Form 497 for iShares Trust

497 1 d703979d497.htm FORM 497 FOR ISHARES TRUST Form 497 for iShares Trust

iShares^®

iShares Trust

Supplement dated April 4, 2014

to the Summary Prospectus dated March 1, 2014

for the iShares Core Short-Term U.S. Bond ETF (ISTB) (the “Fund”)

The information in this Supplement updates information in, and should be read in conjunction with, the Summary Prospectus for the Fund.

The following changes will take effect for the Fund on June 3, 2014 or as soon as practicable thereafter.


	Current	New
Fund Name	iShares Core Short-Term U.S. Bond ETF	iShares Core Short-Term USD Bond ETF
Underlying Index	Barclays U.S. Government/Credit 1-5 Year Bond Index	Barclays U.S. 1-5 Year Universal Index
Investment Objective	The iShares Core Short-Term U.S. Bond ETF seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated government, government-related and investment-grade U.S. corporate bonds with remaining maturities between one and five years.	The iShares Core Short- Term USD Bond ETF seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds that are rated either investment grade or high yield with remaining maturities between one and five years.

Change in the Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies

The first two paragraphs of the section of the Summary Prospectus entitled “Principal Investment Strategies” are deleted in their entirety and replaced with the following:

The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Barclays U.S. 1-5 Year Universal Index (the “Underlying Index”), which measures the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated taxable bonds that are rated either investment-grade or high yield with remaining maturities between one and five years. The Underlying Index includes U.S. Treasury bonds, government-related bonds (i.e., U.S. and non-U.S. agencies, sovereign, quasi-sovereign, supranational and local authority debt), investment-grade and high yield U.S. corporate bonds, mortgage-backed pass-through securities (“MBS”), commercial mortgage-backed securities (“CMBS”), asset-backed securities (“ABS”), Eurodollar bonds, bonds registered with the SEC or exempt from registration at the time of issuance, or offered pursuant to Rule 144A with or without registration rights (“Rule 144A Bonds”) and U.S. dollar-denominated emerging market bonds. The Underlying Index is a subset of the Barclays U.S. Universal Index.

The Underlying Index may include large-, mid- or small-capitalization companies, and components primarily include securitized assets, treasury securities, and

industrials companies. The components of the Underlying Index, and the degree to which these components represent certain industries, may change over time. The securities in the Underlying Index must be denominated in U.S. dollars and non-convertible. Excluded from the Underlying Index are tax-exempt municipal securities, coupon issues that have been stripped from bonds, structured notes, private placements (excluding Rule 144A Bonds) and bonds denominated in euros. The Underlying Index is market-capitalization weighted and is rebalanced on the last day of the month.

Changes in the Fund’s Principal Risks

The section of the Summary Prospectus entitled “Summary of Principal Risks” is amended to add the following:

Asset-Backed and Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk. ABS and MBS (residential and commercial) represent interests in “pools” of mortgages or other assets, including consumer loans or receivables held in trust. ABS and MBS are subject to credit, interest rate, call, extension, valuation and liquidity risk. These securities, in most cases, are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government and are subject to the risk of default on the underlying asset or mortgage, particularly during periods of economic downturn. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain ABS and MBS.

Non-U.S. Issuers Risk. Securities issued by non-U.S. issuers carry different risks from securities issued by U.S. issuers. These include differences in accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, the possibility of expropriation or confiscatory taxation, adverse changes in investment or exchange control regulations, political instability, regulatory and economic differences, and potential restrictions on the flow of international capital.

Prepayment Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of mortgages and other securities may be able to repay principal prior to the security’s maturity, causing the Fund to have to reinvest in securities with a lower yield, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

Valuation Risk. The sale price the Fund could receive for a security may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security and may differ from the value used by the Underlying Index, particularly for securities that trade in low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology. In addition, the value of the securities in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or sell the Fund’s shares.

The Fund may incur transaction costs as a result of the change in Underlying Index described above.

