iShares Mortgage-Backed Securities Active ETF
2026
Prospectus
BlackRock
ETF Trust II
● iShares Mortgage-Backed Securities Active
ETF | MBBA | Cboe BZX
The Securities and Exchange Commission has not
approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this
prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
|
| Not FDIC Insured • May Lose Value • No Bank
Guarantee |
Table
of Contents
BlackRock® is a registered trademarks
of BlackRock Fund Advisors and its affiliates.
i
iSHARES
MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES ACTIVE ETF
Ticker:
MBBA Stock Exchange: Cboe BZX
Investment
Objective
The
investment objective of iShares Mortgage-Backed Securities Active ETF (the
“Fund”) is to seek to maximize total return, consistent with income generation
and prudent investment management.
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 BlackRock ETF Trust II (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 total returns of the Fund.
You
may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial
intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example
below.
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Annual Fund
Operating Expenses (ongoing
expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of
your investments) |
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Management Fees1,2 |
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Distribution and Service (12b‑1) Fees |
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Other Expenses3,4 |
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Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses4 |
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Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses4 |
|
Fee Waiver2 |
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Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver4 |
| 0.25% |
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None |
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0.00% |
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0.01% |
|
0.26% |
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(0.01)% |
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0.25% |
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1 |
Management Fees have been
restated to reflect the Fund’s current
fees. |
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2 |
As described in the Management section of the Fund’s
prospectus beginning on page 13, BFA 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 equity and fixed-income mutual funds and exchange-traded
funds (“ETFs”) advised by BFA or its affiliates through June 30, 2028. As
described in the Management
section of the Fund’s prospectus beginning on page 13, BFA 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 money market funds managed by
BFA or its affiliates through June 30,
2028. The agreement (with respect to either waiver) may be
terminated upon 90 days’ notice by a majority of the non-interested
trustees of the Trust or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting
securities of the Fund. |
| |
3 |
Other Expenses are based
on estimated amounts for the Fund’s current fiscal
year. |
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4 |
Total Annual
Fund Operating Expenses and Other Expenses do not correlate to the ratios
of expenses to average net assets given in the Fund’s most recent annual
financial statements and additional information, which do not include
Acquired Fund Fees and
Expenses. |
Example. This Example is
intended to help you compare the cost of owning shares of the Fund with the cost
of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the
Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end
of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return
each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your
actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs
would be:
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| 1 Year |
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3 Years |
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5 Years |
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10 Years |
| $26 |
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$82 |
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$144 |
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$329 |
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,
S-1
which
are not reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example,
affect the Fund’s performance. BlackRock Mortgage-Backed Securities Fund, a
series of BlackRock Funds V (the “Predecessor Fund”), was reorganized into the
Fund effective January 23, 2026. During the Fund’s fiscal year ended April 30,
2026, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 1,287% of the average value of its
portfolio. Effective April 30, 2026, the Fund changed its fiscal year end from
September 30 to April 30.
Principal Investment
Strategies.
Under normal
circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus any
borrowings for investment purposes, in mortgage-backed securities (“MBS”) and
derivatives that provide investment exposure to such securities or to one or
more market risk factors associated with such securities.
Such securities include, but are not limited to, securities issued
by Government National Mortgage Association (“GNMA”), Federal National Mortgage
Association (“Fannie Mae”) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie
Mac”) as well as other U.S. Government
securities.
The
Fund may participate in to be announced (“TBA”) transactions. A TBA transaction
is a method of trading MBS where the buyer and seller agree upon general trade
parameters such as agency, settlement date, par amount and price at the time the
contract is entered into but the MBS are delivered in the future, generally 30
days later. The actual pools of MBS delivered in a TBA transaction typically are
not determined until two days prior to settlement
date.
The
Fund measures its performance against the Bloomberg U.S. MBS Index (the
“Benchmark”). Under normal circumstances, the Fund seeks to maintain an average
portfolio duration that is within ±1 year of the duration of the
Benchmark.
The
Fund makes investments in residential and commercial MBS as well as other asset
backed securities.
The
Fund may buy or sell options or futures on a security or an index of securities,
or enter into credit default swaps and interest rate transactions, including
swaps (collectively, commonly known as derivatives). The Fund may seek to obtain
market exposure to the securities in which it primarily invests by entering into
a series of purchase and sale contracts or by using other investment techniques
(such as reverse repurchase agreements or dollar
rolls).
The
Fund typically uses derivatives as a substitute for taking a position in the
underlying asset and/or as
part
of a strategy designed to reduce exposure to other risks, such as interest rate
risk. From time to time, the Fund will use derivatives to enhance returns, in
which case their use would involve leveraging risk.
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. Unlike many exchange-traded
funds (“ETFs”), the Fund is not an index-based ETF. 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.
Mortgage- and
Asset-Backed Securities Risks. Mortgage- and asset-backed
securities represent interests in “pools” of mortgages or other assets,
including consumer loans or receivables held in trust. Mortgage- and
asset-backed securities are subject to credit, interest rate, prepayment and
extension risks. These securities also are subject to risk of default on
the underlying mortgage or asset, particularly during periods of economic
downturn. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases)
may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain mortgage-backed
securities.
Debt Securities
Risk. Debt securities, such
as bonds, involve risks, such as credit risk, interest rate risk, extension
risk, and prepayment risk, each of which are described in further detail
below:
Credit Risk. Credit risk refers to the
possibility that the issuer of a debt security (i.e., the borrower) will not be able to make
payments of interest and principal when due. Changes in an issuer’s credit
rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also
affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer. The degree of credit
risk depends on both the financial condition of the issuer and the terms of the
obligation.
Interest Rate Risk. The market value of bonds
and other fixed-income securities changes in response to interest rate changes
and other factors. Interest rate risk is the risk that prices of bonds and other
fixed-income securities will increase as interest rates fall and decrease as
interest rates rise.
S-2
The
Fund may be subject to a greater risk of rising interest rates during a period
of low interest rates. For example, if interest rates increase by 1%, assuming a
current portfolio duration of ten years, and all other factors being equal, the
value of the Fund’s investments would be expected to decrease by 10%. (Duration
is a measure of the price sensitivity of a debt security or portfolio of debt
securities to relative changes in interest rates.) The magnitude of these
fluctuations in the market price of bonds and other fixed-income securities is
generally greater for those securities with longer maturities. Fluctuations in
the market price of the Fund’s investments will not affect interest income
derived from instruments already owned by the Fund, but will be reflected in the
Fund’s net asset value. The Fund may lose money if short-term or long-term
interest rates rise sharply in a manner not anticipated by Fund
management.
To
the extent the Fund invests in debt securities that may be prepaid at the option
of the obligor (such as mortgage-backed securities), the sensitivity of such
securities to changes in interest rates may increase (to the detriment of the
Fund) when interest rates rise. Moreover, because rates on certain floating rate
debt securities typically reset only periodically, changes in prevailing
interest rates (and particularly sudden and significant changes) can be expected
to cause some fluctuations in the net asset value of the Fund to the extent that
it invests in floating rate debt
securities.
These
basic principles of bond prices also apply to U.S. Government securities. A
security backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Government is
guaranteed only as to its stated interest rate and face value at maturity, not
its current market price. Just like other fixed-income securities,
government-guaranteed securities will fluctuate in value when interest rates
change.
A
general rise in interest rates has the potential to cause investors to move out
of fixed-income securities on a large scale, which may increase redemptions from
funds that hold large amounts of fixed-income securities. Heavy redemptions
could cause the Fund to sell assets at inopportune times or at a loss or
depressed value and could hurt the Fund’s
performance.
Extension Risk. When interest rates rise,
certain obligations will be paid off by the obligor more slowly than
anticipated, causing the value of these obligations to
fall.
Prepayment Risk. When interest rates fall,
certain obligations will be paid off by the obligor more quickly than originally
anticipated, and the Fund may have to invest the proceeds in securities with
lower yields.
U.S. Government
Issuer Risk. Treasury obligations may differ in their interest
rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics. Obligations of
U.S. Government agencies and authorities are supported by varying degrees of
credit but generally are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S.
Government. No assurance can be given that the U.S. Government will provide
financial support to its agencies and authorities if it is not obligated by law
to do so.
Assets Under
Management (AUM) Risk. From
time to time, an Authorized Participant (as defined in the Creations and Redemptions section of the
Fund’s prospectus), 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. 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.
Cash Transactions
Risk. The Fund may effect some or all of its creations and
redemptions for cash, rather than in‑kind securities. As a result, the Fund may
have to sell portfolio securities at inopportune times in order to obtain the
cash needed to meet redemption orders. This may cause the Fund to sell a
security and recognize a capital gain or loss that might not have been incurred
if it had made a redemption in‑kind. The use of cash creations and redemptions
may also cause the Fund’s shares to trade in the market at wider bid‑ask spreads
or greater premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV.
S-3
Derivatives
Risk. The Fund’s use of derivatives may increase its costs, reduce
the Fund’s returns and/or increase volatility. Derivatives involve significant
risks, including:
Leverage Risk. The Fund’s use of derivatives
can magnify the Fund’s gains and losses. Relatively small market movements may
result in large changes in the value of a derivatives position and can result in
losses that greatly exceed the amount originally
invested.
Market Risk. Some derivatives are more
sensitive to interest rate changes and market price fluctuations than other
securities. The Fund could also suffer losses related to its derivatives
positions as a result of unanticipated market movements, which losses are
potentially unlimited. Finally, BFA may not be able to predict correctly the
direction of securities prices, interest rates and other economic factors, which
could cause the Fund’s derivatives positions to lose
value.
Counterparty Risk. Derivatives are also
subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the other party in the
transaction will be unable or unwilling to fulfill its contractual obligation,
and the related risks of having concentrated exposure to such a
counterparty.
Illiquidity Risk. The possible lack of a
liquid secondary market for derivatives and the resulting inability of the Fund
to sell or otherwise close a derivatives position could expose the Fund to
losses and could make derivatives more difficult for the Fund to value
accurately.
Operational Risk. The use of derivatives
includes the risk of potential operational issues, including documentation
issues, settlement issues, systems failures, inadequate controls and human
error.
Legal Risk. The risk of insufficient
documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of counterparty, or legality
or enforceability of a contract.
Volatility and Correlation Risk. Volatility is
defined as the characteristic of a security, an index or a market to fluctuate
significantly in price within a short time period. A risk of the Fund’s use of
derivatives is that the fluctuations in their values may not correlate with the
overall securities markets.
Valuation Risk. Valuation for derivatives may
not be readily available in the market. Valuation may be more difficult in times
of market turmoil since
many
investors and market makers may be reluctant to purchase complex instruments or
quote prices for them.
Hedging Risk. Hedges are sometimes subject to
imperfect matching between the derivative and the underlying security, and there
can be no assurance that the Fund’s hedging transactions will be effective. The
use of hedging may result in certain adverse tax
consequences.
Tax Risk. Certain aspects of the tax treatment
of derivative instruments, including swap agreements and commodity-linked
derivative instruments, are currently unclear and may be affected by changes in
legislation, regulations or other legally binding authority. Such treatment may
be less favorable than that given to a direct investment in an underlying asset
and may adversely affect the timing, character and amount of income the Fund
realizes from its investments.
