BlackRock Financial Institution Series Trust

Your Choices

Important Information for You to Know

Sell Your Shares

Submit a sell order directly to the Transfer Agent

You may redeem shares by submitting a written notice of redemption directly to the Transfer Agent at BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc., P.O. Box 9819, Providence, Rhode Island 02940-8019. Redemption requests should not be sent directly to the Fund. The notice requires the signature of all persons in whose names the shares are registered signed exactly as their names appear on the Transfer Agent’s register. In some cases a medallion signature guarantee may be required. You can obtain a medallion signature guarantee from a bank, securities dealer, securities broker, credit union, savings association, national securities exchange or registered securities association. A notary public seal will not be acceptable. Please see the SAI for details on when a signature guarantee is needed.

497 1 d497.htm BLACKROCK FINANCIAL INSTITUTION SERIES TRUST BlackRock Financial Institution Series Trust

BlackRock Summit Cash Reserves Fund of BlackRock Financial Institutions Series Trust

PROSPECTUS | AUGUST 27, 2010

LOGO

This Prospectus contains information you should know before investing, including information about risks. Please read it before you invest and keep it for future reference.


Class		Ticker Symbol
Investor A Shares		MSAXX
Investor B Shares		MSBXX

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


*Fund Overview*	Key facts and details about the Fund listed in this prospectus, including investment objective, principal strategies, risk factors, fee and expense information, and historical performance information
	Investment Objective	3
	Fees and Expenses of the Fund	3
	Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund	3
	Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund	3
	Performance Information	4
	Investment Manager	5
	Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares	5
	Tax Information	5
	Payments to Broker/Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries	6

*Details About the Fund*	How the Fund Invests	7
	Investment Risks	9

*Account Information*	Information about account services, sales charges & waivers, shareholder transactions, and distribution and other payments
	How to Choose the Share Class that Best Suits Your Needs	12
	Distribution and Service Payments	13
	How to Buy, Sell and Exchange Shares	14
	Fund’s Rights	16
	Short-Term Trading Policy	17

*Management of the Fund*	Information about BlackRock
	BlackRock	18
	Conflicts of Interest	18
	Valuation of Fund Investments	19
	Dividends, Distributions and Taxes	19

*Financial Highlights*	Financial Performance of the Fund	21

*General Information*	Shareholder Documents	23
	Certain Fund Policies	23
	Statement of Additional Information	24

*Glossary*	Glossary of Investment Terms	25

*For More Information*	Fund and Service Providers	Inside Back Cover
	Additional Information	Back Cover

Fund Overview

Key Facts About BlackRock Summit Cash Reserves Fund

Investment Objective

The investment objective of BlackRock Summit Cash Reserves Fund (the “Fund”) of BlackRock Financial Institutions Series Trust (the “Trust”) is to seek current income, preservation of capital and liquidity available from investing in a diversified portfolio of short-term money market securities.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.


Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)	Investor A Shares		Investor B Shares
Management Fee	0.50	%	0.50	%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees	None		0.75	%
Other Expenses¹	0.38	%	0.39	%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses²	0.88	%	1.64	%

¹	Other Expenses have been restated to reflect current fees.

²	The Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses do not correlate to the ratio of expenses to average net assets given in the Fund’s most recent annual report, which does not include the restatement of Other Expenses to reflect current fees.

Example:

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time period indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. This 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
Investor A Shares	$	90	$	281	$	488	$	1,084
Investor B Shares	$	167	$	517	$	892	$	1,944

Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund

The Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing in a diversified portfolio of U.S. dollar denominated money market securities. These securities consist primarily of short-term securities, including U.S. Treasury securities, U.S. Government securities, U.S. Government agency securities, securities issued by U.S. Government sponsored enterprises and U.S. Government instrumentalities, commercial paper and repurchase agreements. The Fund may also invest in obligations of domestic and foreign banks, other short-term debt securities issued by U.S. and foreign entities, and variable rate demand notes.

Fund management decides which of these securities to buy and sell based on its assessment of the relative values of different securities and future interest rates. Fund management seeks to improve the Fund’s yield by taking advantage of yield differentials that regularly occur between securities of a similar kind. The Fund’s dollar-weighted average maturity will be 60 days or less, and the dollar-weighted average life of all of its investments will be 120 days or less.

Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund

The Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective.

An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in any bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The Fund could lose money if the issuer of an instrument held by the Fund defaults or if short-term interest rates rise sharply in a manner not anticipated by Fund management.

Although the Fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1.00 per share, it is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund. The following is a summary description of certain risks of investing in the Fund:

Asset-Backed Securities Risk — Asset-backed securities represent interests in “pools” of assets, including consumer loans or receivables held in trust. Asset-backed securities are subject to credit, interest rate, prepayment and extension risks. These securities are also subject to risk of default on the underlying asset, particularly during periods of economic downturn.

Credit Risk — Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of a security 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.

Extension Risk — When interest rates rise, certain obligations will be paid off by the obligor more slowly than anticipated, causing the value of these securities to fall.

Foreign Securities Risk — Foreign securities risk is the risk that the Fund may have difficulty buying and selling on foreign exchanges. In addition, prices of foreign securities may go up and down more than prices of securities traded in the United States.

Income Risk — The Fund’s yield will vary as the short-term securities in its portfolio mature and the proceeds are reinvested in securities with different interest rates.

Interest Rate Risk — Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of a debt security may fall when interest rates rise. In general, the market price of debt securities with longer maturities will go up or down more in response to changes in interest rates than the market price of shorter-term securities.

Additionally, securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies, instrumentalities and sponsored enterprises have historically involved little risk of loss of principal if held to maturity. However, due to fluctuations in interest rates, the market value of such securities may vary during the period shareholders own shares of the Fund.

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. Selection risk is the risk that the securities that Fund management selects will underperform the markets, the relevant indices or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies. This means you may lose money.

Municipal Obligations Risk — In making investments, the Fund and BlackRock will rely on the opinion of issuers’ bond counsel. Neither the Fund nor BlackRock will independently review the bases for those tax opinions. If any of those tax opinions are ultimately determined to be incorrect, the Fund and its shareholders could be subject to substantial tax liabilities.

Repurchase Agreement Risk — If the other party to a repurchase agreement 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 and the market value of the security declines, the Fund may lose money.

Treasury Obligations Risk — Direct obligations of the U.S. Treasury have historically involved little risk of loss of principal if held to maturity. However, due to fluctuations in interest rates, the market value of such securities may vary during the period shareholders own shares of the Fund.

U.S. Government Obligations Risk — Certain securities in which the Fund may invest, including securities issued by certain government agencies and government sponsored enterprises, are not guaranteed by the U.S. Government or supported by the full faith and credit of the United States.

Variable and Floating Rate Instrument Risk — The absence of an active market could make it difficult for the Fund to dispose of these securities if the issuer defaults.

Variable Rate Demand Obligations Risk — Variable rate demand obligations are floating rate securities that combine an interest in a long-term municipal bond with a right to demand payment before maturity from a bank or other financial institution. If the bank or financial institution is unable to pay, the Fund may lose money.

Performance Information

The information on the following page shows you how the Fund’s performance has varied year by year and provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. As with all such investments, past performance is not an indication of future results. The table includes all applicable fees and sales charges. 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. Updated information about the Fund’s results can be obtained by visiting www.blackrock.com/moneymarketreports or can be obtained by phone at (800) 441-7762. The Fund is a money market fund managed pursuant to the requirements of Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). Effective May 28, 2010, Rule 2a-7 was amended to impose new liquidity, credit quality and maturity requirements on all money market funds. Fund performance shown prior to May 28, 2010 is based on Investment Company Act rules then in effect and is not an indication of future returns.

BlackRock Summit Cash Reserves Fund

Investor A Shares

ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS

As of 12/31

LOGO

During the period shown in the bar chart, the highest return for a quarter was 1.52% (quarter ended September 30, 2000) and the lowest return for a quarter was 0.01% (quarter ended September 30, 2009). The year-to-date return as of June 30, 2010 was 0.00%.


As of 12/31/09 Average Annual Total Returns	1 Year		5 Years		10 years
Investor A Shares	0.19	%	2.72	%	2.61	%
Investor B Shares	0.08	%	2.06	%	1.94	%

To obtain the Fund’s current 7-day yield, call (800) 441-7762.

Investment Manager

The Fund’s investment manager is BlackRock Advisors, LLC (“BlackRock”). The Fund’s sub-adviser is BlackRock Institutional Management Corporation. Where applicable, “BlackRock” refers also to the sub-adviser.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund offers two different classes of shares, which you can acquire only by exchange subject to certain eligibility requirements. If you acquire your Fund shares by exchange (i) from Investor A or Institutional Shares of a fund advised by BlackRock or an affiliate or (ii) from shares of a non-money market mutual fund (that is distributed by a selected securities dealer that is an affiliate of BlackRock Investments, LLC, the Fund’s distributor (the “Distributor”) and that is not advised by BlackRock or its affiliates (a “Participating Fund”)) that are subject to a front-end sales charge, you will receive Investor A Shares of the Fund. If you acquire your shares of the Fund by exchange (i) from Investor B or Investor C Shares of a fund advised by BlackRock or an affiliate or (ii) from shares of a Participating Fund that are subject to a contingent deferred sales charge, you will receive Investor B Shares of the Fund. For more information, please see “How to Choose the Share Class that Best Suits Your Needs” on page 12.

You may redeem shares of the Fund each day the New York Stock Exchange is open. To redeem shares you should contact the Fund’s transfer agent, BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc. (the “Transfer Agent”) at P.O. Box 9819, Providence, Rhode Island 02940-8019, or your financial intermediary or financial professional.

Tax Information

Dividends and distributions may be subject to Federal income taxes and may be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are a tax-exempt investor or are investing through a retirement plan, in which case you may be subject to Federal income tax upon withdrawal from such tax deferred arrangements.

Payments to Broker/Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Fund and the Distributor, or its affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your individual financial professional to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your individual financial professional or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

Details About the Fund

Included in this prospectus are sections that tell you about buying and selling shares, management information, shareholder features of the Fund and your rights as a shareholder.

How the Fund Invests

The Fund is a money market fund managed pursuant to Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act.

The Fund seeks to maintain a net asset value of $1.00 per share.

The Fund will maintain a dollar-weighted average maturity of 60 days or less and a dollar-weighted average life of 120 days or less. For a discussion of dollar-weighted average maturity and dollar-weighted average life, please see the Glossary on page 25.

Pursuant to Rule 2a-7, the Fund is subject to a “general liquidity requirement” that requires that the Fund hold securities that are sufficiently liquid to meet reasonably foreseeable shareholder redemptions in light of its obligations under section 22(e) of the Investment Company Act, regarding share redemptions and any commitments the Fund has made to shareholders. To comply with this general liquidity requirement, BlackRock must consider factors that could affect the Fund’s liquidity needs, including characteristics of the Fund’s investors and their likely redemptions. Depending upon the volatility of its cash flows (particularly shareholder redemptions), this may require the Fund to maintain greater liquidity than would be required by the daily and weekly minimum liquidity requirements discussed below.

The Fund will not acquire any security other than a daily liquid asset unless, immediately following such purchase, at least 10% of its total assets would be invested in daily liquid assets, and the Fund will not acquire any security other than a weekly liquid asset unless, immediately following such purchase, at least 30% of its total assets would be invested in weekly liquid assets. “Daily liquid assets” include (i) cash, (ii) direct obligations of the U.S. Government and (iii) securities that will mature or are subject to a demand feature that is exercisable and payable within one business day. “Weekly liquid assets” include (i) and (ii) above, as well as (iii) Government securities issued by a person controlled or supervised by, and acting as an instrumentality of, the U.S. Government, pursuant to authority granted by the U.S. Congress, that are issued at a discount to the principal amount to be repaid at maturity and have a remaining maturity of 60 days or less, and (iv) securities that will mature or are subject to a demand feature that is exercisable and payable within five business days.

The Fund ordinarily is limited to investing so that immediately following such acquisition not more than 5% of its total assets will be invested in securities issued by any one issuer (other than the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities) or, in the event that such securities are not First Tier Securities (as defined in Rule 2a-7), not more than ¹/2 of 1% of the Fund’s total assets. In addition, Rule 2a-7 requires that not more than 3% of the Fund’s total assets be invested in Second Tier Securities (as defined in Rule 2a-7) and that the Second Tier Securities may only be purchased if they have a remaining maturity of 45 days or less than at the time of acquisition.

Investment Goal

The Fund seeks current income, preservation of capital and liquidity available from investing in a diversified portfolio of short-term money market securities.

Investment Process

Fund management will vary the types of money market instruments in the Fund’s portfolio, as well as the Fund’s average maturity, in response to its assessment of the relative values of different securities and future short-term interest rates. Fund management seeks to improve the Fund’s yield by taking advantage of yield differentials that regularly occur between securities of a similar kind. For example, market conditions frequently result in similar securities trading at different prices. Fund management seeks to improve the Fund’s yield by buying and selling securities based on these yield differences.

Primary Investment Strategies

The Fund tries to achieve its objectives by investing in a diversified portfolio of short-term money market securities. These instruments are U.S. dollar-denominated fixed income securities that mature or reset to a new interest rate within 397 days (13 months). Other than U.S. Treasury, U.S. Government and U.S. Government agency securities, and securities issued by U.S. Government-sponsored enterprises and U.S. Government instrumentalities, the Fund only invests in short-term money market instruments of issuers with one of the two highest ratings from a nationally recognized statistical rating organization or in unrated money market instruments that, in the opinion of Fund management, are of similar credit quality. The Fund’s dollar-weighted average maturity will not exceed 60 days, and its dollar-weighted average life will not exceed 120 days.

The money market securities or issuers in which the Fund may invest include:

Bank Money Instruments — Obligations of commercial banks or other depository institutions, such as (but not limited to) certificates of deposit, time deposits, bank notes and bankers’ acceptances. The Fund may invest only in obligations of savings banks and savings and loan associations organized and operating in the United States. The obligations of commercial banks may be Eurodollar obligations or Yankeedollar obligations. The Fund may invest in Eurodollar obligations only if they, by their terms, are general obligations of the U.S. parent bank.

Commercial Paper — Obligations, usually of nine months or less, issued by corporations, securities firms and other businesses for short-term funding.

Foreign Bank Money Instruments — U.S. dollar denominated obligations of foreign depository institutions and their foreign branches and subsidiaries, such as certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances, time deposits, bank notes and deposit notes. Payment on securities of foreign branches and subsidiaries may be a general obligation of the parent bank or may be an obligation only of the issuing branch or subsidiary. The Fund will invest in these securities only if Fund management determines they are of comparable quality to other investments permissible for the Fund.

Foreign Short-Term Debt Instruments — U.S. dollar-denominated commercial paper and other short-term obligations issued by foreign entities. The Fund may purchase these securities only if Fund management determines they are of comparable quality to the Fund’s U.S. investments.

Municipal Obligations — The Fund may, when deemed appropriate by BlackRock in light of its investment objectives, invest in high quality, short-term municipal obligations issued by state and local governmental issuers that carry yields that are competitive with those of other types of money market instruments of comparable quality.

Other Short-Term Obligations — Obligations issued by trusts, corporations, partnerships or other entities, including variable amount master demand notes, funding agreements and mortgage- or asset-backed instruments.

Repurchase Agreements — The Fund may enter into certain types of repurchase agreements. In a repurchase agreement, the Fund buys a security from another party, which agrees to buy it back at an agreed upon time and price. The Fund may invest in repurchase agreements involving the securities described herein. If the seller fails to repurchase the security, and the market value declines, the Fund may lose money.

U.S. Government Agency Securities — Debt securities issued by and/or guaranteed as to principal and interest by U.S. Government agencies that are not direct obligations of the United States. These securities may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.

U.S. Government Instrumentalities — Supranational entities sponsored by the U.S. and other governments, such as the World Bank or the Inter-American Development Bank.

U.S. Government Securities — Debt securities issued by and/or guaranteed as to principal and interest by the U.S. Government and supported by the full faith and credit of the United States.

U.S. Government-Sponsored Enterprises — Private corporations sponsored by the federal government that have the legal status of government agencies, such as the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the Student Loan Marketing Association or the Federal National Mortgage Association. Securities issued by these entities are generally not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.

U.S. Treasury Securities — The Fund may invest in direct obligations of the U.S. Treasury. The Fund may also invest in Treasury receipts where the principal and interest components are traded separately under the Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal of Securities program.

Variable and Floating Rate Obligations — Obligations of government agencies, corporations, depository institutions or other issuers which periodically or automatically reset their interest rates to reflect a current market rate, such as the federal funds rate, a bank’s prime rate or the level of an interest rate index, such as the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) (a well-known, short-term interest rate index).

Variable Rate Demand Obligations — Floating rate securities that combine an interest in a long term municipal bond with a right to demand payment periodically or on notice. The Fund may also buy a participation interest in variable rate demand notes owned by a commercial bank or other financial institution. When the Fund purchases a participation interest, it receives the right to demand payment on notice to the owner of the obligation.

Other Strategies

In addition to the main strategies discussed above, the Fund may also invest or engage in the following investments/strategies:

Borrowing — The Fund may borrow from banks only to meet redemptions.

Illiquid/Restricted Securities — The Fund may invest up to 5% of its total assets in illiquid securities that it cannot sell within seven days at approximately current value. Restricted securities are securities that cannot be offered for public resale unless registered under the applicable securities laws or that have a contractual restriction that

prohibits or limits their resale, such as Rule 144A securities. They may include private placement securities that have not been registered under the applicable securities laws. Restricted securities may not be listed on an exchange and may have no active trading market. Rule 144A securities are restricted securities that can be resold to qualified institutional buyers but not to the general public.

Investment Companies — The Fund has the ability to invest in other investment companies, such as exchange traded funds, money market funds, unit investment trusts and open-end and closed-end funds, including affiliated investment companies.

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.

Reverse Repurchase Agreements — In a reverse repurchase agreement, the Fund sells a security to another party and agrees to buy it back at a specific time and price. The Fund may engage in reverse repurchase agreements involving the securities and obligations described herein.

When-Issued and Delayed Delivery Securities and Forward Commitments — The purchase or sale of securities on a when-issued or 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.

Investment Risks

This section contains a discussion of the general risks of investing in the Fund. “Investment Objective and Policies” in the Statement of Additional Information (the “SAI”) also includes more information about the Fund, its investments and the related risks. As with any fund, there can be no guarantee that the Fund will meet its objectives or that the Fund’s performance will be positive for any period of time. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in any bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or by any bank or governmental agency. Although the Fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1.00 per share, it is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund.

Main Risks of Investing in the Fund

Asset-Backed Securities Risk — Asset-backed securities represent interests in “pools” of assets, including consumer loans or receivables held in trust. Asset-backed securities, like traditional fixed income securities, are subject to credit, interest rate, prepayment and extension risks.

The Fund’s investment in asset-backed securities are subject to additional risks associated with the nature of the assets and the servicing of those assets. These securities are also subject to the risk of default on the underlying assets, particularly during periods of economic downturn.

Asset-backed securities entail 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.

Credit Risk — Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of a security will not be able to make principal and interest payments 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.

Extension Risk — When interest rates rise, certain obligations will be paid off by the obligor more slowly than anticipated, causing the value of these securities 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.

Foreign Securities Risk — Investing in foreign securities involves some additional risks that can increase the chances that the Fund will lose money. These risks include the possibly higher costs of foreign investing, the possibility of adverse political, economic or other developments, and the often smaller size of foreign markets, which may make it difficult for the Fund to buy and sell securities in those markets. In addition, prices of foreign securities may go up and down more than prices of securities traded in the United States.

Income Risk — The Fund’s yield will vary as the short-term securities in its portfolio mature and the proceeds are reinvested in securities with different interest rates.

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 Fund management will generally be at lower rates than the return on the assets that were prepaid. Prepayment reduces the yield to maturity and the average life of the security.

Repurchase Agreements Risk — If the other party to a repurchase agreement 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 and the market value of the security declines, the Fund may lose money.

Treasury Obligations Risk — Treasury obligations may differ in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics. Direct obligations of the U.S. Treasury have historically involved little risk of loss of principal if held to maturity. However, due to fluctuations in interest rates, the market value of such securities may vary during the period shareholders own shares of the Fund.

U.S. Government Obligations Risk — Obligations of U.S. Government agencies, authorities, instrumentalities and sponsored enterprises have historically involved little risk of loss of principal if held to maturity. However, not all U.S. Government securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Obligations of certain agencies, authorities, instrumentalities and sponsored enterprises of the U.S. Government are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States (e.g., the Government National Mortgage Association); other obligations are backed by the right of the issuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury (e.g., the Federal Home Loan Banks); and others are supported by the discretionary authority of the U.S. Government to purchase an agency’s obligations. Still others are backed only by the credit of the agency, authority, instrumentality or sponsored enterprise issuing the obligation. No assurance can be given that the U.S. Government would provide financial support to any of these entities if it is not obligated to do so by law.

Variable and Floating Rate Instrument Risk — The absence of an active market could make it difficult for the Fund to dispose of these securities if the issuer defaults.

Variable Rate Demand Obligations Risk — Variable rate demand obligations are floating rate securities that combine an interest in a long-term municipal bond with a right to demand payment before maturity from a bank or other financial institution. Municipal securities involve the following risks: the ability of the issuer to repay the obligations, the relative lack of information about certain issuers of municipal securities, and the possibility that future legislative changes could affect the market for and the value of municipal securities. Additionally, certain municipal securities, including private activity bonds, are not backed by the full faith, credit and taxing power of the issuer. With respect to variable rate demand obligations, if the bank or financial institution from which the Fund has the right to demand payment is unable to pay, the Fund may lose money.

Other Risks of Investing in the Fund

The Fund may also be subject to certain other risks associated with its investments and investment strategies, including:

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 cost of borrowing money 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.

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 ratios could be significant.

Investment in Other Investment Companies Risk — As with other investments, investments in other investment companies are subject to market and selection risk. In addition, if the Fund acquires shares of investment companies, including ones affiliated with the Fund, shareholders bear both their proportionate share of expenses in the Fund (including management and advisory fees) and, indirectly, the expenses of the investment companies. To the extent the Fund is held by an affiliated Fund, the ability of the Fund itself to hold shares in other investment companies may be limited.

Liquidity Risk — Liquidity risk refers to the possibility that it may be difficult or impossible to sell certain positions at an acceptable price.

Reverse Repurchase Agreement 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 investments made with cash collateral, is less than the value of the securities. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund.

Securities Lending Risk — Securities lending involves the risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. As a result, the Fund may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Fund could also lose money if it does not recover the securities and/or the value of the collateral falls, including the value of investments made with cash collateral. These events could trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund.

When-Issued and Delayed Delivery Securities and Forward Commitments Risks — 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 loses both the investment opportunity for the assets it set aside to pay for the security and any gain in the security’s price.

Account Information

How to Choose the Share Class that Best Suits Your Needs

The Fund offers two classes of shares, Investor A Shares and Investor B Shares, which are available only by exchange. Each share class represents the same ownership interest in the portfolio investments of the Fund, but there are differences among the fees and expenses associated with each class. Not everyone is eligible to acquire each class. If you acquire your shares of the Fund by exchange (i) from Investor A or Institutional Shares of a fund advised by BlackRock or an affiliate or (ii) from shares of a Participating Fund that are subject to a front-end sales charge, you will receive Investor A Shares of the Fund. If you acquire your shares of the Fund by exchange (i) from Investor B or Investor C Shares of a fund advised by BlackRock or an affiliate or (ii) from shares of a Participating Fund that are subject to a contingent deferred sales charge, you will receive Investor B Shares of the Fund.

Share Classes at a Glance


	Investor A Shares	Investor B Shares
Availability	Available only by exchange (i) to participants holding Investor A or Institutional Shares (the “exchanged shares”) through the exchange privilege available to investors in certain mutual funds advised by BlackRock or its affiliates (“BlackRock Funds”) and (ii) to investors holding shares subject to a front-end sales charge that are participants in the exchange program with certain non-money market mutual funds that are distributed by a selected securities dealer that is an affiliate of the Distributor and that are not advised by BlackRock or its affiliates.	Available only by exchange (i) to participants holding Investor B or Investor C Shares (the “exchanged shares”) through the exchange privilege available to investors in certain mutual funds advised by BlackRock or its affiliates (“BlackRock Funds”) and (ii) to investors holding shares subject to a contingent deferred sales charge that are participants in the exchange program with certain non-money market mutual funds that are distributed by a selected securities dealer that is an affiliate of the Distributor and that are not advised by BlackRock or its affiliates.
Minimum Investment	There is no minimum investment.	There is no minimum investment.
Initial Sales Charge?	No. However, if you exchange Investor A shares of the Fund for Investor A shares with an initial sales charge that is higher than the initial sales charge on the exchanged shares, you will pay the difference upon the exchange.	No.
Deferred Sales Charge?	No.	Yes. If shares are redeemed prior to the expiration of the contingent deferred sales charge (“CDSC”) period applicable to the exchanged shares.
Service and Distribution Fees?	No.	0.75% annual Distribution Fee. No annual service fee.
Redemption Fees?	No. If you exchange into the Fund from a fund that imposes a redemption fee, that redemption fee may apply.	No. If you exchange into the Fund from a fund that imposes a redemption fee, that redemption fee may apply.
Advantage	Not subject to ongoing distribution fees.	Not applicable.
Disadvantage	Limited availability.	Limited availability. In addition, you pay ongoing distribution fees each year you own shares, which means that over the long term you can expect higher total fees per share than Investor A Shares, and, as a result, lower performance.
Conversion to Investor A Shares?	Not applicable.	Yes, automatically approximately 8 years after purchase of exchanged shares if exchanging from an equity fund and 10 years after purchase of exchanged shares if exchanging from a fixed income fund. A shorter conversion period may apply under certain circumstances.

Conversion of Investor B Shares to Investor A Shares

Investor B Shares of the Fund acquired in an exchange from Investor B or Investor C Shares of an affiliated fund will convert automatically into Investor A Shares of the Fund after approximately eight years if exchange is from an equity fund and ten years if exchange is from a fixed income fund (the “Conversion Period”). A shorter Conversion Period may apply under certain circumstances. Automatic conversion of Investor B Shares into Investor A Shares will occur at least once each month (on the “Conversion Date”) on the basis of the relative net asset values of the shares of the two classes on the Conversion Date, without the imposition of any sales load, fee or other charge. Conversion of Investor B Shares to Investor A Shares will not be deemed a purchase or sale of the shares for Federal income tax purposes.

Under the Exchange Program described in the chart on page 16 if shares of a Participating Fund have a conversion feature providing that shares of one class of the Participating Fund will be exchanged automatically for shares of another class of the Participating Fund, this conversion feature will carry over to Investor B Shares of the Fund acquired in exchange for those Participating Fund shares. At the end of the particular Conversion Period, if the shareholder still holds the Investor B Shares of the Fund, such shares will be converted to Investor A Shares of the Fund and will not be subject to any ongoing distribution fee.

Distribution and Service Payments

The Trust has adopted a distribution plan (the “Plan”) that allows the Fund to pay distribution fees for the sale of its shares under Rule 12b-1 of the Investment Company Act.

Plan Payments

Under the Plan, Investor B Shares of the Fund pay a fee (a “distribution fee”) to the Distributor, an affiliate of BlackRock and/or to its affiliates, including The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (“PNC”) and its affiliates, to Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (“Merrill Lynch”) and/or to Bank of America Corporation (“BAC”) and their affiliates, and to Barclays PLC (“Barclays”) and its affiliates, for distribution and sales support services provided in connection with the sale of Investor B shares. The distribution fees may also be used to pay brokers, dealers, financial institutions and industry professionals (including BlackRock, PNC, Merrill Lynch, BAC, Barclays and their respective affiliates) (each, a “Financial Intermediary”) for sales support services and related expenses. All Investor B shares pay a maximum fee per year that is a percentage of the average daily net asset value of the Fund attributable to such shares.

Because the fees paid by the Fund’s Investor B Shares under the Plan are paid out of Fund assets on an ongoing basis, over time, these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. For more information on the Plan, including a complete list of services provided thereunder, see the SAI.

Investor A Shares are not subject to a distribution fee.

Other Payments by the Fund

In addition to, rather than in lieu of, distribution fees that the Fund may pay to a Financial Intermediary pursuant to the Plan and fees the Fund pays to its Transfer Agent, BlackRock, on behalf of the Fund, may enter into non-Plan agreements with a Financial Intermediary pursuant to which the Fund will pay a Financial Intermediary for administrative, networking, recordkeeping, subtransfer agency and shareholder services. These non-Plan payments are generally based on either (i) a percentage of the average daily net assets of Fund shareholders serviced by a Financial Intermediary or (ii) a fixed dollar amount for each account serviced by a Financial Intermediary. The aggregate amount of these payments may be substantial.