If you have any questions, please call 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737).


iShares^® is a registered trademark of BlackRock Fund Advisors or its affiliates.
			IS-A-ISTB-SP

PLEASE RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT

FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

iShares^®

iShares Trust

Supplement dated April 4, 2014

to the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) dated March 1, 2014

for the iShares Core Short-Term U.S. Bond ETF (ISTB) (the “Fund”)

The information in this Supplement updates information in, and should be read in conjunction with, the Prospectus and SAI for the Fund.

The following changes will take effect for the Fund on June 3, 2014 or as soon as practicable thereafter.


	Current	New
Fund Name	iShares Core Short-Term U.S. Bond ETF	iShares Core Short-Term USD Bond ETF
Underlying Index	Barclays U.S. Government/Credit 1-5 Year Bond Index	Barclays U.S. 1-5 Year Universal Index
Investment Objective	The iShares Core Short-Term U.S. Bond ETF seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated government, government-related and investment-grade U.S. corporate bonds with remaining maturities between one and five years.	The iShares Core Short- Term USD Bond ETF seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds that are rated either investment grade or high yield with remaining maturities between one and five years.

Change in the Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies

The first two paragraphs of the section of the Prospectus entitled “Principal Investment Strategies” are deleted in their entirety and replaced with the following:

The Underlying Index may include large-, mid- or small-capitalization companies, and components primarily include securitized assets, treasury securities, and

Changes in the Fund’s Principal Risks

The section of the Prospectus entitled “Summary of Principal Risks” is amended to add the following:

The section of the Prospectus entitled “A Further Discussion of Principal Risks” is amended to add the following:

Asset-Backed and Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk. ABS and MBS (residential and commercial) represent interests in “pools” of mortgages or other assets, including consumer loans or receivables held in trust. Although ABS and CMBS generally experience less prepayment risk than residential mortgage-backed securities, MBS and ABS, like traditional fixed-income securities, are subject to credit, interest rate, call, extension, valuation and liquidity risk. Because of call and extension risk, ABS and MBS react differently to changes in interest rates than other bonds. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain ABS and MBS.

ABS and MBS may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government and are subject to risk of default on the underlying mortgage or asset, particularly

during periods of economic downturn. CMBS issued by non-government entities may offer higher yields than those issued by government entities, but also may be subject to greater volatility than government issues. 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, which have greater risks than the higher classes, including greater interest rate, credit, call and extension risk.

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.

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. The market for ABS and MBS has experienced substantially lower valuations and greatly reduced liquidity. Ongoing economic and market uncertainty suggests that ABS and MBS may continue to be more difficult to value and to dispose of than in the past.

Non-U.S. Issuers Risk. The Fund may invest in U.S., dollar-denominated bonds of non-U.S. corporations. Securities issued by non-U.S. issuers have different risks from securities issued by U.S. issuers. These include differences in accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, the possibility of expropriation or confiscatory taxation, adverse changes in investment or exchange control regulations, political instability which could affect U.S. investments in non-U.S. countries, and potential restrictions of the flow of international capital. Non-U.S. issuers may be subject to less governmental regulation than U.S. issuers. Moreover, individual non-U.S. economies may differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in such respects as growth of gross domestic product, rate of inflation, capital reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency and balance of payment positions. In addition, the value of these securities may fluctuate due to changes in the exchange rate of the issuer’s local currency against the U.S. dollar.

Prepayment Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of mortgages and other securities may be able to repay principal prior to the security’s maturity, causing the Fund to have to reinvest in securities with a lower yield, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

Valuation Risk. The sale price the Fund could receive for a security may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security and may differ from the value used by the Underlying Index, particularly for securities that trade in low volume or volatile markets, or that are valued using a fair value methodology. Because non-U.S. stock exchanges may be open on days when the Fund does not price its shares, the value of the securities in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or sell the Fund’s shares.

The section of the Prospectus entitled “A Further Discussion of Other Risks” is amended to delete “Non-U.S. Issuers Risk in its entirety and to add the following:

Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk. The CMBS in which the Fund invests may be issued by entities, such as banks, mortgage lenders or other institutions. These entities are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, and there can be no assurance that the U.S. government would provide financial support to its agencies or instrumentalities where it is not obligated to do so.