Dollar Rolls
Risk. Dollar rolls involve the risk that the market value of the
securities that the Fund is committed to buy may decline below the price of
the securities the Fund has sold. These transactions may involve
leverage.
High Portfolio
Turnover Risk. The Fund may
engage in active and frequent trading of its portfolio securities. High
portfolio turnover (more than 100%) may result in increased transaction costs to
the Fund, including brokerage commissions, dealer mark ups and other transaction
costs on the sale of the securities and on reinvestment in other securities. The
sale of Fund portfolio securities may result in the realization and/or
distribution to shareholders of higher capital gains or losses as compared to a
fund with less active trading policies, such as index ETFs. These effects of
higher than normal portfolio turnover may adversely affect Fund performance. In
addition, investment in mortgage dollar rolls and participation in
to-be-announced (“TBA”) transactions may significantly increase the Fund’s
portfolio turnover rate. A TBA transaction is a method of trading
mortgage-backed securities where the buyer and seller agree upon general trade
parameters such as agency, settlement date, par amount, and price at the time
the contract is entered into but the mortgage-backed securities are delivered in
the future, generally 30 days later.
Large Shareholder and
Large-Scale Redemption Risk. Certain shareholders, including an
Authorized Participant, a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser
or
S-4
an
affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, a market maker, or another entity, may from
time to time own or manage a substantial amount of Fund shares, or may invest in
the Fund and hold their investment for a limited period of time. There can be no
assurance that any large shareholder or large group of shareholders would not
redeem their investment.
Redemptions
of a large number of Fund shares could require the Fund to dispose of assets to
meet the redemption requests, which can accelerate the realization of taxable
income and/or capital gains and cause the Fund to make taxable distributions to
its shareholders earlier than the Fund otherwise would have. In addition, under
certain circumstances, non‑redeeming shareholders may be treated as receiving a
disproportionately large taxable distribution during or with respect to such tax
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. To the extent the Fund permits redemptions in cash, these large
redemptions may also force the Fund to sell portfolio securities when it might
not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV, increase the
Fund’s brokerage costs and/or have a material effect on the market price of the
Fund shares.
Illiquid Investments
Risk. The Fund may not acquire any illiquid investment if,
immediately after the acquisition, the Fund would have invested more than 15% of
its net assets in illiquid investments. An illiquid investment is any investment
that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market
conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition
significantly changing the market value of the investment. Liquid investments
may become illiquid after purchase by the Fund, particularly during periods of
market turmoil. There can be no assurance that a security or instrument that is
deemed to be liquid when purchased will continue to be liquid for as long as it
is held by the Fund, and any security or instrument held by the Fund may be
deemed an illiquid investment pursuant to the Fund’s liquidity risk management
program. The Fund’s illiquid investments may reduce the returns of the Fund
because it may be difficult to sell the illiquid investments at an advantageous
time or price. In addition, if the Fund is limited in its ability to dispose of
illiquid investments during periods when shareholders are redeeming or selling
their shares or the Fund’s net assets otherwise shrink, the Fund will need to
dispose of liquid securities to meet redemption requests and illiquid securities
will become a larger portion of the Fund’s holdings.
An
investment
may be illiquid due to, among other things, the reduced number and capacity of
traditional market participants to make a market in fixed-income securities or
the lack of an active trading market. To the extent that the Fund’s principal
investment strategies involve derivatives or securities with substantial market
and/or credit risk, the Fund will tend to have greater exposure to the risks
associated with illiquid investments. Illiquid investments may be harder to
value, especially in changing markets, and if the Fund is forced to sell these
investments to meet redemption requests or for other cash needs, the Fund
may suffer a loss. This may be magnified in a rising interest rate environment
or other circumstances where investor redemptions or sales of Fund shares may be
higher than normal. In addition, when there is illiquidity in the market
for certain securities, the Fund, due to limitations on illiquid investments,
may be subject to purchase and sale restrictions. During periods of market
volatility, liquidity in the market for the Fund’s shares may be impacted by the
liquidity in the market for the underlying securities or instruments held by the
Fund, which could lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to
the Fund’s NAV.
Leverage
Risk. Some transactions may
give rise to a form of economic leverage. These transactions may include, among
others, derivatives, and may expose the Fund to greater risk and increase its
costs. The use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions
when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet
the applicable requirements of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended
(the “Investment Company Act”), and the rules thereunder. Increases and
decreases in the value of the Fund’s portfolio will be magnified when the Fund
uses leverage.
Market Risk and
Selection Risk. Market risk
is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in
value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and
unpredictably. An investor could lose money over short periods due to
fluctuation in the Fund’s net asset value in response to short-term market
movements and over longer periods during market downturns. Securities or other
investments held by the Fund may underperform the markets, the relevant indices
or benchmarks, or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment
objectives and investment strategies, or may otherwise fail to perform as
intended. The value of a security or other asset may decline due to changes in
general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically
related to the issuer of the security or
S-5
other
asset, or factors that affect a particular issuer or issuers, exchange, country,
group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, sector or
asset class. The success of a Fund’s activities could be affected by interest
rates, availability of credit, inflation rates, economic uncertainty, changes in
laws, tariffs and trade barriers, supply chain disruptions, economic sanctions,
currency exchange controls, and local, regional or global events such as war,
acts of terrorism, natural and environmental disasters, the spread of infectious
illness or other public health issues, recessions, or other
events.
Recent
policy initiatives undertaken by the U.S. government have the potential to
impact international relations, trade agreements and the overall regulatory
environment in ways that could create uncertainty and instability in domestic
and global markets, and could adversely affect the investment performance of the
Fund. In particular, actions taken by the U.S. government in respect of
international trade relations could lead to trade wars, increased costs for
imported goods, disruptions in supply chains, reduced foreign investment, and
instability in regions where the Fund
invests.
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.
Repurchase Agreements
and Purchase and Sale Contracts Risk. If the other party to a
repurchase agreement or purchase and sale contract defaults on its
obligation under the agreement, the Fund may suffer delays and incur costs
or lose money in exercising its rights under the agreement. If the seller fails
to repurchase the security in either situation and the market value of the
security declines, the Fund may lose money.
Reverse Repurchase
Agreements Risk. Reverse repurchase agreements involve the sale of
securities held by the Fund with an agreement to repurchase the securities
at an agreed-upon price, date and interest payment. Reverse repurchase
agreements involve the risk that the other party may fail to return the
securities in a timely manner or at all. The Fund could lose money if it is
unable to recover the securities and the value of the collateral held by
the Fund, including the value of the investments made with cash collateral,
is less than the value of the securities. These events could also trigger
adverse tax consequences for the Fund. In addition, reverse repurchase
agreements involve the risk that the interest income earned in the
investment of the proceeds will be less than the
interest expense.
Risk of Investing in
the United States. Certain
changes in the U.S. economy, such as when the U.S. economy weakens or when
its financial markets decline, may have an adverse effect on the securities to
which the Fund has exposure.
Performance
Information
The
returns presented for the Fund reflect the performance of the Predecessor Fund.
Effective January 23, 2026, the Fund adopted performance of the Predecessor Fund
as a result of a reorganization in which the Fund acquired all of the assets and
assumed certain stated liabilities of the Predecessor Fund (the
“Reorganization”). Performance shown below is based on the investment objective
and investment strategies utilized by the Predecessor Fund, which were the same
as those of the Fund. The Predecessor Fund was a mutual fund that was managed by
a different investment adviser that was under common control with BFA and had
the same portfolio management team as that of the Fund. The returns presented
for the Fund reflect the performance of Institutional Shares of the Predecessor
Fund. The Predecessor Fund acquired
S-6
all
of the assets, subject to the liabilities, of BlackRock GNMA Portfolio, a series
of BlackRock Funds II, as a result of a different reorganization on September
17, 2018. The performance information of the Predecessor Fund below is based on
the performance of the BlackRock GNMA Portfolio for periods prior to the date of
such reorganization. The BlackRock GNMA Portfolio had the same investment
objective, strategies and policies, portfolio management team and contractual
arrangements, including the same contractual fees and expenses, as the
Predecessor Fund as of the date of such reorganization. The Predecessor Fund’s
and the BlackRock GNMA Portfolio’s total returns prior to January 28, 2025 as
reflected in the bar chart and table are the returns of the Predecessor Fund and
the BlackRock GNMA Portfolio, as applicable, when each followed a different
investment objective and different investment strategies and process under the
name “BlackRock GNMA Portfolio.”
The information
shows you how the Fund’s performance has varied year by year and provides some
indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The table
compares the Fund’s performance to that of the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond
Index and the Bloomberg U.S. MBS Index. As with all such investments,
past performance (before and after taxes) is not an indication of future
results. If the Fund’s investment manager and its affiliates had
not waived or reimbursed certain Fund expenses during these periods, the Fund’s
returns would have been lower.
ANNUAL
TOTAL RETURNS
iShares
Mortgage-Backed Securities Active ETF1
As
of 12/31
| 1 |
The Fund’s year-to-date return as of
June 30, 2026
was 1.31%. |
During
the ten-year period shown in the bar chart, the highest return for a
quarter was 7.23% (quarter ended December 31, 2023)
and the lowest return for a
quarter was -5.45% (quarter ended September 30,
2022).
Updated
performance information, including the Fund’s current NAV, may be obtained by
visiting our website at www.blackrock.com
or by calling 1-800-474-2737 (toll
free).
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Average Annual
Total Returns
For the periods ended
12/31/25 |
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1 Year |
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5 Years |
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10 Years |
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iShares
Mortgage-Backed Securities Active ETF |
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Return
Before Taxes |
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8.48 |
% |
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(0.02 |
)% |
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1.37 |
% |
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Return
after Taxes on Distributions |
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6.59 |
% |
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|
(1.29 |
)% |
|
|
0.04 |
% |
|
Return
after Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
|
|
5.00 |
% |
|
|
(0.56 |
)% |
|
|
0.47 |
% |
|
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index
(Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
|
|
7.30 |
% |
|
|
(0.36 |
)% |
|
|
2.01 |
% |
|
Bloomberg U.S. MBS Index (Reflects no
deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
|
|
8.58 |
% |
|
|
0.15 |
% |
|
|
1.59 |
% |
S-7
Management
Investment Adviser. The Fund’s investment
adviser is BlackRock Fund Advisors.
Portfolio Managers. Matthew Kraeger, Daniel
Someck, Nicholas Kramvis and Siddharth Mehta (the “Portfolio Managers”) are
jointly and primarily responsible for the day to day management of the Fund.
Including the management of the Predecessor Fund, Messrs. Kraeger, Someck,
Kramvis and Mehta have been Portfolio Managers of the Fund since 2009, 2025,
2025 and 2017, respectively.
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.
S-8
More
Information About the Fund
This
Prospectus contains important information about investing in the Fund. Please
read this Prospectus carefully before you make any investment decisions.
Additional information regarding the Fund is available at www.blackrock.com.
The
Fund is an actively managed ETF and, thus, does not seek to replicate the
performance of a specified index. Accordingly, the management team has
discretion on a daily basis to manage the Fund’s portfolio in accordance with
the Fund’s investment objective.
