund. Shares of investment companies (other than certain money market funds) may not be posted as collateral under these regulations. Requirements for posting of initial margin in connection with OTC swaps will be phased-in through at least 2021. In addition, regulations adopted by global prudential regulators that are now in effect require certain bank-regulated counterparties and certain of their affiliates to include in certain financial contracts, including many derivatives contracts, terms that delay or restrict the rights of counterparties, such as the Fund, to terminate such contracts, foreclose upon collateral, exercise other default rights or restrict transfers of credit support in the event that the counterparty and/or its affiliates are subject to certain types of resolution or insolvency proceedings. The implementation of these requirements with respect to derivatives, as well as regulations under the Dodd-Frank Act regarding clearing, mandatory trading and margining of other derivatives, may increase the costs and risks to the Fund of trading in these instruments and, as a result, may affect returns to investors in the Fund. | |
On October 28, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted new regulations governing the use of derivatives by registered investment companies (“Rule 18f-4”). The Fund will be required to implement and comply with Rule 18f-4 by the third quarter of 2022. Once implemented, Rule 18f-4 will impose limits on the amount of derivatives a fund can enter into, eliminate the asset segregation framework currently used by funds to comply with Section 18 of the Investment Company Act, treat derivatives as senior securities so that a failure to comply with the limits would result in a statutory violation and require funds whose use of derivatives is more than a limited specified exposure amount to establish and maintain a comprehensive derivatives risk management program and appoint a derivatives risk manager.
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In addition, other future regulatory developments may impact the Fund’s ability to invest or remain invested in |
certain derivatives. Legislation or regulation may also change the way in which the Fund itself is regulated. BlackRock cannot predict the effects of any new governmental regulation that may be implemented on the ability of the Fund to use swaps or any other financial derivative product, and there can be no assurance that any new governmental regulation will not adversely affect the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. | |
Risks Specific to Certain Derivatives Used by the Fund |
■ | Expense Risk — Fund expenses are subject to a variety of factors, including fluctuations in the Fund’s net assets. Accordingly, actual expenses may be greater or less than those indicated. For example, to the extent that the Fund’s net assets decrease due to market declines or redemptions, the Fund’s expenses will increase as a percentage of Fund net assets. During periods of high market volatility, these increases in the Fund’s expense ratio could be significant. |
■ | Financials Sector Risk — Companies in the financials sector of an economy are subject to extensive governmental regulation and intervention, which may adversely affect the scope of their activities, the prices they can charge, the amount of capital they must maintain and, potentially, their size. The extent to which the Fund may invest in a company that engages in securities-related activities or banking is limited by applicable law. Governmental regulation may change frequently and may have significant adverse consequences for companies in the financials sector, including effects not intended by such regulation. Recently enacted legislation in the United States has relaxed capital requirements and other regulatory burdens on certain U.S. banks. While the effect of the legislation may benefit certain companies in the financials sector, including non-U.S. financials sector companies, increased risk taking by affected banks may also result in greater overall risk in the United States and global financials sector. The impact of changes in capital requirements, or recent or future regulation in various countries, on any individual financial company or on the financials sector as a whole cannot be predicted. Certain risks may impact the value of investments in the financials sector more severely than those of investments outside this sector, including the risks associated with companies that operate with substantial financial leverage. Companies in the financials sector may also be adversely affected by increases in interest rates and loan losses, decreases in the availability of money or asset valuations, credit rating downgrades and adverse conditions in other related markets. Insurance companies, in particular, may be subject to severe price competition and/or rate regulation, which may have an adverse impact on their profitability. The financials sector is particularly sensitive to fluctuations in interest rates. The financials sector is also a target for cyberattacks, and may experience technology malfunctions and disruptions. In recent years, cyberattacks and technology malfunctions and failures have become increasingly frequent in this sector and have reportedly caused losses to companies in this sector, which may negatively impact the Fund. |
■ | Healthcare Sector Risk — The profitability of companies in the healthcare sector may be adversely affected by the following factors, among others: extensive government regulations, restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses, rising costs of medical products and services, pricing pressure, an increased emphasis on outpatient services, changes in the demand for medical products and services, a limited number of products, industry innovation, changes in technologies and other market developments. A number of issuers in the healthcare sector have recently merged or otherwise experienced consolidation. The effects of this trend toward consolidation are unknown and may be far-reaching. Many healthcare companies are heavily dependent on patent protection. The expiration of a company’s patents may adversely affect that company’s profitability. Many healthcare companies are subject 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, and such efforts ultimately may be unsuccessful. Companies in the healthcare sector may be thinly capitalized and may be susceptible to product obsolescence. 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. | |
■ | Illiquid Investments Risk — The Fund’s illiquid investments may reduce the returns of the Fund because it may be difficult to sell the illiquid investments at an advantageous time or price. An investment may be illiquid due to, among other things, the lack of an active trading market. To the extent that the Fund’s principal investment strategies involve derivatives or securities with substantial market and/or credit risk, the Fund will tend to have the greatest exposure to the risks associated with illiquid investments. Liquid investments may become illiquid after purchase by the Fund, particularly during periods of market turmoil. Illiquid investments may be harder to value, especially in changing markets, and if the Fund is forced to sell these investments to meet redemption requests or for other cash needs, the Fund may suffer a loss. In addition, when there is illiquidity in the market for certain securities, the Fund, due to limitations on illiquid investments, may be subject to purchase and sale restrictions. |
■ | Investment in Other Investment Companies Risk — As with other investments, investments in other investment companies, including ETFs, are subject to market and selection risk. In addition, if the Fund acquires shares of investment companies, including ones affiliated with the Fund, shareholders bear both their proportionate share of expenses in the Fund (including management and advisory fees) and, indirectly, the expenses of the investment companies (to the extent not offset by BlackRock through waivers). To the extent the Fund is held by an affiliated fund, the ability of the Fund itself to hold other investment companies may be limited. |
■ | Leverage Risk — Some transactions may give rise to a form of economic leverage. These transactions may include, among others, derivatives, and may expose the Fund to greater risk and increase its costs. As an open-end investment company registered with the SEC, the Fund is subject to the federal securities laws, including the Investment Company Act, the rules thereunder, and various SEC and SEC staff interpretive positions. In accordance with these laws, rules and positions, the Fund must “set aside” liquid assets (often referred to as “asset segregation”), or engage in other SEC- or staff-approved measures, to “cover” open positions with respect to certain kinds of instruments. The use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet any required asset segregation requirements. Increases and decreases in the value of the Fund’s portfolio will be magnified when the Fund uses leverage. |
■ | Securities Lending Risk — Securities lending involves the risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. As a result, the Fund may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Fund could also lose money if it does not recover the securities and/or the value of the collateral falls, including the value of investments made with cash collateral. These events could trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund. |
■ | Valuation Risk — 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. Pricing services that value fixed-income securities generally utilize a range of market-based and security-specific inputs and assumptions, as well as considerations about general market conditions, to establish a price. Pricing services generally value fixed-income securities assuming orderly transactions of an institutional round lot size, but may be held or transactions may be conducted in such securities in smaller, odd lot sizes. Odd lots may trade at lower prices than institutional round lots. The Fund’s ability to value its investments may also be impacted by technological issues and/or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers. |
Investor A Shares | Institutional Shares | |
Availability | Generally available through Financial Intermediaries. |
Limited to certain investors, including:
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Investor A Shares | Institutional Shares | |
Minimum Investment |
$1,000 for all accounts except:
• $50, if establishing an Automatic Investment Plan (“AIP”). • There is no investment minimum for employer-sponsored retirement plans (not including SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs or SARSEPs). • There is no investment minimum for certain fee-based programs. |
There is no investment minimum for:
• Employer-sponsored retirement plans (not including SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs or SARSEPs), state sponsored 529 college savings plans, collective trust funds, investment companies or other pooled investment vehicles, unaffiliated thrifts and unaffiliated banks and trust companies. • Employees, officers and directors/trustees of BlackRock or its affiliates and immediate family members of such persons, if they open an account directly with BlackRock. • Clients of Financial Intermediaries that: (i) charge such clients a fee for advisory, investment consulting, or similar services or (ii) have entered into an agreement with the Distributor to offer Institutional Shares through a no-load program or investment platform. • Clients investing through a self-directed IRA brokerage account program sponsored by a retirement plan record-keeper, provided that such program offers only mutual fund options and that the program maintains an account with the Fund on an omnibus basis. • Clients investing through Financial Intermediaries that offer such shares on a platform that charges a transaction based sales commission outside of the Fund. • Tax-qualified accounts for insurance agents that are registered representatives of an insurance company’s broker-dealer that has entered into an agreement with the Distributor to offer Institutional Shares, and the family members of such persons. |
Initial Sales Charge? | No. Entire purchase price is invested in shares of the Fund. | No. Entire purchase price is invested in shares of the Fund. |
Deferred Sales Charge? | No. | No. |
Distribution and Service
(12b-1) Fees? |
No Distribution Fee.
0.25% Annual Service Fee. |
No. |
Redemption Fees? | No. | No. |
Conversion to Investor A Shares? | N/A | No. |
Advantage | Generally available. | No annual service fee. |
Disadvantage | Annual service fee. | Limited availability. |
1 | Please see “Details About the Share Classes” for more information about each share class. |
■ | Individuals and “Institutional Investors” with a minimum initial investment of $2 million who may purchase shares of the Fund through a Financial Intermediary that has entered into an agreement with the Distributor to purchase such shares; |
■ | Clients of Financial Intermediaries that: (i) charge such clients a fee for advisory, investment consulting, or similar services or (ii) have entered into an agreement with the Distributor to offer Institutional Shares through a no-load program or investment platform, in each case, with no minimum initial investment; |
■ | Clients investing through Financial Intermediaries that have entered into an agreement with the Distributor to offer such shares on a platform that charges a transaction based sales commission outside of the Fund, with a minimum initial investment of $1,000; |
■ | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (not including SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs or SARSEPs), state sponsored 529 college savings plans, collective trust funds, investment companies or other pooled investment vehicles, unaffiliated thrifts and unaffiliated banks and trust companies, each of which is not subject to any minimum initial investment and may purchase shares of the Fund through a Financial Intermediary that has entered into an agreement with the Distributor to purchase such shares; |
■ | Trust department clients of Bank of America, N.A. and its affiliates for whom they (i) act in a fiduciary capacity (excluding participant directed employee benefit plans); (ii) otherwise have investment discretion; or (iii) act as custodian for at least $2 million in assets, who are not subject to any minimum initial investment; |
■ | Holders of certain Bank of America Corporation (“BofA Corp.”) sponsored unit investment trusts (“UITs”) who reinvest dividends received from such UITs in shares of the Fund, who are not subject to any minimum initial investment; |
■ | Employees, officers and directors/trustees of BlackRock, Inc., mutual funds sponsored and advised by BlackRock or its affiliates (“BlackRock Funds”), BofA Corp., Barclays PLC or their respective affiliates and immediate family members of such persons, if they open an account directly with BlackRock, who are not subject to any minimum initial investment; |
■ | Tax-qualified accounts for insurance agents that are registered representatives of an insurance company’s broker-dealer that has entered into an agreement with the Distributor to offer Institutional Shares, and the family members of such persons; and |
■ | Clients investing through a self-directed IRA brokerage account program sponsored by a retirement plan record-keeper, provided that such program offers only mutual fund options and that the program maintains an account with the Fund on an omnibus basis. |
i. | The current value of an investor’s existing Investor A and A1, Investor C, Investor P, Institutional, Class K and Premier Shares in most BlackRock Funds, |
ii. | The current value of an investor’s existing shares of certain unlisted closed-end management investment companies sponsored and advised by BlackRock or its affiliates and |
iii. | The investment in the BlackRock CollegeAdvantage 529 Program by the investor or by or on behalf of the investor’s spouse and children. |
■ | Answering customer inquiries regarding account status and history, the manner in which purchases, exchanges and redemptions or repurchases of shares may be effected and certain other matters pertaining to the customers’ investments; |
■ | Assisting customers in designating and changing dividend options, account designations and addresses; and |
■ | Providing other similar shareholder liaison services. |
Your Choices | Important Information for You to Know | |
Initial Purchase (continued) | Or contact BlackRock (for accounts held directly with BlackRock) | To purchase shares directly from BlackRock, call (800) 441-7762 and request a new account application. Mail the completed application along with a check payable to “BlackRock Funds” to the Transfer Agent at the address on the application. |
Add to Your Investment | Purchase additional shares | For Investor A Shares, the minimum investment for additional purchases is generally $50 for all accounts (with the exception of certain employer-sponsored retirement plans which may have a lower minimum for additional purchases). The minimums for additional purchases may be waived under certain circumstances. Institutional Shares have no minimum for additional purchases. |
Have your Financial Intermediary submit your purchase order for additional shares | To purchase additional shares, you may contact your Financial Intermediary. | |
Or contact BlackRock (for accounts held directly with BlackRock) |
Purchase by Telephone: Call (800) 441-7762 and speak with one of our representatives. The Fund has the right to reject any telephone request for any reason.
The Fund employs reasonable procedures to confirm that transactions entered over the Internet are genuine. By entering into the User Agreement with the Fund in order to open an account through the website, the shareholder waives any right to reclaim any losses from the Fund or any of its affiliates incurred through fraudulent activity. |
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Acquire additional shares
by reinvesting dividends and capital gains |
All dividends and capital gains distributions are automatically reinvested in shares of the Fund at net asset value. To make any changes to your dividend and/or capital gains distributions options, please call BlackRock at (800) 441-7762 or contact your Financial Intermediary (if your account is not held directly with BlackRock). | |
Participate in the AIP |
BlackRock’s AIP allows you to invest a specific amount on a periodic basis from your checking or savings account into your investment account.
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How to Pay for Shares | Making payment for purchases |
Payment for an order must be made in Federal funds or other immediately available funds by the time specified by your Financial Intermediary, but in no event later than 4:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on the first business day following BlackRock’s receipt of the order. If payment is not received by this time, the order will be canceled and you and your Financial Intermediary will be responsible for any loss to the Fund.
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Your Choices | Important Information for You to Know | |
How to Pay for Shares (continued) | Making payment for purchases (continued) | accept third-party checks. You may also wire Federal funds to the Fund to purchase shares, but you must call (800) 441-7762 before doing so to confirm the wiring instructions. |
Your Choices | Important Information for You to Know | |
Full or Partial Redemption of Shares | Have your Financial Intermediary submit your sales order |
You can make redemption requests through your Financial Intermediary. Shareholders should indicate whether they are redeeming Investor A or Institutional Shares. The price of your shares is based on the next calculation of the Fund’s net asset value after your order is placed. For your redemption request to be priced at the net asset value on the day of your request, you must submit your request to your Financial Intermediary prior to that day’s close of business on the NYSE (generally, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time). Certain Financial Intermediaries, however, may require submission of orders prior to that time. Any redemption request placed after that time will be priced at the net asset value at the close of business on the next business day.
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Selling shares held directly with BlackRock |
Methods of Redeeming
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Your Choices | Important Information for You to Know | |
Full or Partial Redemption of Shares (continued) | Selling shares held directly with BlackRock (continued) |
for overnight delivery, 4400 Computer Drive, Westborough, Massachusetts 01581. All shareholders on the account must sign the letter. A medallion signature guarantee will generally be required but may be waived in certain limited circumstances. You can obtain a medallion signature guarantee stamp from a bank, securities dealer, securities broker, credit union, savings and loan association, national securities exchange or registered securities association. A notary public seal will not be acceptable. If you hold stock certificates, return the certificates with the letter. Proceeds from redemptions may be sent via check, ACH or wire to the bank account of record.
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Your Choices | Important Information for You to Know | |
Full or Partial Redemption of Shares (continued) | Selling shares held directly with BlackRock (continued) |
receiving bank within the next two business days (48-72 hours), provided that the Fund’s custodian is also open for business. Payment for redemption orders received after 4:00 p.m. (Eastern time) or on a day when the Fund’s custodian is closed is normally sent on the next business day following redemption on which the Fund’s custodian is open for business.
***
If you make a redemption request before the Fund has collected payment for the purchase of shares, the Fund may delay mailing your proceeds. This delay will usually not exceed ten days. |
Redemption Proceeds |
Under normal circumstances, the Fund expects to meet redemption requests by using cash or cash equivalents in its portfolio or by selling portfolio assets to generate cash. During periods of stressed market conditions, when a significant portion of the Fund’s portfolio may be comprised of less-liquid investments, the Fund may be more likely to limit cash redemptions and may determine to pay redemption proceeds by (i) borrowing under a line of credit it has entered into with a group of lenders, (ii) borrowing from another BlackRock Fund pursuant to an interfund lending program, to the extent permitted by the Fund’s investment policies and restrictions as set forth in the SAI, and/or (iii) transferring portfolio securities in-kind to you. The SAI includes more information about the Fund’s line of credit and interfund lending program, to the extent applicable.
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Your Choices | Important Information for You to Know | |
Exchange Privilege | Selling shares of one BlackRock Fund to purchase shares of another BlackRock Fund (“exchanging”) |
Investor or Institutional Shares of the Fund are generally exchangeable for shares of the same class of another BlackRock Fund, to the extent such shares are offered by your Financial Intermediary.
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Your Choices | Important Information for You to Know | |
Exchange Privilege (continued) | Selling shares of one BlackRock Fund to purchase shares of another BlackRock Fund (“exchanging”) (continued) |
To exercise the exchange privilege, you may contact your Financial Intermediary. Alternatively, if your account is held directly with BlackRock, you may: (i) call (800) 441-7762 and speak with one of our representatives, (ii) make the exchange via the Internet by accessing your account online at www.blackrock.com, or (iii) send a written request to the Fund at the address on the back cover of this prospectus. Please note, if you indicated on your new account application that you did not want the Telephone Exchange Privilege, you will not be able to place exchanges via the telephone until you update this option either in writing or by calling (800) 441-7762. The Fund has the right to reject any telephone request for any reason.
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Transfer Shares to Another Financial Intermediary | Transfer to a participating Financial Intermediary |
You may transfer your shares of the Fund only to another Financial Intermediary that has entered into an agreement with the Distributor. Certain shareholder services may not be available for the transferred shares. All future trading of these assets must be coordinated by the receiving firm.
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Transfer to a non-participating Financial Intermediary |
You must either:
• Transfer your shares to an account with the Fund; or • Sell your shares. |
Automatic Investment Plan | Allows systematic investments on a periodic basis from your checking or savings account. | BlackRock’s AIP allows you to invest a specific amount on a periodic basis from your checking or savings account into your investment account. You may apply for this option upon account opening or by completing the AIP application. The minimum investment amount for an automatic investment is $50 per portfolio. |
Dividend Allocation Plan | Automatically invests your distributions into another BlackRock Fund of your choice pursuant to your instructions, without any fees or sales charges. | Dividend and capital gains distributions may be reinvested in your account to purchase additional shares or paid in cash. Using the Dividend Allocation Plan, you can direct your distributions to your bank account (checking or savings), to purchase shares of another fund at BlackRock without any fees or sales charges, or by check to a special payee. Please call (800) 441-7762 for details. If investing in another BlackRock Fund, the receiving fund must be open to new purchases. |
EZ Trader | Allows an investor to purchase or sell Investor A Shares by telephone or over the Internet through ACH. |
(NOTE: This option is offered to shareholders whose accounts are held directly with BlackRock. Please speak with your Financial Intermediary if your account is held elsewhere.)