CMBS depend on cash flows generated by underlying commercial real-estate loans, receivables or other assets, and can be significantly affected by changes in interest rates, the availability of information concerning the underlying assets and their structure, and the creditworthiness of the originators of the underlying assets. CMBS are subject to prepayment risk, which is the risk that during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of mortgages and other securities may be able to repay principal prior to the security’s maturity, causing the Fund to have to reinvest in securities with a lower yield, resulting in a decline to the Fund’s income. CMBS are also subject to extension risk, which is the risk that when interest rates rise, certain CMBS will be paid off substantially more slowly than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply, resulting in a decline to the Fund’s income and potentially in the value of the Fund’s investments. Because of prepayment and extension risk, CMBS react differently to changes in interest rates than other bonds. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain CMBS.

In addition, the value of CMBS may be adversely affected by regulatory or tax changes. CMBS issued by non-government entities may offer higher yields than those issued by government entities, but also may be subject to greater volatility than government issues. The market for CMBS has experienced substantially lower valuations and greatly reduced liquidity. Ongoing economic and market uncertainty suggests that CMBS may continue to be more difficult to value and to dispose of than in the past.

High Yield Securities Risk. Securities that are rated below investment-grade (commonly referred to as “junk bonds,” including those bonds rated lower than “BBB-” by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services and Fitch, Inc. or “Baa3” by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.), or are unrated, may be deemed speculative and may be more volatile than higher-rated securities of similar maturity.

High yield securities may also be subject to greater levels of credit or default risk than higher-rated securities. The value of high yield securities can be adversely affected by overall economic conditions, such as an economic downturn or a period of rising interest rates, and high yield securities may be less liquid and more difficult to sell at an advantageous time or price or to value than higher-rated securities.

In particular, high yield securities are often issued by smaller, less creditworthy companies or by highly leveraged (indebted) companies, which are generally less able than more financially stable companies to make scheduled payments of interest and principal.

Risk of Investing in Emerging Markets. Investments in emerging markets are subject to a greater risk of loss than investments in more developed markets. This is due to, among other things, the potential for greater market volatility, lower trading volume, inflation, political and economic instability, greater risk of a market shutdown and more governmental limitations on foreign investments than typically found in more developed markets. In addition, emerging markets often have less uniformity in accounting and reporting requirements, unreliable securities valuation and greater risks associated with custody of securities, as well as greater risk of capital controls through such measures as taxes or interest rate control. Certain emerging market countries may also lack the infrastructure necessary to attract large amounts of foreign trade and investment. Local securities markets may trade a small number of securities and may be unable to respond effectively to increases in trading volume, potentially making prompt liquidation of holdings difficult or impossible at times. Settlement procedures in emerging market countries are frequently less developed and reliable than those in the United States (and other developed countries). In addition, significant delays may occur in certain markets in registering the transfer of securities. Settlement or registration problems may make it more difficult for the Fund to value its portfolio securities and could cause the Fund to miss attractive investment opportunities.

The Fund may incur transaction costs as a result of the change in Underlying Index described above.

If you have any questions, please call 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737).


iShares^® is a registered trademark of BlackRock Fund Advisors or its affiliates.
			IS-A-ISTB-S

PLEASE RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT

FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

iShares^®

iShares Trust

Supplement dated April 4, 2014

to the Summary Prospectus dated July 1, 2013

for the iShares Core Long-Term U.S. Bond ETF (ILTB) (the “Fund”)

The information in this Supplement updates information in, and should be read in conjunction with, the Summary Prospectus for the Fund.

The following changes will take effect for the Fund on June 3, 2014 or as soon as practicable thereafter.


	Current	New
Fund Name	iShares Core Long-Term U.S. Bond ETF	iShares Core Long-Term USD Bond ETF
Underlying Index	Barclays U.S. Long Government / Credit Bond Index	Barclays U.S. 10+ Year Universal Index
Investment Objective	The iShares Core Long-Term U.S. Bond ETF seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated government, government-related and investment-grade U.S. corporate bonds with remaining maturities greater than ten years.	The iShares Core Long- Term USD Bond ETF seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds that are rated either investment grade or high-yield with remaining maturities greater than ten years.