ETFs
are funds that trade like other publicly-traded securities. Similar to shares of
a mutual fund, each share of the Fund represents an ownership interest in an
underlying portfolio of securities and other instruments. Unlike shares of a
mutual fund, which can be bought and redeemed from the issuing fund by all
shareholders at a price based on NAV, shares of the Fund may be purchased or
redeemed directly from the Fund at NAV solely by Authorized Participants and
only in aggregations of a specified number of shares (“Creation Units”). Also
unlike shares of a mutual fund, shares of the Fund are listed on a national
securities exchange and trade in the secondary market at market prices that
change throughout the day.
Investment Objective. The investment objective
of the Fund is to seek to maximize total return, consistent with income
generation and prudent investment management.
The
Fund’s investment objective is a non‑fundamental policy and may be changed
without shareholder approval.
Additional
Information on Principal Investment Strategies.
Under
normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus any
borrowings for investment purposes, in mortgage-backed securities (“MBS”) and
derivatives that provide investment exposure to such securities or to one or
more market risk factors associated with such securities. Such securities
include, but are not limited to, securities issued by Government National
Mortgage Association (“GNMA”), Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie
Mae”) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”) as well as
other U.S. Government securities. The 80% policy is
a non‑fundamental policy of the Fund and may not be changed without 60
days’ prior notice to shareholders.
The
Fund may participate in to be announced (“TBA”) transactions. A TBA transaction
is a method of trading MBS where the buyer and seller agree upon general trade
parameters such as agency, settlement date, par amount and price at the time the
contract is entered into but the MBS are delivered in the future, generally 30
days later. The actual pools of MBS delivered in a TBA transaction typically are
not determined until two days prior to settlement date.
Under
normal circumstances, the Fund seeks to maintain an average portfolio duration
that is within ±1 year of the duration of the Bloomberg U.S. MBS Index. Duration
is a mathematical calculation of the average life of a bond (or bonds in a bond
fund) that serves as a useful measure of its price risk. Each year of duration
represents an expected 1% change in the net asset value of a bond fund for every
1% immediate change in interest rates. For example, if a bond fund has an
average duration of four years, its net asset value will fall about 4% when
interest rates rise by one percentage point. Conversely, the bond fund’s net
asset value will rise about 4% when interest rates fall by one percentage point.
Duration, which measures price sensitivity to interest rate changes, is not
necessarily equal to average maturity. As of June 30, 2026 the duration of the
Bloomberg U.S. MBS Index was 5.40 years, as calculated by BFA.
The
Fund makes investments in residential and commercial MBS as well as other asset
backed securities. Asset-backed securities are bonds that are backed by a pool
of assets, usually loans such as installment sale contracts or credit card
receivables. MBS are asset-backed securities based on a particular type of
asset, a mortgage. There is a wide variety of MBS involving commercial or
residential, fixed rate or adjustable rate mortgages and mortgages issued by
banks or government agencies.
The
Fund may buy or sell options or futures on a security or an index of securities,
or enter into credit default swaps and interest rate transactions, including
swaps (collectively, commonly known as derivatives). In entering into a credit
default swap, one party would pay a counterparty a periodic stream of payments
over the term of the contract, provided that no event of default on a specific
bond has occurred. In return, upon any event of default on such bond, the first
party would receive from the counterparty a payment equal to the par (or other
agreed-upon) value of such bond. An option is the right to buy or sell a
security or an index of securities at a specific price on or before a specific
1
date.
A future is an agreement to buy or sell a security or an index of securities at
a specific price on a specific date. A swap is an agreement whereby one party
exchanges its right to receive or its obligation to pay one type of interest for
another party’s obligation to pay or its right to receive another type of
interest in the future or for a period of time. The Fund typically uses
derivatives as a substitute for taking a position in the underlying asset and/or
as part of a strategy designed to reduce exposure to other risks, such as
interest rate risk. From time to time, the Fund will use derivatives to enhance
returns, in which case their use would involve leveraging risk.
The
Fund may seek to obtain market exposure to the securities in which it primarily
invests by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts or by using
other investment techniques (such as reverse repurchase agreements or dollar
rolls). A dollar roll transaction involves a sale by the Fund of a
mortgage-backed or other security concurrently with an agreement by the Fund to
repurchase a similar security at a later date at an agreed-upon price. The
securities that are repurchased will bear the same interest rate and stated
maturity as those sold, but pools of mortgages collateralizing those securities
may have different prepayment histories than those sold.
Investment Process. BlackRock considers a variety of factors when
choosing investments. Securities are purchased for the Fund when the management
team determines that such securities have the potential for above-average total
return. Fund management will consider selling a security when it determines that
such security no longer offers value.
The
Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities to
achieve its primary investment strategies.
Other Strategies Applicable to the Fund. In addition to the
principal strategies discussed above, the Fund may also invest or engage in the
following investments/strategies:
| |
• |
|
Borrowing — The Fund may borrow
for temporary or emergency purposes, including to meet redemptions, for
the payment of dividends, for share repurchases or for the clearance of
transactions, subject to the limits set forth under the Investment Company
Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive
relief. |
| |
• |
|
Investment
Companies — The Fund has the ability
to invest in other investment companies, such as exchange-traded funds,
unit investment trusts, and open‑end and closed‑end funds, subject to the
applicable limits under the Investment Company Act and the rules
thereunder. The Fund may invest in affiliated investment
companies, including affiliated money market funds and affiliated
exchange-traded funds. |
| |
• |
|
Securities
Lending — The Fund may lend securities with a value up to
331⁄3% of its total assets to financial
institutions that provide cash or securities issued or guaranteed by the
U.S. Government as collateral. |
| |
• |
|
Short
Sales — The Fund may make short sales of securities, either
as a hedge against potential declines in value of a portfolio
security or to realize appreciation when a security that the Fund does not
own declines in value. The Fund will not make a short sale if, after
giving effect to such sale, the market value of all securities sold
short exceeds 10% of the value of its total assets. The Fund may also
make short sales “against‑the‑box” without regard to this
restriction. In this type of short sale, at the time of the sale, the Fund
owns or has the immediate and unconditional right to acquire the
identical security at no additional cost. |
| |
• |
|
Temporary
Defensive Strategies — For temporary defensive purposes, for
example, to respond to adverse market, economic, political or other
conditions, the Fund may depart from its principal investment strategies
and may restrict the markets in which it invests and may invest without
limitation in cash, cash equivalents, money market securities, such as
U.S. Treasury and agency obligations, other U.S. Government securities,
short-term debt obligations of corporate issuers, certificates of deposit,
bankers acceptances, commercial paper (short-term, unsecured, negotiable
promissory notes of a domestic or foreign issuer) or other high quality
fixed-income securities. Temporary defensive positions may affect the
Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective.
|
| |
• |
|
When-Issued and
Delayed Delivery Securities and Forward
Commitments — The purchase or sale of securities
on a when-issued basis, on a delayed delivery basis or through a
forward commitment involves the purchase or sale of securities by the
Fund at an established price with payment and delivery taking place in the
future. The Fund enters into these transactions to obtain what is
considered an advantageous price to the Fund at the time of entering
into the transaction. |
A
Further Discussion of Principal Risks
The
Fund is subject to various risks, including the principal risks noted below, any
of which may adversely affect the Fund’s NAV, trading price, yield, total return
and ability to meet its investment objective. You could lose all or part of
2
your
investment in the Fund, and the Fund could underperform other investments. The
order of the below risk factors does not indicate the significance of any
particular risk factor. The Fund discloses its portfolio holdings daily at
www.blackrock.com.
Assets Under
Management (AUM) Risk. From
time to time, an Authorized Participant (as defined in the Creations and Redemptions section of
Prospectus), 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. Only an Authorized Participant (as defined in
the Creations and Redemptions section of
this Prospectus) 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.
Cash Transactions
Risk. The Fund may effect
part or all of its creations and redemptions for cash, rather than in‑kind
securities. Paying redemption proceeds in cash rather than through in‑kind
delivery of portfolio securities may require the Fund to dispose of or sell
portfolio securities or other assets at an inopportune time to obtain the cash
needed to meet redemption orders. This may cause the Fund to sell a security and
recognize a capital gain or loss that might not have been incurred if it had
made a redemption in‑kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher or lower
annual capital gains distributions than ETFs that redeem in‑kind. The use of
cash creations and redemptions may also cause the Fund’s shares to trade in the
market at greater bid‑ask spreads or greater premiums or discounts to the Fund’s
NAV. Furthermore, the Fund may not be able to execute cash transactions for
creation and redemption purposes at the same price used to determine the Fund’s
NAV. To the extent that the maximum additional charge for creation or redemption
transactions is insufficient to cover the execution shortfall, the Fund’s
performance could be negatively impacted.
Debt Securities
Risk. Debt securities, such
as bonds, involve risks, such as credit risk, interest rate risk, extension
risk, and prepayment risk, each of which are described in further detail below:
Credit Risk. Credit risk refers to the
possibility that the issuer of a debt security (i.e., the borrower) will not be able to make
payments of interest and principal when due. Changes in an issuer’s credit
rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also
affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer. The degree of credit
risk depends on both the financial condition of the issuer and the terms of the
obligation.
Interest Rate Risk. The market value of bonds
and other fixed-income securities changes in response to interest rate changes
and other factors. Interest rate risk is the risk that prices of bonds and other
fixed-income securities will increase as interest rates fall and decrease as
interest rates rise.
The
Fund may be subject to a greater risk of rising interest rates during a period
of low interest rates. For example, if interest rates increase by 1%, assuming a
current portfolio duration of ten years, and all other factors being equal, the
value of the Fund’s investments would be expected to decrease by 10%. (Duration
is a measure of the price sensitivity of a debt security or portfolio of debt
securities to relative changes in interest rates.) The magnitude of these
fluctuations in the market price of bonds and other fixed-income securities is
generally greater for those securities with longer maturities. Fluctuations in
the market price of the Fund’s investments will not affect interest income
derived from instruments already owned by the Fund, but will be reflected in the
Fund’s net asset value. The Fund may lose money if short-term or long-term
interest rates rise sharply in a manner not anticipated by Fund management.
To
the extent the Fund invests in debt securities that may be prepaid at the option
of the obligor (such as mortgage-backed securities), the sensitivity of such
securities to changes in interest rates may increase (to the detriment of the
Fund) when interest rates rise. Moreover, because rates on certain floating rate
debt securities typically reset only periodically, changes in prevailing
interest rates (and particularly sudden and significant changes) can be expected
to cause some fluctuations in the net asset value of the Fund to the extent that
it invests in floating rate debt securities.
3
These
basic principles of bond prices also apply to U.S. Government securities. A
security backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Government is
guaranteed only as to its stated interest rate and face value at maturity, not
its current market price. Just like other fixed-income securities,
government-guaranteed securities will fluctuate in value when interest rates
change.
Changing
interest rates may have unpredictable effects on markets, may result in
heightened market volatility, and could negatively impact the Fund’s
performance. A general rise in interest rates has the potential to cause
investors to move out of fixed-income securities on a large scale, which may
increase redemptions from mutual funds that hold large amounts of fixed-income
securities. Heavy redemptions could cause the Fund to sell assets at inopportune
times or at a loss or depressed value and could hurt the Fund’s performance.
