Form 485BPOS
June 29, 2026
 
 
Prospectus
iShares Trust
iShares Broad USD Floating Rate Loan ETF | USLN | Cboe BZX
iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF | IMTB | NYSE Arca
iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF | ILTB | NYSE Arca
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF | AGG | NYSE Arca
iShares ESG Advanced Universal USD Bond ETF | EUSB | NYSE Arca
iShares ESG Aware U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF | EAGG | NYSE Arca
iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF | GBF | NYSE Arca
iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF | GVI | Cboe BZX
iShares Total USD Fixed Income Market ETF | BTOT | NYSE Arca

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.


Table of Contents
Fund Summaries
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iSHARES® BROAD USD FLOATING RATE LOAN ETF
USLN | Cboe BZX
Investment Objective
The iShares Broad USD Floating Rate Loan ETF (the Fund) seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated leveraged loans.
Fees and Expenses
The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. Amounts in the table are rounded to the nearest basis point, which in some cases may be 0.00. The investment advisory agreement between iShares Trust (the Trust) and BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA) (the Investment Advisory Agreement) provides that BFA will pay all operating expenses of the Fund, except: (i) the management fees, (ii) interest expenses, (iii) taxes, (iv) expenses incurred with respect to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities and the execution of portfolio transactions, including brokerage commissions, (v) distribution fees or expenses, and (vi) litigation expenses and any extraordinary expenses.
The Fund may incur Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses. Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses reflect the Fund’s pro rata share of the fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the Fund as a result of investing in other investment companies. The impact of Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses is included in the Fund’s total return but is not included in the Fund’s ratio of expenses to average net assets. Both figures are shown in the Financial Highlights section of the Fund’s prospectus (the Prospectus).  BFA, the investment adviser to the Fund, has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees in an amount equal to the aggregate Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any, attributable to investments by the Fund in other funds advised by BFA, or its affiliates, through June 28, 2030. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to June 28, 2030 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)1
Management Fee
0.40
%
Other Expenses2
0.00
%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses2
0.03
%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.43
%
Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement
(0.03
)%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement
0.40
%

1Operating expenses paid by BFA under the Investment Advisory Agreement exclude Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any.
2Based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.
Example. This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of owning shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
Expense Example
1 Year
3 Years
Example Fund Costs
$41
$128
Portfolio Turnover. The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or turns over its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. Because the Fund’s inception date (March 3, 2026) is after the most recent fiscal year end, there is no reportable turnover.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Morningstar LSTA US Leveraged Loan Broad Select Index (the Underlying Index), which was developed by Morningstar, Inc. (Morningstar or the Index Provider). The Underlying Index is a market value-weighted index designed to measure the performance of a subset of the U.S. dollar-denominated, senior secured institutional floating rate loan market.
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 Floating rate loans, which are also known as leveraged loans or bank loans, provide for periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the loan and are typically senior secured, below-investment grade instruments. These loans are characterized by higher interest rates due to the increased risk associated with lending to borrowers with higher debt levels. They are often used for refinancing debt, merger and acquisitions funding, or recapitalization. Such loans typically are secured by collateral such as borrowers’ property, equipment or intellectual property. Borrowers of floating rate loans operate in various industries and geographic areas, including non-U.S. jurisdictions.
 To be eligible for inclusion in the Underlying Index, a loan must be a USD-denominated institutional first lien loan with (i) a par amount outstanding of at least $1 billion, (ii) at least 18 months to final maturity and (iii) a rating of BB+ or lower by S&P Global Ratings. Defaulted, D-rated, non-rated and payment in kind loans are excluded. Eligible loans must have at least 125 basis points of spread above the base rate, which the Index Provider defines as the average of the 30-day rolling average of 1-month CME Term SOFR and the 90-day rolling average of 3-month CME Term SOFR.
 All loans in the Underlying Index must be syndicated in the United States, but issuers may be domiciled or operate outside the U.S. Constituent weights are subject to a 2% issuer cap.
 The Underlying Index is reconstituted and rebalanced weekly. Existing constituents with less than 12 months remaining to final maturity or a par amount outstanding of less than $900 million are removed at each rebalance and reconstitution. Loans that default, are downgraded to a D rating, are repaid or are no longer priced are removed at the next rebalance.
 The Fund generally purchases loans from banks or other financial institutions through an assignment, in which the existing lender transfers its rights, interests and obligations in the assigned loan to the Fund. The Fund also generally sells loans that it holds through an assignment. In addition, the Fund may acquire or sell an interest in a loan through a participation, which involves buying or selling a portion of a loan from another lender.
 As of February 28, 2026, there were 496 issues in the Underlying Index. As of February 28, 2026, a significant portion of the Underlying Index was represented by loans to companies in the consumer goods and services, industrials and technology industries or sectors. The components of the Underlying Index are likely to change over time.
BFA uses an indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund does not try to beat the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Underlying Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy to manage the Fund. Representative sampling is an indexing strategy that involves investing in a representative sample of securities or other instruments that collectively has an investment profile similar to that of an applicable underlying index. The instruments selected are expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as market value and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability, duration (i.e., an instrument's price sensitivity to a change in interest rates), maturity or credit ratings and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of an applicable underlying index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the components of the Underlying Index.
The Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in the components of the Underlying Index. The Fund may hold loans that have not yet entered the Underlying Index or that have been removed from the Underlying Index. For liquidity purposes, the Fund may invest in other types of instruments, including high-yield securities, derivatives (including interest rate futures and swaps), ETFs, short-term government notes, repurchase agreements, commercial paper, non-index loans, high-quality collateralized loan obligations and cash. The Fund may also hold interest rate swaps or other derivatives for hedging purposes. Cash and cash equivalent investments associated with a derivative position will be treated as part of that position for the purposes of calculating the percentage of investments included in the Underlying Index. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Underlying Index before fees and expenses of the Fund.
 The Fund may acquire and hold common stocks, warrants or other equity securities (or rights to acquire such securities or warrants) in unit offerings with fixed income securities, in connection with an amendment, waiver, conversion or exchange of fixed income securities, in connection with the bankruptcy or workout of a distressed fixed income security, or upon the exercise of a right or warrant obtained on account of a fixed income security.
The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund's total assets (including the value of any collateral received).
The Underlying Index is sponsored by Morningstar, which isindependent of the Fund and BFA. The Index Provider determines the composition and relative weightings of the loans in the Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index.
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Industry Concentration Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities, and securities of state or municipal governments and their political subdivisions are not considered to be issued by members of any industry.
Summary of Principal Risks
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund's performance could trail that of other investments. The Fund is subject to certain risks, including the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund's net asset value per share (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective. Certain key risks are prioritized below (with others following in alphabetical order), but the relative significance of any risk is difficult to predict and may change over time. You should review each risk factor carefully.
Leveraged Loans Risk. Like other high yield debt instruments, leveraged loans are subject to increased risk of default in the payment of principal and interest. Some leveraged loans are not as easily purchased or sold as publicly traded securities, and others are illiquid, which may make it more difficult for the Fund to value them or dispose of them at an acceptable price. The customary form of new and/or restructured leveraged loans is known as covenant lite loans, which include contractual provisions that are more favorable to borrowers and offer less protection for lenders such as the Fund. Consequently, the Fund could experience relatively greater difficulty or delays in enforcing its rights on its holdings of covenant lite loans than its holdings of loans with financial maintenance covenants, which may result in losses. The settlement period for some leveraged loans may be more than seven days.
There is less readily available, reliable information about most senior loans than is the case for many other types of securities. No active trading market may exist for certain senior loans, which may impair the ability of the Fund to realize full value in the event of the need to sell a loan and which may make it difficult to value a loan.
An economic downturn generally leads to a higher non-payment rate for loans, and a loan may lose significant value before a default occurs. Although leveraged loans generally are secured by specific collateral, such collateral may decline in value or become illiquid, which would adversely affect the loan’s value. There can be no assurance that the liquidation of such collateral would satisfy the borrower’s obligation in the event of non-payment of scheduled interest or principal or that such collateral could be readily liquidated. To the extent that a loan is collateralized by stock in the borrower or its subsidiaries, such stock may lose all of its value in the event of the borrower’s bankruptcy. Senior loans are subject to the risk that a court could subordinate such loans to presently existing or future indebtedness or take other action detrimental to the holders of such loans.
High Yield Securities Risk. Debt securities that are rated below investment grade (commonly referred to as junk bonds) and debt securities that are unrated are generally considered to be speculative. Compared to higher-quality debt securities, high yield securities are subject to a greater risk of default, illiquidity, price volatility and valuation uncertainty. Such investments may be subject to additional risks including subordination to other creditors, no collateral or limited rights in collateral, lack of a regular trading market, prepayment risk, and lack of publicly available information.
Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate risk refers to the risk of fluctuations in the value of a fixed-income security due to changes in the general level of interest rates. Interest rate changes can be sudden and unpredictable and are influenced by a number of factors, including government policy, monetary policy, inflation expectations, perceptions of risk, and supply and demand for fixed-income securities. An increase in interest rates generally will cause the value of fixed-income securities to decline. Securities with longer maturities generally are more sensitive to interest rate changes and subject to greater fluctuations in value. Changes in interest rates may have unpredictable effects on fixed-income markets and result in heightened volatility and lower liquidity for certain instruments, which may adversely affect a Fund’s performance. During periods of very low or negative interest rates, a Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns or pay dividends to shareholders.
Market Risk. The Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, pandemics or other public health issues, recessions, the prospect or occurrence of a sovereign default or other financial crisis, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments and could result in increased premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV.
Index-Related Risk. The Index Provider may rely on various sources of information to assess the criteria of components of the Underlying Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor BFA can offer assurances that the Index Provider’s methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included components or will result in the Fund meeting its investment objective. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology may occur, and the Index Provider may not identify or correct them promptly or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Unusual market conditions or other unforeseen circumstances (such as natural disasters, political unrest or war) may impact the Index
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Provider or a third-party data provider and could cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance. This could cause the Underlying Index to vary from its normal or expected composition.
Asset Class Risk. The securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to financial markets generally, a particular financial market, another index, or other asset classes.
Assets Under Management (AUM) Risk. From time to time, an Authorized Participant (as defined below in Authorized Participant Concentration Risk), a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser, an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, or another fund may invest in the Fund and hold its investment for a specific period of time to allow the Fund to achieve size or scale. There can be no assurance that any such entity would not redeem its investment or that the size of the Fund would be maintained at such levels, which could negatively impact the Fund.
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. An Authorized Participant is a member or participant of a clearing agency registered with the SEC, which has a written agreement with the Fund or one of its service providers that allows the Authorized Participant to place orders for the purchase and redemption of creation units (Creation Units). Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. There are a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants for the Fund, including on an agency basis on behalf of other market participants. No Authorized Participant is obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or do not place creation or redemption orders for the Fund and no other Authorized Participant places orders, Fund shares are more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting.
Call Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of a callable debt obligation held by the Fund may call or repay the debt obligation before its stated maturity, and the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds in instruments with lower yields, which would result in a decline in the Fund's income, or in instruments with greater risks or with other less favorable features.
Concentration Risk. The Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in the securities or other assets of one or more issuers, countries or other geographic units, markets, industries, project types, or asset classes.
Consumer Goods and Services Companies Risk. Consumer goods and services companies face risks related to changes in consumer preferences and disposable income, commodity prices, government regulation, supply chain disruptions, damage to brand or reputation, economic slowdown and labor shortages, among other things.
Credit Risk. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer, guarantor or liquidity provider of a fixed-income security may be unable or unwilling, or may be perceived as unable or unwilling, to make timely principal and/or interest payments or to otherwise honor its obligations. The credit rating assigned to a security or its issuer does not necessarily reflect the issuer’s current financial condition or an investment’s volatility or liquidity. An actual or perceived decline in an issuer’s creditworthiness may result in a decrease in the value and liquidity of its securities as well as greater price volatility, which may make it difficult to sell the securities. The Fund may be adversely affected if an investment that it holds experiences a downgrade or a default.
Extension Risk. During periods of rising interest rates, certain debt obligations may be paid off substantially more slowly than originally anticipated and the value of those debt obligations may fall sharply, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income and potentially in the value of the Fund’s investments.
Floating Rate Securities Risk. Securities with floating or variable interest rates can be less sensitive to interest rate changes than securities with fixed interest rates, but may decline in value if their coupon rates do not reset as high, or as quickly, as comparable market interest rates, and generally carry lower yields than fixed securities of the same maturity. Although floating rate securities are less sensitive to interest rate risk than fixed-rate securities, they are subject to credit risk and default risk, which could impair their value.
Income Risk. The Fund’s income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors. This can occur because the Fund may be required to invest in lower-yielding bonds when a bond in the Fund’s portfolio matures, is near maturity, is called or is prepaid, when bonds in the Underlying Index are substituted, or when the Fund otherwise needs to purchase additional bonds. The Index Provider’s substitution of bonds in the Underlying Index may occur, for example, when the time to maturity for the bond no longer matches the Underlying Index’s stated maturity guidelines.
Industrial Companies Risk. Industrial companies face a number of risks, including supply chain and distribution disruptions, business interruptions, product obsolescence, third-party vendor risks, cyber attacks, trade disputes, product recalls, liability claims, scarcity of materials or parts, excess capacity, changes in consumer preferences, and volatility in commodity prices and currencies. The performance of such companies may also be affected by technological developments, labor relations, legislative and regulatory changes, government spending policies, and changes in domestic and international economies.
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Issuer Risk. The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of individual securities or other assets to which the Fund has exposure. The value of securities or other assets may decline, or perform differently from the market as a whole, due to changes in the financial condition or credit rating of the issuer or counterparty.
Large Shareholder and Large-Scale Redemption Risk. Certain shareholders of the Fund, including an Authorized Participant, a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser, an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, a market maker, or another entity, may from time to time own or manage a substantial amount of Fund shares, or may hold their investment in the Fund for a limited period of time. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder or large group of shareholders would not redeem their investment. Redemptions of a large number of Fund shares could require the Fund to dispose of assets to meet the redemption requests, which can accelerate the realization of taxable income and/or capital gains and cause the Fund to make taxable distributions to its shareholders earlier than the Fund otherwise would have. In addition, under certain circumstances, non-redeeming shareholders may be treated as receiving a disproportionately large taxable distribution during or with respect to such year. In some circumstances, the Fund may hold a relatively large proportion of its assets in cash in anticipation of large redemptions, diluting its investment returns. These large redemptions may also force the Fund to sell portfolio securities or other assets when it might not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV, increase the Fund’s brokerage costs and/or have a material effect on the market price of Fund shares.
Management Risk. The Fund generally does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. As the Fund will not fully replicate the Underlying Index and may hold securities or other assets not included in the Underlying Index, it is subject to the risk that the investment strategy of BFA may not produce the intended results. 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 Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares (including through a trading halt), losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility, and disruptions in the process of creating and redeeming Fund shares. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading in the secondary market at a premium or discount to NAV or to the intraday value of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. If you buy Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to NAV or sell Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to NAV, you may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the Fund shares.
Operational and Technology Risks. The Fund is directly and indirectly susceptible to operational and technology risks, including those related to human errors, processing errors, communication errors, systems failures, cybersecurity incidents, and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI), which may result in losses for the Fund and its shareholders or may impair the Fund’s operations. While the Fund’s service providers are required to have appropriate operational, information security and cybersecurity risk management policies and procedures, their methods of risk management may differ from those of the Fund. Operational and technology risks for the issuers in which the Fund invests could also result in material adverse consequences for such issuers and may cause the Fund’s investments in such issuers to lose value.
Prepayment Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, issuers of certain debt obligations may repay principal prior to the debt obligation’s maturity, which may cause the Fund to have to reinvest in instruments with lower yields or a higher risk of default, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income or return potential.
Risk of Investing in the U.S. Investing in U.S. issuers subjects the Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks that are specific to the U.S. Certain changes in the U.S., such as a weakening of the U.S. economy or a decline in its financial markets, may have an adverse effect on U.S. issuers.
Securities Lending Risk. The Fund may engage in securities lending. Securities lending involves the risk that the Fund may lose money because the borrower of the loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. The Fund could also lose money in the event of a decline in the value of collateral provided for loaned securities or a decline in the value of any investments made with cash collateral. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund.
Small Fund Risk. When the Fund’s size is small, the Fund may experience low trading volume and wide bid/ask spreads. The Fund’s performance near its inception date may not represent how the Fund will perform in the future or with a larger asset base. A Fund that holds fixed-income securities may buy smaller-sized bonds known as odd lots, which may be purchased or sold at a discount to similar round lot bonds. The prices used by the Fund may differ from the value that would be realized if these securities were sold, and the impact of such pricing differences on a Fund’s performance may be heightened when the Fund’s size is small. In addition, the Fund may face the risk of being delisted if it does not meet certain requirements set by the listing exchange. Any resulting liquidation of the Fund could lead to elevated transaction costs for the Fund and negative tax consequences for its shareholders.
Technology Companies Risk. Technology companies and companies that rely heavily on technological advances may have limited product lines, markets, financial resources, supply chains and personnel. These companies typically face intense competition, potentially rapid product obsolescence and changes in product cycles and customer preferences. They may face
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unexpected risks and costs associated with technological developments, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. Technology companies also depend heavily on intellectual property rights and may be adversely affected by the loss or impairment of those rights. Technology companies may face increased government scrutiny and may be subject to adverse government or legal action.
Tracking Error Risk. The Fund may be subject to tracking error, which is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the Underlying Index. Tracking error may occur due to a number of factors, including differences between the securities and other assets held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index; differences in the timing and methodologies used to value securities and other assets; transaction costs and other expenses incurred by the Fund that the Underlying Index does not incur; the Fund’s holding of uninvested cash; differences in the timing of the accrual or the valuation of dividends or interest received by the Fund or distributions paid to Fund shareholders; tax gains or losses; differences between the amount and/or timing of withholding taxes on dividends reflected in the Underlying Index from the Fund’s obligation, if any, for foreign withholding taxes; the requirements for the Fund to maintain pass-through tax treatment; portfolio transactions carried out to minimize the distribution of capital gains to shareholders; the acceptance of custom baskets; changes to the Underlying Index; and impacts to the Fund of complying with certain regulatory requirements or limits. Tracking error risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Until the Fund reaches greater scale, it may experience higher tracking error than is typical for similar index ETFs.
U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk. U.S. Treasury obligations may differ from other securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics and may provide relatively lower returns than those of other securities. Changes in the U.S. government’s financial condition or credit rating may cause the value of U.S. Treasury obligations to decline. Direct obligations of the U.S. Treasury have historically involved little risk of loss of principal if held to maturity, but the market value of such securities is not guaranteed and may fluctuate. Although U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, circumstances could arise that could prevent the timely payment of interest or principal.
Valuation Risk. The price that the Fund could receive upon the sale (or other disposition) of a security or other asset may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security or other asset, particularly for securities or other assets that trade in low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology. The price received by the Fund also may differ from the value used by the Underlying Index. In addition, the value of the securities or other assets in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days or during time periods when investors are not able to purchase or sell Fund shares. Authorized Participants that create or redeem Fund shares on days when the Fund is holding fair-valued securities or other assets may receive fewer or more shares, or lower or higher redemption proceeds, than they would have received had the securities or other assets not been fair valued or been valued using a different methodology. The ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
Performance Information
As of the date of this Prospectus, the Fund does not have a full calendar year of performance information to report.
Management
Investment Adviser. BlackRock Fund Advisors.
Portfolio Managers. The following individuals (the Portfolio Managers) are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund:
Portfolio Manager
Portfolio Manager of the Fund Since
Title with Investment Adviser
Jonathan Graves
2026
Managing Director
James Mauro
2026
Managing Director
Marcus Tom
2026
Director
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund is an exchange-traded fund (commonly referred to as an ETF). Individual shares of the Fund may only be bought and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer. Because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the bid-ask spread).
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Tax Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account (IRA), in which case, your distributions generally will be taxed when withdrawn. Certain states and localities may exempt from tax distributions attributable to interest from U.S. federal government obligations.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), BFA or other related companies may pay the intermediary for marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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iSHARES® CORE 5-10 YEAR USD BOND ETF
IMTB | NYSE Arca
Investment Objective
The iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF (the Fund) seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds that are rated either investment-grade or high yield with remaining effective maturities between five and ten years.
Fees and Expenses
The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. Amounts in the table are rounded to the nearest basis point, which in some cases may be 0.00. The investment advisory agreement between iShares Trust (the Trust) and BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA) (the Investment Advisory Agreement) provides that BFA will pay all operating expenses of the Fund, except: (i) the management fees, (ii) interest expenses, (iii) taxes, (iv) expenses incurred with respect to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities and the execution of portfolio transactions, including brokerage commissions, (v) distribution fees or expenses, and (vi) litigation expenses and any extraordinary expenses.
The Fund may incur Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses. Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses reflect the Fund’s pro rata share of the fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the Fund as a result of investing in other investment companies. The impact of Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses is included in the Fund’s total return but is not included in the Fund’s ratio of expenses to average net assets. Both figures are shown in the Financial Highlights section of the Fund’s prospectus (the “Prospectus”).  BFA, the investment adviser to the Fund, has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees in an amount equal to the Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any, attributable to investments by the Fund in other registered investment companies advised by BFA, or its affiliates, through February 28, 2031. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to February 28, 2031 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)1
Management Fee
0.06
%
Other Expenses
0.00
%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses
0.01
%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.07
%
Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement
(0.01
)%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement
0.06
%

1Operating expenses paid by BFA under the Investment Advisory Agreement exclude Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any.
Example. This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of owning shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
Expense Example
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Example Fund Costs
$6
$19
$34
$85
Portfolio Turnover. The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 265% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg U.S. Universal 5-10 Year Index (the Underlying Index), which measures the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated taxable bonds that are rated either investment-grade or high yield (as determined by Bloomberg Index Services Limited (the Index Provider or Bloomberg)) with remaining effective maturities between five and ten years. The Underlying Index includes U.S. Treasury bonds, government-related bonds (i.e., U.S. and non-U.S. agencies, sovereign, quasi-sovereign, supranational and local authority debt), investment-grade and high yield U.S. corporate bonds, mortgage-backed pass-through securities (MBS), commercial mortgage-backed securities
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(CMBS), asset-backed securities (ABS), Eurodollar bonds (i.e., U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued by foreign issuers outside the U.S.), bonds registered with the SEC or exempt from registration at the time of issuance, or offered pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 1933 Act) with or without registration rights (Rule 144A Bonds) and emerging market bonds. The Underlying Index is a subset of the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index.
As of February 28, 2026, there were 6,003 issues in the Underlying Index. As of February 28, 2026, a significant portion of the Underlying Index was represented by MBS and U.S. Treasury securities. MBS eligible for the index include 20-year and 30-year mortgages because their effective duration has historically been more consistent with the duration of non-callable 5-10 year bonds due to prepayments. The components of the Underlying Index are likely to change over time. The securities in the Underlying Index must be denominated in U.S. dollars and non-convertible. Excluded from the Underlying Index are tax-exempt municipal securities, coupon issues that have been stripped from bonds, structured notes, private placements (excluding Rule 144A Bonds) and inflation-linked bonds.
BFA uses an indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund does not try to beat the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Underlying Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy to manage the Fund. Representative sampling is an indexing strategy that involves investing in a representative sample of securities or other instruments that collectively has an investment profile similar to that of an applicable underlying index. The instruments selected are expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as market value and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability, duration (i.e., an instrument's price sensitivity to a change in interest rates), maturity or credit ratings and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of an applicable underlying index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the components of the Underlying Index.
The Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the Underlying Index and to-be-announced transactions (TBAs) that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of the component securities of the Underlying Index, and the Fund will invest at least 90% of its assets in fixed income securities of the types included in the Underlying Index that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index.  The Fund will invest no more than 10% of its assets in futures, options and swaps contracts that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index as well as in fixed income securities other than the types included in the Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. Cash and cash equivalent investments associated with a TBA position will be treated as part of that position for purposes of calculating the percentage of investments in the component securities of the Underlying Index. Cash and cash equivalent investments associated with a derivative position will be treated as part of that position for the purposes of calculating the percentage of investments included in the Underlying Index. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Underlying Index before fees and expenses of the Fund.
The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund's total assets (including the value of any collateral received).
The Underlying Index is sponsored by Bloomberg, which isindependent of the Fund and BFA. The Index Provider determines the composition and relative weightings of the components of the Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index.
Industry Concentration Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities, and securities of state or municipal governments and their political subdivisions are not considered to be issued by members of any industry.
Summary of Principal Risks
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund's performance could trail that of other investments. The Fund is subject to certain risks, including the principal risks noted below any of which may adversely affect the Fund's net asset value per share (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective. Certain key risks are prioritized below (with others following in alphabetical order), but the relative significance of any risk is difficult to predict and may change over time. You should review each risk factor carefully.
Credit Risk. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer, guarantor or liquidity provider of a fixed-income security may be unable or unwilling, or may be perceived as unable or unwilling, to make timely principal and/or interest payments or to otherwise honor its obligations. The credit rating assigned to a security or its issuer does not necessarily reflect the issuer’s current financial
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condition or an investment’s volatility or liquidity. An actual or perceived decline in an issuer’s creditworthiness may result in a decrease in the value and liquidity of its securities as well as greater price volatility, which may make it difficult to sell the securities. The Fund may be adversely affected if an investment that it holds experiences a downgrade or a default.
Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate risk refers to the risk of fluctuations in the value of a fixed-income security due to changes in the general level of interest rates. Interest rate changes can be sudden and unpredictable and are influenced by a number of factors, including government policy, monetary policy, inflation expectations, perceptions of risk, and supply and demand for fixed-income securities. An increase in interest rates generally will cause the value of fixed-income securities to decline. Securities with longer maturities generally are more sensitive to interest rate changes and subject to greater fluctuations in value. Changes in interest rates may have unpredictable effects on fixed-income markets and result in heightened volatility and lower liquidity for certain instruments, which may adversely affect a Fund’s performance. During periods of very low or negative interest rates, a Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns or pay dividends to shareholders.
Market Risk. The Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, pandemics or other public health issues, recessions, the prospect or occurrence of a sovereign default or other financial crisis, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments and could result in increased premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV.
Index-Related Risk. The Index Provider may rely on various sources of information to assess the criteria of components of the Underlying Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor BFA can offer assurances that the Index Provider’s methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included components or will result in the Fund meeting its investment objective. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology may occur, and the Index Provider may not identify or correct them promptly or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Unusual market conditions or other unforeseen circumstances (such as natural disasters, political unrest or war) may impact the Index Provider or a third-party data provider and could cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance. This could cause the Underlying Index to vary from its normal or expected composition.
Asset Class Risk. The securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to financial markets generally, a particular financial market, another index, or other asset classes.
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. An Authorized Participant is a member or participant of a clearing agency registered with the SEC, which has a written agreement with the Fund or one of its service providers that allows the Authorized Participant to place orders for the purchase and redemption of creation units (Creation Units). Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. There are a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants for the Fund, including on an agency basis on behalf of other market participants. No Authorized Participant is obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or do not place creation or redemption orders for the Fund and no other Authorized Participant places orders, Fund shares are more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting.
Call Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of a callable debt obligation held by the Fund may call or repay the debt obligation before its stated maturity, and the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds in instruments with lower yields, which would result in a decline in the Fund's income, or in instruments with greater risks or with other less favorable features.
Concentration Risk. The Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in the securities or other assets of one or more issuers, countries or other geographic units, markets, industries, project types, or asset classes.
Extension Risk. During periods of rising interest rates, certain debt obligations may be paid off substantially more slowly than originally anticipated and the value of those debt obligations may fall sharply, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income and potentially in the value of the Fund’s investments.
High Portfolio Turnover Risk. High portfolio turnover is considered by the Fund to mean turnover of greater than 100% annually. Portfolio turnover (i.e., the sale of securities or other assets and reinvestment in other securities or assets) generally involves transaction costs to the Fund, including brokerage commissions, dealer mark-ups and other costs. In addition, the sale of securities by the Fund may result in the realization of taxable capital gains, including short-term capital gains. Higher portfolio turnover may cause the Fund to incur additional transaction costs, which have the effect of reducing the Fund’s investment return, and may result in different tax consequences for shareholders compared to a fund with lower portfolio turnover.
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Income Risk. The Fund’s income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors. This can occur because the Fund may be required to invest in lower-yielding bonds when a bond in the Fund’s portfolio matures, is near maturity, is called or is prepaid, when bonds in the Underlying Index are substituted, or when the Fund otherwise needs to purchase additional bonds. The Index Provider’s substitution of bonds in the Underlying Index may occur, for example, when the time to maturity for the bond no longer matches the Underlying Index’s stated maturity guidelines.
Issuer Risk. The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of individual securities or other assets to which the Fund has exposure. The value of securities or other assets may decline, or perform differently from the market as a whole, due to changes in the financial condition or credit rating of the issuer or counterparty.
Large Shareholder and Large-Scale Redemption Risk. Certain shareholders of the Fund, including an Authorized Participant, a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser, an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, a market maker, or another entity, may from time to time own or manage a substantial amount of Fund shares, or may hold their investment in the Fund for a limited period of time. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder or large group of shareholders would not redeem their investment. Redemptions of a large number of Fund shares could require the Fund to dispose of assets to meet the redemption requests, which can accelerate the realization of taxable income and/or capital gains and cause the Fund to make taxable distributions to its shareholders earlier than the Fund otherwise would have. In addition, under certain circumstances, non-redeeming shareholders may be treated as receiving a disproportionately large taxable distribution during or with respect to such year. In some circumstances, the Fund may hold a relatively large proportion of its assets in cash in anticipation of large redemptions, diluting its investment returns. These large redemptions may also force the Fund to sell portfolio securities or other assets when it might not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV, increase the Fund’s brokerage costs and/or have a material effect on the market price of Fund shares.
Management Risk. The Fund generally does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. As the Fund will not fully replicate the Underlying Index and may hold securities or other assets not included in the Underlying Index, it is subject to the risk that the investment strategy of BFA may not produce the intended results. 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 Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares (including through a trading halt), losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility, and disruptions in the process of creating and redeeming Fund shares. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading in the secondary market at a premium or discount to NAV or to the intraday value of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. If you buy Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to NAV or sell Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to NAV, you may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the Fund shares.
Operational and Technology Risks. The Fund is directly and indirectly susceptible to operational and technology risks, including those related to human errors, processing errors, communication errors, systems failures, cybersecurity incidents, and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI), which may result in losses for the Fund and its shareholders or may impair the Fund’s operations. While the Fund’s service providers are required to have appropriate operational, information security and cybersecurity risk management policies and procedures, their methods of risk management may differ from those of the Fund. Operational and technology risks for the issuers in which the Fund invests could also result in material adverse consequences for such issuers and may cause the Fund’s investments in such issuers to lose value.
Prepayment Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, issuers of certain debt obligations may repay principal prior to the debt obligation’s maturity, which may cause the Fund to have to reinvest in instruments with lower yields or a higher risk of default, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income or return potential.
Risk of Investing in China. Investments in Chinese securities, including certain Hong Kong-listed and U.S.-listed securities, are subject to risks specific to China. China may be subject to considerable degrees of economic, political and social instability. Despite economic and market reforms in recent decades, the Chinese government’s control over certain sectors and enterprises and significant regulation of investment and industry are still pervasive. Chinese companies are subject to the risk that Chinese authorities can intervene in their operations and structure. Chinese markets generally continue to experience inefficiency, a lack of publicly available information and/or political and social instability and may be subject to volatility and pricing anomalies resulting from governmental influence. Internal social unrest or confrontations with other countries, including military conflicts in response to such events, may disrupt China’s economy and markets and result in a greater risk of currency fluctuations, currency non-convertibility, interest rate fluctuations and higher inflation.
China has experienced security concerns, such as terrorism and strained international relations. Additionally, China is alleged to have participated in state-sponsored cyberattacks against foreign companies and foreign governments. Actual and threatened responses to such activity and strained international relations, including purchasing restrictions, sanctions, export controls, tariffs or cyberattacks on the Chinese government or Chinese companies, may impact China’s economy and
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Chinese issuers in which the Fund invests. Incidents involving China’s or the region’s security may adversely affect the Chinese economy and markets and the Fund’s investments.
The Chinese economy is highly reliant on trade. A reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, supply chain diversification, the institution of additional tariffs or other trade barriers (including as a result of heightened trade tensions or a trade war between China and the U.S. or in response to actual or alleged Chinese cyber activity) or a downturn in any of the economies of China’s key trading partners may have an adverse impact on the Chinese economy. The Underlying Index may include companies that are subject to economic or trade restrictions (but not investment restrictions) imposed by the U.S. or other governments due to national security, human rights or other concerns of such government. So long as these restrictions do not include restrictions on investments, the Fund is generally expected to invest in such companies, consistent with its objective to track the performance of the Underlying Index.
Chinese companies, including those listed on U.S. exchanges, are not subject to the same degree of regulatory requirements, accounting standards or auditor oversight as companies in more developed countries. As a result, information about the Chinese securities in which the Fund invests may be less reliable or complete. Chinese companies with securities listed on U.S. exchanges may be delisted if they do not meet U.S. accounting standards and auditor oversight requirements, or for other reasons, which would significantly decrease the liquidity and value of the securities. There may be significant obstacles to obtaining information necessary for investigations into or litigation against Chinese companies, and shareholders may have limited legal remedies.
Many Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges use variable interest entities or VIEs in their structure as a result of foreign ownership restrictions. Any change in the operations of entities in a VIE structure, the status of VIE contractual arrangements or the legal or regulatory environment in China could result in significant, and possibly permanent and/or total, losses for investments in VIE issuers. The Fund does not select investments based on investor protection considerations.
Risk of Investing in the China Bond Market. The Fund invests directly in the domestic bond market in the People’s Republic of China (China or the PRC) (the China Interbank Bond Market) through the Bond Connect trading channel. All bonds traded through Bond Connect are registered in the name of the PRC’s Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU), which holds such bonds as a nominee owner. The precise nature and rights of the Fund as the beneficial owner of bonds traded in the China Interbank Bond Market through CMU as nominee are relatively new and untested areas of PRC law, and the exact nature of the Fund’s remedies and methods of enforcement of its rights and interests under PRC law are uncertain.
Market volatility and potential lack of liquidity due to low trading volume of certain bonds in the China Interbank Bond Market may result in the prices of certain bonds fluctuating significantly. Also, the systems used to trade through Bond Connect may not function as expected. Trading through Bond Connect is also subject to regulatory risks, including laws and regulations that are subject to change. There can be no assurance that Bond Connect or its features or systems will not be materially altered, suspended, discontinued or abolished. The Fund may be subject to additional taxation if certain tax exemptions under PRC tax regulations are withdrawn or amended. Any taxes arising from or to the Fund may be directly borne by, or indirectly passed on to, the Fund, which may substantially impact its NAV. Investing through Bond Connect subjects the Fund to currency risk, to the extent that currency rates used for Bond Connect are different than the rates used in the China Interbank Bond Market.
Risk of Investing in Russia. Investing in Russian securities involves significant risks, including legal, regulatory, currency and economic risks that are specific to Russia. In addition, investing in Russian securities involves risks associated with the settlement of portfolio transactions and loss of the Fund’s ownership rights in its portfolio securities as a result of the system of share registration and custody in Russia. Governments, including the U.S., the U.K., the E.U., and many other countries have imposed economic sanctions on certain Russian individuals and Russian corporate and banking entities, and jurisdictions may also institute broader sanctions on Russia. Russia has issued a number of countersanctions, some of which restrict the distribution of profits by limited liability companies (e.g., dividends), and prohibit Russian persons from entering into transactions with designated persons from unfriendly states as well as the export of raw materials or other products from Russia to certain sanctioned persons.
Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The extent and duration of the military action, resulting sanctions and resulting future market disruptions, including declines in its stock markets and the value of the ruble against the U.S. dollar, are impossible to predict, but could be significant. Disruptions caused by Russian military action or other actions (including cyberattacks and espionage) or resulting actual and threatened responses to such activity, including purchasing and financing restrictions, boycotts or changes in consumer or purchaser preferences, sanctions, import and export restrictions, tariffs or cyberattacks on the Russian government, Russian companies, or Russian individuals, including politicians, may impact Russia’s economy and Russian companies in which the Fund invests. Actual and threatened responses to Russian military action may also impact the markets for certain Russian commodities, such as oil and natural gas, as well as other sectors of the Russian economy, and are likely to have collateral impacts on such sectors globally. Russian companies may be unable to pay dividends and, if they pay dividends, the Fund may be unable to receive them. As a result of sanctions, the Fund is currently restricted from trading in Russian securities, including those in its portfolio, and the
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Underlying Index has removed Russian securities. It is unknown when, or if, sanctions may be lifted or the Fund’s ability to trade in Russian securities will resume.
Risk of Investing in Saudi Arabia. Investing in Saudi Arabian issuers subjects the Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks that are specific to Saudi Arabia. The economy of Saudi Arabia is dominated by petroleum exports. A sustained decrease in petroleum prices could have a negative impact on all aspects of the economy. Investments in the securities of Saudi Arabian issuers involve risks not typically associated with investments in securities of issuers in more developed countries, which may negatively affect the value of the Fund’s investments. Such heightened risks may include, among others, the expropriation and/or nationalization of assets, restrictions on and government intervention in international trade, confiscatory taxation, political instability, including authoritarian and/or military involvement in governmental decision-making, armed conflict, crime and instability as a result of religious, ethnic and/or socioeconomic unrest. Instability in the Middle East region could adversely impact the economy of Saudi Arabia, and there is no assurance of political stability in Saudi Arabia.
The ability of foreign investors to invest in the securities of Saudi Arabian companies could be restricted by the Saudi Arabian government at any time, and unforeseen risks could materialize with respect to foreign ownership of such securities. There are a number of ways to conduct transactions in equity securities in the Saudi Arabian market. The Fund generally expects to transact in a manner so that it is not limited by Saudi Arabian regulations to a single broker. However, there may be a limited number of brokers who can provide services to the Fund, which may have an adverse impact on the prices, quantity or timing of Fund transactions.
Risk of Investing in the U.S. Investing in U.S. issuers subjects the Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks that are specific to the U.S. Certain changes in the U.S., such as a weakening of the U.S. economy or a decline in its financial markets, may have an adverse effect on U.S. issuers.
Securities Lending Risk. The Fund may engage in securities lending. Securities lending involves the risk that the Fund may lose money because the borrower of the loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. The Fund could also lose money in the event of a decline in the value of collateral provided for loaned securities or a decline in the value of any investments made with cash collateral. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund.
Tracking Error Risk. The Fund may be subject to tracking error, which is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the Underlying Index. Tracking error may occur due to a number of factors, including differences between the securities and other assets held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index; differences in the timing and methodologies used to value securities and other assets; transaction costs and other expenses incurred by the Fund that the Underlying Index does not incur; the Fund’s holding of uninvested cash; differences in the timing of the accrual or the valuation of dividends or interest received by the Fund or distributions paid to Fund shareholders; tax gains or losses; differences between the amount and/or timing of withholding taxes on dividends reflected in the Underlying Index from the Fund’s obligation, if any, for foreign withholding taxes; the requirements for the Fund to maintain pass-through tax treatment; portfolio transactions carried out to minimize the distribution of capital gains to shareholders; the acceptance of custom baskets; changes to the Underlying Index; and impacts to the Fund of complying with certain regulatory requirements or limits. Tracking error risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions.
U.S. Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk. MBS represent interests in pools of mortgages and are subject to interest rate, prepayment, and extension risk. MBS may be issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or one of its agencies or sponsored entities. Some MBS may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government and thus represent greater credit risk. MBS react differently than other bonds to changes in interest rates due to prepayment and extension risks. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain MBS. MBS prices may reflect adverse economic and market conditions. MBS are subject to the risk of default on the underlying mortgage loans, particularly during periods of economic downturn. The default or bankruptcy of a counterparty to a TBA transaction would expose the Fund to possible losses.  
U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk. U.S. Treasury obligations may differ from other securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics and may provide relatively lower returns than those of other securities. Changes in the U.S. government’s financial condition or credit rating may cause the value of U.S. Treasury obligations to decline. Direct obligations of the U.S. Treasury have historically involved little risk of loss of principal if held to maturity, but the market value of such securities is not guaranteed and may fluctuate. Although U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, circumstances could arise that could prevent the timely payment of interest or principal.
Valuation Risk. The price that the Fund could receive upon the sale (or other disposition) of a security or other asset may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security or other asset, particularly for securities or other assets that trade in low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology. The price received by the Fund also may differ from the value used by the Underlying Index. In addition, the value of the securities or other assets in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days or during time periods when investors are not able to purchase or sell Fund shares. Authorized Participants that create or redeem Fund shares on days when the Fund is holding fair-valued securities or other assets may receive fewer
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or more shares, or lower or higher redemption proceeds, than they would have received had the securities or other assets not been fair valued or been valued using a different methodology. The ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
Performance Information
The performance information below illustrates how the Fund’s performance has varied over different periods and provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the performance of the Fund has varied from one calendar year to another over the periods shown. The table compares the Fund’s performance to that of an appropriate broad-based securities market index and the Underlying Index. Returns assume the reinvestment of any dividends and distributions. The Fund’s returns reflect the impact of any agreements to waive or reimburse expenses, which would reduce performance if not in effect. Past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information, including the Fund’s current NAV, may be obtained by visiting www.iShares.com or by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) (toll free).
Calendar Year-by-Year Returns (%)
 
Return (%)
Period Ended
Calendar Year-to-Date Return
0.02%
March 31, 2026
During the periods shown in the chart:
Best Quarter
7.32%
December 31, 2023
Worst Quarter
-5.77%
March 31, 2022
Average Annual Total Returns (%)
(for the periods ended December 31, 2025)
 
One Year
Five Years
Since Fund
Inception
Fund Inception: 11/1/2016
Return Before Taxes
8.71
%
0.23
%
1.93
%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
6.76
%
-1.23
%
0.58
%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
5.12
%
-0.45
%
0.89
%
Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index (Returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or
taxes)
7.58
%
0.06
%
2.01
%
Bloomberg US Universal 5-10 Year Index (Returns do not reflect deductions for fees,
expenses or taxes)
8.91
%
0.27
%
2.01
%
After-tax returns in the table above are calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state or local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after-tax returns shown are not relevant to tax-exempt investors or investors who hold shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”). Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares are calculated assuming that an investor has sufficient capital gains of the same character from other investments to offset any capital losses from the sales of Fund shares. As a result, Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares may exceed Fund returns before taxes and/or returns after taxes on distributions.
Management
Investment Adviser. BlackRock Fund Advisors.
Portfolio Managers. The following individuals (the Portfolio Managers) are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund:
Portfolio Manager
Portfolio Manager of the Fund Since
Title with Investment Adviser
Jonathan Graves
2025
Managing Director
James Mauro
2016
Managing Director
Marcus Tom
2025
Director
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Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund is an ETF. Individual shares of the Fund may only be bought and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer. Because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the bid-ask spread).
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA, in which case, your distributions generally will be taxed when withdrawn.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), BFA or other related companies may pay the intermediary for marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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iSHARES® CORE 10+ YEAR USD BOND ETF
ILTB | NYSE Arca
Investment Objective
The iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF (the Fund) seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds that are rated either investment grade or high-yield with remaining maturities greater than ten years.
Fees and Expenses
The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. Amounts in the table are rounded to the nearest basis point, which in some cases may be 0.00. The investment advisory agreement between iShares Trust (the Trust) and BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA) (the Investment Advisory Agreement) provides that BFA will pay all operating expenses of the Fund, except: (i) the management fees, (ii) interest expenses, (iii) taxes, (iv) expenses incurred with respect to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities and the execution of portfolio transactions, including brokerage commissions, (v) distribution fees or expenses, and (vi) litigation expenses and any extraordinary expenses.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)1
Management Fee
0.06
%
Other Expenses
0.00
%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.06
%