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■ | Suspend the right of redemption if trading is halted or restricted on the NYSE or under other emergency conditions described in the Investment Company Act; |
■ | Postpone the date of payment upon redemption if trading is halted or restricted on the NYSE or under other emergency conditions described in the Investment Company Act or if a redemption request is made before the Fund has collected payment for the purchase of shares; |
■ | Redeem shares for property other than cash as may be permitted under the Investment Company Act; and |
■ | Redeem shares involuntarily in certain cases, such as when the value of a shareholder account falls below a specified level. |
Contractual Caps1 on
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses2 (excluding Dividend Expense, Interest Expense, Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses and certain other Fund expenses) |
Total Annual Fund
Operating Expenses2 after giving effect to all applicable expense limitation provisions (excluding Dividend Expense, Interest Expense, Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses and certain other Fund expenses) |
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Investor A Shares | 0.37% | 0.35% |
Institutional Shares | 0.12% | 0.10% |
1 | The contractual caps are in effect through November 30, 2021. The contractual agreement may be terminated upon 90 days’ notice by a majority of the non-interested trustees of the Trust or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund. |
2 | As a percentage of average daily net assets. |
Portfolio Manager | Primary Role | Since | Title and Recent Biography |
Alan Mason | Jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio, including setting the Fund’s overall investment strategy and overseeing the management of the Fund. | 2015 | Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2009; Managing Director of Barclays Global Investors (“BGI”) from 2008 to 2009; Principal of BGI from 1996 to 2008. |
Suzanne Henige, CFA | Jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio, including setting the Fund’s overall investment strategy and overseeing the management of the Fund. | 2020 | Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2016; Vice President of BlackRock, Inc. from 2011 to 2015. |
Jennifer Hsui, CFA | Jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio, including setting the Fund’s overall investment strategy and overseeing the management of the Fund. | 2016 | Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2011; Director of BlackRock, Inc. from 2009 to 2011; Principal of BGI from 2006 to 2009. |
Amy Whitelaw | Jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio, including setting the Fund’s overall investment strategy and overseeing the management of the Fund. | 2019 | Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2013; Director of BlackRock, Inc. from 2009 to 2012; Principal of BGI from 2000 to 2009. |
Rachel Aguirre | Jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio, including setting the Fund’s overall investment strategy and overseeing the management of the Fund. | 2016 | Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2018; Director of BlackRock, Inc. from 2012 to 2017; Vice President of BlackRock, Inc. from 2009 to 2011; Principal and Portfolio Manager of BGI from 2005 to 2009. |
Institutional | |||||
Year Ended July 31, | |||||
(For a share outstanding throughout each period) | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
Net asset value, beginning of year | $10.98 | $10.70 | $11.26 | $10.22 | $9.94 |
Net investment income(a) | 0.19 | 0.17 | 0.16 | 0.16 | 0.18 |
Net realized and unrealized gain | 0.02 | 0.50 | 1.22 | 1.14 | 0.24 |
Net increase from investment operations | 0.21 | 0.67 | 1.38 | 1.30 | 0.42 |
Distributions(b) | |||||
From net investment income | (0.17) | (0.17) | (0.18) | (0.23) | (0.13) |
From net realized gain | (0.27) | (0.22) | (1.76) | (0.03) | (0.01) |
Total distributions | (0.44) | (0.39) | (1.94) | (0.26) | (0.14) |
Net asset value, end of year | $10.75 | $10.98 | $10.70 | $11.26 | $10.22 |
Total Return(c) | |||||
Based on net asset value | 1.96% | 6.76% | 13.29%(d) | 12.91% | 4.35% |
Ratios to Average Net Assets | |||||
Total expenses | 0.10% | 0.12% | 0.13% | 0.23% | 0.13%(e) |
Total expenses excluding recoupment of past fees waived and/or reimbursed | 0.09% | 0.05% | 0.09% | 0.20% | 0.13%(e) |
Total expenses after fees waived and/or reimbursed | 0.10% | 0.12% | 0.11% | 0.12% | 0.06%(e) |
Net investment income | 1.77% | 1.66% | 1.46% | 1.52% | 1.87%(e) |
Supplemental Data | |||||
Net assets, end of year (000) | $170,550 | $244,272 | $174,840 | $366,684 | $191,337 |
Portfolio turnover rate | 26% | 25% | 75% | 41% | 24% |
(a) | Based on average shares outstanding. |
(b) | Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations. |
(c) | Where applicable, assumes the reinvestment of distributions. |
(d) | Includes payment received from an affiliate, which had no impact on the Fund’s total return. |
(e) | Excludes 0.01% of expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds. |
Investor A | |||||
Year Ended July 31, |
Period from
11/30/15 (a) to 07/31/16 |
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(For a share outstanding throughout each period) | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
Net asset value, beginning of period | $10.93 | $10.66 | $11.24 | $10.20 | $9.66 |
Net investment income(b) | 0.15 | 0.17 | 0.12 | 0.13 | 0.07 |
Net realized and unrealized gain | 0.04 | 0.47 | 1.22 | 1.16 | 0.60 |
Net increase from investment operations | 0.19 | 0.64 | 1.34 | 1.29 | 0.67 |
Distributions(c) | |||||
From net investment income | (0.14) | (0.15) | (0.16) | (0.22) | (0.12) |
From net realized gain | (0.27) | (0.22) | (1.76) | (0.03) | (0.01) |
Total distributions | (0.41) | (0.37) | (1.92) | (0.25) | (0.13) |
Net asset value, end of period | $10.71 | $10.93 | $10.66 | $11.24 | $10.20 |
Total Return(d) | |||||
Based on net asset value | 1.80% | 6.43% | 12.96%(e) | 12.78% | 7.07%(f) |
Ratios to Average Net Assets | |||||
Total expenses | 0.36% | 0.34% | 0.35% | 0.34% | 0.34%(g)(h)(i) |
Total expenses excluding recoupment of past fees waived and/or reimbursed | 0.35% | 0.33% | 0.35% | 0.34% | 0.34%(g)(h)(i) |
Total expenses after fees waived and/or reimbursed | 0.35% | 0.33% | 0.34% | 0.33% | 0.33%(g)(i) |
Net investment income | 1.48% | 1.64% | 1.11% | 1.17% | 1.06%(g)(i) |
Supplemental Data | |||||
Net assets, end of period (000) | $93,113 | $105,914 | $203,933 | $46,135 | $6,669 |
Portfolio turnover rate | 26% | 25% | 75% | 41% | 24% |
(a) | Commencement of operations. |
(b) | Based on average shares outstanding. |
(c) | Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations. |
(d) | Where applicable, assumes the reinvestment of distributions. |
(e) | Includes payment received from an affiliate, which had no impact on the Fund’s total return. |
(f) | Aggregate total return. |
(g) | Annualized. |
(h) | Offering costs were not annualized in the calculation of the expense ratio. If these expenses were annualized, the total expenses would have been 0.34%. |
(i) | Excludes 0.01% of expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds. |
■ | Access the BlackRock website at http://www.blackrock.com/edelivery; and |
■ | Log into your account. |
Prospectus |
• | iShares Russell Mid-Cap Index Fund |
Class K: BRMKX |
Fund Overview | Key facts and details about the Fund, including investment objective, principal investment strategies, principal risk factors, fee and expense information and historical performance information | |
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Details About the Fund | Information about how the Fund invests, including investment objective, investment process, principal strategies and risk factors | |
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Account Information | Information about account services, sales charges and waivers, shareholder transactions, and distribution and other payments | |
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Management of the Fund | Information about BlackRock and the Portfolio Managers | |
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Financial Highlights |
Financial Performance of the Fund
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General Information |
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Glossary |
Glossary of Investment Terms
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For More Information |
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Inside Back Cover |
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Back Cover |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
Class K
Shares |
Management Fee1 | 0.02% |
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees | None |
Other Expenses | 0.06% |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | 0.08% |
Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements1,2 | (0.01%) |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements1,2 | 0.07% |
1 | As described in the “Management of the Fund” section of the Fund’s prospectus beginning on page 23, BlackRock Advisors, LLC (“BlackRock”) has contractually agreed to waive the management fee with respect to any portion of the Fund’s assets estimated to be attributable to investments in other equity and fixed-income mutual funds and exchange-traded funds managed by BlackRock or its affiliates that have a contractual management fee, through November 30, 2021. In addition, BlackRock has contractually agreed to waive its management fees by the amount of investment advisory fees the Fund pays to BlackRock indirectly through its investment in money market funds managed by BlackRock or its affiliates, through November 30, 2021. The contractual agreements may be terminated upon 90 days’ notice by a majority of the non-interested trustees of the Trust or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund. |
2 | As described in the “Management of the Fund” section of the Fund’s prospectus beginning on page 23, BlackRock has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse fees or expenses in order to limit Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements (excluding Dividend Expense, Interest Expense, Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses and certain other Fund expenses) to 0.07% of average daily net assets through November 30, 2021. The Fund may have to repay some of these waivers and/or reimbursements to BlackRock in the following two years, and such repayment arrangement will terminate on May 13, 2022. The contractual agreement may be terminated upon 90 days’ notice by a majority of the non-interested trustees of the Trust or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund. |
1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years | |
Class K Shares | $7 | $25 | $44 | $102 |
■ | Asset Class Risk — Securities and other assets or financial instruments 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. |
■ | Concentration Risk — The Fund reserves the right to concentrate its investments (i.e., invest 25% or more of its total assets in securities of issuers in a particular industry) to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index concentrates in a particular industry. To the extent the Fund concentrates in a particular industry, it may be more susceptible to economic conditions and risks affecting that industry. |
■ | Consumer Discretionary Sector Risk — The consumer discretionary sector may be affected by changes in domestic and international economies, exchange and interest rates, competition, consumers’ disposable income, consumer preferences, social trends and marketing campaigns. |
■ | Equity Securities Risk — Stock markets are volatile. The price of equity securities fluctuates based on changes in a company’s financial condition and overall market and economic conditions. |
■ | Index Fund Risk — An index fund has operating and other expenses while an index does not. As a result, while the Fund will attempt to track the Underlying Index as closely as possible, it will tend to underperform the Underlying Index to some degree over time. If an index fund is properly correlated to its stated index, the fund will perform poorly when the index performs poorly. |
■ | 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 or high volatility, other unusual market circumstances 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 may cause the index provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance, which could cause the Underlying Index to vary from its normal or expected composition. |
■ | Industrials Sector Risk — Companies in 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 changes in general economic conditions, among other factors. |
■ | Issuer Risk — Fund performance 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. |
■ | Management Risk — As the Fund may not fully replicate the Underlying Index, it is subject to the risk that BlackRock’s investment strategy may not produce the intended results. |
■ | Market Risk and Selection Risk — Market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. The value of a security or other asset may decline due to changes in general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security or other asset, or factors that affect a particular issuer or issuers, exchange, country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues like pandemics or epidemics, recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments. Selection risk is the risk that the securities selected by Fund management will underperform the markets, the relevant indices or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies. This means you may lose money. |
A recent outbreak of an infectious coronavirus has developed into a global pandemic that has resulted in numerous disruptions in the market and has had significant economic impact leaving general concern and uncertainty. The impact of this coronavirus, and other epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future, could affect the economies of many nations, individual companies and the market in general ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen at the present time. | |
■ | Mid Cap Securities Risk — The securities of mid cap companies generally trade in lower volumes and are generally subject to greater and less predictable price changes than the securities of larger capitalization companies. |
■ | Passive Investment Risk — Because BlackRock does not select individual companies in the index that the Fund tracks, the Fund may hold securities of companies that present risks that an investment adviser researching individual securities might seek to avoid. |
■ | Technology Sector Risk — Technology companies, including information technology companies, may have limited product lines, markets, financial resources or personnel. Technology companies typically face intense competition and potentially rapid product obsolescence. They are also heavily dependent on intellectual property rights and may be adversely affected by the loss or impairment of those rights. Companies in the technology sector are facing increased government and regulatory scrutiny and may be subject to adverse government or regulatory action. |
As of 12/31/19
Average Annual Total Returns |
1 Year |
Since Inception
(May 13, 2015) |
iShares Russell Mid-Cap Index Fund — Class K Shares | ||
Return Before Taxes | 30.43% | 9.28% |
Return After Taxes on Distributions | 29.08% | 7.41% |
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | 18.71% | 6.79% |
Russell Midcap® Index (Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) | 30.54% | 9.24% |
Name | Portfolio Manager of the Fund Since | Title |
Alan Mason | 2015 | Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. |
Suzanne Henige, CFA | 2020 | Director of BlackRock, Inc. |
Jennifer Hsui, CFA | 2016 | Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. |
Amy Whitelaw | 2019 | Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. |
Rachel Aguirre | 2016 | Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. |
■ | Borrowing — The Fund may borrow up to the limits set forth under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief. |
■ | Derivatives — The Fund may invest in derivative instruments, including futures and swap contracts. Derivatives allow the Fund to increase or decrease its exposure to the Underlying Index quickly and at less cost than buying or selling stocks. The Fund will invest in derivative instruments in order to gain market exposure quickly in the event of |
subscriptions, to maintain liquidity in the event of redemptions and to keep trading costs low. The Fund may use derivatives for hedging purposes, including anticipatory hedges, and to seek to enhance returns. | |
■ | Illiquid Investments — The Fund may invest up to an aggregate amount of 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments. An illiquid investment is any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. |
■ | Investment Companies — The Fund has the ability to invest in other investment companies, such as exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), unit investment trusts, and open-end and closed-end funds. The Fund may invest in affiliated investment companies, including affiliated money market funds and affiliated ETFs. |
■ | Securities Lending — The Fund may lend securities with a value up to 33 1⁄3% of its total assets to financial institutions that provide cash or securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government as collateral. |
■ | Asset Class Risk — The securities or other assets in the Underlying Index or in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to other securities or indexes that track other countries, groups of countries, regions, industries, groups of industries, markets, asset classes or sectors. Various types of securities, currencies and indexes or assets may experience cycles of outperformance and underperformance in comparison to the general financial markets depending upon a number of factors including, among other things, inflation, interest rates, productivity, global demand for local products or resources, and regulation and governmental controls. This may cause the Fund to underperform other investment vehicles that invest in different asset classes. |
■ | Concentration Risk — The Fund reserves the right to concentrate its investments (i.e., invest 25% or more of its total assets in securities of issuers in a particular industry) to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index concentrates in a particular industry. To the extent the Fund concentrates in a particular industry, it may be more susceptible to economic conditions and risks affecting that industry. |
■ | Consumer Discretionary Sector Risk — The success of consumer product manufacturers and retailers is tied closely to the performance of domestic and international economies, interest rates, exchange rates, competition, consumer confidence, changes in demographics and consumer preferences. Companies in the consumer discretionary sector depend heavily on disposable household income and consumer spending, and may be strongly affected by social trends and marketing campaigns. These companies may be subject to severe competition, which may have an adverse impact on their profitability. |
■ | Equity Securities Risk — Common and preferred stocks represent equity ownership in a company. Stock markets are volatile. The price of equity securities will fluctuate and can decline and reduce the value of a portfolio investing in equities. The value of equity securities purchased by the Fund could decline if the financial condition of the companies the Fund invests in declines or if overall market and economic conditions deteriorate. The value of equity securities may also decline due to factors that affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages or an increase in production costs and competitive conditions within an industry. In addition, the value may decline due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a company or industry, such as real or |
perceived adverse economic conditions, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates or generally adverse investor sentiment. | |
■ | Index Fund Risk — An index fund has operating and other expenses while an index does not. As a result, while the Fund will attempt to track the Underlying Index as closely as possible, it will tend to underperform the Underlying Index to some degree over time. If an index fund is properly correlated to its stated index, the fund will perform poorly when the index performs poorly. |
■ | Index-Related Risk — The Fund seeks to achieve a return that corresponds generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Underlying Index as published by the Index Provider. There is no assurance that the Index Provider or any agents that may act on its behalf will compile the Underlying Index accurately, or that the Underlying Index will be determined, composed or calculated accurately. While the Index Provider provides descriptions of what the Underlying Index is designed to achieve, neither the Index Provider nor its agents provide any warranty or accept any liability in relation to the quality, accuracy or completeness of the Underlying Index or its related data, and they do not guarantee that the Underlying Index will be in line with the Index Provider’s methodology. BlackRock’s mandate as described in this prospectus is to manage the Fund consistently with the Underlying Index provided by the Index Provider to BlackRock. BlackRock does not provide any warranty or guarantee against the Index Provider’s or any agent’s errors. Errors in respect of the quality, accuracy and completeness of the data used to compile the Underlying Index 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, particularly where the indices are less commonly used as benchmarks by funds or managers. Such errors may negatively or positively impact the Fund and its shareholders. For example, during a period where the Underlying Index contains incorrect constituents, the Fund would have market exposure to such constituents and would be underexposed to the Underlying Index’s other constituents. Shareholders should understand that any gains from Index Provider errors will be kept by the Fund and its shareholders and any losses or costs resulting from Index Provider errors will be borne by the Fund and its shareholders. |
Unusual market conditions may cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance, which could cause the Underlying Index to vary from its normal or expected composition. The postponement of a scheduled rebalance in a time of market volatility could mean that constituents that would otherwise be removed at rebalance due to changes in market capitalizations, issuer credit ratings, or other reasons may remain, causing the performance and constituents of the Underlying Index to vary from those expected under normal conditions. Apart from scheduled rebalances, the Index Provider or its agents may carry out additional ad hoc rebalances to the Underlying Index due to reaching certain weighting constraints, unusual market conditions or in order, for example, to correct an error in the selection of index constituents. When the Underlying Index is rebalanced and the Fund in turn rebalances its portfolio to attempt to increase the correlation between the Fund’s portfolio and the Underlying Index, any transaction costs and market exposure arising from such portfolio rebalancing will be borne directly by the Fund and its shareholders. Therefore, errors and additional ad hoc rebalances carried out by the Index Provider or its agents to the Underlying Index may increase the costs to and the tracking error risk of the Fund. | |
■ | Industrials Sector Risk — The value of securities issued by companies in the industrials sector may be adversely affected by supply and demand changes related to their specific products or services and industrials sector products in general. The products of manufacturing companies may face obsolescence due to rapid technological developments and frequent new product introduction. Global events, trade disputes and changes in government regulations, economic conditions and exchange rates may adversely affect the performance of companies in the industrials sector. Companies in the industrials sector may be adversely affected by liability for environmental damage and product liability claims. 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. Companies in the industrials sector, particularly aerospace and defense companies, may also be adversely affected by government spending policies because companies in this sector tend to rely to a significant extent on government demand for their products and services. |
■ | Issuer Risk — The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of individual securities to which the Fund has exposure. Any issuer of these securities may perform poorly, causing the value of its securities to decline. Poor performance may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, changes in technology, expiration of patent protection, disruptions in supply, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, |
fraudulent disclosures, credit deterioration of the issuer or other factors. Issuers may, in times of distress or at their own discretion, decide to reduce or eliminate dividends, which may also cause their stock prices to decline. | |
■ | Management Risk — The Fund may not fully replicate the Underlying Index and may hold securities not included in the Underlying Index. As a result, the Fund is subject to the risk that BlackRock’s investment strategy, the implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may not produce the intended results. |
■ | Market Risk and Selection Risk — Market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. The value of a security or other asset may decline due to changes in general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security or other asset, or factors that affect a particular issuer or issuers, exchange, country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues like pandemics or epidemics, recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments. Selection risk is the risk that the securities selected by Fund management will underperform the markets, the relevant indices or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies. This means you may lose money. |
A recent outbreak of an infectious coronavirus has developed into a global pandemic that has resulted in numerous disruptions in the market and has had significant economic impact leaving general concern and uncertainty. The impact of this coronavirus, and other epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future, could affect the economies of many nations, individual companies and the market in general ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen at the present time. | |
■ | Mid Cap Securities Risk — The securities of mid cap companies generally trade in lower volumes and are generally subject to greater and less predictable price changes than the securities of larger capitalization companies. |
■ | Passive Investment Risk — Because BlackRock does not select individual companies in the index that the Fund tracks, the Fund may hold securities of companies that present risks that an investment adviser researching individual securities might seek to avoid. |
■ | Technology Sector Risk — Technology companies, including information technology companies, face intense competition, both domestically and internationally, which may have an adverse effect on a company’s profit margins. Technology companies may have limited product lines, markets, financial resources or personnel. The products of technology companies may face obsolescence due to rapid technological developments, frequent new product introduction, unpredictable changes in growth rates, aggressive pricing, changes in demand, and competition for the services of qualified personnel. Companies in the technology sector are heavily dependent on patent and other intellectual property rights. A technology company’s loss or impairment of these rights may adversely affect the company’s profitability. Companies in the technology sector are facing increased government and regulatory scrutiny and may be subject to adverse government or regulatory action. The technology sector may also be adversely affected by changes or trends in commodity prices, which may be influenced or characterized by unpredictable factors. |
■ | 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. |
■ | Cyber Security Risk — Failures or breaches of the electronic systems of the Fund, the Fund’s adviser, distributor, and other service providers, 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 or issuers of securities in which the Fund invests. |
■ | Derivatives Risk — The Fund’s use of derivatives may increase its costs, reduce the Fund’s returns and/or increase volatility. Derivatives involve significant risks, including: |
Volatility Risk — The Fund’s use of derivatives may reduce the Fund’s returns and/or increase volatility. Volatility is defined as the characteristic of a security, an index or a market to fluctuate significantly in price within a short time |
period. A risk of the Fund’s use of derivatives is that the fluctuations in their values may not correlate with the overall securities markets. | |
Counterparty Risk — Derivatives are also subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the other party in the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligation. | |
Market and Illiquidity Risk — Some derivatives are more sensitive to interest rate changes and market price fluctuations than other securities. The possible lack of a liquid secondary market for derivatives and the resulting inability of the Fund to sell or otherwise close a derivatives position could expose the Fund to losses and could make derivatives more difficult for the Fund to value accurately. The Fund could also suffer losses related to its derivatives positions as a result of unanticipated market movements, which losses are potentially unlimited. Finally, BlackRock may not be able to predict correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates and other economic factors, which could cause the Fund’s derivatives positions to lose value. | |
Valuation Risk — Valuation may be more difficult in times of market turmoil since many investors and market makers may be reluctant to purchase complex instruments or quote prices for them. Derivatives may also expose the Fund to greater risk and increase its costs. Certain transactions in derivatives involve substantial leverage risk and may expose the Fund to potential losses that exceed the amount originally invested by the Fund. | |
Hedging Risk — When a derivative is used as a hedge against a position that the Fund holds, 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. Hedges are sometimes subject to imperfect matching between the derivative and the underlying security, and there can be no assurance that the Fund’s hedging transactions will be effective. The use of hedging may result in certain adverse tax consequences noted below. | |
Tax Risk — The federal income tax treatment of a derivative may not be as favorable as a direct investment in an underlying asset and may adversely affect the timing, character and amount of income the Fund realizes from its investments. As a result, a larger portion of the Fund’s distributions may be treated as ordinary income rather than capital gains. In addition, certain derivatives are subject to mark-to-market or straddle provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”). If such provisions are applicable, there could be an increase (or decrease) in the amount of taxable dividends paid by the Fund. In addition, the tax treatment of certain derivatives, such as swaps, is unsettled and may be subject to future legislation, regulation or administrative pronouncements issued by the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”). | |
Regulatory Risk — 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 (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) in the United States and under comparable regimes in Europe, Asia and other non-U.S. jurisdictions. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, certain derivatives are subject to margin requirements and swap dealers are required to collect margin from the Fund with respect to such derivatives. Specifically, regulations are now in effect that require swap dealers to post and collect variation margin (comprised of specified liquid instruments and subject to a required haircut) in connection with trading of over-the-counter (“OTC”) swaps with the Fund. Shares of investment companies (other than certain money market funds) may not be posted as collateral under these regulations. Requirements for posting of initial margin in connection with OTC swaps will be phased-in through at least 2021. In addition, regulations adopted by global prudential regulators that are now in effect require certain bank-regulated counterparties and certain of their affiliates to include in certain financial contracts, including many derivatives contracts, terms that delay or restrict the rights of counterparties, such as the Fund, to terminate such contracts, foreclose upon collateral, exercise other default rights or restrict transfers of credit support in the event that the counterparty and/or its affiliates are subject to certain types of resolution or insolvency proceedings. The implementation of these requirements with respect to derivatives, as well as regulations under the Dodd-Frank Act regarding clearing, mandatory trading and margining of other derivatives, may increase the costs and risks to the Fund of trading in these instruments and, as a result, may affect returns to investors in the Fund. | |
On October 28, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted new regulations governing the use of derivatives by registered investment companies (“Rule 18f-4”). The Fund will be required to implement and comply with Rule 18f-4 by the third quarter of 2022. Once implemented, Rule 18f-4 will impose limits on the amount of derivatives a fund can enter into, eliminate the asset segregation framework currently used by funds to comply with Section 18 of the Investment Company Act, treat derivatives as senior securities so that a failure to comply with the limits would result in a statutory violation and require funds whose use of derivatives is more than a limited specified exposure amount to establish and maintain a comprehensive derivatives risk management program and appoint a derivatives risk manager.
