497K 1 d549017d497k.htm FORM 497K Form 497K
December 29, 2023
 
 
2023 Summary Prospectus
• iShares ESG MSCI EM Leaders ETF | LDEM |  NASDAQ
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s prospectus (including amendments and supplements) and other information about the Fund, including the Fund’s statement of additional information and shareholder reports, online at https://www.blackrock.com/prospectus. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) or by sending an e-mail request to iSharesETFs@blackrock.com, or from your financial professional. The Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated December 29, 2023, as amended and supplemented from time to time, are incorporated by reference into (legally made a part of) this Summary Prospectus. Information on the Fund’s net asset value, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads can be found at www.iShares.com.

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.


iSHARES® ESG MSCI EM LEADERS ETF
Ticker: LDEMStock Exchange: Nasdaq
Investment Objective
The iShares ESG MSCI EM Leaders ETF (the Fund) seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of large and mid-capitalization stocks of emerging market companies with high environmental, social, and governance performance relative to their sector peers as determined by the index provider.
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. The investment advisory agreement between iShares Trust (the Trust) and BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA) (the Investment Advisory Agreement) provides that BFA will pay all operating expenses of the Fund, except: (i) the management fees, (ii) interest expenses, (iii) taxes, (iv) expenses incurred with respect to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities and the execution of portfolio transactions, including brokerage commissions, (v) distribution fees or expenses, and (vi) litigation expenses and any extraordinary expenses.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(ongoing expenses that you pay each year as a
percentage of the value of your investments)1
Management
Fees
Distribution
and Service
(12b-1) Fees
Other
Expenses2
Total Annual
Fund
Operating
Expenses
0.16%
None
0.01%
0.17%

1
Operating expenses paid by BFA under the Investment Advisory Agreement exclude acquired fund fees and expenses, if any.
2
The amount rounded to 0.00%.
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:
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
$17
$55
$96
$217
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Portfolio Turnover. The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or turns over its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 37% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI EM Extended ESG Leaders 5% Issuer Capped Index (the Underlying Index), which has been developed by MSCI Inc. (the Index Provider or MSCI). The Underlying Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index that is designed to reflect the equity performance of emerging market companies with favorable environmental, social and governance (ESG) characteristics (as determined by MSCI ESG Research LLC (MSCI ESG Research)). The Index Provider begins with the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (the Parent Index) and excludes securities of companies involved in the business of alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and nuclear power and weapons, thermal coal and unconventional oil and gas businesses (e.g. thermal coal extraction and generation or oil sands extraction), companies involved with conventional and controversial weapons, and producers and major retailers of civilian firearms based on revenue or percentage of revenue
thresholds for certain categories (e.g. $1 billion or 50%) and categorical exclusions for others (e.g. nuclear weapons). Companies involved in very serious business controversies based on scores assigned by MSCI ESG Research are also excluded. MSCI ESG Research defines a controversy as an instance or ongoing situation in which company operations and/or products allegedly have a negative environmental, social and/or governance impact. Each controversy case is assessed for the severity of its impact on society.
MSCI ESG Research rates the ESG characteristics of companies on a scale of CCC (lowest) to AAA (highest). MSCI ESG Research determines the ESG ratings by evaluating the company's risks and opportunities and using a sector-specific ESG Key Issues (Key Issues) (e.g. carbon emissions) selection and weighting model. Each company is scored on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the most desirable, for each applicable Key Issue before being provided an ESG rating based on average Key Issue score. ESG ratings are calculated in comparison to a company’s sector peers, and securities in one sector may have a lower average ESG rating than securities in another sector. Only securities of companies with an ESG rating of BB or higher are eligible for inclusion in the Underlying Index.
Additionally, MSCI excludes companies involved in very severe business controversies by assessing the possible negative environmental, social, and/or governance impact of a company’s operations or products on a scale from zero to ten, with zero being the most severe controversy rating (the MSCI Controversies Score). For new
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constituents, only securities of companies with a MSCI Controversies Score of three or higher are eligible for inclusion in the Underlying Index. Current constituents must have a MSCI Controversies Score of at least one.