During
periods of very low or negative interest rates, the Fund may be unable to
maintain positive returns. Certain countries have recently experienced negative
interest rates on certain fixed-income instruments. Very low or negative
interest rates may magnify interest rate risk. Changing interest rates,
including rates that fall below zero, may have unpredictable effects on markets,
may result in heightened market volatility and may detract from Fund performance
to the extent the Fund is exposed to such interest rates.
Extension Risk. When interest rates rise,
certain obligations will be paid off by the obligor more slowly than
anticipated, causing the value of these obligations to fall. Rising interest
rates tend to extend the duration of securities, making them more sensitive to
changes in interest rates. The value of longer-term securities generally changes
more in response to changes in interest rates than shorter-term securities. As a
result, in a period of rising interest rates, securities may exhibit additional
volatility and may lose value.
Prepayment Risk. When interest rates fall,
certain obligations will be paid off by the obligor more quickly than originally
anticipated, and the Fund may have to invest the proceeds in securities with
lower yields. In periods of falling interest rates, the rate of prepayments
tends to increase (as does price fluctuation) as borrowers are motivated to pay
off debt and refinance at new lower rates. During such periods, reinvestment of
the prepayment proceeds by the management team will generally be at lower rates
of return than the return on the assets that were prepaid. Prepayment reduces
the yield to maturity and the average life of the security.
Derivatives Risk.
The Fund’s use of derivatives may increase its costs, reduce the
Fund’s returns and/or increase volatility. Derivatives involve significant
risks, including:
Leverage Risk. The Fund’s use of derivatives
can magnify the Fund’s gains and losses. Relatively small market movements may
result in large changes in the value of a derivatives position and can result in
losses that greatly exceed the amount originally invested.
Market Risk. Some derivatives are more
sensitive to interest rate changes and market price fluctuations than other
securities. The Fund could also suffer losses related to its derivatives
positions as a result of unanticipated market movements, which losses are
potentially unlimited. Finally, BFA may not be able to predict correctly the
direction of securities prices, interest rates and other economic factors, which
could cause the Fund’s derivatives positions to lose value.
Counterparty Risk. Derivatives are also
subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the other party in the
transaction will be unable or unwilling to fulfill its contractual obligation,
and the related risks of having concentrated exposure to such a counterparty.
Illiquidity Risk. The possible lack of a
liquid secondary market for derivatives and the resulting inability of the Fund
to sell or otherwise close a derivatives position could expose the Fund to
losses and could make derivatives more difficult for the Fund to value
accurately.
Operational Risk. The use of derivatives
includes the risk of potential operational issues, including documentation
issues, settlement issues, systems failures, inadequate controls and human
error.
Legal Risk. The risk of insufficient
documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of counterparty, or legality
or enforceability of a contract.
4
Volatility and Correlation Risk. The Fund’s
use of derivatives may reduce the Fund’s returns and/or increase volatility.
Volatility is defined as the characteristic of a security, an index or a market
to fluctuate significantly in price within a short time period. A risk of the
Fund’s use of derivatives is that the fluctuations in their values may not
correlate with the overall securities markets.
Valuation Risk. Valuation for derivatives may
not be readily available in the market. Valuation may be more difficult in times
of market turmoil since many investors and market makers may be reluctant to
purchase complex instruments or quote prices for them. Derivatives may also
expose the Fund to greater risk and increase its costs. Certain transactions in
derivatives involve substantial leverage risk and may expose the Fund to
potential losses that exceed the amount originally invested by the Fund.
Hedging Risk. When a derivative is used as a
hedge against a position that the Fund holds, any loss generated by the
derivative generally should be substantially offset by gains on the hedged
investment, and vice versa. While hedging can reduce or eliminate losses, it can
also reduce or eliminate gains. Hedges are sometimes subject to imperfect
matching between the derivative and the underlying security, and there can be no
assurance that the Fund’s hedging transactions will be effective. The use of
hedging may result in certain adverse tax consequences noted below.
Tax Risk. The federal income tax treatment of
a derivative may not be as favorable as a direct investment in an underlying
asset and may adversely affect the timing, character and amount of income the
Fund realizes from its investments. As a result, a larger portion of the Fund’s
distributions may be treated as ordinary income rather than capital gains. In
addition, certain derivatives are subject to mark‑to‑market or straddle
provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal
Revenue Code”). If such provisions are applicable, there could be an increase
(or decrease) in the amount of taxable dividends paid by the Fund. In addition,
the tax treatment of certain derivatives, such as swaps, is unsettled and may be
subject to future legislation, regulation or administrative pronouncements
issued by the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”).
Regulatory Risk. Derivative contracts are
subject to regulation under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer
Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) in the United States and under comparable
regimes in Europe, Asia and other non‑U.S. jurisdictions. Under the Dodd-Frank
Act, with respect to uncleared swaps, swap dealers are required to exchange
variation margin with the Fund and may be required by applicable regulations to
collect and/or exchange initial margin with the Fund. Both initial and variation
margin may be comprised of cash and/or securities, subject to applicable
regulatory haircuts. In certain cases, shares of investment companies may not be
posted as collateral under applicable regulations. In addition, regulations
adopted by global prudential regulators require certain bank-regulated
counterparties and certain of their affiliates to include in certain financial
contracts, including many derivatives contracts, terms that delay or restrict
the rights of counterparties, such as the Fund, to terminate such contracts,
foreclose upon collateral, exercise other default rights or restrict transfers
of credit support in the event that the counterparty and/or its affiliates are
subject to certain types of resolution or insolvency proceedings. The
implementation of these requirements with respect to derivatives, as well as
regulations under global regulations regarding clearing, mandatory trading and
margining of other derivatives, may increase the costs and risks to the Fund of
trading in these instruments and, as a result, may affect returns to investors
in the Fund.
Future
regulatory developments may impact the Fund’s ability to invest or remain
invested in certain derivatives. Legislation or regulation may also change the
way in which the Fund itself is regulated. BFA cannot predict the effects of any
new governmental regulation that may be implemented on the ability of the Fund
to use swaps or any other financial derivative product, and there can be no
assurance that any new governmental regulation will not adversely affect the
Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective.
Risks Specific to Certain Derivatives Used by the
Fund
Swaps. Swap agreements, including total
return swaps that may be referred to as contracts for difference, are two-party
contracts entered into for periods ranging from a few days to more than one
year. In a standard “swap” transaction, two parties agree to exchange the
value(s) or cash flow(s) of one asset for another over a certain period of time.
Swap agreements involve the risk that the party with whom the Fund has entered
into the swap will default on its obligation to pay the Fund and the risk that
the Fund will not be able to meet its obligations to pay the other party to the
agreement. Swap agreements may also involve the risk that there is an imperfect
correlation between the return on the Fund’s obligation to its counterparty and
the return on the referenced asset. In addition, swap agreements are subject to
market and illiquidity risk, leverage risk and hedging risk.
5
Credit Default Swaps. Credit default
swaps may have as reference obligations one or more securities that are not
currently held by the Fund. The protection “buyer” may be obligated to pay the
protection “seller” an up-front payment or a periodic stream of payments over
the term of the contract, provided generally that no credit event on a reference
obligation has occurred. Credit default swaps involve special risks in addition
to those mentioned above because they are difficult to value, are highly
susceptible to illiquid investments risk and credit risk, and generally pay a
return to the party that has paid the premium only in the event of an actual
default by the issuer of the underlying obligation (as opposed to a credit
downgrade or other indication of financial difficulty).
Futures. Futures are standardized,
exchange-traded contracts that obligate a purchaser to take delivery, and a
seller to make delivery, of a specific amount of an asset at a specified future
date at a specified price. The primary risks associated with the use of futures
contracts and options are: (a) the imperfect correlations between the change in
market value of the instruments held by the Fund and the price of the futures
contract or option; (b) the possible lack of a liquid secondary market for a
futures contract and the resulting inability to close a futures contract when
desired; (c) losses caused by unanticipated market movements, which are
potentially unlimited; (d) the investment adviser’s inability to predict
correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates, currency exchange
rates and other economic factors; and (e) the possibility that the counterparty
will default in the performance of its obligations.
Options. An option is an agreement that,
for a premium payment or fee, gives the option holder (the purchaser) the right
but not the obligation to buy (a “call option”) or sell (a “put option”) the
underlying asset (or settle for cash in an amount based on an underlying asset,
rate, or index) at a specified price (the “exercise price”) during a period of
time or on a specified date. Investments in options are considered speculative.
When the Fund purchases an option, it may lose the total premium paid for it if
the price of the underlying security or other assets decreased, remained the
same or failed to increase to a level at or beyond the exercise price (in the
case of a call option) or increased, remained the same or failed to decrease to
a level at or below the exercise price (in the case of a put option). If a put
or call option purchased by the Fund were permitted to expire without being sold
or exercised, its premium would represent a loss to the Fund. To the extent that
the Fund writes or sells an option, if the decline or increase in the underlying
asset is significantly below or above the exercise price of the written option,
the Fund could experience a substantial loss.
Dollar Rolls Risk.
A dollar roll transaction involves a sale by the Fund of a
mortgage-backed, U.S. Treasury or other security (as permitted by the Fund’s
investment strategies) concurrently with an agreement by the Fund to repurchase
a similar security at a later date at an agreed-upon price. The market value of
the securities the Fund is required to purchase may decline below the agreed
upon repurchase price of those securities. If the broker/dealer to whom the Fund
sells securities becomes insolvent, the Fund’s right to purchase or repurchase
securities may be restricted. Successful use of dollar rolls may depend upon the
adviser’s ability to correctly predict interest rates and prepayments, depending
on the underlying security. There is no assurance that dollar rolls can be
successfully employed.
High Portfolio
Turnover Risk. The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading
of its portfolio securities. High portfolio turnover (more than 100%) may result
in increased transaction costs to the Fund, including brokerage commissions,
dealer mark ups and other transaction costs on the sale of the securities and on
reinvestment in other securities. The sale of Fund portfolio securities may
result in the realization and/or distribution to shareholders of higher capital
gains or losses as compared to a fund with less active trading policies, such as
index ETFs. These effects of higher than normal portfolio turnover may adversely
affect Fund performance. In addition, investment in mortgage dollar rolls and
participation in TBA transactions may significantly increase the Fund’s
portfolio turnover rate. A TBA transaction is a method of trading
mortgage-backed securities where the buyer and seller agree upon general trade
parameters such as agency, settlement date, par amount, and price at the time
the contract is entered into but the mortgage-backed securities are delivered in
the future, generally 30 days later.