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|
In addition, other future regulatory developments may impact the Fund’s ability to invest or remain invested in |
certain derivatives. Legislation or regulation may also change the way in which the Fund itself is regulated. BlackRock cannot predict the effects of any new governmental regulation that may be implemented on the ability of the Fund to use swaps or any other financial derivative product, and there can be no assurance that any new governmental regulation will not adversely affect the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. | |
Risks Specific to Certain Derivatives Used by the Fund |
■ | Expense Risk — Fund expenses are subject to a variety of factors, including fluctuations in the Fund’s net assets. Accordingly, actual expenses may be greater or less than those indicated. For example, to the extent that the Fund’s net assets decrease due to market declines or redemptions, the Fund’s expenses will increase as a percentage of Fund net assets. During periods of high market volatility, these increases in the Fund’s expense ratio could be significant. |
■ | Financials Sector Risk — Companies in the financials sector of an economy are subject to extensive governmental regulation and intervention, which may adversely affect the scope of their activities, the prices they can charge, the amount of capital they must maintain and, potentially, their size. The extent to which the Fund may invest in a company that engages in securities-related activities or banking is limited by applicable law. Governmental regulation may change frequently and may have significant adverse consequences for companies in the financials sector, including effects not intended by such regulation. Recently enacted legislation in the United States has relaxed capital requirements and other regulatory burdens on certain U.S. banks. While the effect of the legislation may benefit certain companies in the financials sector, including non-U.S. financials sector companies, increased risk taking by affected banks may also result in greater overall risk in the United States and global financials sector. The impact of changes in capital requirements, or recent or future regulation in various countries, on any individual financial company or on the financials sector as a whole cannot be predicted. Certain risks may impact the value of investments in the financials sector more severely than those of investments outside this sector, including the risks associated with companies that operate with substantial financial leverage. Companies in the financials sector may also be adversely affected by increases in interest rates and loan losses, decreases in the availability of money or asset valuations, credit rating downgrades and adverse conditions in other related markets. Insurance companies, in particular, may be subject to severe price competition and/or rate regulation, which may have an adverse impact on their profitability. The financials sector is particularly sensitive to fluctuations in interest rates. The financials sector is also a target for cyberattacks, and may experience technology malfunctions and disruptions. In recent years, cyberattacks and technology malfunctions and failures have become increasingly frequent in this sector and have reportedly caused losses to companies in this sector, which may negatively impact the Fund. |
■ | Healthcare Sector Risk — The profitability of companies in the healthcare sector may be adversely affected by the following factors, among others: extensive government regulations, restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses, rising costs of medical products and services, pricing pressure, an increased emphasis on outpatient services, changes in the demand for medical products and services, a limited number of products, industry innovation, changes in technologies and other market developments. A number of issuers in the healthcare sector have recently merged or otherwise experienced consolidation. The effects of this trend toward consolidation are unknown and may be far-reaching. Many healthcare companies are heavily dependent on patent protection. The expiration of a company’s patents may adversely affect that company’s profitability. Many healthcare companies are subject 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, and such efforts ultimately may be unsuccessful. Companies in the healthcare sector may be thinly capitalized and may be susceptible to product obsolescence. 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. | |
■ | Illiquid Investments Risk — The Fund’s illiquid investments may reduce the returns of the Fund because it may be difficult to sell the illiquid investments at an advantageous time or price. An investment may be illiquid due to, among other things, the lack of an active trading market. To the extent that the Fund’s principal investment strategies involve derivatives or securities with substantial market and/or credit risk, the Fund will tend to have the greatest exposure to the risks associated with illiquid investments. Liquid investments may become illiquid after purchase by the Fund, particularly during periods of market turmoil. Illiquid investments may be harder to value, especially in changing markets, and if the Fund is forced to sell these investments to meet redemption requests or for other cash needs, the Fund may suffer a loss. In addition, when there is illiquidity in the market for certain securities, the Fund, due to limitations on illiquid investments, may be subject to purchase and sale restrictions. |
■ | Investment in Other Investment Companies Risk — As with other investments, investments in other investment companies, including ETFs, are subject to market and selection risk. In addition, if the Fund acquires shares of investment companies, including ones affiliated with the Fund, shareholders bear both their proportionate share of expenses in the Fund (including management and advisory fees) and, indirectly, the expenses of the investment companies (to the extent not offset by BlackRock through waivers). To the extent the Fund is held by an affiliated fund, the ability of the Fund itself to hold other investment companies may be limited. |
■ | Leverage Risk — Some transactions may give rise to a form of economic leverage. These transactions may include, among others, derivatives, and may expose the Fund to greater risk and increase its costs. As an open-end investment company registered with the SEC, the Fund is subject to the federal securities laws, including the Investment Company Act, the rules thereunder, and various SEC and SEC staff interpretive positions. In accordance with these laws, rules and positions, the Fund must “set aside” liquid assets (often referred to as “asset segregation”), or engage in other SEC- or staff-approved measures, to “cover” open positions with respect to certain kinds of instruments. The use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet any required asset segregation requirements. Increases and decreases in the value of the Fund’s portfolio will be magnified when the Fund uses leverage. |
■ | Securities Lending Risk — Securities lending involves the risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. As a result, the Fund may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Fund could also lose money if it does not recover the securities and/or the value of the collateral falls, including the value of investments made with cash collateral. These events could trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund. |
■ | Valuation Risk — 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. Pricing services that value fixed-income securities generally utilize a range of market-based and security-specific inputs and assumptions, as well as considerations about general market conditions, to establish a price. Pricing services generally value fixed-income securities assuming orderly transactions of an institutional round lot size, but may be held or transactions may be conducted in such securities in smaller, odd lot sizes. Odd lots may trade at lower prices than institutional round lots. The Fund’s ability to value its investments may also be impacted by technological issues and/or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers. |
Availability | Available only to (i) certain employee benefit plans, such as health savings accounts, and certain employer-sponsored retirement plans (not including SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs and SARSEPs) (collectively, “Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plans”), (ii) collective trust funds, investment companies and other pooled investment vehicles, each of which may purchase shares of the Fund through a Financial Intermediary that has entered into an agreement with the Distributor to purchase such shares, (iii) “Institutional Investors,” which include, but are not limited to, endowments, foundations, family offices, banks and bank trusts, local, city, and state governmental institutions, corporations and insurance company separate accounts, each of which may purchase shares of the Fund through a Financial Intermediary that has entered into an agreement with the Distributor to purchase such shares, (iv) clients of private banks that purchase shares of the Fund through a Financial Intermediary that has entered into an agreement with the Distributor to sell such shares; (v) fee-based advisory platforms of a Financial Intermediary that (a) has specifically acknowledged in a written agreement with the Distributor and/or its affiliate(s) that the Financial Intermediary shall offer such shares to fee-based advisory clients through an omnibus account held at the Fund or (b) transacts in the Fund’s shares through another intermediary that has executed such an agreement and (vi) any other investors who met the eligibility criteria for BlackRock Shares or Class K Shares prior to August 15, 2016 and have continually held Class K Shares of the Fund in the same account since August 15, 2016. |
Minimum Investment |
$5 million minimum initial investment for Institutional Investors.
|
Initial Sales Charge? | No. Entire purchase price is invested in shares of the Fund. |
Deferred Sales Charge? | No. |
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees? | No. |
Redemption Fees? | No. |
i. | The current value of an investor’s existing Investor A and A1, Investor C, Investor P, Institutional, Class K and Premier Shares in most mutual funds sponsored and advised by BlackRock or its affiliates (“BlackRock Funds”), |
ii. | The current value of an investor’s existing shares of certain unlisted closed-end management investment companies sponsored and advised by BlackRock or its affiliates and |
iii. | The investment in the BlackRock CollegeAdvantage 529 Program by the investor or by or on behalf of the investor’s spouse and children. |
Your Choices | Important Information for You to Know | |
Initial Purchase |
Determine the amount of
your investment |
There is no minimum initial investment for any Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plans or any other investors other than Institutional Investors.
|
Your Choices | Important Information for You to Know | |
Initial Purchase (continued) |
Have your Financial
Intermediary submit your purchase order |
The price of your shares is based on the next calculation of the Fund’s net asset value after your order is placed. Any purchase orders placed prior to the close of business on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) (generally 4:00 p.m. Eastern time) will be priced at the net asset value determined that day. Certain Financial Intermediaries, however, may require submission of orders prior to that time. Purchase orders placed after that time will be priced at the net asset value determined on the next business day. A broker-dealer or financial institution maintaining the account in which you hold shares may charge a separate account, service or transaction fee on the purchase or sale of Fund shares that would be in addition to the fees and expenses shown in the Fund’s “Fees and Expenses” table.
|
Or contact BlackRock
(for accounts held directly with BlackRock) |
For investors not purchasing shares through an Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan, to purchase shares directly from BlackRock, call (800) 537-4942 and request a new account application. | |
Add to Your
Investment |
Purchase additional shares | There is no minimum investment amount for additional purchases. |
Have your Financial
Intermediary submit your purchase order for additional shares |
To purchase additional shares, you may contact your Financial Intermediary or Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan. | |
Or contact BlackRock
(for accounts held directly with BlackRock) |
For investors not purchasing shares through an Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan:
|
|
Acquire additional shares by
reinvesting dividends and capital gains |
All dividends and capital gains distributions are automatically reinvested in shares of the Fund at net asset value. To make any changes to your dividend and/or capital gains distributions options, please call BlackRock at (800) 537-4942 (for investors who are not purchasing shares through an Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan) or contact your Financial Intermediary. |
Your Choices | Important Information for You to Know | |
How to Pay for
Shares |
Making payment for purchases |
If you are purchasing shares through an Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan, payment for an order must be made in Federal funds or other immediately available funds by the time specified by your Financial Intermediary, but in no event later than 4:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on the first business day following the receipt of the order. If payment is not received by this time, the order will be canceled and you and your Financial Intermediary will be responsible for any loss to the Fund.
|
Your Choices | Important Information for You to Know | |
Full or Partial Redemption of Shares |
Have your Financial
Intermediary submit your sales order |
If you purchased shares through an Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan, you can make redemption requests through your Financial Intermediary in accordance with the procedures applicable to your accounts. These procedures may vary according to the type of account and the Financial Intermediary involved, and customers should consult their Financial Intermediary in this regard. Financial Intermediaries are responsible for transmitting redemption orders and crediting their customers’ accounts with redemption proceeds on a timely basis. Information relating to such redemption services and charges to process a redemption of shares, if any, should be obtained by customers from their Financial Intermediaries.
|
Selling shares held
directly with BlackRock |
Methods of Redeeming if You Did Not Purchase Your Shares Through an Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan
|
Your Choices | Important Information for You to Know | |
Full or Partial Redemption of Shares (continued) |
Selling shares held
directly with BlackRock (continued) |
procedures. The Fund may refuse a telephone redemption request if it believes it is advisable to do so.
***
If you make a redemption request before the Fund has collected payment for the purchase of shares, the Fund may delay mailing your proceeds. This delay will usually not exceed ten days.
|
Your Choices | Important Information for You to Know | |
Redemption Proceeds |
Under normal circumstances, the Fund expects to meet redemption requests by using cash or cash equivalents in its portfolio or by selling portfolio assets to generate cash. During periods of stressed market conditions, when a significant portion of the Fund’s portfolio may be comprised of less-liquid investments, the Fund may be more likely to limit cash redemptions and may determine to pay redemption proceeds by (i) borrowing under a line of credit it has entered into with a group of lenders, (ii) borrowing from another BlackRock Fund pursuant to an interfund lending program, to the extent permitted by the Fund’s investment policies and restrictions as set forth in the SAI, and/or (iii) transferring portfolio securities in-kind to you. The SAI includes more information about the Fund’s line of credit and interfund lending program, to the extent applicable.
|
Your Choices | Important Information for You to Know | |
Exchange Privilege | Selling shares of one BlackRock Fund to purchase shares of another BlackRock Fund (“exchanging”) |
Class K Shares of the Fund are generally exchangeable for shares of the same class of another BlackRock Fund, to the extent such shares are offered by your Financial Intermediary. Investors who currently own Class K Shares of the Fund may make exchanges into Class K Shares of other BlackRock Funds except for investors holding shares through certain client accounts at Financial Intermediaries that are omnibus with the Fund and do not meet applicable minimums. There is no required minimum amount with respect to exchanges of Class K Shares. You may only exchange into Class K Shares of a BlackRock Fund that is open to new investors or in which you have a current account, if the BlackRock Fund is closed to new investors.