Following these eligibility screens, companies are then ordered within each Global Industry Classification Standard® (GICS) sector, first based on ESG ratings, ESG rating trend, current index membership, industry-adjusted ESG scores and then based on free float-adjusted market capitalization. MSCI selects companies from the ranked universe until the constituents of the Underlying Index represent approximately 50% of the free float-adjusted cumulative market capitalization of the respective sector of the Parent Index. Once all constituents are selected, MSCI next weights the constituents according to free float-adjusted market capitalization, limiting individual issuers to 5% of index weight, but does not revisit the 50% target sector coverage based on any resultant reweighting. The Underlying Index is reviewed annually in May to coincide with the semi-annual review of the Parent Index. The Underlying Index includes large- and mid-capitalization companies and may change over time. As of August 31, 2023, the Underlying Index consisted of 494 securities and a significant portion of the Underlying Index is represented by securities of companies in the consumer discretionary and financials industries or sectors. The components of the Underlying Index are likely to change over time.
BFA uses an indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to
beat the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Underlying Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy to manage the Fund. Representative sampling is an indexing strategy that involves investing in a representative sample of securities that collectively has an investment profile similar to that of an applicable underlying index. The securities selected are expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as market capitalization and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of an applicable underlying index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the securities in the Underlying Index.
The Fund generally will invest at least 90% of its assets in the component securities of the Underlying Index and in investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the component securities of the Underlying Index (i.e., depositary receipts representing securities of the Underlying Index) and may invest up to 10% of its assets in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents, including shares of money market funds advised by BFA or
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its affiliates, as well as in securities not included in the Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. Cash and cash equivalent investments associated with a derivative position will be treated as part of that position for the purposes of calculating the percentage of investments included in the Underlying Index. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Underlying Index before fees and expenses of the Fund.
The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund's total assets (including the value of any collateral received).
The Underlying Index is sponsored by MSCI, which isindependent of the Fund and BFA. The Index Provider determines the composition and relative weightings of the securities in the Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index.
Industry Concentration Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities) and repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities are not considered to be issued by members of any industry.
Summary of Principal Risks
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund's performance could trail that of other investments. The Fund is subject to certain risks, including the
principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund's net asset value per share (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective. Certain key risks are prioritized below (with others following in alphabetical order), but the relative significance of any risk is difficult to predict and may change over time. You should review each risk factor carefully.
Risk of Investing in Emerging Markets. Investments in emerging market issuers may be subject to a greater risk of loss than investments in issuers located or operating in more developed markets. Emerging markets may be more likely to experience inflation, social instability, political turmoil or rapid changes in economic conditions than more developed markets. Companies in many emerging markets are not subject to the same degree of regulatory requirements, accounting standards or auditor oversight as companies in more developed countries, and as a result, information about the securities in which the Fund invests may be less reliable or complete. Emerging markets often have less reliable securities valuations and greater risk associated with custody of securities than developed markets. There may be significant obstacles to obtaining information necessary for investigations into or litigation against companies and shareholders may have limited legal remedies. The Fund is not actively managed and does not select investments based on investor protection considerations.
ESG Risk. To the extent that the Underlying Index uses criteria related to the ESG characteristics of issuers, this may limit the types and number of
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investment opportunities available to the Fund and, as a result, the Fund may underperform other funds whose underlying index does not use ESG criteria. The Underlying Index’s use of ESG criteria may result in the Fund investing in, or allocating greater weight to, securities or market sectors that underperform the market as a whole or underperform other funds that use ESG criteria. In addition, the use of representative sampling may result in divergence of the Fund’s overall ESG characteristics or ESG risk from those of the Underlying Index. The Index Provider may evaluate security-level ESG data and, if applicable, ESG objectives or constraints that are relevant to the Underlying Index only at index reviews or rebalances. Securities included in the Underlying Index may cease to meet the relevant ESG criteria but may nevertheless remain in the Underlying Index and the Fund until the next review or rebalance by the Index Provider. As a result, certain securities in the Underlying Index, or the Underlying Index as a whole, may not meet the relevant ESG objectives or constraints at all times.
Equity Securities Risk. Equity securities are subject to changes in value, and their values may be more volatile than those of other asset classes. The Underlying Index is composed of common stocks, which generally subjecttheir holders to more risks than preferred stocks and debt securities because common stockholders’ claims are subordinated to those of holders of preferred stocks and debt securities upon the bankruptcy of the issuer.