Illiquid Investments
Risk. The Fund may not acquire any illiquid
investment if, immediately after the acquisition, the Fund would have invested
more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments. An illiquid investment
is any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of
in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or
disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. Liquid
investments may become illiquid after purchase by the Fund, particularly during
periods of market turmoil. There can be no assurance that a security or
instrument that is deemed to be liquid when purchased will continue to be liquid
for as long as it is held by the Fund, and any security or instrument held by
the Fund may be deemed an illiquid investment pursuant to the Fund’s liquidity
risk management program. The Fund’s illiquid investments may reduce the returns
of the Fund because it may be difficult to sell the illiquid investments at an
advantageous time or price. In addition, if the Fund
is
limited in its ability to dispose of illiquid investments during periods when
shareholders are redeeming or selling their
6
shares
or the Fund’s net assets otherwise shrink, the Fund will need to dispose of
liquid securities to meet redemption requests and illiquid securities will
become a larger portion of the Fund’s holdings. An investment may be illiquid
due to, among other things, the reduced number and capacity of traditional
market participants to make a market in fixed-income securities or the lack of
an active trading market. To the extent that the Fund’s principal investment
strategies involve derivatives or securities with substantial market and/or
credit risk, the Fund will tend to have greater exposure to the risks associated
with illiquid investments. Illiquid investments may be harder to value,
especially in changing markets, and if the Fund is forced to sell these
investments to meet redemption requests or for other cash needs, the Fund may
suffer a loss. This may be magnified in a rising interest rate environment or
other circumstances where investor redemptions or sales of Fund shares may be
higher than normal. In addition, when there is illiquidity in the market for
certain securities, the Fund, due to limitations on illiquid investments, may be
subject to purchase and sale restrictions. During periods of market volatility,
liquidity in the market for the Fund’s shares may be impacted by the liquidity
in the market for the underlying securities or instruments held by the Fund,
which could lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to the
Fund’s NAV.
Large Shareholder and
Large-Scale Redemption Risk. Certain shareholders, including an
Authorized Participant, a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser or an
affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, a market maker, or another entity, may from
time to time own or manage a substantial amount of Fund shares, including funds
or accounts over which the Fund’s adviser has discretion, or may invest in the
Fund and hold their investment 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 the Fund would be maintained.
Redemptions of a large number of Fund shares by these shareholders may adversely
affect the Fund’s liquidity and net assets. To the extent the Fund permits
redemptions in cash, these redemptions may force the Fund to sell portfolio
securities when it might not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the
Fund’s NAV, have a material effect on the market price of the Shares and
increase the Fund’s brokerage costs and/or accelerate the realization of taxable
income and/or 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 tax
year. The effects of taxable income and/or gains resulting from such
transactions would particularly impact non-redeeming shareholders who do not
hold their Fund shares in an IRA, 401(k) plan or other tax-advantaged plan. To
the extent that such transactions result in short-term capital gains, such gains
will generally be taxed at the ordinary income tax rate for shareholders who
hold Fund shares in a taxable account. The Fund also may be required to sell its
more liquid Fund 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 shares on the
secondary market, such transactions may account for a large percentage of the
trading volume for the shares of the Fund and may, therefore, have a material
upward or downward effect on the market price of the Fund 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.
Leverage Risk.
Some transactions may give rise to a form of economic leverage.
These transactions may include, among others, derivatives, and may expose the
Fund to greater risk and increase its costs. As an open‑end investment company
registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), the Fund is
subject to the federal securities laws, including the Investment Company Act and
the rules thereunder. Under Rule 18f‑4 under the Investment Company Act, among
other things, the Fund must either use derivatives in a limited manner or comply
with an outer limit on fund leverage risk based on value‑at‑risk. The use of
leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be
advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet the applicable
requirements of the Investment Company Act and the rules thereunder. Increases
and decreases in the value of the Fund’s portfolio will be magnified when the
Fund uses leverage.
Market Risk and
Selection Risk. Market risk is the risk that one or more markets
in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that
the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. The value of a security or
other asset may decline due to changes in general market conditions, economic
trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security
or other asset, or factors that affect a particular issuer or issuers, exchange,
country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries,
sector or asset class. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of
terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues like
pandemics or epidemics, recessions, or other events could have a significant
impact on the Fund and its investments. Selection risk is the risk that the
securities selected by Fund management will underperform the markets,
7
the
relevant indices or the securities selected by other funds with similar
investment objectives and investment strategies. This means you may lose money.
Recent
policy initiatives undertaken by the U.S. government have the potential to
impact international relations, trade agreements and the overall regulatory
environment in ways that could create uncertainty and instability in domestic
and global markets, and could adversely affect the investment performance of the
Fund. In particular, actions taken by the U.S. government in respect of
international trade relations could lead to trade wars, increased costs for
imported goods, disruptions in supply chains, reduced foreign investment, and
instability in regions where the Fund invests.
Market Trading
Risk. The 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. The 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 the
Fund’s shares will continue to trade on any such stock exchange or in any market
or that the Fund’s shares will continue to meet the requirements for exchange
listing or market trading. The 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 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 the
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 the 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 the 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 the Fund’s
creation/redemption process, affect the price at which Fund shares trade in the
secondary market, and result in the Fund being unable to trade certain
securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, the Fund may be
unable to rebalance its portfolio or accurately price its portfolio holdings and
may incur substantial trading losses Shares of the 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
the 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 the Fund trade on stock exchanges at prices at, above or
below the Fund’s most recent NAV. The 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 the 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 the Fund’s shares may deviate significantly from NAV during
times of market volatility, significant redemption requests, or other unusual
market conditions.
8
However,
because Fund shares can be created and redeemed in Creation Units at NAV, BFA
believes that large discounts or premiums to the 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 the Fund has more trading volume and
market liquidity and wider if the 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.
Mortgage- and
Asset-Backed Securities Risks. Mortgage-backed securities
(residential and commercial) and asset-backed securities represent interests in
“pools” of mortgages or other assets, including consumer loans or receivables
held in trust. Although asset-backed and commercial mortgage-backed securities
(“CMBS”) generally experience less prepayment than residential mortgage-backed
securities, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, like traditional
fixed-income securities, are subject to credit, interest rate, prepayment and
extension risks.
Small
movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and
significantly reduce the value of certain mortgage-backed securities. The Fund’s
investments in asset-backed securities are subject to risks similar to those
associated with mortgage-related securities, as well as additional risks
associated with the nature of the assets and the servicing of those assets.
These securities also are subject to the risk of default on the underlying
mortgages or assets, particularly during periods of economic downturn. Certain
CMBS are issued in several classes with different levels of yield and credit
protection. The Fund’s investments in CMBS with several classes may be in the
lower classes that have greater risks than the higher classes, including greater
interest rate, credit and prepayment risks.
Mortgage-backed
securities 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 (“IOs”), principal only (“POs”) 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.
Certain mortgage-backed securities in which the Fund may invest may also provide
a degree of investment leverage, which could cause the Fund to lose all or
substantially all of its investment.
The
mortgage market in the United States has experienced difficulties that may
adversely affect the performance and market value of certain of the Fund’s
mortgage-related investments. Delinquencies and losses on mortgage loans
(including subprime and second-lien mortgage loans) and a decline in or
flattening of real estate values (in each case as has been experienced and may
continue to be experienced in many housing markets) may exacerbate such
9
delinquencies
and losses. Also, a number of mortgage loan originators have experienced serious
financial difficulties or bankruptcy. Reduced investor demand for mortgage loans
and mortgage-related securities and increased investor yield requirements have
caused limited liquidity in the secondary market for mortgage-related
securities, which can adversely affect the market value of mortgage-related
securities. It is possible that such limited liquidity in such secondary markets
could continue or worsen.
Asset-backed
securities entail certain risks not presented by mortgage-backed securities,
including the risk that in certain states it may be difficult to perfect the
liens securing the collateral backing certain asset-backed securities. In
addition, certain asset-backed securities are based on loans that are unsecured,
which means that there is no collateral to seize if the underlying borrower
defaults.
Operational and
Technology Risks. The 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, the 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, as
applicable. 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. The 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 the 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 the Fund’s ability
to calculate its NAV; disclosure of confidential information; impediments to
trading; submission of erroneous trades by the Fund or erroneous subscription or
redemption orders; the inability of the 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 the Fund, including records relating to its
assets and transactions, shareholder ownership of Fund shares, and other data
integral to the Fund’s functioning, inaccessible, inaccurate or incomplete.
Power outages, natural disasters, equipment malfunctions and processing errors
that threaten information and technology systems relied upon by the 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. The 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 the Fund.
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 in the
setting of priorities, the personnel and resources available or the
effectiveness of relevant controls. The 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 the 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.
The 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.
10
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.
Repurchase Agreements
and Purchase and Sale Contracts Risk. If the other party to a
repurchase agreement or purchase and sale contract defaults on its
obligation under the agreement, the Fund may suffer delays and incur costs
or lose money in exercising its rights under the agreement. If the seller fails
to repurchase the security in either situation and the market value of the
security declines, the Fund may lose money.
Reverse Repurchase
Agreements Risk. Reverse repurchase agreements
involve the sale of securities held by the Fund with an agreement to repurchase
the securities at an agreed-upon price, date and interest payment. Reverse
repurchase agreements involve the risk that the other party may fail to return
the securities in a timely manner or at all. The Fund could lose money if it is
unable to recover the securities and the value of the collateral held by the
Fund, including the value of the investments made with cash collateral, is less
than the value of the securities. These events could also trigger adverse tax
consequences for the Fund. In addition, reverse repurchase agreements involve
the risk that the interest income earned in the investment of the proceeds will
be less than the interest expense.
Risk of Investing in
the United States. A decrease in imports or exports, changes in
trade regulations, tariffs, inflation and/or an economic recession in the United
States may have a material adverse effect on the U.S. economy and the securities
listed on U.S. exchanges. Proposed and adopted policy and legislative changes in
the United States are changing many aspects of financial, commercial, public
health, environmental, and other regulation and may have a significant effect on
U.S. markets generally, as well as on the value of certain securities.
Governmental agencies project that the United States will continue to maintain
elevated public debt levels for the foreseeable future. Although elevated debt
levels do not necessarily indicate or cause economic problems, elevated public
debt service costs may constrain future economic growth.
The
United States has developed increasingly strained relations with a number of
foreign countries. If relations with certain countries deteriorate, it could
adversely affect U.S. issuers as well as non‑U.S. issuers that rely on the
United States for trade. The United States has also experienced increased
internal unrest and political discord. If these trends were to continue, it may
have an adverse impact on the U.S. economy and the issuers in which the Fund
invests.
U.S. Government
Issuer Risk. Treasury obligations may differ in their interest
rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics. Obligations of
U.S. Government agencies and authorities are supported by varying degrees of
credit but generally are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S.
Government. No assurance can be given that the U.S. Government will provide
financial support to its agencies and authorities if it is not obligated by law
to do so.
A
Further Discussion of Other Risks
The
Fund may also be subject to certain other non‑principal risks associated with
its investments and investment strategies.
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Borrowing
Risk. Borrowing may
exaggerate changes in the net asset value of Fund shares and in the return
on the Fund’s portfolio. Borrowing will cost the Fund interest expense and
other fees. The costs of borrowing may reduce the Fund’s return. Borrowing
may cause the Fund to liquidate positions when it may not be advantageous
to do so to satisfy its obligations. |
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Expense
Risk. Fund expenses
are subject to a variety of factors, including fluctuations in the Fund’s
net assets. Accordingly, actual expenses may be greater or less than those
indicated. For example, to the extent that the Fund’s net assets decrease
due to market declines or redemptions, the Fund’s expenses will increase
as a percentage of Fund net assets. During periods of high market
volatility, these increases in the Fund’s expense ratio could be
significant. |
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Investment in
Other Investment Companies Risk. As with other investments, investments
in other investment companies, including ETFs, are subject to market and
selection risk. In addition, if the Fund acquires shares of investment
companies, including ones affiliated with the Fund, shareholders bear both
their proportionate share of expenses in the Fund (including management
and advisory fees) and, indirectly, |
11
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the
expenses of the investment companies (to the extent not offset by BFA
through waivers). To the extent the Fund is held by an affiliated fund,
the ability of the Fund itself to hold other investment companies may be
limited. |
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Ownership
Limitations Risk. If certain aggregate and/or
fund-level ownership thresholds are reached through transactions
undertaken by BFA, its affiliates or the 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 the Fund) to
purchase or dispose of investments, exercise rights or undertake business
transactions may be restricted by law, regulation or rule or otherwise
impaired. The capacity of the 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
the 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 the 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 the 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, the 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.