1Operating expenses paid by BFA under the Investment Advisory Agreement exclude acquired fund fees and expenses, if any.
Example. This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of owning shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
Expense Example
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Example Fund Costs
$6
$19
$34
$77
Portfolio Turnover. The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 13% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg U.S. Universal 10+ Year Index (the Underlying Index), which measures the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated taxable bonds that are rated either investment-grade or high yield (as determined by Bloomberg Index Services Limited (the Index Provider or Bloomberg)) with remaining maturities greater than ten years. The Underlying Index includes U.S. Treasury bonds, government-related bonds (i.e., U.S. and non-U.S. agencies, sovereign, quasi-sovereign, supranational and local authority debt), investment-grade and high yield U.S. corporate bonds, Eurodollar bonds (i.e., U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued by foreign issuers outside the U.S.), bonds registered with the SEC or exempt from registration at the time of issuance, or offered pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 1933 Act) with or without registration rights (Rule 144A Bonds) and emerging market bonds. The Underlying Index is a subset of the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index.
As of February 28, 2026, there were approximately 4,485 issues in the Underlying Index. As of February 28, 2026, a significant portion of the Underlying Index was represented by U.S. Treasury securities. The components of the Underlying Index are likely to change over time. The securities in the Underlying Index must have at least 10 years remaining to maturity, or at least 10 years remaining to the first call date in the case of callable perpetual securities.  In addition, the securities in the Underlying Index must be denominated in U.S. dollars and be non-convertible. Excluded from the Underlying Index are
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tax-exempt municipal securities, coupon issues that have been stripped from bonds, structured notes and private placements (excluding Rule 144A Bonds). The Underlying Index is market capitalization-weighted and is rebalanced on the last day of the month.
BFA uses an indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund does not try to beat the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Underlying Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy to manage the Fund. Representative sampling is an indexing strategy that involves investing in a representative sample of securities or other instruments that collectively has an investment profile similar to that of an applicable underlying index. The instruments selected are expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as market value and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability, duration (i.e., an instrument's price sensitivity to a change in interest rates), maturity or credit ratings and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of an applicable underlying index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the components of the Underlying Index.
The Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the Underlying Index and to-be-announced transactions (TBAs) that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of the component securities of the Underlying Index, and the Fund will invest at least 90% of its assets in fixed income securities of the types included in the Underlying Index that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index.  The Fund will invest no more than 10% of its assets in futures, options and swaps contracts that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index as well as in fixed income securities other than the types included in the Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. Cash and cash equivalent investments associated with a TBA position will be treated as part of that position for purposes of calculating the percentage of investments in the component securities of the Underlying Index. Cash and cash equivalent investments associated with a derivative position will be treated as part of that position for the purposes of calculating the percentage of investments included in the Underlying Index. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Underlying Index before fees and expenses of the Fund.
The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund's total assets (including the value of any collateral received).
The Underlying Index is sponsored by Bloomberg, which isindependent of the Fund and BFA. The Index Provider determines the composition and relative weightings of the components of the Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index.
Industry Concentration Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities, and securities of state or municipal governments and their political subdivisions are not considered to be issued by members of any industry.
Summary of Principal Risks
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund's performance could trail that of other investments. The Fund is subject to certain risks, including the principal risks noted below any of which may adversely affect the Fund's net asset value per share (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective. Certain key risks are prioritized below (with others following in alphabetical order), but the relative significance of any risk is difficult to predict and may change over time. You should review each risk factor carefully.
Credit Risk. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer, guarantor or liquidity provider of a fixed-income security may be unable or unwilling, or may be perceived as unable or unwilling, to make timely principal and/or interest payments or to otherwise honor its obligations. The credit rating assigned to a security or its issuer does not necessarily reflect the issuer’s current financial condition or an investment’s volatility or liquidity. An actual or perceived decline in an issuer’s creditworthiness may result in a decrease in the value and liquidity of its securities as well as greater price volatility, which may make it difficult to sell the securities. The Fund may be adversely affected if an investment that it holds experiences a downgrade or a default.
Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate risk refers to the risk of fluctuations in the value of a fixed-income security due to changes in the general level of interest rates. Interest rate changes can be sudden and unpredictable and are influenced by a number of factors, including government policy, monetary policy, inflation expectations, perceptions of risk, and supply and demand for fixed-income securities. An increase in interest rates generally will cause the value of fixed-income securities to decline.
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Securities with longer maturities generally are more sensitive to interest rate changes and subject to greater fluctuations in value. Changes in interest rates may have unpredictable effects on fixed-income markets and result in heightened volatility and lower liquidity for certain instruments, which may adversely affect a Fund’s performance. During periods of very low or negative interest rates, a Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns or pay dividends to shareholders.
Market Risk. The Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, pandemics or other public health issues, recessions, the prospect or occurrence of a sovereign default or other financial crisis, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments and could result in increased premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV.
Index-Related Risk. The Index Provider may rely on various sources of information to assess the criteria of components of the Underlying Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor BFA can offer assurances that the Index Provider’s methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included components or will result in the Fund meeting its investment objective. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology may occur, and the Index Provider may not identify or correct them promptly or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Unusual market conditions or other unforeseen circumstances (such as natural disasters, political unrest or war) may impact the Index Provider or a third-party data provider and could cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance. This could cause the Underlying Index to vary from its normal or expected composition.
Asset Class Risk. The securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to financial markets generally, a particular financial market, another index, or other asset classes.
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. An Authorized Participant is a member or participant of a clearing agency registered with the SEC, which has a written agreement with the Fund or one of its service providers that allows the Authorized Participant to place orders for the purchase and redemption of creation units (Creation Units). Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. There are a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants for the Fund, including on an agency basis on behalf of other market participants. No Authorized Participant is obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or do not place creation or redemption orders for the Fund and no other Authorized Participant places orders, Fund shares are more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting.
Call Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of a callable debt obligation held by the Fund may call or repay the debt obligation before its stated maturity, and the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds in instruments with lower yields, which would result in a decline in the Fund's income, or in instruments with greater risks or with other less favorable features.
Concentration Risk. The Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in the securities or other assets of one or more issuers, countries or other geographic units, markets, industries, project types, or asset classes.
Extension Risk. During periods of rising interest rates, certain debt obligations may be paid off substantially more slowly than originally anticipated and the value of those debt obligations may fall sharply, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income and potentially in the value of the Fund’s investments.
Income Risk. The Fund’s income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors. This can occur because the Fund may be required to invest in lower-yielding bonds when a bond in the Fund’s portfolio matures, is near maturity, is called or is prepaid, when bonds in the Underlying Index are substituted, or when the Fund otherwise needs to purchase additional bonds. The Index Provider’s substitution of bonds in the Underlying Index may occur, for example, when the time to maturity for the bond no longer matches the Underlying Index’s stated maturity guidelines.
Issuer Risk. The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of individual securities or other assets to which the Fund has exposure. The value of securities or other assets may decline, or perform differently from the market as a whole, due to changes in the financial condition or credit rating of the issuer or counterparty.
Large Shareholder and Large-Scale Redemption Risk. Certain shareholders of the Fund, including an Authorized Participant, a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser, an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, a market maker, or another entity, may from time to time own or manage a substantial amount of Fund shares, or may hold their investment in the Fund for a limited period of time. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder or large group of shareholders would not redeem their investment. Redemptions of a large number of Fund shares could require the Fund to dispose of assets to meet the redemption requests, which can accelerate the realization of taxable income and/or capital gains and cause the Fund to make taxable distributions to its shareholders earlier than the Fund otherwise would have. In addition, under certain circumstances,
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non-redeeming shareholders may be treated as receiving a disproportionately large taxable distribution during or with respect to such year. In some circumstances, the Fund may hold a relatively large proportion of its assets in cash in anticipation of large redemptions, diluting its investment returns. These large redemptions may also force the Fund to sell portfolio securities or other assets when it might not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV, increase the Fund’s brokerage costs and/or have a material effect on the market price of Fund shares.
Management Risk. The Fund generally does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. As the Fund will not fully replicate the Underlying Index and may hold securities or other assets not included in the Underlying Index, it is subject to the risk that the investment strategy of BFA may not produce the intended results. 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 Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares (including through a trading halt), losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility, and disruptions in the process of creating and redeeming Fund shares. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading in the secondary market at a premium or discount to NAV or to the intraday value of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. If you buy Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to NAV or sell Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to NAV, you may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the Fund shares.
Operational and Technology Risks. The Fund is directly and indirectly susceptible to operational and technology risks, including those related to human errors, processing errors, communication errors, systems failures, cybersecurity incidents, and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI), which may result in losses for the Fund and its shareholders or may impair the Fund’s operations. While the Fund’s service providers are required to have appropriate operational, information security and cybersecurity risk management policies and procedures, their methods of risk management may differ from those of the Fund. Operational and technology risks for the issuers in which the Fund invests could also result in material adverse consequences for such issuers and may cause the Fund’s investments in such issuers to lose value.
Risk of Investing in China. Investments in Chinese securities, including certain Hong Kong-listed and U.S.-listed securities, are subject to risks specific to China. China may be subject to considerable degrees of economic, political and social instability. Despite economic and market reforms in recent decades, the Chinese government’s control over certain sectors and enterprises and significant regulation of investment and industry are still pervasive. Chinese companies are subject to the risk that Chinese authorities can intervene in their operations and structure. Chinese markets generally continue to experience inefficiency, a lack of publicly available information and/or political and social instability and may be subject to volatility and pricing anomalies resulting from governmental influence. Internal social unrest or confrontations with other countries, including military conflicts in response to such events, may disrupt China’s economy and markets and result in a greater risk of currency fluctuations, currency non-convertibility, interest rate fluctuations and higher inflation.
China has experienced security concerns, such as terrorism and strained international relations. Additionally, China is alleged to have participated in state-sponsored cyberattacks against foreign companies and foreign governments. Actual and threatened responses to such activity and strained international relations, including purchasing restrictions, sanctions, export controls, tariffs or cyberattacks on the Chinese government or Chinese companies, may impact China’s economy and Chinese issuers in which the Fund invests. Incidents involving China’s or the region’s security may adversely affect the Chinese economy and markets and the Fund’s investments.
The Chinese economy is highly reliant on trade. A reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, supply chain diversification, the institution of additional tariffs or other trade barriers (including as a result of heightened trade tensions or a trade war between China and the U.S. or in response to actual or alleged Chinese cyber activity) or a downturn in any of the economies of China’s key trading partners may have an adverse impact on the Chinese economy. The Underlying Index may include companies that are subject to economic or trade restrictions (but not investment restrictions) imposed by the U.S. or other governments due to national security, human rights or other concerns of such government. So long as these restrictions do not include restrictions on investments, the Fund is generally expected to invest in such companies, consistent with its objective to track the performance of the Underlying Index.
Chinese companies, including those listed on U.S. exchanges, are not subject to the same degree of regulatory requirements, accounting standards or auditor oversight as companies in more developed countries. As a result, information about the Chinese securities in which the Fund invests may be less reliable or complete. Chinese companies with securities listed on U.S. exchanges may be delisted if they do not meet U.S. accounting standards and auditor oversight requirements, or for other reasons, which would significantly decrease the liquidity and value of the securities. There may be significant obstacles to obtaining information necessary for investigations into or litigation against Chinese companies, and shareholders may have limited legal remedies.
Many Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges use variable interest entities or VIEs in their structure as a result of foreign ownership restrictions. Any change in the operations of entities in a VIE structure, the status of VIE contractual
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arrangements or the legal or regulatory environment in China could result in significant, and possibly permanent and/or total, losses for investments in VIE issuers. The Fund does not select investments based on investor protection considerations.
Risk of Investing in the China Bond Market. The Fund invests directly in the domestic bond market in the People’s Republic of China (China or the PRC) (the China Interbank Bond Market) through the Bond Connect trading channel. All bonds traded through Bond Connect are registered in the name of the PRC’s Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU), which holds such bonds as a nominee owner. The precise nature and rights of the Fund as the beneficial owner of bonds traded in the China Interbank Bond Market through CMU as nominee are relatively new and untested areas of PRC law, and the exact nature of the Fund’s remedies and methods of enforcement of its rights and interests under PRC law are uncertain.
Market volatility and potential lack of liquidity due to low trading volume of certain bonds in the China Interbank Bond Market may result in the prices of certain bonds fluctuating significantly. Also, the systems used to trade through Bond Connect may not function as expected. Trading through Bond Connect is also subject to regulatory risks, including laws and regulations that are subject to change. There can be no assurance that Bond Connect or its features or systems will not be materially altered, suspended, discontinued or abolished. The Fund may be subject to additional taxation if certain tax exemptions under PRC tax regulations are withdrawn or amended. Any taxes arising from or to the Fund may be directly borne by, or indirectly passed on to, the Fund, which may substantially impact its NAV. Investing through Bond Connect subjects the Fund to currency risk, to the extent that currency rates used for Bond Connect are different than the rates used in the China Interbank Bond Market.
Risk of Investing in Russia. Investing in Russian securities involves significant risks, including legal, regulatory, currency and economic risks that are specific to Russia. In addition, investing in Russian securities involves risks associated with the settlement of portfolio transactions and loss of the Fund’s ownership rights in its portfolio securities as a result of the system of share registration and custody in Russia. Governments, including the U.S., the U.K., the E.U., and many other countries have imposed economic sanctions on certain Russian individuals and Russian corporate and banking entities, and jurisdictions may also institute broader sanctions on Russia. Russia has issued a number of countersanctions, some of which restrict the distribution of profits by limited liability companies (e.g., dividends), and prohibit Russian persons from entering into transactions with designated persons from unfriendly states as well as the export of raw materials or other products from Russia to certain sanctioned persons.
Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The extent and duration of the military action, resulting sanctions and resulting future market disruptions, including declines in its stock markets and the value of the ruble against the U.S. dollar, are impossible to predict, but could be significant. Disruptions caused by Russian military action or other actions (including cyberattacks and espionage) or resulting actual and threatened responses to such activity, including purchasing and financing restrictions, boycotts or changes in consumer or purchaser preferences, sanctions, import and export restrictions, tariffs or cyberattacks on the Russian government, Russian companies, or Russian individuals, including politicians, may impact Russia’s economy and Russian companies in which the Fund invests. Actual and threatened responses to Russian military action may also impact the markets for certain Russian commodities, such as oil and natural gas, as well as other sectors of the Russian economy, and are likely to have collateral impacts on such sectors globally. Russian companies may be unable to pay dividends and, if they pay dividends, the Fund may be unable to receive them. As a result of sanctions, the Fund is currently restricted from trading in Russian securities, including those in its portfolio, and the Underlying Index has removed Russian securities. It is unknown when, or if, sanctions may be lifted or the Fund’s ability to trade in Russian securities will resume.
Risk of Investing in Saudi Arabia. Investing in Saudi Arabian issuers subjects the Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks that are specific to Saudi Arabia. The economy of Saudi Arabia is dominated by petroleum exports. A sustained decrease in petroleum prices could have a negative impact on all aspects of the economy. Investments in the securities of Saudi Arabian issuers involve risks not typically associated with investments in securities of issuers in more developed countries, which may negatively affect the value of the Fund’s investments. Such heightened risks may include, among others, the expropriation and/or nationalization of assets, restrictions on and government intervention in international trade, confiscatory taxation, political instability, including authoritarian and/or military involvement in governmental decision-making, armed conflict, crime and instability as a result of religious, ethnic and/or socioeconomic unrest. Instability in the Middle East region could adversely impact the economy of Saudi Arabia, and there is no assurance of political stability in Saudi Arabia.
The ability of foreign investors to invest in the securities of Saudi Arabian companies could be restricted by the Saudi Arabian government at any time, and unforeseen risks could materialize with respect to foreign ownership of such securities. There are a number of ways to conduct transactions in equity securities in the Saudi Arabian market. The Fund generally expects to transact in a manner so that it is not limited by Saudi Arabian regulations to a single broker. However, there may be a limited number of brokers who can provide services to the Fund, which may have an adverse impact on the prices, quantity or timing of Fund transactions.
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Risk of Investing in the U.S. Investing in U.S. issuers subjects the Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks that are specific to the U.S. Certain changes in the U.S., such as a weakening of the U.S. economy or a decline in its financial markets, may have an adverse effect on U.S. issuers.
Securities Lending Risk. The Fund may engage in securities lending. Securities lending involves the risk that the Fund may lose money because the borrower of the loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. The Fund could also lose money in the event of a decline in the value of collateral provided for loaned securities or a decline in the value of any investments made with cash collateral. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund.
Tracking Error Risk. The Fund may be subject to tracking error, which is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the Underlying Index. Tracking error may occur due to a number of factors, including differences between the securities and other assets held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index; differences in the timing and methodologies used to value securities and other assets; transaction costs and other expenses incurred by the Fund that the Underlying Index does not incur; the Fund’s holding of uninvested cash; differences in the timing of the accrual or the valuation of dividends or interest received by the Fund or distributions paid to Fund shareholders; tax gains or losses; differences between the amount and/or timing of withholding taxes on dividends reflected in the Underlying Index from the Fund’s obligation, if any, for foreign withholding taxes; the requirements for the Fund to maintain pass-through tax treatment; portfolio transactions carried out to minimize the distribution of capital gains to shareholders; the acceptance of custom baskets; changes to the Underlying Index; and impacts to the Fund of complying with certain regulatory requirements or limits. Tracking error risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions.
U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk. U.S. Treasury obligations may differ from other securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics and may provide relatively lower returns than those of other securities. Changes in the U.S. government’s financial condition or credit rating may cause the value of U.S. Treasury obligations to decline. Direct obligations of the U.S. Treasury have historically involved little risk of loss of principal if held to maturity, but the market value of such securities is not guaranteed and may fluctuate. Although U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, circumstances could arise that could prevent the timely payment of interest or principal.
Valuation Risk. The price that the Fund could receive upon the sale (or other disposition) of a security or other asset may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security or other asset, particularly for securities or other assets that trade in low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology. The price received by the Fund also may differ from the value used by the Underlying Index. In addition, the value of the securities or other assets in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days or during time periods when investors are not able to purchase or sell Fund shares. Authorized Participants that create or redeem Fund shares on days when the Fund is holding fair-valued securities or other assets may receive fewer or more shares, or lower or higher redemption proceeds, than they would have received had the securities or other assets not been fair valued or been valued using a different methodology. The ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
Performance Information
The performance information below illustrates how the Fund’s performance has varied over different periods and provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the performance of the Fund has varied from one calendar year to another over the periods shown. The table compares the Fund’s performance to that of an appropriate broad-based securities market indexand the Underlying Index. Returns assume the reinvestment of any dividends and distributions. The Fund’s returns reflect the impact of any agreements to waive or reimburse expenses, which would reduce performance if not in effect. Past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information, including the Fund’s current NAV, may be obtained by visiting www.iShares.com or by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) (toll free).
Calendar Year-by-Year Returns (%)
 
Return (%)
Period Ended
Calendar Year-to-Date Return
-0.78%
March 31, 2026
During the periods shown in the chart:
Best Quarter
13.10%
December 31, 2023
Worst Quarter
-12.56%
June 30, 2022
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Average Annual Total Returns (%)
(for the periods ended December 31, 2025)
 
One Year
Five Years
Ten Years
Fund Inception: 12/8/2009
Return Before Taxes
7.16
%
-4.27
%
2.40
%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
5.07
%
-5.90
%
0.73
%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
4.21
%
-3.83
%
1.15
%
Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index (Returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or
taxes)
7.58
%
0.06
%
2.44
%
Bloomberg U.S. Universal 10+ Year Index (Returns do not reflect deductions for fees,
expenses or taxes)
7.39
%
-4.20
%
2.48
%
After-tax returns in the table above are calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state or local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after-tax returns shown are not relevant to tax-exempt investors or investors who hold shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares are calculated assuming that an investor has sufficient capital gains of the same character from other investments to offset any capital losses from the sales of Fund shares. As a result, Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares may exceed Fund returns before taxes and/or returns after taxes on distributions.
Management
Investment Adviser. BlackRock Fund Advisors.
Portfolio Managers. The following individuals (the Portfolio Managers) are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund:
Portfolio Manager
Portfolio Manager of the Fund Since
Title with Investment Adviser
Jonathan Graves
2025
Managing Director
James Mauro
2011
Managing Director
Marcus Tom
2025
Director
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund is an ETF. Individual shares of the Fund may only be bought and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer. Because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the bid-ask spread).
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA, in which case, your distributions generally will be taxed when withdrawn.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), BFA or other related companies may pay the intermediary for marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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iSHARES® CORE U.S. AGGREGATE BOND ETF
AGG | NYSE Arca
Investment Objective
The iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (the Fund) seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of the total U.S. investment-grade bond market.
Fees and Expenses
The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. Amounts in the table are rounded to the nearest basis point, which in some cases may be 0.00. The investment advisory agreement between iShares Trust (the Trust) and BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA) (the Investment Advisory Agreement) provides that BFA will pay all operating expenses of the Fund, except: (i) the management fees, (ii) interest expenses, (iii) taxes, (iv) expenses incurred with respect to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities and the execution of portfolio transactions, including brokerage commissions, (v) distribution fees or expenses, and (vi) litigation expenses and any extraordinary expenses.
The Fund may incur “Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses.” Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses reflect the Fund’s pro rata share of the fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the Fund as a result of investing in other investment companies. The impact of Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses is included in the Fund’s total return but is not included in the Fund’s ratio of expenses to average net assets. Both figures are shown in the Financial Highlights section of the Fund’s prospectus (the “Prospectus”).  BFA, the investment adviser to the Fund, has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees in an amount equal to the Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any, attributable to investments by the Fund in other registered investment companies advised by BFA, or its affiliates, through June 30, 2027. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to June 30, 2027 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)1
Management Fee
0.03
%
Other Expenses
0.00
%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses
0.00
%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.03
%
Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement
(0.00
)%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement
0.03
%

1Operating expenses paid by BFA under the Investment Advisory Agreement exclude Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any.
Example. This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of owning shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
Expense Example
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Example Fund Costs
$3
$10
$17
$39
Portfolio Turnover. The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 62% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (the Underlying Index), which measures the performance of the total U.S. investment-grade (as determined by Bloomberg Index Services Limited (the Index Provider or Bloomberg)) bond market. As of February 28, 2026, there were 13,972 issues in the Underlying Index.
The Underlying Index includes investment-grade U.S. Treasury bonds, government-related bonds, corporate bonds, mortgage-backed pass-through securities (MBS), commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and asset-backed
S-23


securities (ABS) that are publicly offered for sale in the U.S. As of February 28, 2026, a significant portion of the Underlying Index was represented by MBS and U.S. Treasury securities. The components of the Underlying Index are likely to change over time.  
The securities in the Underlying Index must have $300 million or more of outstanding face value and must have at least one year remaining to maturity, with the exception of amortizing securities such as ABS and MBS, which have lower minimum thresholds as defined by Bloomberg. In addition, the securities in the Underlying Index must be denominated in U.S. dollars and must be fixed-rate, non-convertible and taxable. Certain types of securities, such as state and local government series bonds, structured notes with embedded swaps or other special features, private placements, floating-rate securities and bonds that have been issued in one country's currency but are traded outside of that country in a different monetary and regulatory system (e.g., Eurobonds), are excluded from the Underlying Index. The Underlying Index is market capitalization-weighted, and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.
U.S. fixed-rate agency MBS are issued by entities such as the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and are backed by pools of mortgages. Most transactions in fixed-rate MBS occur through standardized contracts for future delivery in which the exact mortgage pools to be delivered are not specified until a few days prior to settlement (to-be-announced (TBA) transactions). The Fund may enter into such contracts on a regular basis. The Fund, pending settlement of such contracts, will invest its assets in high-quality, liquid short-term instruments, including shares of money market funds advised by BFA or its affiliates. The Fund will assume its pro rata share of the fees and expenses of any money market fund that it may invest in, in addition to the Fund's own fees and expenses. The Fund may also acquire interests in mortgage pools through means other than such standardized contracts for future delivery.
BFA uses an indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund does not try to beat the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Underlying Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy to manage the Fund. Representative sampling is an indexing strategy that involves investing in a representative sample of securities or other instruments that collectively has an investment profile similar to that of an applicable underlying index. The instruments selected are expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as market value and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability, duration (i.e., an instrument's price sensitivity to a change in interest rates), maturity or credit ratings and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of an applicable underlying index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the components of the Underlying Index.
The Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the Underlying Index and TBAs that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of the component securities of the Underlying Index, and the Fund will invest at least 90% of its assets in fixed income securities of the types included in the Underlying Index that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index.  The Fund will invest no more than 10% of its assets in futures, options and swaps contracts that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index as well as in fixed income securities other than the types included in the Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. Cash and cash equivalent investments associated with a TBA position will be treated as part of that position for purposes of calculating the percentage of investments in the component securities of the Underlying Index. Cash and cash equivalent investments associated with a derivative position will be treated as part of that position for the purposes of calculating the percentage of investments included in the Underlying Index. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Underlying Index before fees and expenses of the Fund.
The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund's total assets (including the value of any collateral received).
The Underlying Index is sponsored by Bloomberg, which isindependent of the Fund and BFA. The Index Provider determines the composition and relative weightings of the components of the Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index.
Industry Concentration Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities, and securities of state or municipal governments and their political subdivisions are not considered to be issued by members of any industry.
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Summary of Principal Risks
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund's performance could trail that of other investments. The Fund is subject to certain risks, including the principal risks noted below any of which may adversely affect the Fund's net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective. Certain key risks are prioritized below (with others following in alphabetical order), but the relative significance of any risk is difficult to predict and may change over time. You should review each risk factor carefully.
Risk of Investing in the U.S. Investing in U.S. issuers subjects the Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks that are specific to the U.S. Certain changes in the U.S., such as a weakening of the U.S. economy or a decline in its financial markets, may have an adverse effect on U.S. issuers.
Credit Risk. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer, guarantor or liquidity provider of a fixed-income security may be unable or unwilling, or may be perceived as unable or unwilling, to make timely principal and/or interest payments or to otherwise honor its obligations. The credit rating assigned to a security or its issuer does not necessarily reflect the issuer’s current financial condition or an investment’s volatility or liquidity. An actual or perceived decline in an issuer’s creditworthiness may result in a decrease in the value and liquidity of its securities as well as greater price volatility, which may make it difficult to sell the securities. The Fund may be adversely affected if an investment that it holds experiences a downgrade or a default.
Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate risk refers to the risk of fluctuations in the value of a fixed-income security due to changes in the general level of interest rates. Interest rate changes can be sudden and unpredictable and are influenced by a number of factors, including government policy, monetary policy, inflation expectations, perceptions of risk, and supply and demand for fixed-income securities. An increase in interest rates generally will cause the value of fixed-income securities to decline. Securities with longer maturities generally are more sensitive to interest rate changes and subject to greater fluctuations in value. Changes in interest rates may have unpredictable effects on fixed-income markets and result in heightened volatility and lower liquidity for certain instruments, which may adversely affect a Fund’s performance. During periods of very low or negative interest rates, a Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns or pay dividends to shareholders.
Market Risk. The Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, pandemics or other public health issues, recessions, the prospect or occurrence of a sovereign default or other financial crisis, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments and could result in increased premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV.
Index-Related Risk. The Index Provider may rely on various sources of information to assess the criteria of components of the Underlying Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor BFA can offer assurances that the Index Provider’s methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included components or will result in the Fund meeting its investment objective. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology may occur, and the Index Provider may not identify or correct them promptly or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Unusual market conditions or other unforeseen circumstances (such as natural disasters, political unrest or war) may impact the Index Provider or a third-party data provider and could cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance. This could cause the Underlying Index to vary from its normal or expected composition.
Asset Class Risk. The securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to financial markets generally, a particular financial market, another index, or other asset classes.
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. An Authorized Participant is a member or participant of a clearing agency registered with the SEC, which has a written agreement with the Fund or one of its service providers that allows the Authorized Participant to place orders for the purchase and redemption of creation units (Creation Units). Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. There are a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants for the Fund, including on an agency basis on behalf of other market participants. No Authorized Participant is obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or do not place creation or redemption orders for the Fund and no other Authorized Participant places orders, Fund shares are more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting.
Call Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of a callable debt obligation held by the Fund may call or repay the debt obligation before its stated maturity, and the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds in instruments with lower yields, which would result in a decline in the Fund's income, or in instruments with greater risks or with other less favorable features.
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Concentration Risk. The Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in the securities or other assets of one or more issuers, countries or other geographic units, markets, industries, project types, or asset classes.
Extension Risk. During periods of rising interest rates, certain debt obligations may be paid off substantially more slowly than originally anticipated and the value of those debt obligations may fall sharply, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income and potentially in the value of the Fund’s investments.
Income Risk. The Fund’s income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors. This can occur because the Fund may be required to invest in lower-yielding bonds when a bond in the Fund’s portfolio matures, is near maturity, is called or is prepaid, when bonds in the Underlying Index are substituted, or when the Fund otherwise needs to purchase additional bonds. The Index Provider’s substitution of bonds in the Underlying Index may occur, for example, when the time to maturity for the bond no longer matches the Underlying Index’s stated maturity guidelines.
Issuer Risk. The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of individual securities or other assets to which the Fund has exposure. The value of securities or other assets may decline, or perform differently from the market as a whole, due to changes in the financial condition or credit rating of the issuer or counterparty.
Large Shareholder and Large-Scale Redemption Risk. Certain shareholders of the Fund, including an Authorized Participant, a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser, an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, a market maker, or another entity, may from time to time own or manage a substantial amount of Fund shares, or may hold their investment in the Fund for a limited period of time. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder or large group of shareholders would not redeem their investment. Redemptions of a large number of Fund shares could require the Fund to dispose of assets to meet the redemption requests, which can accelerate the realization of taxable income and/or capital gains and cause the Fund to make taxable distributions to its shareholders earlier than the Fund otherwise would have. In addition, under certain circumstances, non-redeeming shareholders may be treated as receiving a disproportionately large taxable distribution during or with respect to such year. In some circumstances, the Fund may hold a relatively large proportion of its assets in cash in anticipation of large redemptions, diluting its investment returns. These large redemptions may also force the Fund to sell portfolio securities or other assets when it might not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV, increase the Fund’s brokerage costs and/or have a material effect on the market price of Fund shares.
Management Risk. The Fund generally does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. As the Fund will not fully replicate the Underlying Index and may hold securities or other assets not included in the Underlying Index, it is subject to the risk that the investment strategy of BFA may not produce the intended results. 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 Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares (including through a trading halt), losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility, and disruptions in the process of creating and redeeming Fund shares. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading in the secondary market at a premium or discount to NAV or to the intraday value of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. If you buy Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to NAV or sell Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to NAV, you may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the Fund shares.
Operational and Technology Risks. The Fund is directly and indirectly susceptible to operational and technology risks, including those related to human errors, processing errors, communication errors, systems failures, cybersecurity incidents, and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI), which may result in losses for the Fund and its shareholders or may impair the Fund’s operations. While the Fund’s service providers are required to have appropriate operational, information security and cybersecurity risk management policies and procedures, their methods of risk management may differ from those of the Fund. Operational and technology risks for the issuers in which the Fund invests could also result in material adverse consequences for such issuers and may cause the Fund’s investments in such issuers to lose value.
Prepayment Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, issuers of certain debt obligations may repay principal prior to the debt obligation’s maturity, which may cause the Fund to have to reinvest in instruments with lower yields or a higher risk of default, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income or return potential.
Risk of Investing in China. Investments in Chinese securities, including certain Hong Kong-listed and U.S.-listed securities, are subject to risks specific to China. China may be subject to considerable degrees of economic, political and social instability. Despite economic and market reforms in recent decades, the Chinese government’s control over certain sectors and enterprises and significant regulation of investment and industry are still pervasive. Chinese companies are subject to the risk that Chinese authorities can intervene in their operations and structure. Chinese markets generally continue to experience inefficiency, a lack of publicly available information and/or political and social instability and may be subject to
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volatility and pricing anomalies resulting from governmental influence. Internal social unrest or confrontations with other countries, including military conflicts in response to such events, may disrupt China’s economy and markets and result in a greater risk of currency fluctuations, currency non-convertibility, interest rate fluctuations and higher inflation.
China has experienced security concerns, such as terrorism and strained international relations. Additionally, China is alleged to have participated in state-sponsored cyberattacks against foreign companies and foreign governments. Actual and threatened responses to such activity and strained international relations, including purchasing restrictions, sanctions, export controls, tariffs or cyberattacks on the Chinese government or Chinese companies, may impact China’s economy and Chinese issuers in which the Fund invests. Incidents involving China’s or the region’s security may adversely affect the Chinese economy and markets and the Fund’s investments.
The Chinese economy is highly reliant on trade. A reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, supply chain diversification, the institution of additional tariffs or other trade barriers (including as a result of heightened trade tensions or a trade war between China and the U.S. or in response to actual or alleged Chinese cyber activity) or a downturn in any of the economies of China’s key trading partners may have an adverse impact on the Chinese economy. The Underlying Index may include companies that are subject to economic or trade restrictions (but not investment restrictions) imposed by the U.S. or other governments due to national security, human rights or other concerns of such government. So long as these restrictions do not include restrictions on investments, the Fund is generally expected to invest in such companies, consistent with its objective to track the performance of the Underlying Index.
Chinese companies, including those listed on U.S. exchanges, are not subject to the same degree of regulatory requirements, accounting standards or auditor oversight as companies in more developed countries. As a result, information about the Chinese securities in which the Fund invests may be less reliable or complete. Chinese companies with securities listed on U.S. exchanges may be delisted if they do not meet U.S. accounting standards and auditor oversight requirements, or for other reasons, which would significantly decrease the liquidity and value of the securities. There may be significant obstacles to obtaining information necessary for investigations into or litigation against Chinese companies, and shareholders may have limited legal remedies.
Many Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges use variable interest entities or VIEs in their structure as a result of foreign ownership restrictions. Any change in the operations of entities in a VIE structure, the status of VIE contractual arrangements or the legal or regulatory environment in China could result in significant, and possibly permanent and/or total, losses for investments in VIE issuers. The Fund does not select investments based on investor protection considerations.
Risk of Investing in the China Bond Market. The Fund invests directly in the domestic bond market in the People’s Republic of China (China or the PRC) (the China Interbank Bond Market) through the Bond Connect trading channel. All bonds traded through Bond Connect are registered in the name of the PRC’s Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU), which holds such bonds as a nominee owner. The precise nature and rights of the Fund as the beneficial owner of bonds traded in the China Interbank Bond Market through CMU as nominee are relatively new and untested areas of PRC law, and the exact nature of the Fund’s remedies and methods of enforcement of its rights and interests under PRC law are uncertain.
Market volatility and potential lack of liquidity due to low trading volume of certain bonds in the China Interbank Bond Market may result in the prices of certain bonds fluctuating significantly. Also, the systems used to trade through Bond Connect may not function as expected. Trading through Bond Connect is also subject to regulatory risks, including laws and regulations that are subject to change. There can be no assurance that Bond Connect or its features or systems will not be materially altered, suspended, discontinued or abolished. The Fund may be subject to additional taxation if certain tax exemptions under PRC tax regulations are withdrawn or amended. Any taxes arising from or to the Fund may be directly borne by, or indirectly passed on to, the Fund, which may substantially impact its NAV. Investing through Bond Connect subjects the Fund to currency risk, to the extent that currency rates used for Bond Connect are different than the rates used in the China Interbank Bond Market.
Securities Lending Risk. The Fund may engage in securities lending. Securities lending involves the risk that the Fund may lose money because the borrower of the loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. The Fund could also lose money in the event of a decline in the value of collateral provided for loaned securities or a decline in the value of any investments made with cash collateral. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund.
Tracking Error Risk. The Fund may be subject to tracking error, which is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the Underlying Index. Tracking error may occur due to a number of factors, including differences between the securities and other assets held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index; differences in the timing and methodologies used to value securities and other assets; transaction costs and other expenses incurred by the Fund that the Underlying Index does not incur; the Fund’s holding of uninvested cash; differences in the timing of the accrual or the valuation of dividends or interest received by the Fund or distributions paid to Fund shareholders; tax gains or losses; differences between the amount and/or timing of withholding taxes on dividends reflected in the Underlying Index from the Fund’s obligation, if any, for foreign withholding taxes; the requirements for the Fund to maintain pass-through tax treatment;
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portfolio transactions carried out to minimize the distribution of capital gains to shareholders; the acceptance of custom baskets; changes to the Underlying Index; and impacts to the Fund of complying with certain regulatory requirements or limits. Tracking error risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions.
U.S. Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk. MBS represent interests in pools of mortgages and are subject to interest rate, prepayment, and extension risk. MBS may be issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or one of its agencies or sponsored entities. Some MBS may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government and thus represent greater credit risk. MBS react differently than other bonds to changes in interest rates due to prepayment and extension risks. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain MBS. MBS prices may reflect adverse economic and market conditions. MBS are subject to the risk of default on the underlying mortgage loans, particularly during periods of economic downturn. The default or bankruptcy of a counterparty to a TBA transaction would expose the Fund to possible losses.  
U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk. U.S. Treasury obligations may differ from other securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics and may provide relatively lower returns than those of other securities. Changes in the U.S. government’s financial condition or credit rating may cause the value of U.S. Treasury obligations to decline. Direct obligations of the U.S. Treasury have historically involved little risk of loss of principal if held to maturity, but the market value of such securities is not guaranteed and may fluctuate. Although U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, circumstances could arise that could prevent the timely payment of interest or principal.
Valuation Risk. The price that the Fund could receive upon the sale (or other disposition) of a security or other asset may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security or other asset, particularly for securities or other assets that trade in low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology. The price received by the Fund also may differ from the value used by the Underlying Index. In addition, the value of the securities or other assets in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days or during time periods when investors are not able to purchase or sell Fund shares. Authorized Participants that create or redeem Fund shares on days when the Fund is holding fair-valued securities or other assets may receive fewer or more shares, or lower or higher redemption proceeds, than they would have received had the securities or other assets not been fair valued or been valued using a different methodology. The ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
Performance Information
The performance information below illustrates how the Fund’s performance has varied over different periods and provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the performance of the Fund has varied from one calendar year to another over the periods shown. The table compares the Fund’s performance to that of an appropriate broad-based securities market index and the Underlying Index. Returns assume the reinvestment of any dividends and distributions. The Fund’s returns reflect the impact of any agreements to waive or reimburse expenses, which would reduce performance if not in effect. Past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information, including the Fund’s current NAV, may be obtained by visiting www.iShares.com or by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) (toll free).
Calendar Year-by-Year Returns (%)
 
Return (%)
Period Ended
Calendar Year-to-Date Return
0.04%
March 31, 2026
During the periods shown in the chart:
Best Quarter
6.69%
December 31, 2023
Worst Quarter
-5.86%
March 31, 2022
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Average Annual Total Returns (%)
(for the periods ended December 31, 2025)
 
One Year
Five Years
Ten Years
Fund Inception: 9/22/2003
Return Before Taxes
7.19
%
-0.38
%
1.97
%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
5.50
%
-1.58
%
0.84
%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
4.23
%
-0.81
%
1.01
%
Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index (Returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or
taxes)
7.58
%
0.06
%
2.44
%
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (Returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses
or taxes)
7.30
%
-0.36
%
2.01
%
After-tax returns in the table above are calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state or local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after-tax returns shown are not relevant to tax-exempt investors or investors who hold shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”). Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares are calculated assuming that an investor has sufficient capital gains of the same character from other investments to offset any capital losses from the sales of Fund shares. As a result, Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares may exceed Fund returns before taxes and/or returns after taxes on distributions.
Management
Investment Adviser. BlackRock Fund Advisors.
Portfolio Managers. The following individuals (the Portfolio Managers) are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund:
Portfolio Manager
Portfolio Manager of the Fund Since
Title with Investment Adviser
Jonathan Graves
2025
Managing Director
James Mauro
2011
Managing Director
Marcus Tom
2025
Director
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund is an exchange-traded fund (commonly referred to as an ETF). Individual shares of the Fund may only be bought and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer. Because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the bid-ask spread).
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA, in which case, your distributions generally will be taxed when withdrawn.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), BFA or other related companies may pay the intermediary for marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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iSHARES® ESG ADVANCED UNIVERSAL USD BOND ETF
EUSB | NYSE Arca
Investment Objective
The iShares ESG Advanced Universal USD Bond ETF (the Fund) seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds that are rated either investment-grade or high-yield from issuers with a favorable environmental, social and governance rating as identified by the index provider, while applying extensive screens for involvement in controversial activities.
Fees and Expenses
The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. Amounts in the table are rounded to the nearest basis point, which in some cases may be 0.00. The investment advisory agreement between iShares Trust (the Trust) and BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA) (the Investment Advisory Agreement) provides that BFA will pay all operating expenses of the Fund, except: (i) the management fees, (ii) interest expenses, (iii) taxes, (iv) expenses incurred with respect to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities and the execution of portfolio transactions, including brokerage commissions, (v) distribution fees or expenses, and (vi) litigation expenses and any extraordinary expenses.
The Fund may incur “Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses.” Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses reflect the Fund’s pro rata share of the fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the Fund as a result of investing in other investment companies. The impact of Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses is included in the Fund’s total return but is not included in the Fund’s ratio of expenses to average net assets. Both figures are shown in the Financial Highlights section of the Fund’s prospectus (the “Prospectus”).  BFA, the investment adviser to the Fund, has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees in an amount equal to the Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any, attributable to investments by the Fund in other registered investment companies advised by BFA, or its affiliates, through June 30, 2030. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to June 30, 2030 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)1
Management Fee
0.12
%
Other Expenses
0.00
%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses
0.00
%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.12
%
Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement
(0.00
)%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement
0.12
%