Market Risk. The Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over
longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, public health issues, recessions, the prospect or occurrence of a sovereign default or other financial crisis, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fundand its investments and could result in increased premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV.
Index-Related Risk. There is no guarantee that the Fund’s investment results will have a high degree of correlation to those of the Underlying Index or that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track the Underlying Index. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index Provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Unusual market conditions or other unforeseen circumstances (such as natural disasters, political unrest or war) may impact the Index Provider or a third-party data provider, and could cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance. This could cause the Underlying Index to vary from its normal or expected composition.
Asset Class Risk. Securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or in the Fund's portfolio may underperform in comparison to the general financial markets, a particular financial market or other asset classes. Securities of companies that have positive or
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favorable ESG characteristics may underperform other securities.
Assets Under Management (AUM) Risk. From time to time, an Authorized Participant (as defined in the Creations and Redemptions section of this prospectus (the Prospectus)), a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser or an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, or a 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. Therecan 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, and none of those Authorized Participants is obligated to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, Fund shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting. Authorized Participant concentration risk may be heightened for exchange-traded funds (ETFs), such as the Fund, that invest in securities issued by non-U.S. issuers or other securities or instruments that have lower trading volumes.
Calculation Methodology Risk. The Index Provider relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of components of the Underlying Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor BFA can offer assurances that the Index Provider’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included components.
Commodity Risk. The Fund invests in companies that are susceptible to fluctuations in certain commodity markets and to price changes due to trade relations. Any negative changes in commodity markets that may be due to changes in supply and demand for commodities, market events, war, regulatory developments, other catastrophic events, or other factors that the Fund cannot control could have an adverse impact on those companies.
Concentration Risk. The Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund's investments are concentrated in the securities and/or other assets of a particular issuer or issuers, country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, sector, market segment or asset class.
Consumer Discretionary Sector Risk. The consumer discretionary sector may be affected by changes in domestic and international economies, exchange and interest rates, supply chains, competition, consumers' disposable income, consumer preferences, social trends and marketing campaigns.
Currency Risk. Because the Fund's NAV is determined in U.S. dollars, the
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Fund's NAV could decline if the currency of a non-U.S. market in which the Fund invests depreciates against the U.S. dollar or if there are delays or limits on repatriation of such currency. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the Fund's NAV may change quickly and without warning.
Custody Risk. Less developed securities markets are more likely to experience problems with the clearing and settling of trades, as well as the holding of securities by local banks, agents and depositories.
Cybersecurity Risk. Failures or breaches of the electronic systems of the Fund, the Fund's adviser, distributor, the Index Provider and other service providers, market makers, Authorized Participants or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests have the ability to cause disruptions, negatively impact the Fund’s business operations and/or potentially result in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders. While the Fund has established business continuity plans and risk management systems seeking to address system breaches or failures, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems. Furthermore, the Fund cannot control the cybersecurity plans and systems of the Fund’s Index Provider and other service providers, market makers, Authorized Participants or issuers of securities in which the Fund invests.
Financials Sector Risk. The performance of companies in the financials sector may be adversely impacted by many factors, including, among others, changes in government regulations, economic conditions, and interest rates, credit rating downgrades, adverse public perception, exposure
concentration and decreased liquidity in credit markets. The impact of changes in regulation of any individual financial company, or of the financials sector as a whole, cannot be predicted. Cybersecurity incidents and technology malfunctions and failures have become increasingly frequent and have caused significant losses to companies in this sector, which may negatively impact the Fund.
Geographic Risk. A natural disaster could occur in a geographic region in which the Fund invests, which could adversely affect the economy or the business operations of companies in the specific geographic region, causing an adverse impact on the Fund's investments in, or which are exposed to, the affected region.
Indexing Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively managed, and BFA generally does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets.