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Reference Rate
Replacement Risk. The Fund’s investments, payment
obligations and financing terms may be based on floating rates, such as
the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), Sterling Overnight
Interbank Average Rate (“SONIA”), and other similar types of reference
rates (“Reference Rates”). The elimination of a Reference Rate or any
other changes or reforms to the determination or supervision of a
Reference Rate could have an adverse impact on the market for, or value
of, any instruments (including debt instruments and certain derivative
instruments) or payments linked to those Reference Rates. In addition, any
substitute Reference Rate and any pricing adjustments imposed by a
regulator or by counterparties or otherwise may adversely affect the
Fund’s performance and/or net asset value. |
In
addition, interest rates or other types of rates and indices which are
classified as “benchmarks” have been the subject of ongoing national and
international regulatory reform, including under the European Union (“EU”)
regulation on indices used as benchmarks in financial instruments and financial
contracts (known as the “Benchmarks Regulation”). The Benchmarks Regulation has
been enacted into United Kingdom (“UK”) law by virtue of the EU (Withdrawal) Act
2018 (as amended), subject to amendments made by the Benchmarks (Amendment and
Transitional Provision) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/657) and other
statutory instruments. Following the implementation of these reforms, the manner
of administration of benchmarks has changed and may further change in the
future, with the result that relevant benchmarks may perform differently than in
the past, the use of benchmarks that are not compliant with the new standards by
certain supervised entities may be restricted, and certain benchmarks may be
eliminated entirely. Such changes could cause increased market volatility and
disruptions in liquidity for instruments that rely on or are impacted by such
benchmarks. Additionally, there could be other consequences which cannot be
predicted.
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Reliance on
Advisor Risk. The Fund is dependent upon
services and resources provided by BFA, and therefore BFA’s parent,
BlackRock, Inc. BFA is not required to devote its full time to the
business of the Fund and there is no guarantee or requirement that any
investment professional or other employee of BFA will allocate a
substantial portion of his or her time to the Fund. The loss of, or
changes in, BFA’s personnel could have a negative effect on the
performance or the continued operation of the Fund.
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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. |
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Short Sales and
Short Position Risk. Because making short sales or
taking short positions in securities that it does not own would expose the
Fund to the risks associated with those securities, such
short sales or |
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positions
involve speculative exposure risk. In such situations, the Fund will incur
a loss as a result of a short sale or position if the price of the
reference instrument increases after the Fund entered into the short sale
or position. As a result, if the Fund makes short sales or takes a short
position in a reference instrument that increases in value, it will likely
underperform similar funds that do not make short sales or take short
positions in such reference instrument. The Fund may engage in short sales
and gain short exposure through certain derivative instruments, such as
futures, options or swaps. There can be no assurance that the Fund will be
able to close out a short sale or position at any particular time or at an
acceptable price. Although the Fund’s gain is limited to the amount at
which it sold a security short or the amount paid in connection with a
short position, its potential loss is limited only by the maximum
attainable price of the position, less the price at which
the position was sold. Therefore, the Fund may lose more money than the
actual cost of a short sale or position and the potential
losses are theoretically unlimited on a short sale or position. Short
sales and positions generally involve a form of leverage because they can
provide investment exposure in an amount exceeding the initial investment,
which can exaggerate the Fund’s losses. The Fund may also pay transaction
costs and borrowing fees in connection with short sales or positions.
There is the risk that the counterparty to a short sale or position may
fail to honor its contractual terms, causing a loss to the Fund.
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Valuation
Risk. The price the Fund could
receive upon the sale of a security or other asset may differ from the
Fund’s valuation of the security or other asset, particularly for
securities or other assets that trade in low volume or volatile markets or
that are valued using a fair value methodology as a result of trade
suspensions or for other reasons. Because non‑U.S. exchanges may be open
on days when the Fund does not price its shares, the value of the
securities or other assets in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days or
during time periods when shareholders will not be able to purchase or sell
the Fund’s shares. |
Authorized
Participants who purchase or redeem Fund shares on days when the Fund is holding
fair-valued securities may receive fewer or more shares, or lower or higher
redemption proceeds, than they would have received had the Fund not fair-valued
securities or other instruments or used a different valuation methodology. The
Fund’s ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or
errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
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When-Issued and
Delayed Delivery Securities and Forward Commitments
Risk. When-issued and delayed
delivery securities and forward commitments involve the risk that the
security the Fund buys will lose value prior to its delivery. There also
is the risk that the security will not be issued or that the other party
to the transaction will not meet its obligation. If this occurs, the Fund
may lose both the investment opportunity for the assets it set aside to
pay for the security and any gain in the security’s price.
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Portfolio
Holdings Information
A
description of the Trust’s policies and procedures with respect to the
disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio securities is available in the Fund’s
Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”). The Fund discloses its portfolio
holdings daily at www.blackrock.com. Fund fact sheets providing information
regarding the Fund’s top holdings are posted on www.blackrock.com when available
and may be requested by calling 1‑800‑474‑2737.
Management
Investment Adviser. The Fund’s investment
adviser is BlackRock Fund Advisors. As investment adviser, BFA has overall
responsibility for the general management and administration of the Fund. BFA
provides an investment program for the Fund and manages the investment of the
Fund’s assets. In managing the Fund, BFA may draw upon the research and
expertise of its asset management affiliates with respect to certain portfolio
securities. In seeking to achieve the Fund’s investment objectives, BFA uses
teams of portfolio managers, investment strategists and other investment
specialists. This team approach brings together many disciplines and leverages
BFA’s extensive resources.
Pursuant
to the Investment Advisory Agreement between BFA and the Trust (entered into on
behalf of the Fund), BFA is responsible for substantially all expenses of the
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, litigation expenses and any extraordinary
expenses (as determined by a majority of the Trustees who are not “interested
persons” of the Trust).
For
its investment advisory services to the Fund, BFA will be paid a management fee
from the Fund, based on a percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets, at
an annual rate of 0.25%.
13
BFA
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 equity and fixed-income mutual funds and ETFs
advised by BFA or its affiliates through June 30, 2028. BFA has also
contractually agreed to waive a portion of its management fees by an amount
equal to the aggregate Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any, attributable to
investments by the Fund in money market funds advised by BFA or its affiliates
through June 30, 2028. The agreement (with respect to either waiver) may be
terminated upon 90 days’ notice by a majority of the non‑interested trustees of
the Trust or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the
Fund.
BFA
is located at 400 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. It is an indirect
majority-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. (“BlackRock”). As of June 30, 2026,
BFA and its affiliates provided investment advisory services for assets in
excess of $15.3 trillion. BFA and its affiliates trade and invest for their own
accounts in the actual securities and types of securities in which the Fund may
also invest, which may affect the price of such securities.
Effective
January 23, 2026, the Fund became the successor to BlackRock Mortgage-Backed
Securities Fund (the “Predecessor Fund”), a series of series of BlackRock Funds
V (the “Predecessor Trust”), as a result of a reorganization in which the Fund
acquired all of the assets, subject to the liabilities, of the Predecessor Fund
(the “Reorganization”). The Predecessor Trust, on behalf of the Predecessor
Fund, entered into a management agreement (the “Predecessor Management
Agreement”) with BlackRock Advisors, LLC (“BAL”). Under the Predecessor
Management Agreement, BAL was entitled to an annual management fee at the
maximum rate of 0.34% of average daily net assets.
A
discussion of the basis for the Board’s approval of the Investment Advisory
Agreement with BFA is available in the Fund’s report filed on Form N-CSR for the
fiscal year ended April 30, 2026.
For
the period from January 24, 2026 through April 30, 2026, BFA received a
management fee, net of management fee waivers, at the annual rate of 0.24% of
the Fund’s average daily net assets. For the period from October 1, 2025 through
January 23, 2026, BAL received a management fee, net of management fee waivers,
at the annual rate of 0.34% of the Predecessor Fund’s average daily net assets.
Effective April 30, 2026, the Fund changed its fiscal year end from September 30
to April 30.
From
time to time, a manager, analyst, or other employee of BlackRock or its
affiliates may express views regarding a particular asset class, company,
security, industry, or market sector. The views expressed by any such person are
the views of only that individual as of the time expressed and do not
necessarily represent the views of BlackRock or any other person within the
BlackRock organization. Any such views are subject to change at any time based
upon market or other conditions and BlackRock disclaims any responsibility to
update such views. These views may not be relied on as investment advice and,
because investment decisions for the Fund are based on numerous factors, may not
be relied on as an indication of trading intent on behalf of the Fund.
Portfolio Managers. Matthew Kraeger, Daniel
Someck, Nicholas Kramvis and Siddharth Mehta are jointly and primarily
responsible for the day to day management of the Fund. Mr. Kraeger has been
a Managing Director of BlackRock since 2015. Mr. Someck has been a Managing
Director of BlackRock since 2021. Mr. Kramvis has been a Director of
BlackRock since 2020. Mr. Mehta has been a Director of BlackRock since
2017.
The
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 in the Fund.
Administrator, Custodian and Transfer Agent.
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (“JPMorgan”) is the administrator, custodian and
transfer agent for the Fund.
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 the 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 the 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 the Fund may directly or indirectly
invest. BFA and its Affiliates may engage in
14
proprietary
trading and advise accounts and other funds that have investment objectives
similar to those of the 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 the 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. The trading activities of BFA and its Affiliates are
carried out without reference to positions held directly or indirectly by the
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 the Fund.
The
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. The 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. The 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 the Fund.
Neither
BFA nor any Affiliate is under any obligation to share any investment
opportunity, idea or strategy with the Fund. As a result, an Affiliate may
compete with the Fund for appropriate investment opportunities. The results of
the Fund’s investment activities, therefore, may differ from those of an
Affiliate and of other accounts managed by an Affiliate. It is possible that the
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, the Fund may enter into transactions in which BFA or an Affiliate or
its or their directors, officers, employees or clients have an adverse interest.
The 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, BFA or its advisory clients (including other funds and accounts)
may, subject to compliance with applicable law, purchase and hold shares of the
Fund. The price, availability, liquidity, and (in some cases) expense ratio of
the Fund may be impacted by purchases and sales of the Fund by BFA or its
advisory clients.
The
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 Fund has retained
BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A. (“BTC”), an Affiliate of BFA, to
serve as its securities lending agent to the extent that it participates 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 the investment of the cash received as
collateral for the loaned securities. In addition, one or more Affiliates may be
among the entities to which the Fund may lend its portfolio securities under the
securities lending program.
Under
an ETF Services Agreement, the Fund has 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 of the Fund (“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, N.A. on the design and
development of the ETF Services platform. Citibank has, and may from time to
time develop, additional relationships with BlackRock or funds managed by BFA
and its affiliates.