|
Transfer Shares to Another Financial Intermediary |
Transfer to a participating
Financial Intermediary |
You may transfer your Class K Shares of the Fund only to another Financial Intermediary that has entered into an agreement with the Distributor. Certain shareholder services may not be available for the transferred shares. All future trading of these assets must be coordinated by the receiving firm. Please contact your Financial Intermediary to accomplish the transfer of your Class K Shares. |
Transfer to a non-participating
Financial Intermediary |
You must either:
• Transfer your Class K Shares to an account with the Fund; or • Sell your Class K Shares. |
■ | Suspend the right of redemption if trading is halted or restricted on the NYSE or under other emergency conditions described in the Investment Company Act; |
■ | Postpone the date of payment upon redemption if trading is halted or restricted on the NYSE or under other emergency conditions described in the Investment Company Act or if a redemption request is made before the Fund has collected payment for the purchase of shares; |
■ | Redeem shares for property other than cash as may be permitted under the Investment Company Act; and |
■ | Redeem shares involuntarily in certain cases, such as when the value of a shareholder account falls below a specified level. |
Contractual Cap1 on Total Annual
Fund Operating Expenses2 (excluding Dividend Expense, Interest Expense, Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses and certain other Fund expenses) |
|
Class K Shares | 0.07% |
1 | The contractual cap is in effect through November 30, 2021. The contractual agreement may be terminated upon 90 days’ notice by a majority of the non-interested trustees of the Trust or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund. |
2 | As a percentage of average daily net assets. |
Portfolio Manager | Primary Role | Since | Title and Recent Biography |
Alan Mason | Jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio, including setting the Fund’s overall investment strategy and overseeing the management of the Fund. | 2015 | Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2009; Managing Director of Barclays Global Investors (“BGI”) from 2008 to 2009; Principal of BGI from 1996 to 2008. |
Portfolio Manager | Primary Role | Since | Title and Recent Biography |
Suzanne Henige, CFA | Jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio, including setting the Fund’s overall investment strategy and overseeing the management of the Fund. | 2020 | Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2016; Vice President of BlackRock, Inc. from 2011 to 2015. |
Jennifer Hsui, CFA | Jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio, including setting the Fund’s overall investment strategy and overseeing the management of the Fund. | 2016 | Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2011; Director of BlackRock, Inc. from 2009 to 2011; Principal of BGI from 2006 to 2009. |
Amy Whitelaw | Jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio, including setting the Fund’s overall investment strategy and overseeing the management of the Fund. | 2019 | Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2013; Director of BlackRock, Inc. from 2009 to 2012; Principal of BGI from 2000 to 2009. |
Rachel Aguirre | Jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio, including setting the Fund’s overall investment strategy and overseeing the management of the Fund. | 2016 | Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2018; Director of BlackRock, Inc. from 2012 to 2017; Vice President of BlackRock, Inc. from 2009 to 2011; Principal and Portfolio Manager of BGI from 2005 to 2009. |
Class K | |||||
Year Ended July 31, | |||||
(For a share outstanding throughout each period) | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
Net asset value, beginning of year | $11.00 | $10.72 | $11.28 | $10.23 | $9.94 |
Net investment income(a) | 0.18 | 0.17 | 0.13 | 0.18 | 0.17 |
Net realized and unrealized gain | 0.03 | 0.51 | 1.25 | 1.13 | 0.26 |
Net increase from investment operations | 0.21 | 0.68 | 1.38 | 1.31 | 0.43 |
Distributions(b) | |||||
From net investment income | (0.17) | (0.18) | (0.18) | (0.23) | (0.13) |
From net realized gain | (0.27) | (0.22) | (1.76) | (0.03) | (0.01) |
Total distributions | (0.44) | (0.40) | (1.94) | (0.26) | (0.14) |
Net asset value, end of year | $10.77 | $11.00 | $10.72 | $11.28 | $10.23 |
Total Return(c) | |||||
Based on net asset value | 2.00% | 6.81% | 13.32%(d) | 13.02% | 4.46% |
Ratios to Average Net Assets | |||||
Total expenses | 0.08% | 0.07% | 0.09% | 0.08% | 0.09%(e) |
Total expenses excluding recoupment of past fees waived and/or reimbursed | 0.07% | 0.06% | 0.08% | 0.07% | 0.09%(e) |
Total expenses after fees waived and/or reimbursed | 0.07% | 0.07% | 0.07% | 0.06% | 0.07%(e) |
Net investment income | 1.73% | 1.67% | 1.25% | 1.67% | 1.78%(e) |
Supplemental Data | |||||
Net assets, end of year (000) | $937,493 | $783,361 | $410,593 | $229,763 | $2,174,096 |
Portfolio turnover rate | 26% | 25% | 75% | 41% | 24% |
(a) | Based on average shares outstanding. |
(b) | Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations. |
(c) | Where applicable, assumes the reinvestment of distributions. |
(d) | Includes payment received from an affiliate, which had no impact on the Fund’s total return. |
(e) | Excludes 0.01% of expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds. |
■ | Access the BlackRock website at http://www.blackrock.com/edelivery; and |
■ | Log into your account. |
Class | Ticker Symbol | |
Investor A Shares
|
BRMAX | |
Institutional Shares
|
BRMIX | |
Class K Shares
|
BRMKX |
iShares Russell
Mid-Cap Index Fund |
|
144A Securities | X |
Asset-Backed Securities | |
Asset-Based Securities | X |
Precious Metal-Related Securities | X |
Bank Loans | |
Borrowing and Leverage | X |
Cash Flows; Expenses | X |
Cash Management | X |
Collateralized Debt Obligations | |
Collateralized Bond Obligations | |
Collateralized Loan Obligations | |
Commercial Paper | |
Commodity-Linked Derivative Instruments and Hybrid Instruments | |
Qualifying Hybrid Instruments | |
Hybrid Instruments Without Principal Protection | |
Limitations on Leverage | |
Counterparty Risk | |
Convertible Securities | X |
Credit Linked Securities | |
Cyber Security Issues | X |
iShares Russell
Mid-Cap Index Fund |
|
Debt Securities | |
Inflation-Indexed Bonds | |
Investment Grade Debt Obligations | |
High Yield Investments (“Junk Bonds”) | |
Mezzanine Investments | |
Pay-in-kind Bonds | |
Supranational Entities | |
Depositary Receipts (ADRs, EDRs and GDRs) | |
Derivatives | X |
Hedging | X |
Speculation | |
Risk Factors in Derivatives | X |
Correlation Risk | X |
Counterparty Risk | X |
Credit Risk | X |
Currency Risk | |
Illiquidity Risk | X |
Leverage Risk | X |
Market Risk | X |
Valuation Risk | X |
Volatility Risk | X |
Futures | X |
Swap Agreements | X |
Credit Default Swaps and Similar Instruments | |
Interest Rate Swaps, Floors and Caps | |
Total Return Swaps | X |
Options | |
Options on Securities and Securities Indices | |
Call Options | |
Put Options | |
Options on Government National Mortgage Association (“GNMA”) Certificates | |
Options on Swaps (“Swaptions”) | |
Foreign Exchange Transactions | |
Spot Transactions and FX Forwards | |
Currency Futures | |
Currency Options | |
Currency Swaps | |
Distressed Securities | |
Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) Integration | |
Equity Securities | X |
Real Estate-Related Securities | X |
Securities of Smaller or Emerging Growth Companies |
iShares Russell
Mid-Cap Index Fund |
|
Exchange-Traded Notes (“ETNs”) | |
Foreign Investments | X |
Foreign Investment Risks | X |
Foreign Market Risk | X |
Foreign Economy Risk | X |
Currency Risk and Exchange Risk | X |
Governmental Supervision and Regulation/Accounting Standards | X |
Certain Risks of Holding Fund Assets Outside the United States | X |
Publicly Available Information | X |
Settlement Risk | X |
Sovereign Debt | |
Withholding Tax Reclaims Risk | X |
Funding Agreements | |
Guarantees | |
Illiquid Investments | X |
Index Funds: Information Concerning the Indexes | X |
S&P 500 Index | |
Russell Indexes | X |
MSCI Indexes | |
FTSE Indexes | |
Bloomberg Barclays Indexes | |
ICE BofA Indexes | |
Indexed and Inverse Securities | |
Inflation Risk | X |
Initial Public Offering (“IPO”) Risk | |
Interfund Lending Program | X |
Borrowing, to the extent permitted by the Fund’s investment policies and restrictions | X |
Lending, to the extent permitted by the Fund’s investment policies and restrictions | X |
Investment in Emerging Markets | X |
Brady Bonds | |
China Investments Risk | X |
Investment in Other Investment Companies | X |
Exchange-Traded Funds | X |
Lease Obligations | |
LIBOR Risk | X |
Life Settlement Investments | |
Liquidity Risk Management | X |
Master Limited Partnerships | X |
Merger Transaction Risk | X |
Money Market Obligations of Domestic Banks, Foreign Banks and Foreign Branches of U.S. Banks | X |
Money Market Securities | X |
Mortgage-Related Securities |
iShares Russell
Mid-Cap Index Fund |
|
Stripped Securities | |
Structured Notes | |
Taxability Risk | |
Temporary Defensive Measures | |
U.S. Government Obligations | X |
U.S. Treasury Obligations | X |
U.S. Treasury Rolls | |
Utility Industries | X |
When-Issued Securities, Delayed Delivery Securities and Forward Commitments | X |
Yields and Ratings | |
Zero Coupon Securities |
Trustees | Experience, Qualifications and Skills | |
Independent Trustees | ||
Bruce R. Bond | Bruce R. Bond has served for approximately 20 years on the board of registered investment companies, having served as a member of the boards of certain BlackRock-advised Funds and predecessor funds, including the legacy-BlackRock funds and the State Street Research Mutual Funds. He also has executive management and business experience, having served as president and chief executive officer of several communications networking companies. Mr. Bond also has corporate governance experience from his service as a director of a computer equipment company. | |
Susan J. Carter | Susan J. Carter has over 35 years of experience in investment management. She has served as President & Chief Executive Officer of Commonfund Capital, Inc. (“CCI”), a registered investment adviser focused on non-profit investors, from 1997 to 2013, Chief Executive Officer of CCI from 2013 to 2014 and Senior Advisor to CCI in 2015. Ms. Carter also served as trustee to the Pacific Pension Institute from 2014 to 2018. She currently serves as trustee to the Financial Accounting Foundation, Advisory Board Member for the Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship at Tuck School of Business, Board Member for Girls Who Invest, Advisory Board Member for Bridges Fund Management and Practitioner Advisory Board Member for Private Capital Research Institute (“PCRI”). These positions have provided her with insight and perspective on the markets and the economy. | |
Collette Chilton | Collette Chilton has over 20 years of experience in investment management. She has held the position of Chief Investment Officer of Williams College since October 2006. Prior to that she was President and Chief Investment Officer of Lucent Asset Management Corporation, where she oversaw approximately $40 billion in pension and retirement savings assets for the company. These positions have provided her with insight and perspective on the markets and the economy. | |
Neil A. Cotty | Neil A. Cotty has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, including 19 years at Bank of America Corporation and its affiliates, where he served, at different times, as the Chief Financial Officer of various businesses including Investment Banking, Global Markets, Wealth Management and Consumer and also served ten years as the Chief Accounting Officer for Bank of America Corporation. Mr. Cotty has been determined by the Audit Committee to be an audit committee financial expert, as such term is defined in the applicable Commission rules. | |
Lena G. Goldberg | Lena G. Goldberg has more than 20 years of business and oversight experience, most recently through her service as a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School. Prior thereto, she held legal and management positions at FMR LLC/Fidelity Investments as well as positions on the boards of various Fidelity subsidiaries over a 12-year period. She has additional corporate governance experience as a member of board and advisory committees for privately held corporations and non-profit organizations. Ms. Goldberg also has more than 17 years of legal experience as an attorney in private practice, including as a partner in a law firm. |
Trustees | Experience, Qualifications and Skills | |
Henry R. Keizer | Henry R. Keizer brings over 40 years of executive, financial, operational, strategic and global expertise gained through his 35 year career at KPMG, a global professional services organization and by his service as a director to both publicly and privately held organizations. He has extensive experience with issues facing complex, global companies and expertise in financial reporting, accounting, auditing, risk management, and regulatory affairs for such companies. Mr. Keizer’s experience also includes service as an audit committee chair to both publicly and privately held organizations across numerous industries including professional services, property and casualty reinsurance, insurance, diversified financial services, banking, direct to consumer, business to business and technology. Mr. Keizer is a certified public accountant and also served on the board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Keizer has been determined by the Audit Committee to be an audit committee financial expert, as such term is defined in the applicable Commission rules. | |
Cynthia A. Montgomery | Cynthia A. Montgomery has served for over 20 years on the boards of registered investment companies, most recently as a member of the boards of certain BlackRock-advised Funds and predecessor funds, including the legacy Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, L.P. (“MLIM”) funds. The Board benefits from Ms. Montgomery’s more than 20 years of academic experience as a professor at Harvard Business School where she taught courses on corporate strategy and corporate governance. Ms. Montgomery also has business management and corporate governance experience through her service on the corporate boards of a variety of public companies. She has also authored numerous articles and books on these topics. | |
Donald C. Opatrny | Donald C. Opatrny has more than 39 years of business, oversight and executive experience, including through his service as president, director and investment committee chair for academic and not-for-profit organizations, and his experience as a partner, managing director and advisory director at Goldman Sachs for 32 years. He also has investment management experience as a board member of Athena Capital Advisors LLC. | |
Joseph P. Platt | Joseph P. Platt has served for over 15 years on the boards of registered investment companies, most recently as a member of the boards of certain BlackRock-advised Funds and predecessor funds, including the legacy BlackRock funds. Mr. Platt currently serves as general partner at Thorn Partners, LP, a private investment company. Prior to his joining Thorn Partners, LP, he was an owner, director and executive vice president with Johnson and Higgins, an insurance broker and employee benefits consultant. He has over 25 years of experience in the areas of insurance, compensation and benefits. Mr. Platt also serves on the boards of public, private and non-profit companies. | |
Mark Stalnecker | Mark Stalnecker has gained a wealth of experience in investing and asset management from his over 13 years of service as the Chief Investment Officer of the University of Delaware as well as from his various positions with First Union Corporation, including Senior Vice President and State Investment Director of First Investment Advisors. The Board benefits from his experience and perspective as the Chief Investment Officer of a university endowment and from the oversight experience he gained from service on various private and non-profit boards. | |
Kenneth L. Urish | Kenneth L. Urish has served for over 15 years on the boards of registered investment companies, most recently as a member of the boards of certain BlackRock-advised Funds and predecessor funds, including the legacy BlackRock funds. He has over 30 years of experience in public accounting. Mr. Urish has served as a managing member of an accounting and consulting firm. Mr. Urish has been determined by the Audit Committee to be an audit committee financial expert, as such term is defined in the applicable Commission rules. |
Trustees | Experience, Qualifications and Skills | |
Claire A. Walton | Claire A. Walton has over 25 years of experience in investment management. She has served as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Liberty Square Asset Management, LP from 1998 to 2015, an investment manager that specialized in long/short non-U.S. equity investments, and has been an owner and General Partner of Neon Liberty Capital Management, LLC since 2003, a firm focusing on long/short equities in global emerging and frontier markets. These positions have provided her with insight and perspective on the markets and the economy. | |
Interested Trustees | ||
Robert Fairbairn | Robert Fairbairn has more than 25 years of experience with BlackRock, Inc. and over 30 years of experience in finance and asset management. In particular, Mr. Fairbairn’s positions as Vice Chairman of BlackRock, Inc., Member of BlackRock’s Global Executive and Global Operating Committees and Co-Chair of BlackRock’s Human Capital Committee provide the Board with a wealth of practical business knowledge and leadership. In addition, Mr. Fairbairn has global investment management and oversight experience through his former positions as Global Head of BlackRock’s Retail and iShares® businesses, Head of BlackRock’s Global Client Group, Chairman of BlackRock’s international businesses and his previous oversight over BlackRock’s Strategic Partner Program and Strategic Product Management Group. Mr. Fairbairn also serves as a board member for the funds in the BlackRock Fixed-Income Complex. | |
John M. Perlowski | John M. Perlowski’s experience as Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2009, as the Head of BlackRock Global Accounting and Product Services since 2009, and as President and Chief Executive Officer of the BlackRock-advised Funds provides him with a strong understanding of the BlackRock-advised Funds, their operations, and the business and regulatory issues facing the BlackRock-advised Funds. Mr. Perlowski’s prior position as Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Global Product Group at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and his former service as Treasurer and Senior Vice President of the Goldman Sachs Mutual Funds and as Director of the Goldman Sachs Offshore Funds provides the Board with the benefit of his experience with the management practices of other financial companies. Mr. Perlowski also serves as a board member for the funds in the BlackRock Fixed-Income Complex. |
Name
and Year of Birth1,2 |
Position(s)
Held (Length of Service)3 |
Principal Occupation(s)
During Past Five Years |
Number of
BlackRock- Advised Registered Investment Companies (“RICs”) Consisting of Investment Portfolios (“Portfolios”) Overseen |
Public
Company and Other Investment Company Directorships Held During Past Five Years |
||||
Independent Trustees | ||||||||
Mark Stalnecker
|
Chair of
the Board (Since 2019) and Trustee (Since 2015) |
Chief Investment Officer, University of Delaware from 1999 to 2013; Trustee and Chair of the Finance and Investment Committees, Winterthur Museum and Country Estate from 2005 to 2016; Member of the Investment Committee, Delaware Public Employees’ Retirement System since 2002; Member of the Investment Committee, Christiana Care Health System from 2009 to 2017; Member of the Investment Committee, Delaware Community Foundation from 2013 to 2014; Director and Chair of the Audit Committee, SEI Private Trust Co. from 2001 to 2014. | 33 RICs consisting of 156 Portfolios | None | ||||
Bruce R. Bond
|
Trustee
(Since 2019) |
Board Member, Amsphere Limited (software) since 2018; Trustee and Member of the Governance Committee, State Street Research Mutual Funds from 1997 to 2005; Board Member of Governance, Audit and Finance Committee, Avaya Inc. (computer equipment) from 2003 to 2007. | 33 RICs consisting of 156 Portfolios | None | ||||
Susan J. Carter
|
Trustee
(Since 2016) |
Director, Pacific Pension Institute from 2014 to 2018; Advisory Board Member, Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship at Tuck School of Business since 1997; Senior Advisor, CCI (investment adviser) in 2015; Chief Executive Officer, CCI from 2013 to 2014; President & Chief Executive Officer, CCI from 1997 to 2013; Advisory Board Member, Girls Who Invest from 2015 to 2018 and Board Member thereof since 2018; Advisory Board Member, Bridges Fund Management since 2016; Trustee, Financial Accounting Foundation since 2017; Practitioner Advisory Board Member, PCRI since 2017; Lecturer in the Practice of Management, Yale School of Management since 2019. | 33 RICs consisting of 156 Portfolios | None | ||||
Collette Chilton
|
Trustee
(Since 2015) |
Chief Investment Officer, Williams College since 2006; Chief Investment Officer, Lucent Asset Management Corporation from 1998 to 2006. | 33 RICs consisting of 156 Portfolios | None | ||||
Neil A. Cotty
|
Trustee
(Since 2016) |
Bank of America Corporation from 1996 to 2015, serving in various senior finance leadership roles, including Chief Accounting Officer from 2009 to 2015, Chief Financial Officer of Global Banking, Markets and Wealth Management from 2008 to 2009, Chief Accounting Officer from 2004 to 2008, Chief Financial Officer of Consumer Bank from 2003 to 2004, Chief Financial Officer of Global Corporate Investment Bank from 1999 to 2002. | 33 RICs consisting of 156 Portfolios | None |
Name
and Year of Birth1,2 |
Position(s)
Held (Length of Service)3 |
Principal Occupation(s)
During Past Five Years |
Number of
BlackRock- Advised Registered Investment Companies (“RICs”) Consisting of Investment Portfolios (“Portfolios”) Overseen |
Public
Company and Other Investment Company Directorships Held During Past Five Years |
||||
Lena G. Goldberg
|
Trustee
(Since 2019) |
Senior Lecturer, Harvard Business School since 2008; Director, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc. since 2013; FMR LLC/Fidelity Investments (financial services) from 1996 to 2008, serving in various senior roles including Executive Vice President – Strategic Corporate Initiatives and Executive Vice President and General Counsel; Partner, Sullivan & Worcester LLP from 1985 to 1996 and Associate thereof from 1979 to 1985. | 33 RICs consisting of 156 Portfolios | None | ||||
Henry R. Keizer
|
Trustee
(Since 2019) |
Director, Park Indemnity Ltd. (captive insurer) since 2010; Director, MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation and MUFG Union Bank, N.A. (financial and bank holding company) from 2014 to 2016; Director, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants from 2009 to 2011; Director, KPMG LLP (audit, tax and advisory services) from 2004 to 2005 and 2010 to 2012; Director, KPMG International in 2012, Deputy Chairman and Chief Operating Officer thereof from 2010 to 2012 and U.S. Vice Chairman of Audit thereof from 2005 to 2010; Global Head of Audit, KPMGI (consortium of KPMG firms) from 2006 to 2010; Director, YMCA of Greater New York from 2006 to 2010. | 33 RICs consisting of 156 Portfolios | Hertz Global Holdings (car rental); Montpelier Re Holdings, Ltd. (publicly held property and casualty reinsurance) from 2013 until 2015; WABCO (commercial vehicle safety systems); Sealed Air Corp. (packaging) | ||||
Cynthia A. Montgomery
|
Trustee
(Since 2007) |
Professor, Harvard Business School since 1989. | 33 RICs consisting of 156 Portfolios |
Newell
Rubbermaid, Inc. (manufacturing) |
||||
Donald C. Opatrny
|
Trustee
(Since 2019) |