Infectious Illness Risk. A widespread outbreak of an infectious illness, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, may result in travel restrictions, disruption of healthcare services, prolonged quarantines, cancellations, supply chain disruptions, business closures, lower consumer demand, layoffs, ratings downgrades, defaults and other significant economic, social and political impacts. Markets may experience temporary closures, extreme volatility, severe losses, reduced liquidity and increased trading costs. Such events may adversely affect the Fund and its investments and may impact the Fund’s ability to purchase or sell securities or cause elevated tracking error and increased premiums or discounts to the Fund's NAV. Despite the development of
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vaccines, the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects cannot be predicted with certainty.
Issuer Risk. The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of individual securities to which the Fund has exposure. Changes in the financial condition or credit rating of an issuer of those securities may cause the value of the securities to decline.
Large-Capitalization Companies Risk. Large-capitalization companies may be less able than smaller capitalization companies to adapt to changing market conditions. Large-capitalization companies may be more mature and subject to more limited growth potential compared with smaller capitalization companies. During different market cycles, the performance of large-capitalization companies has trailed the overall performance of the broader securities markets.
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, 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 year. In some circumstances, the Fund may hold a relatively large proportion of its assets in cash in anticipation of large redemptions, diluting its investment returns. These large redemptions may also force the Fund to sell portfolio securities 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.
Management Risk. As the Fund will not fully replicate the Underlying Index, it is subject to the risk that BFA's investment strategy may not produce the intended results.
Market Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruptions in the creation/redemption process. ANY OF THESE FACTORS, AMONG OTHERS, MAY LEAD TO THE FUND'S SHARES TRADING AT A PREMIUM OR DISCOUNT TO NAV.
National Closed Market Trading Risk. To the extent that the underlying securities or other instruments held by the Fund trade on foreign exchanges or in foreign markets that may be closed when the securities exchange on which the Fund’s shares trade is open, there are likely to be deviations between the current price of such an underlying security and the last quoted price for the underlying security (i.e., the Fund’s quote from the closed foreign
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market).The impact of a closed foreign market on the Fund is likely to be greater where a large portion of the Fund’s underlying securities or other instruments trade on that closed foreign market or when the foreign market is closed for unscheduled reasons. These deviations could result in premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV that may be greater than those experienced by other ETFs.
Non-U.S. Securities Risk. Investments in the securities of non-U.S. issuers are subject to the risks associated with investing in those non-U.S. markets, such as heightened risks of inflation or nationalization. The Fund may lose money due to political, economic and geographic events affecting issuers of non-U.S. securitiesor non-U.S. markets. In addition, non-U.S. securities markets may trade a small number of securities and may be unable to respond effectively to changes in trading volume, potentially making prompt liquidation of holdings difficult or impossible at times. The Fund is specifically exposed to Asian Economic Risk.
Operational Risk. The Fund is exposed to operational risks arising from a number of factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund and BFA seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address significant operational risks.
Privatization Risk. Some countries in which the Fund invests have privatized,
or have begun the process of privatizing, certain entities and industries. Privatized entities may lose money or be re-nationalized.
Reliance on Trading Partners Risk. The Fund invests in countries or regions whose economies are heavily dependent upon trading with key partners. Any reduction in this trading may have an adverse impact on the Fund's investments. Through its holdings of securities of certain issuers, the Fund is specifically exposed to Asian Economic Risk and U.S. Economic Risk.
Risk of Investing in China. Investments in Chinese securities, including certain Hong Kong-listed and U.S.-listed securities, subject the Fund to risks specific to China. China may be subject to considerable degrees of economic, political and social instability. China is an emerging market and demonstrates significantly higher volatility from time to time in comparison to developed markets. Over the last few decades, the Chinese government has undertaken reform of economic and market practices and has expanded the sphere of private ownership of property in China. However, Chinese markets generally continue to experience inefficiency, volatility and pricing anomalies resulting from governmental influence, a lack of publicly available information and/or political and social instability.
Chinese companies are also subject to the risk that Chinese authorities can intervene in their operations and structure. Internal social unrest or confrontations with neighboring countries, including military conflicts in response to such events, may also disrupt economic development in China
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and result in a greater risk of currency fluctuations, currency non-convertibility, interest rate fluctuations and higher rates of inflation.