1Operating expenses paid by BFA under the Investment Advisory Agreement exclude Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any.
Example. This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of owning shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
Expense Example
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Example Fund Costs
$12
$39
$68
$154
Portfolio Turnover. The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 87% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund seeks to track the investments results of the Bloomberg MSCI US Universal Choice ESG Screened Index (the Underlying Index), which has been developed by Bloomberg Finance L.P. and its affiliates (the Index Provider or
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Bloomberg) with environmental, social and governance (ESG) rating inputs from MSCI Solutions LLC (MSCI Solutions) pursuant to an agreement between MSCI Solutions and Bloomberg Index Services Limited (a subsidiary of Bloomberg) or an affiliate. The Underlying Index is a modified market value-weighted index designed to reflect the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated, taxable bonds with favorable ESG ratings (as determined by MSCI Solutions) while applying extensive screens, including, for example, a screen which focuses on removing fossil fuel exposure.
To construct the Underlying Index, Bloomberg begins with the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index (the Parent Index). The Parent Index includes securities with at least one year until final maturity, without regard to optionality features such as call provisions or conversion provisions. The Parent Index includes Treasury securities, government-related securities (i.e., U.S. and non-U.S. agency debt securities, and non-U.S. sovereign, quasi-sovereign, supranational and local authority debt), investment-grade and high yield (as well as unrated) corporate bonds, U.S. agency mortgage-backed pass-through securities (MBS), commercial mortgage-backed securities, asset backed securities, Eurodollar bonds, bonds registered with the SEC or exempt from registration at the time of issuance or offered pursuant to Rule 144A with or without registration rights and U.S. dollar-denominated emerging market bonds.
From the Parent Index, Bloomberg excludes issuers with unfavorable ESG ratings, as calculated by MSCI Solutions, and then further excludes securities of issuers involved in adult entertainment, alcohol, gambling, tobacco, genetic engineering, controversial weapons, nuclear weapons, civilian firearms, conventional weapons, palm oil, private prisons, predatory lending, and nuclear power based on revenue or percentage of revenue thresholds for certain categories (e.g., $500 million or 50%) and categorical exclusions for others (e.g., nuclear weapons). Bloomberg screens companies with involvement in fossil fuels by excluding any company in the Bloomberg energy sector and all companies with an industry tie to fossil fuels such as thermal coal, oil and gas—in particular, reserve ownership, related revenues and power generation. Additionally, Bloomberg excludes companies involved in very serious business controversies.
For each industry, MSCI Solutions identifies key ESG issues that can lead to unexpected costs for entities in the medium- to long-term (e.g., climate change, resource scarcity, demographic shifts). MSCI Solutions then calculates the size of each entity's exposure to each key issue based on the entity's business segment and geographic risk and analyzes the extent to which such entities have developed robust strategies and programs to manage ESG risks and opportunities. MSCI Solutions scores entities based on both their risk exposure and risk management. To score well on a key issue, MSCI Solutions assesses management practices, management performance (through demonstrated track record and other quantitative performance indicators), governance structures, and/or implications in controversies, which all may be taken as a proxy for overall management quality. Controversies, including, among other things, issues involving anti-competitive practices, toxic emissions and waste, and health and safety, occurring within the last three years lead to a deduction from the overall management score on each issue. Using a sector-specific key issue weighting model, entities are rated and ranked in comparison to their industry peers. Key issues and weights are reviewed at the end of each calendar year. Corporate governance is always weighted and analyzed for all entities.
As of February 28, 2026, there were 10,338 issues in the Underlying Index. As of February 28, 2026, a significant portion of the Underlying Index was represented by U.S. agency MBS and U.S. Treasury bonds. The components of the Underlying Index are likely to change over time. The securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.
BFA uses an indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund does not try to beat the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Underlying Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy to manage the Fund. Representative sampling is an indexing strategy that involves investing in a representative sample of securities or other instruments that collectively has an investment profile similar to that of an applicable underlying index. The instruments selected are expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as market value and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability, duration (i.e., an instrument's price sensitivity to a change in interest rates), maturity or credit ratings and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of an applicable underlying index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the components of the Underlying Index.
The Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the Underlying Index and in investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the component securities of the Underlying Index (i.e., TBAs), and the Fund will invest at least 90% of its assets in fixed income securities of the types included in the Underlying Index that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. The Fund will invest no more than 10% of its assets in futures, options, and swaps contracts that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index as well as in fixed income securities other than the types included in the Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index.  Cash and cash equivalent investments associated with a derivative position will be treated as part of that
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position for the purposes of calculating the percentage of investments included in the Underlying Index. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Underlying Index before fees and expenses of the Fund.
The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund's total assets (including the value of any collateral received).
The Underlying Index is sponsored by Bloomberg, MSCI Solutions or their affiliates, which areindependent of the Fund and BFA, pursuant to an agreement between MSCI Solutions and Bloomberg Index Services Limited (a subsidiary of Bloomberg) or an affiliate. The Index Provider determines the composition and relative weightings of the components of the Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index.
Industry Concentration Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities, and securities of state or municipal governments and their political subdivisions are not considered to be issued by members of any industry.
Summary of Principal Risks
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund's performance could trail that of other investments. The Fund is subject to certain risks, including the principal risks noted below any of which may adversely affect the Fund's net asset value per share (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective. Certain key risks are prioritized below (with others following in alphabetical order), but the relative significance of any risk is difficult to predict and may change over time. You should review each risk factor carefully.
Credit Risk. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer, guarantor or liquidity provider of a fixed-income security may be unable or unwilling, or may be perceived as unable or unwilling, to make timely principal and/or interest payments or to otherwise honor its obligations. The credit rating assigned to a security or its issuer does not necessarily reflect the issuer’s current financial condition or an investment’s volatility or liquidity. An actual or perceived decline in an issuer’s creditworthiness may result in a decrease in the value and liquidity of its securities as well as greater price volatility, which may make it difficult to sell the securities. The Fund may be adversely affected if an investment that it holds experiences a downgrade or a default.
Income Risk. The Fund’s income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors. This can occur because the Fund may be required to invest in lower-yielding bonds when a bond in the Fund’s portfolio matures, is near maturity, is called or is prepaid, when bonds in the Underlying Index are substituted, or when the Fund otherwise needs to purchase additional bonds. The Index Provider’s substitution of bonds in the Underlying Index may occur, for example, when the time to maturity for the bond no longer matches the Underlying Index’s stated maturity guidelines.
ESG Risk. To the extent that the Underlying Index uses criteria related to the ESG characteristics of issuers, this may limit the types and number of investment opportunities available to the Fund and, as a result, the Fund may underperform other funds whose underlying index does not use ESG criteria. The Underlying Index’s use of ESG criteria may result in the Fund investing in, or allocating greater weight to, securities or market sectors that underperform the market as a whole or underperform other funds that use ESG criteria. In addition, the use of representative sampling may result in divergence of the Fund’s overall ESG characteristics or ESG risk from those of the Underlying Index. The Index Provider may evaluate security-level ESG data and, if applicable, ESG objectives or constraints that are relevant to the Underlying Index only at index reviews or rebalances. Securities included in the Underlying Index may cease to meet the relevant ESG criteria but may nevertheless remain in the Underlying Index and the Fund until the next review or rebalance by the Index Provider. As a result, certain securities in the Underlying Index, or the Underlying Index as a whole, may not meet the relevant ESG objectives or constraints at all times.
Market Risk. The Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, pandemics or other public health issues, recessions, the prospect or occurrence of a sovereign default or other financial crisis, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments and could result in increased premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV.
Index-Related Risk. The Index Provider may rely on various sources of information to assess the criteria of components of the Underlying Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor BFA can offer assurances that the Index Provider’s methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included components or will result in the Fund meeting its investment objective. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology may occur, and the Index Provider may not identify or correct them promptly or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Unusual market conditions or other unforeseen circumstances (such as natural disasters, political unrest or war) may impact the Index
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Provider or a third-party data provider and could cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance. This could cause the Underlying Index to vary from its normal or expected composition.
Asset Class Risk. The securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to financial markets generally, a particular financial market, another index, or other asset classes.
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. An Authorized Participant is a member or participant of a clearing agency registered with the SEC, which has a written agreement with the Fund or one of its service providers that allows the Authorized Participant to place orders for the purchase and redemption of creation units (Creation Units). Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. There are a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants for the Fund, including on an agency basis on behalf of other market participants. No Authorized Participant is obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or do not place creation or redemption orders for the Fund and no other Authorized Participant places orders, Fund shares are more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting.
Call Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of a callable debt obligation held by the Fund may call or repay the debt obligation before its stated maturity, and the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds in instruments with lower yields, which would result in a decline in the Fund's income, or in instruments with greater risks or with other less favorable features.
Concentration Risk. The Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in the securities or other assets of one or more issuers, countries or other geographic units, markets, industries, project types, or asset classes.
Extension Risk. During periods of rising interest rates, certain debt obligations may be paid off substantially more slowly than originally anticipated and the value of those debt obligations may fall sharply, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income and potentially in the value of the Fund’s investments.
Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate risk refers to the risk of fluctuations in the value of a fixed-income security due to changes in the general level of interest rates. Interest rate changes can be sudden and unpredictable and are influenced by a number of factors, including government policy, monetary policy, inflation expectations, perceptions of risk, and supply and demand for fixed-income securities. An increase in interest rates generally will cause the value of fixed-income securities to decline. Securities with longer maturities generally are more sensitive to interest rate changes and subject to greater fluctuations in value. Changes in interest rates may have unpredictable effects on fixed-income markets and result in heightened volatility and lower liquidity for certain instruments, which may adversely affect a Fund’s performance. During periods of very low or negative interest rates, a Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns or pay dividends to shareholders.
Issuer Risk. The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of individual securities or other assets to which the Fund has exposure. The value of securities or other assets may decline, or perform differently from the market as a whole, due to changes in the financial condition or credit rating of the issuer or counterparty.
Large Shareholder and Large-Scale Redemption Risk. Certain shareholders of the Fund, including an Authorized Participant, a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser, an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, a market maker, or another entity, may from time to time own or manage a substantial amount of Fund shares, or may hold their investment in the Fund for a limited period of time. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder or large group of shareholders would not redeem their investment. Redemptions of a large number of Fund shares could require the Fund to dispose of assets to meet the redemption requests, which can accelerate the realization of taxable income and/or capital gains and cause the Fund to make taxable distributions to its shareholders earlier than the Fund otherwise would have. In addition, under certain circumstances, non-redeeming shareholders may be treated as receiving a disproportionately large taxable distribution during or with respect to such year. In some circumstances, the Fund may hold a relatively large proportion of its assets in cash in anticipation of large redemptions, diluting its investment returns. These large redemptions may also force the Fund to sell portfolio securities or other assets when it might not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV, increase the Fund’s brokerage costs and/or have a material effect on the market price of Fund shares.
Management Risk. The Fund generally does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. As the Fund will not fully replicate the Underlying Index and may hold securities or other assets not included in the Underlying Index, it is subject to the risk that the investment strategy of BFA may not produce the intended results. 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 Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares (including through a trading halt), losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility, and disruptions in the process of creating and redeeming Fund shares. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s
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shares trading in the secondary market at a premium or discount to NAV or to the intraday value of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. If you buy Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to NAV or sell Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to NAV, you may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the Fund shares.
Operational and Technology Risks. The Fund is directly and indirectly susceptible to operational and technology risks, including those related to human errors, processing errors, communication errors, systems failures, cybersecurity incidents, and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI), which may result in losses for the Fund and its shareholders or may impair the Fund’s operations. While the Fund’s service providers are required to have appropriate operational, information security and cybersecurity risk management policies and procedures, their methods of risk management may differ from those of the Fund. Operational and technology risks for the issuers in which the Fund invests could also result in material adverse consequences for such issuers and may cause the Fund’s investments in such issuers to lose value.
Prepayment Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, issuers of certain debt obligations may repay principal prior to the debt obligation’s maturity, which may cause the Fund to have to reinvest in instruments with lower yields or a higher risk of default, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income or return potential.
Risk of Investing in China. Investments in Chinese securities, including certain Hong Kong-listed and U.S.-listed securities, are subject to risks specific to China. China may be subject to considerable degrees of economic, political and social instability. Despite economic and market reforms in recent decades, the Chinese government’s control over certain sectors and enterprises and significant regulation of investment and industry are still pervasive. Chinese companies are subject to the risk that Chinese authorities can intervene in their operations and structure. Chinese markets generally continue to experience inefficiency, a lack of publicly available information and/or political and social instability and may be subject to volatility and pricing anomalies resulting from governmental influence. Internal social unrest or confrontations with other countries, including military conflicts in response to such events, may disrupt China’s economy and markets and result in a greater risk of currency fluctuations, currency non-convertibility, interest rate fluctuations and higher inflation.
China has experienced security concerns, such as terrorism and strained international relations. Additionally, China is alleged to have participated in state-sponsored cyberattacks against foreign companies and foreign governments. Actual and threatened responses to such activity and strained international relations, including purchasing restrictions, sanctions, export controls, tariffs or cyberattacks on the Chinese government or Chinese companies, may impact China’s economy and Chinese issuers in which the Fund invests. Incidents involving China’s or the region’s security may adversely affect the Chinese economy and markets and the Fund’s investments.
The Chinese economy is highly reliant on trade. A reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, supply chain diversification, the institution of additional tariffs or other trade barriers (including as a result of heightened trade tensions or a trade war between China and the U.S. or in response to actual or alleged Chinese cyber activity) or a downturn in any of the economies of China’s key trading partners may have an adverse impact on the Chinese economy. The Underlying Index may include companies that are subject to economic or trade restrictions (but not investment restrictions) imposed by the U.S. or other governments due to national security, human rights or other concerns of such government. So long as these restrictions do not include restrictions on investments, the Fund is generally expected to invest in such companies, consistent with its objective to track the performance of the Underlying Index.
Chinese companies, including those listed on U.S. exchanges, are not subject to the same degree of regulatory requirements, accounting standards or auditor oversight as companies in more developed countries. As a result, information about the Chinese securities in which the Fund invests may be less reliable or complete. Chinese companies with securities listed on U.S. exchanges may be delisted if they do not meet U.S. accounting standards and auditor oversight requirements, or for other reasons, which would significantly decrease the liquidity and value of the securities. There may be significant obstacles to obtaining information necessary for investigations into or litigation against Chinese companies, and shareholders may have limited legal remedies.
Many Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges use variable interest entities or VIEs in their structure as a result of foreign ownership restrictions. Any change in the operations of entities in a VIE structure, the status of VIE contractual arrangements or the legal or regulatory environment in China could result in significant, and possibly permanent and/or total, losses for investments in VIE issuers. The Fund does not select investments based on investor protection considerations.
Risk of Investing in the China Bond Market. The Fund invests directly in the domestic bond market in the People’s Republic of China (China or the PRC) (the China Interbank Bond Market) through the Bond Connect trading channel. All bonds traded through Bond Connect are registered in the name of the PRC’s Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU), which holds such bonds as a nominee owner. The precise nature and rights of the Fund as the beneficial owner of bonds traded in the China Interbank Bond Market through CMU as nominee are relatively new and untested areas of PRC law, and the exact nature of the Fund’s remedies and methods of enforcement of its rights and interests under PRC law are uncertain.
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Market volatility and potential lack of liquidity due to low trading volume of certain bonds in the China Interbank Bond Market may result in the prices of certain bonds fluctuating significantly. Also, the systems used to trade through Bond Connect may not function as expected. Trading through Bond Connect is also subject to regulatory risks, including laws and regulations that are subject to change. There can be no assurance that Bond Connect or its features or systems will not be materially altered, suspended, discontinued or abolished. The Fund may be subject to additional taxation if certain tax exemptions under PRC tax regulations are withdrawn or amended. Any taxes arising from or to the Fund may be directly borne by, or indirectly passed on to, the Fund, which may substantially impact its NAV. Investing through Bond Connect subjects the Fund to currency risk, to the extent that currency rates used for Bond Connect are different than the rates used in the China Interbank Bond Market.
Risk of Investing in Russia. Investing in Russian securities involves significant risks, including legal, regulatory, currency and economic risks that are specific to Russia. In addition, investing in Russian securities involves risks associated with the settlement of portfolio transactions and loss of the Fund’s ownership rights in its portfolio securities as a result of the system of share registration and custody in Russia. Governments, including the U.S., the U.K., the E.U., and many other countries have imposed economic sanctions on certain Russian individuals and Russian corporate and banking entities, and jurisdictions may also institute broader sanctions on Russia. Russia has issued a number of countersanctions, some of which restrict the distribution of profits by limited liability companies (e.g., dividends), and prohibit Russian persons from entering into transactions with designated persons from unfriendly states as well as the export of raw materials or other products from Russia to certain sanctioned persons.
Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The extent and duration of the military action, resulting sanctions and resulting future market disruptions, including declines in its stock markets and the value of the ruble against the U.S. dollar, are impossible to predict, but could be significant. Disruptions caused by Russian military action or other actions (including cyberattacks and espionage) or resulting actual and threatened responses to such activity, including purchasing and financing restrictions, boycotts or changes in consumer or purchaser preferences, sanctions, import and export restrictions, tariffs or cyberattacks on the Russian government, Russian companies, or Russian individuals, including politicians, may impact Russia’s economy and Russian companies in which the Fund invests. Actual and threatened responses to Russian military action may also impact the markets for certain Russian commodities, such as oil and natural gas, as well as other sectors of the Russian economy, and are likely to have collateral impacts on such sectors globally. Russian companies may be unable to pay dividends and, if they pay dividends, the Fund may be unable to receive them. As a result of sanctions, the Fund is currently restricted from trading in Russian securities, including those in its portfolio, and the Underlying Index has removed Russian securities. It is unknown when, or if, sanctions may be lifted or the Fund’s ability to trade in Russian securities will resume.
Risk of Investing in Saudi Arabia. Investing in Saudi Arabian issuers subjects the Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks that are specific to Saudi Arabia. The economy of Saudi Arabia is dominated by petroleum exports. A sustained decrease in petroleum prices could have a negative impact on all aspects of the economy. Investments in the securities of Saudi Arabian issuers involve risks not typically associated with investments in securities of issuers in more developed countries, which may negatively affect the value of the Fund’s investments. Such heightened risks may include, among others, the expropriation and/or nationalization of assets, restrictions on and government intervention in international trade, confiscatory taxation, political instability, including authoritarian and/or military involvement in governmental decision-making, armed conflict, crime and instability as a result of religious, ethnic and/or socioeconomic unrest. Instability in the Middle East region could adversely impact the economy of Saudi Arabia, and there is no assurance of political stability in Saudi Arabia.
The ability of foreign investors to invest in the securities of Saudi Arabian companies could be restricted by the Saudi Arabian government at any time, and unforeseen risks could materialize with respect to foreign ownership of such securities. There are a number of ways to conduct transactions in equity securities in the Saudi Arabian market. The Fund generally expects to transact in a manner so that it is not limited by Saudi Arabian regulations to a single broker. However, there may be a limited number of brokers who can provide services to the Fund, which may have an adverse impact on the prices, quantity or timing of Fund transactions.
Risk of Investing in the U.S. Investing in U.S. issuers subjects the Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks that are specific to the U.S. Certain changes in the U.S., such as a weakening of the U.S. economy or a decline in its financial markets, may have an adverse effect on U.S. issuers.
Securities Lending Risk. The Fund may engage in securities lending. Securities lending involves the risk that the Fund may lose money because the borrower of the loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. The Fund could also lose money in the event of a decline in the value of collateral provided for loaned securities or a decline in the value of any investments made with cash collateral. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund.
Tracking Error Risk. The Fund may be subject to tracking error, which is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the Underlying Index. Tracking error may occur due to a number of factors, including differences between the securities and other assets held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index; differences in the timing and
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methodologies used to value securities and other assets; transaction costs and other expenses incurred by the Fund that the Underlying Index does not incur; the Fund’s holding of uninvested cash; differences in the timing of the accrual or the valuation of dividends or interest received by the Fund or distributions paid to Fund shareholders; tax gains or losses; differences between the amount and/or timing of withholding taxes on dividends reflected in the Underlying Index from the Fund’s obligation, if any, for foreign withholding taxes; the requirements for the Fund to maintain pass-through tax treatment; portfolio transactions carried out to minimize the distribution of capital gains to shareholders; the acceptance of custom baskets; changes to the Underlying Index; and impacts to the Fund of complying with certain regulatory requirements or limits. Tracking error risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions.
U.S. Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk. MBS represent interests in pools of mortgages and are subject to interest rate, prepayment, and extension risk. MBS may be issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or one of its agencies or sponsored entities. Some MBS may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government and thus represent greater credit risk. MBS react differently than other bonds to changes in interest rates due to prepayment and extension risks. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain MBS. MBS prices may reflect adverse economic and market conditions. MBS are subject to the risk of default on the underlying mortgage loans, particularly during periods of economic downturn. The default or bankruptcy of a counterparty to a TBA transaction would expose the Fund to possible losses.  
U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk. U.S. Treasury obligations may differ from other securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics and may provide relatively lower returns than those of other securities. Changes in the U.S. government’s financial condition or credit rating may cause the value of U.S. Treasury obligations to decline. Direct obligations of the U.S. Treasury have historically involved little risk of loss of principal if held to maturity, but the market value of such securities is not guaranteed and may fluctuate. Although U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, circumstances could arise that could prevent the timely payment of interest or principal.
Valuation Risk. The price that the Fund could receive upon the sale (or other disposition) of a security or other asset may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security or other asset, particularly for securities or other assets that trade in low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology. The price received by the Fund also may differ from the value used by the Underlying Index. In addition, the value of the securities or other assets in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days or during time periods when investors are not able to purchase or sell Fund shares. Authorized Participants that create or redeem Fund shares on days when the Fund is holding fair-valued securities or other assets may receive fewer or more shares, or lower or higher redemption proceeds, than they would have received had the securities or other assets not been fair valued or been valued using a different methodology. The ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
Performance Information
The performance information below illustrates how the Fund’s performance has varied over different periods and provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the performance of the Fund has varied from one calendar year to another over the periods shown. The table compares the Fund’s performance to that of an appropriate broad-based securities market index and the Underlying Index. Returns assume the reinvestment of any dividends and distributions. The Fund’s returns reflect the impact of any agreements to waive or reimburse expenses, which would reduce performance if not in effect. Past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information, including the Fund’s current NAV, may be obtained by visiting www.iShares.com or by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) (toll free).
Calendar Year-by-Year Returns (%)
 
Return (%)
Period Ended
Calendar Year-to-Date Return
-0.08%
March 31, 2026
During the periods shown in the chart:
Best Quarter
6.64%
December 31, 2023
Worst Quarter
-5.87%
March 31, 2022
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Average Annual Total Returns (%)
(for the periods ended December 31, 2025)
 
One Year
Five Years
Since Fund
Inception
Fund Inception: 6/23/2020
Return Before Taxes
7.28
%
-0.09
%
0.24
%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
5.60
%
-1.22
%
-0.82
%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
4.28
%
-0.56
%
-0.28
%
Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index (Returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or
taxes)
7.58
%
0.06
%
0.49
%
Bloomberg MSCI US Universal Choice ESG Screened Index (Returns do not reflect
deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
7.48
%
0.04
%
0.38
%
After-tax returns in the table above are calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state or local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after-tax returns shown are not relevant to tax-exempt investors or investors who hold shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”). Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares are calculated assuming that an investor has sufficient capital gains of the same character from other investments to offset any capital losses from the sales of Fund shares. As a result, Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares may exceed Fund returns before taxes and/or returns after taxes on distributions.
Management
Investment Adviser. BlackRock Fund Advisors.
Portfolio Managers. The following individuals (the Portfolio Managers) are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund:
Portfolio Manager
Portfolio Manager of the Fund Since
Title with Investment Adviser
Jonathan Graves
2025
Managing Director
James Mauro
2020
Managing Director
Marcus Tom
2025
Director
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund is an ETF. Individual shares of the Fund may only be bought and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer. Because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the bid-ask spread).
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA, in which case, your distributions generally will be taxed when withdrawn.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), BFA or other related companies may pay the intermediary for marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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iSHARES® ESG AWARE U.S. AGGREGATE BOND
ETF EAGG | NYSE Arca
Investment Objective
The iShares ESG Aware U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (the Fund) seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated, investment-grade bonds from issuers generally evaluated for favorable environmental, social and governance practices while seeking to exhibit risk and return characteristics similar to those of the broad U.S. dollar-denominated investment-grade bond market.
Fees and Expenses
The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. Amounts in the table are rounded to the nearest basis point, which in some cases may be 0.00. The investment advisory agreement between iShares Trust (the Trust) and BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA) (the Investment Advisory Agreement) provides that BFA will pay all operating expenses of the Fund, except: (i) the management fees, (ii) interest expenses, (iii) taxes, (iv) expenses incurred with respect to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities and the execution of portfolio transactions, including brokerage commissions, (v) distribution fees or expenses, and (vi) litigation expenses and any extraordinary expenses.
The Fund may incur Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses. Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses reflect the Fund’s pro rata share of the fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the Fund as a result of investing in other investment companies. The impact of Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses is included in the Fund’s total return but is not included in the Fund’s ratio of expenses to average net assets. Both figures are shown in the Financial Highlights section of the Fund’s prospectus (the “Prospectus”).  BFA, the investment adviser to the Fund, has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees in an amount equal to the Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any, attributable to investments by the Fund in other registered investment companies advised by BFA, or its affiliates, through June 30, 2029. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to June 30, 2029 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)1
Management Fee
0.10
%
Other Expenses
0.00
%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses
0.00
%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.10
%
Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement
(0.00
)%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement
0.10
%

1Operating expenses paid by BFA under the Investment Advisory Agreement exclude Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any.
Example. This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of owning shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
Expense Example
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Example Fund Costs
$10
$32
$56
$128
Portfolio Turnover. The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 94% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg MSCI US Aggregate ESG Focus Index (the Underlying Index), which has been developed by Bloomberg Finance L.P. and its affiliates (the Index Provider or Bloomberg) with environmental, social and governance (ESG) rating inputs from MSCI Solutions LLC (MSCI Solutions) pursuant to an
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agreement between MSCI Solutions and Bloomberg Index Services Limited (a subsidiary of Bloomberg) or an affiliate. The Underlying Index is an optimized fixed-income index designed to reflect the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated, investment-grade (as determined by the Index Provider) bonds from issuers generally evaluated for favorable ESG practices (as determined by MSCI Solutions), while seeking to exhibit risk and return characteristics similar to those of the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index (the Parent Index).
The Underlying Index includes investment-grade U.S. Treasury bonds, non-securitized government-related bonds (government-related bonds), corporate bonds, mortgage-backed pass-through securities (MBS), commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and asset-backed securities (ABS) that are publicly offered for sale in the U.S.
To construct the Underlying Index, the Index Provider begins with the Parent Index and replicates its U.S. Treasury bond, MBS, CMBS and ABS exposures. These exposures are preserved at the weights of the Parent Index and are not subject to the Index Provider’s optimization process, which is a quantitative process that seeks to determine optimal weights for securities to maximize exposure to securities of entities with higher MSCI Solutions ratings, while seeking to exhibit risk and return characteristics similar to the Parent Index. At each quarterly review, the Underlying Index must have an ESG score of at least 10% better than that of the Parent Index, as determined by Bloomberg and MSCI. For the remaining constituents of the Parent Index (i.e., corporate bonds and government-related bonds), the Index Provider excludes securities of entities involved in the business of tobacco, entities involved with controversial weapons, producers and retailers of civilian firearms, companies involved in certain fossil fuels-related activity (such as the production of thermal coal, thermal coal-based power generation and extraction of oil sands) based on revenue or percentage of revenue thresholds for certain categories (e.g., $20 million or 5%) and categorical exclusions for others (e.g., controversial weapons). The Index Provider also excludes entities involved in very severe business controversies (in each case as determined by MSCI Solutions), and securities of entities without an MSCI Solutions rating, and then follows the Index Provider’s optimization process.
For each industry, MSCI Solutions identifies key ESG issues that can lead to substantial costs or opportunities for entities (e.g., climate change, resource scarcity, demographic shifts). MSCI Solutions then rates each entity’s exposure to each key issue based on the entity’s business segment and geographic risk and analyzes the extent to which entities have developed robust strategies and programs to manage ESG risks and opportunities. MSCI Solutions scores entities based on both their risk exposure and risk management. To score well on a key issue, MSCI Solutions assesses management practices, management performance (through demonstrated track record and other quantitative performance indicators), governance structures, and/or implications in controversies, which all may be taken as a proxy for overall management quality. Controversies, including, among other things, issues involving anti-competitive practices, toxic emissions and waste, and health and safety, occurring within the last three years lead to a deduction from the overall management score on each issue. Using a sector-specific key issue weighting model, entities are rated and ranked in comparison to their industry peers. Key issues and weights are reviewed at the end of each calendar year. Corporate governance is always weighted and analyzed for all entities.
The securities in the Underlying Index must have at least one year remaining to maturity, with the exception of amortizing securities such as ABS and MBS, which have lower thresholds as defined by the Index Provider. In addition, the securities in the Underlying Index must be denominated in U.S. dollars and must be fixed-rate and nonconvertible. Certain types of securities, such as state and local government series bonds, structured notes with embedded swaps or other special features, private placements (other than those offered pursuant to Rule 144A or Regulation S promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 1933 Act)), floating rate securities and bonds that have been issued in one country’s currency but are traded outside of that country in a different monetary and regulatory system (e.g., Eurobonds), are excluded from the Underlying Index. The securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.
 As of February 28, 2026, there were 7,563 issues in the Underlying Index. As of February 28, 2026, a significant portion of the Underlying Index was represented by MBS and U.S. Treasury securities. The components of the Underlying Index are likely to change over time.
U.S. fixed-rate agency MBS are securities issued by entities such as the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and are backed by pools of mortgages. U.S. fixed-rate agency MBS exposure does not receive any MSCI Solutions rating as the Index Provider believes that U.S. fixed-rate agency MBS exposure is neither additive nor decremental to the Underlying Index's ESG rating profile. As such, based on currently available data, the Index Provider believes U.S. fixed-rate agency MBS exposure is ESG neutral and not inconsistent with an ESG focused exposure. Most transactions in fixed-rate MBS occur through standardized contracts for future delivery in which the exact mortgage pools to be delivered are not specified until a few days prior to settlement (to-be-announced (TBA) transactions). The Fund may enter into such contracts on a regular basis. The Fund, pending settlement of such contracts, will invest its assets in high-quality, liquid short-term instruments, including shares of money market funds advised by BFA or its affiliates. The Fund will assume its pro rata share of the fees and expenses of any money market fund that it may invest in, in addition to the Fund’s own fees and expenses. The Fund may also acquire interests in mortgage pools through means other than such standardized contracts for future delivery.
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BFA uses an indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund does not try to beat the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Underlying Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection.
BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy to manage the Fund. Representative sampling is an indexing strategy that involves investing in a representative sample of securities or other instruments that collectively has an investment profile similar to that of an applicable underlying index. The instruments selected are expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as market value and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability, duration (i.e., an instrument's price sensitivity to a change in interest rates), maturity or credit ratings and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of an applicable underlying index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the components of the Underlying Index.
The Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the Underlying Index and in investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the component securities of the Underlying Index (i.e., TBAs), and the Fund will invest at least 90% of its assets in fixed income securities of the types included in the Underlying Index that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. The Fund will invest no more than 10% of its assets in futures, options, and swaps contracts that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index as well as in fixed income securities other than the types included in the Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index.  Cash and cash equivalent investments associated with a derivative position will be treated as part of that position for the purposes of calculating the percentage of investments included in the Underlying Index. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Underlying Index before fees and expenses of the Fund.
The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund's total assets (including the value of any collateral received).
The Underlying Index is sponsored by Bloomberg, MSCI Solutions or their affiliates, which areindependent of the Fund and BFA, pursuant to an agreement between MSCI Solutions and Bloomberg Index Services Limited (a subsidiary of Bloomberg) or an affiliate. The Index Provider determines the composition and relative weightings of the components of the Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index.
Industry Concentration Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities, and securities of state or municipal governments and their political subdivisions are not considered to be issued by members of any industry.
Summary of Principal Risks
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund's performance could trail that of other investments. The Fund is subject to certain risks, including the principal risks noted below any of which may adversely affect the Fund's net asset value per share (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective. Certain key risks are prioritized below (with others following in alphabetical order), but the relative significance of any risk is difficult to predict and may change over time. You should review each risk factor carefully.
Risk of Investing in the U.S. Investing in U.S. issuers subjects the Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks that are specific to the U.S. Certain changes in the U.S., such as a weakening of the U.S. economy or a decline in its financial markets, may have an adverse effect on U.S. issuers.
Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate risk refers to the risk of fluctuations in the value of a fixed-income security due to changes in the general level of interest rates. Interest rate changes can be sudden and unpredictable and are influenced by a number of factors, including government policy, monetary policy, inflation expectations, perceptions of risk, and supply and demand for fixed-income securities. An increase in interest rates generally will cause the value of fixed-income securities to decline. Securities with longer maturities generally are more sensitive to interest rate changes and subject to greater fluctuations in value. Changes in interest rates may have unpredictable effects on fixed-income markets and result in heightened volatility and lower liquidity for certain instruments, which may adversely affect a Fund’s performance. During periods of very low or negative interest rates, a Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns or pay dividends to shareholders.
Credit Risk. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer, guarantor or liquidity provider of a fixed-income security may be unable or unwilling, or may be perceived as unable or unwilling, to make timely principal and/or interest payments or to otherwise honor its obligations. The credit rating assigned to a security or its issuer does not necessarily reflect the issuer’s current financial condition or an investment’s volatility or liquidity. An actual or perceived decline in an issuer’s creditworthiness may result in a
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decrease in the value and liquidity of its securities as well as greater price volatility, which may make it difficult to sell the securities. The Fund may be adversely affected if an investment that it holds experiences a downgrade or a default.
ESG Risk. To the extent that the Underlying Index uses criteria related to the ESG characteristics of issuers, this may limit the types and number of investment opportunities available to the Fund and, as a result, the Fund may underperform other funds whose underlying index does not use ESG criteria. The Underlying Index’s use of ESG criteria may result in the Fund investing in, or allocating greater weight to, securities or market sectors that underperform the market as a whole or underperform other funds that use ESG criteria. In addition, the use of representative sampling may result in divergence of the Fund’s overall ESG characteristics or ESG risk from those of the Underlying Index. The Index Provider may evaluate security-level ESG data and, if applicable, ESG objectives or constraints that are relevant to the Underlying Index only at index reviews or rebalances. Securities included in the Underlying Index may cease to meet the relevant ESG criteria but may nevertheless remain in the Underlying Index and the Fund until the next review or rebalance by the Index Provider. As a result, certain securities in the Underlying Index, or the Underlying Index as a whole, may not meet the relevant ESG objectives or constraints at all times.
Market Risk. The Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, pandemics or other public health issues, recessions, the prospect or occurrence of a sovereign default or other financial crisis, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments and could result in increased premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV.
Index-Related Risk. The Index Provider may rely on various sources of information to assess the criteria of components of the Underlying Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor BFA can offer assurances that the Index Provider’s methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included components or will result in the Fund meeting its investment objective. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology may occur, and the Index Provider may not identify or correct them promptly or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Unusual market conditions or other unforeseen circumstances (such as natural disasters, political unrest or war) may impact the Index Provider or a third-party data provider and could cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance. This could cause the Underlying Index to vary from its normal or expected composition.
Asset Class Risk. The securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to financial markets generally, a particular financial market, another index, or other asset classes.
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. An Authorized Participant is a member or participant of a clearing agency registered with the SEC, which has a written agreement with the Fund or one of its service providers that allows the Authorized Participant to place orders for the purchase and redemption of creation units (Creation Units). Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. There are a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants for the Fund, including on an agency basis on behalf of other market participants. No Authorized Participant is obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or do not place creation or redemption orders for the Fund and no other Authorized Participant places orders, Fund shares are more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting.
Call Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of a callable debt obligation held by the Fund may call or repay the debt obligation before its stated maturity, and the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds in instruments with lower yields, which would result in a decline in the Fund's income, or in instruments with greater risks or with other less favorable features.
Concentration Risk. The Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in the securities or other assets of one or more issuers, countries or other geographic units, markets, industries, project types, or asset classes.
Extension Risk. During periods of rising interest rates, certain debt obligations may be paid off substantially more slowly than originally anticipated and the value of those debt obligations may fall sharply, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income and potentially in the value of the Fund’s investments.
Income Risk. The Fund’s income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors. This can occur because the Fund may be required to invest in lower-yielding bonds when a bond in the Fund’s portfolio matures, is near maturity, is called or is prepaid, when bonds in the Underlying Index are substituted, or when the Fund otherwise needs to purchase additional bonds. The Index Provider’s substitution of bonds in the Underlying Index may occur, for example, when the time to maturity for the bond no longer matches the Underlying Index’s stated maturity guidelines.
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Issuer Risk. The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of individual securities or other assets to which the Fund has exposure. The value of securities or other assets may decline, or perform differently from the market as a whole, due to changes in the financial condition or credit rating of the issuer or counterparty.
Large Shareholder and Large-Scale Redemption Risk. Certain shareholders of the Fund, including an Authorized Participant, a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser, an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, a market maker, or another entity, may from time to time own or manage a substantial amount of Fund shares, or may hold their investment in the Fund for a limited period of time. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder or large group of shareholders would not redeem their investment. Redemptions of a large number of Fund shares could require the Fund to dispose of assets to meet the redemption requests, which can accelerate the realization of taxable income and/or capital gains and cause the Fund to make taxable distributions to its shareholders earlier than the Fund otherwise would have. In addition, under certain circumstances, non-redeeming shareholders may be treated as receiving a disproportionately large taxable distribution during or with respect to such year. In some circumstances, the Fund may hold a relatively large proportion of its assets in cash in anticipation of large redemptions, diluting its investment returns. These large redemptions may also force the Fund to sell portfolio securities or other assets when it might not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV, increase the Fund’s brokerage costs and/or have a material effect on the market price of Fund shares.
Management Risk. The Fund generally does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. As the Fund will not fully replicate the Underlying Index and may hold securities or other assets not included in the Underlying Index, it is subject to the risk that the investment strategy of BFA may not produce the intended results. 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 Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares (including through a trading halt), losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility, and disruptions in the process of creating and redeeming Fund shares. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading in the secondary market at a premium or discount to NAV or to the intraday value of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. If you buy Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to NAV or sell Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to NAV, you may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the Fund shares.
Operational and Technology Risks. The Fund is directly and indirectly susceptible to operational and technology risks, including those related to human errors, processing errors, communication errors, systems failures, cybersecurity incidents, and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI), which may result in losses for the Fund and its shareholders or may impair the Fund’s operations. While the Fund’s service providers are required to have appropriate operational, information security and cybersecurity risk management policies and procedures, their methods of risk management may differ from those of the Fund. Operational and technology risks for the issuers in which the Fund invests could also result in material adverse consequences for such issuers and may cause the Fund’s investments in such issuers to lose value.
Prepayment Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, issuers of certain debt obligations may repay principal prior to the debt obligation’s maturity, which may cause the Fund to have to reinvest in instruments with lower yields or a higher risk of default, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income or return potential.
Risk of Investing in China. Investments in Chinese securities, including certain Hong Kong-listed and U.S.-listed securities, are subject to risks specific to China. China may be subject to considerable degrees of economic, political and social instability. Despite economic and market reforms in recent decades, the Chinese government’s control over certain sectors and enterprises and significant regulation of investment and industry are still pervasive. Chinese companies are subject to the risk that Chinese authorities can intervene in their operations and structure. Chinese markets generally continue to experience inefficiency, a lack of publicly available information and/or political and social instability and may be subject to volatility and pricing anomalies resulting from governmental influence. Internal social unrest or confrontations with other countries, including military conflicts in response to such events, may disrupt China’s economy and markets and result in a greater risk of currency fluctuations, currency non-convertibility, interest rate fluctuations and higher inflation.
China has experienced security concerns, such as terrorism and strained international relations. Additionally, China is alleged to have participated in state-sponsored cyberattacks against foreign companies and foreign governments. Actual and threatened responses to such activity and strained international relations, including purchasing restrictions, sanctions, export controls, tariffs or cyberattacks on the Chinese government or Chinese companies, may impact China’s economy and Chinese issuers in which the Fund invests. Incidents involving China’s or the region’s security may adversely affect the Chinese economy and markets and the Fund’s investments.
The Chinese economy is highly reliant on trade. A reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, supply chain diversification, the institution of additional tariffs or other trade barriers (including as a result of heightened trade tensions or a trade war between China and the U.S. or in response to actual or alleged Chinese cyber activity) or a downturn in any of the economies of China’s key trading partners may have an adverse impact on the Chinese economy. The Underlying Index may
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include companies that are subject to economic or trade restrictions (but not investment restrictions) imposed by the U.S. or other governments due to national security, human rights or other concerns of such government. So long as these restrictions do not include restrictions on investments, the Fund is generally expected to invest in such companies, consistent with its objective to track the performance of the Underlying Index.
Chinese companies, including those listed on U.S. exchanges, are not subject to the same degree of regulatory requirements, accounting standards or auditor oversight as companies in more developed countries. As a result, information about the Chinese securities in which the Fund invests may be less reliable or complete. Chinese companies with securities listed on U.S. exchanges may be delisted if they do not meet U.S. accounting standards and auditor oversight requirements, or for other reasons, which would significantly decrease the liquidity and value of the securities. There may be significant obstacles to obtaining information necessary for investigations into or litigation against Chinese companies, and shareholders may have limited legal remedies.
Many Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges use variable interest entities or VIEs in their structure as a result of foreign ownership restrictions. Any change in the operations of entities in a VIE structure, the status of VIE contractual arrangements or the legal or regulatory environment in China could result in significant, and possibly permanent and/or total, losses for investments in VIE issuers. The Fund does not select investments based on investor protection considerations.
Risk of Investing in the China Bond Market. The Fund invests directly in the domestic bond market in the People’s Republic of China (China or the PRC) (the China Interbank Bond Market) through the Bond Connect trading channel. All bonds traded through Bond Connect are registered in the name of the PRC’s Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU), which holds such bonds as a nominee owner. The precise nature and rights of the Fund as the beneficial owner of bonds traded in the China Interbank Bond Market through CMU as nominee are relatively new and untested areas of PRC law, and the exact nature of the Fund’s remedies and methods of enforcement of its rights and interests under PRC law are uncertain.
Market volatility and potential lack of liquidity due to low trading volume of certain bonds in the China Interbank Bond Market may result in the prices of certain bonds fluctuating significantly. Also, the systems used to trade through Bond Connect may not function as expected. Trading through Bond Connect is also subject to regulatory risks, including laws and regulations that are subject to change. There can be no assurance that Bond Connect or its features or systems will not be materially altered, suspended, discontinued or abolished. The Fund may be subject to additional taxation if certain tax exemptions under PRC tax regulations are withdrawn or amended. Any taxes arising from or to the Fund may be directly borne by, or indirectly passed on to, the Fund, which may substantially impact its NAV. Investing through Bond Connect subjects the Fund to currency risk, to the extent that currency rates used for Bond Connect are different than the rates used in the China Interbank Bond Market.
Securities Lending Risk. The Fund may engage in securities lending. Securities lending involves the risk that the Fund may lose money because the borrower of the loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. The Fund could also lose money in the event of a decline in the value of collateral provided for loaned securities or a decline in the value of any investments made with cash collateral. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund.
Tracking Error Risk. The Fund may be subject to tracking error, which is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the Underlying Index. Tracking error may occur due to a number of factors, including differences between the securities and other assets held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index; differences in the timing and methodologies used to value securities and other assets; transaction costs and other expenses incurred by the Fund that the Underlying Index does not incur; the Fund’s holding of uninvested cash; differences in the timing of the accrual or the valuation of dividends or interest received by the Fund or distributions paid to Fund shareholders; tax gains or losses; differences between the amount and/or timing of withholding taxes on dividends reflected in the Underlying Index from the Fund’s obligation, if any, for foreign withholding taxes; the requirements for the Fund to maintain pass-through tax treatment; portfolio transactions carried out to minimize the distribution of capital gains to shareholders; the acceptance of custom baskets; changes to the Underlying Index; and impacts to the Fund of complying with certain regulatory requirements or limits. Tracking error risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions.
U.S. Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk. MBS represent interests in pools of mortgages and are subject to interest rate, prepayment, and extension risk. MBS may be issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or one of its agencies or sponsored entities. Some MBS may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government and thus represent greater credit risk. MBS react differently than other bonds to changes in interest rates due to prepayment and extension risks. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain MBS. MBS prices may reflect adverse economic and market conditions. MBS are subject to the risk of default on the underlying mortgage loans, particularly during periods of economic downturn. The default or bankruptcy of a counterparty to a TBA transaction would expose the Fund to possible losses.  
U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk. U.S. Treasury obligations may differ from other securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics and may provide relatively lower returns than those of other securities. Changes in
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the U.S. government’s financial condition or credit rating may cause the value of U.S. Treasury obligations to decline. Direct obligations of the U.S. Treasury have historically involved little risk of loss of principal if held to maturity, but the market value of such securities is not guaranteed and may fluctuate. Although U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, circumstances could arise that could prevent the timely payment of interest or principal.
Valuation Risk. The price that the Fund could receive upon the sale (or other disposition) of a security or other asset may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security or other asset, particularly for securities or other assets that trade in low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology. The price received by the Fund also may differ from the value used by the Underlying Index. In addition, the value of the securities or other assets in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days or during time periods when investors are not able to purchase or sell Fund shares. Authorized Participants that create or redeem Fund shares on days when the Fund is holding fair-valued securities or other assets may receive fewer or more shares, or lower or higher redemption proceeds, than they would have received had the securities or other assets not been fair valued or been valued using a different methodology. The ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
Performance Information
The performance information below illustrates how the Fund’s performance has varied over different periods and provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the performance of the Fund has varied from one calendar year to another over the periods shown. The table compares the Fund’s performance to that of an appropriate broad-based securities market index and the Underlying Index. Returns assume the reinvestment of any dividends and distributions. The Fund’s returns reflect the impact of any agreements to waive or reimburse expenses, which would reduce performance if not in effect. Past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information, including the Fund’s current NAV, may be obtained by visiting www.iShares.com or by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) (toll free).
Calendar Year-by-Year Returns (%)
 