Other Payments by BlackRock

The Plan permits BlackRock, the Distributor and their affiliates to make payments relating to distribution and sales support activities out of their past profits or other sources available to them (and not as an additional charge to the Fund). From time to time, BlackRock, the Distributor or their affiliates also may pay a portion of the fees for administrative, networking, recordkeeping, sub-transfer agency and shareholder services described above at its or their own expense and out of its or their legitimate profits. BlackRock, the Distributor and their affiliates may compensate affiliated and unaffiliated Financial Intermediaries for the sale and distribution of shares of the Fund or for these other services to the Fund and to its shareholders. These payments would be in addition to the Fund payments described in this prospectus and may be a fixed dollar amount, may be based on the number of customer accounts maintained by the Financial Intermediary or may be based on a percentage of the value of shares sold to, or held by, customers of the Financial Intermediary. The aggregate amount of these payments by BlackRock, the Distributor and their affiliates may be substantial. Payments by BlackRock may include amounts that are sometimes referred to as “revenue sharing” payments. In some circumstances, these revenue sharing payments may create an incentive for a Financial Intermediary, its employees or associated persons to recommend or sell shares of the Fund to you. Please contact your Financial Intermediary for details about payments it may receive from the Fund or from BlackRock, the Distributor or their affiliates. For more information, see the SAI.

How to Buy, Sell and Exchange Shares

The chart below and on the following pages summarizes how to buy, sell and exchange shares through your financial professional or financial intermediary. You may also sell and exchange shares through the Transfer Agent, if your account is held directly with the Transfer Agent. To learn more about selling and exchanging shares through the Transfer Agent, call (800) 441-7762. Because the selection of a mutual fund involves many considerations, your financial professional may help you with this decision.

The Fund may reject any purchase order, modify or waive the minimum initial or subsequent investment requirements for any shareholders and suspend and resume the sale of shares of the Fund at any time, for any reason. In addition, the Fund may waive certain requirements regarding the purchase, sale or exchange of shares described on the following pages.

Under certain circumstances, if no activity occurs in an account within a time period specified by state law, a shareholder’s shares in the Fund may be transferred to that state.

How to Buy Shares


	Your Choices	Important Information for You to Know

Initial Purchase	First, determine the exchange arrangement through which you are eligible to purchase shares	Investor A shares and Investor B Shares will be offered only: • to participants in the exchange privilege available to certain BlackRock Funds; and • to participants in the exchange program with certain non-money market mutual funds that are distributed by a selected securities dealer that is an affiliate of the Distributor and that are not advised by BlackRock or its affiliates (previously defined as the “Participating Funds”).
	Next, determine the amount of your investment	There is no required minimum initial investment.
	Have your financial adviser, selected securities dealer or other financial intermediary submit your exchange order	You may request a financial adviser, a securities dealer or other financial intermediary that has entered into a selected dealer agreement with the Distributor to place a purchase order for your account pursuant to the exchange privilege or exchange program. See below for more details. The price of your shares will be the net asset value next calculated after your order becomes effective. Share purchase orders are effective on the date Federal funds become available to the Fund. If Federal funds are available to the Fund prior to the determination of net asset value (generally 4:00 p.m. Eastern time) on any business day, the order will be effective on that day. Certain financial intermediaries, however, may require submission of orders prior to that time. Shares purchased will begin accruing dividends on the day following the date your purchase becomes effective.
Add to Your Investment	Purchase additional shares	There is no minimum investment for additional purchases for all accounts.

How to Sell Shares

How to Sell Shares (continued)

How to Exchange Shares

How to Exchange Shares (continued)

Fund’s Rights

The Fund may:

Suspend the right of redemption if trading is halted or restricted on the New York Stock Exchange (the “Exchange”) or under other emergency conditions described in the Investment Company Act;

Postpone the date of payment upon redemption if trading is halted or restricted on the Exchange or under other emergency conditions described in the Investment Company Act or if a redemption request is made before the Fund has collected payment for the purchase of shares;

Redeem shares for property other than cash if conditions exist which make cash payments undesirable in accordance with its rights under the Investment Company Act; and

Redeem shares involuntarily in certain cases, such as when the value of a shareholder account falls below a specified level.

Suspension of Redemptions Upon Liquidation. If the Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”), including the majority of the trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Trust, as defined in the Investment Company Act, has determined that the deviation between the Fund’s amortized cost price per share and the market-based net asset value per share may result in material dilution or other unfair results, the Board, subject to certain conditions, may, if it has determined to liquidate the Fund irrevocably, suspend redemptions and payments of redemption proceeds in order to facilitate the permanent termination of the Fund in an orderly manner. If this were to occur, it would likely result in a delay in your receipt of your redemption proceeds.

Note on Low Balance Accounts. Because of the high cost of maintaining smaller shareholder accounts, the Fund may redeem shares in your account if the net asset value of your account falls below $500 due to redemptions you have made. You will be notified that the value of your account is less than $500 before the Fund makes an involuntary redemption. You will then have 60 days to make an additional investment to bring the value of your account to at least $500 before the Fund takes any action. This involuntary redemption does not apply to accounts of authorized qualified employee benefit plans, selected fee-based programs or Uniform Gifts or Transfers to Minors Acts accounts.

Short-Term Trading Policy

Market timing is an investment technique involving frequent short-term trading of mutual fund shares designed to exploit market movements or inefficiencies in the way a mutual fund prices its shares. The Board has evaluated the risks of market timing activities by the Fund’s shareholders and has determined that, due to (i) the Fund’s policy of seeking to maintain the Fund’s net asset value per share at $1.00 each day, (ii) the nature of the Fund’s portfolio holdings and (iii) the nature of the Fund’s shareholders, it is unlikely that (a) market timing would be attempted by the Fund’s shareholders or (b) any attempts to market time the Fund by shareholders would result in a negative impact to the Fund or its shareholders. As a result, the Board has not adopted policies and procedures to deter short-term trading in the Fund. There can be no assurances, however, that the Fund may not, on occasion, serve as a temporary or short-term investment vehicle for those who seek to market time funds offered by other investment companies.

Management of the Fund

BlackRock

BlackRock is the Fund’s manager and manages the Fund’s investments and its business operations subject to the oversight of the Board. While BlackRock is ultimately responsible for the management of the Fund, it is able to draw upon the research and expertise of its asset management affiliates for portfolio decisions and management with respect to certain portfolio securities. BlackRock is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc.

BlackRock, a registered investment adviser, was organized in 1994 to perform advisory services for investment companies. BlackRock Institutional Management Corporation (the “Sub-Adviser”) is a registered investment adviser organized in 1977 and an affiliate of BlackRock. BlackRock and its affiliates had approximately $3.151 trillion in investment company and other portfolio assets under management as of June 30, 2010.

BlackRock serves as manager to the Fund pursuant to a management agreement (the “Management Agreement”) between BlackRock and the Trust, on behalf of the Fund which provides that, BlackRock is to be paid fees computed daily and payable monthly at the maximum annual management fee rate of 0.50% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. For the fiscal year ended April 30, 2010, BlackRock received a fee, net of applicable waivers and reimbursements, at the annual rate of 0.18% of the Fund’s average daily net assets.

BlackRock has entered into a sub-advisory agreement with the Sub-Adviser under which BlackRock pays a fee, equal to a percentage of the management fee paid to BlackRock under the Management Agreement, to the Sub-Adviser for services it provides. The Sub-Adviser is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio.

BlackRock and the Distributor have voluntarily agreed to waive a portion of their respective fees and/or reimburse operating expenses to enable the Fund to maintain minimum levels of daily net investment income. BlackRock and the Distributor may discontinue this waiver and/or reimbursement at any time without notice.

A discussion of the basis for the Board’s approval of the Management Agreement with BlackRock and the Sub-Advisory Agreement between BlackRock and the Sub-Adviser is included in the Fund’s semi-annual shareholder report for the fiscal period ended October 31, 2009.

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.

Conflicts of Interest

The investment activities of BlackRock and its affiliates (including BlackRock, Inc. and PNC and their affiliates, directors, partners, trustees, managing members, officers and employees (collectively, the “Affiliates”)), of BlackRock, Inc.’s significant shareholder, Merrill Lynch, and its affiliates, including BAC (each, a “BAC Entity”), and of Barclays Bank PLC and its affiliates, including Barclays (each, a “Barclays Entity”) (for convenience, the BAC Entities and Barclays Entities are collectively referred to in this section as the “Entities” and each is separately referred to as an “Entity”), in the management of, or their interest in, their own accounts and other accounts they manage may present conflicts of interest that could disadvantage the Fund and its shareholders. BlackRock and its Affiliates or the Entities provide investment management services to other funds and discretionary managed accounts that follow an investment program similar to that of the Fund. BlackRock and its Affiliates or the Entities are involved worldwide with a broad spectrum of financial services and asset management activities and may engage in the ordinary course of business in activities in which their interests or the interests of their clients may conflict with those of the Fund. One or more Affiliates or Entities act or may act as an investor, investment banker, research provider, investment manager, financier, advisor, market maker, trader, prime broker, lender, agent and principal, and have other direct and indirect interests in securities, currencies and other instruments in which the Fund directly and indirectly invests. Thus, it is likely that the Fund will have multiple business relationships with and will invest in, engage in transactions with, make voting decisions with respect to, or obtain services from entities for which an Affiliate or an Entity performs or seeks to perform investment banking or other services. One or more Affiliates or Entities may engage in proprietary trading and advise accounts and funds that have investment objectives similar to those of the Fund and/or that engage in and compete for transactions in the same types of securities, currencies and other instruments as the Fund. The trading activities of these Affiliates or Entities are carried out without reference to positions held directly or indirectly by the

Fund and may result in an Affiliate or an Entity having positions that are adverse to those of the Fund. No Affiliate or Entity is under any obligation to share any investment opportunity, idea or strategy with the Fund. As a result, an Affiliate or an Entity 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 or an Entity and of other accounts managed by an Affiliate or an Entity, and it is possible that the Fund could sustain losses during periods in which one or more Affiliates or Entities and other accounts achieve profits on their trading for proprietary or other accounts. The opposite result is also possible. In addition, the Fund may, from time to time, enter into transactions in which an Affiliate or an Entity or its other clients have an adverse interest. Furthermore, transactions undertaken by Affiliate- or Entity-advised clients may adversely impact the Fund. Transactions by one or more Affiliate- or Entity-advised clients or BlackRock may have the effect of diluting or otherwise disadvantaging the values, prices or investment strategies of the Fund. The Fund’s activities may be limited because of regulatory restrictions applicable to one or more Affiliates or Entities and/or their internal policies designed to comply with such restrictions. In addition, the Fund may invest in securities of companies with which an Affiliate or an Entity has or is trying to develop investment banking relationships or in which an Affiliate or an Entity has significant debt or equity investments. The Fund also may invest in securities of companies for which an Affiliate or an Entity provides or may some day provide research coverage. An Affiliate or an Entity may have business relationships with and purchase, distribute or sell services or products from or to distributors, consultants or others who recommend the Fund or who engage in transactions with or for the Fund and may receive compensation for such services. The Fund may also make brokerage and other payments to Affiliates or Entities in connection with the Fund’s portfolio investment transactions.

Under a securities lending program approved by the Board, the Trust has retained an Affiliate of BlackRock to serve as the securities lending agent for the Fund to the extent that the Fund participates in the securities lending program. For these services, the lending agent may receive a fee from the Fund, including a fee based on the returns earned on the Fund’s investment of the cash received as collateral for the loaned securities. In addition, one or more Affiliates or Entities may be among the entities to which the Fund may lend its portfolio securities under the securities lending program.

The activities of Affiliates or Entities may give rise to other conflicts of interest that could disadvantage the Fund and its shareholders. BlackRock has adopted policies and procedures designed to address these potential conflicts of interest. Please see the SAI for further information.

Valuation of Fund Investments

When you buy shares, you pay the net asset value (normally $1.00 per share) without a sales charge. This is the offering price. Shares are also redeemed at their net asset value. The Fund calculates the net asset value each day the Exchange is open as of the close of business on the Exchange, based on prices at the time of closing. The Exchange generally closes at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. The Exchange is closed on New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The net asset value used in determining your share price is the next one calculated after your purchase or redemption order becomes effective. Share purchase orders are effective on the date Federal funds become available to the Fund.

The amortized cost method is used in calculating net asset value, meaning that the calculation is based on a valuation of the assets held by the Fund at cost, with an adjustment for any discount or premium on a security at the time of purchase. Generally, trading in foreign securities, U.S. Government securities and money market instruments, and certain fixed income securities is substantially completed each day at various times prior to the close of business on the Exchange. The values of such securities used in computing the net asset value of the Fund’s shares are determined as of such times.

The Fund may accept orders from certain authorized financial intermediaries or their designees. The Fund will be deemed to receive an order when accepted by the intermediary or designee and the order will receive the net asset value next computed by the Fund after such acceptance. If the payment for a purchase order is not made by a designated later time, the order will be canceled and the financial intermediary could be held liable for any losses.

Dividends, Distributions and Taxes

The Fund will distribute dividends of net investment income, if any, daily and net realized capital gains, if any, at least annually. Income dividends are reinvested daily and capital gain dividends are reinvested at least annually in the form of additional shares at net asset value. You will begin accruing dividends on the day following the date your purchase becomes effective. Dividends that are declared but unpaid will remain in the gross assets of the Fund and will, therefore, continue to earn income for the Fund’s shareholders. In most cases, shareholders will receive statements monthly or quarterly as to such reinvestments. Shareholders redeeming their holdings will receive all dividends declared and reinvested through the date of redemption, except where they request a transaction that settles on a same-day basis. In that case, unless otherwise requested, shareholders will receive all dividends declared and

reinvested through the date immediately preceding the date of redemption. The Fund anticipates that most of its distributions will be taxed as ordinary income. Capital gains paid by the Fund may be taxable to you at different rates depending on how long the Fund has held the assets sold.

You will pay tax on dividends from the Fund even if you receive them in the form of additional shares. If you redeem Fund shares, you generally will be treated as having sold your shares and any gain on the transaction may be subject to tax. Certain dividend income and long-term capital gains are eligible for taxation at a reduced rate that applies to non-corporate shareholders. However, to the extent that the Fund’s distributions are derived from income on short-term debt securities and short-term capital gains, such distributions will generally not be eligible for taxation at the reduced rate.

Recently enacted legislation will impose a 3.8% Medicare tax on the net investment income (which includes interest, dividends and capital gains) of U.S. individuals with incomes exceeding $200,000 or $250,000 if married filing jointly and of trusts and estates for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012.

If you are neither a tax resident nor a citizen of the United States or if you are a foreign entity, the Fund’s ordinary income dividends (which include distributions of net short-term capital gain) will generally be subject to a 30% U.S. withholding tax, unless a lower treaty rate applies. However, for taxable years of the Fund beginning before January 1, 2010, certain distributions designated by the Fund as either interest related dividends or short-term capital gain dividends and paid to a foreign shareholder would be eligible for an exemption from U.S. withholding tax.

Other recently enacted legislation will impose a 30% withholding tax on dividends and redemption proceeds paid after December 31, 2012 to (i) certain foreign financial institutions and investment funds unless they agree to collect and disclose to the Internal Revenue Service information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. account holders and (ii) certain other foreign entities unless they certify certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners. Under some circumstances, a foreign shareholder may be eligible for refunds or credits of such taxes.

Dividends and interest received by the Fund may give rise to withholding and other taxes imposed by foreign countries. Tax conventions between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate such taxes.

By law, your dividends will be subject to a withholding tax if you have not provided a taxpayer identification number or social security number or the number you have provided is incorrect.

This section summarizes some of the consequences under current Federal tax law of an investment in the Fund. It does not address the specific potential state tax and/or local tax consequences of your investment and is not a substitute for personal tax advice. Some states exempt from personal income tax the portion of dividends paid by regulated investment companies, such as the Fund, that are derived from interest on certain obligations of the United States, if the regulated investment company meets certain requirements. Consult your personal tax adviser about the potential tax consequences of an investment in the Fund under all applicable tax laws.

Financial Highlights

The Financial Highlights tables are intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the periods shown. Certain information reflects the financial results for a single Fund share. The total returns in the tables represent the rate that an investor would have earned or lost on an investment in the Fund (assuming reinvestment of all dividends and/or distributions). The information has been audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s Annual Report, which is available upon request.


	Investor A
	Year Ended April 30, 2010			Period June 1, 2008 to April 30, 2009			Year Ended May 31,
	Year Ended April 30, 2010			Period June 1, 2008 to April 30, 2009			2008			2007			2006			2005

Per Share Operating Performance
Net asset value, beginning of period	$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00
Net investment income		0.0003			0.0138			0.0382			0.0433			0.0312			0.0130
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)		—			0.0000			0.0001			0.0008			0.0000			(0.0006	)
Net increase from investment operations		0.0003			0.0138			0.0383			0.0441			0.0312			0.0124
Dividends and distributions from:
Net investment income		(0.0003	)		(0.0138	)		(0.0382	)		(0.0433	)		(0.0312	)		(0.0130	)
Net realized gain		—			—			—			(0.0000	)		(0.0000	)		(0.0000	)
Total dividends and distributions		(0.0003	)		(0.0138	)		(0.0382	)		(0.0433	)		(0.0312	)		(0.0130	)
Net asset value, end of period	$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00
Total Investment Return¹
Total investment return		0.03	%		1.39	%²		3.88	%		4.42	%		3.17	%		1.30	%
Ratios to Average Net Assets
Total expenses		0.90	%		0.82	%³		0.93	%		0.91	%		0.88	%		0.77	%
Total expenses after fees waived and reimbursed		0.48	%		0.81	%³		0.93	%		0.91	%		0.88	%		0.77	%
Net investment income		0.02	%		1.48	%³		3.73	%		4.33	%		3.07	%		1.26	%
Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of period (000)	$	47,903		$	78,659		$	43,021		$	36,506		$	35,333		$	47,370

¹	Where applicable, total investment returns include the reinvestment of dividends and distributions.

²	Aggregate total investment return.

³	Annualized.

Financial Highlights (continued)


	Investor B
	Year Ended April 30, 2010			Period June 1, 2008 to April 30, 2009			Year Ended May 31,
	Year Ended April 30, 2010			Period June 1, 2008 to April 30, 2009			2008			2007			2006			2005

Per Share Operating Performance
Net asset value, beginning of period	$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00
Net investment income		0.0003			0.0082			0.0301			0.0355			0.0235			0.0060
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)		—			0.0000			0.0000			0.0014			0.0000			(0.0007	)
Net increase from investment operations		0.0003			0.0082			0.0301			0.0369			0.0235			0.0053
Dividends and distributions from:
Net investment income		(0.0003	)		(0.0082	)		(0.0301	)		(0.0355	)		(0.0235	)		(0.0060	)
Net realized gain		—			—			—			(0.0000	)		(0.0000	)		(0.0000	)
Total dividends and distributions		(0.0003	)		(0.0082	)		(0.0301	)		(0.0355	)		(0.0235	)		(0.0060	)
Net asset value, end of period	$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00
Total Investment Return¹
Total investment return		0.03	%		0.83	%²		3.05	%		3.61	%		2.38	%		0.61	%
Ratios to Average Net Assets
Total expenses		1.66	%		1.59	%³		1.73	%		1.69	%		1.64	%		1.54	%
Total expenses after fees waived and reimbursed		0.50	%		1.37	%³		1.73	%		1.69	%		1.64	%		1.45	%
Net investment income		0.01	%		0.81	%³		3.01	%		3.54	%		2.28	%		0.53	%
Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of period (000)	$	22,642		$	51,612		$	20,470		$	24,078		$	33,312		$	49,934

¹	Where applicable, total investment returns include the reinvestment of dividends and distributions.

²	Aggregate total investment return.

³	Annualized.

General Information

Shareholder Documents

Electronic Access to Annual Reports, Semi-Annual Reports and Prospectuses

Electronic copies of most financial reports and prospectuses are available on BlackRock’s website. Shareholders can sign up for e-mail notifications of quarterly statements, annual and semi-annual reports and prospectuses by enrolling in the Fund’s electronic delivery program. To enroll:

Shareholders Who Hold Accounts with Investment Advisers, Banks or Brokerages: Please contact your financial professional. Please note that not all investment advisers, banks or brokerages may offer this service.

Shareholders Who Hold Accounts Directly With BlackRock:

Access the BlackRock website at http://www.blackrock.com/edelivery

Log into your account

Delivery of Shareholder Documents

The Fund delivers only one copy of shareholder documents, including prospectuses, shareholder reports and proxy statements, to shareholders with multiple accounts at the same address. This practice is known as “householding” and is intended to eliminate duplicate mailings and reduce expenses. Mailings of your shareholder documents may be householded indefinitely unless you instruct us otherwise. If you do not want the mailing of these documents to be combined with those for other members of your household, please contact the Fund at (800) 441-7762.

Certain Fund Policies

Anti-Money Laundering Requirements

The Fund is subject to the USA PATRIOT Act (the “Patriot Act”). The Patriot Act is intended to prevent the use of the U.S. financial system in furtherance of money laundering, terrorism or other illicit activities. Pursuant to requirements under the Patriot Act, the Fund may request information from shareholders to enable it to form a reasonable belief that it knows the true identity of its shareholders or, in some cases, the status of financial professionals; it will be used for compliance with the requirements of the Patriot Act. The Fund reserves the right to reject purchase orders from persons who have not submitted information sufficient to allow the Fund to verify their identity. The Fund also reserves the right to redeem any amounts in the Fund from persons whose identity it is unable to verify on a timely basis. It is the Fund’s policy to cooperate fully with appropriate regulators in any investigations conducted with respect to potential money laundering, terrorism or other illicit activities.

BlackRock Privacy Principles

BlackRock is committed to maintaining the privacy of its current and former fund investors and individual clients (collectively, “Clients”) and to safeguarding their nonpublic personal information. The following information is provided to help you understand what personal information BlackRock collects, how we protect that information and why in certain cases we share such information with select parties. If you are located in a jurisdiction where specific laws, rules or regulations require BlackRock to provide you with additional or different privacy-related rights beyond what is set forth below, then BlackRock will comply with those specific laws, rules or regulations.

BlackRock obtains or verifies personal nonpublic information from and about you from different sources, including the following: (i) information we receive from you or, if applicable, your financial intermediary, on applications, forms or other documents; (ii) information about your transactions with us, our affiliates or others; (iii) information we receive from a consumer reporting agency; and (iv) from visits to our website.

BlackRock does not sell or disclose to nonaffiliated third-parties any nonpublic personal information about its Clients, except as permitted by law or as is necessary to respond to regulatory requests or to service Client accounts. These nonaffiliated third-parties are required to protect the confidentiality and security of this information and to use it only for its intended purpose.

We may share information with our affiliates to service your account or to provide you with information about other BlackRock products or services that may be of interest to you. In addition, BlackRock restricts access to nonpublic personal information about its Clients to those BlackRock employees with a legitimate business need for the information. BlackRock maintains physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that are designed to protect the nonpublic personal information of its Clients, including procedures relating to the proper storage and disposal of such information.

Statement of Additional Information

If you would like further information about the Fund, including how it invests, please see the SAI.

For a discussion of the Fund’s policies and procedures regarding the selective disclosure of its portfolio holdings, please see the SAI.

Glossary

This glossary contains an explanation of some of the common terms used in this prospectus. For additional information about the Fund, please see the SAI.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses — expenses that cover the costs of operating the Fund.

Daily Liquid Assets — include (i) cash; (ii) direct obligations of the U.S. Government; and (iii) securities that will mature or are subject to a demand feature that is exercisable and payable within one business day.

Distribution Fees — fees used to support the Fund’s marketing and distribution efforts, such as compensating financial professionals and other financial intermediaries, advertising and promotion.

Dollar-Weighted Average Life — the dollar-weighted average maturity of the Fund’s portfolio calculated without reference to the exceptions used for variable or floating rate securities regarding the use of interest rate reset dates in lieu of the security’s actual maturity date.

Dollar-Weighted Average Maturity — average maturity is the average amount of time until the organizations that issued the debt securities in the Fund’s portfolio must pay off the principal amount of the debt. “Dollar-weighted” means the larger the dollar value of a debt security in the Fund, the more weight it gets in calculating this average. To calculate the dollar-weighted average maturity, the Fund may treat a variable or floating rate security as having a maturity equal to the time remaining to the security’s next interest rate reset date rather than the security’s actual maturity.

Management Fee — a fee paid to BlackRock for managing the Fund.

Other Expenses — include administration, transfer agency, custody, professional and registration fees.

Service Fees — fees used to compensate securities dealers and other financial intermediaries for certain shareholder servicing activities.

Weekly Liquid Assets — include (i) cash; (ii) direct obligations of the U.S. Government; (iii) government securities issued by a person controlled or supervised by and acting as an instrumentality of the U.S. Government pursuant to authority granted by the U.S. Congress that are issued at a discount to the principal amount to be repaid at maturity and have a remaining maturity of 60 days or less; and (iv) securities that will mature or are subject to a demand feature that is exercisable and payable within five business days.

Yield — the income generated by an investment in the Fund.

[This page intentionally left blank]

For More Information

Fund and Service Providers

FUND

BlackRock Summit Cash Reserves Fund

of BlackRock Financial Institutions Series Trust

100 Bellevue Parkway

Wilmington, Delaware 19809

Written Correspondence:

P.O. Box 9819

Providence, Rhode Island 02940-8019

Overnight Mail:

101 Sabin Street

Pawtucket, Rhode Island 02860-1427

(800) 441-7210

MANAGER

BlackRock Advisors, LLC

100 Bellevue Parkway

Wilmington, Delaware 19809

SUB-ADVISER

BlackRock Institutional Management Corporation

100 Bellevue Parkway

Wilmington, Delaware 19809

TRANSFER AGENT

BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc.

301 Bellevue Parkway

Wilmington, Delaware 19809

INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

Deloitte & Touche LLP

750 College Road East

Princeton, New Jersey 08540

ACCOUNTING SERVICES PROVIDER

State Street Bank and Trust Company

600 College Road East

Princeton, New Jersey 08540

DISTRIBUTOR

BlackRock Investments, LLC

40 East 52nd Street

New York, New York 10022

CUSTODIAN

The Bank of New York Mellon

One Wall Street

New York, New York 10286

COUNSEL

Sidley Austin LLP

787 Seventh Avenue

New York, New York 10019-6018

Additional Information

For more information:

This Prospectus contains important information you should know before investing, including information about risks. Read it carefully and keep it for future reference. More information about the Fund is available at no charge upon request. This information includes:

Annual/Semi-Annual Reports

These reports contain additional information about the Fund’s investments.

Statement of Additional Information (SAI)

A Statement of Additional Information, dated August 27, 2010, has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The SAI, which includes additional information about the Fund, may be obtained free of charge, along with the Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports, by calling (800) 441-7762. The SAI, as supplemented from time to time, is incorporated by reference into this Prospectus.

BlackRock Investor Services

Representatives are available to discuss mutual fund prospectuses, literature, programs and services available. Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Eastern time), on any business day. Call: (800) 441-7762.

Purchases and Redemptions

Call your financial professional or BlackRock Investor Services at (800) 441-7762.

World Wide Web

General fund information, including the SAI and annual/semi-annual reports, can be accessed free of charge at www.blackrock.com/moneymarketreports. Mutual fund prospectuses and literature can also be requested via this website.

Written Correspondence

BlackRock Summit Cash Reserves Fund

of BlackRock Financial Institutions Series Trust

P.O. Box 9819

Providence, Rhode Island 02940-8019

Overnight Mail

BlackRock Summit Cash Reserves Fund

of BlackRock Financial Institutions Series Trust

101 Sabin Street

Pawtucket, Rhode Island 02860-1427

Internal Wholesalers/Broker Dealer Support

Available to support investment professionals 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Eastern time), on any business day. Call: (800) 882-0052.

Portfolio Characteristics and Holdings

A description of the Fund’s policies and procedures related to disclosure of portfolio characteristics and holdings is available in the SAI.

For information about portfolio holdings and characteristics, BlackRock fund shareholders and prospective investors may call (800) 882-0052.

Securities and Exchange Commission

You may also view and copy public information about the Fund, including the SAI, by visiting the EDGAR database on the SEC website (http://www.sec.gov) or the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. Information about the operation of the Public Reference Room can be obtained by calling the SEC directly at (202) 551-8090. Copies of this information can be obtained, for a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing to the Public Reference Room of the SEC, Washington, D.C. 20549.

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus. No one is authorized to provide you with information that is different from information contained in this prospectus.

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.

INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT FILE NO. 811-03189

^© BlackRock Advisors, LLC


Code Pro-SUMMIT-0810

STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

BLACK ROCK SUMMIT CASH R ESERVES FUND OF BLACKROCK

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS SERIES TRUST

100 Bellevue Parkway, Wilmington, Delaware 19809 • Phone No. (800) 441-7762

This Statement of Additional Information of BlackRock Summit Cash Reserves Fund (the “Fund”), a series of BlackRock Financial Institutions Series Trust (the “Trust”), is not a prospectus and should be read in conjunction with the Prospectus of the Fund, dated August 27, 2010, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) and can be obtained, without charge, by calling (800) 441-7762 or by writing to the Fund at the above address. The Prospectus is incorporated by reference into this Statement of Additional Information, and Part I of this Statement of Additional Information and the portions of Part II of this Statement of Additional Information that relate to the Fund have been incorporated by reference into the Prospectus. The portions of Part II of this Statement of Additional Information that do not relate to the Fund do not form a part of the Statement of Additional Information have not been incorporated by reference into the Prospectus and should not be relied upon by investors in the Fund. The Fund’s audited financial statements are incorporated in this Statement of Additional Information by reference to its 2010 annual report to shareholders (the “Annual Report”). You may request a copy of the Annual Report or the Prospectus at no charge by calling (800) 441-7762 between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Eastern time on any business day.

BLACKROCK ADVISORS, LLC — MANAGER

BLACKROCK INVESTMENTS, LLC — DISTRIBUTOR


Class		Ticker Symbol
Investor A Shares		MSAXX
Investor B Shares		MSBXX

The date of this Statement of Additional Information is August 27, 2010.

TABLE OF CONTENTS


		Page

PART I:	Information about BlackRock Summit Cash Reserves Fund of BlackRock Financial Institutions Series Trust



I.	Investment Objective and Policies	I-2

II.	Investment Restrictions	I-3

III.	Information on Trustees and Officers	I-5

IV.	Management and Advisory Arrangements	I-13

V.	Information on Distribution Related Expenses	I-15

VI.	Yield Information	I-15

VII.	Computation of Offering Price Share	I-15

VIII.	Portfolio Transactions	I-15

IX.	Additional Information	I-16

X.	Financial Statements	I-17



PART II



Investment Risks and Considerations		II-2

Management and Other Service Arrangements		II-11

Purchase of Shares		II-22

Redemption of Shares		II-33

Shareholder Services		II-38

Determination of Net Asset Value		II-40

Yield Information		II-41

Portfolio Transactions		II-41

Dividends and Taxes		II-42

Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures		II-48

General Information		II-48

Appendix A — Description of Debt Ratings		A-1

Appendix B — Proxy Voting Policies		B-1

PART I: INFORMATION ABOUT BLACKROCK SUMMIT CASH R ESERVES FUND O F BLACKROCK FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS SERIES TRUST

Part I of this Statement of Additional Information sets forth information about BlackRock Summit Cash Reserves Fund (the “Fund”) of BlackRock Financial Institutions Series Trust (the “Trust”). It includes information about the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”), the advisory services provided to and the management fees paid by the Fund, performance data for the Fund, and information about other fees paid by and services provided to the Fund. This Part I should be read in conjunction with the prospectus of the Fund (the “Prospectus”) and those portions of Part II of this Statement of Additional Information that pertain to the Fund.

Set forth below is a listing of some of the types of investments and investment strategies that the Fund may use and the risks and considerations associated with those investments and investment strategies. Please see Part II of this Statement of Information for further information on these investments and investment strategies.

Only information that is clearly identified as applicable to the Fund is considered to form a part of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.


		BlackRock Summit Cash Reserves Fund
Bank Money Instruments		X
Commercial Paper and Other Short-Tem Obligations		X
Foreign Bank Money Instruments		X
Foreign Short-term Debt Instruments		X
Forward Commitments		X
Investment in Other Investment Companies		X
Municipal Investments		X
Municipal Securities		X
Municipal Securities — Derivative Products		X
Municipal Notes		X
Municipal Commercial Paper		X
Municipal Lease Obligations
Municipal Securities — Short-term Maturity Standards		X
Municipal Securities — Quality Standards
Municipal Securities — Other Factors
Single State Risk
Variable Rate Demand Obligations (“VRDOs”) and Participating VRDOs		X
Purchase of Securities with Fixed Price “Puts”
Repurchase Agreements and Purchase and Sale Contracts		X
Rule 2a-7 Requirements		X
Securities Lending		X
Taxable Money Market Securities		X
When-Issued Securities, Delayed Delivery Securities and Forward Commitments		X

Investment Objective and Policies

The Fund is a money market fund. The investment objective of the Fund is to seek current income, preservation of capital and liquidity available from investing in a diversified portfolio of short-term money market securities. The investment objective is a fundamental policy of the Fund that may not be changed without the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of the Fund, as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). The Fund is classified as a diversified open-end investment company under the Investment Company Act.

I-2

The Fund’s investments in U.S. Treasury securities, U.S. Government securities, U.S. Government agency securities and securities issued by U.S. Government-sponsored enterprises and U.S. Government instrumentalities will be in instruments with remaining maturities of up to 397 days (13 months) or less. The Fund’s other investments will be in instruments with remaining maturities of 397 days (13 months) or less that (1) have been rated in one of the two highest rating categories for short-term debt obligations by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (“NRSRO”); (2) have been issued by an issuer rated in one of the two highest rating categories by an NRSRO with respect to a class of debt obligations that is comparable in priority and security with the investment; or (3) if not rated, will be of comparable quality as determined by Fund management. The Fund will determine the remaining maturity of its investments in accordance with Commission regulations. The Fund’s dollar-weighted average maturity will be 60 days or less, and the dollar-weighted average life of all of its investments will be 120 days or less.

Investment in the Fund offers several potential benefits. The Fund seeks to provide as high a yield potential as is available, consistent with the preservation of capital, from short-term money market securities utilizing professional money market management, block purchases of securities and yield improvement techniques. It provides high liquidity because of its redemption features and seeks reduced risk that generally results from diversification of assets. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of the Fund will be realized. Certain expenses are borne by investors, including advisory and management fees, administrative and operational costs and, in the case of Investor B shares, Rule 12b-1 fees.

In managing the Fund, BlackRock Advisors, LLC (“BlackRock” or the “Manager”) and BlackRock Institutional Management Corporation (the “Sub-Adviser”) will employ a number of professional money management techniques, including varying the composition of the Fund’s investments and the average maturity of the portfolio based on its assessment of the relative values of the various money market securities and future interest rate patterns. As used herein, the term “Manager,” where applicable, includes the Sub-Adviser. The Manager’s assessments will respond to changing economic and money market conditions and to shifts in fiscal and monetary policy. The Manager also will seek to improve yield by taking advantage of yield disparities that regularly occur in the money market securities market. For example, market conditions frequently result in similar securities trading at different prices. Also, there are frequently differences in the yield between the various types of money market securities. The Fund seeks to enhance the yield by purchasing and selling securities based on these yield differences.

Preservation of capital is a prime investment objective of the Fund, and while the types of money market securities in which the Fund invests generally are considered to have low principal risk, such securities are not completely risk-free. There is a risk of the failure of issuers to meet their principal and interest obligations. With respect to repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements and the lending of portfolio securities by the Fund, there is also the risk of the failure of parties involved to repurchase at the agreed-upon price or to return the securities involved in such transactions, in which event the Fund may suffer time delays and incur costs or possible losses in connection with the disposition of the collateral.

II.

Investment Restrictions

The Fund has adopted restrictions and policies relating to the investment of the Fund’s assets and its activities. Certain of the investment restrictions are fundamental policies of the Fund and may not be changed without the approval of the holders of a majority of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities (which, for this purpose and under the Investment Company Act, means the lesser of (i) 67% of the shares represented at a meeting at which more than 50% of the outstanding shares are represented or (ii) more than 50% of the outstanding shares). The Fund has also adopted certain non-fundamental investment restrictions, which may be changed by the Board without shareholder approval.

I-3

Set forth below are the Fund’s fundamental and non-fundamental investment restrictions. Unless otherwise provided, all references below to the assets of the Fund are in terms of current market value.

Under its fundamental investment restrictions, the Fund may not:

(1) Invest more than 25% of its total assets, taken at market value at the time of each investment, in the securities of issuers in any particular industry (other than U.S. Government securities, U.S. Government Agency Securities or domestic bank money investments). For purposes of this restriction, states, municipalities and their political subdivisions are not considered part of any industry, and investments in mortgage-related or asset-backed securities shall not be considered investments in the securities of issuers in a particular industry.

(2) Make investments for the purpose of exercising control or management.

(3) Underwrite securities of other issuers except insofar as the Fund technically may be deemed an underwriter under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), in selling portfolio securities.

(4) Borrow money except that (i) the Fund may borrow from banks (as defined in the Investment Company Act) in amounts up to 33¹/3% of its total assets (including the amount borrowed), (ii) the Fund may borrow up to an additional 5% of its total assets for temporary purposes, (iii) the Fund may obtain such short-term credit as may be necessary for the clearance of purchases and sales of portfolio securities, and (iv) the Fund may purchase securities on margin to the extent permitted by applicable law. These borrowing provisions shall not apply to reverse repurchase agreements. The Fund may not pledge its assets other than to secure such borrowings or to the extent permitted by the Fund’s investment policies as set forth in its Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, as they may be amended from time to time, in connection with when-issued, reverse repurchase and forward commitment transactions and similar investment strategies.

(5) Purchase or sell real estate, except that, to the extent permitted by applicable law, the Fund may invest in securities secured by real estate or interests therein or securities issued by companies that invest in real estate or interests therein and may hold and sell real estate acquired by the Fund as a result of the ownership of such securities.

(6) Make loans to other persons, except that the acquisition of bonds, debentures or other debt securities and investment in government obligations, commercial paper, pass-through instruments, certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances, repurchase agreements or any similar instruments shall not be deemed to be the making of a loan, and except further that the Fund may lend its portfolio securities, provided that the lending of portfolio securities may be made only in accordance with applicable law and the guidelines set forth in the Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, as they may be amended from time to time.

(7) Issue senior securities to the extent such issuance would violate applicable law.

(8) Purchase or sell commodities or contracts on commodities, except to the extent that the Fund may do so in accordance with applicable law and the Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, as they may be amended from time to time, and without registering as a commodity pool operator under the Commodity Exchange Act.

(9) Make any investment that would be inconsistent with its classification as a diversified investment company under the Investment Company Act.

Under its non-fundamental investment restrictions, the Fund may not:

a. Purchase securities of other investment companies, except to the extent such purchases are permitted by applicable law. As a matter of policy, however, the Fund will not purchase shares of any registered open-end investment company or registered unit investment trust in reliance on Section 12(d)(1)(F) or (G) (the “fund of funds” provisions) of the Investment Company Act, at any time its shares are owned by another investment company that is part of the same group of investment companies as the Fund.

I-4

b. Make short sales of securities or maintain a short position except to the extent permitted by applicable law. The Fund currently does not intend to engage in short sales.

c. Invest in securities which cannot be readily resold or which cannot otherwise be marketed, redeemed, put to the issuer or to a third party, if at the time of acquisition more than 5% of its total assets would be invested in such securities. This restriction shall not apply to securities that mature within seven days or securities that the Board has otherwise determined to be liquid pursuant to applicable law. Securities purchased in accordance with Rule 144A under the Securities Act and certain commercial paper that is exempt from registration pursuant to Section 4(2) of the Securities Act and determined to be liquid by the Board are not subject to the limitations set forth in this investment restriction.

d. Notwithstanding fundamental investment restriction (4) above, borrow amounts in excess of 5% of its total assets, taken at acquisition cost or market value, whichever is lower, and then only from banks as a temporary measure for extraordinary or emergency purposes. These borrowing provisions shall not apply to reverse repurchase agreements as described in this Statement of Additional Information.

Except with respect to investment restriction (4), if a percentage restriction on the investment or use of assets set forth above is adhered to at the time a transaction is effected, later changes in percentages resulting from changing values will not be considered a violation.

III.

Information on Trustees and Officers

The Board consists of thirteen individuals (each, a “Trustee”), eleven of whom are not “interested persons” of the Trust as defined in the Investment Company Act (the “Independent Trustees”). The registered investment companies advised by the Manager or its affiliates (the “BlackRock-advised Funds”) are organized into one complex of closed-end funds, two complexes of open-end funds (the Equity-Liquidity Complex and the Equity-Bond Complex) and one complex of exchange-traded funds (each, a “BlackRock Fund Complex”). The Fund is included in the BlackRock Fund Complex referred to as the Equity-Liquidity Complex. The Trustees also oversee as board members the operations of the other open-end registered investment companies included in the Equity-Liquidity Complex.

The Board has overall responsibility for the oversight of the Trust and the Fund. The Co-Chairs of the Board are Independent Trustees, and the Chair of each Board committee (each, a “Committee”) is an Independent Trustee. The Board has five standing Committees: an Audit Committee, a Governance and Nominating Committee, a Compliance Committee, a Performance Oversight and Contract Committee and an Executive Committee. The Board also has one ad hoc Committee, the Joint Product Pricing Committee. The role of the Co-Chairs of the Board is to preside at all meetings of the Board and to act as a liaison with service providers, officers, attorneys and other Trustees generally between meetings. The Chair of each Committee performs a similar role with respect to the Committee. The Co-Chairs of the Board or the Chair of a Committee may also perform such other functions as may be delegated by the Board or the Committee from time to time. The Independent Trustees meet regularly outside the presence of Fund management, in executive session or with other service providers to the Fund. The Board has regular meetings five times a year and may hold special meetings if required before its next regular meeting. Each Committee meets regularly to conduct the oversight functions delegated to that Committee by the Board and reports its findings to the Board. The Board and each standing Committee conduct annual assessments of their oversight function and structure. The Board has determined that the Board’s leadership structure is appropriate because it allows the Board to exercise independent judgment over management and to allocate areas of responsibility among Committees and the full Board to enhance effective oversight.

The Board has engaged the Manager to manage the Fund on a day-to-day basis. The Board is responsible for overseeing the Manager, other service providers, the operations of the Fund and associated risks in accordance with the provisions of the Investment Company Act, state law, other applicable laws, the Trust’s charter and the Fund’s investment objective and strategies. The Board reviews, on an ongoing basis, the Fund’s performance, operations and investment strategies and techniques. The Board also conducts reviews of the Manager and its role in running the operations of the Fund.

I-5

Day-to-day risk management with respect to the Fund is the responsibility of the Manager or of sub-advisers or other service providers (depending on the nature of the risk), subject to the supervision of the Manager. The Fund is subject to a number of risks, including investment, compliance, operational and valuation risks, among others. While there are a number of risk management functions performed by the Manager and the sub-advisers or other service providers, as applicable, it is not possible to eliminate all of the risks applicable to the Fund. Risk oversight forms part of the Board’s general oversight of the Fund and is addressed as part of various Board and Committee activities. The Board, directly or through a Committee, also reviews reports from, among others, management, the independent registered public accounting firm for the Fund, sub-advisers and internal auditors for the investment adviser or its affiliates, as appropriate, regarding risks faced by the Fund and management’s or the service provider’s risk functions. The Committee system facilitates the timely and efficient consideration of matters by the Trustees and facilitates effective oversight of compliance with legal and regulatory requirements and of the Fund’s activities and associated risks. The Board has appointed a Chief Compliance Officer, who oversees the implementation and testing of the Fund’s compliance program and reports to the Board regarding compliance matters for the Fund and its service providers. The Independent Trustees have engaged independent legal counsel to assist them in performing their oversight responsibilities.

The members of the Audit Committee are Kenneth L. Urish (Chair), Herbert I. London and Frederick W. Winter, all of whom are Independent Trustees. The principal responsibilities of the Audit Committee are to approve the selection, retention, termination and compensation of the Trust’s independent registered public accounting firm (the “independent auditors”) and to oversee the independent auditors’ work. The Audit Committee’s responsibilities include, without limitation, (1) to evaluate the qualifications and independence of the independent auditors; (2) to approve all audit engagement terms and fees for the Fund; (3) to review the conduct and results of each independent audit of the Fund’s financial statements; (4) to review any issues raised by the independent auditors or Fund management regarding the accounting or financial reporting policies and practices of the Fund and the internal controls of the Fund and certain service providers; (5) to oversee the performance of the Fund’s internal audit function provided by its investment adviser, administrator, pricing agent or other service provider; (6) to discuss with Fund management its policies regarding risk assessment and risk management; and (7) to resolve any disagreements between Fund management and the independent auditors regarding financial reporting. The Board has adopted a written charter for the Audit Committee. During the fiscal year ended April 30, 2010, the Audit Committee met five times.

The members of the Governance and Nominating Committee (the “Governance Committee”) are Dr. Matina S. Horner (Chair), Cynthia A. Montgomery and Robert C. Robb, Jr., all of whom are Independent Trustees. The principal responsibilities of the Governance Committee are (1) to identify individuals qualified to serve as Independent Trustees of the Trust and to recommend Independent Trustee nominees for election by shareholders or appointment by the Board; (2) to advise the Board with respect to Board composition, procedures and committees (other than the Audit Committee); (3) to oversee periodic self-assessments of the Board and Committees of the Board (other than the Audit Committee); (4) to review and make recommendations regarding Independent Trustee compensation; and (5) to monitor corporate governance matters and develop appropriate recommendations to the Board. The Governance Committee may consider nominations for the office of Trustee made by Fund shareholders as it deems appropriate. Fund shareholders who wish to recommend a nominee should send nominations to the Secretary of the Trust that include biographical information and set forth the qualifications of the proposed nominee. The Board has adopted a written charter for the Governance Committee. During the fiscal year ended April 30, 2010, the Governance Committee met four times.

The members of the Compliance Committee are Joseph P. Platt, Jr. (Chair), Cynthia A. Montgomery and Robert C. Robb, Jr., all of whom are Independent Trustees. The Compliance Committee’s purpose is to assist the Board in fulfilling its responsibility to oversee regulatory and fiduciary compliance matters involving the Trust, the fund-related activities of BlackRock and the Trust’s third party service providers. The Compliance Committee’s responsibilities include, without limitation, (1) to oversee the compliance

I-6

policies and procedures of the Trust and its service providers and to recommend changes or additions to such policies and procedures; (2) to review information on and, where appropriate, to recommend policies concerning, the Trust’s compliance with applicable law; and (3) to review reports from, to oversee the annual performance review of and to make certain recommendations regarding the Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer. The Board has adopted a written charter for the Compliance Committee. During the fiscal year ended April 30, 2010, the Compliance Committee met seven times.

The members of the Performance Oversight and Contract Committee (the “Performance Oversight Committee”) are David O. Beim (Chair), Toby Rosenblatt (Vice Chair), Ronald W. Forbes and Rodney D. Johnson, all of whom are Independent Trustees. The Performance Oversight Committee’s purpose is to assist the Board in fulfilling its responsibility to oversee the Fund’s investment performance relative to its agreed-upon performance objectives and to assist the Independent Trustees in their consideration of investment advisory agreements. The Performance Oversight Committee’s responsibilities include, without limitation, (1) to review the Fund’s investment objective, policies and practices and the Fund’s investment performance; (2) to review personnel and resources devoted to management of the Fund and to evaluate the nature and quality of information furnished to the Performance Oversight Committee; (3) to recommend any required action regarding change in fundamental and non-fundamental investment policies and restrictions, Fund mergers or liquidations; (4) to request and review information on the nature, extent and quality of services provided to the shareholders; and (5) to make recommendations to the Board concerning the approval or renewal of investment advisory agreements. The Board has adopted a written charter for the Performance Oversight Committee. During the fiscal year ended April 30, 2010, the Performance Oversight Committee met four times.

The Boards of the Equity-Liquidity Complex, the Equity-Bond Complex and the closed-end BlackRock Fund Complex, established the ad hoc Joint Product Pricing Committee (the “Product Pricing Committee”) comprised of nine members drawn from the independent board members serving on the boards of these BlackRock Fund Complexes. Ronald W. Forbes and Rodney D. Johnson are members of the Product Pricing Committee representing the Equity-Liquidity Complex. Two independent board members representing the closed-end BlackRock Fund Complex and five independent board members representing the Equity-Bond Complex serve on the Product Pricing Committee. The Product Pricing Committee is chaired by an independent board member from the Equity-Bond Complex. The purpose of the Product Pricing Committee is to review the components and pricing structure of the non-money market funds in the BlackRock Fund Complexes. The Product Pricing Committee was formed on June 4, 2009, and for the period from June 4, 2009 to April 30, 2010, the Product Pricing Committee met five times.

The members of the Executive Committee are Ronald W. Forbes, Rodney D. Johnson and Richard S. Davis. Messrs. Forbes and Johnson are Independent Trustees, and Mr. Davis is an interested Trustee. The principal responsibilities of the Executive Committee are (1) to act on routine matters between meetings of the Board; (2) to act on such matters as may require urgent action between meetings of the Board; and (3) to exercise such other authority as may from time to time be delegated to the Executive Committee by the Board. The Board has adopted a written charter for the Executive Committee. During the fiscal year ended April 30, 2010, the Executive Committee met once.

The Governance Committee has adopted a statement of policy that describes the experience, qualifications, skills and attributes that are necessary and desirable for potential Independent Trustee candidates (the “Statement of Policy”). The Board believes that each Independent Trustee satisfied, at the time he or she was initially elected or appointed a Trustee, and continues to satisfy, the standards contemplated by the Statement of Policy. Furthermore, in determining that a particular Trustee was and continues to be qualified to serve as a Trustee, the Board has considered a variety of criteria, none of which, in isolation, was controlling. The Board believes that, collectively, the Trustees have balanced and diverse experience, skills, attributes and qualifications, which allow the Board to operate effectively in governing the Trust and protecting the interests of shareholders. Among the attributes common to all Trustees are their ability to review critically, to evaluate, to question and to discuss information provided

I-7

to them; to interact effectively with the Fund’s investment adviser, sub-advisers, other service providers, counsel and independent auditors; and to exercise effective business judgment in the performance of their duties as Trustees. Each Trustee’s ability to perform his or her duties effectively is evidenced by his or her educational background or professional training; business, consulting, public service or academic positions; experience from service as a board member of the Fund and the other funds in the BlackRock Fund Complex (and any predecessor funds), other investment funds, public companies, non-profit entities or other organizations; ongoing commitment and participation in Board and committee meetings, as well as their leadership of standing and ad hoc committees throughout the years; or other relevant life experiences. Information about the specific experience, skills, attributes and qualifications of each Trustee, which in each case led to the Board’s conclusion that the Trustee should serve (or continue to serve) as a trustee of the Trust, is provided in below, in “Biographical Information.”

Biographical Information

Certain biographical and other information relating to the Trustees is set forth below and on the following pages, including address and year of birth, principal occupations for at least the last five years, length of time served, total number of registered investment companies and investment portfolios overseen in the BlackRock-advised Funds and any public directorships.


Name, Address and Year of Birth	Position(s) Held with the Trust	Length of Time Served as a Trustee²	Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years	Number of BlackRock- Advised Registered Investment Companies (“RICs”) and Investment Portfolios (“Portfolios”) Overseen	Public Directorships

Independent Trustees¹

David O. Beim³ 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1940	Trustee	2007 to present	Professor of Finance and Economics at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business since 1991; Trustee, Phillips Exeter Academy since 2002; Chairman, Wave Hill Inc. (public garden and cultural center) from 1990 to 2006.	36 RICs consisting of 97 Portfolios	None

Ronald W. Forbes⁴ 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1940	Trustee	2007 to present	Professor Emeritus of Finance, School of Business, State University of New York at Albany since 2000.	36 RICs consisting of 97 Portfolios	None

Dr. Matina S. Horner⁵ 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1939	Trustee	2007 to present	Executive Vice President of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association and College Retirement Equities Fund from 1989 to 2003.	36 RICs consisting of 97 Portfolios	NSTAR (electric and gas utility)

Rodney D. Johnson⁴ 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1941	Trustee	2007 to present	President, Fairmount Capital Advisors, Inc. since 1987; Director, Fox Chase Cancer Center since 2004; Member of the Archdiocesan Investment Committee of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia since 2004; Director, The Committee of Seventy (civic) since 2006.	36 RICs consisting of 97 Portfolios	None

Herbert I. London 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1939	Trustee	2002 to present	Professor Emeritus, New York University since 2005; John M. Olin Professor of Humanities, New York University from 1993 to 2005 and Professor thereof from 1980 to 2005; President, Hudson Institute (policy research organization) since 1997 and Trustee thereof since 1980; Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Grantham University since 2006; Director, InnoCentive, Inc. (strategic solutions company) since 2005; Director, Cerego, LLC (software development and design) since 2005.	36 RICs consisting of 97 Portfolios	AIMS Worldwide, Inc. (marketing)

I-8


Name, Address and Year of Birth	Position(s) Held with the Trust	Length of Time Served as a Trustee²	Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years	Number of BlackRock- Advised Registered Investment Companies (“RICs”) and Investment Portfolios (“Portfolios”) Overseen	Public Directorships

Cynthia A. Montgomery 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1952	Trustee	2007 to present	Professor, Harvard Business School since 1989; Director, Harvard Business School Publishing since 2005; Director, McLean Hospital since 2005.	36 RICs consisting of 97 Portfolios	Newell Rubbermaid, Inc. (manufacturing)

Joseph P. Platt, Jr.⁶ 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1947	Trustee	2007 to present	Director, The West Penn Allegheny Health System (a not-for-profit health system) since 2008; Director, Jones and Brown (Canadian insurance broker) since 1998; General Partner, Thorn Partners, LP (private investment) since 1998; Partner, Amarna Corporation, LLC (private investment company) from 2002 to 2008.	36 RICs consisting of 97 Portfolios	Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd. (reinsurance company); WQED Multi-Media (public broadcasting not-for-profit)

Robert C. Robb, Jr. 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1945	Trustee	2007 to present	Partner, Lewis, Eckert, Robb and Company (management and financial consulting firm) since 1981.	36 RICs consisting of 97 Portfolios	None

Toby Rosenblatt⁷ 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1938	Trustee	2007 to present	President, Founders Investments Ltd. (private investments) since 1999; Director, College Access Foundation of California (philanthropic foundation) since 2009; Director, Forward Management, LLC since 2007; Director, The James Irvine Foundation (philanthropic foundation) from 1998 to 2008.	36 RICs consisting of 97 Portfolios	A.P. Pharma, Inc. (specialty pharmaceuticals)

Kenneth L. Urish⁸ 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1951	Trustee	2007 to present	Managing Partner, Urish Popeck & Co., LLC (certified public accountants and consultants) since 1976; Member of External Advisory Board, The Pennsylvania State University Accounting Department since 2001; Trustee, The Holy Family Foundation since 2001; Committee Member, Professional Ethics Committee of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants from 2007 to 2010; President and Trustee, Pittsburgh Catholic Publishing Associates from 2003 to 2008; Director, Inter-Tel from 2006 to 2007.	36 RICs consisting of 97 Portfolios	None

Frederick W. Winter 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1945	Trustee	2007 to present	Professor and Dean Emeritus of the Joseph M. Katz School of Business, University of Pittsburgh since 2005 and Dean thereof from 1997 to 2005; Director, Alkon Corporation (pneumatics) since 1992; Director, Tippman Sports (recreation) since 2005; Director, Indotronix International (IT services) from 2004 to 2008.	36 RICs consisting of 97 Portfolios	None

Interested Trustees^1,9

Richard S. Davis 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1945	Trustee and President	2007 to present	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. since 2005; Chief Executive Officer, State Street Research & Management Company from 2000 to 2005; Chairman of the Board of Trustees, State Street Research Mutual Funds from 2000 to 2005.	169 RICs consisting of 292 Portfolios	None

Henry Gabbay 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1947	Trustee	2007 to present	Consultant, BlackRock, Inc. from 2007 to 2008; Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. from 1989 to 2007; Chief Administrative Officer, BlackRock Advisors, LLC from 1998 to 2007; President of BlackRock Funds and BlackRock Bond Allocation Target Shares from 2005 to 2007 and Treasurer of certain closed-end funds in the BlackRock Fund Complex from 1989 to 2006.	169 RICs consisting of 292 Portfolios	None

Trustees serve until their resignation, removal or death, or until December 31 of the year in which they turn 72. The Board has approved one-year extensions in the terms of Trustees who turn 72 prior to December 31, 2013.

I-9

Following the combination of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, L.P. (“MLIM”) and BlackRock, Inc. in September 2006, the various legacy MLIM and legacy BlackRock fund boards were realigned and consolidated into three new fund boards in 2007. As a result, although the chart shows certain of the Trustees as joining the Trust’s Board in 2007, each Independent Trustee first became a member of the boards of other legacy MLIM or legacy BlackRock funds as follows: David O. Beim, 1998; Ronald W. Forbes, 1977; Dr. Matina S. Horner, 2004; Rodney D. Johnson, 1995; Herbert I. London, 1987; Cynthia A. Montgomery, 1994; Joseph P. Platt, Jr., 1999; Robert C. Robb, Jr., 1999; Toby Rosenblatt, 2005; Kenneth L. Urish, 1999; and Frederick W. Winter, 1999.

Chair of the Performance Oversight Committee.

⁴

Co-Chair of the Board.

⁵

Chair of the Governance Committee.

⁶

Chair of the Compliance Committee.

⁷

Vice-Chair of the Performance Oversight Committee.

⁸

Chair of the Audit Committee.

⁹

Mr. Davis is an “interested person,” as defined in the Investment Company Act, of the Trust based on his position with BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates. Mr. Gabbay is an “interested person” of the Trust based on his former positions with BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates as well as his ownership of BlackRock, Inc. and The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.