China has experienced security concerns, such as terrorism and strained international relations. Additionally, China is alleged to have participated in state-sponsored cyberattacks against foreign companies and foreign governments. Actual and threatened responses to such activity and strained international relations, including purchasing restrictions, sanctions, tariffs or cyberattacks on the Chinese government or Chinese companies, may impact China’s economy and Chinese issuers of securities in which the Fund invests. Incidents involving China's or the region's security may cause uncertainty in Chinese markets and may adversely affect the Chinese economy and the Fund's investments. Export growth continues to be a major driver of China's rapid economic growth. Reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, supply chain diversification, institution of additional tariffs or other trade barriers (including as a result of heightened trade tensions or a trade war between China and the U.S. or in response to actual or alleged Chinese cyber activity) or a downturn in any of the economies of China's key trading partners may have an adverse impact on the Chinese economy. The Underlying Index may include companies that are subject to economic or trade restrictions (but not investment restrictions) imposed by the U.S. or other governments due to national security, human rights or other concerns of such government. So long as these restrictions do not include restrictions on investments, the Fund is
generally expected to invest in such companies, consistent with its objective to track the performance of the Underlying Index.
Chinese companies, including Chinese companies that are listed on U.S. exchanges, are not subject to the same degree of regulatory requirements, accounting standards or auditor oversight as companies in more developed countries. As a result, information about the Chinese securities in which the Fund invests may be less reliable or complete. Chinese companies with securities listed on U.S. exchanges may be delisted if they do not meet U.S. accounting standards and auditor oversight requirements, which would significantly decrease the liquidity and value of the securities. There may be significant obstacles to obtaining information necessary for investigations into or litigation against Chinese companies, and shareholders may have limited legal remedies. The Fund is not actively managed and does not select investments based on investor protection considerations.
Risk of Investing in Russia. Investing in Russian securities involves significant risks, including legal, regulatory, currency and economic risks that are specific to Russia. In addition, investing in Russian securities involves risks associated with the settlement of portfolio transactions and loss of the Fund’s ownership rights in its portfolio securities as a result of the system of share registration and custody in Russia. Governments in the U.S. and many other countries have imposed economic sanctions on certain Russian individuals and Russian corporate and banking entities. A number of jurisdictions may also institute broader sanctions on Russia. Russia has issued
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a number of countersanctions, some of which restrict the distribution of profits by limited liability companies (e.g., dividends), and prohibit Russian persons from entering into transactions with designated persons from unfriendly states as well as the export of raw materials or other products from Russia to certain sanctioned persons. Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The extent and duration of the military action, resulting sanctions and resulting future market disruptions, including declines in its stock markets and the value of the ruble against the U.S. dollar, are impossible to predict, but could be significant. Disruptions caused by Russian military action or other actions (including cyberattacks and espionage) or resulting actual and threatened responses to such activity, including purchasing and financing restrictions, boycotts or changes in consumer or purchaser preferences, sanctions, import and export restrictions, tariffs or cyberattacks on the Russian government, Russian companies, or Russian individuals, including politicians, may impact Russia’s economy and Russian companies in which the Fund invests. Actual and threatened responses to Russian military action may also impact the markets for certain Russian commodities, such as oil and natural gas, as well as other sectors of the Russian economy, and are likely to have collateral impacts on such sectors globally. Russian companies may be unable to pay dividends and, if they pay dividends, the Fund may be unable to receive them. As a result of sanctions, the Fund is currently restricted from trading in Russian securities, including those in its portfolio, while the Underlying Index has removed Russian
securities. It is unknown when, or if, sanctions may be lifted or the Fund’s ability to trade in Russian securities will resume.
Risk of Investing in Saudi Arabia. The ability of foreign investors (such as the Fund) to invest in the securities of Saudi Arabian issuers is relatively new. Such ability could be restricted by the Saudi Arabian government at any time, and unforeseen risks could materialize with respect to foreign ownership in such securities. The economy of Saudi Arabia is dominated by petroleum exports. A sustained decrease in petroleum prices could have a negative impact on all aspects of the economy. Investments in the securities of Saudi Arabian issuers involve risks not typically associated with investments in securities of issuers in more developed countries that may negatively affect the value of the Fund’s investments. Such heightened risks may include, among others, expropriation and/or nationalization of assets, restrictions on and government intervention in international trade, confiscatory taxation, political instability, including authoritarian and/or military involvement in governmental decision making, armed conflict, crime and instability as a result of religious, ethnic and/or socioeconomic unrest. There remains the possibility that instability in the larger Middle East region could adversely impact the economy of Saudi Arabia, and there is no assurance of political stability in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia Broker Risk. There are a number of different ways of conducting transactions in equity securities in the Saudi Arabian market. The Fund generally expects to conduct its transactions in a manner in which the Fund would not be limited by Saudi
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Arabian regulations to a single broker. However, there may be a limited number of brokers who can provide services to the Fund, which may have an adverse impact on the prices, quantity or timing of Fund transactions.