Trustee, Vice Chair, Member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Investment Committee, Cornell University since 2004; President, Trustee and Member of the Investment Committee, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum from 2007 to 2014; Member of the Board and Investment Committee, University School from 2007 to 2018; Member of the Investment Committee, Mellon Foundation from 2009 to 2015; Trustee, Artstor (a Mellon Foundation affiliate) from 2010 to 2015; President and Trustee, the Center for the Arts, Jackson Hole from 2011 to 2018; Director, Athena Capital Advisors LLC (investment management firm) since 2013; Trustee and Chair of the Investment Committee, Community Foundation of Jackson Hole since 2014; Member of Affordable Housing Supply Board of Jackson, Wyoming since 2018; Member, Investment Funds Committee, State of Wyoming since 2017; Trustee, Phoenix Art Museum since 2018; Trustee, Arizona Community Foundation and Member of Investment Committee since 2020. | 33 RICs consisting of 156 Portfolios | None | ||||
Joseph P. Platt
|
Trustee
(Since 2007) |
General Partner, Thorn Partners, LP (private investments) since 1998; Director, WQED Multi-Media (public broadcasting not-for-profit) since 2001; Chair, Basic Health International (non-profit) since 2015. | 33 RICs consisting of 156 Portfolios |
Greenlight Capital
Re, Ltd. (reinsurance company); Consol Energy Inc. |
Name
and Year of Birth1,2 |
Position(s)
Held (Length of Service)3 |
Principal Occupation(s)
During Past Five Years |
Number of
BlackRock- Advised Registered Investment Companies (“RICs”) Consisting of Investment Portfolios (“Portfolios”) Overseen |
Public
Company and Other Investment Company Directorships Held During Past Five Years |
||||
Kenneth L. Urish
|
Trustee
(Since 2007) |
Managing Partner, Urish Popeck & Co., LLC (certified public accountants and consultants) since 1976; Past-Chairman of the Professional Ethics Committee of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Committee Member thereof since 2007; Member of External Advisory Board, The Pennsylvania State University Accounting Department since founding in 2001; Principal, UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors, LLC since 2013; Trustee, The Holy Family Institute from 2001 to 2010; President and Trustee, Pittsburgh Catholic Publishing Associates from 2003 to 2008; Director, Inter-Tel from 2006 to 2007. | 33 RICs consisting of 156 Portfolios | None | ||||
Claire A. Walton
|
Trustee
(Since 2016) |
Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Liberty Square Asset Management, LP from 1998 to 2015; General Partner of Neon Liberty Capital Management, LLC since 2003; Director, Boston Hedge Fund Group from 2009 to 2018; Director, Woodstock Ski Runners since 2013; Director, Massachusetts Council on Economic Education from 2013 to 2015. | 33 RICs consisting of 156 Portfolios | None | ||||
Interested Trustees4 | ||||||||
Robert Fairbairn
|
Trustee
(Since 2018) |
Vice Chairman of BlackRock, Inc. since 2019; Member of BlackRock’s Global Executive and Global Operating Committees; Co-Chair of BlackRock’s Human Capital Committee; Senior Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. from 2010 to 2019; oversaw BlackRock’s Strategic Partner Program and Strategic Product Management Group from 2012 to 2019; Member of the Board of Managers of BlackRock Investments, LLC from 2011 to 2018; Global Head of BlackRock’s Retail and iShares® businesses from 2012 to 2016. | 119 RICs consisting of 266 Portfolios | None | ||||
John M. Perlowski5
|
Trustee
(Since 2015) President and Chief Executive Officer (Since 2010) |
Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2009; Head of BlackRock Global Accounting and Product Services since 2009; Advisory Director of Family Resource Network (charitable foundation) since 2009. | 120 RICs consisting of 267 Portfolios | None |
1 | The address of each Trustee is c/o BlackRock, Inc., 55 East 52nd Street, New York, New York 10055. |
2 | Independent Trustees serve until their resignation, retirement, removal or death, or until December 31 of the year in which they turn 75. The Board may determine to extend the terms of Independent Trustees on a case-by-case basis, as appropriate. |
3 | Following the combination of MLIM and BlackRock, Inc. in September 2006, the various legacy MLIM and legacy BlackRock fund boards were realigned and consolidated into three new fund boards in 2007. Furthermore, effective January 1, 2019, three BlackRock Fund Complexes were realigned and consolidated into two BlackRock Fund Complexes. As a result, although the chart shows the year that each Independent Trustee joined the Board, certain Independent Trustees first became members of the boards of other BlackRock-advised Funds, legacy MLIM funds or legacy BlackRock funds as follows: Bruce R. Bond, 2005; Cynthia A. Montgomery, 1994; Joseph P. Platt, 1999; Kenneth L. Urish, 1999; Lena G. Goldberg, 2016; Henry R. Keizer, 2016; Donald C. Opatrny, 2015. |
4 | Mr. Fairbairn and Mr. Perlowski are both “interested persons,” as defined in the Investment Company Act, of the Trust based on their positions with BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates. Mr. Fairbairn and Mr. Perlowski are also board members of the BlackRock Fixed-Income Complex. |
5 | Mr. Perlowski is also a trustee of the BlackRock Credit Strategies Fund. |
Name
and Year of Birth1,2 |
Position(s) Held
(Length of Service) |
Principal Occupation(s)
During Past Five Years |
||
Officers Who Are Not Trustees | ||||
Thomas Callahan
|
Vice President
(Since 2016) |
Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2013; Member of the Board of Managers of BlackRock Investments, LLC (principal underwriter) since 2019 and Managing Director thereof since 2017; Head of BlackRock’s Global Cash Management Business since 2016; Co-Head of the Global Cash Management Business from 2014 to 2016; Deputy Head of the Global Cash Management Business from 2013 to 2014; Member of the Cash Management Group Executive Committee since 2013; Chief Executive Officer of NYSE Liffe U.S. from 2008 to 2013. | ||
Jennifer McGovern
|
Vice President
(Since 2014) |
Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2016; Director of BlackRock, Inc. from 2011 to 2015; Head of Americas Product Development and Governance for BlackRock’s Global Product Group since 2019; Head of Product Structure and Oversight for BlackRock’s U.S. Wealth Advisory Group from 2013 to 2019. | ||
Neal J. Andrews
|
Chief Financial Officer
(Since 2007) |
Chief Financial Officer of the iShares® exchange traded funds from 2019 to 2020; Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2006. | ||
Jay M. Fife
|
Treasurer
(Since 2007) |
Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2007. | ||
Charles Park
|
Chief Compliance Officer
(Since 2014) |
Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer for certain BlackRock-advised Funds from 2014 to 2015; Chief Compliance Officer of BlackRock Advisors, LLC and the BlackRock-advised Funds in the BlackRock Multi-Asset Complex and the BlackRock Fixed-Income Complex since 2014; Principal of and Chief Compliance Officer for iShares® Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC since 2012 and BlackRock Fund Advisors (“BFA”) since 2006; Chief Compliance Officer for the BFA-advised iShares® exchange traded funds since 2006; Chief Compliance Officer for BlackRock Asset Management International Inc. since 2012. | ||
Lisa Belle
|
Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer
(Since 2019) |
Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2019; Global Financial Crime Head for Asset and Wealth Management of JP Morgan from 2013 to 2019; Managing Director of RBS Securities from 2012 to 2013; Head of Financial Crimes for Barclays Wealth Americas from 2010 to 2012. | ||
Janey Ahn
|
Secretary
(Since 2019) |
Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2018; Director of BlackRock, Inc. from 2009 to 2017. |
1 | The address of each Officer is c/o BlackRock, Inc., 55 East 52nd Street, New York, New York 10055. |
2 | Officers of the Trust serve at the pleasure of the Board. |
Name |
Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund |
Aggregate Dollar
Range of Equity Securities in Supervised Funds |
||
Independent Trustees: | ||||
Bruce R. Bond
|
None | Over $100,000 | ||
Susan J. Carter
|
None | Over $100,000 | ||
Collette Chilton
|
None | Over $100,000 | ||
Neil A. Cotty
|
None | Over $100,000 | ||
Lena G. Goldberg
|
None | Over $100,000 | ||
Henry R. Keizer
|
None | Over $100,000 | ||
Cynthia A. Montgomery
|
None | Over $100,000 |
Name |
Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund |
Aggregate Dollar
Range of Equity Securities in Supervised Funds |
||
Donald C. Opatrny
|
None | Over $100,000 | ||
Joseph P. Platt
|
None | Over $100,000 | ||
Mark Stalnecker
|
None | Over $100,000 | ||
Kenneth L. Urish
|
None | Over $100,000 | ||
Claire A. Walton
|
None | Over $100,000 | ||
Interested Trustees: | ||||
Robert Fairbairn
|
None | Over $100,000 | ||
John M. Perlowski
|
None | Over $100,000 |
Name |
Compensation
from the Fund |
Estimated Annual
Benefits upon Retirement |
Aggregate
Compensation from the Fund and Other BlackRock- Advised Funds1 |
|||
Independent Trustees: | ||||||
Bruce R. Bond
|
$1,225 | None | $400,000 | |||
Susan J. Carter
|
$1,225 | None | $400,000 | |||
Collette Chilton
|
$1,225 | None | $400,000 | |||
Neil A. Cotty
|
$1,225 | None | $400,000 | |||
Lena G. Goldberg2
|
$1,596 | None | $430,000 | |||
Robert M. Hernandez3
|
$637 | None | $400,000 | |||
Henry R. Keizer4
|
$1,596 | None | $430,000 | |||
Cynthia A. Montgomery5
|
$1,596 | None | $430,000 | |||
Donald C. Opatrny6
|
$1,596 | None | $430,000 | |||
Joseph P. Platt
|
$1,225 | None | $400,000 | |||
Mark Stalnecker7
|
$2,709 | None | $520,000 | |||
Kenneth L. Urish
|
$1,225 | None | $400,000 | |||
Claire A. Walton
|
$1,225 | None | $400,000 | |||
Interested Trustees: | ||||||
Robert Fairbairn
|
None | None | None | |||
John M. Perlowski
|
None | None | None |
1 | For the number of BlackRock-advised Funds from which each Trustee receives compensation, see the Biographical Information chart beginning on page I-13. |
2 | Chair of the Compliance Committee. |
3 | Mr. Hernandez retired as a Trustee of the Trust effective December 31, 2019. |
4 | Chair of the Audit Committee. |
5 | Chair of the Governance Committee. |
6 | Chair of the Performance Oversight Committee. |
7 | Chair of the Board and Chair of the Ad Hoc Topics Committee. |
Fiscal Year Ended July 31, |
Fees Paid
to BlackRock |
Fees
Waived by BlackRock |
Fees
Reimbursed by BlackRock |
|||
2020
|
$230,156 | $9,525 | $43,469 | |||
2019
|
$192,438 | $28,323 | $1,894 | |||
2018
|
$150,192 | $74,048 | $70,110 |
Number of Other Accounts Managed
and Assets by Account Type |
Number of Other Accounts and Assets
for Which Advisory Fee is Performance-Based |
|||||
Name of Portfolio Manager |
Other
Registered Investment Companies |
Other Pooled
Investment Vehicles |
Other
Accounts |
Other
Registered Investment Companies |
Other Pooled
Investment Vehicles |
Other
Accounts |
Rachel Aguirre | 338 | 161 | 130 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
$1.37 Trillion | $653.25 Billion | $566.40 Billion | $0 | $0 | $4.35 Billion | |
Suzanne Henige, CFA | 75 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
$136.21 Billion | $622.58 Million | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |
Jennifer Hsui, CFA | 299 | 61 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
$1.34 Trillion | $78.99 Billion | $25.13 Billion | $0 | $0 | $0 | |
Alan Mason | 327 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
$1.37 Trillion | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |
Amy Whitelaw | 304 | 110 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
$1.29 Trillion | $43.50 Billion | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Portfolio Manager |
Dollar Range of Equity Securities
Beneficially Owned |
|
Alan Mason
|
None | |
Suzanne Henige, CFA
|
None | |
Jennifer Hsui, CFA
|
None | |
Amy Whitelaw
|
None | |
Rachel Aguirre
|
None |
Fiscal Year Ended July 31, | Amount Paid to State Street | |
2020
|
$9,463 | |
2019
|
$8,978 | |
2018
|
$814 |
Fiscal Year Ended July 31, |
Fees Paid
to BlackRock |
Fees Waived
by BlackRock |
||
2020
|
$4,716 | $1,416 | ||
2019
|
$3,154 | $425 | ||
2018
|
$16,484 | $8,810 |
Class Name | Paid to BRIL | |
Investor A Shares
|
$239,359 |
Fiscal Year Ended July 31, |
Aggregate
Brokerage Commissions Paid |
Commissions
Paid to Affiliates |
||
2020
|
$93,798 | $0 | ||
2019
|
$74,874 | $0 | ||
2018
|
$69,894 | $0 |
1 | The decrease in brokerage commissions paid by the Fund as compared to the prior fiscal year was the result of fewer transactions over the reporting period. |
Amount of Commissions
Paid to Brokers for Providing 28(e) Eligible Research Services |
Amount of Brokerage
Transactions Involved |
|||
$0 | $0 |
(1) | selecting borrowers from an approved list of borrowers and executing a securities lending agreement as agent on behalf of the Fund 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); |
(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 Fund at loan termination. |
iShares Russell
Mid-Cap Index Fund |
|
Gross income from securities lending activities
|
$789,245 |
Fees and/or compensation for securities lending activities and related services | |
Securities lending income paid to BTC for services as securities lending agent
|
$88,607 |
Cash collateral management expenses not included in securities lending income paid to BTC
|
$15,534 |
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)
|
$403,523 |
Other fees not included in securities lending income paid to BTC
|
$0 |
Aggregate fees/compensation for securities lending activities
|
$507,664 |
Net income from securities lending activities
|
$281,581 |
Name | Address | Percentage | Class | |||
Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. |
101 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94104-4122 |
11.25% | Investor A Shares | |||
Reliance Trust Company |
P.O. Box 28004
Atlanta, GA 30358 |
10.54% | Investor A Shares | |||
National Financial Services LLC |
499 Washington Boulevard, Floor 5
Jersey City, NJ 07310-2010 |
9.13% | Investor A Shares | |||
Great-West Trust Company, LLC |
8515 East Orchard Road
Greenwood Village, CO 80111 |
9.05% | Investor A Shares | |||
TD Ameritrade |
P.O. Box 2226
Omaha, NE 68103-2226 |
5.11% | Investor A Shares | |||
Raymond James |
880 Carillon Parkway
St. Petersburg, FL 33716-1102 |
23.34% | Institutional Shares | |||
West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office |
690 Lee Road
Wayne, PA 19087-5636 |
16.32% | Institutional Shares | |||
Pershing LLC |
1 Pershing Plaza
Jersey City, NJ 07399-0001 |
15.43% | Institutional Shares | |||
Connecticut Higher Education Trust |
690 Lee Road
Wayne, PA 19087-0000 |
6.58% | Institutional Shares | |||
PIMS/Prudential Retirement |
3280 Virginia Beach Boulevard
Virginia Beach VA 23452-5724 |
6.57% | Institutional Shares | |||
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated |
4800 East Deer Lake Drive, 3rd Floor
Jacksonville, FL 32246-6484 |
37.79% | Class K Shares | |||
PlanMember Services |
6187 Carpinteria Avenue
Carpinteria, CA 93013 |
6.49% | Class K Shares | |||
PlanMember Services |
6187 Carpinteria Avenue
Carpinteria, CA 93013 |
5.11% | Class K Shares | |||
State Street Bank and Trust |
1 Lincoln Street
Boston MA 02111 |
5.03% | Class K Shares |
• | Junk 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 junk 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 junk 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. | |
• | Junk 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 or to receive interest payments when senior securities are in default. Thus, investors in high yield securities have a lower degree of protection with respect to principal and interest payments then do investors in higher rated securities. |
• | Junk bonds frequently have redemption features that permit an issuer to repurchase the security from a Fund before it matures. If an issuer redeems the junk bonds, a Fund may have to invest the proceeds in bonds with lower yields and may lose income. |
• | Prices of junk bonds are subject to extreme price fluctuations. Negative economic developments may have a greater impact on the prices of junk bonds than on those of other higher rated fixed-income securities. |
• | Junk 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 junk bond market, and there may be significant differences in the prices quoted for junk bonds by the dealers, and such quotations may not be the actual prices available for a purchase or sale. Because junk bonds are less liquid than higher rated bonds, judgment may play a greater role in valuing certain of a Fund’s portfolio securities than in the case of securities trading in a more liquid market. |
• | The secondary markets for high yield securities are not as liquid as the secondary markets for higher rated securities. The secondary markets for high yield securities 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. An illiquid 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 a Fund’s 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 junk 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 NAV 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. |
• | The rating assigned by a rating agency evaluates the issuing agency’s assessment of the safety of a non-investment grade security’s principal and interest payments, but does not address market value risk. Because such ratings of the ratings agencies may not always reflect current conditions and events, in addition to using recognized rating agencies and other sources, the sub-adviser performs its own analysis of the issuers whose non-investment grade securities a Fund holds. Because of this, the Fund’s performance may depend more on the sub-adviser’s own credit analysis than in the case of mutual funds investing in higher-rated securities. |
(a) | U.S. dollar-denominated obligations issued or supported by the credit of U.S. or foreign banks or savings institutions with total assets in excess of $1 billion (including obligations of foreign branches of such banks); |
(b) | high quality commercial paper and other obligations issued or guaranteed by U.S. and foreign corporations and other issuers rated (at the time of purchase) A-2 or higher by S&P, Prime-2 or higher by Moody’s or F-2 or higher by Fitch, as well as high quality corporate bonds rated (at the time of purchase) A or higher by those rating agencies; |
(c) | unrated notes, paper and other instruments that are of comparable quality to the instruments described in (b) above as determined by the Fund’s Manager; |
(d) | asset-backed securities (including interests in pools of assets such as mortgages, installment purchase obligations and credit card receivables); |
(e) | securities issued or guaranteed as to principal and interest by the U.S. Government or by its agencies or authorities and related custodial receipts; |
(f) | dollar-denominated securities issued or guaranteed by foreign governments or their political subdivisions, agencies or authorities; |
(g) | funding agreements issued by highly-rated U.S. insurance companies; |
(h) | securities issued or guaranteed by state or local governmental bodies; |
(i) | repurchase agreements relating to the above instruments; |
(j) | municipal bonds and notes whose principal and interest payments are guaranteed by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or authorities or which otherwise depend directly or indirectly on the credit of the United States; |
(k) | fixed and variable rate notes and similar debt instruments rated MIG-2, VMIG-2 or Prime-2 or higher by Moody’s, SP-2 or A-2 or higher by S&P, or F-2 or higher by Fitch; |
(l) | tax-exempt commercial paper and similar debt instruments rated Prime-2 or higher by Moody’s, A-2 or higher by S&P, or F-2 or higher by Fitch; |
(m) | municipal bonds rated A or higher by Moody’s, S&P or Fitch; |
(n) | unrated notes, paper or other instruments that are of comparable quality to the instruments described above, as determined by the Fund’s Manager under guidelines established by the Board; and |
(o) | municipal bonds and notes which are guaranteed as to principal and interest by the U.S. Government or an agency or instrumentality thereof or which otherwise depend directly or indirectly on the credit of the United States. |
Mortgage-Related Securities. |
• | Portfolio Holdings: “Portfolio Holdings” are a Fund’s portfolio securities and other instruments, and include, but are not limited to: |
• | for equity securities, information such as issuer name, CUSIP, ticker symbol, total shares and market value; |
• | for fixed income securities, information such as issuer name, CUSIP, ticker symbol, coupon, maturity, current face value and market value; |
• | for all securities, information such as quantity, SEDOL, market price, yield, WAL, duration and convexity as of a specific date; |
• | for derivatives, indicative data including, but not limited to, pay leg, receive leg, notional amount, reset frequency and trade counterparty; and |
• | for trading strategies, specific portfolio holdings, including the number of shares held, weightings of particular holdings, trading details, pending or recent transactions and portfolio management plans to purchase or sell particular securities or allocation within particular sectors. |
• | Portfolio Characteristics (excluding Liquidity Metrics): “Portfolio Characteristics” include, but are not limited to, sector allocation, credit quality breakdown, maturity distribution, duration and convexity measures, average credit quality, average maturity, average coupon, top 10 holdings with percent of the fund held, average market capitalization, capitalization range, risk related information (e.g., value at risk, standard deviation), ROE, P/E, P/B, P/CF, P/S and EPS. |
• | Additional characteristics specific to money market funds include, but are not limited to, historical daily and weekly liquid assets (as defined under Rule 2a-7) and historical fund net inflows and outflows. |
• | Portfolio Characteristics — Liquidity Metrics: |
• | “Liquidity Metrics” which seek to ascertain a Fund’s liquidity profile under BlackRock’s global liquidity risk methodology which include but are not limited to: (a) disclosure regarding the number of days needed to liquidate a portfolio or the portfolio’s underlying investments; and (b) the percentage of a Fund’s NAV invested in a particular liquidity tier under BlackRock’s global liquidity risk methodology. |
• | The dissemination of position-level liquidity metrics data and any non-public regulatory data pursuant to SEC Rule 22e-4 (including SEC liquidity tiering) is not permitted unless pre-approved. |
• | Disclosure of Liquidity Metrics pursuant to Section 3 of the Policy should be reviewed by BlackRock’s Risk and Quantitative Analysis Group and the relevant portfolio management team prior to dissemination. |
* | Global Allocation Exception: For purposes of portfolio holdings, Global Allocation funds include BlackRock Global Allocation Fund, Inc., BlackRock Global Allocation Portfolio of BlackRock Series Fund, Inc. and BlackRock Global Allocation V.I. Fund of BlackRock Variable Series Funds, Inc. Information on certain Portfolio Characteristics of BlackRock Global Allocation Portfolio and BlackRock Global Allocation V.I. Fund is available, upon request, to insurance companies that use these funds as underlying investments (and to advisers and sub-advisers of funds invested in BlackRock Global Allocation Portfolio and BlackRock Global Allocation V.I. Fund) in their variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies on a weekly basis (or such other period as may be determined to be appropriate). Disclosure of such characteristics of these two funds constitutes a disclosure of Confidential Information and is being made for reasons deemed appropriate by BlackRock and in accordance with the requirements set forth in these guidelines. If Portfolio Characteristics are disclosed to one party, they must also be disclosed to all other parties requesting the same information. |