BFA
and its Affiliates may benefit from a fund using a BlackRock index by creating
increasing acceptance in the marketplace for such indexes. BFA 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 BFA 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
the 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.
15
Shareholder
Information
Additional shareholder information, including how to
buy and sell shares of the Fund, is available free of charge by calling
toll-free: 1-800-474-2737 or visiting our website at www.blackrock.com.
Buying and Selling Shares. Shares of the Fund
may be acquired or redeemed directly from the Fund only in Creation Units or
multiples thereof, as discussed in the Creations and Redemptions section of this
Prospectus. Only an Authorized Participant (as defined in the Creations and Redemptions section below) may
engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. Once
created, shares of the Fund generally trade in the secondary market in amounts
less than a Creation Unit.
Shares
of the Fund are listed on a national securities exchange for trading during the
trading day. Shares can be bought and sold throughout the trading day like
shares of other publicly-traded companies. The Trust does not impose any minimum
investment for shares of the Fund purchased on an exchange or otherwise in the
secondary market. The Fund’s shares trade under the ticker symbol “MBBA.”
Buying
or selling Fund shares on an exchange or other secondary market involves two
types of costs that may apply to all securities transactions. When buying or
selling shares of the Fund through a broker, you may incur a brokerage
commission and other charges. The commission is frequently a fixed amount and
may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell
small amounts of shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,”
that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price. The spread
varies over time for shares of the Fund based on the Fund’s trading volume and
market liquidity, and is generally lower if the Fund has high trading volume and
market liquidity, and higher if the Fund has little trading volume and market
liquidity (which is often the case for funds that are newly launched or small in
size). The Fund’s spread may also be impacted by the liquidity or illiquidity of
the underlying securities held by the Fund, particularly for newly launched or
smaller funds or in instances of significant volatility of the underlying
securities.
The
Fund does not impose restrictions on the frequency of purchases and redemptions
of Fund shares directly with the Fund. The Board determined not to adopt
policies and procedures designed to prevent or monitor for frequent purchases
and redemptions of Fund shares because the 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 Fund has 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 disruption of
portfolio management, dilution to the Fund, and/or increased transaction costs.
Further, the vast majority of trading in Fund shares occurs on the secondary
market, which does not involve the Fund directly, and such trading is unlikely
to cause many of the harmful effects of frequent cash purchases or redemptions
of Fund shares.
The
national securities exchange on which the Fund’s shares are listed is open for
trading Monday through Friday and is 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. The Fund’s
listing exchange is Cboe BZX.
Book Entry. Shares of the Fund are held in
book-entry form, which means that no stock certificates are issued. The
Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) or its nominee is the record owner of, and
holds legal title to, all outstanding shares of the Fund.
Investors
owning shares of the Fund are beneficial owners as shown on the records of DTC
or its participants. DTC serves as the securities depository for shares of the
Fund. 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
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
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 that you
hold in book-entry or “street name” form.
Share Prices. The trading prices of the Fund’s
shares in the secondary market generally differ from the Fund’s daily NAV and
are affected by market forces such as the supply of and demand for ETF shares
and underlying securities held by the Fund, economic conditions and other
factors.
16
Determination of Net Asset Value. The NAV of
the Fund normally is determined once daily Monday through Friday, generally as
of the close of regular trading hours of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”)
(normally 4:00 p.m., Eastern time) on each day that the NYSE is open for
trading, based on prices at the time of closing, provided that (i) any Fund
assets or liabilities 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 and (ii) U.S.
fixed-income assets may be valued as of the announced closing time for trading
in fixed-income instruments in a particular market or exchange. The NAV of the
Fund is calculated by dividing the value of the net assets of the Fund (i.e., the value of its total assets less total
liabilities) by the total number of outstanding shares of the Fund, generally
rounded to the nearest cent.
The
value of the securities and other assets and liabilities held by the Fund is
determined pursuant to BFA’s valuation policies and procedures. BFA has been
designated by the Board as the valuation designee for the Fund pursuant to Rule
2a 5 under the Investment Company Act.
The
Fund values fixed-income portfolio securities and certain derivative instruments
using bid prices provided by dealers or prices (including evaluated prices)
supplied by the Fund’s approved independent third-party pricing services, each
in accordance with BFA’s valuation policies and procedures. Pricing services may
use valuation models that utilize certain inputs and assumptions to derive
values. Pricing services generally value fixed-income securities assuming
orderly transactions of an institutional round lot size, but the Fund may hold
or transact in such securities in smaller odd lot sizes. Odd lots often trade at
lower prices than institutional round lots. An amortized cost method of
valuation may be used with respect to debt obligations with sixty days or less
remaining to maturity unless BFA determines in good faith that such method does
not represent fair value.
Generally,
trading in non U.S. securities is substantially completed each day at various
times prior to the close of regular trading hours of the NYSE. The values of
such securities used in computing the NAV of the Fund are determined as of such
times. U.S. government securities, money market instruments and certain fixed
income securities are generally priced as of close of regular trading hours on
the NYSE.
When
market quotations are not readily available or are believed by BFA to be
unreliable, BFA will fair value the Fund’s investments in accordance with its
policies and procedures. BFA may conclude that a market quotation is not readily
available or is unreliable if a security or other asset or liability does not
have a price source due to its lack of trading or other reasons, if a market
quotation differs significantly from recent price quotations or otherwise no
longer appears to reflect fair value, where the security or other asset or
liability is thinly traded, when there is a significant event subsequent to the
most recent market quotation, or if the trading market on which a security 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 the 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 assets
held by, or liabilities of, the Fund.
Fair
value represents a good faith approximation of the value of an asset or
liability. The fair value of an asset or liability held by the Fund is the
amount the Fund might reasonably expect to receive from the current sale of that
asset or the cost to extinguish that liability in an arm’s length transaction.
Valuing the Fund’s investments using fair value pricing will result in prices
that may differ from current market valuations and that may not be the prices at
which those investments could have been sold during the period in which the
particular fair values were used.
Distributions
General Policies. Dividends from net investment
income, if any, generally are declared and paid monthly by the Fund.
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 the 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 imposition of income or excise taxes on undistributed income or realized
gains.
Dividends
and other distributions on shares of the Fund are distributed on a pro rata
basis to beneficial owners of such shares. Dividend payments are made through
DTC participants and indirect participants to beneficial owners then of record
with proceeds received from the Fund.
Dividend Reinvestment Service. No dividend
reinvestment service is provided by the Trust. Broker-dealers may make available
the DTC book-entry Dividend Reinvestment Service for use by beneficial owners of
the Fund for
17
reinvestment
of their dividend distributions. Beneficial owners should contact their broker
to determine the availability and costs of the service and the details of
participation therein. Brokers may require beneficial owners to adhere to
specific procedures and timetables. If this service is available and used,
dividend distributions of both income and realized gains will be automatically
reinvested in additional whole shares of the Fund purchased in the secondary
market.
Taxes.
As with any investment, you should consider how your investment in shares of the
Fund will be taxed. The tax information in this Prospectus is provided as
general information, based on current law. There is no guarantee that shares of
the Fund will receive certain regulatory or accounting treatment. You should
consult your own tax professional about the tax consequences of an investment in
shares of the Fund.
Unless
your investment in Fund shares is made through a tax exempt entity or tax
deferred retirement account, such as an IRA, in which case your distributions
generally will be taxable when withdrawn, you need to be aware of the possible
tax consequences when the Fund makes distributions or you sell Fund shares.
Taxes on Distributions. Distributions from the Fund’s net investment
income, including distributions of income from securities lending and
distributions out of the Fund’s net short-term capital gains, if any, are
taxable to you as ordinary income. The Fund’s distributions of net long-term
capital gains, if any, in excess of net short-term capital losses are taxable as
long-term capital gains, regardless of how long you have held the shares.
Long-term capital gains are eligible for taxation at a maximum rate of 15% or
20% for non‑corporate shareholders, depending on whether their income exceeds
certain threshold amounts. Distributions from the Fund are subject to a 3.8%
U.S. federal Medicare contribution tax on “net investment income,” for
individuals with incomes exceeding $200,000 ($250,000 if married and filing
jointly) and of estates and trusts. In general, your 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.
You
may lose the ability to use foreign tax credits passed through by the Fund if
your Fund shares are loaned out pursuant to a securities lending agreement.
If
the 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. Distributions in excess
of the 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. A return of capital distribution generally will
not be taxable but will reduce the shareholder’s cost basis and will 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 gain, if the
shareholder holds shares of the Fund as capital assets.
Dividends,
interest and capital gains earned by the 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 more than 50% of the total assets of
the Fund at the close of a year consists 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.
For
purposes of foreign tax credits for U.S. shareholders of the Fund, foreign
capital gains taxes may not produce associated foreign source income, limiting
the availability of such credits for U.S. persons.
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),
the Fund’s ordinary income dividends (which include distributions of net
short-term capital gains) will generally be subject to a 30% U.S. withholding
tax, unless a lower treaty rate applies, provided that withholding tax will
generally not apply to any gain or income realized by a non U.S. shareholder in
respect of any distributions of long-term capital gains or upon the sale or
other disposition of shares of the Fund.
Separately,
a 30% withholding tax is currently imposed on U.S.-source dividends, interest
and other income items paid to (i) foreign financial institutions,
including non U.S. investment funds, unless they agree to collect and disclose
to the IRS information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. account holders
and (ii) certain other foreign entities,
18
unless
they certify certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S.
owners. To avoid withholding, foreign financial institutions will need to
(i) enter into agreements with the IRS that state that they will provide
the IRS information, including the names, addresses and taxpayer identification
numbers of direct and indirect U.S. account holders, comply with due diligence
procedures with respect to the identification of U.S. accounts, report to the
IRS certain information with respect to U.S. accounts maintained, agree to
withhold tax on certain payments made to non‑compliant foreign financial
institutions or to account holders who fail to provide the required information,
and determine certain other information concerning their account holders, or
(ii) in the event that an applicable intergovernmental agreement and
implementing legislation are adopted, provide local revenue authorities with
similar account holder information. Other foreign entities may need to report
the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of each substantial U.S.
owner or provide certifications of no substantial U.S. ownership unless certain
exceptions apply.
If
you are a resident or a citizen of the U.S., by law, backup withholding at a 24%
rate will apply to your distributions and proceeds if you have not provided a
taxpayer identification number or social security number and made other required
certifications. 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.
Taxes on Sales of Shares. Currently, any
capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of Fund shares is generally treated as
a long-term 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 held for one year
or less is generally treated as short-term gain or loss, except that any capital
loss on the sale of shares held for six months or less is treated as 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.
The foregoing discussion summarizes some of the
consequences under current U.S. federal tax law of an investment in the Fund. It
is not a substitute for personal tax advice. You may also be subject to state
and local taxation on Fund distributions
and sales of shares. Consult your personal tax advisor about the potential tax
consequences of an investment in shares of the Fund under all applicable tax
laws.
Creations and Redemptions. Prior to trading in
the secondary market, shares of the Fund are “created” at NAV by market makers,
large investors and institutions only in block size Creation Units or multiples
thereof. Each “creator” or authorized participant (an “Authorized Participant”)
has entered into an agreement with the Fund’s distributor, BRIL. 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 such member or participant to place orders for the purchase and
redemption of Creation Units.