Return (%)
Period Ended
Calendar Year-to-Date Return
0.03%
March 31, 2026
During the periods shown in the chart:
Best Quarter
6.68%
December 31, 2023
Worst Quarter
-5.86%
March 31, 2022
Average Annual Total Returns (%)
(for the periods ended December 31, 2025)
 
One Year
Five Years
Since Fund
Inception
Fund Inception: 10/18/2018
Return Before Taxes
7.13
%
-0.48
%
2.17
%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
5.42
%
-1.62
%
1.03
%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
4.19
%
-0.86
%
1.18
%
Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index (Returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or
taxes)
7.58
%
0.06
%
2.58
%
Bloomberg MSCI US Aggregate ESG Focus Index (Returns do not reflect deductions for
fees, expenses or taxes)
7.34
%
-0.36
%
2.29
%
After-tax returns in the table above are calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state or local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after-tax returns shown are not relevant to tax-exempt investors or investors who hold shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”). Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares are calculated assuming that an investor has sufficient capital gains of the same character from other investments to offset any capital losses from the sales of Fund shares. As a result, Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares may exceed Fund returns before taxes and/or returns after taxes on distributions.
Management
Investment Adviser. BlackRock Fund Advisors.
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Portfolio Managers. The following individuals (the Portfolio Managers) are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund:
Portfolio Manager
Portfolio Manager of the Fund Since
Title with Investment Adviser
Jonathan Graves
2025
Managing Director
James Mauro
2018
Managing Director
Marcus Tom
2025
Director
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund is an exchange-traded fund (commonly referred to as an ETF). Individual shares of the Fund may only be bought and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer. Because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the bid-ask spread).
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA, in which case, your distributions generally will be taxed when withdrawn.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), BFA or other related companies may pay the intermediary for marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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iSHARES® GOVERNMENT/CREDIT BOND ETF
GBF | NYSE Arca
Investment Objective
The iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF (the Fund) seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated government, government-related and investment-grade U.S. corporate bonds.
Fees and Expenses
The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. Amounts in the table are rounded to the nearest basis point, which in some cases may be 0.00. The investment advisory agreement between iShares Trust (the Trust) and BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA) (the Investment Advisory Agreement) provides that BFA will pay all operating expenses of the Fund, except: (i) the management fees, (ii) interest expenses, (iii) taxes, (iv) expenses incurred with respect to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities and the execution of portfolio transactions, including brokerage commissions, (v) distribution fees or expenses, and (vi) litigation expenses and any extraordinary expenses.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)1
Management Fee
0.20
%
Other Expenses
0.00
%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.20
%

1Operating expenses paid by BFA under the Investment Advisory Agreement exclude acquired fund fees and expenses, if any.
Example. This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of owning shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
Expense Example
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Example Fund Costs
$20
$64
$113
$255
Portfolio Turnover. The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 20% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg U.S. Government/Credit Bond Index (the Underlying Index), which measures the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated U.S. Treasury bonds, government-related bonds (i.e., U.S. and foreign agencies, sovereign, supranational and local authority debt) and investment-grade (as determined by Bloomberg Index Services Limited (the Index Provider or Bloomberg)) U.S. corporate bonds that have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to one year. As of February 28, 2026, there were 10,082 issues in the Underlying Index. As of February 28, 2026, a significant portion of the Underlying Index was represented by U.S. Treasury securities. The components of the Underlying Index are likely to change over time.
The Underlying Index consists of U.S. government, government-related and investment-grade U.S. credit securities that have greater than or equal to one year remaining to maturity and have $300 million or more of outstanding face value. In addition, the securities in the Underlying Index must be denominated in U.S. dollars and must be fixed-rate and non-convertible. Excluded from the Underlying Index are certain special issues such as targeted investor notes, state and local government series bonds and coupon issues that have been stripped from bonds. Also excluded from the Underlying Index are structured notes with embedded swaps or other special features, private placements, floating-rate securities and bonds that have been issued in one country's currency but are traded outside of that country in a different monetary and regulatory system (e.g., Eurobonds). The Underlying Index is market capitalization-weighted and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.
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BFA uses an indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund does not try to beat the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Underlying Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy to manage the Fund. Representative sampling is an indexing strategy that involves investing in a representative sample of securities or other instruments that collectively has an investment profile similar to that of an applicable underlying index. The instruments selected are expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as market value and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability, duration (i.e., an instrument's price sensitivity to a change in interest rates), maturity or credit ratings and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of an applicable underlying index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the components of the Underlying Index.
The Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the Underlying Index, and the Fund will invest at least 90% of its assets in fixed income securities of the types included in the Underlying Index that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index.  The Fund will invest no more than 10% of its assets in futures, options and swaps contracts that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index as well as in fixed income securities other than the types included in the Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. Cash and cash equivalent investments associated with a derivative position will be treated as part of that position for the purposes of calculating the percentage of investments included in the Underlying Index. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Underlying Index before fees and expenses of the Fund.
The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund's total assets (including the value of any collateral received).
The Underlying Index is sponsored by Bloomberg, which isindependent of the Fund and BFA. The Index Provider determines the composition and relative weightings of the components of the Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index.
Industry Concentration Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities, and securities of state or municipal governments and their political subdivisions are not considered to be issued by members of any industry.
Summary of Principal Risks
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund's performance could trail that of other investments. The Fund is subject to certain risks, including the principal risks noted below any of which may adversely affect the Fund's net asset value per share (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective. Certain key risks are prioritized below (with others following in alphabetical order), but the relative significance of any risk is difficult to predict and may change over time. You should review each risk factor carefully.
U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk. U.S. Treasury obligations may differ from other securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics and may provide relatively lower returns than those of other securities. Changes in the U.S. government’s financial condition or credit rating may cause the value of U.S. Treasury obligations to decline. Direct obligations of the U.S. Treasury have historically involved little risk of loss of principal if held to maturity, but the market value of such securities is not guaranteed and may fluctuate. Although U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, circumstances could arise that could prevent the timely payment of interest or principal.
Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate risk refers to the risk of fluctuations in the value of a fixed-income security due to changes in the general level of interest rates. Interest rate changes can be sudden and unpredictable and are influenced by a number of factors, including government policy, monetary policy, inflation expectations, perceptions of risk, and supply and demand for fixed-income securities. An increase in interest rates generally will cause the value of fixed-income securities to decline. Securities with longer maturities generally are more sensitive to interest rate changes and subject to greater fluctuations in value. Changes in interest rates may have unpredictable effects on fixed-income markets and result in heightened volatility and lower liquidity for certain instruments, which may adversely affect a Fund’s performance. During periods of very low or negative interest rates, a Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns or pay dividends to shareholders.
Credit Risk. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer, guarantor or liquidity provider of a fixed-income security may be unable or unwilling, or may be perceived as unable or unwilling, to make timely principal and/or interest payments or to otherwise honor its obligations. The credit rating assigned to a security or its issuer does not necessarily reflect the issuer’s current financial
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condition or an investment’s volatility or liquidity. An actual or perceived decline in an issuer’s creditworthiness may result in a decrease in the value and liquidity of its securities as well as greater price volatility, which may make it difficult to sell the securities. The Fund may be adversely affected if an investment that it holds experiences a downgrade or a default.
Market Risk. The Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, pandemics or other public health issues, recessions, the prospect or occurrence of a sovereign default or other financial crisis, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments and could result in increased premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV.
Index-Related Risk. The Index Provider may rely on various sources of information to assess the criteria of components of the Underlying Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor BFA can offer assurances that the Index Provider’s methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included components or will result in the Fund meeting its investment objective. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology may occur, and the Index Provider may not identify or correct them promptly or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Unusual market conditions or other unforeseen circumstances (such as natural disasters, political unrest or war) may impact the Index Provider or a third-party data provider and could cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance. This could cause the Underlying Index to vary from its normal or expected composition.
Asset Class Risk. The securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to financial markets generally, a particular financial market, another index, or other asset classes.
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. An Authorized Participant is a member or participant of a clearing agency registered with the SEC, which has a written agreement with the Fund or one of its service providers that allows the Authorized Participant to place orders for the purchase and redemption of creation units (Creation Units). Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. There are a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants for the Fund, including on an agency basis on behalf of other market participants. No Authorized Participant is obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or do not place creation or redemption orders for the Fund and no other Authorized Participant places orders, Fund shares are more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting.
Call Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of a callable debt obligation held by the Fund may call or repay the debt obligation before its stated maturity, and the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds in instruments with lower yields, which would result in a decline in the Fund's income, or in instruments with greater risks or with other less favorable features.
Concentration Risk. The Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in the securities or other assets of one or more issuers, countries or other geographic units, markets, industries, project types, or asset classes.
Income Risk. The Fund’s income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors. This can occur because the Fund may be required to invest in lower-yielding bonds when a bond in the Fund’s portfolio matures, is near maturity, is called or is prepaid, when bonds in the Underlying Index are substituted, or when the Fund otherwise needs to purchase additional bonds. The Index Provider’s substitution of bonds in the Underlying Index may occur, for example, when the time to maturity for the bond no longer matches the Underlying Index’s stated maturity guidelines.
Issuer Risk. The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of individual securities or other assets to which the Fund has exposure. The value of securities or other assets may decline, or perform differently from the market as a whole, due to changes in the financial condition or credit rating of the issuer or counterparty.
Large Shareholder and Large-Scale Redemption Risk. Certain shareholders of the Fund, including an Authorized Participant, a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser, an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, a market maker, or another entity, may from time to time own or manage a substantial amount of Fund shares, or may hold their investment in the Fund for a limited period of time. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder or large group of shareholders would not redeem their investment. Redemptions of a large number of Fund shares could require the Fund to dispose of assets to meet the redemption requests, which can accelerate the realization of taxable income and/or capital gains and cause the Fund to make taxable distributions to its shareholders earlier than the Fund otherwise would have. In addition, under certain circumstances, non-redeeming shareholders may be treated as receiving a disproportionately large taxable distribution during or with respect to such year. In some circumstances, the Fund may hold a relatively large proportion of its assets in cash in anticipation of large redemptions, diluting its investment returns. These large redemptions may also force the Fund to sell
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portfolio securities or other assets when it might not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV, increase the Fund’s brokerage costs and/or have a material effect on the market price of Fund shares.
Management Risk. The Fund generally does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. As the Fund will not fully replicate the Underlying Index and may hold securities or other assets not included in the Underlying Index, it is subject to the risk that the investment strategy of BFA may not produce the intended results. 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 Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares (including through a trading halt), losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility, and disruptions in the process of creating and redeeming Fund shares. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading in the secondary market at a premium or discount to NAV or to the intraday value of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. If you buy Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to NAV or sell Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to NAV, you may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the Fund shares.
Operational and Technology Risks. The Fund is directly and indirectly susceptible to operational and technology risks, including those related to human errors, processing errors, communication errors, systems failures, cybersecurity incidents, and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI), which may result in losses for the Fund and its shareholders or may impair the Fund’s operations. While the Fund’s service providers are required to have appropriate operational, information security and cybersecurity risk management policies and procedures, their methods of risk management may differ from those of the Fund. Operational and technology risks for the issuers in which the Fund invests could also result in material adverse consequences for such issuers and may cause the Fund’s investments in such issuers to lose value.
Risk of Investing in China. Investments in Chinese securities, including certain Hong Kong-listed and U.S.-listed securities, are subject to risks specific to China. China may be subject to considerable degrees of economic, political and social instability. Despite economic and market reforms in recent decades, the Chinese government’s control over certain sectors and enterprises and significant regulation of investment and industry are still pervasive. Chinese companies are subject to the risk that Chinese authorities can intervene in their operations and structure. Chinese markets generally continue to experience inefficiency, a lack of publicly available information and/or political and social instability and may be subject to volatility and pricing anomalies resulting from governmental influence. Internal social unrest or confrontations with other countries, including military conflicts in response to such events, may disrupt China’s economy and markets and result in a greater risk of currency fluctuations, currency non-convertibility, interest rate fluctuations and higher inflation.
China has experienced security concerns, such as terrorism and strained international relations. Additionally, China is alleged to have participated in state-sponsored cyberattacks against foreign companies and foreign governments. Actual and threatened responses to such activity and strained international relations, including purchasing restrictions, sanctions, export controls, tariffs or cyberattacks on the Chinese government or Chinese companies, may impact China’s economy and Chinese issuers in which the Fund invests. Incidents involving China’s or the region’s security may adversely affect the Chinese economy and markets and the Fund’s investments.
The Chinese economy is highly reliant on trade. A reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, supply chain diversification, the institution of additional tariffs or other trade barriers (including as a result of heightened trade tensions or a trade war between China and the U.S. or in response to actual or alleged Chinese cyber activity) or a downturn in any of the economies of China’s key trading partners may have an adverse impact on the Chinese economy. The Underlying Index may include companies that are subject to economic or trade restrictions (but not investment restrictions) imposed by the U.S. or other governments due to national security, human rights or other concerns of such government. So long as these restrictions do not include restrictions on investments, the Fund is generally expected to invest in such companies, consistent with its objective to track the performance of the Underlying Index.
Chinese companies, including those listed on U.S. exchanges, are not subject to the same degree of regulatory requirements, accounting standards or auditor oversight as companies in more developed countries. As a result, information about the Chinese securities in which the Fund invests may be less reliable or complete. Chinese companies with securities listed on U.S. exchanges may be delisted if they do not meet U.S. accounting standards and auditor oversight requirements, or for other reasons, which would significantly decrease the liquidity and value of the securities. There may be significant obstacles to obtaining information necessary for investigations into or litigation against Chinese companies, and shareholders may have limited legal remedies.
Many Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges use variable interest entities or VIEs in their structure as a result of foreign ownership restrictions. Any change in the operations of entities in a VIE structure, the status of VIE contractual arrangements or the legal or regulatory environment in China could result in significant, and possibly permanent and/or total, losses for investments in VIE issuers. The Fund does not select investments based on investor protection considerations.
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Risk of Investing in the China Bond Market. The Fund invests directly in the domestic bond market in the People’s Republic of China (China or the PRC) (the China Interbank Bond Market) through the Bond Connect trading channel. All bonds traded through Bond Connect are registered in the name of the PRC’s Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU), which holds such bonds as a nominee owner. The precise nature and rights of the Fund as the beneficial owner of bonds traded in the China Interbank Bond Market through CMU as nominee are relatively new and untested areas of PRC law, and the exact nature of the Fund’s remedies and methods of enforcement of its rights and interests under PRC law are uncertain.
Market volatility and potential lack of liquidity due to low trading volume of certain bonds in the China Interbank Bond Market may result in the prices of certain bonds fluctuating significantly. Also, the systems used to trade through Bond Connect may not function as expected. Trading through Bond Connect is also subject to regulatory risks, including laws and regulations that are subject to change. There can be no assurance that Bond Connect or its features or systems will not be materially altered, suspended, discontinued or abolished. The Fund may be subject to additional taxation if certain tax exemptions under PRC tax regulations are withdrawn or amended. Any taxes arising from or to the Fund may be directly borne by, or indirectly passed on to, the Fund, which may substantially impact its NAV. Investing through Bond Connect subjects the Fund to currency risk, to the extent that currency rates used for Bond Connect are different than the rates used in the China Interbank Bond Market.
Risk of Investing in the U.S. Investing in U.S. issuers subjects the Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks that are specific to the U.S. Certain changes in the U.S., such as a weakening of the U.S. economy or a decline in its financial markets, may have an adverse effect on U.S. issuers.
Securities Lending Risk. The Fund may engage in securities lending. Securities lending involves the risk that the Fund may lose money because the borrower of the loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. The Fund could also lose money in the event of a decline in the value of collateral provided for loaned securities or a decline in the value of any investments made with cash collateral. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund.
Tracking Error Risk. The Fund may be subject to tracking error, which is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the Underlying Index. Tracking error may occur due to a number of factors, including differences between the securities and other assets held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index; differences in the timing and methodologies used to value securities and other assets; transaction costs and other expenses incurred by the Fund that the Underlying Index does not incur; the Fund’s holding of uninvested cash; differences in the timing of the accrual or the valuation of dividends or interest received by the Fund or distributions paid to Fund shareholders; tax gains or losses; differences between the amount and/or timing of withholding taxes on dividends reflected in the Underlying Index from the Fund’s obligation, if any, for foreign withholding taxes; the requirements for the Fund to maintain pass-through tax treatment; portfolio transactions carried out to minimize the distribution of capital gains to shareholders; the acceptance of custom baskets; changes to the Underlying Index; and impacts to the Fund of complying with certain regulatory requirements or limits. Tracking error risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions.
Valuation Risk. The price that the Fund could receive upon the sale (or other disposition) of a security or other asset may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security or other asset, particularly for securities or other assets that trade in low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology. The price received by the Fund also may differ from the value used by the Underlying Index. In addition, the value of the securities or other assets in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days or during time periods when investors are not able to purchase or sell Fund shares. Authorized Participants that create or redeem Fund shares on days when the Fund is holding fair-valued securities or other assets may receive fewer or more shares, or lower or higher redemption proceeds, than they would have received had the securities or other assets not been fair valued or been valued using a different methodology. The ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
Performance Information
The performance information below illustrates how the Fund’s performance has varied over different periods and provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the performance of the Fund has varied from one calendar year to another over the periods shown. The table compares the Fund’s performance to that of an appropriate broad-based securities market index and the Underlying Index. Returns assume the reinvestment of any dividends and distributions. The Fund’s returns reflect the impact of any agreements to waive or reimburse expenses, which would reduce performance if not in effect. Past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information, including the Fund’s current NAV, may be obtained by visiting www.iShares.com or by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) (toll free).
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Calendar Year-by-Year Returns (%)
 
Return (%)
Period Ended
Calendar Year-to-Date Return
-0.15%
March 31, 2026
During the periods shown in the chart:
Best Quarter
6.48%
December 31, 2023
Worst Quarter
-6.26%
March 31, 2022
Average Annual Total Returns (%)
(for the periods ended December 31, 2025)
 
One Year
Five Years
Ten Years
Fund Inception: 1/5/2007
Return Before Taxes
6.59
%
-0.81
%
1.94
%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
4.95
%
-1.94
%
0.88
%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
3.88
%
-1.10
%
1.03
%
Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index (Returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or
taxes)
7.58
%
0.06
%
2.44
%
Bloomberg U.S. Government/Credit Bond Index (Returns do not reflect deductions for fees,
expenses or taxes)
6.88
%
-0.59
%
2.16
%
After-tax returns in the table above are calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state or local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after-tax returns shown are not relevant to tax-exempt investors or investors who hold shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”). Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares are calculated assuming that an investor has sufficient capital gains of the same character from other investments to offset any capital losses from the sales of Fund shares. As a result, Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares may exceed Fund returns before taxes and/or returns after taxes on distributions.
Management
Investment Adviser. BlackRock Fund Advisors.
Portfolio Managers. The following individuals (the Portfolio Managers) are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund:
Portfolio Manager
Portfolio Manager of the Fund Since
Title with Investment Adviser
Jonathan Graves
2025
Managing Director
James Mauro
2011
Managing Director
Marcus Tom
2025
Director
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund is an exchange-traded fund (commonly referred to as an ETF). Individual shares of the Fund may only be bought and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer. Because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the bid-ask spread).
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA, in which case, your distributions generally will be taxed when withdrawn.
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Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), BFA or other related companies may pay the intermediary for marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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iSHARES® INTERMEDIATE GOVERNMENT/CREDIT BOND ETF
GVI | Cboe BZX
Investment Objective
The iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF (the Fund) seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated government, government-related and investment-grade U.S. corporate bonds with remaining maturities between one and ten years.
Fees and Expenses
The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. Amounts in the table are rounded to the nearest basis point, which in some cases may be 0.00. The investment advisory agreement between iShares Trust (the Trust) and BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA) (the Investment Advisory Agreement) provides that BFA will pay all operating expenses of the Fund, except: (i) the management fees, (ii) interest expenses, (iii) taxes, (iv) expenses incurred with respect to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities and the execution of portfolio transactions, including brokerage commissions, (v) distribution fees or expenses, and (vi) litigation expenses and any extraordinary expenses.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)1
Management Fee
0.20
%
Other Expenses
0.00
%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.20
%

1Operating expenses paid by BFA under the Investment Advisory Agreement exclude acquired fund fees and expenses, if any.
Example. This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of owning shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
Expense Example
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Example Fund Costs
$20
$64
$113
$255
Portfolio Turnover. The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 21% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg U.S. Intermediate Government/Credit Bond Index (the Underlying Index), which measures the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated U.S. Treasury bonds, government-related bonds (i.e., U.S. and non-U.S. agencies, sovereign, supranational and local authority debt) and investment-grade (as determined by Bloomberg Index Services Limited (the Index Provider or Bloomberg)) U.S. corporate bonds that have a remaining maturity of greater than one year and less than ten years. As of February 28, 2026, there were 6,518 issues in the Underlying Index. As of February 28, 2026, a significant portion of the Underlying Index was represented by U.S. Treasury securities. The components of the Underlying Index are likely to change over time.
The Underlying Index consists of U.S. government, government-related and investment-grade U.S. credit securities that have greater than one year and less than ten years remaining to maturity and have $300 million or more of outstanding face value. In addition, the securities in the Underlying Index must be denominated in U.S. dollars and must be fixed-rate and non-convertible. Excluded from the Underlying Index are certain special issues such as targeted investor notes, state and local government series bonds and coupon issues that have been stripped from bonds. Also excluded from the Underlying Index are structured notes with embedded swaps or other special features, private placements, floating-rate securities and bonds that have been issued in one country's currency but are traded outside of that country in a different monetary and regulatory system (e.g., Eurobonds). The Underlying Index is market capitalization-weighted and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last business day of each month.
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BFA uses an indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund does not try to beat the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Underlying Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy to manage the Fund. Representative sampling is an indexing strategy that involves investing in a representative sample of securities or other instruments that collectively has an investment profile similar to that of an applicable underlying index. The instruments selected are expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as market value and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability, duration (i.e., an instrument's price sensitivity to a change in interest rates), maturity or credit ratings and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of an applicable underlying index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the components of the Underlying Index.
The Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the Underlying Index, and the Fund will invest at least 90% of its assets in fixed income securities of the types included in the Underlying Index that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index.  The Fund will invest no more than 10% of its assets in futures, options and swaps contracts that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index as well as in fixed income securities other than the types included in the Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index.  Cash and cash equivalent investments associated with a derivative position will be treated as part of that position for the purposes of calculating the percentage of investments included in the Underlying Index. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Underlying Index before fees and expenses of the Fund.
The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund's total assets (including the value of any collateral received).
The Underlying Index is sponsored by Bloomberg, which isindependent of the Fund and BFA. The Index Provider determines the composition and relative weightings of the components of the Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index.
Industry Concentration Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities, and securities of state or municipal governments and their political subdivisions are not considered to be issued by members of any industry.
Summary of Principal Risks
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund's performance could trail that of other investments. The Fund is subject to certain risks, including the principal risks noted below any of which may adversely affect the Fund's net asset value per share (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective. Certain key risks are prioritized below (with others following in alphabetical order), but the relative significance of any risk is difficult to predict and may change over time. You should review each risk factor carefully.
U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk. U.S. Treasury obligations may differ from other securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics and may provide relatively lower returns than those of other securities. Changes in the U.S. government’s financial condition or credit rating may cause the value of U.S. Treasury obligations to decline. Direct obligations of the U.S. Treasury have historically involved little risk of loss of principal if held to maturity, but the market value of such securities is not guaranteed and may fluctuate. Although U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, circumstances could arise that could prevent the timely payment of interest or principal.
Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate risk refers to the risk of fluctuations in the value of a fixed-income security due to changes in the general level of interest rates. Interest rate changes can be sudden and unpredictable and are influenced by a number of factors, including government policy, monetary policy, inflation expectations, perceptions of risk, and supply and demand for fixed-income securities. An increase in interest rates generally will cause the value of fixed-income securities to decline. Securities with longer maturities generally are more sensitive to interest rate changes and subject to greater fluctuations in value. Changes in interest rates may have unpredictable effects on fixed-income markets and result in heightened volatility and lower liquidity for certain instruments, which may adversely affect a Fund’s performance. During periods of very low or negative interest rates, a Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns or pay dividends to shareholders.
Credit Risk. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer, guarantor or liquidity provider of a fixed-income security may be unable or unwilling, or may be perceived as unable or unwilling, to make timely principal and/or interest payments or to otherwise honor its obligations. The credit rating assigned to a security or its issuer does not necessarily reflect the issuer’s current financial
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condition or an investment’s volatility or liquidity. An actual or perceived decline in an issuer’s creditworthiness may result in a decrease in the value and liquidity of its securities as well as greater price volatility, which may make it difficult to sell the securities. The Fund may be adversely affected if an investment that it holds experiences a downgrade or a default.
Market Risk. The Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, pandemics or other public health issues, recessions, the prospect or occurrence of a sovereign default or other financial crisis, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments and could result in increased premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV.
Index-Related Risk. The Index Provider may rely on various sources of information to assess the criteria of components of the Underlying Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor BFA can offer assurances that the Index Provider’s methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included components or will result in the Fund meeting its investment objective. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology may occur, and the Index Provider may not identify or correct them promptly or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Unusual market conditions or other unforeseen circumstances (such as natural disasters, political unrest or war) may impact the Index Provider or a third-party data provider and could cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance. This could cause the Underlying Index to vary from its normal or expected composition.
Asset Class Risk. The securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to financial markets generally, a particular financial market, another index, or other asset classes.
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. An Authorized Participant is a member or participant of a clearing agency registered with the SEC, which has a written agreement with the Fund or one of its service providers that allows the Authorized Participant to place orders for the purchase and redemption of creation units (Creation Units). Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. There are a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants for the Fund, including on an agency basis on behalf of other market participants. No Authorized Participant is obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or do not place creation or redemption orders for the Fund and no other Authorized Participant places orders, Fund shares are more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting.
Call Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of a callable debt obligation held by the Fund may call or repay the debt obligation before its stated maturity, and the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds in instruments with lower yields, which would result in a decline in the Fund's income, or in instruments with greater risks or with other less favorable features.
Concentration Risk. The Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in the securities or other assets of one or more issuers, countries or other geographic units, markets, industries, project types, or asset classes.
Income Risk. The Fund’s income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors. This can occur because the Fund may be required to invest in lower-yielding bonds when a bond in the Fund’s portfolio matures, is near maturity, is called or is prepaid, when bonds in the Underlying Index are substituted, or when the Fund otherwise needs to purchase additional bonds. The Index Provider’s substitution of bonds in the Underlying Index may occur, for example, when the time to maturity for the bond no longer matches the Underlying Index’s stated maturity guidelines.
Issuer Risk. The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of individual securities or other assets to which the Fund has exposure. The value of securities or other assets may decline, or perform differently from the market as a whole, due to changes in the financial condition or credit rating of the issuer or counterparty.
Large Shareholder and Large-Scale Redemption Risk. Certain shareholders of the Fund, including an Authorized Participant, a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser, an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, a market maker, or another entity, may from time to time own or manage a substantial amount of Fund shares, or may hold their investment in the Fund for a limited period of time. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder or large group of shareholders would not redeem their investment. Redemptions of a large number of Fund shares could require the Fund to dispose of assets to meet the redemption requests, which can accelerate the realization of taxable income and/or capital gains and cause the Fund to make taxable distributions to its shareholders earlier than the Fund otherwise would have. In addition, under certain circumstances, non-redeeming shareholders may be treated as receiving a disproportionately large taxable distribution during or with respect to such year. In some circumstances, the Fund may hold a relatively large proportion of its assets in cash in anticipation of large redemptions, diluting its investment returns. These large redemptions may also force the Fund to sell
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portfolio securities or other assets when it might not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV, increase the Fund’s brokerage costs and/or have a material effect on the market price of Fund shares.
Management Risk. The Fund generally does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. As the Fund will not fully replicate the Underlying Index and may hold securities or other assets not included in the Underlying Index, it is subject to the risk that the investment strategy of BFA may not produce the intended results. 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 Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares (including through a trading halt), losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility, and disruptions in the process of creating and redeeming Fund shares. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading in the secondary market at a premium or discount to NAV or to the intraday value of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. If you buy Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to NAV or sell Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to NAV, you may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the Fund shares.
Operational and Technology Risks. The Fund is directly and indirectly susceptible to operational and technology risks, including those related to human errors, processing errors, communication errors, systems failures, cybersecurity incidents, and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI), which may result in losses for the Fund and its shareholders or may impair the Fund’s operations. While the Fund’s service providers are required to have appropriate operational, information security and cybersecurity risk management policies and procedures, their methods of risk management may differ from those of the Fund. Operational and technology risks for the issuers in which the Fund invests could also result in material adverse consequences for such issuers and may cause the Fund’s investments in such issuers to lose value.
Risk of Investing in China. Investments in Chinese securities, including certain Hong Kong-listed and U.S.-listed securities, are subject to risks specific to China. China may be subject to considerable degrees of economic, political and social instability. Despite economic and market reforms in recent decades, the Chinese government’s control over certain sectors and enterprises and significant regulation of investment and industry are still pervasive. Chinese companies are subject to the risk that Chinese authorities can intervene in their operations and structure. Chinese markets generally continue to experience inefficiency, a lack of publicly available information and/or political and social instability and may be subject to volatility and pricing anomalies resulting from governmental influence. Internal social unrest or confrontations with other countries, including military conflicts in response to such events, may disrupt China’s economy and markets and result in a greater risk of currency fluctuations, currency non-convertibility, interest rate fluctuations and higher inflation.
China has experienced security concerns, such as terrorism and strained international relations. Additionally, China is alleged to have participated in state-sponsored cyberattacks against foreign companies and foreign governments. Actual and threatened responses to such activity and strained international relations, including purchasing restrictions, sanctions, export controls, tariffs or cyberattacks on the Chinese government or Chinese companies, may impact China’s economy and Chinese issuers in which the Fund invests. Incidents involving China’s or the region’s security may adversely affect the Chinese economy and markets and the Fund’s investments.
The Chinese economy is highly reliant on trade. A reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, supply chain diversification, the institution of additional tariffs or other trade barriers (including as a result of heightened trade tensions or a trade war between China and the U.S. or in response to actual or alleged Chinese cyber activity) or a downturn in any of the economies of China’s key trading partners may have an adverse impact on the Chinese economy. The Underlying Index may include companies that are subject to economic or trade restrictions (but not investment restrictions) imposed by the U.S. or other governments due to national security, human rights or other concerns of such government. So long as these restrictions do not include restrictions on investments, the Fund is generally expected to invest in such companies, consistent with its objective to track the performance of the Underlying Index.
Chinese companies, including those listed on U.S. exchanges, are not subject to the same degree of regulatory requirements, accounting standards or auditor oversight as companies in more developed countries. As a result, information about the Chinese securities in which the Fund invests may be less reliable or complete. Chinese companies with securities listed on U.S. exchanges may be delisted if they do not meet U.S. accounting standards and auditor oversight requirements, or for other reasons, which would significantly decrease the liquidity and value of the securities. There may be significant obstacles to obtaining information necessary for investigations into or litigation against Chinese companies, and shareholders may have limited legal remedies.
Many Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges use variable interest entities or VIEs in their structure as a result of foreign ownership restrictions. Any change in the operations of entities in a VIE structure, the status of VIE contractual arrangements or the legal or regulatory environment in China could result in significant, and possibly permanent and/or total, losses for investments in VIE issuers. The Fund does not select investments based on investor protection considerations.
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Risk of Investing in the China Bond Market. The Fund invests directly in the domestic bond market in the People’s Republic of China (China or the PRC) (the China Interbank Bond Market) through the Bond Connect trading channel. All bonds traded through Bond Connect are registered in the name of the PRC’s Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU), which holds such bonds as a nominee owner. The precise nature and rights of the Fund as the beneficial owner of bonds traded in the China Interbank Bond Market through CMU as nominee are relatively new and untested areas of PRC law, and the exact nature of the Fund’s remedies and methods of enforcement of its rights and interests under PRC law are uncertain.
Market volatility and potential lack of liquidity due to low trading volume of certain bonds in the China Interbank Bond Market may result in the prices of certain bonds fluctuating significantly. Also, the systems used to trade through Bond Connect may not function as expected. Trading through Bond Connect is also subject to regulatory risks, including laws and regulations that are subject to change. There can be no assurance that Bond Connect or its features or systems will not be materially altered, suspended, discontinued or abolished. The Fund may be subject to additional taxation if certain tax exemptions under PRC tax regulations are withdrawn or amended. Any taxes arising from or to the Fund may be directly borne by, or indirectly passed on to, the Fund, which may substantially impact its NAV. Investing through Bond Connect subjects the Fund to currency risk, to the extent that currency rates used for Bond Connect are different than the rates used in the China Interbank Bond Market.
Risk of Investing in the U.S. Investing in U.S. issuers subjects the Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks that are specific to the U.S. Certain changes in the U.S., such as a weakening of the U.S. economy or a decline in its financial markets, may have an adverse effect on U.S. issuers.
Securities Lending Risk. The Fund may engage in securities lending. Securities lending involves the risk that the Fund may lose money because the borrower of the loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. The Fund could also lose money in the event of a decline in the value of collateral provided for loaned securities or a decline in the value of any investments made with cash collateral. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund.
Tracking Error Risk. The Fund may be subject to tracking error, which is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the Underlying Index. Tracking error may occur due to a number of factors, including differences between the securities and other assets held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index; differences in the timing and methodologies used to value securities and other assets; transaction costs and other expenses incurred by the Fund that the Underlying Index does not incur; the Fund’s holding of uninvested cash; differences in the timing of the accrual or the valuation of dividends or interest received by the Fund or distributions paid to Fund shareholders; tax gains or losses; differences between the amount and/or timing of withholding taxes on dividends reflected in the Underlying Index from the Fund’s obligation, if any, for foreign withholding taxes; the requirements for the Fund to maintain pass-through tax treatment; portfolio transactions carried out to minimize the distribution of capital gains to shareholders; the acceptance of custom baskets; changes to the Underlying Index; and impacts to the Fund of complying with certain regulatory requirements or limits. Tracking error risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions.
Valuation Risk. The price that the Fund could receive upon the sale (or other disposition) of a security or other asset may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security or other asset, particularly for securities or other assets that trade in low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology. The price received by the Fund also may differ from the value used by the Underlying Index. In addition, the value of the securities or other assets in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days or during time periods when investors are not able to purchase or sell Fund shares. Authorized Participants that create or redeem Fund shares on days when the Fund is holding fair-valued securities or other assets may receive fewer or more shares, or lower or higher redemption proceeds, than they would have received had the securities or other assets not been fair valued or been valued using a different methodology. The ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
Performance Information
The performance information below illustrates how the Fund’s performance has varied over different periods and provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the performance of the Fund has varied from one calendar year to another over the periods shown. The table compares the Fund’s performance to that of an appropriate broad-based securities market index and the Underlying Index. Returns assume the reinvestment of any dividends and distributions. The Fund’s returns reflect the impact of any agreements to waive or reimburse expenses, which would reduce performance if not in effect. Past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information, including the Fund’s current NAV, may be obtained by visiting www.iShares.com or by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) (toll free).
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Calendar Year-by-Year Returns (%)
 
Return (%)
Period Ended
Calendar Year-to-Date Return
-0.01%
March 31, 2026
During the periods shown in the chart:
Best Quarter
4.46%
December 31, 2023
Worst Quarter
-4.50%
March 31, 2022
Average Annual Total Returns (%)
(for the periods ended December 31, 2025)
 
One Year
Five Years
Ten Years
Fund Inception: 1/5/2007
Return Before Taxes
6.70
%
0.77
%
2.10
%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
5.19
%
-0.29
%
1.14
%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
3.95
%
0.12
%
1.19
%
Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index (Returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or
taxes)
7.58
%
0.06
%
2.44
%
Bloomberg U.S. Intermediate Government/Credit Bond Index (Returns do not reflect
deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
6.97
%
0.96
%
2.29
%
After-tax returns in the table above are calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state or local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after-tax returns shown are not relevant to tax-exempt investors or investors who hold shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”). Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares are calculated assuming that an investor has sufficient capital gains of the same character from other investments to offset any capital losses from the sales of Fund shares. As a result, Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares may exceed Fund returns before taxes and/or returns after taxes on distributions.
Management
Investment Adviser. BlackRock Fund Advisors.
Portfolio Managers. The following individuals (the Portfolio Managers) are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund:
Portfolio Manager
Portfolio Manager of the Fund Since
Title with Investment Adviser
Jonathan Graves
2025
Managing Director
James Mauro
2011
Managing Director
Marcus Tom
2025
Director
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund is an exchange-traded fund (commonly referred to as an ETF). Individual shares of the Fund may only be bought and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer. Because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the bid-ask spread).
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA, in which case, your distributions generally will be taxed when withdrawn.
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Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), BFA or other related companies may pay the intermediary for marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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iSHARES® TOTAL USD FIXED INCOME MARKET ETF
BTOT | NYSE Arca
Investment Objective
The iShares Total USD Fixed Income Market ETF (the Fund) seeks to track the investment results of an index that provides comprehensive exposure to U.S. dollar-denominated fixed income securities that are rated either investment-grade or high yield.
Fees and Expenses
The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. Amounts in the table are rounded to the nearest basis point, which in some cases may be 0.00. The investment advisory agreement between iShares Trust (the Trust) and BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA) (the Investment Advisory Agreement) provides that BFA will pay all operating expenses of the Fund, except: (i) the management fees, (ii) interest expenses, (iii) taxes, (iv) expenses incurred with respect to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities and the execution of portfolio transactions, including brokerage commissions, (v) distribution fees or expenses, and (vi) litigation expenses and any extraordinary expenses.
The Fund may incur Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses. Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses reflect the Fund's pro rata share of the fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the Fund as a result of investing in other investment companies. The impact of Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses is included in the Fund's total return but is not included in the Fund's ratio of expenses to average net assets. Both figures are shown in the Financial Highlights section of the Fund's prospectus (the Prospectus). BFA, the investment adviser to the Fund, has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees in an amount equal to the Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any, attributable to investments by the Fund in other registered investment companies advised by BFA, or its affiliates, through June 28, 2030. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to June 28, 2030 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)1
Management Fee
0.09
%
Other Expenses2
0.00
%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses2
0.01
%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.10
%
Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement
(0.01
)%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement
0.09
%