** | Strategic Income Opportunities Exception: Information on certain Portfolio Characteristics of BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities Portfolio of BlackRock Funds V may be made available to shareholders, prospective shareholders, intermediaries, consultants and third party data providers, upon request on a more frequent basis as may be deemed appropriate by BlackRock from time-to-time. If Portfolio Characteristics are disclosed to one party, they must also be disclosed to all other parties requesting the same information. |
Money Market Funds | ||
Time Periods | ||
Prior to 5 Calendar Days
After Month-End |
5 Calendar Days After
Month-End to Date of Public Filing |
|
Portfolio
Holdings |
Cannot disclose without non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement and CCO approval except the following portfolio holdings information may be released as follows:
• Weekly portfolio holdings information released on the website at least one business day after week-end. • Other information as may be required under Rule 2a-7 (e.g., name of issuer, category of investment, principal amount, maturity dates, yields). |
May disclose to shareholders, prospective shareholders, intermediaries, consultants and third-party data providers. If portfolio holdings are disclosed to one party, they must also be disclosed to all other parties requesting the same information. |
Portfolio
Characteristics |
Cannot disclose without non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement and CCO approval except the following information may be released on the Fund’s website daily:
• Historical NAVs calculated based on market factors (e.g., marked-to-market) • Percentage of fund assets invested in daily and weekly liquid assets (as defined under Rule 2a-7) • Daily net inflows and outflows • Yields, SEC yields, WAM, WAL, current assets • Other information as may be required by Rule 2a-7 |
May disclose to shareholders, prospective shareholders, intermediaries, consultants and third-party data providers. If Portfolio Characteristics are disclosed to one party, they must also be disclosed to all other parties requesting the same information. |
(i) | the preparation and posting of the Fund’s Portfolio Holdings and/or Portfolio Characteristics to its website on a more frequent basis than authorized above; |
(ii) | the disclosure of the Fund’s Portfolio Holdings to third-party service providers not noted above; and |
(iii) | the disclosure of the Fund’s Portfolio Holdings and/or Portfolio Characteristics to other parties for legitimate business purposes. |
• | Fund Fact Sheets are available to shareholders, prospective shareholders, intermediaries and consultants on a monthly or quarterly basis no earlier than the fifth calendar day after the end of a month or quarter. |
• | Money Market Performance Reports are typically available to shareholders, prospective shareholders, intermediaries and consultants by the tenth calendar day of the month (and on a one day lag for certain institutional funds). They contain monthly money market Fund performance, rolling 12-month average and benchmark performance. |
1. | Fund’s Board of Directors and, if necessary, independent Directors’ counsel and Fund counsel. |
2. | Fund’s Transfer Agent. |
3. | Fund’s Custodian. |
4. | Fund’s Administrator, if applicable. |
5. | Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm. |
6. | Fund’s accounting services provider. |
7. | Independent rating agencies — Morningstar, Inc., Lipper Inc., S&P, Moody’s, Fitch. |
8. | Information aggregators — Markit on Demand, Thomson Financial and Bloomberg, eVestments Alliance, Informa/PSN Investment Solutions, Crane Data and iMoneyNet. |
9. | Sponsors of 401(k) plans that include BlackRock-advised funds — E.I. Dupont de Nemours and Company, Inc. |
10. | Sponsors and consultants for pension and retirement plans that invest in BlackRock-advised funds — Rocaton Investment Advisors, LLC, Mercer Investment Consulting, Callan Associates, Brockhouse & Cooper, Cambridge Associates, Morningstar/Investorforce, Russell Investments (Mellon Analytical Solutions), Wilshire Associates and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. |
11. | Pricing Vendors — Refinitiv, ICE Data Services, Bloomberg, IHS Markit, JP Morgan Pricing-Direct, FactSet, Loan Pricing Corporation, Valuation Research Corporation, Murray, Devine & Co., Inc. and WM Company PLC. |
12. | Portfolio Compliance Consultants — Oracle Financial Services. |
13. | Third-party feeder funds — Stock Index Fund, a series of Homestead Funds, Inc.; Transamerica Stock Index, a series of Transamerica Funds; and Alight Money Market Fund, a series of Alight Series Trust and their respective boards, sponsors, administrators and other service providers. |
14. | Affiliated feeder funds — Treasury Money Market Fund (Cayman) and its board, sponsor, administrator and other service providers. |
15. | Other — Investment Company Institute, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P., Mizuho Asset Management Co., Ltd., Nationwide Fund Advisors, State Street Bank and Trust Company, Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc. and Silicon Valley Bank. |
$1 million but less than $3 million
|
1.00% |
$3 million but less than $15 million
|
0.50% |
$15 million and above
|
0.25% |
$250,000 but less than $3 million
|
1.00% |
$3 million but less than $15 million
|
0.50% |
$15 million and above
|
0.25% |
$1 million but less than $3 million
|
0.75% |
$3 million but less than $15 million
|
0.50% |
$15 million and above
|
0.25% |
$1 million but less than $3 million
|
0.50% |
$3 million but less than $15 million
|
0.25% |
$15 million and above
|
0.15% |
$250,000 but less than $3 million
|
0.50% |
$3 million but less than $15 million
|
0.25% |
$15 million and above
|
0.15% |
$1 million but less than $3 million
|
0.15% |
$3 million but less than $15 million
|
0.10% |
$15 million and above
|
0.05% |
$500,000 but less than $3 million
|
0.75% |
$3 million but less than $15 million
|
0.50% |
$15 million and above
|
0.25% |
$250,000 and above
|
0.50% |
$100,000 and above
|
0.25% |
$250,000 and above
|
0.25% |
$250,000 but less than $4 million
|
1.00% |
$4 million but less than $10 million
|
0.50% |
$10 million and above
|
0.25% |
$250,000 but less than $3 million
|
0.75% |
$3 million but less than $15 million
|
0.50% |
$15 million and above
|
0.25% |
$1,000,000 and above
|
0.10% |
$1,000,000 and above
|
0.15% |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
SG | This designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Debt instruments in this category may lack sufficient margins of protection. |
VMIG 1 | This designation denotes superior credit quality. Excellent protection is afforded by the superior short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand. |
VMIG 2 | This designation denotes strong credit quality. Good protection is afforded by the strong short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand. |
VMIG 3 | This designation denotes acceptable credit quality. Adequate protection is afforded by the satisfactory short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand. |
SG | This designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Demand features rated in this category may be supported by a liquidity provider that does not have an investment grade short-term rating or may lack the structural and/or legal protections necessary to ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand. |
• | Likelihood of payment—capacity and willingness of the obligor to meet its financial commitment on an obligation in accordance with the terms of the obligation; |
• | Nature of and provisions of the obligation, and the promise we impute; |
• | Protection afforded by, and relative position of, the obligation in the event of bankruptcy, reorganization, or other arrangement under the laws of bankruptcy and other laws affecting creditors’ rights. |
AAA | An obligation rated ‘AAA’ has the highest rating assigned by S&P. 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 on the obligation 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 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 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 | This indicates that no rating has been requested, or that there is insufficient information on which to base a rating, or that S&P does not rate a particular obligation as a matter of policy. |
A-1 | A short-term obligation rated ‘A-1’ is rated in the highest category by S&P. 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 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. |
• | Amortization schedule—the larger the final maturity relative to other maturities, the more likely it will be treated as a note; and |
• | Source of payment—the more dependent the issue is on the market for its refinancing, the more likely it will be treated as a note. |
S&P’s municipal short-term note rating symbols are as follows: |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
Page | |
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B-4 |
|
B-4 |
|
B-4 |
|
B-5 |
|
B-6 |
|
B-7 |
|
B-7 |
|
B-8 |
|
B-9 |
|
B-9 |
|
B-9 |
|
B-9 |
|
B-10 |
|
B-10 |
|
B-11 |
|
B-12 |
If you would like additional information, please contact:
ContactStewardship@blackrock.com |
• | Boards and directors |
• | Auditors and audit-related issues |
• | Capital structure, mergers, asset sales and other special transactions |
• | Compensation and benefits |
• | Environmental and social issues |
• | General corporate governance matters and shareholder protections |
• | establishing an appropriate corporate governance structure |
• | supporting and overseeing management in setting long-term strategic goals, applicable measures of value-creation and milestones that will demonstrate progress, and steps taken if any obstacles are anticipated or incurred |
• | ensuring the integrity of financial statements |
• | making independent decisions regarding mergers, acquisitions and disposals |
• | establishing appropriate executive compensation structures |
• | addressing business issues, including environmental and social issues, when they have the potential to materially impact company reputation and performance |
• | current or former employment at the company or a subsidiary within the past several years |
• | being, or representing, a shareholder with a substantial shareholding in the company |
• | interlocking directorships |
• | having any other interest, business or other relationship which could, or could reasonably be perceived to, materially interfere with the director’s ability to act in the best interests of the company |
• | 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 |
• | BlackRock clients who may be issuers of securities or proponents of shareholder resolutions |
• | BlackRock business partners or third parties who may be issuers of securities or proponents of shareholder resolutions |
• | BlackRock employees who may sit on the boards of public companies held in Funds managed by BlackRock |
• | Significant BlackRock, Inc. investors who may be issuers of securities held in Funds managed by BlackRock |
• | Securities of BlackRock, Inc. or BlackRock investment funds held in Funds managed by BlackRock |
• | BlackRock, Inc. board members who serve as senior executives of public companies held in Funds managed by BlackRock |
• | 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 BIS 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 BIS. BIS prioritizes engagements based on factors including but not limited to our need for additional information to make a voting decision or our view on the likelihood that an engagement could lead to positive outcome(s) over time for the economic value of the company. Within the normal course of business, BIS may engage directly with BlackRock clients, business partners and/or third parties, and/or with employees with sales, vendor management or business partnership roles, in discussions regarding our approach to stewardship, general corporate governance matters, client reporting needs, and/or to otherwise ensure that proxy-related client service levels are met. |
• | 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. |
Page | |
|
B-15 |
|
B-15 |
|
B-15 |
|
B-19 |
|
B-20 |
|
B-21 |
|
B-21 |
|
B-23 |
|
B-25 |
|
B-26 |
If you would like additional information, please contact:
ContactStewardship@blackrock.com |
• | Boards and directors |
• | Auditors and audit-related issues |
• | Capital structure |
• | Mergers, asset sales, and other special transactions |
• | Executive compensation |
• | Environmental and social issues |
• | General corporate governance matters |
• | Shareholder protections |
• | Employment as a senior executive by the company or a subsidiary within the past five years |
• | An equity ownership in the company in excess of 20% |
• | Having any other interest, business, or relationship which could, or could reasonably be perceived to, materially interfere with the director’s ability to act in the best interests of the company |
We may vote against directors serving on key committees that we do not consider to be independent. |
• | Where the board has failed to exercise oversight with regard to accounting practices or audit oversight, we will consider voting against the current audit committee, and any other members of the board who may be responsible. For example, this may apply to members of the audit committee during a period when the board failed to facilitate quality, independent auditing if substantial accounting irregularities suggest insufficient oversight by that committee |
• | Members of the compensation committee during a period in which executive compensation appears excessive relative to performance and peers, and where we believe the compensation committee has not already substantially addressed this issue |
• | The chair of the nominating / governance committee, or where no chair exists, the nominating / governance committee member with the longest tenure, where the board is not comprised of a majority of independent directors. However, this would not apply in the case of a controlled company |
• | Where it appears the director has acted (at the company or at other companies) in a manner that compromises his / her reliability to represent the best long-term economic interests of shareholders |
• | Where a director has a pattern of poor attendance at combined board and applicable key committee meetings. Excluding exigent circumstances, BlackRock generally considers attendance at less than 75% of the combined board and applicable key committee meetings by a board member to be poor attendance |
• | Where a director serves on an excess number of boards, which may limit his / her capacity to focus on each board’s requirements. The following illustrates the maximum number of boards on which a director may serve, before he / she is considered to be over-committed: |
Public Company CEO | # Outside Public Boards* | Total # of Public Boards | |
Director A | ✓ | 1 | 2 |
Director B | 3 | 4 |
* | In addition to the company under review |
• | The independent chair or lead independent director, members of the nominating / governance committee, and / or the longest tenured director(s), where we observe a lack of board responsiveness to shareholders, evidence of board entrenchment, and / or failure to promote adequate board succession planning |
• | The chair of the nominating / governance committee, or where no chair exists, the nominating / governance committee member with the longest tenure, where board member(s) at the most recent election of directors have received withhold votes from more than 30% of shares voted and the board has not taken appropriate action to respond to shareholder concerns. This may not apply in cases where BlackRock did not support the initial withhold vote |
• | The independent chair or lead independent director and / or members of the nominating / governance committee, where a board fails to implement shareholder proposals that receive a majority of votes cast at a prior shareholder meeting, and the proposals, in our view, have a direct and substantial impact on shareholders’ fundamental rights or long-term economic interests |
• | The independent chair or lead independent director and members of the governance committee, where a board implements or renews a poison pill without shareholder approval |
• | The independent chair or lead independent director and members of the governance committee, where a board amends the charter / articles / bylaws such that the effect may be to entrench directors or to significantly reduce shareholder rights |
• | Members of the compensation committee where the company has repriced options without shareholder approval |
• | If a board maintains a classified structure, it is possible that the director(s) with whom we have a particular concern may not be subject to election in the year that the concern arises. In such situations, if we have a concern regarding a committee or committee chair that is not up for re-election, we will generally register our concern by withholding votes from all available members of the relevant committee. |
• | The mix of competencies, experience, and other qualities required to effectively oversee and guide management in light of the stated long-term strategy of the company |
• | The process by which candidates are identified and selected, including whether professional firms or other sources outside of incumbent directors’ networks have been engaged to identify and / or assess candidates |
• | The process by which boards evaluate themselves and any significant outcomes of the evaluation process, without divulging inappropriate and / or sensitive details |
• | The consideration given to board diversity, including, but not limited to, gender, ethnicity, race, age, experience, geographic location, skills, and perspective in the nomination process |
• | Appears to have a legitimate financing motive for requesting blank check authority |
• | Has committed publicly that blank check preferred shares will not be used for anti-takeover purposes |
• | Has a history of using blank check preferred stock for financings |
• | Has blank check preferred stock previously outstanding such that an increase would not necessarily provide further anti-takeover protection but may provide greater financing flexibility |
• | The degree to which the proposed transaction represents a premium to the company’s trading price. We consider the share price over multiple time periods prior to the date of the merger announcement. In most cases, business combinations should provide a premium. We may consider comparable transaction analyses provided by the parties’ financial advisors and our own valuation assessments. For companies facing insolvency or bankruptcy, a premium may not apply |
• | There should be clear strategic, operational, and / or financial rationale for the combination |
• | Unanimous board approval and arm’s-length negotiations are preferred. We will consider whether the transaction involves a dissenting board or does not appear to be the result of an arm’s-length bidding process. We may also consider whether executive and / or board members’ financial interests in a given transaction appear likely to affect their ability to place shareholders’ interests before their own |
• | We prefer transaction proposals that include the fairness opinion of a reputable financial advisor assessing the value of the transaction to shareholders in comparison to recent similar transactions |
• | Whether we believe that the triggering event is in the best interest of shareholders |
• | Whether management attempted to maximize shareholder value in the triggering event |
• | The percentage of total premium or transaction value that will be transferred to the management team, rather than shareholders, as a result of the golden parachute payment |
• | Whether excessively large excise tax gross-up payments are part of the pay-out |
• | Whether the pay package that serves as the basis for calculating the golden parachute payment was reasonable in light of performance and peers |
• | Whether the golden parachute payment will have the effect of rewarding a management team that has failed to effectively manage the company |
• | The company has experienced significant stock price decline as a result of macroeconomic trends, not individual company performance |
• | Directors and executive officers are excluded; the exchange is value neutral or value creative to shareholders; tax, accounting, and other technical considerations have been fully contemplated |
• | There is clear evidence that absent repricing, the company will suffer serious employee incentive or retention and recruiting problems |
• | 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 |
Name | Position(s) and Office(s) with BRIL |
Position(s) and
Office(s) with Registrant |
Christopher Meade | Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Senior Managing Director | None |
Lauren Bradley | Chief Financial Officer and Vice President | None |
Gregory Rosta | Chief Compliance Officer and Director | None |
Jon Maro | Chief Operating Officer and Director | None |
Andrew Dickson | Secretary and Managing Director | None |
Terri Slane | Assistant Secretary and Director | None |
Anne Ackerley | Member, Board of Managers, and Managing Director | None |
Michael Bishopp | Managing Director | None |
Thomas Callahan | Member, Board of Managers, and Managing Director | Vice President |
Samara Cohen | Managing Director | None |
Jonathan Diorio | Managing Director | None |
Lisa Hill | Managing Director | None |
Brendan Kyne | Managing Director | None |
Paul Lohrey | Managing Director | None |
Martin Small | Member, Board of Managers, and Managing Director | None |
Jonathan Steel | Managing Director | None |
Ariana Brown | Director | None |
Chris Nugent | Director | None |
Lourdes Sanchez | Vice President | None |
Lisa Belle | Anti-Money Laundering Officer | Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer |
Zach Buchwald | Member, Board of Managers | None |
Gerald Pucci | Member, Board of Managers | None |
Philip Vasan | Member, Board of Managers | None |
BlackRock FundsSM (Registrant)
on behalf of |
|
By: | /s/ John M. Perlowski |
(John M. Perlowski,
President and Chief Executive Officer) |
Signature | Title | Date | ||
/s/ John M. Perlowski
(John M. Perlowski) |
Trustee, President and Chief Executive Officer
(Principal Executive Officer) |
November 23, 2020 | ||
/s/ Neal J. Andrews
(Neal J. Andrews) |
Chief Financial Officer
(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
November 23, 2020 | ||
Bruce R. Bond*
(Bruce R. Bond) |
Trustee | |||
Susan J. Carter*
(Susan J. Carter) |
Trustee | |||
Collette Chilton*
(Collette Chilton) |
Trustee | |||
Neil A. Cotty*
(Neil A. Cotty) |
Trustee | |||
Lena G. Goldberg*
(Lena G. Goldberg) |
Trustee | |||
Henry R. Keizer*
(Henry R. Keizer) |
Trustee | |||
Cynthia A. Montgomery*
(Cynthia A. Montgomery) |
Trustee | |||
Donald C. Opatrny*
(Donald C. Opatrny) |
Trustee | |||
Joseph P. Platt*
(Joseph P. Platt) |
Trustee | |||
Mark Stalnecker*
(Mark Stalnecker) |
Trustee |
Signature | Title | Date | ||
Kenneth L. Urish*
(Kenneth L. Urish) |
Trustee | |||
Claire A. Walton*
(Claire A. Walton) |
Trustee | |||
Robert Fairbairn*
(Robert Fairbairn) |
Trustee | |||
*By: /s/ Janey Ahn
(Janey Ahn, Attorney-In-Fact) |
November 23, 2020 |
Exhibit 1(f)
BLACKROCK FUNDSSM
(A Massachusetts Business Trust)
AMENDED AND RESTATED CERTIFICATE OF CLASSIFICATION OF SHARES
The undersigned, Secretary of BlackRock FundsSM (the Trust), does hereby certify to the following:
WHEREAS, the Declaration of Trust of the Trust, dated the 22nd day of December, 1988, as amended (the Declaration), provides in Section 5.1 that (a) the shares of beneficial interest in the Trust shall be of one class, par value $0.001 (each, a Share and collectively, the Shares), provided that, subject to the terms of the Declaration and the requirements of applicable law, the Trustees of the Trust (the Trustees) have the power to classify or reclassify any unissued Shares into any number of additional classes of Shares, (b) the Trustees may further classify or reclassify any class of Shares into one or more series of such class, (c) the Trustees shall give each class of Shares an alphabetical designation and may give any class of Shares such supplementary designation as the Trustees may deem appropriate and (d) more than one class of Shares may have the same alphabetical designation.