Creation
transactions are usually in exchange for cash.
A
creation transaction, which is subject to acceptance by the Distributor and the
Fund, generally takes place when an Authorized Participant deposits into the
Fund a specified amount of cash and/or a designated portfolio of securities,
assets or other positions (a “creation basket”), and an amount of cash
(including any cash representing the value of substituted securities, assets or
other positions), if any, which together approximate the holdings of the Fund in
exchange for a specified number of Creation Units. Similarly, shares can be
redeemed only in Creation Units, generally for a specified amount of cash and/or
a designated portfolio of securities, assets or other positions (a “redemption
basket”) held by the Fund and an amount of cash (including any portion of such
securities for which cash may be substituted). Except when aggregated in
Creation Units, shares are not redeemable by the Fund. Creation and redemption
baskets may differ and the Fund may accept “custom baskets.” More information
regarding custom baskets is contained in the Fund’s SAI.
The
prices at which creations and redemptions occur are based on the next
calculation of NAV after a creation or redemption order is received in an
acceptable form under the authorized participant agreement.
Only
an Authorized Participant may create or redeem Creation Units with the Fund.
Authorized Participants may create or redeem Creation Units for their own
accounts or for customers, including, without limitation, affiliates of the
Fund.
19
In
the event of a system failure or other interruption, including disruptions at
market makers or Authorized Participants, orders to purchase or redeem Creation
Units either may not be executed according to the Fund’s instructions or may not
be executed at all, or the Fund may not be able to place or change orders.
To
the extent the 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.
Creations
and redemptions must be made through a firm that is either a member of the
Continuous Net Settlement System of the National Securities Clearing Corporation
or a DTC participant that has executed an agreement with the Distributor with
respect to creations and redemptions of Creation Units. Information about the
procedures regarding creation and redemption of Creation Units (including the
cut off times for receipt of creation and redemption orders) is included in the
Fund’s SAI.
Because
new shares may be created and issued on an ongoing basis, at any point during
the life of the 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 Fund on an agency
basis. The Distributor does not maintain a secondary market in shares of the
Fund. The Distributor has no role in determining the policies of the Fund or the
securities that are purchased or sold by the Fund. 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 Fund and certain other BFA
advised ETFs available to their customers generally and in certain investment
programs. Such payments, which may be significant to the intermediary, are not
made by the Fund. 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 BFA advised ETFs. 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 it is eligible to receive. Therefore, such payments or other
financial incentives offered or made to an intermediary create conflicts of
interest between the intermediary and its customers and may cause the
intermediary to recommend the Fund or other BFA advised ETFs over another
investment. More information regarding these payments is contained in the Fund’s
SAI. Please contact your salesperson or other
investment professional for more information regarding any such payments his or
her firm may receive from BFA or its affiliates.
20
Financial
Highlights
As
a result of the Reorganization that occurred on January 23, 2026, the financial
highlights information presented for the Fund prior to the Reorganization is the
financial history of the Predecessor Fund. The financial highlights table is
intended to help investors understand the Fund’s financial performance since
inception. Certain information reflects financial results for a single share of
the Fund. The total returns in the table represent the rate of return that an
investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund, assuming
reinvestment of all dividends and distributions.
The
information has been audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP, whose report along
with the Fund’s audited financial statements, is included in the Fund’s Annual
Financial Statements and Additional Information for the period from October 1,
2025 through April 30, 2026, as filed with the SEC on Form N-CSR, which are
available upon request and at www.blackrock.com.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
iShares
Mortgage-Backed Securities Active ETF(a) |
|
(For a share
outstanding throughout each period) |
|
Period from
10/01/25 to 04/30/26 |
|
|
Year Ended 09/30/25 |
|
|
Year Ended 09/30/24 |
|
|
Year Ended 09/30/23 |
|
|
Year Ended 09/30/22 |
|
|
Year Ended 09/30/21 |
|
|
Net
asset value, beginning of period |
|
$ |
49.83 |
|
|
$ |
50.14 |
|
|
$ |
46.49 |
|
|
$ |
48.16 |
|
|
$ |
57.73 |
|
|
$ |
58.66 |
|
|
Net
investment income(b) |
|
|
1.24 |
|
|
|
1.91 |
|
|
|
1.67 |
|
|
|
1.48 |
|
|
|
0.80 |
|
|
|
0.56 |
|
|
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss)(c) |
|
|
(0.06 |
) |
|
|
(0.24 |
) |
|
|
3.83 |
|
|
|
(1.54 |
) |
|
|
(9.20 |
) |
|
|
(0.25 |
) |
|
Net
increase (decrease) from investment operations |
|
|
1.18 |
|
|
|
1.67 |
|
|
|
5.50 |
|
|
|
(0.06 |
) |
|
|
(8.40 |
) |
|
|
0.31 |
|
|
Distributions
from net investment income(d) |
|
|
(1.21 |
) |
|
|
(1.98 |
) |
|
|
(1.85 |
) |
|
|
(1.61 |
) |
|
|
(1.17 |
) |
|
|
(1.24 |
) |
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
|
$ |
49.80 |
|
|
$ |
49.83 |
|
|
$ |
50.14 |
|
|
$ |
46.49 |
|
|
$ |
48.16 |
|
|
$ |
57.73 |
|
|
Total
Return(e) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Based
on net asset value |
|
|
2.39 |
%(f) |
|
|
3.54 |
% |
|
|
11.99 |
% |
|
|
(0.29 |
)% |
|
|
(14.75 |
)% |
|
|
0.47 |
% |
|
Ratios
to Average Net Assets(g) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
expenses |
|
|
0.64 |
%(h)(i)(j) |
|
|
0.85 |
%(k) |
|
|
0.66 |
% |
|
|
1.08 |
% |
|
|
0.79 |
%(l) |
|
|
0.57 |
% |
|
Total
expenses after fees waived and/or reimbursed |
|
|
0.39 |
%(h)(i)(j) |
|
|
0.48 |
%(k) |
|
|
0.43 |
% |
|
|
0.88 |
% |
|
|
0.62 |
%(l) |
|
|
0.43 |
% |
|
Total
expenses after fees waived and/or reimbursed and excluding interest
expense, proxy and reorganization costs |
|
|
0.32 |
%(h) |
|
|
0.42 |
% |
|
|
0.42 |
% |
|
|
0.42 |
% |
|
|
0.42 |
% |
|
|
0.43 |
% |
|
Net
investment income |
|
|
4.26 |
%(h) |
|
|
3.97 |
% |
|
|
3.49 |
% |
|
|
2.99 |
% |
|
|
1.43 |
% |
|
|
1.00 |
% |
|
Supplemental
Data |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
assets, end of period (000) |
|
$ |
124,696 |
|
|
$ |
93,878 |
|
|
$ |
123,838 |
|
|
$ |
147,548 |
|
|
$ |
203,542 |
|
|
$ |
363,815 |
|
|
Portfolio
turnover rate(m)(n) |
|
|
1,287 |
% |
|
|
2,132 |
% |
|
|
1,338 |
% |
|
|
983 |
% |
|
|
1,368 |
% |
|
|
1,443 |
% |
|
(a) As of the close of
trading on the New York Stock Exchange on January 23, 2026, BlackRock
Mortgage-Backed Securities Fund was reorganized into the Fund. The
activity in the table above is for the accounting survivor, Institutional
Shares of BlackRock Mortgage-Backed Securities Fund, for the periods prior
to the date of the reorganization, and for the post-reorganization
combined fund thereafter. The net asset values and other per share
information have been restated for periods prior to the reorganization to
reflect the share conversion ratio of 0.161960. See Note 1 of the Notes to
Financial Statements for information on the Fund’s reorganization.
(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) Includes
non‑recurring expenses of reorganization costs. Without these costs, total
expenses and total expenses after fees waived and/or reimbursed would have
been 0.58% and 0.33%, respectively.
(j) Reorganization
costs were not annualized in the calculation of the expense ratios. If
these expenses were annualized, the total expenses and total expenses
after fees waived and/or reimbursed would have been 0.69% and 0.44%,
respectively.
(k) Includes
non‑recurring expenses of reorganization costs. Without these costs, total
expenses and total expenses after fees waived and/or reimbursed would have
been 0.79% and 0.42%, respectively.
(l) Includes
non‑recurring expenses of proxy costs. Without these costs, total expenses
and total expenses after fees waived and/or reimbursed would have been
0.72% and 0.55%, respectively.
(m) Includes mortgage
dollar roll transactions (“MDRs”). Additional information regarding
portfolio turnover rate is as follows: |
|
| |
|
|
|
Period from 10/01/25
to 04/30/26 |
|
|
Year Ended 09/30/25 |
|
|
Year Ended 09/30/24 |
|
|
Year Ended 09/30/23 |
|
|
Year Ended 09/30/22 |
|
|
Year Ended 09/30/21 |
|
|
| |
Portfolio
turnover rate (excluding MDRs) |
|
|
795 |
% |
|
|
1,446 |
% |
|
|
840 |
% |
|
|
680 |
% |
|
|
818 |
% |
|
|
859 |
% |
| (n) |
Portfolio
turnover rate excludes in-kind transactions, if any.
|
21
Disclaimers
Shares
of the Fund are not sponsored, endorsed or promoted by Cboe BZX. Cboe BZX makes
no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of shares of
the Fund or any member of the public regarding the ability of the Fund to
achieve its investment objective. Cboe BZX is not responsible for, nor has it
participated in, the determination of the Fund’s investments, nor in the
determination of the timing of, prices of, or quantities of shares of the Fund
to be issued, nor in the determination or calculation of the equation by which
the shares are redeemable. Cboe BZX has no obligation or liability to owners of
shares of the Fund in connection with the administration, marketing or trading
of shares of the Fund.
Without
limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall Cboe BZX 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.
22
Want
to know more?
www.blackrock.com | 1-800-474-2737
Information
on the Fund’s net asset value, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid‑ask
spreads can be found at www.blackrock.com.
Copies
of the Prospectus, SAI, annual and semi-annual reports, Annual and Semi-Annual
Financial Statements and Additional Information and other information, as
applicable and when available, can be found on our website at www.blackrock.com.
For more information about the Fund, you may request a copy of the SAI. The SAI
provides detailed information about the Fund and is incorporated by reference
into this Prospectus. This means that the SAI, for legal purposes, is a part of
this Prospectus.
The
Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports and Form N-CSR contain additional
information about the Fund’s investments. In the Fund’s annual report, you will
find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that
significantly affected the Fund’s performance during the last fiscal year. In
Form N‑CSR, you will find the Fund’s financial statements.
If
you have any questions about the Trust or shares of the Fund or you wish to
obtain the SAI, annual and semi-annual reports and other information such as
Fund financial statements free of charge, please:
|
|
| |
| Call: |
|
1-800-474-2737 (toll free) |
| Write: |
|
c/o BlackRock Investments, LLC |
|
| |
1 University Square
Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540 |
Reports
and other information about the Fund are available on the EDGAR database on the
SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, and copies of this information may be obtained,
after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e mail
address:
[email protected].
No person is authorized to give any information or to
make any representations about the Fund and its shares not contained in this
Prospectus and you should not rely on any other information. Read and keep this
Prospectus for future reference.
Investment
Company Act File No.: 811‑23511
PRO-MBBA-0826