1Operating expenses paid by BFA under the Investment Advisory Agreement exclude Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any.
2Based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.
Example. This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of owning shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
Expense Example
1 Year
3 Years
Example Fund Costs
$9
$29
Portfolio Turnover. The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or turns over its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. From inception (December 10, 2025) to the most recent fiscal year end, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 17% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg U.S. Total Fixed Income Market Index (the Underlying Index), which measures the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated fixed income securities that are rated either
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investment-grade or high yield (as determined by Bloomberg Index Services Limited (the Index Provider or Bloomberg)). The Underlying Index includes fixed and floating rate U.S. Treasury bonds, U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), government-related bonds, investment-grade and high yield U.S. corporate bonds, securitized assets, fixed and floating rate notes and corporate bonds, leveraged loans, Eurodollar bonds, bonds registered with the SEC or exempt from registration at the time of issuance or offered pursuant to Rule 144A with or without registration rights and U.S. dollar- denominated emerging market bonds.
The securities in the Underlying Index must be denominated in U.S. dollars. The Underlying Index consisted of securities from 110 countries or regions as of February 28, 2026. As of February 28, 2026, there were 22,707 issues in the Underlying Index. As of February 28, 2026, a significant portion of the Underlying Index was represented by U.S. agency mortgage-backed securities and U.S. Treasury bonds. The components of the Underlying Index are likely to change over time.  
BFA uses an indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund does not try to beat the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Underlying Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy to manage the Fund. Representative sampling is an indexing strategy that involves investing in a representative sample of securities or other instruments that collectively has an investment profile similar to that of an applicable underlying index. The instruments selected are expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as market value and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability, duration (i.e., an instrument's price sensitivity to a change in interest rates), maturity or credit ratings and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of an applicable underlying index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the components of the Underlying Index.
The Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the Underlying Index and to-be-announced transactions (TBAs) that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of the component securities of the Underlying Index, and the Fund will invest at least 90% of its assets in fixed income securities of the types included in the Underlying Index that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. The Fund will invest no more than 10% of its assets in futures, options and swaps contracts that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index as well as in fixed income securities other than the types included in the Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. Cash and cash equivalent investments associated with a TBA position will be treated as part of that position for purposes of calculating investments in the component securities of the Underlying Index. Cash and cash equivalent investments associated with a derivative position will be treated as part of that position for the purposes of calculating the percentage of investments included in the Underlying Index. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Underlying Index before fees and expenses of the Fund.
The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund's total assets (including the value of any collateral received).
The Underlying Index is sponsored by Bloomberg, which isindependent of the Fund and BFA. The Index Provider determines the composition and relative weightings of the components of the Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index.
Industry Concentration Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities, and securities of state or municipal governments and their political subdivisions are not considered to be issued by members of any industry.
Summary of Principal Risks
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund's performance could trail that of other investments. The Fund is subject to certain risks, including the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund's net asset value per share (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective. Certain key risks are prioritized below (with others following in alphabetical order), but the relative significance of any risk is difficult to predict and may change over time. You should review each risk factor carefully.
Credit Risk. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer, guarantor or liquidity provider of a fixed-income security may be unable or unwilling, or may be perceived as unable or unwilling, to make timely principal and/or interest payments or to otherwise honor its obligations. The credit rating assigned to a security or its issuer does not necessarily reflect the issuer’s current financial condition or an investment’s volatility or liquidity. An actual or perceived decline in an issuer’s creditworthiness may result in a
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decrease in the value and liquidity of its securities as well as greater price volatility, which may make it difficult to sell the securities. The Fund may be adversely affected if an investment that it holds experiences a downgrade or a default.
Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate risk refers to the risk of fluctuations in the value of a fixed-income security due to changes in the general level of interest rates. Interest rate changes can be sudden and unpredictable and are influenced by a number of factors, including government policy, monetary policy, inflation expectations, perceptions of risk, and supply and demand for fixed-income securities. An increase in interest rates generally will cause the value of fixed-income securities to decline. Securities with longer maturities generally are more sensitive to interest rate changes and subject to greater fluctuations in value. Changes in interest rates may have unpredictable effects on fixed-income markets and result in heightened volatility and lower liquidity for certain instruments, which may adversely affect a Fund’s performance. During periods of very low or negative interest rates, a Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns or pay dividends to shareholders.
Market Risk. The Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, pandemics or other public health issues, recessions, the prospect or occurrence of a sovereign default or other financial crisis, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments and could result in increased premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV.
Index-Related Risk. The Index Provider may rely on various sources of information to assess the criteria of components of the Underlying Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor BFA can offer assurances that the Index Provider’s methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included components or will result in the Fund meeting its investment objective. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology may occur, and the Index Provider may not identify or correct them promptly or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Unusual market conditions or other unforeseen circumstances (such as natural disasters, political unrest or war) may impact the Index Provider or a third-party data provider and could cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance. This could cause the Underlying Index to vary from its normal or expected composition.
Asset-Backed and Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk. Asset-backed securities (ABS) and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) (residential and commercial) represent interests in pools of mortgages or other assets, including consumer loans or receivables held in trust. ABS and MBS are subject to credit, interest rate, call, extension, valuation and liquidity risk. These securities, in most cases, are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government and are subject to the risk of default on the underlying asset or mortgage, particularly during periods of economic downturn. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain ABS and MBS. For MBS issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or one of its agencies or sponsored entities, the default or bankruptcy of a counterparty to a TBA transaction would expose the Fund to possible losses.
Asset Class Risk. The securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to financial markets generally, a particular financial market, another index, or other asset classes.
Assets Under Management (AUM) Risk. From time to time, an Authorized Participant (as defined below in Authorized Participant Concentration Risk), a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser, an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, or another fund may invest in the Fund and hold its investment for a specific period of time to allow the Fund to achieve size or scale. There can be no assurance that any such entity would not redeem its investment or that the size of the Fund would be maintained at such levels, which could negatively impact the Fund.
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. An Authorized Participant is a member or participant of a clearing agency registered with the SEC, which has a written agreement with the Fund or one of its service providers that allows the Authorized Participant to place orders for the purchase and redemption of creation units (Creation Units). Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. There are a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants for the Fund, including on an agency basis on behalf of other market participants. No Authorized Participant is obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or do not place creation or redemption orders for the Fund and no other Authorized Participant places orders, Fund shares are more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting.
Call Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of a callable debt obligation held by the Fund may call or repay the debt obligation before its stated maturity, and the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds in instruments with lower yields, which would result in a decline in the Fund's income, or in instruments with greater risks or with other less favorable features.
Cash Management Risk. If a significant amount of the Fund’s assets is invested in cash and cash equivalents, the Fund may underperform other funds that do not similarly invest in cash and cash equivalents for investment purposes and/or to collateralize derivative instruments. Further, the Fund may face increased credit risk with respect to the bank or other
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counterparty holding such assets and the risk that the counterparty may be unable or unwilling (or perceived as such) to honor its obligations.
Concentration Risk. The Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in the securities or other assets of one or more issuers, countries or other geographic units, markets, industries, project types, or asset classes.
Corporate Loans Risk. Commercial banks and other financial institutions or institutional investors make corporate loans to companies that need capital to grow or restructure. Borrowers generally pay interest on corporate loans at rates that change in response to changes in market interest rates such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), or the prime rates of U.S. banks. As a result, the value of corporate loan investments is generally less exposed to the adverse effects of shifts in market interest rates than investments that pay a fixed rate of interest. The market for corporate loans may be subject to irregular trading activity and wide bid/ask spreads. In addition, transactions in corporate loans may settle on a delayed basis. As a result, the proceeds from the sale of corporate loans may not be readily available to make additional investments or to meet the Fund’s redemption obligations. To the extent the extended settlement process gives rise to short-term liquidity needs, the Fund may hold additional cash, sell investments or temporarily borrow from banks and other lenders. The corporate loans in which the Fund invests are usually rated below investment grade.
Credit Spread Risk. Credit spread risk is the risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that have differences in credit quality or other factors) may increase, which may reduce the market values of certain or all of the Fund's securities.  While the Fund may employ strategies to mitigate credit spread risk, these strategies may not be successful.
Extension Risk. During periods of rising interest rates, certain debt obligations may be paid off substantially more slowly than originally anticipated and the value of those debt obligations may fall sharply, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income and potentially in the value of the Fund’s investments.
Fixed-to-Floating Rate Securities Risk. The Fund invests in fixed-to-floating rate securities, which are securities that have an initial term with a fixed dividend or coupon rate and following this initial term bear a floating rate. Securities which include a floating or variable interest rate component can be less sensitive to interest rate changes than securities with fixed interest rates, but may decline in value if their interest rates do not rise as much, or as quickly, as interest rates in general. Although floating rate securities can be less sensitive to interest rate risk than fixed-rate securities, they are subject to the risks applicable to hybrid and preferred securities more generally.
Floating Rate Securities Risk. Securities with floating or variable interest rates can be less sensitive to interest rate changes than securities with fixed interest rates, but may decline in value if their coupon rates do not reset as high, or as quickly, as comparable market interest rates, and generally carry lower yields than fixed securities of the same maturity. Although floating rate securities are less sensitive to interest rate risk than fixed-rate securities, they are subject to credit risk and default risk, which could impair their value.
High Yield Securities Risk. Debt securities that are rated below investment grade (commonly referred to as junk bonds) and debt securities that are unrated are generally considered to be speculative. Compared to higher-quality debt securities, high yield securities are subject to a greater risk of default, illiquidity, price volatility and valuation uncertainty. Such investments may be subject to additional risks including subordination to other creditors, no collateral or limited rights in collateral, lack of a regular trading market, prepayment risk, and lack of publicly available information.
Illiquid Investments Risk. 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 significantly changing the market value of the investment. To the extent the Fund holds illiquid investments, the illiquid investments may reduce its returns because the Fund may be unable to transact at advantageous times or prices. In addition, if the Fund is limited in its ability to sell illiquid investments during periods when shareholders are redeeming their shares, it will need to sell liquid securities to meet redemption requests and illiquid securities will become a larger portion of the Fund’s holdings. During periods of market volatility, liquidity in the market for Fund shares may be impacted by the liquidity in the market for the underlying securities or other assets held by the Fund, which could lead to Fund shares trading at a premium or discount to the Fund’s NAV.
Income Risk. The Fund’s income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors. This can occur because the Fund may be required to invest in lower-yielding bonds when a bond in the Fund’s portfolio matures, is near maturity, is called or is prepaid, when bonds in the Underlying Index are substituted, or when the Fund otherwise needs to purchase additional bonds. The Index Provider’s substitution of bonds in the Underlying Index may occur, for example, when the time to maturity for the bond no longer matches the Underlying Index’s stated maturity guidelines.
Inflation-Indexed Bonds Risk. The principal value of an investment in the Fund is not protected or otherwise guaranteed by virtue of the Fund’s investments in inflation-indexed bonds. The value of inflation-indexed securities generally fluctuates with changes in real interest rates, decreasing when real interest rates rise and increasing when real interest rates fall. Real interest rates represent nominal (or stated) interest rates minus the inflation rate. In addition, interest payments on
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inflation-indexed securities generally vary up or down along with the rate of inflation. If the Fund purchases TIPS in the secondary market and the bonds’ principal values previously were adjusted upward, but then there is a period of declining inflation rates, the Fund may receive at maturity less than it invested. Depending on changes in inflation rates while the Fund holds an inflation-indexed security, the Fund may earn less on the security than on a conventional bond.
Issuer Risk. The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of individual securities or other assets to which the Fund has exposure. The value of securities or other assets may decline, or perform differently from the market as a whole, due to changes in the financial condition or credit rating of the issuer or counterparty.
Large Shareholder and Large-Scale Redemption Risk. Certain shareholders of the Fund, including an Authorized Participant, a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser, an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, a market maker, or another entity, may from time to time own or manage a substantial amount of Fund shares, or may hold their investment in the Fund for a limited period of time. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder or large group of shareholders would not redeem their investment. Redemptions of a large number of Fund shares could require the Fund to dispose of assets to meet the redemption requests, which can accelerate the realization of taxable income and/or capital gains and cause the Fund to make taxable distributions to its shareholders earlier than the Fund otherwise would have. In addition, under certain circumstances, non-redeeming shareholders may be treated as receiving a disproportionately large taxable distribution during or with respect to such year. In some circumstances, the Fund may hold a relatively large proportion of its assets in cash in anticipation of large redemptions, diluting its investment returns. These large redemptions may also force the Fund to sell portfolio securities or other assets when it might not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV, increase the Fund’s brokerage costs and/or have a material effect on the market price of Fund shares.
Management Risk. The Fund generally does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. As the Fund will not fully replicate the Underlying Index and may hold securities or other assets not included in the Underlying Index, it is subject to the risk that the investment strategy of BFA may not produce the intended results. 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 Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares (including through a trading halt), losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility, and disruptions in the process of creating and redeeming Fund shares. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading in the secondary market at a premium or discount to NAV or to the intraday value of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. If you buy Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to NAV or sell Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to NAV, you may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the Fund shares.
Non-Diversification Risk. The Fund is classified as non-diversified. This means that, compared with funds that are classified as diversified, the Fund may invest a greater percentage of its assets in securities or other instruments representing a small number of issuers or counterparties and thus may be more susceptible to the risks associated with these particular issuers or counterparties. As a result, the Fund's performance may depend to a greater extent on the performance of a small number of issuers or counterparties, which may lead to more volatility in the Fund’s NAV.
Non-U.S. Securities Risk. Securities issued by non-U.S. issuers (including depositary receipts) are subject to different legal, regulatory, political, economic, and market risks than securities issued by U.S. issuers. These risks include greater market volatility, less market liquidity, higher transaction costs, expropriation, confiscatory taxation, adverse changes in foreign investment or currency control regulations, restrictions on the repatriation of capital, and political instability. Non-U.S. issuers may be subject to different accounting, audit and financial reporting standards than U.S. issuers, and there may be less publicly available information about non-U.S. issuers. Foreign market trading hours, different clearing and settlement procedures, and holiday schedules may limit the Fund's ability to engage in portfolio transactions. To the extent that investments are made in a limited number of countries, events in those countries will have a more significant impact on the Fund.
Operational and Technology Risks. The Fund is directly and indirectly susceptible to operational and technology risks, including those related to human errors, processing errors, communication errors, systems failures, cybersecurity incidents, and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI), which may result in losses for the Fund and its shareholders or may impair the Fund’s operations. While the Fund’s service providers are required to have appropriate operational, information security and cybersecurity risk management policies and procedures, their methods of risk management may differ from those of the Fund. Operational and technology risks for the issuers in which the Fund invests could also result in material adverse consequences for such issuers and may cause the Fund’s investments in such issuers to lose value.
Prepayment Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, issuers of certain debt obligations may repay principal prior to the debt obligation’s maturity, which may cause the Fund to have to reinvest in instruments with lower yields or a higher risk of default, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income or return potential.
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Risk of Investing in Saudi Arabia. Investing in Saudi Arabian issuers subjects the Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks that are specific to Saudi Arabia. The economy of Saudi Arabia is dominated by petroleum exports. A sustained decrease in petroleum prices could have a negative impact on all aspects of the economy. Investments in the securities of Saudi Arabian issuers involve risks not typically associated with investments in securities of issuers in more developed countries, which may negatively affect the value of the Fund’s investments. Such heightened risks may include, among others, the expropriation and/or nationalization of assets, restrictions on and government intervention in international trade, confiscatory taxation, political instability, including authoritarian and/or military involvement in governmental decision-making, armed conflict, crime and instability as a result of religious, ethnic and/or socioeconomic unrest. Instability in the Middle East region could adversely impact the economy of Saudi Arabia, and there is no assurance of political stability in Saudi Arabia.
The ability of foreign investors to invest in the securities of Saudi Arabian companies could be restricted by the Saudi Arabian government at any time, and unforeseen risks could materialize with respect to foreign ownership of such securities. There are a number of ways to conduct transactions in equity securities in the Saudi Arabian market. The Fund generally expects to transact in a manner so that it is not limited by Saudi Arabian regulations to a single broker. However, there may be a limited number of brokers who can provide services to the Fund, which may have an adverse impact on the prices, quantity or timing of Fund transactions.
Risk of Investing in the U.S. Investing in U.S. issuers subjects the Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks that are specific to the U.S. Certain changes in the U.S., such as a weakening of the U.S. economy or a decline in its financial markets, may have an adverse effect on U.S. issuers.
Securities Lending Risk. The Fund may engage in securities lending. Securities lending involves the risk that the Fund may lose money because the borrower of the loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. The Fund could also lose money in the event of a decline in the value of collateral provided for loaned securities or a decline in the value of any investments made with cash collateral. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund.
Small Fund Risk. When the Fund’s size is small, the Fund may experience low trading volume and wide bid/ask spreads. The Fund’s performance near its inception date may not represent how the Fund will perform in the future or with a larger asset base. A Fund that holds fixed-income securities may buy smaller-sized bonds known as odd lots, which may be purchased or sold at a discount to similar round lot bonds. The prices used by the Fund may differ from the value that would be realized if these securities were sold, and the impact of such pricing differences on a Fund’s performance may be heightened when the Fund’s size is small. In addition, the Fund may face the risk of being delisted if it does not meet certain requirements set by the listing exchange. Any resulting liquidation of the Fund could lead to elevated transaction costs for the Fund and negative tax consequences for its shareholders.
Tracking Error Risk. The Fund may be subject to tracking error, which is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the Underlying Index. Tracking error may occur due to a number of factors, including differences between the securities and other assets held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index; differences in the timing and methodologies used to value securities and other assets; transaction costs and other expenses incurred by the Fund that the Underlying Index does not incur; the Fund’s holding of uninvested cash; differences in the timing of the accrual or the valuation of dividends or interest received by the Fund or distributions paid to Fund shareholders; tax gains or losses; differences between the amount and/or timing of withholding taxes on dividends reflected in the Underlying Index from the Fund’s obligation, if any, for foreign withholding taxes; the requirements for the Fund to maintain pass-through tax treatment; portfolio transactions carried out to minimize the distribution of capital gains to shareholders; the acceptance of custom baskets; changes to the Underlying Index; and impacts to the Fund of complying with certain regulatory requirements or limits. Tracking error risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Until the Fund reaches greater scale, it may experience higher tracking error than is typical for similar index ETFs. A Fund that tracks an index with exposure to non-U.S. issuers may experience higher tracking error than ETFs that do not track such indexes. A Fund that tracks an index where high yield securities are an investment focus may experience higher tracking error than ETFs that do not track such indexes.
U.S. Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk. MBS represent interests in pools of mortgages and are subject to interest rate, prepayment, and extension risk. MBS may be issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or one of its agencies or sponsored entities. Some MBS may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government and thus represent greater credit risk. MBS react differently than other bonds to changes in interest rates due to prepayment and extension risks. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain MBS. MBS prices may reflect adverse economic and market conditions. MBS are subject to the risk of default on the underlying mortgage loans, particularly during periods of economic downturn. The default or bankruptcy of a counterparty to a TBA transaction would expose the Fund to possible losses.  
U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk. U.S. Treasury obligations may differ from other securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics and may provide relatively lower returns than those of other securities. Changes in the U.S. government’s financial condition or credit rating may cause the value of U.S. Treasury obligations to decline. Direct
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obligations of the U.S. Treasury have historically involved little risk of loss of principal if held to maturity, but the market value of such securities is not guaranteed and may fluctuate. Although U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, circumstances could arise that could prevent the timely payment of interest or principal.
Valuation Risk. The price that the Fund could receive upon the sale (or other disposition) of a security or other asset may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security or other asset, particularly for securities or other assets that trade in low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology. The price received by the Fund also may differ from the value used by the Underlying Index. In addition, the value of the securities or other assets in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days or during time periods when investors are not able to purchase or sell Fund shares. Authorized Participants that create or redeem Fund shares on days when the Fund is holding fair-valued securities or other assets may receive fewer or more shares, or lower or higher redemption proceeds, than they would have received had the securities or other assets not been fair valued or been valued using a different methodology. The ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
Performance Information
As of the date of this Prospectus, the Fund does not have a full calendar year of performance information to report.
Management
Investment Adviser. BlackRock Fund Advisors.
Portfolio Managers. The following individuals (the Portfolio Managers) are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund:
Portfolio Manager
Portfolio Manager of the Fund Since
Title with Investment Adviser
Jonathan Graves
2025
Managing Director
James Mauro
2025
Managing Director
Marcus Tom
2025
Director
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund is an ETF. Individual shares of the Fund may only be bought and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer. Because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the bid-ask spread).
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account (IRA), in which case, your distributions generally will be taxed when withdrawn.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), BFA or other related companies may pay the intermediary for marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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More Information About the Funds
This Prospectus contains important information about investing in the Funds listed below. Please read this Prospectus carefully before you make any investment decisions. Additional information regarding the Funds as well as other funds that are series of iShares Trust, iShares U.S. ETF Trust or iShares, Inc. (each, a Fund) is available at www.iShares.com.
Each Fund’s investment objective and its Underlying Index may be changed without shareholder approval.
Fund
Underlying Index
Investment Objective
iShares Broad USD Floating Rate
Loan ETF
Morningstar LSTA US Leveraged
Loan Broad Select Index
The iShares Broad USD Floating Rate Loan ETF seeks to track the
investment results of an index composed of U.S.
dollar-denominated leveraged loans.
iShares Core 5-10 Year USD
Bond ETF
Bloomberg U.S. Universal 5-10
Year Index
The iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF seeks to track the
investment results of an index composed of U.S.
dollar-denominated bonds that are rated either investment-grade
or high yield with remaining effective maturities between five and
ten years.
iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond
ETF
Bloomberg U.S. Universal 10+
Year Index
The iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF seeks to track the
investment results of an index composed of U.S.
dollar-denominated bonds that are rated either investment grade
or high-yield with remaining maturities greater than ten years.
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate
Bond ETF
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond
Index
The iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF seeks to track the
investment results of an index composed of the total U.S.
investment-grade bond market.
iShares ESG Advanced Universal
USD Bond ETF1
Bloomberg MSCI US Universal
Choice ESG Screened Index
The iShares ESG Advanced Universal USD Bond ETF seeks to track
the investment results of an index composed of U.S.
dollar-denominated bonds that are rated either investment-grade
or high-yield from issuers with a favorable environmental, social
and governance rating as identified by the index provider, while
applying extensive screens for involvement in controversial
activities.
iShares ESG Aware
U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF
Bloomberg MSCI US Aggregate
ESG Focus Index
The iShares ESG Aware U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF seeks to track
the investment results of an index composed of U.S.
dollar-denominated, investment-grade bonds from issuers
generally evaluated for favorable environmental, social and
governance practices while seeking to exhibit risk and return
characteristics similar to those of the broad U.S.
dollar-denominated investment-grade bond market.
iShares Government/Credit Bond
ETF
Bloomberg U.S.
Government/Credit Bond Index
The iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF seeks to track the
investment results of an index composed of U.S.
dollar-denominated government, government-related and
investment-grade U.S. corporate bonds.
iShares Intermediate
Government/Credit Bond ETF
Bloomberg U.S. Intermediate
Government/Credit Bond Index
The iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF seeks to
track the investment results of an index composed of U.S.
dollar-denominated government, government-related and
investment-grade U.S. corporate bonds with remaining maturities
between one and ten years.
iShares Total USD Fixed Income
Market ETF
Bloomberg U.S. Total Fixed
Income Market Index
The iShares Total USD Fixed Income Market ETF seeks to track the
investment results of an index that provides comprehensive
exposure to U.S. dollar-denominated fixed income securities that
are rated either investment-grade or high yield.

1On October 31, 2025, the name of the Fund changed from the iShares ESG Advanced Total USD Bond Market ETF to iShares ESG Advanced Universal USD Bond ETF.
ETFs are funds that trade like other publicly traded securities. Shares of each Fund are listed on a national securities exchange and trade in the secondary market at market prices that change throughout the day. The market price for a share of a Fund may be different from the Fund’s most recent NAV.
1


Each Fund invests in a particular segment of the markets for securities and other instruments (as applicable) and is designed to be used as part of broader asset allocation strategies. Accordingly, an investment in a Fund should not constitute a complete investment program. An investment in a Fund is not a bank deposit, and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, any other government agency, BFA or any of BFA’s affiliates.
Index Funds
A share of a Fund represents an ownership interest in an underlying portfolio of securities and other instruments (as applicable) that is intended to track the Fund’s Underlying Index. An index is a financial calculation, based on a grouping of financial instruments, and is not an investment product, while each Fund is an actual investment portfolio. The performance of a Fund and that of its Underlying Index may vary for a number of reasons, including transaction costs, asset or currency valuations, corporate actions, timing variances and differences between the composition of a Fund’s portfolio and that of the Underlying Index resulting from the Fund’s use of representative sampling or from legal restrictions (such as diversification requirements) that apply to the Fund but not to its Underlying Index.
From time to time, the provider of the Underlying Index (Index Provider) may make changes to the index methodology or other adjustments to a Fund’s Underlying Index. Unless otherwise determined by BFA, any such change will be reflected in the calculation of the Underlying Index’s performance on a going-forward basis after the effective date of such change. Therefore, the performance of the Underlying Index that is shown for periods prior to the effective date of any such change generally will not be recalculated or restated to reflect the change.
BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy to manage the Funds. Representative sampling is an indexing strategy that involves investing in a representative sample of securities or other instruments that collectively has an investment profile similar to that of an applicable underlying index. Because the Funds use representative sampling, they can be expected to have a larger tracking error than if they used a replication indexing strategy. Replication is an indexing strategy in which a fund invests in substantially all of the components of its underlying index in approximately the same proportions as in the underlying index.
European Union Disclosure
The Fund listed below has not been categorized under the European Union (EU) sustainable finance disclosure regulation (SFDR) as an Article 8 or Article 9 product. In addition, the Fund’s investment strategy does not take into account the criteria for environmentally sustainable economic activities under the EU sustainable investment taxonomy regulation or principal adverse impacts (PAIs) on sustainability factors under the SFDR. PAIs are identified under the SFDR as the material impacts of investment decisions on sustainability factors relating to environmental, social and employee matters, respect for human rights, and anti-corruption and anti-bribery matters.
 iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF
2


Additional Information About the Funds' Risks
Each Fund is subject to various risks, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s NAV, trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective. Each Fund discloses its portfolio holdings daily at www.iShares.com. You could lose all or part of your investment in a Fund, which could underperform other investments. The table below identifies the principal and other (non-principal) risks that apply to each Fund. A Fund that invests in an underlying fund (Underlying Fund) also may be indirectly exposed to these risks through such investment. A description of each risk is provided after the table.
 
iShares Broad
USD Floating
Rate Loan ETF
iShares Core
5-10 Year USD
Bond ETF
iShares Core
10+ Year USD
Bond ETF
iShares Core
U.S. Aggregate
Bond ETF
iShares ESG
Advanced
Universal USD
Bond ETF
iShares ESG
Aware
U.S. Aggregate
Bond ETF
✓ Principal Risk | Other Risk
Asset-Backed and
Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk
 
 
 
 
 
 
Asset Class Risk
Assets Under Management
(AUM) Risk
 
 
 
 
 
Authorized Participant
Concentration Risk
Call Risk
Cash Management Risk
 
 
 
 
 
 
Close-Out Risk for Qualified
Financial Contracts
Commercial Mortgage-Backed
Securities Risk
 
 
 
 
 
 
Communications Companies Risk
 
 
 
 
 
Concentration Risk
Consumer Goods and Services
Companies Risk
 
 
Corporate Loans Risk
 
 
 
 
 
 
Credit Risk
Credit Spread Risk
 
 
 
 
 
 
Currency Risk
 
Custody Risk
 
 
 
 
 
ESG Risk
 
 
 
 
Extension Risk
Financial Companies Risk
Fixed-to-Floating Rate Securities
Risk
 
 
 
 
 
 
Floating Rate Securities Risk
 
 
 
 
 
Geographic and Security Risks
Healthcare Companies Risk
 
 
 
 
 
High Portfolio Turnover Risk
 
 
 
 
 
High Yield Securities Risk
 
 
 
 
 
Illiquid Investments Risk
Income Risk
Index-Related Risk
Industrial Companies Risk
 
 
 
 
 
Inflation-Indexed Bonds Risk
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interest Rate Risk
Issuer Risk
3


 
iShares Broad
USD Floating
Rate Loan ETF
iShares Core
5-10 Year USD
Bond ETF
iShares Core
10+ Year USD
Bond ETF
iShares Core
U.S. Aggregate
Bond ETF
iShares ESG
Advanced
Universal USD
Bond ETF
iShares ESG
Aware
U.S. Aggregate
Bond ETF
✓ Principal Risk | Other Risk
Large Shareholder and
Large-Scale Redemption Risk
Leveraged Loans Risk
 
 
 
 
 
Management Risk
Market Risk
Market Trading Risk
Materials Companies Risk
 
 
 
 
 
National Closed Market Trading
Risk
 
Non-Diversification Risk
 
 
 
 
 
 
Non-U.S. Securities Risk
 
Operational and Technology Risks
Ownership Limitations Risk
Prepayment Risk
 
Privately Issued Securities Risk
 
 
 
 
Reliance on Trading Partners Risk
 
 
 
 
 
Risk of Investing in China
 
Risk of Investing in the China
Bond Market
 
Risk of Investing in Developed
Countries
 
 
 
 
Risk of Investing in Emerging
Markets
 
 
 
 
Risk of Investing in Russia
 
 
 
Risk of Investing in Saudi Arabia
 
 
 
Risk of Investing in the U.S.
Securities Lending Risk
Small Fund Risk
 
 
 
 
 
Sovereign and Quasi-Sovereign
Obligations Risk
 
 
 
 
Sustainability Risk
 
 
 
 
 
Technology Companies Risk
 
 
 
 
 
Tracking Error Risk
U.S. Agency Mortgage-Backed
Securities Risk
 
 
U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk
Utility Companies Risk
 
 
 
 
 
Valuation Risk
4


 
iShares
Government/
Credit Bond ETF
iShares
Intermediate
Government/Credit
Bond ETF
iShares Total USD
Fixed Income
Market ETF
✓ Principal Risk | Other Risk
Asset-Backed and Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk
 
 
Asset Class Risk
Assets Under Management (AUM) Risk
 
 
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk
Call Risk
Cash Management Risk
 
 
Close-Out Risk for Qualified Financial Contracts
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk
 
 
Communications Companies Risk
 
 
 
Concentration Risk
Consumer Goods and Services Companies Risk
Corporate Loans Risk
 
 
Credit Risk
Credit Spread Risk
 
 
Currency Risk
Custody Risk
 
 
ESG Risk
 
 
 
Extension Risk
 
 
Financial Companies Risk
Fixed-to-Floating Rate Securities Risk
 
 
Floating Rate Securities Risk
 
 
Geographic and Security Risks
Healthcare Companies Risk
 
 
 
High Portfolio Turnover Risk
 
 
 
High Yield Securities Risk
 
 
Illiquid Investments Risk
Income Risk
Index-Related Risk
Industrial Companies Risk
 
 
 
Inflation-Indexed Bonds Risk
 
 
Interest Rate Risk
Issuer Risk
Large Shareholder and Large-Scale Redemption Risk
Leveraged Loans Risk
 
 
 
Management Risk
Market Risk
Market Trading Risk
Materials Companies Risk
 
 
 
National Closed Market Trading Risk
Non-Diversification Risk
 
 
Non-U.S. Securities Risk
Operational and Technology Risks
Ownership Limitations Risk
5


 
iShares
Government/
Credit Bond ETF
iShares
Intermediate
Government/Credit
Bond ETF
iShares Total USD
Fixed Income
Market ETF
✓ Principal Risk | Other Risk
Prepayment Risk
 
 
Privately Issued Securities Risk
 
 
Reliance on Trading Partners Risk
 
Risk of Investing in China
 
Risk of Investing in the China Bond Market
 
Risk of Investing in Developed Countries
Risk of Investing in Emerging Markets
 
 
Risk of Investing in Russia
 
 
 
Risk of Investing in Saudi Arabia
 
 
Risk of Investing in the U.S.
Securities Lending Risk
Small Fund Risk
 
 
Sovereign and Quasi-Sovereign Obligations Risk
 
 
Sustainability Risk
 
 
 
Technology Companies Risk
 
 
 
Tracking Error Risk
U.S. Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk
 
 
U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk
Utility Companies Risk
 
 
 
Valuation Risk
Asset-Backed and Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk. ABS and MBS (residential and commercial) represent interests in pools of mortgages or other assets, including consumer loans or receivables held in trust. Although ABS generally experience less prepayment risk than residential mortgage-backed securities, MBS and ABS, like traditional fixed-income securities, are subject to credit, interest rate, call, extension, valuation and liquidity risk. Because of call and extension risk, ABS and MBS react differently to changes in interest rates than other bonds. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain ABS and MBS.
ABS and MBS may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government and are subject to risk of default on the underlying mortgage or asset, particularly during periods of economic downturn.
MBS may be either pass-through securities or Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (CMOs). Pass-through securities represent a right to receive principal and interest payments collected on a pool of mortgages, which are passed through to security holders. CMOs are created by dividing the principal and interest payments collected on a pool of mortgages into several revenue streams (tranches) with different priority rights to portions of the underlying mortgage payments. Certain CMO tranches may represent a right to receive interest only, principal only or an amount that remains after floating-rate tranches are paid (an inverse floater). These securities are frequently referred to as mortgage derivatives and may be extremely sensitive to changes in interest rates. Interest rates on inverse floaters, for example, vary inversely with a short-term floating rate (which may be reset periodically). Interest rates on inverse floaters will decrease when short-term rates increase, and will increase when short-term rates decrease. These securities have the effect of providing a degree of investment leverage. In response to changes in market interest rates or other market conditions, the value of an inverse floater may increase or decrease at a multiple of the increase or decrease in the value of the underlying securities. If the Fund invests in CMO tranches (including CMO tranches issued by government agencies) and interest rates move in a manner not anticipated by Fund management, it is possible that the Fund could lose all or substantially all of its investment.
A Fund may seek to obtain exposure to the fixed-rate portion of U.S. agency mortgage pass-through securities primarily through to-be-announced transactions, or TBAs. TBAs involve forward or delayed settlement in which the buyer does not know the actual MBS to be delivered until 48 hours before the settlement date. Losses may arise in TBAs due to changes in the value of the securities or if the counterparty does not perform under the terms of the agreement. If the TBA counterparty files for bankruptcy or becomes insolvent, a Fund’s right to repurchase or sell the securities involved in the transaction may be limited and the Fund may experience losses.
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A Fund may invest cash pending settlement of TBA transactions in money market instruments, repurchase agreements, or other high-quality, liquid short-term instruments, including money market funds advised by BFA. A Fund will pay its pro rata share of fees and expenses of any money market fund that it may invest in, in addition to the Fund’s own fees and expenses.
Asset Class Risk. The securities and other assets in a Fund’s portfolio or, if applicable, its Underlying Index may underperform in comparison to indexes that track, or assets that represent, other countries or geographic units, industries, markets, market segments, or asset classes. Various types of securities, other assets and indexes may experience cycles of outperformance and underperformance in comparison to financial markets generally. This divergence may be due to 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 a Fund to underperform other investment vehicles that invest in different asset classes.
Assets Under Management (AUM) Risk. From time to time, an Authorized Participant, a third-party investor, a Fund’s adviser, an affiliate of a Fund’s adviser, or another fund may invest in a Fund and hold its investment for a specific period of time to allow the Fund to achieve size or scale. There can be no assurance that any such entity would not redeem its investment or that the size of the Fund would be maintained at such levels, which could negatively impact the Fund.
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with a Fund. There are a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants for the Fund, including on an agency basis on behalf of other market participants. No Authorized Participant is obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or do not place creation or redemption orders for a Fund and no other Authorized Participant places orders, Fund shares are more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting. Authorized Participant concentration risk may be heightened for a Fund that invests in securities issued by non-U.S. issuers or instruments with lower trading volume. Such assets often entail greater settlement and operational complexity and higher capital costs for Authorized Participants, which may limit the number of Authorized Participants that engage with the Fund.
Call Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of a callable debt obligation held by a Fund may call or repay the debt obligation before its stated maturity, and the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds in instruments with lower yields, which would result in a decline in a Fund’s income, or in instruments with greater risks or with other less favorable features.
Cash Management Risk. A Fund may maintain cash and cash equivalent positions as part of its investment strategy, for other portfolio management purposes and/or as collateral for derivative instruments. These cash and cash equivalent positions could constitute a significant portion of a Fund’s investments. A Fund that holds cash may earn reduced income (if any) on the cash and is subject to any fees imposed on large cash balances. If a significant amount of a Fund’s assets is invested in cash and cash equivalents, the Fund may underperform other funds that do not similarly invest in cash and cash equivalents. In addition, a Fund is subject to (i) the credit risk of the bank or other counterparty holding the cash and (ii) the risk that the counterparty may be unable or unwilling (or perceived as such) to honor its obligations.
Cash may be invested in institutional money market funds, including funds advised by BFA or its affiliates. An institutional money market fund does not maintain a stable $1.00 net asset value per share; rather, the fund’s net asset value fluctuates with changes in the values of the securities in which the fund invests, and the fund's shares may be worth more or less than their original purchase price. An institutional money market fund is permitted to impose a liquidity fee on the redemption of its shares and generally is required to impose a liquidity fee when daily net redemptions exceed certain levels.
Close-Out Risk for Qualified Financial Contracts. Regulations adopted by global prudential regulators require counterparties that are part of U.S. or foreign global systemically important banking organizations to include contractual restrictions on close-out and cross-default in agreements relating to qualified financial contracts. Qualified financial contracts include agreements relating to swaps, currency forwards and other derivatives as well as repurchase agreements and securities lending agreements. The restrictions prevent a Fund from closing out a qualified financial contract during a specified time period if the counterparty is subject to resolution proceedings and also prohibit a Fund from exercising default rights due to a receivership or similar proceeding of an affiliate of the counterparty. These requirements may increase credit risk and other risks to a Fund.
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk. CMBS depend on cash flows generated by underlying commercial real estate loans, receivables or other assets. The value of CMBS can be significantly affected by changes in interest rates, the availability of information about the underlying assets and their structure, and the creditworthiness of the originators of the underlying assets. In addition, the value of CMBS may be adversely affected by regulatory or tax changes.
CMBS are subject to a greater degree of prepayment and extension risk than many other forms of fixed-income securities. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain CMBS. Certain CMBS are issued in several classes with different levels of yield and credit protection, and a Fund may invest in the lower classes that have greater risks than the higher classes, including greater default, interest rate, prepayment and extension risks.
CMBS issued by non-government entities such as banks and mortgage lenders may offer higher yields, but also may be subject to greater volatility, than those issued or guaranteed by government agencies or government-sponsored entities. Securities issued or guaranteed by U.S. government-sponsored entities are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, and there is no assurance that the U.S. government will provide financial support.
7


Communications Companies Risk. Communications companies may face rapid product obsolescence as well as unexpected risks and costs related to product compatibility and standardization, new product introduction and technological developments, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. These companies may need to commit substantial capital to integrate new technologies and develop new products and services. Demographic shifts and changes in consumer preferences and expectations may have negative impacts on their business. Cybersecurity and data privacy risks may be heightened for communications companies, and a theft of proprietary or consumer information or disruptions in service could have a material adverse effect on their operations and reputation.   
Communications companies are subject to extensive government regulation, including licensing and franchise requirements. The costs of complying with regulations and seeking required approvals, as well as potential delays or denials, may adversely affect their business. These companies may face increased government scrutiny and may be subject to adverse government or legal action. They depend significantly on patent and other intellectual property rights, and the loss or impairment of these rights may adversely affect their profitability. 
Concentration Risk. A Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in the securities or other assets of one or more issuers, countries or other geographic units, markets, industries, project types, or asset classes. A Fund with investment concentration may be more adversely affected by the underperformance of those assets, may experience greater price volatility and may be more susceptible to adverse economic, market, political or regulatory impacts on those assets compared to a fund that does not concentrate its investments.
Consumer Goods and Services Companies Risk. Many consumer goods and services companies (consumer companies) rely heavily on disposable household income and consumer spending and may be impacted by social trends, marketing campaigns, demographic shifts and other factors affecting consumer preferences and demand. In addition, damage to a brand or a reputation crisis can have a substantial adverse impact on consumer companies.
Certain consumer companies, such as those providing discretionary goods or services, may depend more on business cycles, overall economic conditions and consumer confidence. Many consumer goods and services are subject to government regulation and the related compliance costs, and consumer companies also face the risk of product liability claims. Consumer companies also may be adversely affected by volatility in commodity prices, supply chain disruptions and labor shortages.
Corporate Loans Risk. Commercial banks and other financial institutions or institutional investors make corporate loans to companies that need capital to grow or restructure. Borrowers generally pay interest on corporate loans at rates that change in response to changes in market interest rates such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), or the prime rates of U.S. banks. As a result, the value of corporate loan investments is generally less exposed to the adverse effects of shifts in market interest rates than investments that pay a fixed rate of interest. However, because the trading market for certain corporate loans may be less developed than the secondary market for bonds and notes, the Fund may experience difficulties in selling its corporate loans. Transactions in corporate loans may settle on a delayed basis. As a result, the proceeds from the sale of corporate loans may not be readily available to make additional investments or to meet the Fund’s redemption obligations. To the extent the extended settlement process gives rise to short-term liquidity needs, the Fund may hold additional cash, sell investments or temporarily borrow from banks and other lenders. Leading financial institutions often act as agent for a broader group of lenders, generally referred to as a syndicate. The syndicate’s agent arranges the corporate loans, holds collateral and accepts payments of principal and interest. If the agent develops financial problems, the Fund may not recover its investment or recovery may be delayed. By investing in a corporate loan, the Fund may become a member of the syndicate.
The market for corporate loans may be subject to irregular trading activity and wide bid/ask spreads.
The corporate loans in which the Fund invests are subject to the risk of loss of principal and income. Although borrowers frequently provide collateral to secure repayment of these obligations they do not always do so. If they do provide collateral, the value of the collateral may not completely cover the borrower’s obligations at the time of a default. If a borrower files for protection from its creditors under the U.S. bankruptcy laws, these laws may limit the Fund’s rights to its collateral. In addition, the value of collateral may erode during a bankruptcy case. In the event of a bankruptcy, the holder of a corporate loan may not recover its principal, may experience a long delay in recovering its investment and may not receive interest during the delay.
Credit Risk. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer, guarantor or liquidity provider of a fixed-income security may be unable or unwilling, or may be perceived as unable or unwilling (whether by market participants, ratings agencies, pricing services or otherwise), to make timely principal and/or interest payments or to otherwise honor its obligations. It includes the risk that the security will be downgraded by a credit rating agency; generally, lower credit quality issuers present higher credit risks. The credit rating assigned to a security or its issuer does not necessarily reflect the issuer’s current financial condition or an investment’s volatility or liquidity. An actual or perceived decline in an issuer’s creditworthiness may result in a decrease in the value and liquidity of its securities as well as greater price volatility, which may make it difficult for a Fund to sell the securities and otherwise have an adverse impact on the Fund. It is possible that the ability of an issuer to meet its obligations will decline substantially during the period when a Fund owns securities of the issuer or that the issuer will default on its obligations or that the obligations of the issuer will be limited or restructured. A Fund may be adversely affected if an investment that it holds experiences a downgrade or a default.
Credit Spread Risk. Credit spread risk is the risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that have differences in credit quality or other factors) may increase. Widening credit spreads may reduce the market values of certain or all of the Fund's securities.
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While the Fund may employ strategies to mitigate credit spread risk, particularly diversification of the sectors of fixed-income securities held by the Fund, these strategies may not be successful.
Currency Risk. Because each Fund’s NAV is determined on the basis of the U.S. dollar, investors may lose money if the currency of a non-U.S. market in which a Fund invests depreciates against the U.S. dollar or if there are delays or limits on repatriation of foreign currency, even if the foreign currency value of the Fund’s holdings in that market increases. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, a Fund’s NAV may change quickly and without warning. In addition, a Fund may incur costs in connection with conversions between U.S. dollars and foreign currencies.
Custody Risk. Custody risk refers to the risks in the process of clearing and settling trades, as well as the holding of securities and other assets by local banks, agents and depositories. These risks are heightened in jurisdictions with less developed markets or less robust settlement and custody infrastructure and processes, and they may result in losses or delays in payments, delivery or recovery of money or other assets. Low trading volumes and volatile prices in less developed markets may make trades harder to complete and settle. Governments or trade groups may compel local agents to hold securities and other assets in designated depositories that may not be subject to independent evaluation. Local agents are held only to the standards of care of their local markets. In general, the less developed a country’s securities markets are, the higher the degree of custody risk.
ESG Risk. To the extent that a Fund’s Underlying Index uses criteria related to the ESG characteristics of issuers, this may limit the types and number of investment opportunities available to the Fund and, as a result, the Fund may underperform other funds whose underlying index does not use ESG criteria. An Underlying Index’s use of ESG criteria may result in a Fund investing in, or allocating greater weight to, securities or market sectors that underperform the market as a whole or underperform other funds that use ESG criteria. In addition, the use of representative sampling may result in the divergence of a Fund's overall ESG characteristics or ESG risk from those of the Underlying Index.
An Index Provider evaluates securities for inclusion and/or weighting in such an Underlying Index based on ESG criteria and data provided by the Index Provider or third parties. The Index Provider’s evaluation of securities’ ESG characteristics depends on these criteria and data, which may vary by index provider, and no assurance can be given that they will be complete, accurate or current. In addition, an Index Provider may evaluate security-level ESG data (including ratings) and, if applicable, ESG objectives or constraints that are relevant to an Underlying Index only at index reviews or rebalances. Securities included in an Underlying Index may cease to meet the relevant ESG criteria but may nevertheless remain in the Underlying Index and in the Fund using the Underlying Index until the next review or rebalance by the Index Provider. As a result, certain securities in the Underlying Index, or the Underlying Index as a whole, may not meet the relevant ESG objectives or constraints at all times. If the ESG assessment of a security in an Underlying Index or a Fund changes, neither the Fund nor BFA accepts any liability in relation to such change. BFA does not monitor securities in an Underlying Index with respect to ESG objectives or constraints applied by the Index Provider and is not responsible for changes to the ESG assessment of a security in an Underlying Index between rebalances. In addition, BFA does not assess the validity of an Index Provider’s evaluation of the ESG characteristics of securities or the criteria and data used in such evaluation.
The impacts of risks related to ESG investing are likely to change over time, and new ESG risks may be identified as further data and information regarding ESG factors and impacts become available. In addition, methodologies for ESG investing continue to develop, and the ESG methodology applied by an Index Provider may change over time.
Extension Risk. During periods of rising interest rates, certain debt obligations may be paid off substantially more slowly than originally anticipated and the value of those debt obligations may fall sharply, resulting in a decline in a Fund’s income and potentially in the value of a Fund’s investments.
Financial Companies Risk. Financial services companies are subject to extensive governmental regulation and intervention, which may change frequently and may adversely affect their profitability, the scope of their activities, the prices they can charge, the amount of capital and liquid assets they must maintain and their size, among other things. Financial services companies also may be significantly affected by, among other things, interest rates, economic conditions, credit rating downgrades, adverse public perception and exposure concentration. Increased risk-taking by financial companies may result in greater overall risk in the global financial sector. Certain events may cause an unusually high degree of volatility in financial markets and pose the risk of large losses for financial services companies.
Financial companies frequently operate with substantial financial leverage and are exposed directly to the credit risk of their borrowers and counterparties, which also may be leveraged to an unknown degree. Financial companies may have significant exposure to the same borrowers and counterparties; as a result, a borrower’s or counterparty’s inability to meet its obligations to one company may affect other financial companies with exposure to the same borrower or counterparty. This interconnectedness of risk may result in significant negative impacts to companies with direct exposure to the defaulting counterparty as well as adverse cascading effects in the markets and the financial sector generally.
Fixed-to-Floating Rate Securities Risk. Fixed-to-floating rate securities have an initial term with a fixed dividend or coupon rate and following this initial term bear a floating rate. Securities which include a floating or variable interest rate component can be less sensitive to interest rate changes than securities with fixed interest rates, but may decline in value if their interest rates do not rise as much, or as quickly, as interest rates in general. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. A decline in interest rates may result in a reduction in income received from floating rate securities held by the Fund and may adversely affect the value of the Fund’s shares. Generally, floating rate securities carry lower yields than similar fixed rate securities. The interest rate for a
9