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.
Security Risk. Some countries and regions in which the Fund invests have experienced security concerns, such as war, terrorism and strained international relations. Incidents involving a country's or region's security may cause uncertainty in its markets and may adversely affect its economy and the Fund's investments.
Tracking Error Risk. The Fund may be subject to tracking error, which is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the Underlying Index. Tracking error may occur because of differences between the securities and other instruments held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index, pricing differences(including, as applicable, differences between a security’s price at the local market close and the Fund's valuation of a security at the time of calculation of the Fund's NAV), transaction costs incurred by the Fund, the Fund’s holding of uninvested cash, differences in timing of the accrual or the valuation of dividends or interest received by the Fund or distributions paid to the Fund’s shareholders, the requirements to maintain pass-through
tax treatment, portfolio transactions carried out to minimize the distribution of capital gains to shareholders, acceptance of custom baskets, changes to the Underlying Index or the costs to the Fund of complying with various new or existing regulatory requirements, among other reasons. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the Underlying Index does not. Tracking error may occur due to differences between the methodologies used in calculating the value of the Underlying Index and determining the Fund’s NAV. BFA EXPECTS THAT THE FUND WILL EXPERIENCE HIGHER TRACKING ERROR THAN IS TYPICAL FOR SIMILAR INDEX ETFs.
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 and from the value used by the Underlying Index, 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. In addition, 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 securities not been fair valued or been valued using a different methodology. The ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
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Performance Information
The bar chart and table that follow show how the Fund has performed on a calendar year basis and provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1 year and since inception compare with the Underlying Index. Both assume that all dividends and distributions have been reinvested in the Fund. Past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future.
Calendar Year by Year Returns1

1
The Fund’s year-to-date return as of September 30, 2023 was -1.55%.
The best calendar quarter return during the periods shown above was 10.62% in the 4th quarter of 2022; the worst was -13.75% in the 3rd quarter of 2022.
Updated performance information, including the Fund’s current NAV, may be obtained by visiting our website at www.iShares.com or by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) (toll free).
Average Annual Total Returns
(for the periods ended December 31, 2022)
 
One Year
Since
Inception
(Inception Date: 2/5/2020)
 
 
Return Before Taxes
-21.57%
-2.60%
Return After Taxes on Distributions2
-19.01%
-2.00%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares2
-8.73%
-0.67%
MSCI EM Extended ESG Leaders 5% Issuer Capped Index (Index
returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
-21.55%
-2.06%

2
After-tax returns in the table above are calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state or local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after-tax returns shown are not relevant to tax-exempt investors or investors who hold shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares are calculated assuming that an investor has sufficient capital gains of the same character from other investments to offset any capital losses from the sale of Fund shares. As a result, Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares may exceed Fund returns before taxes and/or returns after taxes on distributions.
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Management
Investment Adviser. BlackRock Fund Advisors.
Portfolio Managers. Jennifer Hsui, Greg Savage and Paul Whitehead (the Portfolio Managers) are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Each Portfolio Manager supervises a portfolio management team. Ms. Hsui, and Mr. Savage have been Portfolio Managers of the Fund since 2020. Mr. Whitehead has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since 2022.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund is an ETF. Individual shares of the Fund may only be bought and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer. Because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the bid-ask spread).
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA, in which case, your distributions generally will be taxed when withdrawn.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), BFA or other related companies may pay the intermediary for marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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For more information visit www.iShares.com or call 1-800-474-2737
Investment Company Act file No.: 811-09729
IS-SP-LDEM-1223