WHEREAS, pursuant to the authority granted to the Trustees in Section 5.1 of the Declaration, the Trustees have, from time to time, divided the Shares into several classes, each with an alphabetical designation and a supplementary designation (each, a Portfolio and collectively, the Portfolios), and have divided each of such Portfolios into one or more series of such Portfolios, having the same alphabetical designation and having a supplementary designation (each, a Class and collectively, the Classes), each as determined by the Trustees, and such Portfolios and Classes in effect as of January 3, 2019 were included in an Amended and Restated Certificate of Classification of Shares dated as of that date;
WHEREAS, pursuant to the authority granted to the Trustees in Section 5.1 of the Declaration, at a meeting of the Trustees held on November 28, 2018, the Trustees by resolution approved the liquidation and subsequent termination of six Portfolios of the Trust with the alphabetical designations ZZZ, FFFFF, GGGGG, HHHHH, IIIII and QQQQ and the supplementary designations of BlackRock Emerging Markets Dividend Fund, iShares Edge MSCI USA Momentum Factor Index Fund, iShares Edge MSCI USA Quality Factor Index Fund, iShares Edge MSCI USA Size Factor Index Fund, iShares Edge MSCI USA Value Factor Index Fund, and iShares MSCI Asia ex Japan Index Fund, respectively, and each such Portfolio, other than BlackRock Emerging Markets Dividend Fund, was liquidated on or about January 29, 2019 and BlackRock Emerging Markets Dividend Fund was liquidated on or about February 15, 2019;
WHEREAS, pursuant to the authority granted to the Trustees in Section 5.1 of the Declaration, at a meeting of the Trustees held on November 28, 2018, the Trustees by resolution approved the liquidation and subsequent termination of the Portfolio of the Trust with the alphabetical designation RRRR and with the supplemental designation iShares MSCI Developed World Index Fund, and such Portfolio was liquidated on or about May 7, 2019;
WHEREAS, pursuant to the authority granted to the Trustees in Section 5.1 of the Declaration, at a meeting of the Trustees held on February 20, 2019, the Trustees by resolution approved the establishment and designation of a new Portfolio of the Trust with the alphabetical designation MMMMM and the supplementary designation of BlackRock Liquid Environmentally Aware Fund, and approved the further classification of the Shares of such Portfolio into three separate Classes of Shares with the same alphabetical designation, MMMMM-2, MMMMM-3, and MMMMM-21, with the supplemental designations of Investor A Shares, Institutional Shares and Direct Shares, respectively, effective as of February 20, 2019;
WHEREAS, a prior Certificate contained scriveners errors with respect to the designation of the Direct Shares of BlackRock Liquid Environmentally Aware Fund and the supplemental designation of Investor P Shares of iShares Municipal Bond Index Fund;
WHEREAS, pursuant to the authority granted to the Trustees in Section 5.1 of the Declaration, at a meeting of the Trustees held on May 14-15, 2019, the Trustees by resolution approved the establishment and designation of a new class of BlackRock Money Market Portfolio with the alphabetical designation A-22 and the supplementary designation of Premier Shares, effective as of May 15, 2019;
WHEREAS, pursuant to the authority granted to the Trustees in Section 5.1 of the Declaration, by written consent of the Trustees dated October 4, 2019, the Trustees approved the establishment and designation of a new class of BlackRock Technology Opportunities Fund with the alphabetical designation OO-18 and the supplementary designation of Class K Shares, effective as of October 4, 2019;
WHEREAS, pursuant to the authority granted to the Trustees in Section 5.1 of the Declaration, the Trustees, by action at a meeting held on September 18, 2019, authorized the change in the supplementary designation of the Portfolio with the alphabetical designation WWWW from BlackRock Impact U.S. Equity Fund to BlackRock Advantage ESG U.S. Equity Fund and such name change became effective as of December 2, 2019;
WHEREAS, pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Reorganization by and between the Trust, on behalf of its Portfolio with the alphabetical designation GGG, and the supplementary designation BlackRock Energy & Resources Portfolio (the Target Fund) and the Trust, on behalf of its Portfolio with the alphabetical designation HHH, and the supplementary designation BlackRock All-Cap Energy & Resources Portfolio (the Acquiring Fund), the Target Fund was reorganized into the Acquiring Fund on January 13, 2020 (the Reorganization), in complete liquidation and termination of the Target Fund;
WHEREAS, pursuant to the authority granted to the Trustees in Section 5.1 of the Declaration, the Trustees, by action at a meeting held on July 31, 2019, authorized the change in the supplementary designation of the Acquiring Fund to BlackRock Energy Opportunities Fund as of the closing date of the Reorganization;
2
WHEREAS, pursuant to the authority granted to the Trustees in Section 5.1 of the Declaration, at a meeting of the Trustees held on February 10-12, 2020, the Trustees by resolution approved the liquidation and subsequent termination of the Portfolio of the Trust with the alphabetical designation YYYY and with the supplemental designation BlackRock Emerging Markets Equity Strategies Fund, and such Portfolio was liquidated on or about April 21, 2020;
WHEREAS, pursuant to the authority granted to the Trustees in Section 5.1 of the Declaration, by action at a meeting held on February 10-12, 2020, the Trustees approved the establishment and designation of a new class of BlackRock High Equity Income Fund with the alphabetical designation II-18 and the supplementary designation of Class K Shares, effective as of April 21, 2020;
WHEREAS, pursuant to the authority granted to the Trustees in Section 5.1 of the Declaration, the Trustees, by action at a meeting held on February 10-12, 2020, authorized the change in the supplementary designation of the Portfolio with the alphabetical designation A from BlackRock Money Market Portfolio to BlackRock Wealth Liquid Environmentally Aware Fund and such name change became effective as of May 11, 2020;
WHEREAS, pursuant to the authority granted to the Trustees in Section 5.1 of the Declaration, at a meeting of the Trustees held on April 7, 2020, the Trustees by resolution: approved the establishment and designation of three new Portfolios of the Trust with the alphabetical designations NNNNN, OOOOO and PPPPP and the supplementary designations of BlackRock Global Impact Fund, BlackRock International Impact Fund and BlackRock U.S. Impact Fund, respectively; approved the further classification of the Shares of the Portfolio with the alphabetical designation NNNNN into three separate Classes of Shares with the same alphabetical designation, NNNNN-2, NNNNN-3, and NNNNN-18, with the supplemental designations of Investor A Shares, Institutional Shares and Class K Shares, respectively; approved the further classification of the Shares of the Portfolio with the alphabetical designation OOOOO into three separate Classes of Shares with the same alphabetical designation, OOOOO-2, OOOOO-3, and OOOOO-18, with the supplemental designations of Investor A Shares, Institutional Shares and Class K Shares, respectively; and approved the further classification of the Shares of the Portfolio with the alphabetical designation PPPPP into three separate Classes of Shares with the same alphabetical designation, PPPPP-2, PPPPP-3, and PPPPP-18, with the supplemental designations of Investor A Shares, Institutional Shares and Class K Shares, respectively;
WHEREAS, pursuant to the authority granted to the Trustees in Section 5.1 of the Declaration, at a meeting of the Trustees held on May 12-13, 2020, the Trustees by resolution: approved the establishment and designation of two new Portfolios of the Trust with the alphabetical designations QQQQQ and RRRRR and the supplementary designations of BlackRock Advantage ESG Emerging Markets Equity Fund and BlackRock Advantage ESG International Equity Fund, respectively; approved the further classification of the Shares of the Portfolio with the alphabetical designation QQQQQ into three separate Classes of Shares with the same alphabetical designation, QQQQQ-2, QQQQQ-3, and QQQQQ-18, with the supplemental designations of Investor A Shares, Institutional Shares and Class K Shares, respectively; and approved the further classification of the Shares of the Portfolio with the alphabetical designation RRRRR into three separate Classes of Shares with the same alphabetical designation, RRRRR-2, RRRRR-3, and RRRRR-18, with the supplemental designations of Investor A Shares, Institutional Shares and Class K Shares, respectively; and
3
WHEREAS, pursuant to the authority granted to the Trustees in Section 5.1 of the Declaration, at a meeting of the Trustees held on September 24, 2020, the Trustees by resolution approved the establishment and designation of a new class of BlackRock Liquid Environmentally Aware Fund with the alphabetical designation MMMMM-23 and the supplementary designation of Mischler Financial Group Shares.
NOW THEREFORE, the undersigned Secretary of the Trust does hereby further certify that following the actions referenced above, the Trusts Certificate of Classification of Shares is amended and restated in its entirety as follows:
1. The following Portfolios and Classes of such Portfolios have heretofore been established and designated by the Trustees in accordance with the Declaration and remain in effect on the date hereof:
Portfolio: Supplementary Designation |
Portfolio:
Alphabetical Designation |
Classes of the
|
Classes of
the
Portfolio |
|||
BlackRock Advantage Emerging Markets Fund |
DDDD | Investor A | DDDD-2 | |||
Investor C | DDDD-5 | |||||
Institutional | DDDD-3 | |||||
Class K | DDDD-18 | |||||
BlackRock Advantage ESG Emerging Markets Equity Fund |
QQQQQ | Investor A | QQQQQ-2 | |||
Institutional | QQQQQ-3 | |||||
Class K | QQQQQ-18 | |||||
BlackRock Advantage ESG International Equity Fund |
RRRRR | Investor A | RRRRR-2 | |||
Institutional | RRRRR-3 | |||||
Class K | RRRRR-18 | |||||
BlackRock Advantage ESG U.S. Equity Fund |
WWWW | Investor A | WWWW-2 | |||
Investor C | WWWW-5 | |||||
Institutional | WWWW-3 | |||||
Class K | WWWW-18 | |||||
BlackRock Advantage International Fund |
III | Investor A | III-2 | |||
Investor C | III-5 | |||||
Institutional | III-3 | |||||
Class K | III-18 | |||||
Class R | III-13 | |||||
Service | III-1 |
4
Portfolio: Supplementary Designation |
Portfolio:
Alphabetical Designation |
Classes of the
Classes with the
|
Classes of
the
Portfolio |
|||
BlackRock Advantage Large Cap Growth Fund |
DD | Investor A | DD-2 | |||
Investor C | DD-5 | |||||
Institutional | DD-3 | |||||
Class K | DD-18 | |||||
Class R | DD-13 | |||||
Service | DD-1 | |||||
BlackRock Advantage Small Cap Core Fund |
LLLL | Investor A | LLLL-2 | |||
Investor C | LLLL-5 | |||||
Institutional | LLLL-3 | |||||
Class K | LLLL-18 | |||||
BlackRock Advantage Small Cap Growth Fund |
T | Investor A | T-2 | |||
Investor C | T-5 | |||||
Institutional | T-3 | |||||
Class K | T-18 | |||||
Class R | T-13 | |||||
Service | T-1 | |||||
BlackRock China A Opportunities Fund |
LLLLL | Institutional | LLLLL-3 | |||
Class K | LLLLL-18 | |||||
BlackRock Commodity Strategies Fund |
CCCC | Investor A | CCCC-2 | |||
Investor C | CCCC-5 | |||||
Institutional | CCCC-3 | |||||
Class K | CCCC-18 | |||||
BlackRock Energy Opportunities Fund |
HHH | Investor A | HHH-2 | |||
Investor C | HHH-5 | |||||
Institutional | HHH-3 | |||||
Class R | HHH-13 | |||||
Service | HHH-1 | |||||
BlackRock Exchange Portfolio |
AAA | BlackRock | AAA-6 | |||
BlackRock Global Impact Fund |
NNNNN | Investor A | NNNNN-2 | |||
Institutional | NNNNN-3 | |||||
Class K | NNNNN-18 |
5
Portfolio: Supplementary Designation |
Portfolio:
Alphabetical Designation |
Classes of the
Classes with the
Same
Alphabetical
|
Classes of
the
Portfolio |
|||
BlackRock Global Long/Short Equity Fund |
JJJJ | Investor A | JJJJ-2 | |||
Investor C | JJJJ-5 | |||||
Institutional | JJJJ-3 | |||||
Class K | JJJJ-18 | |||||
BlackRock Health Sciences Opportunities Portfolio |
FFF | Investor A | FFF-2 | |||
Investor C | FFF-5 | |||||
Institutional | FFF-3 | |||||
Class K | FFF-18 | |||||
Class R | FFF-13 | |||||
Service | FFF-1 | |||||
BlackRock High Equity Income Fund |
II | Investor A | II-2 | |||
Investor C | II-5 | |||||
Institutional | II-3 | |||||
Class K | II-18 | |||||
Class R | II-13 | |||||
Service | II-1 | |||||
BlackRock International Dividend Fund |
HH | Investor A | HH-2 | |||
Investor C | HH-5 | |||||
Institutional | HH-3 | |||||
Class K | HH-18 | |||||
Class R | HH-13 | |||||
Service | HH-1 | |||||
BlackRock International Impact Fund |
OOOOO | Investor A | OOOOO-2 | |||
Institutional | OOOOO-3 | |||||
Class K | OOOOO-18 | |||||
BlackRock Liquid Environmentally Aware Fund |
MMMMM | Investor A | MMMMM-2 | |||
Institutional | MMMMM-3 | |||||
Direct | MMMMM-21 | |||||
Mischler Financial Group Shares | MMMMM-23 | |||||
BlackRock Mid-Cap Growth Equity Portfolio |
EE | Investor A | EE-2 | |||
Investor C | EE-5 | |||||
Institutional | EE-3 | |||||
Class K | EE-18 | |||||
Class R | EE-13 | |||||
Service | EE-1 |
6
Portfolio: Supplementary Designation |
Portfolio:
Alphabetical Designation |
Classes of the
|
Classes of the
Portfolio |
|||
BlackRock Real Estate Securities Fund |
HHHH | Investor A | HHHH-2 | |||
Investor C | HHHH-5 | |||||
Institutional | HHHH-3 | |||||
BlackRock Short Obligations Fund |
FFFF | Investor A | FFFF-2 | |||
Institutional | FFFF-3 | |||||
Class K | FFFF-18 | |||||
BlackRock Tactical Opportunities Fund |
E | Investor A | E-2 | |||
Investor C | E-5 | |||||
Institutional | E-3 | |||||
Class K | E-18 | |||||
Class R | E-13 | |||||
Service | E-1 | |||||
BlackRock Technology Opportunities Fund |
OO | Investor A | OO-2 | |||
Investor C | OO-5 | |||||
Institutional | OO-3 | |||||
Class R | OO-13 | |||||
Service | OO-1 | |||||
Class K | OO-18 | |||||
BlackRock Total Emerging Markets Fund |
MMMM | Investor A | MMMM-2 | |||
Investor C | MMMM-5 | |||||
Institutional | MMMM-3 | |||||
BlackRock Total Factor Fund |
KKKK | Investor A | KKKK-2 | |||
Investor C | KKKK-5 | |||||
Institutional | KKKK-3 | |||||
Class K | KKKK-18 | |||||
BlackRock U.S. Impact Fund |
PPPPP | Investor A | PPPPP-2 | |||
Institutional | PPPPP-3 | |||||
Class K | PPPPP-18 |
7
Portfolio: Supplementary Designation |
Portfolio:
Alphabetical Designation |
Classes of the Portfolio: Supplementary Designation of Classes with the Same Alphabetical Designation
|
Classes of
the
Portfolio |
|||
BlackRock Wealth Liquid Environmentally Aware Fund |
A | Investor A | A-2 | |||
Investor C | A-5 | |||||
Institutional | A-3 | |||||
Service | A-1 | |||||
Premier | A-22 | |||||
iShares Developed Real Estate Index Fund | TTTT | Investor A | TTTT-2 | |||
Institutional | TTTT-3 | |||||
Class K | TTTT-18 | |||||
iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol EAFE Index Fund | DDDDD | Institutional | DDDDD-3 | |||
Class K | DDDDD-18 | |||||
iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA Index Fund | CCCCC | Institutional | CCCCC-3 | |||
Class K | CCCCC-18 | |||||
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Intl Index Fund | BBBBB | Institutional | BBBBB-3 | |||
Class K | BBBBB-18 | |||||
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor USA Index Fund | AAAAA | Institutional | AAAAA-3 | |||
Class K | AAAAA-18 | |||||
iShares Municipal Bond Index Fund | KKKKK | Investor A | KKKKK-2 | |||
Institutional | KKKKK-3 | |||||
Class K | KKKKK-18 | |||||
Investor P | KKKKK-20 | |||||
iShares Russell Mid-Cap Index Fund | SSSS | Investor A | SSSS-2 | |||
Institutional | SSSS-3 | |||||
Class K | SSSS-18 | |||||
iShares Russell Small/Mid-Cap Index Fund | UUUU | Investor A | UUUU-2 | |||
Institutional | UUUU-3 | |||||
Class K | UUUU-18 | |||||
iShares Short-Term TIPS Bond Index Fund | XXXX | Investor A | XXXX-2 | |||
Institutional | XXXX-3 | |||||
Class K | XXXX-18 | |||||
iShares Total U.S. Stock Market Index Fund | VVVV | Investor A | VVVV-2 | |||
Institutional | VVVV-3 | |||||
Class K | VVVV-18 |
8
2. The Trust is authorized to issue an unlimited number of Shares of beneficial interest of each such Portfolio and Class.
3. All consideration received by the Trust for the issue or sale of Shares of a Class of a Portfolio shall be invested and reinvested with the consideration received by the Trust for the issue and sale of all other Classes of that Portfolio, together with all income, earnings, profits and proceeds thereof, including: (i) any proceeds derived from the sale, exchange or liquidation thereof, (ii) any funds or payments derived from any reinvestment of such proceeds in whatever form the same may be, and (iii) any general assets of the Trust allocated to Shares of that Portfolio by the Trustees in accordance with the Declaration; and each Class of the Portfolio shall share on the basis of relative net asset values (or on such other basis established by the Trustees or officers of the Trust) with such other Classes of Shares of such Portfolio in such consideration and other assets, income, earnings, profits and proceeds thereof, including any proceeds derived from the sale, exchange or liquidation thereof, and any assets derived from any reinvestment of such proceeds in whatever form.
4. In determining the income attributable to each Portfolio: any general expenses and liabilities of the Trust allocated by the Trustees to the Portfolios of the Trust shall be allocated among all Portfolios on the basis of relative net asset values (or on such other basis established by the Trustees or officers of the Trust), and any expenses and liabilities of the Trust allocated by the Trustees to a Portfolio shall be allocated among the Classes of such Portfolio on the basis of relative net asset values (or on such other basis established by the Trustees or officers of the Trust), except that to the extent permitted by rule or order of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Shares of a Class shall bear all: (1) expenses and liabilities relating to Shares of that Class payable under the Trusts Distribution and Service Plan with respect to those Shares and (2) other expenses and liabilities directly attributable to such Shares of a Class which the Trustees determine should be borne solely by such Shares.
5. Shares shall (1) have all the preferences, conversion and other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations, qualifications, terms and conditions of redemption and such further terms and conditions as determined by the Trustees and set forth in the Trusts Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information with respect to such Shares and (2) be subject to the terms of the Declaration, as the same may be amended from time to time and shall have the same voting powers, provided that: (i) when expressly required by law, or when otherwise permitted by the Trustees acting in their sole discretion, Shares shall be voted by individual Portfolio and/or Class; and (ii) only Shares of the respective Portfolio or Portfolios or Class or Classes, as the case may be, affected by a matter shall be entitled to vote on such matter, and provided further that without affecting any provisions in the Declaration, Shares of each Portfolio shall be subject to the express right of the Trust to redeem Shares of such Portfolio or Class of such Portfolio at any time if the Trustees determine in their sole discretion and by majority vote that failure to so redeem may have adverse consequences to the holders of the Shares of such Portfolio or Class of such Portfolio, and upon such redemption the holders of the Shares so redeemed shall have no further right with respect thereto other than to receive payment of the redemption price; and
6. Each Share of each Portfolio issued for the purchase price established in its Prospectus will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.
9
(signature page follows)
10
WITNESS my hand as of this 2nd day of November, 2020
/s/ Janey Ahn |
Janey Ahn, Secretary |
The Declaration establishing the Trust, a copy of which, together with all amendments thereto is on file in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, provides that the name of the Trust, BlackRock FundsSM, refers to the Trustees under the Declaration collectively as Trustees, but not as individuals or personally; and no Trustee, shareholder, officer, employee or agent of BlackRock FundsSM shall be held to any personal liability, nor shall resort be had to their private property for the satisfaction of any obligation or claim or otherwise in connection with the affairs of said Trust but the Trust Property only shall be liable.
11
Exhibit 2(b)
AMENDMENT NO. 1
TO THE
AMENDED AND RESTATED BYLAWS
OF
BLACKROCK FUNDSSM
BLACKROCK FUNDS II
(each, a Fund)
This Amendment No. 1 (this Amendment) to the Amended and Restated Bylaws of BlackRock FundsSM, effective as of November 29, 2018, and BlackRock Funds II, effective as of November 14, 2017 (each, the Bylaws), is made as of November 11, 2020 in accordance with Article VII, Section 1 of the Bylaws. Capitalized terms used herein and not otherwise herein defined are used as defined in the Bylaws.
1. Article I, Section 4 is hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows:
Section 4. Place of Meetings. Any Shareholder meeting, including a special meeting, shall be held within or without the state in which the Fund was formed at such place (which shall include a meeting held solely by means of remote communications), date and time as the Directors shall designate.
2. Article I, Section 13 is hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows:
Section 13. Records at Shareholder Meetings. At each meeting of the Shareholders of the Fund, if requested by Shareholders, there shall be made available for inspection by Shareholders a list of the Shareholders of the Fund, as of the record date of the meeting, (1) at a convenient time and place during normal business hours, or (2) on a reasonably accessible electronic network, provided that if the meeting is to be held solely by means of remote communication, the list shall be made available on an electronic network. Such list of Shareholders shall contain the name and the address of each Shareholder entitled to vote at the meeting in alphabetical order and the number of Shares owned by such Shareholder.
3. Article I is hereby amended to add Section 15 as follows:
Section 15. Meetings by Remote Communications. The Directors may, in their sole discretion, determine that a meeting of Shareholders may be held partly or solely by means of remote communications and to the extent so authorized, Shareholders and proxyholders not physically present at a meeting of Shareholders may, by means of remote communications: (a) participate in a meeting of Shareholders; and (b) be deemed present in person and
vote at a meeting of Shareholders whether such meeting is to be held at a designated place or solely by means of remote communications. In connection with any such meeting, the Fund shall implement such measures as the Directors deem to be reasonable to verify that each person deemed present and permitted to vote at the meeting by means of remote communications is a Shareholder or proxyholder and to provide such Shareholders and proxyholders a reasonable opportunity to participate in the meeting and to vote on matters submitted to the Shareholders, including an opportunity to read or hear the proceedings of the meeting substantially concurrently with such proceedings. If any Shareholder or proxyholder votes or takes other action at the meeting by means of remote communications, a record of such vote or other action shall be maintained by the Fund.
Exhibit 10(a)
CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
We hereby consent to the incorporation by reference in this Registration Statement on Form N-1A of BlackRock FundsSM of our report dated September 22, 2020, relating to the financial statements and financial highlights, which appears in iShares Russell Mid-Cap Index Funds Annual Report on Form N-CSR for the year ended July 31, 2020. We also consent to the references to us under the headings Financial Highlights, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm and Financial Statements in such Registration Statement.
/s/PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
November 23, 2020
Exhibit 14(a)
BLACKROCK FUNDSSM
(the Fund)
AMENDED AND RESTATED PLAN PURSUANT TO RULE 18f-3 FOR OPERATION
OF
A MULTI-CLASS DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
I. INTRODUCTION
On February 23, 1995, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) promulgated Rule 18f-3 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), which permits the creation and operation of a multi-class distribution system without the need to obtain an exemptive order under Section 18 of the 1940 Act. Rule 18f-3, which became effective on April 3, 1995, requires an investment company to file with the Commission a written plan specifying all of the differences among the classes, including the various services offered to shareholders, the different distribution arrangements for each class, the methods for allocating expenses relating to those differences and any conversion features or exchange privileges. Previously, the Fund operated a multi-class distribution system pursuant to an exemptive order granted by the Commission on August 9, 1994. On September 29, 1995, the Board of Trustees of the Fund authorized the Fund to operate its current multi-class distribution system in compliance with Rule 18f-3. This Plan pursuant to Rule 18f-3 became effective on October 6, 1995 when it was filed with the Commission, was amended and restated as of February 13, 1997, May 1, 1998, August 11, 1999, June 21, 2004, September 10, 2004, May 16, 2006, September 21, 2012, September 1, 2015, February 23, 2017, June 29, 2017, September 27, 2017, May 17, 2018, November 8, 2018, November 29, 2018, February 20, 2019, May 15, 2019, June 22, 2020 and September 24, 2020 and is hereby amended and restated as of November 23, 2020.