Certain biographical and other information relating to the officers of the Trust is set forth below, including address and year of birth, principal occupations for at least the last five years, length of time served, total number of registered investment companies and investment portfolios overseen in the BlackRock-advised Funds and any public directorships:


Name, Address and Year of Birth	Position(s) Held with the Trust	Length of Time Served¹	Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years	Number of BlackRock- Advised Registered Investment Companies (“RICs”) and Investment Portfolios (“Portfolios”) Overseen	Public Directorships

Anne F. Ackerley 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1962	Chief Executive Officer	2007 to present²	Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2000; Vice President of the BlackRock-advised Funds from 2007 to 2009; Chief Operating Officer of BlackRock’s Global Client Group since 2009; Chief Operating Officer of BlackRock’s U.S. Retail Group from 2006 to 2009; Head of BlackRock’s Mutual Fund Group from 2000 to 2006.	169 RICs consisting of 292 Portfolios	None

Richard Hoerner, CFA 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1958	Vice President	2009 to present	Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2000; Co-head of BlackRock’s Cash Management Portfolio Management Group since 2002; Member of the Cash Management Group Executive Committee since 2005.	24 RICs consisting of 78 Portfolios	None

Jeffrey Holland, CFA 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1971	Vice President	2009 to present	Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2010; Director of BlackRock, Inc. from 2006 to 2009; Chief Operating Officer of BlackRock’s U.S. Retail Group since 2009; Co-head of Product Development and Management for BlackRock’s U.S. Retail Group from 2007 to 2009; Product Manager of Raymond James & Associates from 2003 to 2006.	70 RICs consisting of 195 Portfolios	None

Brendan Kyne 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1977	Vice President	2009 to present	Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2010; Director of BlackRock, Inc. from 2008 to 2009; Head of Product Development and Management for BlackRock’s U.S. Retail Group since 2009, Co-head thereof from 2007 to 2009; Vice President of BlackRock, Inc. from 2005 to 2008.	169 RICs consisting of 292 Portfolios	None

Simon Mendelson 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1964	Vice President	2009 to present	Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2005; Chief Operating Officer and Head of the Global Client Group for BlackRock’s Global Cash Management Business since 2007; Head of BlackRock’s Strategy and Development Group from 2005 to 2007; Partner of McKinsey & Co. from 1997 to 2005.	24 RICs consisting of 78 Portfolios	None

I-10


Name, Address and Year of Birth	Position(s) Held with the Trust	Length of Time Served¹	Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years	Number of BlackRock- Advised Registered Investment Companies (“RICs”) and Investment Portfolios (“Portfolios”) Overseen	Public Directorships

Brian Schmidt 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1958	Vice President	2009 to present	Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2004; Various positions with U.S. Trust Company from 1991 to 2003: Director from 2001 to 2003, Senior Vice President from 1998 to 2003; Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Excelsior Funds, Inc., Excelsior Tax-Exempt Funds, Inc. and Excelsior Funds Trust from 2001 to 2003.	70 RICs consisting of 195 Portfolios	None

Christopher Stavrakos 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1959	Vice President	2009 to present	Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2006; Co-head of BlackRock’s Cash Management Portfolio Management Group since 2006; Senior Vice President, Chief Investment Officer and Director of Liability Management for the Securities Lending Group at Mellon Bank from 1999 to 2006.	24 RICs consisting of 78 Portfolios	None

Neal J. Andrews 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1966	Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Treasurer	2007 to present	Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2006; Senior Vice President and Line of Business Head of Fund Accounting and Administration at PNC Global Investment Servicing (U.S.) Inc. (formerly PFPC Inc.) from 1992 to 2006.	169 RICs consisting of 292 Portfolios	None

Jay M. Fife 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1970	Treasurer	2007 to present	Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2007 and Director in 2006; Assistant Treasurer of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, L.P. (“MLIM”) and Fund Asset Management, L.P. advised funds from 2005 to 2006; Director of MLIM Fund Services Group from 2001 to 2006.	169 RICs consisting of 292 Portfolios	None

Brian P. Kindelan 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1959	Chief Compliance Officer and Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer	2007 to present	Chief Compliance Officer of the BlackRock-advised Funds since 2007; Managing Director and Senior Counsel of BlackRock, Inc. since 2005.	169 RICs consisting of 292 Portfolios	None

Howard B. Surloff 55 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10055 1965	Secretary	2007 to present	Managing Director and General Counsel of U.S. Funds at BlackRock, Inc. since 2006; General Counsel (U.S.) of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. from 1993 to 2006.	169 RICs consisting of 292 Portfolios	None

Officers of the Trust serve at the pleasure of the Board.

Ms. Ackerley has been Chief Executive Officer of the Trust since 2009 and was Vice President of the Trust from 2007 to 2009.

Share Ownership

Information relating to each Trustee’s share ownership in the Fund and in all BlackRock-advised Funds that are overseen by the respective Trustee (“Supervised Funds”) as of December 31, 2009 is set forth in the chart below:


Name of Trustee	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in All Supervised Funds

Interested Trustees:

Richard S. Davis	None	Over $100,000

Henry Gabbay	None	Over $100,000

Independent Trustees:

David O. Beim	None	Over $100,000

Ronald W. Forbes	None	Over $100,000

I-11


Name of Trustee	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in All Supervised Funds

Dr. Matina S. Horner	None	Over $100,000

Rodney D. Johnson	None	Over $100,000

Herbert I. London	None	$50,001-100,000

Cynthia A. Montgomery	None	Over $100,000

Joseph P. Platt, Jr.	None	Over $100,000

Robert C. Robb, Jr.	None	Over $100,000

Toby Rosenblatt	None	Over $100,000

Kenneth L. Urish	None	$50,001-$100,000

Frederick W. Winter	None	Over $100,000

As of July 31, 2010, the Trustees and officers of the Trust as a group owned an aggregate of less than 1% of the outstanding shares of the Fund. As of December 31, 2009, none of the Independent Trustees or their immediate family members owned beneficially or of record any securities of affiliates of the Manager.

Compensation of Trustees

Each Trustee who is an Independent Trustee is paid as compensation an annual retainer of $250,000 per year for his or her services as a Board member to the BlackRock-advised Funds in the Equity-Liquidity Complex, including the Trust, and a $5,000 Board meeting fee to be paid for each in-person Board meeting attended (a $2,500 Board meeting fee for telephonic attendance at regular Board meetings), for up to five Board meetings held in a calendar year (compensation for meetings in excess of this number to be determined on a case-by-case basis), together with out-of-pocket expenses in accordance with a Board policy on travel and other business expenses relating to attendance at meetings. In addition, the Co-Chairs of the Board are each paid an additional annual retainer of $45,000. The Chairs of the Audit Committee, the Compliance Committee, the Governance Committee and the Performance Oversight Committee and the Vice-Chair of the Performance Oversight Committee are each paid an additional annual retainer of $25,000. The Chair of the Product Pricing Committee, who oversees funds in the Equity-Bond Complex, is paid an annual retainer of $25,000 that is allocated among all of the non-money market funds in the Equity-Liquidity, the Equity-Bond and the closed-end BlackRock Fund Complexes.

Mr. Gabbay is an interested Trustee of the Trust and serves as an interested board member of other funds that comprise the Equity-Liquidity Complex, the Equity-Bond Complex and the closed-end BlackRock Fund Complex. Mr. Gabbay receives as compensation for his services as a Board member of each of these three BlackRock Fund Complexes, (i) an annual retainer of $487,500, paid quarterly in arrears, allocated to the BlackRock-advised Funds in these three BlackRock Fund Complexes, including the Trust, and (ii) with respect to each of the two open-end BlackRock Fund Complexes, a board meeting fee of $3,750 (with respect to meetings of the Equity-Liquidity Complex) and $18,750 (with respect to meetings of the Equity-Bond Complex) to be paid for attendance at each Board meeting for up to five Board meetings held in a calendar year by each such Complex (compensation for meetings in excess of this number to be determined on a case-by-case basis). Mr. Gabbay will also be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses in accordance with a board policy on travel and other business expenses relating to attendance at meetings. Mr. Gabbay’s compensation for serving on the boards of funds in these three BlackRock Fund Complexes (including the Trust) is equal to 75% of each retainer and, as applicable, of each meeting fee (without regard to additional fees paid to Board and Committee chairs) received by the independent board members serving on such boards. The Board of the Fund or the board of any other BlackRock-advised Fund may modify the board members’ compensation from time to time depending on market conditions, and Mr. Gabbay’s compensation would be impacted by those modifications.

Each of the Independent Trustees and Mr. Gabbay have agreed to a 10% reduction in their compensation for the period May 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009.

I-12

The following table sets forth the compensation earned by the Trustees for the fiscal period ended April 30, 2010 and the aggregate compensation paid to them by all BlackRock-advised Funds for the calendar year ended December 31, 2009.


Name of Trustee	Compensation from the Trust	Pension or Retirement Benefits Accrued as Part of Trust Expense	Aggregate Compensation from Trust and Other BlackRock-Advised Funds¹

Interested Trustees:

David O. Beim²	$1,047	None	$283,750

Ronald W. Forbes³	$1,058	None	$302,750

Dr. Matina S. Horner⁴	$1,047	None	$283,750

Rodney D. Johnson³	$1,058	None	$302,750

Herbert I. London	$1,034	None	$260,000

Cynthia A. Montgomery	$1,034	None	$260,000

Joseph P. Platt, Jr.⁵	$1,047	None	$283,750

Robert C. Robb, Jr.	$1,034	None	$260,000

Toby Rosenblatt⁶	$773	None	$261,250

Kenneth L. Urish⁷	$1,020	None	$283,750

Frederick W. Winter	$1,034	None	$260,000

Non-interested Trustees:

Richard S. Davis	None	None	None

Henry Gabbay	$959	None	$441,563

For the number of RICs from which each Trustee receives compensation, see the Biographical Information chart beginning on page I-8.

Chair of the Performance Oversight Committee.

Co-Chair of the Board.

⁴

Chair of the Governance Committee.

⁵

Chair of the Compliance Committee.

⁶

Vice-Chair of the Performance Oversight Committee.

⁷

Chair of the Audit Committee.

IV.

Management and Advisory Arrangements

Management Arrangements

Management Fee. The Trust on behalf of the Fund entered into a management agreement with the Manager (the “Management Agreement”) pursuant to which the Manager receives for its services to the Fund monthly compensation at the annual rate of 0.50% of the average daily net assets of the Fund. Prior to September 29, 2006, Fund Asset Management, L.P. (“FAM”), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., acted as the Fund’s manager and was compensated at the same fee rate.

The table below sets forth information about the total management fees paid by the Fund to the Manager and FAM, the Fund’s previous manager and the amounts waived or reimbursed by the Manager for the periods indicated.


Fiscal Year/ Period Ended	Paid to FAM	Paid to the Manager	Waived by the Manager¹	Reimbursements by the Manager¹

April 30, 2010	N/A	$476,584	$302,918	$96,537

April 30, 2009²	N/A	$531,656	$248	$10,316

May 31, 2008	N/A	$315,621	$0	$0

May 31, 2007	$125,417³	$206,525⁴	$0⁴	$0⁴

The Manager and BlackRock Investments LLC (the “Distributor”) have voluntarily agreed to waive a portion of their respective fees and/or reimburse operating expenses to enable the Fund to maintain minimum levels of daily net investment income. The Manager and the Distributor may discontinue this waiver and/or reimbursement at any time without notice.

For the period June 1, 2008 to April 30, 2009.

For the period June 1, 2006 to September 29, 2006.

⁴

For the period September 29, 2006 to May 31, 2007.

I-13

Sub-Advisory Arrangements. Pursuant to the Management Agreement, the Manager may from time to time, in its sole discretion to the extent permitted by applicable law, appoint one or more sub-advisers, including, without limitation, affiliates of the Manager, to perform investment advisory services with respect to the Fund. In addition, the Manager may delegate certain of its management functions under the Management Agreement to one or more of its affiliates to the extent permitted by applicable law. The Manager may terminate any or all sub-advisers or such delegation arrangements in its sole discretion at any time to the extent permitted by applicable law.

The Manager has entered into a sub-advisory agreement (the “Sub-Advisory Agreement”) with BlackRock Institutional Management Corporation (previously defined as the “Sub-Adviser”), pursuant to which the Sub-Adviser receives for the services it provides a monthly fee at an annual rate equal to a percentage of the management fee received by the Manager under the Management Agreement. The Sub-Adviser is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio.

The table below sets forth information about the sub-advisory fees paid by the Manager to the Sub-Adviser for the periods indicated:


Fiscal Year/Period Ended		Paid to the Sub-Adviser

April 30, 2010		$67,856

April 30, 2009¹		$265,360

May 31, 2008		$185,789

May 31, 2007²		$123,000

For the period June 1, 2008 to April 30, 2009.

For the period September 29, 2006 (the effective date of the Sub-Advisory Agreement) to May 31, 2007.

Transfer Agency Services

The table below sets forth information about the transfer agency fees paid by the Fund to BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc., formerly PNC Global Investment Servicing (U.S.) Inc. (the “Transfer Agent”), to Financial Data Services, Inc. (“FDS”), the Fund’s previous transfer agent, and to the Manager for the periods indicated. Effective July 1, 2010, the Transfer Agent is no longer an affiliate of the Fund.


Fiscal Year/Period Ended	Paid to FDS	Paid to the Transfer Agent	Paid to the Manager¹

April 30, 2010	N/A	$90,707	$1,019

April 30, 2009²	N/A	$68,117	$2,422

May 31, 2008	N/A	$56,376	$620

May 31, 2007	$23,709³	$45,619⁴	$1,028

Pursuant to a Shareholders’ Administrative Services Agreement, the Manager provides certain shareholder liaison services in connection with the Fund’s investor service center. The Fund reimburses the Manager for its costs in maintaining the service center, which costs include, among other things, employee salaries, leasehold expenses, and other out-of-pocket expenses which are a component of the transfer agency fees in the Fund's annual report.

For the period June 1, 2008 to April 30, 2009.

For the period June 1, 2006 to September 29, 2006.

⁴

For the period September 29, 2006 to May 31, 2007.

Accounting Services

The Trust on behalf of the Fund has entered into an agreement with State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”), pursuant to which State Street provides certain accounting services to the Fund. The Fund pays a fee for these services. The Manager also provides certain additional accounting services to the Fund and the Fund reimburses the Manager for these services.

I-14

The table below shows the amounts paid by the Fund to State Street, FAM, the Fund’s previous manager, and the Manager for accounting services for the periods indicated:


Fiscal Year/Period Ended	Paid to State Street	Paid to FAM	Paid to the Manager

April 30, 2010	$64,945	N/A	$1,700

April 30, 2009¹	$58,459	N/A	$2,234

May 31, 2008	$44,861	N/A	$968

May 31, 2007	$44,557	$511²	$969³

For the period June 1, 2008 to April 30, 2009.

For the period June 1, 2006 to September 29, 2006.

For the period September 29, 2006 to May 31, 2007.

Information on Distribution Related Expenses

BlackRock Investments, LLC (previously defined as the “Distributor”), an affiliate of the Manager, acts as the Fund’s sole distributor. The table below provides information for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2010 about the 12b-1 fees the Fund paid to the Distributor under the Fund’s 12b-1 plan and the amounts waived by the Distributor. A significant amount of the fees collected by the Distributor were paid to affiliates for providing distribution related activities and services for Investor B Shares.


	Paid to the Distributor		Waived by the Distributor¹
Investor B Shares	$	269,557	$	268,312

The Manager and the Distributor have voluntarily agreed to waive a portion of their respective fees and/or reimburse operating expenses to enable the Fund to maintain minimum levels of daily net investment income. The Manager and the Distributor may discontinue this waiver and/or reimbursement at any time without notice.

VI.

Yield Information

The yield on the Fund’s shares normally will fluctuate on a daily basis. Therefore, the yield for any given past period is not an indication or representation by the Fund of future yields or rates of return on its shares. The yield is affected by such factors as changes in interest rates on the Fund’s portfolio securities, average portfolio maturity, the types and quality of portfolio securities held and operating expenses. Current yield information may not provide a basis for comparison with bank deposits or other investments that pay a fixed yield over a stated period of time. The yield on Fund shares for various reasons may not be comparable to the yield on bank deposits, shares of other money market funds or other investments. The annualized yield excluding gains and losses on the Fund’s Investor A and Investor B Shares for the period indicated, calculated in accordance with Commission regulations, is shown below:


		Seven-Day Period Ended April 30, 2010

Investor A Shares		0.00%

Investor B Shares		0.00%

VII.

Computation of Offering Price Per Share

The offering price for a share of the Fund of either class is computed by dividing the value of the Fund’s net assets attributable to that share class by the number of shares of that share class outstanding. For more information on the purchasing and valuation of shares, see “Purchase of Shares” and “Determination of Net Asset Value” in Part II of this Statement of Additional Information.

VIII.

Portfolio Transactions

See “Portfolio Transactions” in Part II of this Statement of Additional Information for more information.

I-15

The Commission has issued an exemptive order permitting the Fund to conduct principal transactions with Merrill Lynch Government Securities, Inc. (“GSI”) in U.S. Government securities, and with Merrill Lynch Money Markets Inc. (“MMI”) and, together with Merrill Lynch and GSI (the “Affiliated Dealers”) in short term bank money instruments. Effective December 31, 2008, the Fund will no longer be relying on such exemptive orders.

The number and dollar value of transactions engaged in by the Fund pursuant to this exemptive order are set forth in the following table:


Fiscal Year/Period Ended	Number of Transactions	Aggregate Amount (in millions)

April 30, 2009¹	4	$5.2

May 31, 2008	11	$12.9

May 31, 2007	3	$2.3

For the period June 1, 2008 to December 1, 2008 (date on which the Fund ceased to rely on the exemptive order).

The Fund has received an exemptive order from the Commission permitting it to lend portfolio securities to its affiliates. The Fund paid no securities lending agent fees to the lending agent during the fiscal year ended April 30, 2010, the period June 1, 2008 to April 30, 2009 and the fiscal years ended May 31, 2008 and May 31, 2007.

The value of the Fund’s aggregate holdings of the securities of its regular brokers or dealers (as defined in Rule 10b-1 of the Investment Company Act) if any portion of such holdings were purchased during the period ended April 30, 2010 are as follows:


Regular Broker-Dealer	Debt (D)/Equity (E)	Aggregate Holdings (000’s)

Rabobank Nederland NV	D	$3,350

JPMorgan Chase & Co.	D	$700

IX.

Additional Information

Description of Series and Shares

The Trust was organized as a Massachusetts business trust by Declaration of Trust dated July 10, 1987 under the name Financial Institutions Series Trust. The Trust is a successor to a Massachusetts business trust of the same name organized May 28, 1981. Effective September 29, 2006, the Trust changed its name from Financial Institutions Series Trust to BlackRock Financial Institutions Series Trust and the Fund changed its name from Summit Cash Reserves Fund to BlackRock Summit Cash Reserves Fund. Effective September 29, 2006, the Fund redesignated its Class A and Class B shares as Investor A and Investor B Shares, respectively. The Declaration of Trust provides that the Trust shall be comprised of separate series (“Series”) each of which will consist of a separate portfolio that will issue a separate class of shares. The Trustees are authorized to create an unlimited number of Series and, with respect to each Series, to issue an unlimited number of full and fractional shares of beneficial interest, par value $.10 per share, of different classes and to divide or combine the shares into a greater or lesser number of shares without thereby changing the proportionate beneficial interests in the Series. Shareholder approval is not necessary for the authorization of additional Series or classes of a Series of the Trust. At the date of this Statement of Additional Information, the Fund is the only existing Series of the Trust, and shares of the Fund are divided into Investor A and Investor B Shares. Investor A and Investor B Shares represent an interest in the same assets of the Fund and are identical in all respects, except that Investor B Shares bear certain expenses related to the distribution of such shares and have exclusive voting rights with respect to matters relating to such distribution expenditures. The Board may classify and reclassify shares of any Series into additional classes at a future date. All shares have equal voting rights, except that only shares of the respective Series are entitled to vote on matters concerning only that Series. Shareholders are entitled to one vote for each full share held and fractional votes for fractional shares held in the election

I-16

of Trustees and on other matters submitted to the vote of shareholders. Each issued and outstanding share is entitled to participate equally in dividends declared by the respective Series and in net assets of such Series upon liquidation or dissolution remaining after satisfaction of outstanding liabilities.

In the event a Series was unable to meet its obligations, the remaining Series would assume the unsatisfied obligations of that Series. The shares of each Series, when issued, will be fully paid and nonassessable; have no preference, preemptive, exchange or similar rights; and are freely transferable. Shares do not have cumulative voting rights and the holders of more than 50% of the shares of the Trust voting for the election of Trustees can elect all of the Trustees if they choose to do so and in such event the holders of the remaining shares would not be able to elect any Trustees. No amendment may be made to the Declaration of Trust without the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of the Trust except under certain limited circumstances set forth in the Declaration of Trust.

A copy of the Trust’s Declaration of Trust, together with all amendments thereto (the “Declaration”), is on file in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and provides that the Trust’s name refers to the Trustees under the Declaration collectively as Trustees, but not as individuals or personally; and no Trustee, shareholder, officer, employee or agent of the Trust shall be held to any personal liability, nor shall resort be had to their private property for the satisfaction of any obligation or claim of said Trust but the “Trust Property” (as defined in the Declaration) only shall be liable.

Principal Shareholders

To the knowledge of the Fund, the following persons or entities owned beneficially or of record 5% or more of a class of the Fund’s shares as of August 6, 2010.

Record holder does not beneficially hold the shares.

Financial Statements

The Fund’s audited financial statements, including the report of the independent registered public accounting firm, are incorporated in this Statement of Additional Information by reference to its 2010 Annual Report. You may request a copy of the Annual Report at no charge by calling (800) 441-7762 between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Eastern time, on any business day.

I-17

Part II

Part II of this statement of additional information contains information about the following funds: BIF Arizona Municipal Money Fund (“BIF Arizona”), BIF California Municipal Money Fund (“BIF California”), BIF Connecticut Municipal Money Fund (“BIF Connecticut”), BIF Florida Municipal Money Fund (“BIF Florida”), BIF Massachusetts Municipal Money Fund (“BIF Massachusetts”), BIF Michigan Municipal Money Fund (“BIF Michigan”), BIF New Jersey Municipal Money Fund (“BIF New Jersey”), BIF New York Municipal Money Fund (“BIF New York”), BIF North Carolina Municipal Money Fund (“BIF North Carolina”), BIF Ohio Municipal Money Fund (“BIF Ohio”) and BIF Pennsylvania Municipal Money Fund (“BIF Pennsylvania”), each a series of the BIF Multi-State Municipal Series Trust (collectively, the “BIF State Funds”); BIF Government Securities Fund (“BIF Government Securities”); BIF Money Fund (“BIF Money”); BIF Tax-Exempt Fund (“BIF Tax-Exempt”); BIF Treasury Fund (“BIF Treasury”); BBIF Government Securities Fund (“BBIF Government Securities”); BBIF Money Fund (“BBIF Money”); BBIF Tax-Exempt Fund (“BBIF Tax-Exempt”); BBIF Treasury Fund (“BBIF Treasury”); BlackRock Money Market Portfolio (“Money Market Portfolio”), BlackRock U.S. Treasury Money Market Portfolio (“U.S. Treasury Money Market Portfolio”), BlackRock Municipal Money Market Portfolio (“Municipal Money Market Portfolio”), BlackRock New Jersey Municipal Money Market Portfolio (“New Jersey Portfolio”), BlackRock North Carolina Municipal Money Market Portfolio (“North Carolina Portfolio”), BlackRock Ohio Municipal Money Market Portfolio (“Ohio Portfolio”), BlackRock Pennsylvania Municipal Money Market Portfolio (“Pennsylvania Portfolio”) and BlackRock Virginia Municipal Money Market Portfolio (“Virginia Portfolio”), each a series of BlackRock Funds^SM (the “Trust”); BlackRock Summit Cash Reserves Fund (“Summit Cash Reserves”) of BlackRock Financial Institutions Series Trust (“FIST”); Ready Assets Prime Money Fund (“Ready Assets Prime”); Ready Assets U.S.A. Government Money Fund (“U.S.A. Government Money”); Ready Assets U.S. Treasury Money Fund (“U.S. Treasury Money”); and Retirement Reserves Money Fund of Retirement Series Trust (“Retirement Reserves”). Prior to June 18, 2010, BIF Arizona Municipal Money Fund, BIF California Municipal Money Fund, BIF Connecticut Municipal Money Fund, BIF Florida Municipal Money Fund, BIF Massachusetts Municipal Money Fund, BIF Michigan Municipal Money Fund, BIF New Jersey Municipal Money Fund, BIF New York Municipal Money Fund, BIF North Carolina Municipal Money Fund, BIF Ohio Municipal Money Fund, BIF Pennsylvania Municipal Money Fund, BIF Multi-State Municipal Series Trust, BIF Government Securities Fund, BIF Money Fund, BIF Tax-Exempt Fund and BIF Treasury Fund were know as CMA Arizona Municipal Money Fund, CMA California Municipal Money Fund, CMA Connecticut Municipal Money Fund, CMA Florida Municipal Money Fund, CMA Massachusetts Municipal Money Fund, CMA Michigan Municipal Money Fund, CMA New Jersey Municipal Money Fund, CMA New York Municipal Money Fund, CMA North Carolina Municipal Money Fund, CMA Ohio Municipal Money Fund, CMA Pennsylvania Municipal Money Fund, CMA Multi-State Municipal Series Trust, CMA Government Securities Fund, CMA Money Fund, CMA Tax-Exempt Fund and CMA Treasury Fund, respectively, and BBIF Government Securities Fund, BBIF Money Fund, BBIF Tax-Exempt Fund and BBIF Treasury Fund were known as WCMA Government Securities Fund, WCMA Money Fund, WCMA Tax-Exempt Fund and WCMA Treasury Fund, respectively.

Throughout this Statement of Additional Information, each of the above listed funds may be referred to as a “Fund” or collectively as the “Funds.” The BIF State Funds, BIF Money, BIF Government Securities, BIF Tax-Exempt and BIF Treasury may be collectively referred to herein as the “BIF Funds.” The BIF State Funds and BIF Tax-Exempt may be collectively referred to herein as the “BIF Tax-Exempt Funds.” BBIF Government Securities, BBIF Money, BBIF Tax-Exempt and BBIF Treasury may be collectively referred to herein as the “BBIF Funds.”

Each Fund is organized as a Massachusetts business trust. For ease and clarity of presentation, common shares of beneficial interest are referred to herein as “shares” and the trustees of each Fund are referred to herein as “Trustees.” BlackRock Advisors, LLC is the manager of each Fund and is referred to as “BlackRock” or the “Manager,” and the management agreement applicable to each Fund is referred to as the “Management Agreement.” The Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, is referred to herein as the “Investment Company Act.” The Securities Act of 1933, as amended, is referred to herein as the “Securities Act.” The Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, is referred to herein as the “Exchange Act.” The Securities and Exchange Commission is referred to herein as the “Commission.”

BIF Money, BIF Government Securities, BIF Tax-Exempt and BIF Treasury as well as all of the BBIF Funds are “feeder” funds (each, a “Feeder Fund”) that invest all of their assets in a corresponding “master” portfolio (each, a “Master Portfolio”) of a master limited liability company organized in Delaware (each, a “Master LLC”), a fund that has the same objective and strategies as the applicable Feeder Fund. All investments will be made at the level of the Master LLC. This structure is sometimes called a “master/feeder” structure. A Feeder Fund’s investment results will correspond directly to the investment results of the underlying

II-1

Master LLC in which it invests. For simplicity, unless the context otherwise requires, this Statement of Additional Information uses the terms “Fund” or “Feeder Fund” to include both a Feeder Fund and its Master LLC.

In addition to containing information about the Funds, Part II of this Statement of Additional Information contains general information about all funds in the BlackRock-advised fund complex. Certain information contained herein may not be relevant to the Funds.

INVESTMENT RISKS AND CONSIDERATIONS

Set forth below are descriptions of some of the types of investments and investment strategies that one or more of the Funds may use, and the risks and considerations associated with those investments and investment strategies. Please see each Fund’s Prospectus and the “Investment Objectives and Policies” section of Part I of this Statement of Additional Information for further information about each Fund’s investment policies and risks. Information contained in this section about the risks and considerations associated with a Fund’s investments and/or investment strategies applies only to those Funds specifically identified in Part I of this Statement of Additional Information as making each type of investment or using each investment strategy (each, a “Covered Fund”). Information that does not apply to a Covered Fund does not form a part of that Covered Fund’s Statement of Additional Information and should not be relied upon by investors in that Covered Fund.

Only information that is clearly identified as applicable to a Covered Fund is considered to form a part of that Covered Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.