Change in the Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies

The first two paragraphs of the section of the Summary Prospectus entitled “Principal Investment Strategies” are deleted in their entirety and replaced with the following:

The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Barclays U.S. 10+ Year Universal Index (the “Underlying Index”), which measures the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated taxable bonds that are rated either investment-grade or high yield with remaining maturities greater than ten years. The Underlying Index includes U.S. Treasury bonds, government-related bonds (i.e., U.S. and non-U.S. agencies, sovereign, quasi-sovereign, supranational and local authority debt), investment-grade and high yield U.S. corporate bonds, Eurodollar bonds, bonds registered with the SEC or exempt from registration at the time of issuance, or offered pursuant to Rule 144A with or without registration rights (“Rule 144A Bonds”) and U.S. dollar-denominated emerging market bonds. The Underlying Index is a subset of the Barclays U.S. Universal Index.

The Underlying Index may include large-, mid- or small-capitalization companies, and components primarily include treasury securities, and financial, industrials and

utilities companies. The components of the Underlying Index, and the degree to which these components represent certain industries, may change over time. The securities in the Underlying Index have at least 10 years remaining to maturity, or at least 10 years remaining to the first call date in the case of callable perpetual securities. In addition, the securities in the Underlying Index must be denominated in U.S. dollars and be non-convertible. Excluded from the Underlying Index are tax-exempt municipal securities, coupon issues that have been stripped from bonds, structured notes, private placements (excluding Rule 144A Bonds) and bonds denominated in euros. The Underlying Index is market-capitalization weighted and is rebalanced on the last day of the month.

Changes in the Fund’s Principal Risks

The section of the Summary Prospectus entitled “Summary of Principal Risks” is amended to add the following:

The Fund may incur transaction costs as a result of the change in Underlying Index described above.

If you have any questions, please call 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737).


iShares^® is a registered trademark of BlackRock Fund Advisors or its affiliates.
			IS-A-ILTB-SP

PLEASE RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT

FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

iShares^®

iShares Trust

Supplement dated April 4, 2014

to the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) dated July 1, 2013

for the iShares Core Long-Term U.S. Bond ETF (ILTB) (the “Fund”)

The information in this Supplement updates information in, and should be read in conjunction with, the Prospectus and SAI for the Fund.

The following changes will take effect for the Fund on June 3, 2014 or as soon as practicable thereafter.


	Current	New
Fund Name	iShares Core Long-Term U.S. Bond ETF	iShares Core Long-Term USD Bond ETF
Underlying Index	Barclays U.S. Long Government / Credit Bond Index	Barclays U.S. 10+ Year Universal Index
Investment Objective	The iShares Core Long-Term U.S. Bond ETF seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated government, government-related and investment-grade U.S. corporate bonds with remaining maturities greater than ten years.	The iShares Core Long- Term USD Bond ETF seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds that are rated either investment grade or high-yield with remaining maturities greater than ten years.

Change in the Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies

The first two paragraphs of the section of the Prospectus entitled “Principal Investment Strategies” are deleted in their entirety and replaced with the following:

The Underlying Index may include large-, mid- or small-capitalization companies, and components primarily include treasury securities, and financial, industrials and

Changes in the Fund’s Principal Risks

The section of the Prospectus entitled “Summary of Principal Risks” is amended to add the following:

The section of the Prospectus entitled “A Further Discussion of Principal Risks” is amended to add the following:

The section of the Prospectus entitled “A Further Discussion of Other Risks” is amended to delete “Non-U.S. Issuers Risk in its entirety and to add the following:

The Fund may incur transaction costs as a result of the change in Underlying Index described above.

If you have any questions, please call 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737).


iShares^® is a registered trademark of BlackRock Fund Advisors or its affiliates.
			IS-A-ILTB-S

PLEASE RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT

FOR FUTURE REFERENCE