II. ATTRIBUTES OF CLASSES
A. Generally
Each investment portfolio of the Fund (each, a Portfolio and collectively, the Portfolios) may offer eleven classes of shares: Investor A Shares; Investor C Shares; Investor P Shares; Service Shares; Institutional Shares; Direct Shares; Premier Shares; BlackRock Shares; Class R Shares; Class K Shares; and Mischler Financial Group Shares.
In general, shares of each class shall be identical except for different expense variables (which will result in different yields or total returns for each class), certain related rights and certain shareholder services. More particularly, Investor A Shares, Investor C Shares, Investor P Shares, Service Shares, Institutional Shares, Direct Shares, Premier Shares, BlackRock Shares, Class R Shares, Class K Shares and Mischler Financial Group Shares of each Portfolio shall represent equal pro rata interests in the assets of the particular Portfolio, and shall be identical in all respects, except for: (a) the impact of (i) distribution and shareholder servicing expenses under the Funds Amended and Restated Distribution and Service Plan assessed to each particular share class; (ii) transfer agency and certain administration expenses assessed from time to time to particular share classes; and (iii) any other expenses identified from time to time that should be properly allocated to each particular share class so long as any changes in expense allocations are reviewed and approved by a vote of the Funds Board of Trustees, including a majority of the non-interested trustees; (b) the fact that each class shall vote separately on any matter submitted to shareholders that pertains to (i) the Funds Amended and Restated Distribution and Service Plan applicable to such class and (ii) the class expenses borne by such class; (c) the exchange privileges and/or conversion features of each class of shares; (d) the sales charge(s) applicable to certain classes of shares; (e) the designation of each class of shares of a Portfolio; and (f) the different shareholder services relating to each class of shares.
B. Sales Charges; Distribution Arrangements; Other Expenses
Investor A Shares
Investor A Shares shall be available for purchase through securities brokers, dealers or financial institutions or through the Funds transfer agent, subject to restrictions described in the applicable prospectus.
Investor A Shares of the Funds non-index fund equity portfolios and bond portfolios (the Non-Index Equity and Bond Portfolios) generally shall be subject to a front-end sales charge at the rates (and subject to the reductions and exemptions) described in the applicable prospectus. When the aggregate offering price of Investor A Shares of the Non-Index Equity and Bond Portfolios purchased by an investor qualifies the investor to purchase such shares without paying a front-end sales charge, a contingent deferred sales charge may be imposed at the rates (and subject to the reductions and exemptions) described in the prospectus. Investor A Shares of the Funds money market portfolios, BlackRock Short Obligations Fund and index funds (the Index Funds and Money Market Portfolios), if any, shall not be subject to a sales charge.
Investor A Shares of a Portfolio shall bear the expense of distribution and shareholder servicing fees described in the prospectus, if any.
Distribution fees shall be payable to the Funds distributor and/or to BlackRock Advisors, LLC or its affiliates (collectively, BlackRock) primarily: (i) to compensate the distributor for distribution and sales support services and to reimburse the distributor for related expenses, including payments to brokers, dealers, other financial institutions or other industry professionals (collectively, Selling Agents) for sales support services; and (ii) to compensate BlackRock for sales support services and to reimburse BlackRock for related expenses, including payments to Selling Agents for sales support services. The Funds distributor, BlackRock and other parties may each make payments without limitation as to amount in connection with distribution or sales support activities relating to Investor A Shares out of its past profits or any additional sources (other than distribution fees) which are available to it.
Shareholder servicing fees shall be payable to brokers, dealers, other financial institutions or other industry professionals (including BlackRock) (collectively, Service Agents) for general shareholder liaison services.
Investor C Shares
Investor C Shares shall be available for purchase through securities brokers, dealers or financial institutions or through the Funds transfer agent, subject to restrictions described in the applicable prospectus. Investor C Shares are not available in accounts opened or held directly with a Portfolio that do not have a financial intermediary associated with the account. Investor C Shares of the Non-Index Equity and Bond Portfolios generally shall be subject to a contingent deferred sales charge at the rates (and subject to the reductions and exemptions) described in the applicable prospectus.
Investor C Shares of a Portfolio shall bear the expense of distribution and shareholder servicing fees described in the prospectus, if any.
Distribution fees shall be payable to the Funds distributor and/or to BlackRock primarily: (i) to compensate the distributor for distribution and sales support services and to reimburse the distributor for related expenses, including payments to Selling Agents for sales support services; and (ii) to compensate BlackRock for sales support services and to reimburse BlackRock for related expenses, including payments to Selling Agents for sales support services. The Funds distributor, BlackRock and other parties may each make payments without limitation as to amount in connection with distribution or sales support activities relating to Investor C Shares out of its past profits or any additional sources (other than distribution fees) which are available to it.
Shareholder servicing fees shall be payable to Service Agents for general shareholder liaison services.
2
Investor P Shares
Investor P Shares shall be available for purchase only through registered representatives of an insurance companys broker-dealer that has entered into an agreement with the Funds distributor to offer such shares, subject to restrictions described in the applicable prospectus.
Investor P Shares of the Funds Portfolios generally shall be subject to a front-end sales charge at the rates (and subject to the reductions and exemptions) described in the applicable prospectus. When the aggregate offering price of Investor P Shares of the Portfolios purchased by an investor qualifies the investor to purchase such shares without paying a front-end sales charge, a contingent deferred sales charge may be imposed at the rates (and subject to the reductions and exemptions) described in the prospectus.
Investor P Shares of a Portfolio shall bear the expense of distribution and shareholder servicing fees described in the prospectus, if any.
Distribution fees shall be payable to the Funds distributor and/or to BlackRock primarily: (i) to compensate the distributor for distribution and sales support services and to reimburse the distributor for related expenses, including payments to Selling Agents for sales support services; and (ii) to compensate BlackRock for sales support services and to reimburse BlackRock for related expenses, including payments to Selling Agents for sales support services. The Funds distributor, BlackRock and other parties may each make payments without limitation as to amount in connection with distribution or sales support activities relating to Investor P Shares out of its past profits or any additional sources (other than distribution fees) which are available to it.
Shareholder servicing fees shall be payable to Service Agents for general shareholder liaison services.
Service Shares
Service Shares shall be available for purchase by institutions which act on behalf of their customers maintaining accounts with such institutions and which provide their customers with certain shareholder services, subject to restrictions described in the applicable prospectus. Service Shares shall also be available to investors acquiring Service Shares in connection with certain business combinations (Direct Service Investors) and investors that participate in certain asset allocation programs described in the prospectus. Service Shares of a Portfolio shall not be subject to a sales charge.
Service Shares of a Portfolio shall bear the expense of shareholder servicing fees described in the prospectus, if any.
Shareholder servicing fees shall be payable to Service Agents for general shareholder liaison services.
The Funds distributor, BlackRock and other parties may each make payments without limitation as to amount in connection with distribution or sales support activities relating to Service Shares out of its past profits or any sources which are available to it.
Institutional Shares
Institutional Shares shall be available from the distributor for purchase by institutional investors, individuals and others meeting certain minimum investment and other requirements described in the applicable prospectus. Institutional Shares shall also be available for purchase through financial intermediaries that have entered into an agreement with the distributor to offer such shares on a platform that charges a transaction-based sales commission outside of a Portfolio. Institutional Shares shall not be subject to a sales charge or a separate fee payable pursuant to any distribution plan or shareholder servicing plan.
The Funds distributor, BlackRock and other parties may each make payments without limitation as to amount in connection with distribution or sales support activities relating to Institutional Shares out of its past profits or any sources which are available to it.
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Direct Shares
Direct Shares shall be available from the distributor for purchase by institutional investors, individuals and others meeting certain minimum investment and other requirements described in the applicable prospectus. Direct Shares shall not be subject to a sales charge or a separate fee payable pursuant to any distribution plan or shareholder servicing plan.
Premier Shares
Premier Shares shall be available for purchase by or through institutions which act on behalf of their customers maintaining accounts with such institutions and meeting certain minimum investment and other requirements described in the applicable prospectus. Premier Shares shall also be available for purchase through financial intermediaries that have entered into an agreement with the distributor to offer such shares on a platform that charges a transaction-based sales commission outside of a Portfolio. Only purchase and redemption orders for Premier Shares submitted through the NSCC Fund/SERV trading platform will be accepted by the relevant Portfolio (except in the event that the NSCC Fund/SERV trading platform is restricted or suspended due to service interruptions or otherwise). Premier Shares shall not be subject to a sales charge or a separate fee payable pursuant to any distribution plan or shareholder servicing plan.
The Funds distributor, BlackRock and other parties may each make payments without limitation as to amount in connection with distribution or sales support activities relating to Premier Shares out of its past profits or any sources which are available to it.
BlackRock Shares
BlackRock Shares shall be available from the distributor for purchase by institutional investors, individuals, registered investment advisers and others meeting certain minimum investment and other requirements described in the applicable prospectus. BlackRock Shares shall not be subject to a sales charge or a separate fee payable pursuant to any distribution plan.
BlackRock Shares of a Portfolio shall bear the expense of shareholder servicing fees described in the prospectus, if any.
Shareholder servicing fees shall be payable to Service Agents for general shareholder liaison services.
The Funds distributor, BlackRock and other parties may each make payments without limitation as to amount in connection with distribution or sales support activities relating to BlackRock Shares out of its past profits or any sources which are available to it.
Class R Shares
Class R Shares shall be available for purchase only through certain retirement plans, subject to restrictions described in the applicable prospectus. Class R Shares of a Portfolio shall not be subject to a sales charge.
Class R Shares of a Portfolio shall bear the expense of distribution and shareholder servicing fees described in the prospectus, if any.
Distribution fees shall be payable to the Funds distributor and/or to BlackRock primarily: (i) to compensate the distributor for distribution and sales support services and to reimburse the distributor for related expenses, including payments to Selling Agents for sales support services; and (ii) to compensate BlackRock for sales support services and to reimburse BlackRock for related expenses, including payments to Selling Agents for sales support services. The Funds distributor, BlackRock and other parties may each make payments without limitation as to amount in connection with distribution or sales support activities relating to Class R Shares out of its past profits or any additional sources (other than distribution fees) which are available to it.
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Shareholder servicing fees shall be payable to Service Agents for general shareholder liaison services.
Class K Shares
Class K Shares shall be available only to (i) certain employee benefit plans, such as health savings accounts, and certain employer-sponsored retirement plans (not including SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs and SARSEPs), (ii) collective trust funds, investment companies and other pooled investment vehicles, each of which may purchase shares of a Portfolio through a financial professional or selected securities dealer, broker, investment adviser, service provider or industry professional (including BlackRock and its affiliates) (each, a Financial Intermediary) that has entered into an agreement with the Funds distributor to purchase such shares, (iii) Institutional Investors, which include, but are not limited to, endowments, foundations, family offices, banks and bank trusts, local, city, and state governmental institutions, corporations and insurance company separate accounts, each of which may purchase shares of a Portfolio through a Financial Intermediary that has entered into an agreement with the Funds distributor to purchase such shares, (iv) clients of private banks that purchase shares of a Portfolio through a Financial Intermediary that has entered into an agreement with the Funds distributor to sell such shares, (v) fee-based advisory platforms of a Financial Intermediary that (a) has specifically acknowledged in a written agreement with the Funds distributor and/or its affiliate(s) that the Financial Intermediary shall offer such shares to fee-based advisory clients through an omnibus account held at a Portfolio or (b) transacts in a Portfolios shares through another intermediary that has executed such an agreement and (vi) any other investors who met the eligibility criteria for BlackRock Shares or Class K Shares prior to August 15, 2016 and have continually held Class K Shares of the Portfolio in the same account since August 15, 2016.
Class K Shares of a Portfolio are also available to employees, officers and directors/trustees of BlackRock, Inc. and of mutual funds sponsored and advised by BlackRock and immediate family members of such persons, if they open an account directly with BlackRock. Class K Shares are not subject to sales charges or distribution fees.
Mischler Financial Group Shares
Mischler Financial Group Shares shall be available from the distributor for purchase by institutional investors, individuals and others meeting certain minimum investment and other requirements described in the applicable prospectus who are clients of Mischler Financial Group or an affiliate thereof. Mischler Financial Group Shares shall not be subject to a sales charge or a separate fee payable pursuant to any distribution plan or shareholder servicing plan.
The Funds distributor, BlackRock and other parties may each make payments without limitation as to amount in connection with distribution or sales support activities relating to Mischler Financial Group Shares out of its past profits or any sources which are available to it.
Other Class-Specific Expenses
In addition to the class-specific expenses mentioned above, each class of shares shall bear the transfer agency expenses and class-specific administration expenses payable to the transfer agent and administrators for such share class under agreements approved by the Funds Board of Trustees from time to time.
C. Exchange Privileges
Investor A Shares
A holder of Investor A Shares in a Portfolio generally shall be permitted to exchange such shares for Investor A Shares of any other Portfolio of the family of funds advised by BlackRock or its affiliates (each such fund, a BlackRock Fund) at the net asset value of such shares next determined after the transfer agents receipt of a request for an exchange, plus any applicable sales charge, subject to the restrictions described in the applicable prospectus.
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Investor C Shares
A holder of Investor C Shares of a Portfolio generally shall be permitted to exchange such shares for Investor C Shares of any other Portfolio of the BlackRock Fund family at the net asset value of such shares next determined after the transfer agents receipt of a request for an exchange, subject to the restrictions described in the applicable prospectus.
Investor P Shares
A holder of Investor P Shares in a Portfolio generally shall be permitted to exchange such shares for Investor P Shares of any other BlackRock Fund, to the extent such shares are offered by the holders financial intermediary, at the net asset value of such shares next determined after the transfer agents receipt of a request for an exchange, plus any applicable sales charge, subject to the restrictions described in the applicable prospectus.
Service Shares
Unless a holder is a Direct Service Investor, a holder of Service Shares in a Portfolio generally shall be permitted to exchange such shares for Service Shares of any other Portfolio of the BlackRock Fund family at the net asset value of such shares next determined after the transfer agents receipt of a request for an exchange, subject to the restrictions described in the applicable prospectus. To the extent permitted from time to time by the Fund, at the election of Direct Service Investors, Service Shares of a Portfolio may be exchanged for Investor A Shares of the same Portfolio on the basis of the net asset values of each class of shares next determined after the transfer agents receipt of an exchange request, subject to the restrictions described in the applicable prospectus. Except as stated above, Direct Service Investors shall have no exchange privileges.
Institutional Shares
A holder of Institutional Shares in a Portfolio generally shall be permitted to exchange such shares for Institutional Shares of any other Portfolio of the BlackRock Fund family at the net asset value of such shares next determined after the transfer agents receipt of a request for an exchange, subject to the restrictions described in the applicable prospectus.
Class K Shares
A holder of Class K Shares in a Portfolio generally shall be permitted to exchange his shares for Class K Shares of any other Portfolio of the BlackRock Fund family at the net asset value of such shares next determined after the transfer agents receipt of a request for an exchange, subject to the restrictions described in the prospectus.
Direct Shares, Premier Shares, BlackRock Shares, Class R Shares and Mischler Financial Group Shares
The Fund shall not offer Direct Shares, Premier Shares, BlackRock Shares, Class R Shares or Mischler Financial Group Shares with an exchange privilege.
D. Conversion Features
Investor A Shares, Investor P Shares, Service Shares, Institutional Shares, Direct Shares, Premier Shares, BlackRock Shares, Class R Shares, and Class K Shares
The Fund shall not offer Investor A Shares, Investor P Shares, Service Shares, Institutional Shares, Direct Shares, Premier Shares, BlackRock Shares, Class R Shares or Class K Shares with a conversion feature.
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Investor C Shares
Approximately eight years after purchase, Investor C Shares of a Portfolio will convert automatically into Investor A Shares of such Portfolio (the Investor C 8-Year Conversion). It is the financial intermediarys responsibility to ensure that the shareholder is credited with the proper holding period. As of November 23, 2020 (the Effective Date), certain financial intermediaries, including group retirement recordkeeping platforms, may not have been tracking such holding periods and therefore may not be able to process such conversions. In such instances, Investor C Shares held as of the Effective Date will automatically convert to Investor A Shares approximately eight years after the Effective Date.
In addition, accounts that do not have a financial intermediary associated with them are not eligible to hold Investor C Shares, and any Investor C Shares held in such accounts will be automatically converted to Investor A Shares (the Investor C Direct Accounts Conversion and together with the Investor C 8-Year Conversion, the Investor C Conversions).
The Investor C Conversions will occur on the basis of the relative net asset value of the shares of the two applicable classes on the conversion date, without the imposition of any sales load, fee or other charge. Shares acquired through reinvestment of dividends on Investor C Shares will also convert automatically to Investor A Shares.
Mischler Financial Group Shares
Accounts of clients that are not clients of Mischler Financial Group or an affiliate thereof are not eligible to hold Mischler Financial Group Shares, and any Mischler Financial Group Shares known to the Fund to be held in such accounts will be converted to Institutional Shares (the Mischler Financial Group Direct Accounts Conversion).
The Mischler Financial Group Direct Accounts Conversion will occur on the basis of the relative net asset value of the shares of the two applicable classes on the conversion date, without the imposition of any sales load, fee or other charge. Shares acquired through reinvestment of dividends on Mischler Financial Group Shares will also convert to Institutional Shares.
E. Shareholder Services
1. Systematic Withdrawal Program
The Fund shall offer a systematic withdrawal program, subject to the restrictions described in the prospectus, whereby, in general: (i) investors may arrange to have Investor A Shares, Investor C Shares or Investor P Shares redeemed automatically; and (ii) Direct Service Investors may arrange to have Service Shares redeemed automatically.
The Fund shall not offer a systematic withdrawal program to investors in Institutional Shares, Direct Shares, Mischler Financial Group Shares, Premier Shares, BlackRock Shares, Class R Shares or Class K Shares or to investors in Service Shares who are not Direct Service Investors.
2. Automatic Investing Program
The Fund shall offer an automatic investing program, subject to the restrictions described in the applicable prospectus, whereby, in general: (i) an investor may arrange to have Investor A Shares, Investor C Shares or Investor P Shares purchased automatically by authorizing the Funds transfer agent to withdraw funds from the investors bank account; and (ii) a Direct Service Investor may arrange to have Service Shares purchased automatically by authorizing the Funds transfer agent to withdraw funds from the Direct Service Investors bank account.
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The Fund shall not offer the automatic investing program to investors in Institutional Shares, Direct Shares, Mischler Financial Group Shares, Premier Shares, BlackRock Shares, Class R Shares or Class K Shares or to investors in Service Shares who are not Direct Service Investors.
3. Systematic Exchange Program
The Fund shall offer a systematic exchange program, subject to the restrictions described in the applicable prospectus, whereby, in general, an investor may arrange to have Investor A Shares, Investor C Shares or Investor P Shares exchanged automatically from one Portfolio to up to four other Portfolios.
The Fund shall not offer the systematic exchange program to investors in Service Shares, Institutional Shares, Direct Shares, Mischler Financial Group Shares, Premier Shares, BlackRock Shares, Class R Shares or Class K Shares.
4. Dividend Allocation Plan
The Fund shall offer a dividend allocation plan, subject to the restrictions described in the applicable prospectus, whereby, in general, an investor may arrange to have dividends and distributions on such Investor A Shares, Investor C Shares or Investor P Shares of one Portfolio automatically invested in another Portfolio.
The Fund shall not offer the dividend allocation plan to investors in Service Shares, Institutional Shares, Direct Shares, Mischler Financial Group Shares, Premier Shares, BlackRock Shares, Class R Shares or Class K Shares.
F. Methodology for Allocating Expenses Among Classes
Class-specific expenses of a Portfolio shall be allocated to the specific class of shares of that Portfolio. Non-class-specific expenses of a Portfolio shall be allocated in accordance with Rule 18f-3(c).
G. Voting Rights
Each class of shares has exclusive voting rights on any matter submitted to shareholders that relates solely to its account maintenance/service fees or ongoing distribution fees, as may be applicable, except that Investor C shareholders may vote on certain changes to the ongoing fees paid by Investor A Shares. Each class of shares shall have separate voting rights on any matter submitted to shareholders in which the interests of one class of shares differ from the interests of any other class of shares.
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