Bank Money Instruments. Certain Funds may invest in U.S. dollar-denominated obligations of U.S. and foreign depository institutions, including commercial and savings banks, savings and loan associations, and other institutions. Such obligations include but are not limited to certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances, time deposits, bank notes and deposit notes. For example, the obligations may be issued by (i) U.S. or foreign depository institutions, (ii) foreign branches or subsidiaries of U.S. depository institutions (“Eurodollar” obligations), (iii) U.S. branches or subsidiaries of foreign depository institutions (“Yankeedollar” obligations) or (iv) foreign branches or subsidiaries of foreign depository institutions. Eurodollar and Yankeedollar obligations and obligations of branches or subsidiaries of foreign depository institutions may be general obligations of the parent bank or may be limited to the issuing branch or subsidiary by the terms of the specific obligations or by government regulation. Investments in obligations of foreign depository institutions and their foreign branches and subsidiaries will only be made if determined to be of comparable quality to other investments permissible for each Fund. BIF Money, BBIF Money and Retirement Reserves may invest only in Eurodollar obligations that, by their terms, are general obligations of the U.S. parent bank. BIF Money and BBIF Money may only invest in Yankeedollar obligations issued by U.S. branches or subsidiaries of foreign banks that are subject to state or Federal banking regulations in the U.S. and that by their terms are general obligations of the foreign parent. No Fund will invest more than 25% of its total assets (taken at market value at the time of each investment) in obligations of foreign depository institutions and their foreign branches and subsidiaries or in obligations of foreign branches or subsidiaries of U.S. depository institutions that are not backed by the U.S. parent. The Funds treat bank money instruments issued by U.S. branches or subsidiaries of foreign banks as obligations issued by domestic banks (not subject to the 25% limitation) if the branch or subsidiary is subject to the same bank regulation as U.S. banks.

Eurodollar and Yankeedollar obligations, as well as other obligations of foreign depository institutions and short term obligations issued by other foreign entities, may involve additional investment risks, including adverse political and economic developments, the possible imposition of withholding taxes on interest income payable on such obligations, the possible seizure or nationalization of foreign deposits and the possible establishment of exchange controls or other foreign governmental laws or restrictions that might adversely affect the repayment of principal and the payment of interest. The issuers of such obligations may not be subject to U.S. regulatory requirements. Foreign branches or subsidiaries of U.S. banks may be subject to less stringent reserve requirements than U.S. banks. U.S. branches or subsidiaries of foreign banks are subject to the reserve requirements of the states in which they are located. There may be less publicly available information about a U.S. branch or subsidiary of a foreign bank or other issuer than about a U.S. bank or other issuer, and such entities may not be subject to the same accounting, auditing and financial record keeping standards and requirements as U.S. issuers. Evidence of ownership of Eurodollar and foreign obligations may be held outside the United States, and the Funds may be subject to the risks associated with the holding of such property overseas. Eurodollar and foreign obligations of the Funds held overseas will be held by foreign branches of each Fund’s custodian or by other U.S. or foreign banks under subcustodian arrangements complying with the requirements of the Investment Company Act.

II-2

The Manager will carefully consider the above factors in making investments in Eurodollar obligations, Yankeedollar obligations of foreign depository institutions and other foreign short term obligations, and will not knowingly purchase obligations that, at the time of purchase, are subject to exchange controls or withholding taxes. Generally, a Fund will limit its Yankeedollar investments to obligations of banks organized in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom or other industrialized nations.

Bank money instruments in which a Fund invests must be issued by depository institutions with total assets of at least $1 billion, except that a Fund may invest in certificates of deposit of smaller institutions if such certificates of deposit are Federally insured and if, as a result of such purchase, no more than 10% of total assets (taken at market value), are invested in such certificates of deposit.

Commercial Paper and Other Short Term Obligations. Commercial paper (including variable amount master demand notes and other variable rate securities, with or without forward features) refers to short term unsecured promissory notes issued by corporations, partnerships, trusts or other entities to finance short term credit needs and non-convertible debt securities (e.g., bonds and debentures) with no more than 397 days (13 months) remaining to maturity at the date of purchase. Short term obligations issued by trusts, corporations, partnerships or other entities include mortgage-related or asset-backed instruments, including pass-through certificates such as participations in, or bonds and notes backed by, pools of mortgage, automobile, manufactured housing or other types of consumer loans; credit card or trade receivables or pools of mortgage-backed or asset-backed securities. These structured financings will be supported by sufficient collateral and other credit enhancements, including letters of credit, insurance, reserve funds and guarantees by third parties, to enable such instruments to obtain the requisite quality rating by a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (“NRSRO”). Some structured financings also use various types of swaps, among other things, to issue instruments that have interest rate, quality or maturity characteristics necessary or desirable for a Fund. These swaps may include so-called credit default swaps that might depend for payment not only on the credit of a counterparty, but also on the obligations of another entity, the “reference entity.”

Foreign Bank Money Instruments. Foreign bank money instruments refer to U.S. dollar-denominated obligations of foreign depository institutions and their foreign branches and subsidiaries, such as, but not limited to, certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances, time deposits, bank notes and deposit notes. The obligations of such foreign depository institutions and their foreign branches and subsidiaries may be the general obligations of the parent bank or may be limited to the issuing branch or subsidiary by the terms of the specific obligation or by government regulation. Such investments will only be made if determined to be of comparable quality to other investments permissible for a Fund. A Fund will not invest more than 25% of its total assets (taken at market value at the time of each investment) in these obligations. Investments in foreign entities generally involve the same risks as those described above in connection with investments in Eurodollar and Yankeedollar obligations and obligations of foreign depository institutions and their foreign branches and subsidiaries. See “Bank Money Instruments.”

Foreign Short Term Debt Instruments. Foreign short term debt instruments refer to U.S. dollar-denominated commercial paper and other short term obligations issued by foreign entities. Such investments are subject to quality standards similar to those applicable to investments in comparable obligations of domestic issuers. These investments generally involve the same risks as those described above in connection with investments in Eurodollar and Yankeedollar obligations and obligations of foreign depository institutions and their foreign branches and subsidiaries. See “Bank Money Instruments.”

Forward Commitments. Certain Funds may purchase or sell money market securities on a forward commitment basis at fixed purchase terms. The purchase or sale will be recorded on the date a Fund enters into the commitment, and the value of the security will thereafter be reflected in the calculation of the Fund’s net asset value. The value of the security on the delivery date may be more or less than its purchase price. A Fund will segregate assets consisting of cash or liquid money market securities having a market value at all times at least equal to the amount of the forward purchase commitment. Although a Fund generally will enter into forward commitments with the intention of acquiring securities for its portfolio, a Fund may dispose of a commitment prior to settlement if the Manager deems it appropriate to do so.

There can be no assurance that a security purchased or sold through a forward commitment will be delivered. The value of securities in these transactions on the delivery date may be more or less than a Fund’s purchase price. The Fund may bear the risk of a decline in the value of the security in these transactions and may not benefit from appreciation in the value of the security during the commitment period.

II-3

Investment in Other Investment Companies. Certain Funds may, subject to applicable law, invest in other investment companies (including investment companies managed by BlackRock and its affiliates), including exchange traded funds, which are typically open-end funds or unit investment trusts listed on a stock exchange. In accordance with the Investment Company Act, a Fund may invest up to 10% of its total assets in securities of other investment companies. In addition, under the Investment Company Act a Fund may not own more than 3% of the total outstanding voting stock of any investment company and not more than 5% of the value of the Fund’s total assets may be invested in securities of any investment company. (These limits do not restrict a Feeder Fund from investing all of its assets in shares of its Master Portfolio.) Certain Funds, pursuant to the Investment Company Act and subject to certain conditions, may invest without limitation in affiliated registered and affiliated unregistered money market funds. (Alternatively, certain Funds may rely on an exemptive order received from the Commission permitting it to invest in affiliated registered money market funds and in an affiliated private investment company without regard to such limitations, provided however, that in all cases the Fund’s aggregate investment of cash in shares of such investment companies shall not exceed 25% of the Fund’s total assets at any time.) As with other investments, investments in other investment companies are subject to market and selection risk. In addition, if a Fund acquires shares in investment companies, shareholders would bear both their proportionate share of expenses in the Fund (including management and advisory fees) and, indirectly, the expenses of such investment companies (including management and advisory fees). Investments by a Fund in wholly owned investment entities created under the laws of certain countries will not be deemed an investment in other investment companies.

Municipal Investments

Municipal Securities. Certain Funds invest primarily in a portfolio of short term municipal obligations issued by or on behalf of the states, their political subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities and obligations of other qualifying issuers, such as issuers located in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam, the interest on which (and/or, in the case of property taxes, the value of which) is excludable, in the opinion of bond counsel to the issuer, from gross income for purposes of Federal income taxes and the applicable state’s income taxes (“State Taxes”). Obligations that pay interest that is excludable from gross income for Federal income tax purposes are referred to herein as “Municipal Securities,” and obligations that pay interest that is excludable from gross income for Federal income tax purposes and are exempt from the applicable State Taxes are referred to as “State Municipal Securities.” Unless otherwise indicated, references to Municipal Securities shall be deemed to include State Municipal Securities.

Municipal Securities include debt obligations issued to obtain funds for various public purposes, including construction of a wide range of public facilities, refunding of outstanding obligations and obtaining funds for general operating expenses and loans to other public institutions and facilities. In addition, certain types of bonds are issued by or on behalf of public authorities to finance various facilities operated for private profit. Such obligations are included within the term Municipal Securities if the interest paid thereon is excludable from gross income for Federal income tax purposes.

The two principal classifications of Municipal Securities are “general obligation” bonds and “revenue” or “special obligation” bonds. General obligation bonds are secured by the issuer’s pledge of its faith, credit and taxing power for the repayment of principal and the payment of interest. Revenue or special obligation bonds are payable only from the revenues derived from a particular facility or class of facilities or, in some cases, from the proceeds of a special excise tax or other specific revenue source such as from the user of the facility being financed. Private activity bonds (or “industrial development bonds” under pre-1986 law) are in most cases revenue bonds and do not generally constitute the pledge of the credit or taxing power of the issuer of such bonds. The repayment of the principal and the payment of interest on such private activity bonds depends solely on the ability of the user of the facilities financed by the bonds to meet its financial obligation and the pledge, if any, of real and personal property so financed as security for such payment. In addition, private activity bonds may pay interest that is subject to the Federal alternative minimum tax. A Fund’s portfolio may include “moral obligation” bonds, which are normally issued by special purpose public authorities. If an issuer of moral obligation bonds is unable to meet its debt service obligations from current revenues, it may draw on a reserve fund, the restoration of which is a moral commitment but not a legal obligation of a state or municipality.

Yields on Municipal Securities are dependent on a variety of factors, including the general condition of the money market and of the municipal bond market, the size of a particular offering, the maturity of the obligation, and the rating of the issuer. The ability of a Fund to achieve its investment objective is also dependent on the continuing ability of the issuers of the Municipal Securities in which the Fund invests to meet their obligations for the payment of interest and the repayment of principal when due. There are variations in the risks involved in holding Municipal Securities, both within a particular classification and between classifications, depending on numerous factors. Furthermore, the rights of holders of Municipal Securities and the obligations of the issuers of such

II-4

Municipal Securities may be subject to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency and similar laws and court decisions affecting the rights of creditors generally, and such laws, if any, which may be enacted by Congress or state legislatures affecting specifically the rights of holders of Municipal Securities.

A Fund’s ability to distribute dividends exempt from Federal income tax will depend on the exclusion from gross income of the interest income that it receives on the Municipal Securities in which it invests. A Fund will only purchase a Municipal Security if it is accompanied by an opinion of counsel to the issuer, which is delivered on the date of issuance of that security, that interest on such securities is excludable from gross income for Federal income tax purposes (the “tax exemption opinion”).

Events occurring after the date of issuance of the Municipal Securities, however, may cause the interest on such securities to be includable in gross income for Federal income tax purposes. For example, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) establishes certain requirements, such as restrictions as to the investment of the proceeds of the issue, limitations as to the use of proceeds of such issue and the property financed by such proceeds, and the payment of certain excess earnings to the Federal government, that must be met after the issuance of the Municipal Securities for interest on such securities to remain excludable from gross income for Federal income tax purposes. The issuers and the conduit borrowers of the Municipal Securities generally covenant to comply with such requirements and the tax exemption opinion generally assumes continuing compliance with such requirements. Failure to comply with these continuing requirements, however, may cause the interest on such Municipal Securities to be includable in gross income for Federal income tax purposes retroactive to their date of issue.

In addition, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has an ongoing enforcement program that involves the audit of tax exempt bonds to determine whether an issue of bonds satisfies all of the requirements that must be met for interest on such bonds to be excludable from gross income for Federal income tax purposes. From time to time, some of the Municipal Securities held by a Fund may be the subject of such an audit by the IRS, and the IRS may determine that the interest on such securities is includable in gross income for Federal income tax purposes either because the IRS has taken a legal position adverse to the conclusion reached by the counsel to the issuer in the tax exemption opinion or as a result of an action taken or not taken after the date of issue of such obligation.

If interest paid on a Municipal Security in which a Fund invests is determined to be taxable subsequent to the Fund’s acquisition of such security, the IRS may demand that such Fund pay taxes on the affected interest income and, if the Fund agrees to do so, its yield could be adversely affected. If the interest paid on any Municipal Security held by a Fund is determined to be taxable, such Fund will dispose of the security as soon as practicable. A determination that interest on a security held by a Fund is includable in gross income for Federal or state income tax purposes retroactively to its date of issue may, likewise, cause a portion of prior distributions received by shareholders to be taxable to those shareholders in the year of receipt.

From time to time, proposals have been introduced before Congress for the purpose of restricting or eliminating the Federal income tax exclusion for interest on Municipal Securities. Similar proposals may be introduced in the future. If such a proposal were enacted, the ability of each Fund to pay “exempt-interest dividends” would be affected adversely and the Fund would re-evaluate its investment objectives and policies and consider changes in structure. See “Dividends and Taxes — Taxes.”

Municipal Securities — Derivative Products. Derivative Products are typically structured by a bank, broker-dealer or other financial institution. A Derivative Product generally consists of a trust or partnership through which a Fund holds an interest in one or more underlying bonds coupled with a right to sell (“put”) the Fund’s interest in the underlying bonds at par plus accrued interest to a financial institution (a “Liquidity Provider”). Typically, a Derivative Product is structured as a trust or partnership that provides for pass-through tax-exempt income. There are currently three principal types of derivative structures: (1) “Tender Option Bonds,” which are instruments that grant the holder thereof the right to put an underlying bond at par plus accrued interest at specified intervals to a Liquidity Provider; (2) “Swap Products,” in which the trust or partnership swaps the payments due on an underlying bond with a swap counterparty who agrees to pay a floating municipal money market interest rate; and (3) “Partnerships,” which allocate to the partners portions of income, expenses, capital gains and losses associated with holding an underlying bond in accordance with a governing agreement. A Fund may also invest in other forms of short term Derivative Products eligible for investment by money market funds.

Investments in Derivative Products raise certain tax, legal, regulatory and accounting issues that may not be presented by investments in other municipal bonds. There is some risk that certain issues could be resolved in a manner that could adversely impact the performance of a Fund. For example, the tax-exempt treatment of the interest paid to holders of Derivative Products is premised on the legal conclusion that the holders of such Derivative Products have an ownership interest in the underlying bonds.

II-5

Were the IRS or any state taxing authority to issue an adverse ruling or take an adverse position with respect to the taxation of Derivative Products, there is a risk that the interest paid on such Derivative Products or, in the case of property taxes, the value of such Fund to the extent represented by such Derivative Products, would be deemed taxable at the Federal and/or state level.

Municipal Notes. Municipal notes are shorter term municipal debt obligations. They may provide interim financing in anticipation of tax collection, bond sales or revenue receipts. If there is a shortfall in the anticipated proceeds, the note may not be fully repaid and a Fund may lose money.

Municipal Commercial Paper. Municipal commercial paper is generally unsecured and issued to meet short term financing needs. The lack of security presents some risk of loss to a Fund since, in the event of an issuer’s bankruptcy, unsecured creditors are repaid only after the secured creditors are paid out of the assets, if any, that remain.

Municipal Lease Obligations. Also included within the general category of State Municipal Securities are Certificates of Participation (“COPs”) issued by governmental authorities or entities to finance the acquisition or construction of equipment, land and/or facilities. The COPs represent participations in a lease, an installment purchase contract or a conditional sales contract (hereinafter collectively called “lease obligations”) relating to such equipment, land or facilities. Although lease obligations do not constitute general obligations of the issuer for which the issuer’s unlimited taxing power is pledged, a lease obligation is frequently backed by the issuer’s covenant to budget for, appropriate and make the payments due under the lease obligation. However, certain lease obligations contain “non-appropriation” clauses that provide that the issuer has no obligation to make lease or installment purchase payments in future years unless money is appropriated for such purpose on a yearly basis. Although “non-appropriation” lease obligations are secured by the leased property, disposition of the property in the event of foreclosure might prove difficult. The securities represent a type of financing that has not yet developed the depth of marketability associated with more conventional securities. Certain investments in lease obligations may be illiquid. A Fund may not invest in illiquid lease obligations if such investments, together with all other illiquid investments, would exceed 5% of such Fund’s net assets. A Fund may, however, invest without regard to such limitation in lease obligations that the Manager, pursuant to guidelines adopted by the Board of Trustees and subject to the supervision of the Board, determines to be liquid. The Manager will deem lease obligations to be liquid if they are publicly offered and have received an investment grade rating of Baa or better by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), or BBB or better by Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) or Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”). Unrated lease obligations, or those rated below investment grade, will be considered liquid if the obligations come to the market through an underwritten public offering and at least two dealers are willing to give competitive bids. In reference to the latter, the Manager must, among other things, also review the creditworthiness of the entity obligated to make payment under the lease obligation and make certain specified determinations based on such factors as the existence of a rating or credit enhancement, such as insurance, the frequency of trades or quotes for the obligation and the willingness of dealers to make a market in the obligation.

Municipal Securities — Short-Term Maturity Standards. All of the investments of a Fund in Municipal Securities will be in securities with remaining maturities of 397 days (13 months) or less. The dollar-weighted average maturity of each Fund’s portfolio will be 90 days or less. For purposes of this investment policy, an obligation will be treated as having a maturity earlier than its stated maturity date if such obligation has technical features that, in the judgment of the Manager, will result in the obligation being valued in the market as though it has such earlier maturity.

The maturities of Variable Rate Demand Obligations (“VRDOs”) (including Participating VRDOs) are deemed to be the longer of (i) the notice period required before a Fund is entitled to receive payment of the principal amount of the VRDOs on demand or (ii) the period remaining until the VRDO’s next interest rate adjustment. If not redeemed by a Fund through the demand feature, VRDOs mature on a specified date, which may range up to 30 years from the date of issuance. See “VDROs and Participating VDROs” below.

Municipal Securities — Quality Standards. A Fund’s portfolio investments in municipal notes and short term tax-exempt commercial paper will be limited to those obligations that are (i) secured by a pledge of the full faith and credit of the United States or (ii) rated, or issued by issuers that have been rated, in one of the two highest rating categories for short term municipal debt obligations by an NRSRO or, if not rated, of comparable quality as determined under procedures approved by the Trustees. A Fund’s investments in municipal bonds will be in issuers that have received from the requisite NRSROs a rating, with respect to a class of short term debt obligations that is comparable in priority and security with the investment, in one of the two highest rating categories for short term obligations or, if not rated, will be of comparable quality as determined under procedures approved by the Trustees. Certain tax-exempt obligations (primarily VRDOs and Participating VRDOs) may be entitled to the benefit of letters of

II-6

credit or similar credit enhancements issued by financial institutions. In such instances, in assessing the quality of such instruments, the Trustees and the Manager will take into account not only the creditworthiness of the issuers, but also the creditworthiness and type of obligation of the financial institution. The type of obligation of the financial institution concerns, for example, whether the letter of credit or similar credit enhancement being issued is conditional or unconditional. Certain Funds also may purchase other types of municipal instruments if, in the opinion of the Trustees or the Manager (as determined in accordance with the procedures established by the Trustees), such obligations are equivalent to securities that have the ratings described above. For a description of debt ratings, see Appendix A — “Description of Debt Ratings.”

A Fund may not invest in any security issued by a depository institution unless such institution is organized and operating in the United States, has total assets of at least $1 billion and is federally insured. Preservation of capital is a prime investment objective of the Funds, and while the types of money market securities in which the Funds invest generally are considered to have low principal risk, such securities are not completely risk free. There is a risk of the failure of issuers or credit enhancers to meet their principal and interest obligations. With respect to repurchase agreements and purchase and sale contracts, there is also the risk of the failure of the parties involved to repurchase at the agreed-upon price, in which event each Fund may suffer time delays and incur costs or possible losses in connection with such transactions.

Municipal Securities — Other Factors. Management of the Funds will endeavor to be as fully invested as reasonably practicable in order to maximize the yield on each Fund’s portfolio. Not all short term municipal securities trade on the basis of same day settlements and, accordingly, a portfolio of such securities cannot be managed on a daily basis with the same flexibility as a portfolio of money market securities, which can be bought and sold on a same day basis. There may be times when a Fund has uninvested cash resulting from an influx of cash due to large purchases of shares or the maturing of portfolio securities. A Fund also may be required to maintain cash reserves or incur temporary bank borrowings to make redemption payments, which are made on the same day the redemption request is received. Such inability to be invested fully would lower the yield on such Fund’s portfolio.

Because certain Funds may at times invest a substantial portion of their assets in Municipal Securities secured by bank letters of credit or guarantees, an investment in a Fund should be made with an understanding of the characteristics of the banking industry and the risks that such an investment in such credit enhanced securities may entail. Banks are subject to extensive governmental regulations that may limit both the amounts and types of loans and other financial commitments that may be made and interest rates and fees that may be charged. The profitability of the banking industry is largely dependent on the availability and cost of capital funds for the purpose of financing lending operations under prevailing money market conditions. Furthermore, general economic conditions play an important part in the operations of this industry and exposure to credit losses arising from possible financial difficulties of borrowers might affect a bank’s ability to meet its obligations under a letter of credit.

Changes to the Code may limit the types and volume of securities qualifying for the Federal income tax exemption of interest; this may affect the availability of Municipal Securities for investment by the Funds, which could, in turn, have a negative impact on the yield of the portfolios. A Fund reserves the right to suspend or otherwise limit sales of its shares if, as a result of difficulties in acquiring portfolio securities or otherwise, it is determined that it is not in the interests of the Fund’s shareholders to issue additional shares.

Single State Risk. Because certain Funds invest primarily in the Municipal Securities of a single state, each such Fund is more susceptible to factors adversely affecting issuers of Municipal Securities in such state than is a fund that is not concentrated in issuers of a single state’s State Municipal Securities to this degree. Because each Fund’s portfolio will be comprised primarily of short term, high quality securities, each Fund is expected to be less subject to market and credit risks than a fund that invests in longer term or lower quality State Municipal Securities.

A Fund may invest more than 25% of the value of its total assets in Municipal Securities that are related in such a way that an economic, business or political development or change affecting one such security also would affect the other securities such as, for example, securities the interest on which is paid from revenues of similar types of projects. As a result, each Fund may be subject to greater risk than funds that do not follow this practice.

VRDOs and Participating VRDOs. VRDOs are tax-exempt obligations that contain a floating or variable interest rate adjustment formula and right of demand on the part of the holder thereof to receive payment of the unpaid balance plus accrued interest upon a short notice period not to exceed seven days. There is, however, the possibility that because of default or insolvency the demand feature of VRDOs and Participating VRDOs (described below) may not be honored. The interest rates are adjustable at intervals

II-7

(ranging from daily to one year) to some prevailing market rate of the VRDOs at approximately the par value of the VRDOs on the adjustment date. The adjustment may be based upon the Public Securities Index or some other appropriate interest rate adjustment index. Each Fund may invest in all types of tax-exempt instruments currently outstanding or to be issued in the future that satisfy its short term maturity and quality standards.

Participating VRDOs provide a Fund with a specified undivided interest (up to 100%) in the underlying obligation and the right to demand payment of the unpaid principal balance plus accrued interest on the Participating VRDOs from a financial institution upon a specified number of days notice, not to exceed seven days. In addition, a Participating VRDO is backed by an irrevocable letter of credit or guaranty of the financial institution. A Fund would have an undivided interest in an underlying obligation and thus participate on the same basis as the financial institution in such obligation except that the financial institution typically retains fees out of the interest paid on the obligation for servicing the obligation, providing the letter of credit or issuing the repurchase commitment. Certain Funds have been advised by counsel that they should be entitled to treat the income received on Participating VRDOs as interest from tax-exempt obligations. It is contemplated that no Fund will invest more than a limited amount of its total assets in Participating VRDOs. Neither BIF Tax-Exempt nor BBIF Tax-Exempt currently intends to invest more than 20% of its total assets in Participating VRDOs.

VRDOs that contain a right of demand to receive payment of the unpaid principal balance plus accrued interest on a notice period exceeding seven days may be deemed to be illiquid securities. A VRDO with a demand notice period exceeding seven days will, therefore, be subject to each Fund’s restrictions on illiquid investments unless, in the judgment of the Trustees, such VRDO is liquid. The Trustees may adopt guidelines and delegate to the Manager the daily function of determining and monitoring liquidity of such VRDOs. The Trustees, however, will retain sufficient oversight and be ultimately responsible for such determinations.

Because of the interest rate adjustment formula on VRDOs (including Participating VRDOs), the VRDOs are not comparable to fixed rate securities. A Fund’s yield on VRDOs will decline and its shareholders will forego the opportunity for capital appreciation during periods when prevailing interest rates have declined. On the other hand, during periods where prevailing interest rates have increased, a Fund’s yield on VRDOs will increase and its shareholders will have a reduced risk of capital depreciation.

Purchase of Securities with Fixed Price “Puts.” Certain Funds have authority to purchase fixed rate Municipal Securities and, for a price, simultaneously acquire the right to sell such securities back to the seller at an agreed-upon rate at any time during a stated period or on a certain date. Such a right is generally denoted as a fixed price put. Puts with respect to fixed rate instruments are to be distinguished from the demand or repurchase features of VRDOs and Participating VRDOs that enable certain Funds to dispose of such a security at a time when the market value of the security approximates its par value.

Repurchase Agreements and Purchase and Sale Contracts. Funds may invest in Taxable Securities (as defined below, see “Taxable Money Market Securities”) pursuant to repurchase agreements. Repurchase agreements may be entered into only with a member bank of the Federal Reserve System or primary dealer in U.S. Government securities or an affiliate thereof that meets the creditworthiness standards adopted by the Board of Trustees. Under such agreements, the bank or primary dealer or an affiliate thereof agrees, upon entering into the contract, to repurchase the security at a mutually agreed upon time and price, thereby determining the yield during the term of the agreement. This results in a fixed rate of return insulated from market fluctuations during such period. Repurchase agreements may be construed to be collateralized loans by the purchaser to the seller secured by the securities transferred to the purchaser. In the case of a repurchase agreement, a Fund will require the seller to provide additional collateral if the market value of the securities falls below the repurchase price at any time during the term of the repurchase agreement. One common type of repurchase agreement a Fund may enter into is a “tri-party” repurchase agreement. In “tri-party” repurchase agreements, an unaffiliated third party custodian maintains accounts to hold collateral for the Fund and its counterparties and, therefore, the Fund may be subject to the credit risk of those custodians. In any repurchase transaction to which a Fund is a party, collateral for a repurchase agreement may include cash items and obligations issued by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities. Collateral, however, is not limited to the foregoing and may include for example obligations rated below the highest category by NRSROs. Collateral for a repurchase agreement may also include securities that a Fund could not hold directly without the repurchase obligation. Irrespective of the type of collateral underlying the repurchase agreement, the Fund must determine that a repurchase obligation with a particular counterparty involves minimal credit risk to the Fund and otherwise satisfies the credit quality standards applicable to the acquisition of an instrument issued by such counterparty in compliance with Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act.

II-8

In the event of default by the seller under a repurchase agreement construed to be a collateralized loan, the underlying securities are not owned by the Fund but only constitute collateral for the seller’s obligation to pay the repurchase price. Therefore, a Fund may suffer time delays and incur costs or possible losses in connection with the disposition of the collateral. In the event of a default under a repurchase agreement that is construed to be a collateralized loan, instead of the contractual fixed rate of return, the rate of return to a Fund will depend upon intervening fluctuations of the market value of such security and the accrued interest on the security. In such event, a Fund would have rights against the seller for breach of contract with respect to any losses arising from market fluctuations following the failure of the seller to perform. In general, for Federal income tax purposes, repurchase agreements are treated as collateralized loans secured by the securities “sold.” Therefore, amounts earned under such agreements, even if the underlying securities are tax-exempt securities, will not be considered tax-exempt interest. From time to time, a Fund also may invest in money market securities pursuant to purchase and sale contracts. While purchase and sale contracts are similar to repurchase agreements, purchase and sale contracts are structured so as to be in substance more like a purchase and sale of the underlying security than is the case with repurchase agreements and, with purchase and sale contracts, the purchaser receives any interest on the security paid during the period of the contract.