floating rate security resets or adjusts periodically by reference to a benchmark interest rate. The impact of interest rate changes on floating rate investments is typically mitigated by the periodic interest rate reset of the investments. Fixed-to-floating rate securities generally are subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, may trade infrequently, and their value may be impaired when the Fund needs to liquidate such securities. Benchmark interest rates, such as LIBOR or the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), may not accurately track market interest rates. There is no guarantee or assurance that: (i) the Fund will be able to invest in a desired amount of fixed-to-floating rate securities, (ii) the Fund will be able to buy such securities at a desirable price, or (iii) floating rate securities in which it invests or seeks to invest will be actively traded. Any or all of the foregoing, should they occur, could negatively impact the Fund.
Floating Rate Securities Risk. Securities with floating or variable interest rates can be less sensitive to interest rate changes than securities with fixed interest rates, but may decline in value if their interest rates do not rise as much, or as quickly, as interest rates in general. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. A decline in interest rates may result in a reduction in income received from floating rate securities held by a Fund and may adversely affect the value of the Fund’s shares. Generally, floating rate securities carry lower yields than fixed securities of the same maturity. The interest rate for a floating rate security resets or adjusts periodically by reference to a benchmark interest rate. The impact of interest rate changes on floating rate investments is typically mitigated by the periodic interest rate reset of the investments. Securities with longer durations tend to be more sensitive to interest rate changes, usually making them more volatile than securities with shorter durations. Floating rate securities generally are subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, may trade infrequently, and their value may be impaired when the Fund needs to liquidate such loans. Benchmark interest rates such as the SOFR, may not accurately track market interest rates.
Although floating rate securities are less sensitive to interest rate risk than fixed-rate securities, they are subject to credit risk and default risk, which could impair their value.
Geographic and Security Risks. Issuers in a Fund’s portfolio may be located in, or otherwise connected to, parts of the world affected by natural disasters, such as severe heat, earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, droughts, floods, hurricanes and tsunamis. In addition, issuers may be impacted by security concerns with respect to a country or region, such as war and other types of conflict, terrorism, strained international relations and territorial disputes. Any of these events may adversely affect the issuers, markets and economies to which a Fund is exposed, which may adversely affect the value of the Fund.
Healthcare Companies Risk. The profitability of healthcare companies 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, a limited number of products, labor shortages, supply chain issues and industry innovation. Many new products in the healthcare sector entail significant research and development and require regulatory approval, all of which may be long and costly, and such efforts ultimately may be unsuccessful. Many healthcare companies depend heavily on obtaining and defending patents, which can be costly, and may be adversely affected by the expiration of patents. Healthcare companies also are subject to extensive litigation based on product liability and similar claims.
High Portfolio Turnover Risk. The sale and purchase of securities and other assets in a Fund’s portfolio generally involve transaction costs to the Fund (e.g., brokerage commissions, dealer mark-ups). Higher portfolio turnover may cause the Fund to incur additional transaction costs, which have the effect of reducing the Fund’s investment return. In addition, greater frequency in the sale of securities or other assets may result in the realization or distribution to Fund shareholders of greater capital gains (including short-term gains) compared to a fund with less turnover. These effects of high portfolio turnover may adversely affect a Fund’s performance and could result in undesirable tax consequences for shareholders. Certain investment strategies (e.g., active management, investing in dollar rolls or to-be-announced mortgage trades) and volatile market conditions may be more likely to involve higher portfolio turnover.
High Yield Securities Risk. Debt securities that are rated below investment grade and debt securities that are unrated are generally considered to be speculative. Compared to higher-quality debt securities, high yield securities are subject to a greater risk of default, illiquidity, price volatility and valuation uncertainty. Issuers of high yield securities may be less creditworthy and have a greater risk of insolvency or bankruptcy than issuers of higher-quality debt securities. Certain privately held issuers may provide less timely or less detailed financial reporting or other information.
High yield securities may be less liquid than higher-rated debt securities, even under normal economic conditions. There are fewer dealers in the high yield securities market, and there may be significant differences in the prices quoted for such securities. There may be no active trading market for some instruments, and certain securities may be subject to restrictions on resale. The inability to dispose of investments in a timely fashion could result in losses to a Fund. High yield securities that are deemed to be liquid at the time of purchase may become illiquid.
High yield securities frequently have prepayment features. When securities are prepaid, a Fund may lose any premiums paid for the instruments and may have to invest the proceeds in bonds with lower yields. This could result in an unexpected capital loss and/or a decrease in the amount of dividends and yield.
Investments in high yield securities may be subject to additional risks, including subordination to other creditors (leaving few or no assets to repay high yield securities holders), no collateral or limited rights in collateral. High yield securities also may have weaker or less restrictive covenant protections for creditors than higher-quality instruments. For example, high yield issuers may be able to incur more debt (including
10


secured debt), return more capital to shareholders, reduce assets designated as collateral or otherwise manage their business in ways that could negatively impact creditors. If an issuer defaults, a Fund may incur expenses in seeking recovery or negotiating new terms with the issuer.
Illiquid Investments Risk. An illiquid investment is any investment that a Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without significantly changing the market value of the investment. An investment may be illiquid due to, among other things, fewer participants or less capacity to make a market in the investment, the lack of an active market for the investment, capital controls, delays or limits on repatriation of local currency, and the insolvency of local governments. To the extent that a Fund invests in securities or other assets with substantial market and/or credit risk, the Fund will tend to have increased exposure to the risks associated with illiquid investments. Illiquid investments may be harder to value, especially in changing markets.
Liquid investments may become illiquid after purchase by a Fund, particularly during periods of market turmoil. There can be no assurance that a security or other asset that is deemed to be liquid when purchased will continue to be liquid for as long as it is held by a Fund, and any security or other asset held by a Fund may be deemed an illiquid investment pursuant to the Fund’s liquidity risk management program.
Holdings of illiquid investments may reduce a Fund’s returns because the Fund may be unable to transact at advantageous times or prices. If a Fund is forced to sell underlying investments at reduced prices or under unfavorable conditions to meet redemption requests or for other cash needs, the Fund may suffer a loss. This may be magnified in a rising interest rate environment or other circumstances where redemptions of Fund shares may be greater than normal. If other market participants attempt to liquidate holdings at the same time as a Fund, this will lead to an increased supply of the Fund’s underlying investments in the market and contribute to greater illiquid investments risk and downward pricing pressure. In addition, if a Fund is limited in its ability to sell illiquid investments during periods when shareholders are redeeming their shares, the Fund will need to sell liquid securities to meet redemption requests, and illiquid securities will become a larger portion of the Fund’s holdings. During periods of market volatility, liquidity in the market for a Fund’s shares may be impacted by the liquidity in the market for the underlying securities or other assets held by the Fund, which could lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to the Fund's NAV.
Income Risk. A Fund’s income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors. This can occur because the Fund may be required to invest in lower-yielding bonds when a bond in the Fund’s portfolio matures, is near maturity, is called or is prepaid or when the Fund otherwise needs to purchase additional bonds, such as due to a substitution in the underlying index for an index fund.
Index-Related Risk. A Fund that tracks an Underlying Index seeks to achieve a return that corresponds generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of its Underlying Index as published by the Index Provider. There is no assurance that the Index Provider or its agents will construct or calculate the Underlying Index accurately. While the Index Provider describes what the Underlying Index is designed to achieve, neither the Index Provider nor its agents provide any warranty or accept any liability regarding 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. BFA also does not provide any warranty or guarantee against the Index Provider’s or any agent’s errors.
The Index Provider may rely on various sources of information to assess the criteria of components of the Underlying Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither a Fund nor BFA can offer assurances that the Index Provider’s methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included components or will result in the Fund meeting its investment objective. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of an Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology may occur, and the Index Provider may not identify or correct them promptly or at all, particularly for indexes that are less commonly used as benchmarks. In addition, there may be heightened risks associated with the adequacy and reliability of information about emerging markets constituents, as such markets may have less information available or less regulatory oversight. Errors related to an Underlying Index may negatively or positively impact a Fund and its shareholders. For example, if the Underlying Index contains incorrect constituents, the Fund will have exposure to such constituents and will be underexposed to the Underlying Index’s other constituents. Shareholders should understand that any gains from an Index Provider’s errors will be kept by the Fund and its shareholders and any losses or costs from such errors will be borne by the Fund and its shareholders.
Unusual market conditions or other unforeseen circumstances (such as natural disasters, political unrest or war) may impact an Index Provider or a third-party data provider and could cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance to an Underlying Index. This could cause the Underlying Index to vary from its normal or expected composition. If a scheduled rebalance is postponed, index constituents that would otherwise be removed at the rebalance (due to, for example, changes in market capitalization or issuer credit ratings) may remain, causing the performance and constituents of the Underlying Index to vary from those expected under normal conditions. In addition, to the extent circumstances evolve between periodic index reviews and reconstitutions, an Underlying Index may include constituents that do not align with its objective or selection criteria, and the Fund tracking the Underlying Index may be similarly affected.
In addition to scheduled rebalances, an Index Provider or its agents may carry out ad hoc index rebalances due to reaching certain weighting constraints, unusual market conditions, corporate events, or corrections of errors. The relevant Fund will in turn rebalance its portfolio to attempt to increase the correlation between the portfolio and the Underlying Index. The Fund and its shareholders will directly bear any transaction costs and market exposure from such portfolio rebalancing. Therefore, index-related errors and ad hoc rebalances may increase a Fund’s costs and tracking error.
Industrial Companies Risk. Industrial companies face a number of risks, including supply chain and distribution disruptions, business interruptions, third-party vendor risks, cyber attacks, trade disputes, product recalls, liability and environmental damage claims, scarcity of
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materials or parts, excess capacity, changes in consumer preferences, and volatility in commodity prices and currencies. The products of industrial companies may face obsolescence due to technological developments and new product introduction. Furthermore, changes in trade restrictions and tariffs as well as broader geopolitical developments could adversely affect industrial companies. These companies also may be significantly affected by domestic and international economic conditions, legislative and regulatory changes, and labor relations. Industrial companies may depend on public or private sector financing, which may become difficult to obtain due to government spending constraints or reduced availability of capital. Such companies may be unable to protect their intellectual property rights or may be liable for infringing the intellectual property rights of others.
Issuers with high carbon intensity or high switching costs associated with the transition to low carbon alternatives may be more impacted by climate transition risks. There may be increased impact on a Fund's performance to the extent that its investments are concentrated in locations that are more susceptible to adverse physical events.
Inflation-Indexed Bonds Risk. The principal value of an investment in a Fund is not protected or otherwise guaranteed by virtue of any investments by the Fund in inflation-indexed bonds. The value of inflation-indexed securities generally fluctuates with changes in real interest rates, decreasing when real interest rates rise and increasing when real interest rates fall. Real interest rates represent nominal (or stated) interest rates minus the inflation rates. If a Fund purchases TIPS in the secondary market and the bonds’ principal values previously were adjusted upward, but then there is a period of declining inflation rates, the Fund may receive at maturity less than it invested.
In addition, interest payments on inflation-indexed securities generally vary up or down along with the rate of inflation, and inflation-indexed bonds typically have lower nominal yields than conventional fixed-rate bonds. If the index measuring inflation falls, the principal value of inflation-indexed bonds will be adjusted downward, and consequently the interest payable on these securities (calculated with respect to a smaller principal amount) will be reduced.
Any increase in the principal amount of an inflation-indexed bond will be considered taxable ordinary income, even though investors do not receive their principal until maturity. Periodic adjustments for inflation to the principal amount of an inflation-indexed bond may give rise to original issue discount, which will be includable in a Fund’s gross income. Due to original issue discount, a Fund may be required to make annual distributions to shareholders that exceed the cash received, which may cause the Fund to liquidate certain investments when it is not advantageous to do so. Also, if the principal value of an inflation-indexed bond is adjusted downward due to deflation, amounts previously distributed in the taxable year may be characterized in some circumstances as a return of capital.
Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate changes can be sudden and unpredictable and are influenced by a number of factors, including government policy, monetary policy, inflation expectations, perceptions of risk, and supply and demand for fixed-income securities. Changes in interest rates may have unpredictable effects on fixed-income markets and may result in heightened volatility and lower liquidity for certain instruments, which may adversely affect a Fund’s performance. When interest rates rise, the value of fixed-income securities or other instruments sensitive to interest rates typically decreases. Duration is a measure of how sensitive a bond is to interest rate changes. Fixed-income securities with longer durations tend to be more sensitive to interest rate changes, and their prices usually are more volatile than those of shorter-duration securities. For example, if a bond has a duration of five years and interest rates rise, the price of the bond will likely decline by a greater percentage than for a bond with a one-year duration. To the extent a Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in fixed-income securities with longer duration, rising interest rates may cause the value of the Fund’s investments to decline significantly, which would adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
In addition, changes in prevailing interest rates, particularly sudden and significant changes, may lead to fluctuations in the value of floating-rate debt securities, because the rates for those securities typically reset only periodically. Additionally, during periods of very low or negative interest rates, a Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns or pay dividends to shareholders. Under certain market conditions when interest rates are set at low levels and the market prices of portfolio securities have increased, a Fund may have a very low or even negative yield, which would cause the Fund to lose money under certain conditions.
Decreases in market-making capacity for fixed-income dealers may lead to lower trading volume, heightened volatility, wider bid-ask spreads and less transparent pricing in certain fixed-income markets.
Issuer Risk. The performance of a Fund depends on the performance of individual securities or other assets to which the Fund has exposure. The value of securities or other assets may decline, or perform differently from the market as a whole, due to changes in the financial condition or credit rating of the issuer or counterparty.
Large Shareholder and Large-Scale Redemption Risk. Certain shareholders of a Fund, including an Authorized Participant, a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser, an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, a market maker, or another entity, may from time to time own or manage a substantial amount of Fund shares or may hold their investment in the Fund for a limited period of time. These shareholders may also pledge or loan Fund shares (to secure financing or otherwise), which may result in the shares becoming concentrated in another party. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder or large group of shareholders would not redeem their investment or that the size of a Fund would be maintained. Redemptions of a large number of Fund shares may adversely affect a Fund’s liquidity and net assets. To the extent a Fund permits redemptions in cash, these redemptions may force the Fund to sell portfolio securities or other assets when it might not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV, have a material effect on the market price of Fund shares, increase the Fund’s brokerage costs, accelerate the realization of taxable income and/or capital gains, and cause the Fund to make taxable distributions to its shareholders earlier than the Fund otherwise would have. In addition, under certain circumstances, non-redeeming shareholders may be treated as
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receiving a disproportionately large taxable distribution during or with respect to such tax year. A Fund also may be required to sell its more liquid investments to meet a large redemption, in which case the Fund’s remaining assets may be less liquid, more volatile, and more difficult to price.
To the extent these large shareholders transact in Fund shares on the secondary market, such transactions may account for a large percentage of the trading volume for Fund shares and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market price of the shares. In addition, large purchases of Fund shares may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would, diluting its investment returns.
Leveraged Loans Risk. Like other high yield debt instruments, leveraged loans are subject to increased risk of default in the payment of principal and interest. Some leveraged loans are not as easily purchased or sold as publicly traded securities, and others are illiquid, which may make it more difficult for the Fund to value them or dispose of them at an acceptable price. The customary form of new and/or restructured leveraged loans is known as covenant lite loans, which include contractual provisions that are more favorable to borrowers and offer less protection for lenders such as the Fund. Consequently, the Fund could experience relatively greater difficulty or delays in enforcing its rights on its holdings of covenant lite loans than its holdings of loans with financial maintenance covenants, which may result in losses. The settlement period for some leveraged loans may be more than seven days.
There is less readily available, reliable information about most senior loans than is the case for many other types of securities. No active trading market may exist for certain senior loans, which may impair the ability of the Fund to realize full value in the event of the need to sell a loan and which may make it difficult to value a loan.
An economic downturn generally leads to a higher non-payment rate for loans, and a loan may lose significant value before a default occurs. Although leveraged loans generally are secured by specific collateral, such collateral may decline in value or become illiquid, which would adversely affect the loan’s value. There can be no assurance that the liquidation of such collateral would satisfy the borrower’s obligation in the event of non-payment of scheduled interest or principal or that such collateral could be readily liquidated. To the extent that a loan is collateralized by stock in the borrower or its subsidiaries, such stock may lose all of its value in the event of the borrower’s bankruptcy. Senior loans are subject to the risk that a court could subordinate such loans to presently existing or future indebtedness or take other action detrimental to the holders of such loans.
Management Risk. An index Fund invests in securities or other assets included in, or representative of, its Underlying Index, regardless of their investment merits. Such a Fund may be affected by a general decline in market segments related to its Underlying Index, and BFA generally does not attempt to invest the Fund’s assets in defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on a Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track its Underlying Index. Because BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy, a Fund will not fully replicate its Underlying Index and may hold securities or other assets not included in the Underlying Index. As a result, a Fund is subject to the risk that BFA’s investment strategy, whose implementation is subject to a number of constraints, may not produce the intended results. There is no guarantee that a Fund’s investment results will have a high degree of correlation to those of its Underlying Index or that a Fund will achieve its investment objective.
Market Risk. A Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. The value of a financial instrument or other asset may decline due to changes in general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the particular instrument or asset, or factors that affect one or more issuers, counterparties, exchanges, countries or other geographic units, markets, industries, or asset classes. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, pandemics or other public health issues, recessions, the prospect or occurrence of a sovereign default or other financial crisis, or other events could have a significant impact on a Fund and its investments and could result in increased premiums or discounts to a Fund’s NAV. Changes in market and economic conditions generally do not have the same impact on all types of instruments and assets.
It is possible that prices throughout the economy may decline over time, resulting in deflation. If this occurs, the principal and income of inflation-protected bonds held by a Fund would likely decline in value, which could result in losses for a Fund.
Market Trading Risk. A Fund faces numerous market trading risks, any of which may lead to its shares trading in the secondary market at a premium or discount to NAV or to the intraday value of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. If you buy Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to NAV or sell Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to the NAV, you may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the Fund shares.
Absence of an Active Primary Market. Although Fund shares are listed for trading on one or more stock exchanges, there can be no assurance that an active primary trading market for Fund shares will develop or be maintained by market makers or Authorized Participants.
Secondary Listing Risks. A Fund’s shares may be listed or traded on U.S. and non-U.S. stock exchanges other than the U.S. stock exchange where the Fund’s primary listing is maintained. Fund shares also may be available to non-U.S. investors through funds or structured investment vehicles similar to depositary receipts. There can be no assurance that a Fund’s shares will continue to trade on any such stock exchange or in any market or that a Fund’s shares will continue to meet the requirements for exchange listing or market trading. A Fund’s shares may be less actively traded in certain markets than in others, and investors are subject to the execution and settlement risks and market standards of the market where they or their broker direct their trades for execution. Certain information that is available to investors
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who trade Fund shares on a U.S. stock exchange during regular U.S. market hours may not be available to investors who trade in other markets, which may result in secondary market prices in such markets being less efficient.
Secondary Market Trading Risk. Shares of a Fund may trade in the secondary market at times when the Fund does not accept orders to create or redeem shares. At such times, shares may trade in the secondary market with more significant premiums or discounts to NAV than might be experienced at times when the Fund accepts creation and redemption orders. Securities held by a Fund may be traded in markets that close at a different time than an exchange on which Fund shares are traded. Liquidity in those securities may be reduced after the applicable closing time. As a result, during the time when the exchange is open but after the applicable market closing, fixing or settlement time, there may be wider bid/ask spreads on the exchange and a greater premium or discount to NAV.
In stressed market conditions, the market for a Fund’s shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in the markets for the Fund’s portfolio holdings, and an investor may be unable to sell their Fund shares.
Secondary market trading in Fund shares may be halted by a stock exchange because of market conditions or for other reasons. In times of extraordinary market volatility, Fund shares may be subject to trading halts pursuant to circuit breaker rules of a stock exchange or market. If there is a trading halt or unanticipated closure of an exchange or market, an investor may be unable to purchase or sell Fund shares. In addition, if trading in certain securities or financial instruments is restricted, this may disrupt a Fund’s creation/redemption process, affect the price at which Fund shares trade in the secondary market, and result in a Fund being unable to trade certain securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, a Fund may be unable to rebalance its portfolio or accurately price its portfolio holdings and may incur substantial trading losses.
Shares of a Fund, similar to shares of other issuers listed on a stock exchange, may be sold short and are therefore subject to the risk of increased volatility and price decreases associated with being sold short. In addition, trading activity in derivative products based on a Fund may lead to increased trading volume and volatility in the secondary market for the shares of the Fund.
Fund Shares May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. Shares of a Fund trade on stock exchanges at prices at, above or below the Fund’s most recent NAV. A Fund’s NAV is calculated at the end of each business day and fluctuates with changes in the market value of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. The trading price of a Fund’s shares fluctuates throughout trading hours based on both market supply of and demand for Fund shares and the underlying value of the Fund’s portfolio holdings or NAV. As a result, the trading prices of a Fund’s shares may deviate significantly from NAV during times of market volatility, significant redemption requests, or other unusual market conditions.
However, because Fund shares can be created and redeemed in Creation Units at NAV, BFA believes that large discounts or premiums to a Fund’s NAV are not likely to be sustained over the long term (unlike shares of many closed-end funds, which frequently trade at appreciable discounts from, and sometimes at premiums to, their NAVs). While the creation/redemption feature is designed to make it more likely that a Fund’s shares normally will trade on stock exchanges at prices close to the Fund’s next calculated NAV, exchange prices are not expected to correlate exactly with the Fund’s NAV due to timing reasons, supply and demand imbalances and other factors. In addition, disruptions to creations and redemptions, including disruptions at market makers, Authorized Participants, or other market participants, and during periods of significant market volatility, may result in trading prices for shares of a Fund that differ significantly from its NAV. Authorized Participants may be less willing to create or redeem a Fund’s shares if there is a lack of an active market for such shares or the Fund’s underlying investments, which may contribute to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV.
Costs of Buying or Selling Fund Shares. Buying or selling Fund shares on an exchange involves two types of costs that apply to all securities transactions. When buying or selling Fund shares through a broker, you will likely incur a brokerage commission and other charges. In addition, you may incur the cost of the spread, which is the difference between what investors are willing to pay for Fund shares (the bid price) and the price at which they are willing to sell Fund shares (the ask price). The spread varies over time for Fund shares based on trading volume and market liquidity. It is generally narrower if a Fund has more trading volume and market liquidity and wider if a Fund has less trading volume and market liquidity. Increased market volatility also may cause wider spreads. In addition, there may be regulatory and other charges that are incurred as a result of trading activity. Because of the costs inherent in buying or selling Fund shares, frequent trading may detract significantly from investment results, and an investment in Fund shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments through a brokerage account.
Materials Companies Risk. The materials sector tends to be closely tied to the economic cycle and can be significantly affected by supply-demand dynamics. Materials companies may be adversely affected by commodity price volatility, exchange rate fluctuations, social and political unrest, war, import and export controls, supply chain disruption, increased competition, depletion of resources, technical advances, labor relations, litigation and government regulations, among other factors. Materials companies are at risk of liability for environmental damage and product liability claims and may incur significant costs in complying with environmental laws.
National Closed Market Trading Risk. To the extent that securities or other assets held by a Fund trade on foreign exchanges or in foreign markets that may be closed when the securities exchange on which the Fund’s shares trade is open, there are likely to be deviations between such asset’s current price and its last quoted price (i.e., the quote from the closed foreign market to the Fund). The impact of a closed foreign market on a Fund is likely to be greater where a large portion of the Fund’s holdings trade on a closed foreign market or when a foreign market is closed for unscheduled reasons. These deviations could result in premiums or discounts to a Fund’s NAV that may be greater than those experienced by other funds.
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Non-Diversification Risk. A Fund that is classified as non-diversified may invest a greater percentage of its assets in securities or other instruments representing a small number of issuers or counterparties, compared with funds that are classified as diversified. A non-diversified Fund thus may be more susceptible to the risks associated with these particular issuers or counterparties. The gains and losses on such holdings may have a greater impact on a non-diversified Fund’s performance than they would on the performance of a diversified Fund, and a non-diversified Fund’s NAV may be more volatile.
Non-U.S. Securities Risk. Securities issued by non-U.S. issuers (including depositary receipts) are subject to different legal, regulatory, political, economic, and market risks than securities issued by U.S. issuers. To the extent that investments are made in a limited number of countries, events in those countries will have a more significant impact on a Fund. The risks of investing in non-U.S. securities include the following, any of which may have an adverse impact on a Fund:
Less liquid markets, which may make valuing securities more difficult;
Greater market volatility;
Government intervention in issuers' operations or structure;
Government expropriation or nationalization of assets;
Exchange rate fluctuations and currency controls;
Limitations on the foreign ownership of securities;
Imposition of withholding or other taxes;
Restrictions on the repatriation of capital;
Higher transaction and custody costs;
Foreign market trading hours, different clearing and settlement procedures, and holiday schedules, which may limit a Fund's ability to engage in portfolio transactions;
Less regulation of the securities and other financial markets;
Less availability of public information about issuers;
Weaker accounting, audit, disclosure and financial reporting requirements and the risk of being delisted from U.S. exchanges;
Difficulties in enforcing contractual obligations; and
Legal principles relating to corporate governance, directors’ fiduciary duties and liabilities, and shareholder rights that are less robust than those that apply in the U.S.
Withholding Tax Reclaims Risk. A Fund that holds non-U.S. securities may file claims to recover withholding tax on dividend and interest income (if any) received from issuers in certain countries where such withholding tax reclaim is possible. Whether or when a Fund will receive a withholding tax refund is within the control of the tax authorities in such countries. Where a Fund expects to recover withholding tax based on a continuous assessment of the probability of recovery, the Fund’s NAV generally includes accruals for such tax refunds. Funds continue to evaluate tax developments for potential impact to the probability of recovery. If the likelihood of receiving a tax refund materially decreases, such as due to a change in tax regulation or approach, accruals in a Fund’s NAV for such refunds may be written down partially or in full, which will adversely affect the Fund’s NAV. Investors in a Fund at the time when an accrual is written down will bear the impact of any resulting reduction in NAV regardless of whether they were investors during the accrual period. Conversely, if a Fund receives a tax refund that was not previously accrued, investors in the Fund at the time the claim is successful will benefit from any resulting increase in the Fund’s NAV. Investors who sold their shares prior to such time will not benefit from any such NAV increase.
Operational and Technology Risks. A Fund and the entities with which it interacts directly or indirectly are susceptible to operational and technology risks, including those related to human errors, processing errors, communication errors, systems failures, cybersecurity incidents, and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI), which may result in losses for the Fund and its shareholders or impair the Fund’s operations. These entities include, but are not limited to, a Fund’s adviser, administrator, distributor, other service providers (e.g., index and benchmark providers, accountants, custodians, and transfer agents), financial intermediaries, counterparties, market makers, Authorized Participants, listing exchanges, other financial market operators, and governmental authorities. Operational and technology risks for the issuers in which a Fund invests could also result in material adverse consequences for such issuers and may cause the Fund’s investments in such issuers to lose value. A Fund may incur substantial costs in order to mitigate operational and technology risks.
Cybersecurity incidents can result from deliberate attacks or unintentional events against an issuer in which a Fund invests, the Fund or any of its service providers. They include, but are not limited to, gaining unauthorized access to systems, misappropriating assets or sensitive information, corrupting or destroying data, and causing operational disruption. Geopolitical tension may increase the scale and sophistication of deliberate attacks, particularly those from nation states or from entities with nation state backing. Cybersecurity incidents may result in any of the following: financial losses; interference with a Fund’s ability to calculate its NAV; disclosure of confidential information; impediments to trading; submission of erroneous trades by a Fund or erroneous subscription or redemption orders; the inability of a Fund or its service providers to transact business; violations of applicable privacy and other laws; regulatory fines; penalties; reputational damage; reimbursement or other compensation costs; and other legal and compliance expenses. Furthermore, cybersecurity incidents may render records of a Fund, including records relating to its assets and transactions, shareholder ownership of Fund shares, and other data integral to a Fund’s functioning, inaccessible, inaccurate or incomplete. Power outages, natural disasters, equipment malfunctions and processing
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errors that threaten information and technology systems relied upon by a Fund or its service providers, as well as market events that occur at a pace that overloads these systems, may also disrupt business operations or impact critical data. In addition, the risks of increased use of AI technologies, such as machine learning, include data risk, transparency risk, and operational risk. The AI technologies, which are generally highly reliant on the collection and analysis of large amounts of data, may incorporate biased or inaccurate data, and it is not possible or practicable to incorporate all relevant data into such technologies. The output or results of any such AI technologies may therefore be incomplete, erroneous, distorted or misleading. Further, AI tools may lack transparency as to how data is utilized and how outputs are generated. AI technologies may also allow the unintended introduction of vulnerabilities into infrastructures and applications. A Fund and its shareholders could be negatively impacted as a result of these risks associated with AI technologies. AI technologies and their current and potential future applications, and the regulatory frameworks within which they operate, continue to quickly evolve, and it is impossible to anticipate the full scope of future AI capabilities or rules and the associated risks to a Fund.
While a Fund’s service providers are required to have appropriate operational, information security and cybersecurity risk management policies and procedures, their methods of risk management may differ from those of the Fund in the setting of priorities, the personnel and resources available or the effectiveness of relevant controls. Each Fund and its adviser seek to reduce these risks through controls, procedures and oversight, including establishing business continuity plans and risk management systems. However, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems, including the possibility that certain risks that may affect a Fund have not been identified or may emerge in the future; that such plans and systems may not completely eliminate the occurrence or mitigate the effects of operational or information security disruptions or failures or of cybersecurity incidents; or that prevention and remediation efforts will not be successful or that incidents will go undetected. A Fund cannot control the systems, information security or other cybersecurity of the issuers in which it invests or its service providers, counterparties, and other third parties whose activities affect the Fund.
Lastly, the regulatory climate governing cybersecurity and data protection is developing quickly and may vary considerably across jurisdictions. Regulators continue to develop new rules and standards related to cybersecurity and data protection. Compliance with evolving regulations can be demanding and costly, requiring substantial resources to monitor and implement required changes.
Ownership Limitations Risk. If certain aggregate and/or fund-level ownership thresholds are reached through transactions undertaken by BFA, its affiliates or a Fund, or as a result of third-party transactions or actions by an issuer or regulator, the ability of BFA and its affiliates on behalf of clients (including a Fund) to purchase or dispose of investments, exercise rights or undertake business transactions may be restricted by law, regulation or rules or otherwise impaired. The capacity of a Fund to invest in certain securities or other assets may be affected by the relevant threshold limits, and such limitations may have adverse effects on the liquidity and performance of a Fund’s portfolio holdings.
For example, ownership limits may apply to securities whose issuers operate in certain regulated industries or in certain international markets. Such limits also may apply where the investing entity (such as a Fund) is subject to corporate or regulatory ownership restrictions or invests in certain futures or other derivative transactions. In certain circumstances, aggregate and/or fund-level amounts invested or voted by BFA and its affiliates for client funds and accounts managed by BFA (including a Fund) may not exceed the relevant limits without the grant of a license or other regulatory or corporate approval, order, consent, relief or non-disapproval. However, there is no guarantee that permission will be granted or that, once granted, it will not be modified or revoked at a later date with minimal or no notice. In other cases, exceeding such thresholds may cause BFA and its affiliates, a Fund or other client accounts to suffer disadvantages or business restrictions.
Ownership limitations are highly complex. It is possible that, despite BFA’s intent to either comply with or be granted permission to exceed ownership limitations, it may inadvertently breach a limit or violate the corporate or regulatory approval, order, consent, relief or non-disapproval that was obtained.
Prepayment Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, issuers of certain debt obligations may repay principal prior to the debt obligation’s maturity, which may cause a Fund to have to reinvest in instruments with lower yields or a higher risk of default, resulting in a decline in a Fund’s income or return potential. Also, if an obligation subject to prepayment was purchased at a premium, the value of the premium would be lost in the event of prepayment.
Privately Issued Securities Risk. Privately issued securities are securities that have not been registered under the 1933 Act, including securities that are normally purchased pursuant to Rule 144A or Regulation S under the 1933 Act. Such securities typically are subject to legal restrictions on resale and generally are not traded in established public markets. As a result, privately issued securities may be deemed to be illiquid investments, may be more difficult to value than publicly traded securities, may be subject to wide fluctuations in value and may have higher transaction costs. There can be no assurance that a trading market will exist at any time for any particular privately issued security, especially under adverse market or economic conditions or if there are adverse events related to the issuer. Because there may be relatively few potential purchasers for privately issued securities, a Fund may find it more difficult to sell such securities when it may be advisable to do so, or a Fund may be able to sell such securities only at prices that are lower than if such securities were more widely held and traded. Difficulty in selling such securities at a desirable time or price may result in a loss to a Fund.
At times, it may be more difficult to determine the fair value of privately issued securities for purposes of computing a Fund’s NAV due to the absence of an active trading market. There can be no assurance that a privately issued security that is deemed to be liquid when purchased will continue to be liquid for as long as it is held by a Fund, and its value may decline as a result, which may adversely affect the Fund.
Reliance on Trading Partners Risk. The economies of some countries or regions depend on trading with certain key trading partners. A reduction in spending on the products and services of these countries or regions, the institution of tariffs or other trade barriers by a key
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trading partner or a slowdown in the economy of a key trading partner may cause an adverse impact on the economies of such countries or regions and may negatively impact the performance of a Fund with exposure to those countries or regions.
Risk of Investing in China. Investments in Chinese securities, including certain Hong Kong-listed and U.S.-listed securities, subject a Fund to risks specific to China. China is subject to a considerable degree of economic, political and social instability.
Political and Social Risk. The Chinese government is authoritarian and has periodically used force to suppress civil dissent. Disparities of wealth and the pace of economic liberalization may lead to social turmoil, violence and labor unrest. In addition, China continues to experience disagreements related to integration with Hong Kong and religious and nationalist disputes in Tibet and Xinjiang. There is also a greater risk in China than in many other countries of currency fluctuations, currency non-convertibility, interest rate fluctuations and higher rates of inflation as a result of internal social unrest or conflicts with other countries. Unanticipated political or social developments may result in sudden and significant investment losses. China’s income inequality, rapidly aging population and significant environmental issues also are factors that may affect the Chinese economy.
Government Control and Regulations. Despite the Chinese government’s implementation of economic and market reforms in recent decades, government control over certain sectors and enterprises and significant regulation of investment and industry are still pervasive. China has restrictions on investment in companies or industries deemed to be sensitive to particular national interests, trading of securities of Chinese issuers, foreign ownership of Chinese corporations and/or the repatriation of assets by foreign investors. Restrictions on foreign ownership of Chinese securities may have adverse effects on a Fund’s liquidity and performance and could lead to higher tracking error. Chinese government intervention in the market may have a negative impact on market sentiment, which may in turn affect the performance of the Chinese economy and a Fund’s investments. Chinese markets generally continue to experience inefficiency, lack of publicly available information, and political and social instability and may be subject to volatility and pricing anomalies resulting from governmental influence. Chinese companies, such as those in the financial services, technology and potentially other sectors, are also subject to the risk that Chinese authorities can intervene in their operations and structure, which may negatively affect the value of a Fund’s investments.
Economic Risk. The Chinese economy is highly reliant on trade and may be adversely affected by, among other things, a deterioration in global demand and spending for Chinese exports or a contraction in spending on domestic goods by Chinese consumers. The institution of additional tariffs or other trade barriers (including as a result of heightened trade tensions between China and the U.S. or in response to actual or alleged Chinese cyber activity) or a downturn in any of the economies of China’s key trading partners may have an adverse impact on the Chinese economy and companies in which a Fund invests. The current political climate has intensified concerns about a potential trade war between China and the U.S. as each country has imposed tariffs on the other. These actions and their consequences (which are difficult to predict) could have a negative impact on a Fund’s performance. It is unclear whether further tariffs or other escalating actions may occur.
In addition, certain Chinese companies (which may change from time to time) are directly or indirectly subject to economic or trade restrictions imposed by the U.S. or other governments due to national security, human rights or other concerns of such government. For example, certain foreign technology companies are subject to export controls as those companies are believed to pose a risk to U.S. interests. The U.S. also bans imports of goods produced in certain regions of China or by certain Chinese companies due to concerns about forced labor. Such restrictions may have unanticipated and adverse effects on the Chinese economy and companies. Any action that targets Chinese financial markets or securities exchanges could interfere with orderly trading, delay settlement or cause market disruptions. A Fund’s Underlying Index may include companies that are subject to economic or trade restrictions (but not investment restrictions) imposed by the U.S. or other governments. So long as these restrictions do not include restrictions on investments, a Fund is generally expected to invest in such companies, consistent with its objective to track the performance of its Underlying Index. Other economic challenges for China include indebtedness, weak consumer demand, and an aging population. China continues to face pressure from its trading partners over its exporting of its excess industrial capacity and overall approach to economic management.
Expropriation Risk. The Chinese government maintains a major role in economic policymaking, and investing in China involves risk of loss due to expropriation, nationalization, confiscation of assets and property or the imposition of restrictions on foreign investments and on repatriation of capital invested.
Security Risk. China has strained international relations with Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, India, and other neighbors due to territorial disputes, historical animosities, defense concerns and other security concerns. China has a complex territorial dispute regarding the sovereignty of Taiwan and has pledged to take control of Taiwan, including by force if necessary. The Chinese military has conducted military drills around Taiwan in connection with China’s claim to Taiwan. Taiwan-based companies and individuals are significant investors in China. Continuing hostility between China and Taiwan may have an adverse impact on their economies and markets and on the value of a Fund’s investments in China, Taiwan or the region, may cause a suspension in a Fund’s ability to trade in certain securities or other assets, or may otherwise make such investments impracticable or impossible. Frictions between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea pose a risk of escalation potentially leading to military conflict.
Additionally, China is alleged to have participated in state-sponsored cyberattacks against foreign companies and foreign governments. Actual and threatened responses to such activity and strained international relations, including purchasing restrictions, sanctions, export controls, tariffs or cyberattacks on the Chinese government or Chinese companies, may impact China’s economy and Chinese issuers in which a Fund invests. It may be impossible or impracticable for a Fund to hold, transact in or value securities of sanctioned companies, and there may be a significant decrease in the valuation of such securities. Relations between China’s Han ethnic majority and other ethnic
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groups in China, including Tibetans and Uighurs, are also strained and have been marked, historically, by protests and violence. These situations may cause uncertainty in the Chinese markets and may adversely affect the Chinese economy. In addition, conflict on the Korean Peninsula could adversely affect the Chinese economy. Such risks, among others, may adversely affect the value of a Fund’s investments.
Chinese Equity Markets. There are several types of Chinese equity securities, including H-shares, A-shares, B-shares, Red-Chips and/or P-Chips. The issuance of B-shares and H-shares by Chinese companies and the ability to obtain a back-door listing through Red-Chips or P-Chips is still regarded by the Chinese authorities as an experiment in economic reform. Back-door listing is a means by which a mainland Chinese company issues Red-Chips or P-Chips to obtain quick access to international listing and international capital. These share mechanisms are subject to the political and economic policies in China. In the Chinese securities markets, a small number of issuers may represent a large portion of the entire market. The Chinese securities markets also may be subject to more frequent trading halts, low trading volume and price volatility.
Hong Kong Political Risk. Hong Kong reverted to Chinese sovereignty on July 1, 1997 as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) under the principle of one country, two systems. Although China is obligated by treaty to maintain the current capitalist economic and social system of Hong Kong through June 30, 2047, the continuation of economic and social freedoms enjoyed in Hong Kong is dependent on the government of China. Hong Kong has experienced protests and unrest related to China’s control, and tensions have increased between China and Hong Kong. Due to the interconnected nature of the Hong Kong and Chinese economies, instability in Hong Kong may adversely affect the Hong Kong and Chinese markets. Other countries’ perceptions of the degree of convergence between China and Hong Kong, such as with respect to trade, and resulting actions also may impact both economies. In addition, the Hong Kong dollar trades at a fixed exchange rate in relation to (or is pegged to) the U.S. dollar, which has contributed to the growth and stability of the Hong Kong economy. However, it is uncertain how long the currency peg will continue or what effect the establishment of an alternative exchange rate system would have on Hong Kong’s economy. Such a change could result in a decline in a Fund’s NAV because the NAV is denominated in U.S. dollars.
Limited Information, Legal Remedies and VIE Structure Risk. Chinese companies, including Chinese companies that are listed on U.S. exchanges, are not subject to the same degree of regulatory requirements, accounting standards or auditor oversight as companies in more developed countries. As a result, information about the Chinese securities in which the Fund invests may be less reliable or complete. Chinese companies with securities listed on U.S. exchanges may be delisted if they do not meet U.S. accounting standards and auditor oversight requirements, or for other reasons, which would significantly decrease the liquidity and value of the securities. There may be significant obstacles to obtaining information necessary for investigations into or litigation against Chinese companies, and shareholders may have limited legal remedies. The Funds do not select investments based on investor protection considerations.
Many Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges use variable interest entities or VIEs in their structure as a result of foreign ownership restrictions. In a VIE structure, a Chinese operating company establishes a shell company in another jurisdiction to issue stock to public shareholders. When a VIE structure is used by a Chinese company to list its stock in the U.S., instead of owning the equity securities of the Chinese company, the U.S.-listed shell company directly or indirectly enters into contracts with the Chinese operating company under Chinese law. These contracts provide the U.S.-listed shell company with only economic exposure to the Chinese company and do not represent equity ownership in the operating company.
While VIEs are a longstanding practice that is well known to Chinese officials and regulators, they have not been formally recognized under Chinese law. The Chinese government has provided guidance to and placed restrictions on Chinese-based companies raising capital offshore, including through VIEs. In 2023, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) released new rules that permit the use of VIE structures, provided they abide by Chinese laws and register with the CSRC. The rules, however, may cause Chinese companies to undergo greater scrutiny and add costs to VIE structures. Intervention, rulemaking or guidance by the Chinese government with respect to VIE structures or the non-enforcement of VIE-related contractual rights could significantly affect the operating company’s business in China, the enforceability of the U.S.-listed shell company’s contractual arrangements with the Chinese company and the value of the U.S.-listed stock. Further, the VIE contractual arrangement would likely be subject to Chinese law and jurisdiction, and remedies available to the U.S.-listed shell company are uncertain and could be ineffective. Any change in the operations of entities in a VIE structure, the status of VIE contractual arrangements or the legal or regulatory environment in China, generally or with respect to specific industries, could result in significant, and possibly permanent and/or total, losses to a Fund.
Risk of Investing in the China Bond Market. A Fund’s investment in the China Interbank Bond Market occurs through the Bond Connect trading channel, which allows eligible foreign investors to trade electronically between the mainland China and Hong Kong markets. Bonds traded through Bond Connect are settled and custodied through a link between CMU, as an offshore custody agent, and China Central Depository & Clearing (CCDC) and Shanghai Clearing House (SCH), as onshore custodians and clearing institutions in the PRC. All bonds traded by eligible foreign investors through Bond Connect are registered in the name of CMU, which holds such bonds as a nominee owner. A Fund is thus exposed to custody risks with respect to CMU. In addition, the relevant filings, registration with the People’s Bank of China, and account opening must be carried out by third parties, including CMU, CCDC, and SCH. A Fund is thus subject to the risks of default, errors and omissions by such third parties and may have limited remedies or no legal recourse at all to cure any defaults, errors and omissions.
The precise nature and rights of a Fund as the beneficial owner of bonds traded in the China Interbank Bond Market through CMU as nominee are relatively new and untested areas of PRC law. The definition of, and distinction between, legal ownership and beneficial ownership under PRC law differs from that in the U.S. and other developed market jurisdictions, and there have been few cases involving a
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nominee account structure in the PRC courts. As a result, the rights of beneficial owners are uncertain. The exact nature of a Fund’s remedies and methods of enforcement of its rights and interests under PRC law are also uncertain.
Market volatility and potential lack of liquidity due to low trading volume of certain bonds in the China Interbank Bond Market may result in the prices of certain bonds fluctuating significantly. A Fund that invests in the China Interbank Bond Market is therefore subject to liquidity and volatility risks. The bid-ask spreads of the prices of securities may be large, and a Fund may therefore incur significant costs and may suffer losses when selling such investments. Bonds traded in the China Interbank Bond Market may be difficult or impossible to sell on a timely basis or at all, which may impact a Fund’s ability to acquire or dispose of such securities at their expected prices.
Investing in the China Interbank Bond Market through Bond Connect is also subject to regulatory risks. The relevant laws and regulations are subject to change, which may have retrospective effect. There can be no assurance that Bond Connect or its features or systems will not be materially altered, suspended, discontinued or abolished. Furthermore, the securities regulation regimes and legal systems of the PRC and Hong Kong differ significantly, and issues may arise based on these differences. If the relevant authorities were to suspend account opening or trading on the China Interbank Bond Market, a Fund’s ability to invest in that market would be adversely affected, limited, or curtailed altogether. In such event, the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective would be negatively affected and, after exhausting other trading alternatives, the Fund may suffer substantial losses. Further, if Bond Connect is not operating, a Fund may not be able to acquire or dispose of bonds in a timely manner, which could adversely affect its performance.
There is no assurance that Bond Connect trading platforms and operational systems will function as expected or will continue to be adapted to changes and developments in the market. If a relevant system does not function as expected, trading through Bond Connect may be disrupted, and a Fund’s ability to pursue its investment strategy may therefore be adversely affected. In addition, trading through Bond Connect involves the risk of delays inherent in order placing and settlement systems.
Bond Connect trades are settled in Chinese currency, the renminbi (RMB). This means that a Fund is exposed to currency risk, and it cannot be guaranteed that investors will have timely access to a reliable supply of RMB. The RMB consists of an onshore RMB (CNY) and an offshore RMB (CNH). The CNY is the official currency of the PRC and is the currency of denomination for all financial transactions between individuals, the state and corporations in the PRC. The CNH market is traded officially and regulated jointly by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the PBOC. Because CNY and CNH are traded in different and separate markets, they can be subject to different liquidity constraints and market forces, and their valuations can vary. Any RMB-denominated bonds included in a Fund’s Underlying Index use CNY as the base currency. As a result, to the extent that a Fund holds RMB-denominated instruments in CNH, it could be subject to tracking error and transaction costs associated with converting from CNH to CNY (and vice versa).
Under prevailing tax regulations, a 10% withholding tax is imposed on PRC-sourced dividends and interest from non-government bonds paid to a Fund unless the rate is reduced under an applicable tax treaty. Value added tax (VAT) is levied on certain income derived by a Fund, including interest income from non-government bonds and trading gains, unless specifically exempted by the PRC tax authorities. VAT exemptions currently apply to debt securities traded in the China Interbank Bond Market. On November 22, 2018, the PRC’s Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation jointly issued Circular 108 providing foreign institutional investors with a temporary exemption from withholding income tax and VAT with respect to interest income derived from non-government bonds in the domestic bond market for the period from November 7, 2018 to November 6, 2021. On November 26, 2021, the PRC's Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation jointly issued Circular 34 to extend the tax exemption period provided in Circular 108 to December 31, 2025. Circular 108 is silent on the PRC tax treatment with respect to non-government bond interest derived prior to November 7, 2018. There is a risk the PRC tax authorities may withdraw the temporary tax exemptions and seek to collect withholding income tax and VAT on interest income from non-government bonds to a Fund without prior notice. If the tax exemptions are withdrawn, any taxes arising from or to a Fund may be directly borne by, or indirectly passed on to, the Fund, which may substantially impact its NAV. As with any NAV adjustment, investors may be advantaged or disadvantaged depending on when the investors purchased or sold shares of the Fund. Any changes in PRC tax law, future clarifications thereof, and/or subsequent retroactive enforcement by the PRC tax authorities may result in a loss that could be material to a Fund. BFA will keep the provisioning policy for tax liability under review and may, in its discretion from time to time, make a provision for potential tax liabilities if in its opinion such provision is warranted or as further publicly clarified by the PRC.
Risk of Investing in Developed Countries. Investment in developed country issuers will subject a Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, economic and other risks associated with developed countries. Developed countries generally tend to rely on services sectors (e.g., the financial services sector) as the primary means of economic growth. A prolonged slowdown in one or more services sectors is likely to have a negative impact on economies of certain developed countries, although economies of individual developed countries can be impacted by slowdowns in other sectors. In the past, certain developed countries have been targets of terrorism, and some geographic areas in which a Fund invests have experienced strained international relations due to territorial disputes, historical animosities, defense concerns and other security concerns. These situations may cause uncertainty in the financial markets in these countries or geographic areas and may adversely affect the performance of the issuers to which a Fund has exposure. Heavy regulation of certain markets, including labor and product markets, may have an adverse effect on certain issuers. Such regulations may negatively affect economic growth or cause prolonged periods of recession. Many developed countries are heavily indebted and face rising healthcare and retirement expenses. In addition, price fluctuations of certain commodities and regulations impacting the import of commodities may negatively affect developed country economies.
Risk of Investing in Emerging Markets. Investments in emerging market issuers may be subject to a greater risk of loss than investments in issuers located or operating in more developed markets. This is due to, among other things, the potential for greater market volatility,
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lower trading volume, higher levels of inflation, social, political or economic instability, greater risk of a market shutdown and more governmental limitations on foreign investments in emerging market countries than are typically found in more developed markets.
Some emerging market countries may experience economic instability, including instability resulting from substantial rates of inflation or significant devaluations of their currency, or economic recessions, which would have a negative effect on the economies and financial markets of their economies. Some of these countries may impose restrictions on the exchange or export of currency or adverse currency exchange rates, and there may be a lack of available currency hedging instruments.
Disparities of wealth, the pace and success of democratization and ethnic, religious and racial disaffection, among other factors, may exacerbate unrest or violence in certain countries. Unanticipated or sudden political or social developments may result in sudden and significant investment losses.
Companies in many emerging markets are not subject to the same degree of regulatory requirements, accounting standards or auditor oversight as companies in more developed countries, and as a result, information about the securities in which a Fund invests may be less reliable or complete. Moreover, emerging markets often have less reliable securities valuations and greater risks associated with the custody of securities than developed markets. There may be significant obstacles to obtaining information necessary for investigations into or litigation against companies, and shareholders may have limited legal remedies. A Fund’s investments are not selected based on investor protection considerations.
In addition, emerging markets often have greater risk of capital controls through such measures as taxes or interest rate control than developed markets. Certain emerging market countries may also lack the infrastructure necessary to attract large amounts of foreign trade and investment. Chronic structural public sector deficits in some countries may adversely impact a Fund’s investments.
Local securities markets in emerging market countries may trade a small number of securities and may be unable to respond effectively to changes in trading volume, potentially making prompt liquidation of holdings difficult or impossible at times. Settlement procedures in emerging market countries are frequently less developed and reliable than those in the U.S. (and other developed countries). In addition, significant delays may occur in certain markets in registering the transfer of securities. Settlement or registration problems may make it more difficult for a Fund to value its portfolio securities and could have an adverse effect on a Fund in seeking to achieve its investment objective.
There could be additional impacts on the value of a Fund as a result of sustainability risks, in particular those caused by environmental changes, social issues and governance risk. Additionally, disclosures or third-party data coverage associated with sustainability risks is generally less available or transparent in these markets.
Investments in emerging market countries may be subject to loss due to expropriation, nationalization, confiscation of assets and property or the imposition of restrictions on foreign investments and on repatriation of capital invested in such countries.
Risk of Investing in Russia. Investing in Russian securities involves significant risks, in addition to those described under Risk of Investing in Emerging Markets and Non-U.S. Securities Risk, that are not typically associated with investing in U.S. securities, including:
The risk of delays in settling portfolio transactions and the risk of loss arising out of the system of share registration and custody used in Russia;
Risks in connection with the maintenance of a Fund’s portfolio securities and cash with foreign sub-custodians and securities depositories, including the risk that appropriate sub-custody arrangements will not be available to a Fund;
The risk that a Fund’s ownership rights in portfolio securities could be lost through fraud or negligence because ownership in shares of Russian companies is recorded by the companies themselves and by registrars, rather than by a central registration system;
The risk that a Fund may not be able to pursue claims on behalf of its shareholders because of the system of share registration and custody, and because Russian banking institutions and registrars are not guaranteed by the Russian government; and
The risk that various responses by other nation-states to alleged Russian cyber activity will impact Russia’s economy and Russian issuers of securities in which a Fund invests.
Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The extent and duration of the military action, resulting sanctions and resulting future market disruptions, including declines in its stock markets and the value of the ruble against the U.S. dollar, are impossible to predict, but could be significant. Disruptions caused by Russian military action or other actions (including cyberattacks and espionage) or resulting actual and threatened responses to such activity, including purchasing and financing restrictions, boycotts or changes in consumer or purchaser preferences, sanctions, import and export restrictions, tariffs or cyberattacks on the Russian government, Russian companies or Russian individuals, including politicians, may impact Russia’s economy, Russian issuers of securities in which a Fund invests, or the economies of Europe as a whole. Actual and threatened responses to Russian military action may also impact the markets for certain Russian commodities, such as oil and natural gas, as well as other sectors of the Russian economy, and are likely to have collateral impacts on such sectors across Europe and globally.
Russia Sanctions. Governments, including the U.S., the E.U., the U.K., and many other countries (collectively, the Sanctioning Bodies) have imposed economic sanctions on certain Russian individuals, including politicians, and Russian corporate and banking entities, including banning Russia from global payments systems that facilitate cross-border payments. In an effort to curtail Russia’s ability to finance its war effort, the Sanctioning Bodies continue to elevate these measures and may, going forward, institute broader sanctions on Russia. These
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sanctions, or even the threat of further sanctions, may result in the decline of the value and liquidity of Russian securities, a weakening of the ruble or other adverse consequences to the Russian economy. These sanctions could also result in the immediate freeze of Russian securities and/or funds invested in prohibited assets, impairing the ability of a Fund to buy, sell, receive or deliver those securities and/or assets.
The sanctions against certain Russian issuers include broad asset freezes and prohibitions on transacting or otherwise dealing in select issuances of debt or equity of such issuers, among others. Compliance with each of these sanctions measures has impaired, and may continue to impair, the ability of a Fund to buy, sell, hold, receive or deliver the affected securities or other securities of such issuers. A Fund may also be legally required to block (i.e., freeze) assets in a blocked account and report the accompanying exposure to Sanctioning Bodies.
Sanctions have resulted in Russia taking counter measures or retaliatory actions, which has impaired the value and liquidity of Russian securities. These retaliatory measures include the immediate freeze of Russian assets held by a Fund. Due to the freeze of these assets, including depositary receipts, a Fund may need to liquidate non-restricted assets in order to satisfy any Fund redemption orders. The liquidation of Fund assets during this time may also result in the Fund receiving substantially lower prices for its securities. Russia may implement additional retaliatory measures, which may further impair the value and liquidity of Russian securities and the ability of a Fund to receive dividend payments. Russia has issued a number of countersanctions, some of which restrict the distribution of profits by limited liability companies (e.g., dividends), and prohibits Russian persons from entering into transactions with designated persons from unfriendly states as well as the export of raw materials or other products from Russia to certain sanctioned persons. Russian companies may be unable to pay dividends and, if they pay dividends, a Fund may be unable to receive them.
These sanctions, the decision by Russia to suspend trading on the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) and prohibit non-resident investors from executing security sales, and other events have led index providers to remove Russian securities from indexes. Each Fund is currently restricted from trading in Russian securities, including those in its portfolio (if any), and the Underlying Indexes have removed Russian securities (if any). This disparity will also lead to increased tracking error. The inability of a Fund to trade in Russian securities may adversely affect the Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective. It is unknown when, or if, sanctions may be lifted or a Fund’s ability to trade in Russian securities will resume.
Risk of Investing in Saudi Arabia. Investing in Saudi Arabian issuers involves legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks that are specific to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is highly reliant on income from the sale of petroleum and trade with other countries involved in the sale of petroleum, and its economy is therefore vulnerable to changes in foreign currency values and the petroleum market. A sustained decrease in petroleum prices could have a negative impact on all aspects of the economy. In addition, Saudi Arabia’s economy relies heavily on cheap, foreign labor, and changes in the availability of this labor supply could have an adverse effect on the economy.
Investments in the securities of Saudi Arabian issuers involve risks not typically associated with investments in securities of issuers in more developed countries, which may negatively affect the value of a Fund’s investments. Such heightened risks may include, among others, the expropriation and/or nationalization of assets, restrictions on and government intervention in international trade, confiscatory taxation, political instability, including authoritarian and/or military involvement in governmental decision-making, armed conflict, crime and instability as a result of religious, ethnic and/or socioeconomic unrest. The government of Saudi Arabia exercises substantial influence over many aspects of the private sector, and its actions could significantly impact the value of Saudi Arabian securities. Although some economic reforms (e.g., privatization) are underway, restrictions on foreign ownership persist, and the government has an ownership stake in many key industries. Saudi Arabia has experienced strained relations with economic partners worldwide, including other countries in the Middle East, due to geopolitical events. Economic sanctions (or the threat of them) on Saudi Arabian individuals or Saudi Arabian corporate entities may have an adverse impact on the Saudi Arabian economy and securities.
The ability of foreign investors to invest in the securities of Saudi Arabian issuers could be restricted by the Saudi Arabian government at any time, and unforeseen risks could materialize with respect to foreign ownership of such securities. In addition, the Saudi Arabian government places investment limitations on the ownership of Saudi Arabian issuers by foreign investors. Such limits may prevent a Fund from investing in accordance with its strategy and result in tracking error for a Fund that tracks an index.
Saudi Arabia Broker Risk. There are a number of ways to conduct transactions in equity securities in the Saudi Arabian market. A Fund generally expects to transact in a manner so that it is not limited by Saudi Arabian regulations to a single broker. However, there may be a limited number of brokers who can provide services to a Fund, which may have an adverse impact on the prices, quantity or timing of Fund transactions. A limited number of brokers may impact a Fund’s ability to achieve best execution on transactions. In addition, a Fund may be more susceptible to credit loss or trading disruptions in the event of a default or business disruption among the available brokers. If a Fund’s use of a broker is disrupted, there could be an adverse impact on the Fund’s operations and, if applicable, its ability to track the Underlying Index, and the Fund’s shares could trade at a premium or discount to NAV. A Fund may also incur losses due to the acts or omissions of its brokers in the execution or settlement of transactions or in the transfer of funds or securities.
Risk of Investing in the U.S. Investing in U.S. issuers involves legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks that are specific to the U.S. A decrease in imports or exports, changes in trade regulations, inflation, an economic recession, financial system stress, or political turmoil, among other risks, may have an adverse effect on the U.S. economy and the securities listed on U.S. exchanges. The U.S. is also subject to the risk of natural disasters, such as droughts, earthquakes, fires and floods. U.S. security risks include acts of terrorism, internal unrest and a deterioration in relations between the U.S. and certain countries. Any of these may adversely affect the U.S. economy, financial markets or issuers.
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Governmental agencies project that the U.S. will maintain elevated public debt levels for the foreseeable future. Although elevated debt levels do not necessarily indicate or cause economic problems, the costs of servicing such debt may constrain future economic growth. Circumstances could arise that could prevent the timely payment of interest or principal on U.S. government debt, such as reaching the legislative debt ceiling. Such non-payment would result in substantial negative consequences for the U.S. economy and the global financial system.
Securities Lending Risk. A Fund may engage in securities lending. Securities lending involves the risk that a Fund may lose money because the borrower of the loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. A Fund could also lose money in the event of a decline in the value of collateral provided for loaned securities or a decline in the value of any investments made with cash collateral. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for a Fund.
Small Fund Risk. When a Fund’s size is small, the Fund may experience low trading volume and wide bid/ask spreads. A Fund’s performance near its inception date may not represent how the Fund will perform in the future or with a larger asset base. A Fund that holds fixed-income securities may buy smaller-sized bonds known as odd lots, which may be purchased or sold at a discount to similar round lot bonds. The prices used by the Fund may differ from the value that would be realized if these securities were sold, and the impact of such pricing differences on a Fund’s performance may be heightened when the Fund’s size is small. In addition, a Fund may face the risk of being delisted if it does not meet certain requirements set by the listing exchange. If a Fund were required to delist from the listing exchange, the Fund’s value may rapidly decline and its performance may be negatively impacted. Any resulting liquidation of a Fund could lead to elevated transaction costs for the Fund and negative tax consequences for its shareholders.
Sovereign and Quasi-Sovereign Obligations Risk. Sovereign obligations may differ from other securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics and may provide relatively lower returns than those of other securities. Quasi-sovereign obligations are typically less liquid and less standardized than sovereign obligations. Bonds issued by government agencies or instrumentalities generally are backed only by the issuing entity’s creditworthiness and reputation and may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the government. Changes to a government’s financial condition or credit rating may cause a decline in the value of its sovereign obligations as well as quasi-sovereign obligations issued by the government’s agencies or instrumentalities. The governmental entity that controls the repayment of such debt may be unable or unwilling to repay principal or pay interest when due. A governmental entity may be affected by, among other factors, its cash flow situation, the extent of its foreign reserves, the availability of sufficient foreign exchange when a payment is due, the relative size of the debt service burden to the economy as a whole, the government’s policy toward multilateral financial organizations, and other political or economic constraints.
In addition, governmental entities may depend on expected disbursements from other governments, multilateral agencies and other parties to reduce principal and interest arrearages on their debt. Such commitments of financial assistance may be conditioned on the implementation of economic reforms, economic performance and/or the timely service of debt. The failure to implement such reforms, achieve certain economic performance or repay principal or interest when due may result in the cancellation of such third parties’ commitments to lend funds to the governmental entity, which may further impair its ability or willingness to timely service its debt.
Certain countries have experienced downgrades of, or have defaulted on, their sovereign debt, and they or other countries may default or face the risk of downgrades in the future. Any restructuring of sovereign debt will likely have a significant adverse effect on the debt’s value. In the event of a default on sovereign or quasi-sovereign debt, a Fund may have limited legal recourse against the issuer and/or guarantor and may not be able to access collateral securing the debt.
Sustainability Risk. Sustainability risk is an inclusive term to designate investment risk (probability or uncertainty of occurrence of material losses relative to the expected return of an investment) that relates to environmental, social or governance issues.
Sustainability risk around environmental issues includes, but is not limited to, climate risk, both physical and transition risk. Physical risk arises from the physical effects of climate change, acute or chronic. For example, frequent and severe climate-related events can impact products and services and supply chains. Transition risk – whether policy, technology, market or reputation risk – arises from the adjustment to a low-carbon economy in order to mitigate climate change. Risks related to social issues can include, but are not limited to, labor rights and community relations. Governance-related risks can include but are not limited to risks around board independence, ownership and control, and audit and tax management. These risks can impact an issuer’s operational effectiveness and resilience as well as its public perception and reputation, affecting its profitability and, in turn, its capital growth and ultimately impacting the value of holdings in a Fund.
These are only examples of sustainability risk factors, and sustainability risk factors do not solely determine the risk profile of the investment. The relevance, severity, materiality and time horizon of sustainability risk factors and other risks can differ significantly across Funds.
Sustainability risk can manifest itself through different existing risk types including, but not limited to, market, liquidity, concentration, credit and asset-liability mismatch risk. For example, a Fund may invest in the securities of an issuer that could face potentially reduced revenues or increased expenditures from physical climate risk (e.g., decreased production capacity due to supply chain perturbations, lower sales due to demand shocks or higher operating or capital costs) or transition risk (e.g., decreased demand for carbon-intensive products and services or increased production costs due to changing input prices). As a result, sustainability risk factors may have a material impact on an investment, may increase volatility, may affect liquidity and may have an adverse impact on the value of shares of a Fund.
The impact of those risks may be higher for Funds with particular sectoral or geographic concentrations. For example, Funds with geographic concentration in locations susceptible to adverse weather conditions where the value of the investments in the Funds may be more
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susceptible to adverse physical climate events, or Funds with specific sectoral concentrations, such as investing in industries or issuers with high carbon intensity or high switching costs associated with the transition to low carbon alternatives, may be more impacted by climate transition risks.
All or a combination of these factors may have an unpredictable impact on a Fund’s investments. Under normal market conditions, such events could have a material impact on the value of shares of a Fund.
Assessments of sustainability risk are specific to the asset class and to a fund’s investment objective. Different asset classes require different data and tools to apply heightened scrutiny, assess materiality, and make meaningful differentiation among issuers and assets. To the extent consistent with a Fund’s investment objective, risks are considered and risk managed concurrently, by prioritizing in part based on materiality and on the Fund’s objective.
The impacts of sustainability risk are likely to develop over time, and new sustainability risks may be identified as further data and information regarding sustainability factors and impacts become available.
Technology Companies Risk. Technology companies and companies that rely heavily on technological advances may have limited product lines, markets, financial resources and personnel. These companies may face rapid product obsolescence as well as unexpected risks and costs related to new product introduction and technological developments, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. Technology companies may be adversely affected by disruptions to supply chains and distribution networks as well as issues at third-party partners. They are heavily dependent on patent and other intellectual property rights, and the loss or impairment of these rights may adversely affect their profitability. Technology companies may face increased government scrutiny and may be subject to adverse government or legal action. These companies also may be adversely affected by, among other things, actual or perceived security vulnerabilities or other defects in their products and services, which may result in lawsuits, government enforcement actions and other remediation costs.
Tracking Error Risk. A Fund that tracks an index is subject to the risk of tracking error, which is the divergence of a Fund’s performance from that of the Underlying Index. Tracking error may occur due to a number of factors, including differences between the securities and other assets held in a Fund’s portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index; differences in the timing and methodologies used to value securities and other assets; transaction costs and other expenses incurred by a Fund that the Underlying Index does not incur; a Fund’s holding of uninvested cash; differences in the timing of the accrual or the valuation of dividends or interest received by a Fund or distributions paid to Fund shareholders; tax gains or losses; differences between the amount and/or timing of withholding taxes on dividends reflected in the Underlying Index from a Fund’s obligation, if any, for foreign withholding taxes; the requirements for a Fund to maintain pass-through tax treatment; portfolio transactions carried out to minimize the distribution of capital gains to shareholders; the acceptance of custom baskets; changes to the Underlying Index, such as during a rebalancing or reconstitution; and impacts to a Fund of complying with certain regulatory requirements or limits. A Fund that tracks an index composed of a large number of securities or other assets may experience greater tracking error than a Fund that tracks a more narrow index. Tracking error risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions.
U.S. Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk. MBS may be issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or one of its agencies or sponsored entities. While securities guaranteed by Ginnie Mae are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Debt that is not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government has more credit risk than debt that is supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. There can be no assurance that the U.S. government will provide financial support to its agencies or sponsored entities, even if it has done so in the past. If a U.S. government agency or sponsored entity that is the issuer of securities in which a Fund invests is unable to meet its obligations or ceases to exist and no plan is made for the repayment of securities, the performance of the Fund will be adversely affected.
MBS represent interests in pools of mortgages and are subject to the risk of default on the underlying mortgage loans, particularly during periods of economic downturn. MBS are also subject to prepayment and extension risk. Prepayment risk is the risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, a debt issuer may repay principal prior to the security’s maturity. As a result, a Fund may have to reinvest in securities with a lower yield or a higher risk of default, which could adversely impact the Fund’s income or return.
MBS are also subject to extension risk, which is the risk that when interest rates rise, certain MBS may be paid off substantially more slowly than originally anticipated, and the value of those securities may fall sharply, resulting in a decline in income and potentially in the value of the investment. Because of prepayment and extension risks, MBS react differently than other bonds to changes in interest rates. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain MBS.
A Fund may seek to obtain exposure to the fixed-rate portion of U.S. agency mortgage pass-through securities primarily through to-be-announced transactions, or TBAs. TBAs involve forward or delayed settlement in which the buyer does not know the actual MBS to be delivered until 48 hours before the settlement date. Losses may arise in TBAs due to changes in the value of the securities or if the counterparty does not perform under the terms of the agreement. If the TBA counterparty files for bankruptcy or becomes insolvent, a Fund’s right to repurchase or sell the securities involved in the transaction may be limited and the Fund may experience losses.
A Fund may invest cash pending settlement of TBA transactions in money market instruments, repurchase agreements, or other high-quality, liquid short-term instruments, including money market funds advised by BFA. A Fund will pay its pro rata share of fees and expenses of any money market fund that it may invest in, in addition to the Fund’s own fees and expenses.
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U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk. U.S. Treasury obligations may differ from other securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics. Direct obligations of the U.S. Treasury have historically involved little risk of loss of principal if held to maturity, but the market value of such securities is not guaranteed and may fluctuate. Although U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, circumstances (e.g., reaching the legislative debt ceiling) could arise that could prevent the timely payment of interest or principal. An actual or threatened failure of the U.S. government to pay its obligations would result in losses to a Fund holding such securities as well as substantial negative consequences for the U.S. economy and the global financial system.
Changes in the U.S. government’s financial condition or credit rating may cause the value of U.S. Treasury obligations to decline. Because U.S. government debt obligations are often used as a benchmark for other borrowing arrangements, a downgrade to the credit rating of the U.S. could result in higher interest rates for a range of borrowers, cause disruptions in the international bond markets and have a substantial adverse effect on the U.S. and global economies.
A high national debt level may increase market pressures to meet government funding needs, which may drive debt costs higher and lead the government to issue additional debt, thereby increasing refinancing risk. A high national debt also raises concerns that the U.S. government will not be able to make principal or interest payments when they are due. If market participants determine that U.S. sovereign debt levels are unsustainable, the value of the U.S. dollar could decline, thus increasing inflationary pressures and constraining the U.S. government’s ability to implement effective countercyclical fiscal policy in economic downturns.
Utility Companies Risk. Utility infrastructure often requires significant capital expenditures, and utility companies may face high interest costs and difficulty in raising capital. Technological innovations may render existing equipment or products obsolete, and companies may experience difficulty in obtaining regulatory approval of new technologies. Utility operations may be disrupted by events that target or damage utility infrastructure, including natural disasters and cyber or other attacks. Utilities companies may be adversely affected by volatility in the price of certain energy resources.
Utility companies face risks from government regulation and oversight as well as from deregulation (if applicable). Regulators may monitor and control companies’ revenues and costs. There is no assurance that regulators will grant rate increases or that rate levels will be adequate to permit the payment of stock dividends or bond coupon payments. In addition, there may be regulatory restrictions on the ability of utility companies to enter new lines of business and geographic areas. Utility companies incur costs in complying with environmental and other regulations and may face significant challenges in obtaining regulatory approval for certain projects, such as nuclear power plants. Utility companies are at risk of liability for environmental harm and other types of damages. Energy conservation, climate change and other sustainability policies also may impact utility companies. Deregulation may subject companies to greater competition, may adversely affect their profitability and may lead them to engage in riskier ventures.
Valuation Risk. The price that a Fund could receive upon the sale (or other disposition) of a security or other asset may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security or other asset, particularly for securities or other assets that trade in low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology. The price received by a Fund also may differ from the value used by the Underlying Index (if applicable). Because non-U.S. exchanges or markets may be open on days or during time periods when a Fund does not price its shares, the value of the securities or other assets in a Fund’s portfolio may change on days or during time periods when investors are not able to purchase or sell Fund shares.
In addition, for purposes of calculating a Fund’s NAV, the value of assets denominated in non-U.S. currencies (if any) is translated into U.S. dollars at the prevailing market rates. For a Fund that tracks an Underlying Index, this may result in a difference between the prices used to calculate the Fund’s NAV and the prices used by the Underlying Index, which, in turn, could result in a difference between the Fund’s performance and the performance of the Underlying Index. Authorized Participants that create or redeem Fund shares on days when a Fund is holding fair-valued securities or other assets may receive fewer or more shares, or lower or higher redemption proceeds, than they would have received had the securities or other assets not been fair valued or been valued using a different methodology. The ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
Portfolio Holdings Information
A description of the policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Funds’ portfolio securities and other assets (as applicable) is available in the applicable Statement of Additional Information (SAI). Each Fund discloses its portfolio holdings daily at www.iShares.com. Fact sheets providing information about each Fund’s top holdings are posted on www.iShares.com when available and may be requested by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737).
Management of the Funds
Investment Adviser
As investment adviser, BFA has overall responsibility for the general management and administration of the Funds. BFA provides an investment program for the Funds and manages the investment of the Funds’ assets. In seeking to achieve the Funds’ respective investment objectives, BFA uses teams of portfolio managers, investment strategists and other investment specialists and may draw upon the trading, research and expertise of its affiliates. This team approach brings together many disciplines and leverages BFA’s extensive resources.
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BFA is a consolidated subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. (BlackRock) and is located at 400 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. As of March 31, 2026, BFA and its affiliates provided investment advisory services for assets of approximately $13.9 trillion.
From time to time, an employee of BlackRock may express views regarding a particular security or other instrument, asset class, company, industry, or market sector. Such views are the views of only that individual as of the time expressed. They do not necessarily represent the views of BlackRock or any other person within the BlackRock organization. Such views may change at any time based upon market or other conditions, and BlackRock has no responsibility to update such views. You should not rely on any such views as investment advice or as an indication of trading intent on behalf of a Fund.
Fees and Expenses
Pursuant to the Investment Advisory Agreement between BFA and the Trust (entered into on behalf of the Funds), BFA is responsible for substantially all expenses of each Fund, except the management fees, interest expenses, taxes, expenses incurred with respect to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities and the execution of portfolio transactions, including brokerage commissions, distribution fees or expenses, and litigation expenses and any extraordinary expenses (as determined by a majority of the Trustees who are not interested persons of the Trust). Operating expenses paid by BFA under the Investment Advisory Agreement exclude Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any.
A discussion regarding the basis for the approval by the Trust's Board of Trustees (the Board) of the Investment Advisory Agreement with BFA is available in the Funds' Form N-CSR filed with the SEC for the period ended August 31(or, for the iShares Total USD Fixed Income Market ETF, in the Form N-CSR filed with the SEC for the period ended February 28, 2026 and for the iShares Broad USD Floating Rate Loan ETF, in the Form N-CSR that will be filed with the SEC for the period ending August 31, 2026) and in the applicable financial statements and additional information documents posted at www.iShares.com.
For its investment advisory services to each Fund, for the fiscal year ended February 28, 2026, BFA was paid a management fee from each Fund, as a percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets, net of any applicable waivers, at the annual rate set forth in the table below. If BFA has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees for a Fund, the contractual waiver may be terminated prior to its expiration date only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA. In addition, BFA may from time to time voluntarily waive and/or reimburse fees or expenses to reduce a Fund’s total annual fund operating expenses (excluding Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any). Any such voluntary waiver or reimbursement may be eliminated by BFA at any time.
Fund
Management Fee
iShares Broad USD Floating Rate Loan ETF
N/A1
iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF
0.05%2
iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF
0.06%
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF
0.03%3
iShares ESG Advanced Universal USD Bond ETF
0.12%4
iShares ESG Aware U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF
0.10%5
iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF
0.20%
iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF
0.20%
iShares Total USD Fixed Income Market ETF
0.08%6
1
As of February 28, 2026, the Fund had not commenced operations. BFA has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees in an amount equal to the Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any, attributable to investments by the Fund in other registered investment companies advised by BFA, or its affiliates, through June 28, 2030. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to June 28, 2030 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA.
2
BFA has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees in an amount equal to the Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any, attributable to investments by the Fund in other registered investment companies advised by BFA, or its affiliates, through February 28, 2031. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to February 28, 2031 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA.
3
BFA has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees in an amount equal to the Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any, attributable to investments by the Fund in other registered investment companies advised by BFA, or its affiliates, through June 30, 2027. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to June 30, 2027 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA.
4
BFA has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees in an amount equal to the Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any, attributable to investments by the Fund in other registered investment companies advised by BFA, or its affiliates, through June 30, 2030. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to June 30, 2030 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA.
5
BFA has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees in an amount equal to the Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any, attributable to investments by the Fund in other registered investment companies advised by BFA, or its affiliates, through June 30, 2029. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to June 30, 2029 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA.
6
BFA has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees in an amount equal to the Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any, attributable to investments by the Fund in other registered investment companies advised by BFA, or its affiliates, through June 28, 2030. The contractual waiver may be terminated prior to June 28, 2030 only upon written agreement of the Trust and BFA.
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Portfolio Managers
The Portfolio Managers for each Fund are responsible for various functions related to portfolio management, including, but not limited to, investing cash inflows, coordinating with members of their respective portfolio management teams to focus on certain asset classes, implementing investment strategy, researching and reviewing investment strategy and overseeing members of their respective teams who have more limited responsibilities.
Jonathan Graves, James Mauro and Marcus Tom are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Funds.
Jonathan Graves has been employed by BFA or its affiliates as a senior portfolio manager since 2003. He is a Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc.
James Mauro has been employed by BFA or its affiliates as a portfolio manager since 2011. He is a Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc.
Marcus Tom has been employed by BFA or its affiliates as a senior portfolio manager since 2000. He is a Director of BlackRock, Inc.
Each Fund’s SAI provides additional information about the Portfolio Managers’ compensation, other accounts managed by the Portfolio Managers and the Portfolio Managers’ ownership (if any) of shares of the Funds.
Administrator, Custodian and Transfer Agent
The administrator, custodian and transfer agent for each Fund is indicated in the table below.
Fund
The Bank of
New York
Mellon
Citibank, N.A.
JPMorgan
Chase Bank,
N.A.
State Street
Bank and
Trust Company
iShares Broad USD Floating Rate Loan ETF*
 