Repurchase agreements pose certain risks for a Fund that utilizes them. Such risks are not unique to the Fund but are inherent in repurchase agreements. The Funds seek to minimize such risks but because of the inherent legal uncertainties involved in repurchase agreements, such risks cannot be eliminated. Lower quality collateral and collateral with longer maturities may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality collateral and collateral with shorter maturities. If the repurchase agreement counterparty were to default, lower quality collateral may be more difficult to liquidate than higher quality collateral. Should the counterparty default and the amount of collateral not be sufficient to cover the counterparty’s repurchase obligation, a Fund would retain the status of an unsecured creditor of the counterparty (i.e., the position the Fund would normally be in if it were to hold, pursuant to its investment policies, other unsecured debt securities of the defaulting counterparty) with respect to the amount of the shortfall. As an unsecured creditor, a Fund would be at risk of losing some or all of the principal and income involved in the transaction.

Reverse Repurchase Agreements. A Fund may enter into reverse repurchase agreements with the same parties with whom it may enter into repurchase agreements. Under a reverse repurchase agreement, a Fund sells securities to another party and agrees to repurchase them at a mutually agreed-upon date and price. At the time a Fund enters into a reverse repurchase agreement, it will segregate liquid assets with a value not less than the repurchase price (including accrued interest). Reverse repurchase agreements involve the risk that (i) the market value of the securities retained in lieu of sale by a Fund may decline below the price of the securities the Fund has sold but is obligated to repurchase and (ii) the price of the securities sold may decline below the price at which the Fund is required to repurchase them. In addition, if the buyer of securities under a reverse repurchase agreement files for bankruptcy or becomes insolvent, such buyer or its trustee or receiver may receive an extension of time to determine whether to enforce a Fund’s obligations to repurchase the securities and the Fund’s use of the proceeds of the reverse repurchase agreement may effectively be restricted pending such decision.

Rule 2a-7 Requirements. Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act sets forth portfolio maturity, liquidity, diversification and quality requirements applicable to all money market funds.

Maturity. Each Fund is managed so that the dollar-weighted average maturity of all of its investments will be 60 days or less, and the dollar-weighted average life of all of its investments will be 120 days or less. In addition, the Funds will not acquire any instrument with a remaining maturity of greater than 397 days. The “dollar-weighted average maturity” of a Fund is the average amount of time until the issuers of the debt securities in the Fund’s portfolio must pay off the principal amount of the debt. “Dollar-weighted” means the larger the dollar value of a debt security in a Fund, the more weight it gets in calculating this average. To calculate the dollar-weighted average maturity, the Fund may treat a variable or floating rate security under certain circumstances as having a maturity equal to the time remaining to the security’s next interest rate reset date rather than the security’s actual maturity. “Dollar-weighted average life” of a Fund’s portfolio is calculated without reference to the exceptions used in calculating the dollar-weighted average maturity for variable or floating rate securities regarding the use of interest rate reset dates.

Liquidity. Recent amendments to Rule 2a-7 added a “general liquidity requirement” that requires that each Fund hold securities that are sufficiently liquid to meet reasonably foreseeable shareholder redemptions in light of its obligations under section 22(e) of the Investment Company Act, and any commitments the Fund has made to shareholders. To comply with this general liquidity requirement, each Fund’s adviser or sub-adviser must consider factors that could affect the Fund’s liquidity needs, including characteristics of the Fund’s investors and their likely redemptions. Depending upon the volatility of its cash flows (particularly shareholder redemptions), this new provision may require a Fund to maintain greater liquidity than would be required by the daily and weekly minimum liquidity requirements discussed below.

The Funds (other than BIF State Funds, BIF Tax-Exempt and BBIF Tax-Exempt) will not acquire any security other than daily liquid assets unless, immediately following such purchase, at least 10% of its total assets would be invested in daily liquid assets. The Funds will not acquire any security other than weekly liquid assets unless, immediately following such purchase, at least 30% of its total assets would be invested in weekly liquid assets. “Daily liquid assets” include (i) cash; (ii) direct obligations of the U.S. Government; and (iii) securities that will mature or are subject to a demand feature that is exercisable and payable within one business day. “Weekly liquid assets” include (i) and (ii) above as well as (iii) Government securities issued by a person controlled or supervised by and acting as an

II-9

instrumentality of the U.S. Government pursuant to authority granted by the U.S. Congress, that are issued at a discount to the principal amount to be repaid at maturity and have a remaining maturity of 60 days or less; and (iv) securities that will mature or are subject to a demand feature that is exercisable and payable within five business days. No Fund will invest more than 5% of the value of its total assets in securities that are illiquid (i.e., securities that cannot be sold or disposed of in the ordinary course of business within seven days at approximately the value ascribed to them by the Fund).

Portfolio Diversification and Quality. Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act presently limits investments by each Fund (other than BIF State Funds) in securities issued by any one issuer (except for, among others, securities issued by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities or investments in First Tier Securities of a single issuer for certain temporary, limited purposes) ordinarily to not more than 5% of its total assets. In the case of BIF State Funds, this restriction is applicable only with respect to 75% of a BIF State Fund’s total assets. In the event of investments in securities that are Second Tier Securities (as defined in Rule 2a-7) issued by a single issuer, not more than 1/2 of 1% of the Fund’s total assets may be invested in such Second Tier Securities. For purposes of these diversification policies, investments in a repurchase agreement will be deemed to be an investment in the underlying securities so long as, among other criteria, the securities collateralizing the repurchase agreement consist of cash items and U.S. Government securities and the respective Fund’s adviser or sub-adviser has evaluated the seller’s creditworthiness. In addition, Rule 2a-7 requires that not more than 3% of each Fund’s total assets be invested in Second Tier Securities and that Second Tier Securities may only be purchased if they have a remaining maturity of 45 days or less at the time of acquisition.

Securities Lending. Certain Funds may lend portfolio securities with a value not exceeding 33 ¹/3% of the Fund’s total assets or the limit prescribed by applicable law to banks, brokers and other financial institutions. In return, the Fund receives collateral in cash or securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, which will be maintained at all times in an amount equal to at least 100% of the current market value of the loaned securities. Each Fund lending portfolio securities retains the right to vote or consent on proxy proposals involving material events affecting the securities loaned. A Fund receives the income on the loaned securities. Where a Fund receives securities as collateral, the Fund receives a fee for its loans from the borrower and does not receive the income on the collateral. Where a Fund receives cash collateral, it may invest such collateral and retain the amount earned, net of any amount rebated to the borrower. As a result, the Fund’s yield may increase. Loans of securities are terminable at any time and the borrower, after notice, is required to return borrowed securities within the standard time period for settlement of securities transactions. The Fund is obligated to return the collateral to the borrower at the termination of the loan. A Fund could suffer a loss in the event the Fund must return the cash collateral and there are losses on investments made with the cash collateral. In the event the borrower defaults on any of its obligations with respect to a securities loan, a Fund could suffer a loss if there are losses on investments made with the cash collateral or if the value of the securities collateral falls below the market value of the borrowed securities. A Fund could also experience delays and costs in gaining access to the collateral. A Fund may pay reasonable finder’s, lending agent, administrative and custodial fees in connection with its loans. Each Fund has received an exemptive order from the Commission permitting it to lend portfolio securities to affiliates of the Fund and to retain an affiliate of the Fund as lending agent.

Taxable Money Market Securities. Certain Funds may invest in a variety of taxable money market securities (“Taxable Securities”). The Taxable Securities in which certain Funds may invest consist of U.S. Government securities, U.S. Government agency securities, domestic bank certificates of deposit and bankers’ acceptances, short term corporate debt securities such as commercial paper and repurchase agreements. These investments must have a stated maturity not in excess of 397 days (13 months) from the date of purchase.

The standards applicable to Taxable Securities in which certain Funds invest are essentially the same as those described above with respect to Municipal Securities. Certain Funds may not invest in any security issued by a depository institution unless such institution is organized and operating in the United States, has total assets of at least $1 billion and is federally insured. Taxable Securities in which certain Funds may invest will be rated, or will be issued by issuers that have been rated, in one of the two highest rating categories for short term debt obligations by an NRSRO or, if not rated, will be of comparable quality as determined under procedures approved by the Trustees. Certain Funds will not invest in taxable short term money market securities.

When Issued Securities, Delayed Delivery Securities and Forward Commitments. A Fund may purchase or sell securities that it is entitled to receive on a when issued basis. A Fund may also purchase or sell securities on a delayed delivery basis or through a forward commitment. These transactions involve the purchase or sale of securities by a 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. When a Fund purchases securities in these transactions, the Fund segregates liquid securities in an amount equal to the amount of its purchase commitments.

There can be no assurance that a security purchased on a when issued basis will be issued or that a security purchased or sold on a delayed delivery basis or through a forward commitment will be delivered. Also, the value of securities in these transactions on the delivery date may be more or less than the price paid by the Fund to purchase the securities. The Fund will lose money if the value of the security in such a transaction declines below the purchase price and will not benefit if the value of the security appreciates above the sale price during the commitment period.

II-10

Diversification Status

Each Fund’s investments will be limited in order to allow the Fund to continue to qualify as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under the Code. To qualify, among other requirements, each Fund will limit its investments so that at the close of each quarter of the taxable year (i) at least 50% of the market value of each Fund’s total assets is represented by cash, securities of other RICs, U.S. government securities and other securities, with such other securities limited, in respect of any one issuer, to an amount not greater than 5% of the Fund’s assets and not greater than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer and (ii) not more than 25% of the value of its assets is invested in the securities (other than U.S. government securities or securities of other RICs) of any one issuer, any two or more issuers that the Fund controls and that are determined to be engaged in the same or similar trades or businesses or related trades or businesses or in the securities of one or more qualified publicly traded partnerships (i.e., partnerships that are traded on an established securities market or tradable on a secondary market, other than partnerships that derive 90% of their income from interest, dividends, capital gains, and other traditional permitted mutual fund income). For purposes of this restriction, the BIF State Funds, BIF Tax-Exempt and BBIF Tax-Exempt generally will regard each state and each of its political subdivisions, agencies or instrumentalities, and each multi-state agency of which the state is a member as a separate issuer. Each public authority that issues securities on behalf of a private entity generally will also be regarded as a separate issuer, except that if the security is backed only by the assets and revenues of a non-government entity, then the entity with the ultimate responsibility for the payment of interest and principal may be regarded as the sole issuer. These tax-related limitations may be changed by the Board of Trustees of BIF State Funds, BIF Tax-Exempt and BBIF Tax-Exempt to the extent necessary to comply with changes to the Federal tax requirements. See “Dividends and Taxes — Taxes.”

Each Fund other than the BIF State Funds has elected to be classified as “diversified” under the Investment Company Act and must satisfy the diversification requirements set forth in Rule 2a-7.

MANAGEMENT AND OTHER SERVICE ARRANGEMENTS

Trustees and Officers

See Part I, Section III “Information on Trustees and Officers — Biographical Information,” “ — Share Ownership” and “ — ”Compensation of Trustees” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information for biographical and certain other information relating to the Trustees and officers of your Fund, including Trustees’ compensation.

Management Arrangements

Management Services. The Manager provides each Fund with investment advisory and management services. Subject to the supervision of the Board of Trustees, the Manager is responsible for the actual management of a Fund’s portfolio and reviews the Fund’s holdings in light of its own research analysis and that from other relevant sources. The responsibility for making decisions to buy, sell or hold a particular security rests with the Manager. The Manager performs certain of the other administrative services and provides all the office space, facilities, equipment and necessary personnel for management of each Fund.

Each Feeder Fund invests all or a portion of its assets in shares of a Master Portfolio. To the extent a Feeder Fund invests all of its assets in a Master Portfolio, it does not invest directly in portfolio securities and does not require management services. For such Feeder Funds, portfolio management occurs at the Master Portfolio level.

Management Fee. Each Fund has entered into a management agreement with the Manager pursuant to which the Manager receives for its services to the Fund monthly compensation at an annual rate based on the average daily net assets of the Fund. For information regarding specific fee rates for your Fund and the fees paid by your Fund to the Manager for the Fund’s last three fiscal years or other applicable periods, see Part I, Section IV “Management and Advisory Arrangements” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information. Each Management Agreement obligates the Manager to provide investment advisory services and to pay, or cause an affiliate to pay, for maintaining its staff and personnel and to provide office space, facilities and necessary personnel for the Fund. Each Manager is also obligated to pay, or cause an affiliate to pay, the fees of all officers and Trustees of the Fund who are affiliated persons of the Manager or any affiliate.

For Funds that do not have an administration agreement with the Manager, each Management Agreement obligates the Manager to provide management services and to pay all compensation of and furnish office space for officers and employees of a Fund connected with investment and economic research, trading and investment management of the Fund, as well as the fees of all Trustees of the Fund who are interested persons of the Fund. Each Fund pays all other expenses incurred in the operation of that Fund, including among other things: taxes; expenses for legal and auditing services; costs of preparing, printing and mailing proxies, shareholder reports, prospectuses and statements of additional information, except to the extent paid by BlackRock Investments, LLC (the “Distributor”), charges of the custodian and sub-custodian, and the transfer agent; expenses of redemption of shares; Commission fees; expenses of registering the shares under Federal, state or foreign laws; fees and expenses of Trustees

II-11

who are not interested persons of a Fund as defined in the Investment Company Act; accounting and pricing costs (including the daily calculations of net asset value); insurance; interest; brokerage costs; litigation and other extraordinary or non-recurring expenses; and other expenses properly payable by the Fund. Certain accounting services are provided to each Fund by State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”) pursuant to an agreement between State Street and each Fund. Each Fund pays a fee for these services. In addition, the Manager provides certain accounting services to each Fund and the Fund pays the Manager a fee for such services. The Distributor pays certain promotional expenses of the Funds incurred in connection with the offering of shares of the Funds. Certain expenses are financed by each Fund pursuant to distribution plans in compliance with Rule 12b-1 under the Investment Company Act. See “Purchase of Shares — Distribution Plans.”

Sub-Advisory Fee. The Manager of each Fund has entered into one or more sub-advisory agreements (the “Sub-Advisory Agreements”) with the sub-adviser or sub-advisers identified in each such Fund’s prospectus (the “Sub-Adviser”) pursuant to which the Sub-Adviser provides sub-advisory services to the Manager with respect to the Fund. For information relating to the fees, if any, paid by the Manager to the Sub-Adviser pursuant to the Sub-Advisory Agreement for the Fund’s last three fiscal years or other applicable periods, see Part I, Section IV “Management and Advisory Arrangements” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.

Organization of the Manager. The Manager, BlackRock Advisors, LLC, is a Delaware limited liability company and an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc.

Duration and Termination. Unless earlier terminated as described below, each Management Agreement and each Sub-Advisory Agreement will remain in effect from year to year if approved annually (a) by the Trustees or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund and (b) by a majority of the Trustees who are not parties to such agreement or interested persons (as defined in the Investment Company Act) of any such party. The Agreements are not assignable and may be terminated without penalty on 60 days’ written notice at the option of either party thereto or by the vote of the shareholders of the Fund.

Other Service Arrangements

Administrative Services and Administrative Fee. Certain Funds have entered into an administration agreement (the “Administration Agreement”) with an administrator identified in the Fund’s Prospectus and Part I of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (each, an “Administrator”). For its services to a Fund, the Administrator receives monthly compensation at the annual rate set forth in each applicable Fund’s prospectus. For information regarding any administrative fees paid by your Fund to the Administrator for the periods indicated, see Part I, Section IV “Management and Advisory Arrangements” of that Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.

For Funds that have an Administrator, the Administration Agreement obligates the Administrator to provide certain administrative services to the Fund and to pay, or cause its affiliates to pay, for maintaining its staff and personnel and to provide office space, facilities and necessary personnel for the Fund. Each Administrator is also obligated to pay, or cause its affiliates to pay, the fees of those officers and Trustees of the Fund who are affiliated persons of the Administrator or any of its affiliates.

Duration and Termination of Administration Agreement. Unless earlier terminated as described below, each Administration Agreement will continue from year to year if approved annually (a) by the Board of Trustees of each applicable Fund or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of such Fund and (b) by a majority of the Trustees of the Fund who are not parties to such contract or interested persons (as defined in the Investment Company Act) of any such party. Such contract is not assignable and may be terminated without penalty on 60 days’ written notice at the option of either party thereto or by the vote of the shareholders of the Fund.

Transfer Agency Services. Financial Data Services, Inc. (the “Transfer Agent”), a subsidiary of Merrill Lynch, acts as each Fund’s Transfer Agent pursuant to a Unified Transfer Agency, Dividend Disbursing Agency and Shareholder Servicing Agency Agreement (the “Transfer Agency Agreement”). Pursuant to the Transfer Agency Agreement, the Transfer Agent is responsible for the issuance, transfer and redemption of shares and the opening and maintenance of shareholder accounts. Ready Assets Prime, U.S.A. Government Money and U.S. Treasury Money each pay a fee of $15.00 per account. The BIF Funds and BBIF Funds each pay a fee of $10.00 per account. Retirement Reserves pays a fee of $6.50 per account with less than $1 million in assets and $6.00 per account for each account with greater than $1 million in assets thereafter. Each Fund reimburses the Transfer Agent’s reasonable out-of-pocket expenses. Additionally, with respect to each Fund, a $0.20 monthly closed account charge will generally

II-12

be assessed on all accounts that close during the calendar year. Application of this fee will commence the month following the month the account is closed. At the end of the calendar year, no further fees will be due. For purposes of a Transfer Agency Agreement, the term “account” includes a shareholder account maintained directly by the Transfer Agent and any other account representing the beneficial interest of a person in the relevant share class on a recordkeeping system provided the recordkeeping system is maintained by a subsidiary of Merrill Lynch. See Part I, Section IV “Management and Advisory Arrangements — Transfer Agency Fees” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information for information on the transfer agency fees paid by your Fund for the periods indicated.

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. The Audit Committee of each Fund, which is comprised solely of non-interested Trustees, has selected an independent registered public accounting firm for that Fund that audits the Fund’s financial statements. Please see the inside back cover page of your Fund’s Prospectus for information on your Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm.

Custodian Services. The name and address of the custodian (the “Custodian”) of each Fund appears on the inside back cover page of the Fund’s Prospectus. The Custodian is responsible for safeguarding and controlling the Fund’s cash and securities, handling the receipt and delivery of securities and collecting interest and dividends on the Fund’s investments. The Custodian is authorized to establish separate accounts in foreign currencies and to cause foreign securities owned by the Fund to be held in its offices outside the United States and with certain foreign banks and securities depositories.

Accounting Services. Each Fund has entered into an agreement with State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”), pursuant to which State Street provides certain accounting services to the Fund. Each Fund pays a fee for these services. State Street provides similar accounting services to the Master LLCs. The Manager or the Administrator also provides certain accounting services to each Fund and each Fund reimburses the Manager or the Administrator for these services.

See Part I, Section IV “Management and Advisory Arrangements — Accounting Services” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information for information on the amounts paid by your Fund and, if applicable, Master LLC, to State Street, the Manager and/or the Administrator for the periods indicated.

Distribution Expenses. Each Fund has entered into a distribution agreement with the Distributor in connection with the continuous offering of each class of shares of the Fund (the “Distribution Agreement”). The Distribution Agreement obligates the Distributor to pay certain expenses in connection with the offering of each class of shares of the Funds. After the prospectuses, statements of additional information and periodic reports have been prepared, set in type and mailed to shareholders, the Distributor pays for the printing and distribution of these documents used in connection with the offering to dealers and investors. The Distributor also pays for other supplementary sales literature and advertising costs. The Distribution Agreement is subject to the same renewal requirements and termination provisions as the Management Agreement described above. See Part I, Section V “Distribution Related Expenses” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information for information on the fees paid by your Fund for the periods indicated.

Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings

The Boards of Trustees of each Fund and the Board of Directors of the Manager have each approved Portfolio Information Distribution Guidelines (the “Guidelines”) regarding the disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio securities, as applicable, and other portfolio information. The purpose of the Guidelines is to ensure that (i) shareholders and prospective shareholders of the Funds have equal access to portfolio holdings and characteristics and (ii) third parties (such as consultants, intermediaries and third-party data providers) have access to such information no more frequently than shareholders and prospective shareholders.

Pursuant to the Guidelines, the Fund and the Manager may, under certain circumstances as set forth below, make selective disclosure with respect to the Fund’s portfolio holdings. The respective Boards of Trustees have approved the adoption by the Funds of the Guidelines, and employees of the Manager are responsible for adherence to the Guidelines. Each Fund’s Board of Trustees provides ongoing oversight of the Fund’s and Manager’s compliance with the Guidelines. Examples of the types of information that may be disclosed pursuant to the Guidelines are provided below. This information may be both material non-public information (“Confidential Information”) and proprietary information of the Manager.

II-13

Except as otherwise provided in the Guidelines, Confidential Information relating to the Funds may not be distributed to persons not employed by the Manager unless: (i) the Fund has a legitimate business purpose for doing so; and (ii) such information has been publicly disclosed via a filing with the Commission, through a press release or placement on a publicly-available internet website. Confidential Information may also be disclosed to the Funds’ Trustees and their counsel, outside counsel for the Funds and the Funds’ auditors, and may be disclosed to the Funds’ service providers and other appropriate parties with the approval of the Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer, the Manager’s General Counsel or the Manager’s Chief Compliance Officer, and, in the case of disclosure to third parties, subject to a confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement. Information may also be disclosed as required by applicable laws and regulation.

Examples of instances in which selective disclosure of a Fund’s Confidential Information may be appropriate include: (i) disclosure for due diligence purposes to an investment adviser that is in merger or acquisition talks with the Manager; (ii) disclosure to a newly-hired investment adviser or sub-adviser prior to its commencing its duties; (iii) disclosure to a third-party feeder fund consistent with their agreements with a master portfolio advised by BlackRock; (iv) disclosure to third-party service providers of legal, auditing, custody, proxy voting and other services to the Fund or a third-party feeder fund; or (v) disclosure to a rating or ranking organization.

Asset and Return Information. Data on NAVs, asset levels (by total fund and share class), accruals, yields, capital gains, dividends and fund returns (net of fees by share class) are generally available to shareholders, prospective shareholders, consultants and third-party data providers upon request, as soon as such data is available. Data on number of shareholders (total and by share class) and benchmark returns (including performance measures such as standard deviation, information ratio, Sharpe ratio, alpha, and beta) are available to shareholders, prospective shareholders, consultants and third-party data providers as soon as such data is released after month-end.

Portfolio Characteristics. Examples of portfolio characteristics include sector allocation, credit quality breakdown, maturity distribution, duration and convexity measures, average credit quality, average maturity, average coupon, top 10 holdings with percent of the fund held, average market capitalization, capitalization range, ROE, P/E, P/B, P/CF, P/S and EPS.

Month-end portfolio characteristics are available to shareholders, prospective shareholders, intermediaries and consultants on the fifth calendar day after month-end.⁽¹⁾

Fund Fact Sheets, which contain certain portfolio characteristics, are available, in both hard copy and electronically, to shareholders, prospective shareholders, intermediaries and consultants on a monthly or quarterly basis upon posting to the Funds’ website. For money market funds, this will typically be on or about the tenth calendar day after the end of each month.

Money Market Performance Reports, which contain money market fund performance for the recent month, rolling 12-month average yields and benchmark performance, are available on a monthly basis to shareholders, prospective shareholders, intermediaries and consultants by the tenth calendar day of the month. This information may also be obtained electronically upon request.

Portfolio Holdings. In addition to position description, portfolio holdings may also include fund name, CUSIP, ticker symbol, total shares and market value for equity funds and fund name, CUSIP, ticker symbol, coupon, maturity, current face value and market value for fixed income funds. Other information that may be provided includes quantity, SEDOL, market price, yield, weighted average life, duration and convexity of each security in a Fund as of a specific date.

Generally, month-end portfolio holdings are available to fund shareholders, prospective shareholders, intermediaries and consultants on the 20th calendar day after month-end.¹

Quarter-end portfolio holdings may be made available to third-party data providers, if there is a legitimate marketing and/or investment reason to do so (e.g., Lipper, Morningstar, Bloomberg, Thomson and S&P) on the 20th calendar day after quarter-end.¹

For money market funds, weekly portfolio holdings are available to fund shareholders, prospective shareholders, intermediaries and consultants on the next business day after the end of the weekly period.

II-14

For money market funds, weekly portfolio holdings and characteristics are available to third-party data providers (e.g., Lipper, Morningstar, Bloomberg, S&P, Fitch, Moody’s, Crane Data and iMoneyNet, Inc.) on the next business day after the end of the weekly period.

The precise number of days specified above may vary slightly from period to period depending on whether the fifth or the 20th calendar day falls on a weekend or holiday.

Other Information. The Guidelines shall also apply to other Confidential Information of a Fund such as attribution analyses or security-specific information (e.g., information about Fund holdings where an issuer has been downgraded, been acquired or declared bankruptcy). Senior officers of the Manager may authorize disclosure of the Funds’ portfolio securities and other portfolio information for legitimate business purposes.

Implementation. All employees of the Fund and the Manager must adhere to the Guidelines when responding to inquiries from shareholders, prospective shareholders, consultants, and third-party databases . In certain circumstances, portfolio information may be released to certain third parties who have signed confidentiality agreements. The Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer (“CCO”) is responsible for oversight of compliance with the Guidelines and will recommend to the Board of Trustees any changes to the Guidelines that he or she deems necessary or appropriate to ensure the Funds’ and the Manager’s compliance.

Ongoing Arrangements. The Manager has entered into ongoing agreements to provide selective disclosure of Fund portfolio holdings to the following persons or entities:

1. Funds’ Boards of Trustees and, if necessary, Independent Trustees’ counsel and Fund counsel.

2. Funds’ Transfer Agent

3. Funds’ Custodian

4. Funds’ Administrator, if applicable.

5. Funds’ independent registered public accounting firm.

6. Funds’ accounting services provider

7. Independent rating agencies — Morningstar, Inc., Lipper Inc., S&P, Moody’s, Fitch

8. Information aggregators — Wall Street on Demand, Thomson Financial and Bloomberg, eVestments Alliance, Informa/PSN, Investment Solutions, Crane Data, and iMoneyNet

9. Sponsors of 401(k) plans that include BlackRock-advised funds — E.I. Dupont de Nemours and Company, Inc.

10. Consultants for pension plans that invest in BlackRock-advised funds — Rocaton Investment Advisors, LLC; Mercer Investment Consulting; Watson Wyatt Investment Consulting; Towers Perrin HR Services; Pinnacle West, Callan Associates, Brockhouse & Cooper, Cambridge Associates, Mercer, Morningstar/Investorforce, Russell Investments (Mellon Analytical Solutions) and Wilshire Associates.

11. Pricing Vendors — Reuters Pricing Service, Bloomberg, FT Interactive Data (FT IDC), ITG, Telekurs Financial, FactSet, Pricing Direct (formerly Bear Stearns Pricing Service), Standard and Poor’s Security Evaluations Service, Lehman Index Pricing, Bank of America High Yield Index, Loan Pricing Corporation (LPC), LoanX, Super Derivatives, iBOXX Index, Barclays Euro Gov’t Inflation-Linked Bond Index, JPMorgan Emerging & Developed Market Index, Reuters/WM Company, Nomura BPI Index, Japan Securities Dealers Association.

12. Portfolio Compliance Consultants — Oracle/i-Flex Solutions, Inc.

II-15

13. Third-party feeder funds — Hewitt Money Market Fund, Hewitt Series Fund, Hewitt Financial Services LLC, PayPal Money Market Fund, PayPal Funds, PayPal Asset Management, Inc., Homestead, Inc., Transamerica and State Farm Mutual Fund, and their respective boards, sponsors, administrators and other service providers.

14. Affiliated feeder funds — BlackRock Cayman Prime Money Market Fund, Ltd. and BlackRock Cayman Treasury Money Market Fund Ltd., and their respective boards, sponsors, administrators and other service providers.

15. Other — Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Inc., Be Creative, Inc. and Investment Company Institute.

With respect to each such arrangement, each Fund has a legitimate business purpose for the release of information. The release of the information is subject to confidential treatment to prohibit the entity from sharing with an unauthorized source or trading upon the information provided. The Funds, the Manager and their affiliates do not receive any compensation or other consideration in connection with such arrangements.

The Funds and the Manager monitor, to the extent possible, the use of Confidential Information by the individuals or firms to which it has been disclosed. To do so, in addition to the requirements of any applicable confidentiality agreement and/or the terms and conditions of the Fund’s and Manager’s Code of Ethics and Code of Business Conduct and Ethics — all of which require persons or entities in possession of Confidential Information to keep such information confidential and not to trade on such information for their own benefit — the Manager’s compliance personnel under the supervision of the Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer, monitor the Manager’s securities trading desks to determine whether individuals or firms who have received Confidential Information have made any trades on the basis of that information. In addition, the Manager maintains an internal restricted list to prevent trading by the personnel of the Manager or its affiliates in securities — including securities held by the Funds — about which the Manager has Confidential Information. There can be no assurance, however, that the Funds’ policies and procedures with respect to the selective disclosure of Fund portfolio holdings will prevent the misuse of such information by individuals or firms that receive such information.