 
 
iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF*
 
 
 
iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF*
 
 
 
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF*
 
 
 
iShares ESG Advanced Universal USD Bond ETF*
 
 
 
iShares ESG Aware U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF*
 
 
 
iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF*
 
 
 
iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF*
 
 
 
iShares Total USD Fixed Income Market ETF*
 
 
 
*
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. serves as custodian for the Fund in connection with certain securities lending activities.
Conflicts of Interest
The investment activities of BFA and its affiliates (including BlackRock and its subsidiaries (collectively, the Affiliates)), and their respective directors, officers or employees, in managing their own accounts and other accounts, may present conflicts of interest that could disadvantage a Fund and its shareholders.
BFA and its Affiliates are involved worldwide with a broad spectrum of financial services and asset management activities and in the ordinary course of business may engage in activities in which their interests or the interests of other clients may conflict with those of a Fund. BFA and its Affiliates act, or may act, as an investor, research provider, investment manager, commodity pool operator, commodity trading advisor, financier, underwriter, adviser, trader, lender, index provider, agent and/or principal. BFA and its Affiliates may have other direct and indirect interests in securities, currencies, commodities, derivatives and other assets in which a Fund may directly or indirectly invest.
BFA and its Affiliates may engage in proprietary trading and advise accounts and other funds that have investment objectives similar to those of a Fund and/or that engage in and compete for transactions in the same or similar types of securities, currencies and other assets as are held by a Fund. This may include transactions in securities issued by other open-end and closed-end investment companies, including investment companies that are affiliated with the Fund and BFA, to the extent permitted under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act). The trading activities of BFA and its Affiliates are carried out without reference to positions held directly or indirectly by a Fund. These activities may result in BFA or an Affiliate having positions in assets that are senior or junior to, or that have interests different from or adverse to, the assets held by a Fund.
A Fund may invest in securities issued by, or engage in other transactions with, entities with which an Affiliate has significant debt or equity investments or other interests. A Fund may also invest in issuances (such as debt offerings or structured notes) for which an Affiliate is compensated for providing advisory, cash management or other services. A Fund also may invest in securities of, or engage in other transactions with, entities for which an Affiliate provides or may provide research coverage or other analysis.
An Affiliate may have business relationships with, and receive compensation from, distributors, consultants or others who recommend a Fund or who engage in transactions with or for a Fund.
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Neither BlackRock nor any Affiliate is under any obligation to share any investment opportunity, idea or strategy with a Fund. As a result, an Affiliate may compete with a Fund for appropriate investment opportunities. The results of a Fund’s investment activities, therefore, may differ from those of an Affiliate and of other accounts managed by an Affiliate. It is possible that a Fund could sustain losses during periods in which one or more Affiliates and other accounts achieve profits on their trading for proprietary or other accounts. The opposite result is also possible.
In addition, a Fund may enter into transactions in which BFA or an Affiliate or their directors, officers, employees or clients have an adverse interest. A Fund may be adversely impacted by the effects of transactions undertaken by BFA or an Affiliate or their directors, officers, employees or clients.
From time to time, BlackRock or its advisory clients (including other funds and accounts) may, subject to compliance with applicable law, purchase and hold shares of a Fund. The price, availability, liquidity, and (in some cases) expense ratio of a Fund may be impacted by purchases and sales of the Fund by BlackRock or its advisory clients.
A Fund’s activities may be limited because of regulatory restrictions applicable to BFA or an Affiliate or their policies designed to comply with such restrictions.
Under a securities lending program approved by the Board, the Funds have retained BTC, an Affiliate of BFA, to serve as their securities lending agent to the extent that they participate in the securities lending program. For these services, the securities lending agent will receive a fee from the participating Fund based on the returns earned on the Fund’s lending activities, including investment of the cash received as collateral for the loaned securities. In addition, one or more Affiliates may be among the entities to which a Fund may lend its portfolio securities under the securities lending program.
Under an ETF Services Agreement, certain Funds have retained BlackRock Investments, LLC (the Distributor or BRIL), an Affiliate of BFA, to perform certain order processing, Authorized Participant communications, and related services in connection with the issuance and redemption of Creation Units (ETF Services). BRIL has engaged Citibank, N.A. (Citibank) as a subcontractor to provide certain ETF Services. BRIL retains a portion of the standard transaction fee received from Authorized Participants on each creation or redemption order from the Authorized Participant for the ETF Services provided. BlackRock collaborated with, and received payment from, Citibank on the design and development of the ETF Services platform. Citibank has, and from time to time may develop, additional relationships with BlackRock or funds managed by BFA and its Affiliates.
BlackRock and its Affiliates may benefit from a Fund using a BlackRock index by creating increasing acceptance in the marketplace for such indexes. BlackRock and its Affiliates are not obligated to license an index to a Fund, and no Fund is under an obligation to use a BlackRock index. The terms of a Fund’s index licensing agreement with BlackRock or its Affiliates may not be as favorable as the terms offered to other licensees.
The activities of BFA and its Affiliates and their respective directors, officers or employees may give rise to other conflicts of interest that could disadvantage a Fund and its shareholders. BFA has adopted policies and procedures designed to address these potential conflicts of interest. Please see the SAI for further information.
Shareholder Information
Additional shareholder information, including how to buy and sell shares of the Funds, is available free of charge by calling toll-free 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) or visiting www.iShares.com.
Buying and Selling Shares
Transactions in shares of the Funds occur in the primary market and the secondary market. Primary market transactions, known as creations and redemptions, occur only between the Funds and Authorized Participants (i.e., financial institutions that are authorized to participate in such transactions), as described in the Creations and Redemptions section below.
Fund shares are listed on U.S. national securities exchanges, where they can be bought and sold throughout the trading day at market prices, like shares of other publicly traded companies. A Fund’s shares may also be available in other secondary markets, such as on non-U.S. exchanges and through funds or structured investment vehicles similar to depositary receipts. The Funds do not impose any minimum investment for Fund shares purchased on an exchange or otherwise in the secondary market.
Buying or selling Fund shares on an exchange or other secondary market generally involves two types of costs that are common in securities transactions. First, when buying or selling Fund shares through a broker, you may incur a brokerage commission and other charges. The commission is frequently a fixed amount; it may be a significant proportional cost if you are seeking to buy or sell small amounts of shares. Second, you may incur the cost of the spread, which is any difference between the bid price and the ask price for the shares. The spread varies over time based on a Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity. Generally, the spread is smaller if a Fund has high trading volume and market liquidity, and larger if a Fund has lower trading volume and market liquidity. The latter is often the case for newly launched or smaller funds. A Fund’s spread may also be impacted by the liquidity (or lack thereof) of the underlying securities or other assets held by the Fund, particularly for newly launched or smaller funds, or by instances of significant volatility of the underlying assets.
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The U.S. national securities exchanges that list Fund shares are open for trading Monday through Friday and are closed on weekends and the following holidays (or the days on which they are observed): New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
Investments in Investment Companies
Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act generally restricts investments by investment companies, including foreign and unregistered investment companies, in the securities of other investment companies. For example, a registered investment company (the Acquired Fund), such as the Funds, may not knowingly sell or otherwise dispose of any security issued by the Acquired Fund to any investment company (the Acquiring Fund) or any company or companies controlled by the Acquiring Fund if, immediately after such sale or disposition: (i) more than 3% of the total outstanding voting stock of the Acquired Fund is owned by the Acquiring Fund and any company or companies controlled by the Acquiring Fund, or (ii) more than 10% of the total outstanding voting stock of the Acquired Fund is owned by the Acquiring Fund and other investment companies and companies controlled by them.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, registered investment companies are permitted to invest in a Fund beyond the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1), subject to certain terms and conditions set forth in Rule 12d1-4 under the 1940 Act. To make such an investment in an Acquired Fund, a registered investment company must, among other things, enter into an agreement with the Trust. If an Acquired Fund invests significantly in other registered investment companies in reliance on Rule 12d1-4, an Acquiring Fund will not be permitted to rely on Rule 12d1-4 and invest in the Fund beyond the Section 12(d)(1) limits. Any investment company interested in purchasing shares of a Fund beyond the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1) should contact BFA.
Foreign investment companies are permitted to invest in a Fund only up to the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1), subject to any applicable SEC no-action relief.
Book Entry
Shares of the Funds are held in book-entry form, which means that no stock certificates are issued. The Depository Trust Company (DTC), which serves as the securities depository for shares of the Funds, or its nominee is the record owner of, and holds legal title to, all outstanding shares of the Funds.
Investors owning Fund shares are beneficial owners as shown on the records of DTC or its participants. DTC participants include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and other institutions that directly or indirectly maintain a custodial relationship with DTC. As a beneficial owner of Fund shares, you are not entitled to receive physical delivery of stock certificates or to have shares registered in your name, and you are not considered a registered owner of shares. Therefore, to exercise any right as an owner of Fund shares, you must rely upon the procedures of DTC and its participants. These procedures are the same as those that apply to any other securities held in book-entry or street name form.
Share Prices
The trading prices of a Fund’s shares in the secondary market generally differ from the Fund’s daily NAV and are affected by various factors, such as the supply of and demand for ETF shares and the securities or other assets held by a Fund as well as other market and economic conditions.
Determination of Net Asset Value
The NAV of a Fund normally is determined once daily Monday through Friday, on each day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open for trading. The NAV generally is determined as of the close of the NYSE’s regular trading hours, normally 4:00 p.m. Eastern time, based on prices at the time of closing.
Any Fund assets or liabilities that are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are translated into U.S. dollars at the prevailing market rates on the date of valuation as quoted by one or more data service providers.
The NAV of a Fund is calculated by dividing the value of the Fund’s net assets (i.e., the value of its total assets, including the value of any underlying fund shares in which the Fund invests, less total liabilities) by the total number of outstanding shares of the Fund, generally rounded to the nearest cent. The value of a Fund’s assets and liabilities is determined pursuant to BFA’s valuation policies and procedures. BFA has been designated by the Board as the valuation designee for each Fund pursuant to Rule 2a-5 under the Investment Company Act.
Equity securities and other equity instruments (except ETF options, equity index options or those that are customized) for which market quotations are readily available are valued at market value, which is generally determined using the last reported official closing price or, if a reported closing price is not available, the last traded price on the exchange or market on which the security or instrument is primarily traded at the time of valuation. Shares of underlying open-end funds (including money market funds) that are not traded on an exchange are valued at net asset value. Shares of underlying ETFs and closed-end funds that trade on exchanges are valued at their most recent market closing price.
Fixed-income securities and certain derivative instruments are valued using last available bid prices or current market quotations provided by dealers or prices (including evaluated prices) supplied by the Funds’ approved independent third-party pricing services, each in accordance with BFA’s valuation policies and procedures. Pricing services may use matrix pricing or valuation models that utilize certain inputs and
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assumptions to derive values. Pricing services generally value fixed-income securities assuming orderly transactions of an institutional round lot size, but a Fund may hold or transact in such securities in smaller odd lot sizes. Odd lots of securities in certain asset classes may trade at lower prices than institutional round lots, and the value ultimately realized when the securities are sold could differ from the prices used by a Fund. The amortized cost method of valuation may be used with respect to debt obligations with 60 days or less remaining to maturity unless BFA determines in good faith that such method does not represent fair value.
Generally, trading in certain instruments (e.g., non-U.S. securities, money market instruments, etc.) is substantially completed each day at various times prior to the close of the NYSE’s regular trading hours. The values of such instruments used in computing a Fund’s NAV are determined as of such times.
For certain foreign assets, a third-party vendor supplies evaluated, systematic fair value pricing based upon the movement of a proprietary multi-factor model after the relevant foreign markets have closed. This systematic fair value pricing methodology is designed to correlate the prices of foreign assets in one or more non-U.S. markets following the close of the local markets to the prices that might have prevailed as of a Fund’s pricing time.
Customized exchange-traded equity options, ETF options, equity index options and other derivatives may be valued using a mathematical model that may incorporate a number of market data factors.
When market quotations are not readily available or are believed by BFA to be unreliable, BFA will fair value a Fund’s investments in accordance with its policies and procedures. Fair value represents a good faith approximation of the value of an asset or liability. It is the amount that the Fund might reasonably expect to receive from the current sale of an asset or the cost to extinguish a liability in an arm’s-length transaction.
BFA may conclude that a market quotation is not readily available or is unreliable if:
An asset or liability does not have a price source due to its lack of trading or other reasons;
A market quotation differs significantly from recent price quotations or otherwise no longer appears to reflect fair value;
An asset or liability is thinly traded;
There is a significant event subsequent to the most recent market quotation; or
The trading market on which an instrument is listed is suspended or closed and no appropriate alternative trading market is available.
A significant event is deemed to occur if BFA determines, in its reasonable business judgment prior to or at the time of pricing a Fund’s assets or liabilities, that the event is likely to cause a material change to the last exchange closing price or closing market price of one or more of the Fund’s assets or liabilities.
Valuing a Fund’s investments using fair value pricing may result in prices that differ from current market valuations and that may not be the prices at which those investments could have been sold during the period for which the particular fair values were used. For an index Fund, the use of both fair value prices and current market valuations in a particular NAV calculation could result in a difference between the prices used to calculate a Fund’s NAV and the prices used by the Fund’s underlying index. This could, in turn, result in a difference between the Fund’s performance and the performance of its underlying index.
Dividends and Distributions
General Policies. A Fund generally declares and pays dividends from net investment income, if any, at least once a year. Distributions of net realized securities gains, if any, generally are declared and paid once a year, but the Trust may make distributions on a more frequent basis for a Fund. The Trust reserves the right to declare special distributions if, in its reasonable discretion, such action is necessary or advisable to preserve its status as a regulated investment company (RIC) or to avoid the imposition of income or excise taxes on undistributed income or realized gains.
Dividends and other distributions on Fund shares are distributed on a pro rata basis to beneficial owners of the shares. Dividend payments and other distributions are made through DTC participants and indirect participants to beneficial owners then of record with proceeds received from the Funds.
Dividend Reinvestment Service. No dividend reinvestment service is provided by the Trust. Broker-dealers may make the DTC book-entry Dividend Reinvestment Program available to beneficial owners of Fund shares for the reinvestment of distributions. Beneficial owners should contact their broker to determine the availability and costs of the service and the details of participation. Brokers may require beneficial owners to adhere to specific procedures and timetables. If the program is used, dividend distributions of both income and realized gains will be automatically reinvested in additional whole Fund shares purchased in the secondary market.
Note on Tax Information. The following sections summarize some of the consequences under current U.S. federal tax law of an investment in a Fund. This information is not a substitute for personal tax advice. You may also be subject to state and local taxation on Fund distributions and sales of Fund shares. Distributions that are attributable to interest from U.S. federal government obligations may be exempt from certain state and local tax. Consult your personal tax advisor about the potential tax consequences of an investment in Fund shares under all applicable tax laws.
29