Potential Conflicts of Interest

The Bank of America Corporation (“BAC”), through its subsidiary Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (“Merrill Lynch”), Barclays PLC (“Barclays”) and The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (“PNC”) each has a significant economic interest in BlackRock, Inc., the parent of BlackRock Advisors, LLC, the Funds’ investment adviser. PNC is considered to be an affiliate of BlackRock, Inc., under the Investment Company Act. Certain activities of BlackRock Advisors, LLC, BlackRock, Inc. and their affiliates (referred to in this section collectively as “BlackRock”) and PNC and its affiliates (collectively, “PNC” and together with BlackRock, “Affiliates”), and those of BAC, Merrill Lynch and their affiliates (collectively, the “BAC Entities”) and Barclays and its affiliates (collectively, the “Barclays Entities”) (BAC Entities and Barclays Entities, collectively, the “BAC/Barclays Entities”), with respect to the Funds and/or other accounts managed by BlackRock, PNC or BAC/Barclays Entities, may give rise to actual or perceived conflicts of interest such as those described below.

BlackRock is one of the world’s largest asset management firms. BAC is a national banking corporation which through its affiliates and subsidiaries, including Merrill Lynch, provides a full range of financial services. Merrill Lynch is a full service investment banking, broker-dealer, asset management and financial services organization. PNC is a diversified financial services organization spanning the retail, business and corporate markets. Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in a range of activities including retail and commercial banking, credit cards, investment banking, and wealth management. BlackRock, BAC, Merrill Lynch, PNC, Barclays and their respective affiliates (including, for these purposes, their directors, partners, trustees, managing members, officers and employees), including the entities and personnel who may be involved in the investment activities and business operations of a Fund, are engaged worldwide in businesses, including equity, fixed income, cash management and alternative investments, and have interests other than that of managing the Funds. These are considerations of which investors in a Fund should be aware, and which may cause conflicts of interest that could disadvantage the Fund and its shareholders. These activities and interests include potential multiple advisory, transactional, financial and other interests in securities and other instruments, and companies that may be purchased or sold by a Fund.

BlackRock and its Affiliates, as well as the BAC/Barclays Entities, have proprietary interests in, and may manage or advise with respect to, accounts or funds (including separate accounts and other funds and collective investment vehicles) that have investment objectives similar to those of a Fund and/or that engage in transactions in the same types of securities, currencies and instruments

II-16

as the Fund. One or more Affiliates and BAC/Barclays Entities are also major participants in the global currency, equities, swap and fixed income markets, in each case both on a proprietary basis and for the accounts of customers. As such, one or more Affiliates or BAC/Barclays Entities are or may be actively engaged in transactions in the same securities, currencies, and instruments in which a Fund invests. Such activities could affect the prices and availability of the securities, currencies, and instruments in which a Fund invests, which could have an adverse impact on the Fund’s performance. Such transactions, particularly in respect of most proprietary accounts or customer accounts, will be executed independently of a Fund’s transactions and thus at prices or rates that may be more or less favorable than those obtained by the Fund. When BlackRock and its Affiliates or the BAC/Barclays Entities seek to purchase or sell the same assets for their managed accounts, including a Fund, the assets actually purchased or sold may be allocated among the accounts on a basis determined in their good faith discretion to be equitable. In some cases, this system may adversely affect the size or price of the assets purchased or sold for a Fund. In addition, transactions in investments by one or more other accounts managed by BlackRock or its Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity may have the effect of diluting or otherwise disadvantaging the values, prices or investment strategies of a Fund, particularly, but not limited to, with respect to small capitalization, emerging market or less liquid strategies. This may occur when investment decisions regarding a Fund are based on research or other information that is also used to support decisions for other accounts. When BlackRock or its Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity implements a portfolio decision or strategy on behalf of another account ahead of, or contemporaneously with, similar decisions or strategies for a Fund, market impact, liquidity constraints, or other factors could result in the Fund receiving less favorable trading results and the costs of implementing such decisions or strategies could be increased or the Fund could otherwise be disadvantaged. BlackRock or it Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity may, in certain cases, elect to implement internal policies and procedures designed to limit such consequences, which may cause a Fund to be unable to engage in certain activities, including purchasing or disposing of securities, when it might otherwise be desirable for it to do so.

Conflicts may also arise because portfolio decisions regarding a Fund may benefit other accounts managed by BlackRock or its Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity. For example, the sale of a long position or establishment of a short position by a Fund may impair the price of the same security sold short by (and therefore benefit) one or more Affiliates or BAC/Barclays Entities or their other accounts, and the purchase of a security or covering of a short position in a security by a Fund may increase the price of the same security held by (and therefore benefit) one or more Affiliates or BAC/Barclays Entities or their other accounts.

BlackRock and its Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity and their clients may pursue or enforce rights with respect to an issuer in which a Fund has invested, and those activities may have an adverse effect on the Fund. As a result, prices, availability, liquidity and terms of the Fund’s investments may be negatively impacted by the activities of BlackRock or its Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity or their clients, and transactions for the Fund may be impaired or effected at prices or terms that may be less favorable than would otherwise have been the case.

The results of a Fund’s investment activities may differ significantly from the results achieved by BlackRock and its Affiliates or the BAC/Barclays Entities for their proprietary accounts or other accounts (including investment companies or collective investment vehicles) managed or advised by them. It is possible that one or more Affiliate- or BAC/Barclays Entity-managed accounts and such other accounts will achieve investment results that are substantially more or less favorable than the results achieved by a Fund. Moreover, it is possible that a Fund will sustain losses during periods in which one or more Affiliates or BAC/Barclays Entity-managed accounts achieve significant profits on their trading for proprietary or other accounts. The opposite result is also possible. The investment activities of one or more Affiliates or BAC/Barclays Entities for their proprietary accounts and accounts under their management may also limit the investment opportunities for a Fund in certain emerging and other markets in which limitations are imposed upon the amount of investment, in the aggregate or in individual issuers, by affiliated foreign investors.

From time to time, a Fund’s activities may also be restricted because of regulatory restrictions applicable to one or more Affiliates or BAC/Barclays Entities, and/or their internal policies designed to comply with such restrictions. As a result, there may be periods, for example, when BlackRock, and/or one or more Affiliates or BAC/Barclays Entities, will not initiate or recommend certain types of transactions in certain securities or instruments with respect to which BlackRock and/or one or more Affiliates or BAC/Barclays Entities are performing services or when position limits have been reached.

In connection with its management of a Fund, BlackRock may have access to certain fundamental analysis and proprietary technical models developed by one or more Affiliates or BAC/Barclays Entities. BlackRock will not be under any obligation, however, to effect transactions on behalf of a Fund in accordance with such analysis and models. In addition, neither BlackRock nor any of its Affiliates, nor any BAC/Barclays Entity, will have any obligation to make available any information regarding their proprietary activities or strategies, or the activities or strategies used for other accounts managed by them, for the benefit of the management of a Fund and it is not anticipated that BlackRock will have access to such information for the purpose of managing the Fund. The proprietary activities or portfolio strategies of BlackRock and its Affiliates and the BAC/Barclays Entities, or the

II-17

activities or strategies used for accounts managed by them or other customer accounts could conflict with the transactions and strategies employed by BlackRock in managing a Fund.

In addition, certain principals and certain employees of BlackRock are also principals or employees of BlackRock or another Affiliate. As a result, the performance by these principals and employees of their obligations to such other entities may be a consideration of which investors in a Fund should be aware.

BlackRock may enter into transactions and invest in securities, instruments and currencies on behalf of a Fund in which customers of BlackRock or its Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity, or, to the extent permitted by the SEC, BlackRock or another Affiliate or a BAC/Barclays Entity, serves as the counterparty, principal or issuer. In such cases, such party’s interests in the transaction will be adverse to the interests of the Fund, and such party may have no incentive to assure that the Fund obtains the best possible prices or terms in connection with the transactions. In addition, the purchase, holding and sale of such investments by a Fund may enhance the profitability of BlackRock or its Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity. One or more Affiliates or BAC/Barclays Entities may also create, write or issue derivatives for their customers, the underlying securities, currencies or instruments of which may be those in which a Fund invests or which may be based on the performance of the Fund. A Fund may, subject to applicable law, purchase investments that are the subject of an underwriting or other distribution by one or more Affiliates or BAC/Barclays Entities and may also enter into transactions with other clients of an Affiliate or BAC/Barclays Entity where such other clients have interests adverse to those of the Fund.

At times, these activities may cause departments of BlackRock or its Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity to give advice to clients that may cause these clients to take actions adverse to the interests of the Fund. To the extent affiliated transactions are permitted, a Fund will deal with BlackRock and its Affiliates or BAC/Barclays Entities on an arms-length basis. BlackRock or its Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity may also have an ownership interest in certain trading or information systems used by a Fund. A Fund’s use of such trading or information systems may enhance the profitability of BlackRock and its Affiliates or BAC/Barclays Entities.

One or more Affiliates or one of the BAC/Barclays Entities may act as broker, dealer, agent, lender or adviser or in other commercial capacities for a Fund. It is anticipated that the commissions, mark-ups, mark-downs, financial advisory fees, underwriting and placement fees, sales fees, financing and commitment fees, brokerage fees, other fees, compensation or profits, rates, terms and conditions charged by an Affiliate or BAC/Barclays Entity will be in its view commercially reasonable, although each Affiliate or BAC/Barclays Entity, including its sales personnel, will have an interest in obtaining fees and other amounts that are favorable to the Affiliate or BAC/Barclays Entity and such sales personnel.

Subject to applicable law, the Affiliates and BAC/Barclays Entities (and their personnel and other distributors) will be entitled to retain fees and other amounts that they receive in connection with their service to the Funds as broker, dealer, agent, lender, adviser or in other commercial capacities and no accounting to the Funds or their shareholders will be required, and no fees or other compensation payable by the Funds or their shareholders will be reduced by reason of receipt by an Affiliate or BAC/Barclays Entity of any such fees or other amounts.

When an Affiliate or BAC/Barclays Entity acts as broker, dealer, agent, adviser or in other commercial capacities in relation to the Funds, the Affiliate or BAC/Barclays Entity may take commercial steps in its own interests, which may have an adverse effect on the Funds. A Fund will be required to establish business relationships with its counterparties based on the Fund’s own credit standing. Neither BlackRock nor any of the Affiliates, nor any BAC/Barclays Entity, will have any obligation to allow their credit to be used in connection with a Fund’s establishment of its business relationships, nor is it expected that the Fund’s counterparties will rely on the credit of BlackRock or any of the Affiliates or BAC/Barclays Entities in evaluating the Fund’s creditworthiness.

Purchases and sales of securities for a Fund may be bunched or aggregated with orders for other BlackRock client accounts. BlackRock and its Affiliates and the BAC/Barclays Entities, however, are not required to bunch or aggregate orders if portfolio management decisions for different accounts are made separately, or if they determine that bunching or aggregating is not practicable, required or with cases involving client direction.

Prevailing trading activity frequently may make impossible the receipt of the same price or execution on the entire volume of securities purchased or sold. When this occurs, the various prices may be averaged, and the Funds will be charged or credited with the average price. Thus, the effect of the aggregation may operate on some occasions to the disadvantage of the Funds. In addition, under certain circumstances, the Funds will not be charged the same commission or commission equivalent rates in connection with a bunched or aggregated order.

II-18

BlackRock may select brokers (including, without limitation, Affiliates or BAC/Barclays Entities) that furnish BlackRock, the Funds, other BlackRock client accounts or other Affiliates or BAC/Barclays Entities or personnel, directly or through correspondent relationships, with research or other appropriate services which provide, in BlackRock’s view, appropriate assistance to BlackRock in the investment decision-making process (including with respect to futures, fixed-price offerings and over-the-counter transactions). Such research or other services may include, to the extent permitted by law, research reports on companies, industries and securities; economic and financial data; financial publications; proxy analysis; trade industry seminars; computer data bases; research-oriented software and other services and products. Research or other services obtained in this manner may be used in servicing any or all of the Funds and other BlackRock client accounts, including in connection with BlackRock client accounts other than those that pay commissions to the broker relating to the research or other service arrangements. Such products and services may disproportionately benefit other BlackRock client accounts relative to the Funds based on the amount of brokerage commissions paid by the Funds and such other BlackRock client accounts. For example, research or other services that are paid for through one client’s commissions may not be used in managing that client’s account. In addition, other BlackRock client accounts may receive the benefit, including disproportionate benefits, of economies of scale or price discounts in connection with products and services that may be provided to the Funds and to such other BlackRock client accounts. To the extent that BlackRock uses soft dollars, it will not have to pay for those products and services itself.

BlackRock may receive research that is bundled with the trade execution, clearing, and/or settlement services provided by a particular broker-dealer. To the extent that BlackRock receives research on this basis, many of the same conflicts related to traditional soft dollars may exist. For example, the research effectively will be paid by client commissions that also will be used to pay for the execution, clearing, and settlement services provided by the broker-dealer and will not be paid by BlackRock.

BlackRock may endeavor to execute trades through brokers who, pursuant to such arrangements, provide research or other services in order to ensure the continued receipt of research or other services BlackRock believes are useful in its investment decision-making process. BlackRock may from time to time choose not to engage in the above described arrangements to varying degrees. BlackRock may also enter into commission sharing arrangements under which BlackRock may execute transactions through a broker-dealer, including, where permitted, an Affiliate or BAC/Barclays Entity, and request that the broker-dealer allocate a portion of the commissions or commission credits to another firm that provides research to BlackRock. To the extent that BlackRock engages in commission sharing arrangements, many of the same conflicts related to traditional soft dollars may exist.

BlackRock may utilize certain electronic crossing networks (“ECNs”) in executing client securities transactions for certain types of securities. These ECNs may charge fees for their services, including access fees and transaction fees. The transaction fees, which are similar to commissions or markups/ markdowns, will generally be charged to clients and, like commissions and markups/markdowns, would generally be included in the cost of the securities purchased. Access fees may be paid by BlackRock even though incurred in connection with executing transactions on behalf of clients, including the Funds. In certain circumstances, ECNs may offer volume discounts that will reduce the access fees typically paid by BlackRock. This would have the effect of reducing the access fees paid by BlackRock. BlackRock will only utilize ECNs consistent with its obligation to seek to obtain best execution in client transactions.

BlackRock has adopted policies and procedures designed to prevent conflicts of interest from influencing proxy voting decisions that it makes on behalf of advisory clients, including the Funds, and to help ensure that such decisions are made in accordance with BlackRock’s fiduciary obligations to its clients. Nevertheless, notwithstanding such proxy voting policies and procedures, actual proxy voting decisions of BlackRock may have the effect of favoring the interests of other clients or businesses of other divisions or units of BlackRock and/or its Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity, provided that BlackRock believes such voting decisions to be in accordance with its fiduciary obligations. For a more detailed discussion of these policies and procedures, see “Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures.”

It is also possible that, from time to time, BlackRock or its Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity may, although they are not required to, purchase and hold shares of a Fund. Increasing a Fund’s assets may enhance investment flexibility and diversification and may contribute to economies of scale that tend to reduce the Fund’s expense ratio. BlackRock and its Affiliates or BAC/Barclays Entities reserve the right to redeem at any time some or all of the shares of a Fund acquired for their own accounts. A large redemption of shares of a Fund by BlackRock or its Affiliates or by a BAC/Barclays Entity could significantly reduce the asset size of the Fund, which might have an adverse effect on the Fund’s investment flexibility, portfolio diversification and expense ratio. BlackRock will consider the effect of redemptions on a Fund and other shareholders in deciding whether to redeem its shares.

It is possible that a Fund may invest in securities of companies with which an Affiliate or a BAC/Barclays Entity has or is trying to develop investment banking relationships as well as securities of entities in which BlackRock or its Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity has significant debt or equity investments or in which an Affiliate or BAC/Barclays Entity makes a market. A Fund also may

II-19

invest in securities of companies to which an Affiliate or a BAC/Barclays Entity provides or may some day provide research coverage. Such investments could cause conflicts between the interests of a Fund and the interests of other clients of BlackRock or its Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity. In making investment decisions for a Fund, BlackRock is not permitted to obtain or use material non-public information acquired by any division, department or Affiliate of BlackRock or of a BAC/Barclays Entity in the course of these activities. In addition, from time to time, the activities of an Affiliate or a BAC/Barclays Entity may limit a Fund’s flexibility in purchases and sales of securities. When an Affiliate is engaged in an underwriting or other distribution of securities of an entity, BlackRock may be prohibited from purchasing or recommending the purchase of certain securities of that entity for a Fund.

BlackRock and its Affiliates and the BAC/Barclays Entities, their personnel and other financial service providers have interests in promoting sales of the Funds. With respect to BlackRock and its Affiliates and BAC/Barclays Entities and their personnel, the remuneration and profitability relating to services to and sales of the Funds or other products may be greater than remuneration and profitability relating to services to and sales of certain funds or other products that might be provided or offered. BlackRock and its Affiliates or BAC/Barclays Entities and their sales personnel may directly or indirectly receive a portion of the fees and commissions charged to the Funds or their shareholders. BlackRock and its advisory or other personnel may also benefit from increased amounts of assets under management. Fees and commissions may also be higher than for other products or services, and the remuneration and profitability to BlackRock or its Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity and such personnel resulting from transactions on behalf of or management of the Funds may be greater than the remuneration and profitability resulting from other funds or products.

BlackRock and its Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity and their personnel may receive greater compensation or greater profit in connection with an account for which BlackRock serves as an adviser than with an account advised by an unaffiliated investment adviser. Differentials in compensation may be related to the fact that BlackRock may pay a portion of its advisory fee to its Affiliate or to a BAC/Barclays Entity, or relate to compensation arrangements, including for portfolio management, brokerage transactions or account servicing. Any differential in compensation may create a financial incentive on the part of BlackRock or its Affiliates or BAC/Barclays Entities and their personnel to recommend BlackRock over unaffiliated investment advisers or to effect transactions differently in one account over another.

BlackRock and its Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity may provide valuation assistance to certain clients with respect to certain securities or other investments and the valuation recommendations made for their clients’ accounts may differ from the valuations for the same securities or investments assigned by a Fund’s pricing vendors, especially if such valuations are based on broker-dealer quotes or other data sources unavailable to the Fund’s pricing vendors. While BlackRock will generally communicate its valuation information or determinations to a Fund’s pricing vendors and/or fund accountants, there may be instances where the Fund’s pricing vendors or fund accountants assign a different valuation to a security or other investment than the valuation for such security or investment determined or recommended by BlackRock.

As disclosed in more detail in “Determination of Net Asset Value” in this Statement of Additional Information, when market quotations are not readily available or are believed by BlackRock to be unreliable, a Fund’s investments may be valued at fair value by BlackRock, pursuant to procedures adopted by the Funds’ Boards of Directors. When determining an asset’s “fair value,” BlackRock seeks to determine the price that a Fund might reasonably expect to receive from the current sale of that asset in an arm’s-length transaction. The price generally may not be determined based on what a Fund might reasonably expect to receive for selling an asset at a later time or if it holds the asset to maturity. While fair value determinations will be based upon all available factors that BlackRock deems relevant at the time of the determination, and may be based on analytical values determined by BlackRock using proprietary or third party valuation models, fair value represents only a good faith approximation of the value of a security. The fair value of one or more securities may not, in retrospect, be the price at which those assets could have been sold during the period in which the particular fair values were used in determining a Fund’s net asset value. As a result, a Fund’s sale or redemption of its shares at net asset value, at a time when a holding or holdings are valued by BlackRock (pursuant to Board-adopted procedures) at fair value, may have the effect of diluting or increasing the economic interest of existing shareholders.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, a Fund may invest all or some of its short term cash investments in any money market fund or similarly-managed private fund advised or managed by BlackRock. In connection with any such investments, a Fund, to the extent permitted by the Investment Company Act, may pay its share of expenses of a money market fund in which it invests, which may result in a Fund bearing some additional expenses.

BlackRock and its Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity and their directors, officers and employees, may buy and sell securities or other investments for their own accounts, and may have conflicts of interest with respect to investments made on behalf of a Fund. As a result of differing trading and investment strategies or constraints, positions may be taken by directors, officers, employees

II-20

and Affiliates of BlackRock or by BAC/Barclays Entities that are the same, different from or made at different times than positions taken for the Fund. To lessen the possibility that a Fund will be adversely affected by this personal trading, the Fund, BRIL and BlackRock each have adopted a Code of Ethics in compliance with Section 17(j) of the Investment Company Act that restricts securities trading in the personal accounts of investment professionals and others who normally come into possession of information regarding the Fund’s portfolio transactions. Each Code of Ethics can be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the SEC at (202) 551-8090. Each Code of Ethics is also available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s Internet site at http://www.sec.gov, and copies may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by e-mail at publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the SEC’s Public Reference Section, Washington, DC 20549-0102.

BlackRock and its Affiliates will not purchase securities or other property from, or sell securities or other property to, a Fund, except that the Fund may in accordance with rules adopted under the Investment Company Act engage in transactions with accounts that are affiliated with the Fund as a result of common officers, directors, or investment advisers or pursuant to exemptive orders granted to the Funds and/or BlackRock by the SEC. These transactions would be affected in circumstances in which BlackRock determined that it would be appropriate for the Fund to purchase and another client of BlackRock to sell, or the Fund to sell and another client of BlackRock to purchase, the same security or instrument on the same day. From time to time, the activities of a Fund may be restricted because of regulatory requirements applicable to BlackRock or its Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity and/or BlackRock’s internal policies designed to comply with, limit the applicability of, or otherwise relate to such requirements. A client not advised by BlackRock would not be subject to some of those considerations. There may be periods when BlackRock may not initiate or recommend certain types of transactions, or may otherwise restrict or limit their advice in certain securities or instruments issued by or related to companies for which an Affiliate or a BAC/Barclays Entity is performing investment banking, market making, advisory or other services or has proprietary positions. For example, when an Affiliate is engaged in an underwriting or other distribution of securities of, or advisory services for, a company, the Funds may be prohibited from or limited in purchasing or selling securities of that company. In addition, when BlackRock is engaged to provide advisory or risk management services for a company, BlackRock may be prohibited from or limited in purchasing or selling securities of that company on behalf of a Fund, particularly where such services result in BlackRock obtaining material non-public information about the company. Similar situations could arise if personnel of BlackRock or its Affiliates or a BAC/Barclays Entity serve as directors of companies the securities of which the Funds wish to purchase or sell. However, if permitted by applicable law, and where consistent with BlackRock’s policies and procedures (including the necessary implementation of appropriate information barriers), the Funds may purchase securities or instruments that are issued by such companies, are the subject of an underwriting, distribution, or advisory assignment by an Affiliate or a BAC/Barclays Entity or are the subject of an advisory or risk management assignment by BlackRock, or where personnel of BlackRock or its Affiliates or of BAC/Barclays Entities are directors or officers of the issuer.

In certain circumstances where the Funds invest in securities issued by companies that operate in certain regulated industries, in certain emerging or international markets, or are subject to corporate or regulatory ownership definitions, there may be limits on the aggregate amount invested by Affiliates (including BlackRock) or BAC/Barclays Entities for their proprietary accounts and for client accounts (including the Funds) that may not be exceeded without the grant of a license or other regulatory or corporate consent, or, if exceeded, may cause BlackRock, the Funds or other client accounts to suffer disadvantages or business restrictions. As a result, BlackRock on behalf of its clients (including the Funds) may limit purchases, sell existing investments, or otherwise restrict or limit the exercise of rights (including voting rights) when BlackRock, in its sole discretion, deems it appropriate in light of potential regulatory or other restrictions on ownership or other consequences resulting from reaching investment thresholds.

In those circumstances where ownership thresholds or limitations must be observed, BlackRock seeks to equitably allocate limited investment opportunities among clients (including the Funds), taking into consideration benchmark weight and investment strategy. When ownership in certain securities nears an applicable threshold, BlackRock may limit purchases in such securities to the issuer’s weighting in the applicable benchmark used by BlackRock to manage the Fund. If client (including Fund) holdings of an issuer exceed an applicable threshold and BlackRock is unable to obtain relief to enable the continued holding of such investments, it may be necessary to sell down these positions to meet the applicable limitations. In these cases, benchmark overweight positions will be sold prior to benchmark positions being reduced to meet applicable limitations.

In addition to the foregoing, other ownership thresholds may trigger reporting requirements to governmental and regulatory authorities, and such reports may entail the disclosure of the identity of a client or BlackRock’s intended strategy with respect to such security or asset.

BlackRock and its Affiliates and BAC/Barclays Entities may maintain securities indices as part of their product offerings. Index based funds seek to track the performance of securities indices and may use the name of the index in the fund name. Index

II-21

providers, including BlackRock and its Affiliates and BAC/Barclays Entities may be paid licensing fees for use of their index or index name. BlackRock and its Affiliates and BAC/Barclays Entities will not be obligated to license their indices to BlackRock, and BlackRock cannot be assured that the terms of any index licensing agreement with BlackRock and its Affiliates and BAC/Barclays Entities will be as favorable as those terms offered to other index licensees.

BlackRock and its Affiliates and BAC/Barclays Entities may serve as Authorized Participants in the creation and redemption of exchange traded funds, including funds advised by Affiliates of BlackRock. BlackRock and its Affiliates and BAC/Barclays Entities may therefore be deemed to be participants in a distribution of such exchange traded funds, which could render them statutory underwriters.

The custody arrangement described in Part I of the Statement of Additional Information in “Management and Advisory Arrangements” may lead to potential conflicts of interest with BlackRock Advisors, LLC where BlackRock Advisors, LLC has agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse ordinary operating expenses in order to cap expenses of the Funds. This is because the custody arrangements with the Funds’ custodian may have the effect of reducing custody fees when the Funds leave cash balances uninvested. When a Fund’s actual operating expense ratio exceeds a stated cap, a reduction in custody fees reduces the amount of waivers and/or reimbursements BlackRock Advisors, LLC would be required to make to the Fund. This could be viewed as having the potential to provide BlackRock Advisors, LLC an incentive to keep high positive cash balances for Funds with expense caps in order to offset fund custody fees that BlackRock Advisors, LLC might otherwise reimburse. However, portfolio managers of BlackRock Advisors, LLC do not intentionally keep uninvested balances high, but rather make investment decisions that they anticipate will be beneficial to fund performance.

Present and future activities of BlackRock and its Affiliates and BAC/Barclays Entities, including BlackRock Advisors, LLC, in addition to those described in this section, may give rise to additional conflicts of interest.

PURCHASE OF SHARES

Each Fund offers its shares without a sales charge at a price equal to the net asset value next determined after a purchase order becomes effective. Each Fund attempts to maintain a net asset value per share of $1.00. Share purchase orders are effective on the date Federal Funds become available to a Fund. If Federal Funds are available to a Fund prior to the determination of net asset value on any business day, the order will be effective on that day. Shares purchased will begin accruing dividends on the day following the date of purchase. Federal Funds are a commercial bank’s deposits in a Federal Reserve Bank and can be transferred from one member bank’s account to that of another member bank on the same day and thus are considered to be immediately available funds. Any order may be rejected by a Fund or the Distributor.

Shareholder Services

Each Fund offers a number of shareholder services described below that are designed to facilitate investment in shares of the Fund. Full details as to each of such services and copies of the various plans and instructions as to how to participate in the various services or plans, or how to change options with respect thereto, can be obtained from each Fund, by calling the telephone number on the cover page to Part I of your Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, or from the Distributor. The types of shareholder service programs offered to shareholders include: Investment Account; Fee-Based Programs; Automatic Investment Plan; Accrued Monthly Payout Plan; Systematic Withdrawal Plan; and Retirement and Education Savings Plans.

Purchase of Shares by all Investors other than Cash Management Account^® (“CMA”) service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account program) Subscribers, Working Capital Management Account^® (“WCMA”) service (or other Merrill Lynch business account program) Subscribers and Shareholders of Retirement Reserves

The minimum initial purchase is $5,000 and the minimum subsequent purchase is $1,000, except that lower minimums apply in the case of purchases made under certain retirement plans. Each Fund may, at its discretion, establish reduced minimum initial and subsequent purchase requirements with respect to various types of accounts. For pension, profit sharing, individual retirement and certain other retirement plans, including self-directed retirement plans for which Merrill Lynch acts as passive custodian and the various retirement plans available from the Distributor, the minimum initial purchase is $100 and the minimum subsequent purchase is $1. The minimum initial or subsequent purchase requirements may be waived for certain employer-sponsored retirement or savings plans, such as tax-qualified retirement plans within the meaning of Section 401(a) of the Code, deferred compensation plans within the meaning of Section 403(b) and Section 457 of the Code, other deferred compensation arrangements,

II-22

Voluntary Employee Benefits Association plans, and non-qualified After Tax Savings and Investment programs, maintained on the Merrill Lynch Group Employee Services system. For accounts advised by banks and registered investment advisers, the minimum initial purchase is $300 and the minimum subsequent purchase is $100.