Taxes
As with any investment, you should consider how your investment in shares of a Fund will be taxed, including possible tax consequences when a Fund makes distributions or when you sell Fund shares. The tax information in this Prospectus is provided as general information, based on current law. You should consult your own tax professional about the tax consequences of an investment in shares of a Fund. There is no guarantee that shares of a Fund will receive certain regulatory or accounting treatment.
Taxes on Fund Distributions
Shareholders in a Fund will receive information after the end of each calendar year setting forth the amount of dividends and long-term capital gains distributed to them by the Fund during the prior year, if any. Likewise, the amount of tax-exempt income, if any, that a Fund distributes will be reported. Such income must be reported on the shareholder’s U.S. federal income tax return.
In general, distributions are subject to U.S. federal income tax for the year when they are paid. Certain distributions paid in January, however, may be treated as paid on December 31 of the prior year.
Capital Gains. Distributions from a Fund’s net investment income (other than qualified dividend income or from net tax-exempt income, if any), including distributions of income from securities lending and distributions out of a Fund’s net short-term capital gains, if any, are taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions by a Fund of net long-term capital gains, if any, in excess of net short-term capital losses (capital gain dividends) are taxable to you as long-term capital gains, regardless of how long you have held the Fund’s shares. Long-term capital gains and qualified dividend income are generally eligible for taxation at preferential rates for non-corporate shareholders. However, different preferential rates may apply depending on the type of capital gains, such as Fund distributions of certain amounts received from real estate investment trusts (REITs), if any.
Return of Capital. If a Fund’s distributions exceed current and accumulated earnings and profits, all or a portion of the distributions made in the taxable year may be recharacterized as a return of capital to shareholders. A return of capital distribution generally will not be taxable but will reduce the shareholder’s cost basis and result in a higher capital gain or lower capital loss when those shares on which the distribution was received are sold. Once a shareholder’s cost basis is reduced to zero, further distributions will be treated as capital gains, if the shareholder holds shares of the Fund as capital assets. Distributions in excess of a Fund’s minimum distribution requirements, but not in excess of the Fund’s earnings and profits, will be taxable to shareholders and will not constitute nontaxable returns of capital.
Qualified Dividend Income. Distributions by a Fund that qualify as qualified dividend income, if any, are taxable to you at long-term capital gain rates. Dividends will be qualified dividend income to you if they are attributable to qualified dividend income received by a Fund. Generally, qualified dividend income includes dividend income from stock issued by taxable U.S. corporations and qualified non-U.S. corporations, provided that the Fund satisfies certain holding period requirements and has not hedged its position in the stock in certain ways. For this purpose, a qualified non-U.S. corporation means any non-U.S. corporation that is eligible for benefits under a comprehensive income tax treaty with the U.S., which includes an exchange of information program, or if the stock with respect to which the dividend was paid is readily tradable on an established U.S. securities market. The term excludes a corporation that is a passive foreign investment company.
Dividends received by a Fund from a RIC, if any, generally are qualified dividend income only to the extent that such dividend distributions are made out of qualified dividend income received by such RIC. Additionally, it is expected that dividends received by a Fund from a REIT, if any, and distributed to a shareholder generally will be taxable to the shareholder as ordinary income. However, a Fund may report dividends eligible for a 20% qualified business income deduction for non-corporate U.S. shareholders to the extent that the Fund’s income is derived from ordinary REIT dividends, reduced by allocable Fund expenses.
For a dividend to be treated as qualified dividend income, the dividend must be received with respect to a share of stock held without being hedged by the relevant Fund, and with respect to a share of the Fund held without being hedged by you, for 61 days during the 121-day period beginning at the date that is 60 days before the date on which such share becomes ex-dividend with respect to such dividend or, in the case of certain preferred stock, 91 days during the 181-day period beginning 90 days before such date.
Fund distributions, to the extent attributable to dividends from U.S. corporations, will be eligible for the dividends received deduction for Fund shareholders that are corporations, subject to certain hedging and holding requirements.
Substitute dividends received by a Fund with respect to dividends paid on securities lent out, if any, will not be qualified dividend income.
Medicare Tax. A 3.8% U.S. federal Medicare contribution tax is imposed on net investment income, including, but not limited to, interest, dividends, and net gain, of U.S. individuals with income exceeding $200,000 (or $250,000 if married and filing jointly) and of estates and trusts.
Alternative Minimum Tax. The AMT is a separate U.S. federal tax system that operates in parallel to the regular federal income tax system but eliminates many deductions and exclusions. The AMT has different tax rates and treats as taxable certain types of income that are nontaxable for regular income tax purposes, such as the interest on certain private activity municipal bonds. If a taxpayer’s overall AMT liability is higher than regular income tax liability, then the taxpayer owes the regular income tax liability plus the difference between the AMT liability and the regular income tax liability.
30


Original Issue Discount and Inflation-Related Adjustments
Accruals of original issue discount on bonds that a Fund acquires at a discount and adjustments for inflation to the principal amount of an inflation-protected U.S. Treasury bond held by a Fund may be included for tax purposes in the Fund’s gross income, even though no cash attributable to such gross income has at that point been received by the Fund. In such event, the Fund may be required to make annual distributions to shareholders that exceed the cash it has otherwise received. In order to pay such distributions, the Fund may be required to raise cash by selling portfolio investments. The sale of such investments could result in capital gains to the Fund and additional capital gains distributions to Fund shareholders. In addition, any deflation-related adjustments during the taxable year to an inflation-indexed bond held by a Fund may cause amounts distributed in the taxable year as income to be characterized as a return of capital.
Market Discount Bonds
Any market discount recognized on a bond, including a tax-exempt interest bond, is taxable as ordinary income. A market discount bond is a bond acquired in the secondary market at a price below redemption value or adjusted issue price if issued with original issue discount. To the extent that a Fund does not include the market discount in income as it accrues, gains on the Fund’s disposition of such an obligation will be treated as ordinary income rather than capital gains to the extent of the accrued market discount.
Derivatives and Other Complex Instruments
A Fund may invest in derivatives and other complex instruments, and such investments may be subject to special and complicated rules. These rules could affect whether gains and losses recognized by a Fund are treated as ordinary income or capital gains, accelerate the recognition of income to a Fund or defer a Fund’s ability to recognize losses. In addition, these rules may affect the amount, timing or character of income distributed to you by a Fund. You should consult your personal tax advisor regarding the application of these rules.
Non-U.S. Income Taxes
Dividends, interest and capital gains (if any) earned by a Fund with respect to securities issued by non-U.S. issuers may give rise to withholding, capital gains and other taxes imposed by non-U.S. countries. Tax conventions between certain countries and the U.S. may reduce or eliminate such taxes. If, at the close of a year, more than 50% of a Fund’s total assets consist of non-U.S. stocks or securities (generally, for this purpose, depositary receipts, no matter where traded, of non-U.S. companies are treated as non-U.S.), generally the Fund may pass through to you certain non-U.S. income taxes, including withholding taxes, paid by the Fund. This means that you would be considered to have received as an additional dividend your share of such non-U.S. taxes, but you may be entitled to either a corresponding tax deduction in calculating your taxable income or, subject to certain limitations, a credit in calculating your U.S. federal income tax. No deduction for such taxes will be permitted to individuals in computing their alternative minimum tax liability. If a Fund does not pass through non-U.S. taxes, the Fund will be entitled to claim a deduction for certain foreign taxes that it incurs.
Under certain circumstances, if a Fund receives a refund of foreign taxes paid with respect to a prior year, the value of Fund shares could be affected or any foreign tax credits or deductions passed through to shareholders with respect to the Fund’s foreign taxes for the current year could be reduced.
If, at the close of the year, more than 50% of a Fund’s total assets consist of stocks or securities issued by non-U.S. issuers, including depositary receipts (no matter where traded) of non-U.S. companies, or, at the close of each quarter, more than 50% of a Fund’s total assets consist of shares of an Underlying Fund, the Fund may pass-through to you certain non-U.S. income taxes (including withholding taxes) paid by the Fund or, if its assets meet these requirements, the Underlying Fund.
For purposes of foreign tax credits for U.S. shareholders of a Fund, foreign capital gains taxes may not produce associated foreign source income, limiting the availability of such credits for U.S. persons.
Non-U.S. Shareholders
If you are neither a resident nor a citizen of the U.S. or if you are a non-U.S. entity (other than a pass-through entity to the extent owned by U.S. persons), a Fund’s ordinary income dividends, if any, generally will be subject to a 30% U.S. federal withholding tax, unless a lower treaty rate applies. However, withholding tax generally will not apply to any gain or income realized by a non-U.S. shareholder upon the sale or other disposition of Fund shares or with respect to certain distributions paid to a non-U.S. shareholder and reported by a Fund as capital gain dividends, interest-related dividends or short-term capital gain dividends.
Separately, a 30% withholding tax may be imposed on Fund distributions (if any) paid to certain foreign entities, unless such entities comply, or are deemed compliant, with extensive reporting and withholding requirements designed to inform the U.S. Department of the Treasury of U.S.-owned foreign investment accounts.
Backup Withholding
If you are a resident or a citizen of the U.S. and you have not provided a taxpayer identification number or social security number and made other required certifications, by law, backup withholding at a 24% rate will apply to Fund distributions and proceeds (if any).
31


Securities Lending
If your shares of a Fund are loaned out pursuant to a securities lending arrangement, you may lose the ability to treat Fund dividends that are paid while the shares are held by the borrower as qualified dividend income, and you may lose the ability to use non-U.S. tax credits passed through by the Fund.
Fund of Funds
If a Fund invests in an Underlying Fund, short-term capital gains earned by the Underlying Fund, if any, will be ordinary income when distributed to the Fund and will not be offset by the Fund’s capital losses. To the extent such Fund is expected to invest in an Underlying Fund, the Fund’s realized losses on sales of shares of the Underlying Fund may be indefinitely or permanently deferred as wash sales. Capital loss carryforwards of the Underlying Fund, if any, will not offset net capital gains of the Fund.
Taxes on the Sale of Exchange-Listed Fund Shares
Any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of Fund shares is generally treated as a long-term capital gain or loss if the shares have been held for more than one year. Any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of Fund shares that have been held for one year or less is generally treated as a short-term capital gain or loss. However, any capital loss on a sale of Fund shares held for six months or less is treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent that capital gain dividends were paid with respect to such shares. Any such capital gains, including from sales of Fund shares or from capital gain dividends, are included in net investment income for purposes of the 3.8% U.S. federal Medicare contribution tax mentioned above.
Creations and Redemptions
Prior to being traded in the secondary market, Fund shares are created at NAV by Authorized Participants (i.e., market makers, large investors and other financial institutions) in block-size Creation Units or multiples thereof. Fund shares are created or redeemed only in Creation Units, and only Authorized Participants may create or redeem Creation Units with the Funds.
Each Authorized Participant is a member or participant of a clearing agency registered with the SEC and has entered into a written agreement with the Funds’ Distributor, an affiliate of BFA. The agreement allows the Authorized Participant to place orders for the purchase and redemption of Creation Units. Authorized Participants may create or redeem Creation Units for their own accounts or for customers, including, without limitation, affiliates of the Funds. Creation transactions are subject to acceptance by the Distributor and the relevant Fund.
Generally, there are three transaction methods for creating and redeeming Fund shares: in-kind securities (in-kind), partial cash and all cash.
In-Kind. In a creation transaction, an Authorized Participant deposits into a Fund a creation basket, which is a portfolio of securities or other assets designated by the Fund, as well as a cash amount. The Authorized Participant receives a specified number of Creation Units in return. In a redemption transaction, an Authorized Participant deposits Creation Units with a Fund and receives from the Fund a redemption basket, which is a portfolio of securities or other assets designated by the Fund, as well as a cash amount.
Partial Cash. In a creation transaction, an Authorized Participant deposits into a Fund a creation basket and a cash amount, including cash that replaces a security or other asset in the creation basket, in exchange for Creation Units. In a redemption transaction, an Authorized Participant deposits Creation Units with a Fund and receives from the Fund a redemption basket and a cash amount, including cash that replaces a security or other asset in the redemption basket.
All Cash. In a creation transaction, an Authorized Participant deposits into a Fund an amount of cash specified by the Fund in exchange for Creation Units. In a redemption transaction, an Authorized Participant deposits Creation Units with a Fund and receives from the Fund a specified amount of cash.
The creation and redemption baskets for a Fund may differ in composition, and certain iShares ETFs accept custom baskets. More information about custom baskets is provided in the Funds’ SAI.
Each Fund generally engages in creation and redemption transactions according to the method indicated in the table below. In certain circumstances, however, a Fund may use another transaction method (e.g., an in-kind Fund may transact partially or fully in cash).
Fund
In-Kind
Partial
All Cash
iShares Broad USD Floating Rate Loan ETF
 
 
iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF
 
 
iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF
 
 
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF
 
 
iShares ESG Advanced Universal USD Bond ETF
 
 
iShares ESG Aware U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF
 
 
iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF
 
 
32


Fund
In-Kind
Partial
All Cash
iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF
 
 
iShares Total USD Fixed Income Market ETF
 
 
The prices at which creations and redemptions occur are based on the next calculation of a Fund’s NAV after a creation or redemption order is tendered in an acceptable form under the Authorized Participant agreement. In the event of a system failure or other interruption, including disruptions at market makers or Authorized Participants, creation and redemption orders may not be executed according to a Fund’s instructions or may not be executed at all.
Additional information about the creation and redemption of Creation Units (including the cut-off times for the receipt of creation and redemption orders) is included in the Funds’ SAI.
The Funds do not impose restrictions on the frequency of purchases and redemptions of Fund shares directly with a Fund. The Board determined not to adopt policies and procedures designed to prevent or monitor for frequent purchases and redemptions of Fund shares because each Fund generally sells and redeems its shares directly through transactions that are in-kind and/or for cash, with a deadline for placing cash-related transactions no later than the close of the primary markets for the Fund’s portfolio securities. However, the Funds have taken certain measures (e.g., imposing transaction fees on purchases and redemptions of Creation Units and reserving the right to reject purchases of Creation Units under certain circumstances) to minimize the potential consequences of frequent cash purchases and redemptions by Authorized Participants, such as increased tracking error, disruption of portfolio management, dilution to the Funds, and/or increased transaction costs. Further, the vast majority of trading in Fund shares occurs on the secondary market, which does not involve the Funds directly, and such trading is unlikely to cause many of the harmful effects of frequent cash purchases or redemptions of Fund shares.
To the extent a Fund engages in in-kind transactions, the Fund intends to comply with the U.S. federal securities laws in accepting securities for deposit and satisfying redemptions with redemption securities by, among other means, assuring that any securities accepted for deposit and any securities used to satisfy redemption requests will be sold in transactions that would be exempt from registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 1933 Act). Further, an Authorized Participant that is not a qualified institutional buyer, as such term is defined in Rule 144A under the 1933 Act, will not be able to receive restricted securities eligible for resale under Rule 144A.
Because Fund shares may be created and issued on an ongoing basis, at any point during the life of a Fund a distribution, as such term is used in the 1933 Act, may be occurring. Broker-dealers and other persons are cautioned that some activities on their part may, depending on the circumstances, result in their being deemed participants in a distribution in a manner that could render them statutory underwriters subject to the prospectus delivery and liability provisions of the 1933 Act. Any determination of whether one is an underwriter must take into account all the relevant facts and circumstances of each particular case.
Broker-dealers should also note that dealers who are not underwriters but are participating in a distribution (as contrasted to ordinary secondary transactions), and thus dealing with shares that are part of an unsold allotment within the meaning of Section 4(a)(3)(C) of the 1933 Act, would be unable to take advantage of the prospectus delivery exemption provided by Section 4(a)(3) of the 1933 Act. For delivery of prospectuses to exchange members, the prospectus delivery mechanism of Rule 153 under the 1933 Act is available only with respect to transactions on a national securities exchange.
Householding
Householding is an option available to certain Fund investors. Householding is a method of delivery, based on the preference of the individual investor, in which a single copy of certain shareholder documents can be delivered to investors who share the same address, even if their accounts are registered under different names. Please contact your broker-dealer if you are interested in enrolling in householding and receiving a single copy of prospectuses and other shareholder documents, or if you are currently enrolled in householding and wish to change your householding status.
Distribution
The Distributor or its agent distributes Creation Units for the Funds on an agency basis. The Distributor does not maintain a secondary market in shares of the Funds. The Distributor has no role in determining the policies of the Funds or the securities or other assets (as applicable) that are purchased or sold by the Funds. The Distributor’s principal address is 50 Hudson Yards, New York, NY 10001.
BFA or its affiliates make payments to broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, banks or other intermediaries (together, intermediaries) related to marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems, data provision services, or their making shares of the Funds available to their customers generally and in certain investment programs. Such payments, which may be significant to the intermediary, are not made by the Funds. Rather, such payments are made by BFA or its affiliates from their own resources, which come directly or indirectly in part from fees paid by the Funds. Payments of this type are sometimes referred to as revenue-sharing payments. A financial intermediary may make decisions about which investment options it recommends or makes available, or the level of services provided, to its customers based on the payments or other financial incentives the intermediary is eligible to receive. Therefore, such payments or other financial incentives that are offered or made to an intermediary create conflicts of interest between the intermediary and its customers and may cause the intermediary to
33


recommend the Funds over another investment. More information regarding these payments is contained in the applicable SAI. Please contact your salesperson or other investment professional for more information regarding any such payments that their firm may receive from BFA or its affiliates.
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights table for each Fund is intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the past five fiscal years or, if shorter, the period since the Fund’s inception. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. The total return information represents the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund, assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions. This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, whose report, along with each Fund’s financial statements, is included in each Fund’s Form N-CSR (available upon request). Financial highlights for the iShares Broad USD Floating Rate Loan ETF are not available because, as of the period ended February 28, 2026, the Fund had not commenced operations and therefore had no financial highlights to report. 
34


For a share outstanding throughout each period:
 
iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF
 
Year Ended
02/28/26
Year Ended
02/28/25
Year Ended
02/29/24
Year Ended
02/28/23
Year Ended
02/28/22
Net asset value, beginning of year
$43.49
$42.58
$42.85
$48.76
$51.55
Net investment income(a)
1.96
1.92
1.82
1.39
0.91
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)(b)
1.29
0.88
(0.28
)
(6.00
)
(2.46
)
Net increase (decrease) from investment operations
3.25
2.80
1.54
(4.61
)
(1.55
)
Distributions(c)
From net investment income
(1.94
)
(1.89
)
(1.81
)
(1.30
)
(0.86
)
From net realized gain
(0.38
)
Total distributions
(1.94
)
(1.89
)
(1.81
)
(1.30
)
(1.24
)
Net asset value, end of year
$44.80
$43.49
$42.58
$42.85
$48.76
Total Return(d)
Based on net asset value
7.65
%
6.74
%
3.69
%
(9.51
)%
(3.07
)%
Ratios to Average Net Assets(e)
Total expenses
0.06
%
0.06
%
0.06
%
0.06
%
0.06
%
Total expenses after fees waived
0.05
%
0.05
%
0.05
%
0.05
%
0.05
%
Net investment income
4.49
%
4.48
%
4.28
%
3.14
%
1.79
%
Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000)
$286,703
$221,818
$170,334
$162,844
$107,265
Portfolio turnover rate(f)(g)
265
%
304
%
300
%
335
%
279
%
(a) Based on average shares outstanding.
(b) The amounts reported for a share outstanding may not accord with the change in aggregate gains and losses in securities for the fiscal period due to the timing of capital share transactions in
relation to the fluctuating market values of the Fund’s underlying securities.
(c) Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations.
(d) Where applicable, assumes the reinvestment of distributions.
(e) Excludes fees and expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds.
(f) Portfolio turnover rate excludes in-kind transactions, if any.
(g) Includes mortgage dollar roll transactions (MDRs).
For a share outstanding throughout each period:
 
iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF
 
Year Ended
02/28/26
Year Ended
02/28/25
Year Ended
02/29/24
Year Ended
02/28/23
Year Ended
02/28/22
Net asset value, beginning of year
$50.72
$50.50
$51.61
$66.64
$71.04
Net investment income(a)
2.41
2.40
2.35
2.21
2.17
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)(b)
0.29
0.22
(1.15
)
(15.04
)
(4.38
)
Net increase (decrease) from investment operations
2.70
2.62
1.20
(12.83
)
(2.21
)
Distributions from net investment income(c)
(2.40
)
(2.40
)
(2.31
)
(2.20
)
(2.19
)
Net asset value, end of year
$51.02
$50.72
$50.50
$51.61
$66.64
Total Return(d)
Based on net asset value
5.55
%
5.34
%
2.42
%
(19.44
)%
(3.23
)%
Ratios to Average Net Assets(e)
Total expenses
0.06
%
0.06
%
0.06
%
0.06
%
0.06
%
Net investment income
4.87
%
4.76
%
4.66
%
4.04
%
3.05
%
Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000)
$635,171
$626,367
$583,225
$338,029
$306,529
Portfolio turnover rate(f)
13
%
8
%
9
%
10
%
15
%
(a) Based on average shares outstanding.
(b) The amounts reported for a share outstanding may not accord with the change in aggregate gains and losses in securities for the fiscal period due to the timing of capital share transactions in
relation to the fluctuating market values of the Fund’s underlying securities.
(c) Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations.
(d) Where applicable, assumes the reinvestment of distributions.
(e) Excludes fees and expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds.
(f) Portfolio turnover rate excludes in-kind transactions, if any.
35


For a share outstanding throughout each period:
 
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF
 
Year Ended
02/28/26
Year Ended
02/28/25
Year Ended
02/29/24
Year Ended
02/28/23
Year Ended
02/28/22
Net asset value, beginning of year
$99.22
$97.35
$97.33
$110.34
$115.40
Net investment income(a)
3.92
3.71
3.23
2.50
1.99
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)(b)
2.15
1.82
(0.05
)
(13.11
)
(5.06
)
Net increase (decrease) from investment operations
6.07
5.53
3.18
(10.61
)
(3.07
)
Distributions from net investment income(c)
(3.89
)
(3.66
)
(3.16
)
(2.40
)
(1.99
)
Net asset value, end of year
$101.40
$99.22
$97.35
$97.33
$110.34
Total Return(d)
Based on net asset value
6.24
%
5.80
%
3.32
%
(9.67
)%(e)
(2.68
)%
Ratios to Average Net Assets(f)
Total expenses
0.03
%
0.03
%
0.03
%
0.03
%
0.04
%
Total expenses after fees waived
0.03
%
0.03
%
0.03
%
0.03
%
0.03
%
Net investment income
3.95
%
3.78
%
3.33
%
2.48
%
1.74
%
Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000)
$141,477,241
$125,527,239
$101,640,908
$85,719,356
$87,922,461
Portfolio turnover rate(g)(h)
62
%
81
%
89
%
104
%
163
%
(a) Based on average shares outstanding.
(b) The amounts reported for a share outstanding may not accord with the change in aggregate gains and losses in securities for the fiscal period due to the timing of capital share transactions in
relation to the fluctuating market values of the Fund’s underlying securities.
(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) Excludes fees and expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds.
(g) Portfolio turnover rate excludes in-kind transactions, if any.
(h) Includes mortgage dollar roll transactions (MDRs).
For a share outstanding throughout each period:
 
iShares ESG Advanced Universal USD Bond ETF
 
Year Ended
02/28/26
Year Ended
02/28/25
Year Ended
02/29/24
Year Ended
02/28/23
Year Ended
02/28/22
Net asset value, beginning of year
$43.46
$42.47
$42.27
$47.64
$49.61
Net investment income(a)
1.70
1.60
1.35
1.01
0.60
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)(b)
0.97
0.97
0.19
(5.38
)
(2.01
)
Net increase (decrease) from investment operations
2.67
2.57
1.54
(4.37
)
(1.41
)
Distributions from net investment income(c)
(1.69
)
(1.58
)
(1.34
)
(1.00
)
(0.56
)
Net asset value, end of year
$44.44
$43.46
$42.47
$42.27
$47.64
Total Return(d)
Based on net asset value
6.27
%
6.17
%
3.70
%
(9.22
)%
(2.85
)%
Ratios to Average Net Assets(e)
Total expenses
0.12
%
0.12
%
0.12
%
0.12
%
0.12
%
Total expenses after fees waived
0.12
%
0.12
%
0.12
%
0.11
%
0.11
%
Net investment income
3.90
%
3.73
%
3.19
%
2.32
%
1.23
%
Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000)
$724,380
$691,005
$590,340
$570,693
$609,795
Portfolio turnover rate(f)(g)
87
%
100
%
63
%
167
%
243
%
(a) Based on average shares outstanding.
(b) The amounts reported for a share outstanding may not accord with the change in aggregate gains and losses in securities for the fiscal period due to the timing of capital share transactions in
relation to the fluctuating market values of the Fund’s underlying securities.
(c) Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations.
(d) Where applicable, assumes the reinvestment of distributions.
(e) Excludes fees and expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds.
(f) Portfolio turnover rate excludes in-kind transactions, if any.
(g) Includes mortgage dollar roll transactions (MDRs).
36


For a share outstanding throughout each period:
 
iShares ESG Aware U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF
 
Year Ended
02/28/26
Year Ended
02/28/25
Year Ended
02/29/24
Year Ended
02/28/23
Year Ended
02/28/22
Net asset value, beginning of year
$47.56
$46.78
$46.88
$53.10
$55.22
Net investment income(a)
1.90
1.83
1.66
1.12
0.62
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)(b)
0.98
0.78
(0.17
)
(6.31
)
(2.15
)
Net increase (decrease) from investment operations
2.88
2.61
1.49
(5.19
)
(1.53
)
Distributions from net investment income(c)
(1.88
)
(1.83
)
(1.59
)
(1.03
)
(0.59
)
Net asset value, end of year
$48.56
$47.56
$46.78
$46.88
$53.10
Total Return(d)
Based on net asset value
6.18
%
5.70
%
3.22
%
(9.81
)%
(2.78
)%
Ratios to Average Net Assets(e)
Total expenses
0.10
%
0.10
%
0.10
%
0.10
%
0.10
%
Total expenses after fees waived
0.10
%
0.10
%
0.09
%
0.09
%
0.09
%
Net investment income
3.98
%
3.89
%
3.55
%
2.31
%
1.13
%
Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000)
$4,632,445
$3,871,268
$3,559,940
$2,400,450
$1,985,864
Portfolio turnover rate(f)(g)
94
%
112
%
156
%
158
%
234
%
(a) Based on average shares outstanding.
(b) The amounts reported for a share outstanding may not accord with the change in aggregate gains and losses in securities for the fiscal period due to the timing of capital share transactions in
relation to the fluctuating market values of the Fund’s underlying securities.
(c) Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations.
(d) Where applicable, assumes the reinvestment of distributions.
(e) Excludes fees and expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds.
(f) Portfolio turnover rate excludes in-kind transactions, if any.
(g) Includes mortgage dollar roll transactions (MDRs).
For a share outstanding throughout each period:
 
iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF
 
Year Ended
02/28/26
Year Ended
02/28/25
Year Ended
02/29/24
Year Ended
02/28/23
Year Ended
02/28/22
Net asset value, beginning of year
$104.52
$103.17
$102.98
$117.13
$121.96
Net investment income(a)
3.84
3.91
3.73
2.09
1.52
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)(b)
1.95
1.45
(0.20
)
(14.00
)
(4.87
)
Net increase (decrease) from investment operations
5.79
5.36
3.53
(11.91
)
(3.35
)
Distributions from net investment income(c)
(3.98
)
(4.01
)
(3.34
)
(2.24
)
(1.48
)
Net asset value, end of year
$106.33
$104.52
$103.17
$102.98
$117.13
Total Return(d)
Based on net asset value
5.66
%
5.31
%
3.48
%
(10.22
)%
(2.76
)%
Ratios to Average Net Assets(e)
Total expenses
0.20
%
0.20
%
0.20
%
0.20
%
0.20
%
Net investment income
3.68
%
3.78
%
3.64
%
1.94
%
1.26
%
Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000)
$132,908
$156,775
$330,138
$154,475
$427,541
Portfolio turnover rate(f)
20
%
15
%
18
%
17
%
21
%
(a) Based on average shares outstanding.
(b) The amounts reported for a share outstanding may not accord with the change in aggregate gains and losses in securities for the fiscal period due to the timing of capital share transactions in
relation to the fluctuating market values of the Fund’s underlying securities.
(c) Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations.
(d) Where applicable, assumes the reinvestment of distributions.
(e) Excludes fees and expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds.
(f) Portfolio turnover rate excludes in-kind transactions, if any.
37


For a share outstanding throughout each period:
 
iShares Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF
 
Year Ended
02/28/26
Year Ended
02/28/25
Year Ended
02/29/24
Year Ended
02/28/23
Year Ended
02/28/22
Net asset value, beginning of year
$105.83
$103.59
$102.32
$111.36
$116.01
Net investment income(a)
3.79
3.53
3.07
2.08
1.63
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)(b)
2.42
2.24
1.16
(9.12
)
(4.64
)
Net increase (decrease) from investment operations
6.21
5.77
4.23
(7.04
)
(3.01
)
Distributions from net investment income(c)
(3.75
)
(3.53
)
(2.96
)
(2.00
)
(1.64
)
Net asset value, end of year
$108.29
$105.83
$103.59
$102.32
$111.36
Total Return(d)
Based on net asset value
5.97
%
5.67
%
4.20
%
(6.36
)%
(2.61
)%
Ratios to Average Net Assets(e)
Total expenses
0.20
%
0.20
%
0.20
%
0.20
%
0.20
%
Net investment income
3.55
%
3.38
%
2.98
%
1.99
%
1.42
%
Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000)
$3,898,456
$3,312,487
$3,164,777
$2,460,818
$2,566,956
Portfolio turnover rate(f)
21
%
21
%
19
%
22
%
30
%
(a) Based on average shares outstanding.
(b) The amounts reported for a share outstanding may not accord with the change in aggregate gains and losses in securities for the fiscal period due to the timing of capital share transactions in
relation to the fluctuating market values of the Fund’s underlying securities.
(c) Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations.
(d) Where applicable, assumes the reinvestment of distributions.
(e) Excludes fees and expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds.
(f) Portfolio turnover rate excludes in-kind transactions, if any.
For a share outstanding throughout each period:
 
iShares Total USD Fixed Income Market ETF
 
Period From
12/10/25(a)
to 02/28/26
Net asset value, beginning of period
$50.00
Net investment income(b)
0.47
Net realized and unrealized gain(c)
0.50
Net increase from investment operations
0.97
Distributions from net investment income(d)
(0.29
)
Net asset value, end of period
$50.68
Total Return(e)
Based on net asset value
1.92
%(f)
Ratios to Average Net Assets(g)
Total expenses
0.09
%(h)
Total expenses after fees waived
0.08
%(h)
Net investment income
4.28
%(h)
Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of period (000)
$25,339
Portfolio turnover rate(i)(j)
17
%
(a) Commencement of operations.
(b) Based on average shares outstanding.
(c) The amounts reported for a share outstanding may not accord with the change in aggregate gains and losses in securities for the fiscal period due to the timing of capital share transactions in
relation to the fluctuating market values of the Fund’s underlying securities.
(d) Distributions for annual periods determined in accordance with U.S. federal income tax regulations.
(e) Where applicable, assumes the reinvestment of distributions.
(f) Not annualized.
(g) Excludes fees and expenses incurred indirectly as a result of investments in underlying funds.
(h) Annualized.
(i) Portfolio turnover rate excludes in-kind transactions, if any.
(j) Includes mortgage dollar roll transactions (MDRs).
38


Index Providers and Disclaimers
The Index Providers are not affiliated with the Trust, BFA, the Distributor or any of their respective affiliates. BFA or its affiliates have entered into a license agreement with the Index Providers to use the Underlying Indexes. BFA or its affiliates sublicense rights in each Underlying Index for use by the applicable Fund at no charge.
The past performance of an Underlying Index is not a guide to future performance. BFA and its affiliates do not guarantee the accuracy or the completeness of an Underlying Index or any data included therein, and BFA and its affiliates shall have no liability for any errors, omissions or interruptions therein. BFA and its affiliates make no warranty, express or implied, to the owners of shares of a Fund or to any other person or entity, as to results to be obtained by a Fund from the use of an Underlying Index or any data included therein. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall BFA or its affiliates have any liability for any special, punitive, direct, indirect, consequential or any other damages (including lost profits), even if notified of the possibility of such damages.
Bloomberg
The following applies with respect to each Underlying Index provided by Bloomberg:
The Underlying Index is maintained by Bloomberg. Bloomberg® and the Underlying Index are service marks of Bloomberg Finance L.P. and its affiliates, including Bloomberg Index Services Limited (BISL), the administrator of the index (collectively, Bloomberg), and have been licensed for use for certain purposes by BFA.
The Fund is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Bloomberg. Bloomberg does not make any representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of or counterparties to the Fund or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in the Fund particularly. The only relationship of Bloomberg to BFA is the licensing of certain trademarks, trade names and service marks and of the Underlying Index, which is determined, composed and calculated by BISL without regard to BFA or the Fund. Bloomberg has no obligation to take the needs of BFA or the owners of the Fund into consideration in determining, composing or calculating the Underlying Index. Bloomberg is not responsible for and has not participated in the determination of the timing of, prices at, or quantities of the Fund to be issued. Bloomberg shall not have any obligation or liability, including, without limitation, to the Fund’s customers, in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of the Fund.
BLOOMBERG DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY AND/OR THE COMPLETENESS OF THE UNDERLYING INDEX OR ANY DATA RELATED THERETO AND SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS, OMISSIONS OR INTERRUPTIONS THEREIN. BLOOMBERG DOES NOT MAKE ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED BY BFA, OWNERS OF THE FUND OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY FROM THE USE OF THE UNDERLYING INDEX OR ANY DATA RELATED THERETO. BLOOMBERG DOES NOT MAKE ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE WITH RESPECT TO THE UNDERLYING INDEX OR ANY DATA RELATED THERETO. WITHOUT LIMITING ANY OF THE FOREGOING, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW, BLOOMBERG, ITS LICENSORS, AND ITS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AGENTS, SUPPLIERS, AND VENDORS SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY WHATSOEVER FOR ANY INJURY OR DAMAGES—WHETHER DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE OR OTHERWISE—ARISING IN CONNECTION WITH THE FUND OR UNDERLYING INDEX OR ANY DATA OR VALUES RELATING THERETO—WHETHER ARISING FROM THEIR NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF NOTIFIED OF THE POSSIBILITY THEREOF.
Bloomberg and MSCI
The following applies with respect to each Underlying Index provided by Bloomberg and MSCI:
The Underlying Index is maintained by Bloomberg. To use the Underlying Index, BFA or its affiliates have entered into a license agreement with MSCI Solutions, which may license each applicable Underlying Index pursuant to its agreement with Bloomberg Index Services Limited or an affiliate. MSCI Solutions is not affiliated with the Trust, BFA, the Distributor or any of their respective affiliates.
THIS FUND IS NOT SPONSORED, ENDORSED, SOLD OR PROMOTED BY MSCI SOLUTIONS, BLOOMBERG INDEX SERVICES LIMITED (BLOOMBERG), OR ANY OF THEIR AFFILIATES, ANY OF THEIR INFORMATION PROVIDERS OR ANY OTHER THIRD PARTY INVOLVED IN, OR RELATED TO, COMPILING, COMPUTING OR CREATING ANY BLOOMBERG MSCI ESG INDEX (EACH, AN INDEX) (COLLECTIVELY, THE INDEX PARTIES). THE INDEXES ARE THE EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OF MSCI SOLUTIONS AND BLOOMBERG (AND THEIR LICENSORS). BLOOMBERG, MSCI SOLUTIONS, AND THE INDEX NAMES, ARE RESPECTIVE TRADE AND/OR SERVICE MARK(S) OF BLOOMBERG, MSCI SOLUTIONS OR THEIR AFFILIATES AND HAVE BEEN LICENSED FOR USE FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES BY BFA OR ITS AFFILIATES. NONE OF THE INDEX PARTIES MAKES ANY REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE ISSUER OR OWNERS OF THIS FUND OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY REGARDING THE ADVISABILITY OF INVESTING IN FUNDS GENERALLY OR IN THIS FUND PARTICULARLY OR THE ABILITY OF ANY INDEX TO TRACK CORRESPONDING STOCK MARKET PERFORMANCE. MSCI SOLUTIONS, BLOOMBERG, OR THEIR AFFILIATES ARE THE LICENSORS OF CERTAIN TRADEMARKS, SERVICE MARKS AND TRADE NAMES AND OF THE INDEXES WHICH ARE DETERMINED, COMPOSED AND CALCULATED BY BLOOMBERG AND/OR MSCI SOLUTIONS WITHOUT REGARD TO THIS FUND OR THE ISSUER OR OWNERS OF THIS FUND OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY. NONE OF THE INDEX PARTIES HAS ANY OBLIGATION TO TAKE THE NEEDS OF THE ISSUER OR OWNERS OF THIS FUND OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY INTO CONSIDERATION IN DETERMINING, COMPOSING OR CALCULATING THE INDEXES. NONE OF THE INDEX PARTIES IS RESPONSIBLE FOR OR HAS PARTICIPATED IN THE DETERMINATION OF THE TIMING OF, PRICES AT, OR QUANTITIES OF THIS FUND’S SHARES TO BE ISSUED OR IN
39


THE DETERMINATION OR CALCULATION OF THE EQUATION BY OR THE CONSIDERATION INTO WHICH THIS FUND’S SHARES ARE REDEEMABLE. FURTHER, NONE OF THE INDEX PARTIES HAS ANY OBLIGATION OR LIABILITY TO THE ISSUER OR OWNERS OF THIS FUND OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY IN CONNECTION WITH THE ADMINISTRATION, MARKETING OR OFFERING OF THIS FUND’S SHARES.
ALTHOUGH THE INDEX PARTIES SHALL OBTAIN INFORMATION FOR INCLUSION IN OR FOR USE IN THE CALCULATION OF THE INDEXES FROM SOURCES CONSIDERED RELIABLE, NONE OF THE INDEX PARTIES WARRANTS OR GUARANTEES THE ORIGINALITY, ACCURACY AND/OR THE COMPLETENESS OF ANY INDEX OR ANY DATA INCLUDED THEREIN. NONE OF THE INDEX PARTIES MAKES ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED BY THE ISSUER OF THE FUND, OWNERS OF THE FUND, OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY, FROM THE USE OF ANY INDEX OR ANY DATA INCLUDED THEREIN. NONE OF THE INDEX PARTIES SHALL HAVE ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS, OMISSIONS OR INTERRUPTIONS OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH ANY INDEX OR ANY DATA INCLUDED THEREIN. FURTHER, NONE OF THE INDEX PARTIES MAKES ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, AND THE INDEX PARTIES HEREBY EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO EACH INDEX AND ANY DATA INCLUDED THEREIN. WITHOUT LIMITING ANY OF THE FOREGOING, IN NO EVENT SHALL ANY OF THE INDEX PARTIES HAVE ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, CONSEQUENTIAL OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES (INCLUDING LOST PROFITS) EVEN IF NOTIFIED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. (Morningstar) is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. Morningstar offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, retirement plan providers and sponsors, and institutional investors in the debt and private capital markets. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data.
The following applies with respect to each Underlying Index provided by Morningstar:
The Fund is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Morningstar. Morningstar makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of shares of the Fund or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in the Fund in particular, or the ability of the Underlying Index to track general market performance. Morningstar's only relationship to the Trust and BFA or its affiliates is the licensing of certain trademarks and trade names of Morningstar and of the Underlying Index which is determined, composed and calculated by Morningstar without regard to the Trust, BFA or its affiliates or the Fund. Morningstar has no obligation to take the needs of BFA or its affiliates or the owners of shares of the Fund into consideration in determining, composing or calculating the Underlying Index. Morningstar is not responsible for and has not participated in the determination of the prices and amount of shares of the Fund, or the timing of the issuance or sale of such shares or in the determination or calculation of the equation by which shares of the Fund are to be converted into cash. Morningstar has no obligation or liability in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of shares of the Fund. Morningstar does not guarantee the accuracy or the completeness of the Underlying Index or any data included therein and Morningstar shall have no liability for any errors, omissions or interruptions therein.
Morningstar makes no warranty, express or implied, as to results to be obtained by BFA or its affiliates, owners of shares of the Fund or any other person or entity from the use of the Underlying Index or any data included therein. Morningstar makes no express or implied warranties and expressly disclaims all warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or use with respect to the Underlying Index or any data included therein. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall Morningstar have any liability for any special, punitive, direct, indirect or consequential damages (including lost profits) resulting from the use of the Underlying Index or any data included therein, even if notified of the possibility of such damages.
40


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