If you are not a CMA service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account program) subscriber, you may purchase shares of a BIF Fund directly through the Transfer Agent in the manner described below under “Methods of Payment — Payment to the Transfer Agent.” Shareholders of the BIF Funds who do not subscribe to the CMA service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account program) will not pay the applicable program fee, and will not receive any of the services available to program subscribers such as the card/check account or automatic investment of free cash balances.

Methods of Payment

Payment Through Securities Dealers. You may purchase shares of a Fund through securities dealers, including Merrill Lynch, who have entered into selected dealer agreements with the Distributor. In such a case, the dealer will transmit payment to the Fund on your behalf and will supply the Fund with the required account information. Generally, purchase orders placed through Merrill Lynch will be made effective on the day the order is placed. Merrill Lynch has an order procedure pursuant to which you can have the proceeds from the sale of listed securities invested in shares of a Fund on the day you receive the proceeds in your Merrill Lynch securities accounts. If you have a free cash balance (i.e., immediately available funds) in securities accounts of Merrill Lynch, your funds will not be invested in a Fund until the day after the order is placed with Merrill Lynch. Shareholders of the BIF Funds not subscribing to the CMA service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account program) can purchase shares of a CMA fund only through the Transfer Agent.

Payment by Wire. If you maintain an account directly with the Transfer Agent, you may invest in a Fund through wire transmittal of Federal Funds to the Transfer Agent. A Fund will not be responsible for delays in the wiring system. Payment should be wired to Bank of America, 1401 Elm Street, Dallas, Texas 75202. You should give your financial institution the following wiring instructions: ABA #026009593 Merrill Lynch Money Markets, DDA #375624069. The wire should identify the name of the Fund, and should include your name and account number. Failure to submit the required information may delay investment. We urge you to make payment by wire in Federal Funds. If you do not maintain an account directly with the Transfer Agent, you should contact your Financial Advisor.

Payment to the Transfer Agent. Payment made by check may be submitted directly by mail or otherwise to the Transfer Agent. Purchase orders by mail should be sent to Financial Data Services, Inc., P.O. Box 45290, Jacksonville, Florida 32231-5290. Purchase orders sent by hand should be delivered to Financial Data Services, Inc., 4800 Deer Lake Drive East, Jacksonville, Florida 32246-6484. If you are opening a new account, you must enclose a completed Purchase Application. If you are an existing shareholder, you should enclose the detachable stub from a monthly account statement. Checks should be made payable to the Distributor. Certified checks are not necessary, but checks are accepted subject to collection at full face value in U.S. funds and must be drawn in U.S. dollars on a U.S. bank. Payments for the accounts of corporations, foundations and other organizations may not be made by third party checks. Since there is a three day settlement period applicable to the sale of most securities, delays may occur when an investor is liquidating other investments for investment in one of the Funds.

Purchases of Shares of U.S.A. Government Money Through Merrill Lynch Plans

Shares of U.S.A. Government Money are also offered to participants in certain retirement plans for which Merrill Lynch acts as custodian (“Custodial Plans”). Shares of the Fund are no longer available for purchase in an individual retirement account (“IRA”), individual retirement rollover account (“IRRA^®”), Roth individual retirement account (“Roth IRA”), simplified employee pension plan (“SEP”), simple retirement account (“SRA”) and Coverdell Education Savings Accounts (“ESAs”) (formerly known as “Education IRAs”) established after December 6, 1999. Accounts opened prior to December 6, 1999 may continue to purchase shares as set forth below. Accounts for the Retirement Selector Account (“RSA”) or the Basic^SM Plans may continue to purchase shares of the Fund, regardless of the date the account was established. Information concerning the establishment and maintenance of Custodial Plans and investments by Custodial Plan accounts is contained in the Custodial Plan documents available from Merrill Lynch.

Special purchase procedures apply in the case of the Custodial Plans. The minimum initial purchase for participants in Custodial Plans is $100, and the minimum subsequent purchase is $1. In addition, participants in certain of the Custodial Plans may elect to

II-23

have cash balances in their Custodial Plan account automatically invested in the Fund. Cash balances of participants who elect to have funds automatically invested in U.S.A. Government Money will be invested as follows: Cash balances arising from the sale of securities held in the Custodial Plan account that do not settle on the day of the transaction (such as most common and preferred stock transactions) become available to the Fund and will be invested in shares of the Fund on the business day following the day that proceeds with respect thereto are received in the Custodial Plan account. Proceeds giving rise to cash balances from the sale of securities held in the Custodial Plan account settling on a same day basis and from principal repayments on debt securities held in the account become available to the Fund and will be invested in shares of the Fund on the next business day following receipt. Cash balances arising from dividends or interest payments on securities held in the Custodial Plan account or from a contribution to the Custodial Plan are invested in shares of the Fund on the business day following the date the payment is received in the Custodial Plan account.

If you do not elect to have cash balances automatically invested in shares of U.S.A. Government Money you may enter a purchase order through your Financial Advisor or service representative.

Purchase of Shares by CMA Service Subscribers

Merrill Lynch Programs. Shares of the BIF Funds are offered to participants in the CMA service, to participants in certain other Merrill Lynch central asset account programs and to individual investors maintaining accounts directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent. If you participate in the CMA service, you generally will have free cash balances invested in shares of the Fund you designated as the primary investment account (“Money Account”) as described below. The primary Money Account for CMA service subscribers is the Merrill Lynch Bank Deposit Program (described below). Certain clients may qualify to choose the BIF Tax-Exempt or BIF State Funds as their primary Money Account.

You may also elect to have free cash balances invested in individual deposit accounts pursuant to the Insured Savings Account or in one or more bank deposit accounts at Merrill Lynch Bank USA and/or Merrill Lynch Bank & Trust Co., FSB (the “Merrill Lynch Bank Deposit Program”), Merrill Lynch’s affiliated FDIC insured depository institution. For more information about these alternatives, you should contact your Financial Advisor.

If you subscribe to the CMA service, you have the option to change the designation of your Money Account at any time by notifying your Financial Advisor. At that time, you may instruct your Financial Advisor to redeem shares of a Fund designated as the Money Account and to transfer the proceeds to the newly designated Money Account. Each BIF Fund has reserved the right to suspend or otherwise limit sales of its shares if, as a result of difficulties in obtaining portfolio securities, it is determined that it is not in the interests of the BIF Fund’s shareholders to issue additional shares. If sales of shares of BIF Tax-Exempt are suspended and you have designated this Fund as your Money Account, you may designate one of the BIF State Funds (if available) as the Money Account and vice versa. Alternatively, you may designate the Merrill Lynch Bank Deposit Program as your Money Account. Pending such an election, Merrill Lynch will consider various alternatives with respect to automatic investments for such accounts, including the investment of free cash balances in such accounts in an account at the Merrill Lynch Banking Advantage Program.

Automatic Purchases

(BIF Tax-Exempt and BIF State Funds): Where offered, free cash balances in a program account are automatically invested in shares of the Fund designated as your Money Account not later than the first business day of each week on which the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) or New York banks are open, which normally will be Monday. Free cash balances from the following transactions will be invested automatically prior to the automatic weekly sweeps on the next business day following receipt of the proceeds: (i) proceeds from the sale of securities that do not settle on the day of the transaction (such as most common and preferred stock transactions) and from principal repayments on debt securities, (ii) from the sale of securities settling on a same day basis; and (iii) free cash balances of $1,000 or more arising from cash deposits into a subscriber’s account, dividend and interest payments or any other source unless such balance results from a cash deposit made after the cashiering deadline of the Merrill Lynch office in which the deposit is made. In that case, the resulting free cash balances are invested on the second following business day. If you wish to make a cash deposit, you should contact your Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor for information concerning the local office’s cashiering deadline. Free cash balances of less than $1,000 are invested in shares in the automatic weekly sweep.

II-24

(All BIF Funds except for BIF Tax-Exempt Funds): In limited circumstances, free cash balances in certain Merrill Lynch central asset account programs may be swept into BIF Money; however, generally new cash balances in program accounts will be swept automatically into one or more bank deposit accounts established through the Merrill Lynch Bank Deposit Program chosen by the participant as his or her Money Account. Debits in CMA accounts will be paid from balances in BIF Money, BIF Government Securities and BIF Treasury until those balances are depleted. Free cash balances in CMA accounts electing the tax-exempt sweep options will continue to be swept into one of the BIF Tax-Exempt Funds.

Manual Purchases (All BIF Funds): If you subscribe to the CMA service, you may make manual investments of $1,000 or more through your Financial Advisor at any time in shares of a BIF Fund not selected as your Money Account. Manual purchases take effect on the day following the day the order is placed by Merrill Lynch with the Fund, except that orders involving cash deposits made on the date of a manual purchase take effect on the second business day thereafter, if they are placed with the Fund after the cashiering deadline of the Merrill Lynch office in which the deposit is made. As a result, if you enter manual purchase orders that include cash deposits made on that day after the cashiering deadline, you will not receive the daily dividend which you would have received had your order been entered prior to the deadline. In addition, manual purchases of $500,000 or more can be made effective on the same day the order is placed with Merrill Lynch provided that requirements as to timely notification and transfer of a Federal Funds wire in the proper amount are met. If you desire further information on this method of purchasing shares, you should contact your Financial Advisor.

All purchases of Fund shares and dividend reinvestments will be confirmed to CMA service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account program) subscribers (rounded to the nearest share) in the monthly transaction statement provided by Merrill Lynch.

Working Capital Management Account^®. The Working Capital Management Account^® (“WCMA”) financial service (“WCMA service”) for corporations and other businesses provides participants a securities account (which includes all the features of a regular CMA account) plus optional lines of credit and other features. The WCMA service has sweep features and annual participation fees different from those of a CMA account. A brochure describing the WCMA service as well as information concerning charges for participation in the program is available from Merrill Lynch.

Participants in the WCMA service are able to manually invest funds in certain designated BIF Funds. Checks and other funds transmitted to a WCMA service account generally will be applied in the following order: (i) to the payment of pending securities transactions or other charges in the participant’s securities account, (ii) to reduce outstanding balances in the lines of credit available through such program and (iii) to purchase shares of the designated BIF Fund. To the extent not otherwise applied, funds transmitted by Federal Funds wire or an automated clearinghouse service will be invested in shares of the designated BIF Fund on the business day following receipt of such funds by Merrill Lynch. Funds received in a WCMA service account from the sale of securities will be invested in the designated BIF Fund as described above. The amount received in a WCMA service account prior to the cashiering deadline of the Merrill Lynch office in which the deposit is made will be invested on the second business day following Merrill Lynch’s receipt of the check. Redemptions of BIF Fund shares will be effected as described below under “Redemption of Shares — Redemption of Shares by CMA Service Subscribers — Automatic Redemptions” to satisfy debit balances, such as those created by purchases of securities or by checks written against a bank providing checking services to WCMA service subscribers. WCMA service subscribers that have a line of credit will, however, be permitted to maintain a minimum BIF Fund balance. For subscribers who elect to maintain such a balance, debits from check use will be satisfied through the line of credit so that such balance is maintained.

However, if the full amount of available credit is not sufficient to satisfy the debit, it will be satisfied from the minimum balance.

From time to time, Merrill Lynch also may offer certain BIF Funds to participants in other Merrill Lynch-sponsored programs. Some or all of the features of the CMA service may not be available in such programs and program participation and other fees may be higher. You can obtain more information on the services and fees associated with such programs by contacting your Financial Advisor.

II-25

Purchase of Shares of BBIF Funds by WCMA Service Subscribers

Eligibility. Shares of the BBIF Funds are offered to certain subscribers in the WCMA service and in certain other Merrill Lynch business account programs. WCMA service or other business account program subscribers generally will have available cash balances invested in the Fund designated by the subscriber as the primary investment account (the “Primary Money Account”). A subscriber also may elect to manually invest cash balances into certain other money market funds or individual money market accounts pursuant to the Insured Savings Account^SM.

The WCMA service and certain other Merrill Lynch business account programs have sweep features and annual participation fees different from those of a CMA account.

Purchases of shares of a BBIF Fund designated as the Primary Money Account will be made pursuant to the automatic or manual purchase procedures described below.

BBIF Tax-Exempt has reserved the right to suspend or otherwise limit sales of its shares if, as a result of difficulties in obtaining portfolio securities, it is determined that it is not in the interests of the Fund’s shareholders to issue additional shares. If sales of shares of BBIF Tax-Exempt are suspended, a shareholder who has designated such Fund as its Primary Money Account will be permitted to designate another eligible money fund (if available) as the primary account.

Subscribers in the WCMA service or other business account program have the option to change the designation of their Primary Money Account at any time by notifying their Merrill Lynch financial advisor. At that time, a subscriber may instruct its Financial Advisor to redeem shares of a BBIF Fund designated as the Primary Money Account and to transfer the proceeds to the share class that the subscriber is eligible to own in the newly-designated Primary Money Account.

Automatic Purchases. The delay with respect to the automatic investment of cash balances in a subscriber’s account in shares of the Fund designated as the subscriber’s Primary Money Account is determined by the subscriber’s WCMA service or other business account program tier assignment. For further information regarding the timing of sweeps for each tier, a subscriber should consult with its Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor or the relevant service account agreement and program description.

Manual Purchases. Subscribers in the WCMA service or other business account program may make manual investments of $1,000 or more at any time in shares of a BBIF Fund not selected as that investor’s Primary Money Account. Manual purchases shall be effective on the day following the day the order is placed with Merrill Lynch, except that orders involving cash deposits made on the date of a manual purchase shall become effective on the second business day thereafter if they are placed after the cashiering deadline of the Merrill Lynch office in which the deposit is made. As a result, WCMA service or other business account program subscribers who enter manual purchase orders that include cash deposits made on that day after such cashiering deadline will not receive the daily dividend which would have been received had their orders been entered prior to the deadline. In addition, manual purchases of $1,000,000 or more can be made effective on the same day the order is placed with Merrill Lynch provided that requirements as to timely notification and transfer of a Federal Funds wire in the proper amount are met. A WCMA service or other business account program subscriber desiring further information on this method of purchasing shares should contact its Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor.

All purchases of the BBIF Funds’ shares and dividend reinvestments will be confirmed to WCMA service or other business account program subscribers (rounded to the nearest share) in the monthly transaction statement.

BBIF Multiple Class Structure. Each BBIF Fund offers four share classes, each with its own ongoing fees, expenses and other features. A subscriber must be eligible to own a particular class of shares. Reference is made to “Account Information — BBIF Multiple Class Structure” and “ — How to Choose the Share Class that Best Suits Your Needs” in the Prospectus for certain information with respect to the eligibility requirements to own Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 and Class 4 shares of each BBIF Fund.

Each Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 or Class 4 share of a BBIF Fund represents an identical interest in that Fund and has the same rights, except that each class of shares bears to a different degree the expenses of the service fees and distribution fees and the additional incremental transfer agency costs resulting from the conversion of shares. See “Account Information — BBIF Multiple Class Structure” and “ — How to Choose the Share Class that Best Suits Your Needs” in the Prospectus. The distribution fees and

II-26

service fees that are imposed on each class of shares, are imposed directly against that class and not against all assets of the BBIF Fund and, accordingly, the differing fee rate for each class does not affect the net asset value or have any impact on any other class of shares. Dividends paid by a BBIF Fund for each class of shares are calculated in the same manner at the same time and differ only to the extent that service fees and distribution fees and any incremental transfer agency costs relating to a particular class are borne exclusively by that class. Each class may be subject to monthly automatic conversions. See “Your Account — BBIF Multiple Class Structure” in the Prospectus.

WCMA subscribers should understand the purpose and function of different fee rates with respect to each class, which is to provide for the financing of the distribution of each class of shares of the BBIF Funds. Class 4 shares bear the lowest service and distribution fees because larger accounts cost less to service and distribute and those economies are passed on to the subscriber. Class 1 shares bear the highest service and distribution fees because smaller accounts cost more to service and distribute and there are fewer economies to pass on to the subscriber. The distribution-related revenues paid with respect to a class will not be used to finance the distribution expenditures of another class. Sales personnel may receive different compensation for selling different classes of shares.

Purchase of Shares of Retirement Reserves

Purchases of Retirement Reserves shares by pension, profit-sharing and annuity plans are made by the trustee or sponsor of such plan by payments directly to Merrill Lynch.

Retirement Reserves offers two classes of shares, Class I and Class II shares. Each Class I and Class II share of the Fund represents an identical interest in the investment portfolio of the Fund, except that Class II shares bear the expenses of the ongoing distribution fees.

Class I shares of Retirement Reserves are offered to certain Custodial Plans with an active custodial retirement account as of September 30, 1998, any Custodial Plan purchasing shares of the Fund through a Merrill Lynch fee-based program, certain independent pension, profit-sharing, annuity and other qualified plans, and qualified tuition programs established under Section 529 of the Code (collectively, the “Plans”).

Class II shares are offered to any Plan that did not have an active custodial retirement account as of September 30, 1998 and does not otherwise qualify to purchase Class I shares.

There are nine types of Custodial Plans: (1) a traditional IRA, (2) a Roth IRA, (3) an IRRA^®, (4) a SEP, (5) an SRA, (6) a Basic^SM (Keogh Plus) profit sharing plan and (7) a Basic^SM (Keogh Plus) money purchase pension plan (together with the profit sharing plan, the “Basic^SM Plans”), (8) a 403(b)(7) RSA, and (9) an education account. Although the amount that may be contributed to a Plan account in any one year is subject to certain limitations, assets already in a Plan account may be invested in the Fund without regard to such limitations.

If you are considering transferring a tax-deferred retirement account such as an IRA from Merrill Lynch to another securities dealer or other financial intermediary, you should be aware that if the firm will not take delivery of shares of Retirement Reserves, you must either redeem the shares so that the cash proceeds can be transferred to the account at the new firm, or you must continue to maintain a retirement account at Merrill Lynch for those shares.

Plan Investments. If you are a Plan participant, an investment in shares of Retirement Reserves can be made as follows:

If participants elect to have their contributions invested in the Fund, the contributions will be invested automatically on the business day following the date they are received in the account. There will be no minimum initial or subsequent purchase requirement pursuant to these types of plans. The amount that may be contributed to a Plan in any one year is subject to certain limitations under the Code; however, assets already in a Plan account may be invested without regard to such limitations on contributions. Cash balances of less than $1.00 will not be invested.

Participants in Custodial Plans who opened their accounts prior to December 6, 1999 had two options concerning cash balances that may arise in their accounts. First, participants could have elected to have such balances automatically invested on a daily basis in shares of the Fund or, in some cases, in another money market mutual fund advised by the Manager. Second, participants (except

II-27

for RSAs) could have elected to have such balances deposited in an FDIC-insured money market account with one or more commercial banks. After December 6, 1999, certain Custodial Plan accounts no longer have the first option for cash balances.

Participants who have elected to have cash balances automatically invested in the Fund will have such funds invested as follows: cash balances arising from the sale of securities held in the Plan account that do not settle on the day of the transaction (such as most common and preferred stock transactions) will be invested in shares of the Fund on the business day following the day that the proceeds are received in the Plan account. Proceeds giving rise to cash balances from the sale of securities held in the Plan account settling on a same day basis and from principal repayments on debt securities held in the account will be invested in shares of the Fund on the next business day following receipt. Cash balances arising from dividends or interest payments on securities held in the Plan account or from a contribution to the Plan are invested in shares of the Fund on the business day following the date the payment is received in the Plan account.

All purchases and redemptions of Fund shares and dividend reinvestments are confirmed (rounded to the nearest share) to participants in Plans in the monthly or quarterly statement sent to all participants in these Plans. The Fund and the Distributor have received an exemptive order from the Commission that permits the Fund to omit sending out more frequent confirmations with respect to certain transactions. These transactions include purchases resulting from automatic investments in shares of the Fund and redemptions that are effected automatically to purchase other securities that the participant has selected for investment in his account. Shareholders who are not participants in the Plans receive quarterly statements reflecting all purchases, redemptions and dividend reinvestments of Fund shares.

You should read materials concerning the Plans, including copies of the Plans and the forms necessary to establish a Plan account, which are available from Merrill Lynch. You should read such materials carefully before establishing a Plan account and should consult with your attorney or tax adviser to determine if any of the Plans are suited to your needs and circumstances. The laws applicable to the Plans, including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), and the Code, are complex and include a variety of transitional rules, which may be applicable to some investors. These laws should be reviewed by your attorney to determine their applicability. You are further advised that the tax treatment of the Plans under applicable state law may vary.

Purchase of Shares of Summit Cash Reserves

Exchange Privilege. Investor A shareholders of Summit Cash Reserves who acquired their shares upon an exchange from Investor A or Institutional Shares of certain affiliated funds will have an exchange privilege with Investor A or Institutional Shares of certain affiliated funds. Shareholders may exchange Investor A Shares of the Fund for Institutional Shares of one of the affiliated funds if the shareholder holds any Institutional Shares of that affiliated fund in the account in which the exchange is to be made at the time of the exchange or is otherwise eligible to purchase Institutional Shares of such affiliated fund. Otherwise Investor A Shares will automatically be purchased.

Eligible institutional investors include: employees of BlackRock, Merrill Lynch, PNC and Directors of any BlackRock-advised funds; customers of broker-dealers and agents that have established a servicing relationship with the Fund on behalf of their customers; investors who currently own Institutional Shares in a shareholder account are entitled to purchase additional Institutional Shares of the Fund in that account, although shareholders that hold their shares through a financial adviser or other financial intermediary that has an omnibus account with the Fund must meet the Institutional minimum investment requirements in order to make such additional purchases; institutional and individual retail investors with a minimum investment of $2 million; certain qualified retirement plans; investors in selected fee based programs; registered investment advisers with a minimum investment of $250,000; Trust departments of PNC Bank and Merrill Lynch Trust Company and their affiliates for whom they (i) act in a fiduciary capacity (excluding participant directed employee benefit plans); (ii) otherwise have investment discretion; (iii) act as custodian for at least $2 million in assets; unaffiliated banks, thrifts or trust companies that have agreements with a Distributor; and holders of certain Merrill Lynch sponsored unit investment trusts (UITs) who reinvest dividends received from such UITs in shares of the Fund.

If a holder of Investor A Shares of the Fund subsequently exchanges back into the same class of shares of the original affiliated fund it will do so without paying any sales charge. If a holder of Investor A Shares of the Fund exchanges into Investor A or Institutional Shares of another affiliated fund, the holder will be required to pay a sales charge equal to the difference, if any,

II-28

between the sales charge previously paid on the shares of the original affiliated fund and the sales charge payable at the time of the exchange on the shares of the new affiliated fund.

Investor B shareholders of the Fund who acquired their shares upon an exchange from Investor B or Investor C Shares of certain affiliated funds will have an exchange privilege with Investor B or Investor C Shares of certain affiliated funds. A holder of Investor B Shares of the Fund may subsequently exchange back into the original affiliated fund. When a shareholder exchanges Investor B or Investor C Shares of an affiliated fund for Investor B Shares of the Fund, the period of time that the shareholder holds the Investor B Shares of the Fund will count towards satisfaction of the holding period requirement for purposes of reducing the CDSC relating to the Investor B or Investor C Shares acquired upon exchange of the Investor B Shares of the Fund. With respect to exchanges of Investor B Shares of an affiliated fund into Investor B Shares of the Fund, the period of time the Investor B Shares of the affiliated fund are held will count towards satisfaction of the conversion period (the length of time until the Investor B Shares acquired upon exchange of the Investor B Shares of the Fund are automatically converted into Investor A Shares). Conversely, the period of time that a shareholder has held the shares of an affiliated fund or a fund participating in the Exchange Program will count towards the satisfaction of the conversion period under which Investor B Shares of the Fund convert to Investor A Shares of the Fund.

If Investor B Shares are redeemed from the Fund and not exchanged into shares of an affiliated fund, a CDSC will be charged to the extent it would have been charged on a redemption of shares from the original affiliated fund.

It is contemplated that the exchange privilege may be applicable to other new mutual funds whose shares are distributed by the Distributor.

Under the exchange privilege, exchanges are made on the basis of the relative net asset values of the shares being exchanged. Shares issued pursuant to dividend reinvestment are sold on a no-load basis in each of the affiliated funds. For purposes of the exchange privilege, dividend reinvestment shares shall be deemed to have been sold with a sales charge equal to the sales charge previously paid on the shares on which the dividend was paid. Based on this formula an exchange of Investor A Shares of the Fund for Investor A or Institutional Shares of an affiliated fund generally will require the payment of a sales charge equal to the difference, if any, between the sales charge previously paid on the Institutional or Investor A Shares originally exchanged for Investor A Shares of the Fund and the sales charge that may be payable at the time of the exchange on the Institutional or Investor A Shares of the affiliated fund to be acquired.

Exchange Program. The Fund participates in an exchange program with certain non-money market open-end management investment companies that are (i) distributed by a selected securities dealer that is an affiliate of the Distributor, (ii) not affiliated funds, and (iii) not distributed by the Distributor (each referred to as a “Participating Fund”) (the “Exchange Program”). Exchanges may be made into Investor A or Investor B Shares of the Fund at net asset value without the imposition of a front-end sales charge (“sales charge”) or CDSC. Shares of a Participating Fund that are subject to a sales charge will be exchanged for Investor A Shares of the Fund without the imposition of a sales charge. The holder of Investor A Shares of the Fund may subsequently either exchange back into the same class of shares of the Participating Fund without incurring any sales charge or exchange into shares of another Participating Fund subject to a sales charge in the same fund complex as the original Participating Fund by remitting an amount equal to the difference, if any, between the sales charge previously paid on the shares of the original Participating Fund and the sales charge payable at the time of the exchange on the shares of the new Participating Fund.

Exchanges may be made into Investor B Shares of the Fund at net asset value without the imposition of a sales charge. Shares of Participating Funds subject to a CDSC will be exchanged for Investor B Shares of the Fund without the payment of a CDSC that might otherwise be due on redemption of the Participating Fund shares. The holder of such Investor B Shares of the Fund may subsequently either exchange back into the same class of shares of the Participating Fund or exchange into shares of another Participating Fund in the same fund complex as the original Participating Fund. Upon such exchange, the holder of the Investor B Shares of the Fund will receive credit toward reduction of the CDSC that would have been due on the Participating Fund shares for the time period during which the Investor B Shares of the Fund were held. This period of time will also count towards satisfaction of any conversion period applicable to the Participating Fund shares. If holders of the Investor B Shares of the Fund redeem those shares instead of exchanging back into shares of the original Participating Fund or of another Participating Fund in the same fund complex, CDSC payments, if any, will be assessed based upon the combined holding period for the Participating Fund shares and the Fund shares.

II-29

The Participating Funds may impose administrative and/or redemption fees on an exchange transaction with the Fund. There will be no sales charge on exchange transactions into the Fund. The Exchange Program may be modified or terminated at any time in accordance with the rules of the Commission.

A Participating Fund may modify or terminate the terms of its involvement in the Exchange Program at any time in accordance with the rules of the Commission.

Before effecting an exchange, shareholders of the Fund should obtain a currently effective prospectus of the affiliated fund or participating Fund into which the exchange is to be made for information regarding the fund and for further details regarding such exchange.

To effect an exchange, shareholders should contact their financial adviser, selected securities dealer or other financial intermediary, who will advise the Fund of the exchange, or write to the Transfer Agent requesting that the exchange be effected. Shareholders of Participating Funds and certain affiliated funds with shares for which certificates have not been issued may effect an exchange by wire through their securities dealers. The Exchange Program or the exchange privilege may be modified or terminated at any time in accordance with the rules of the Commission. There is currently no limitation on the number of times a shareholder may effect an exchange into the Fund either through the exchange privilege or the Exchange Program; however, the Fund reserves the right to limit the number of times an investor may effect an exchange. Certain Participating Funds and affiliated funds may suspend the continuous offering of their shares at any time and thereafter may resume such offering from time to time. The Exchange Program and the exchange privilege are available only to U.S. shareholders in states where the exchange legally may be made.

An exchange pursuant to the exchange privilege or pursuant to the Exchange Program is treated as a sale of the exchanged shares and a purchase of the new shares for Federal income tax purposes. In addition, an exchanging shareholder of any of the funds may be subject to backup withholding unless such shareholder certifies under penalty of perjury that the taxpayer identification number on file with any such fund is correct, and that he or she is not otherwise subject to backup withholding. See “Taxes.”

Distribution and/or Shareholder Servicing Plans

Each Fund has entered into a distribution agreement with BlackRock Investments, LLC (previously defined as the “Distributor”) under which the Distributor, as agent, offers shares of each Fund on a continuous basis. The Distributor has agreed to use appropriate efforts to effect sales of the shares, but it is not obligated to sell any particular amount of shares. The Distributor’s principal business address is 40 East 52nd Street, New York, NY 10022. The Distributor is an affiliate of BlackRock.

Each Fund has adopted a shareholder servicing plan and/or a distribution plan or plans (in the case of Retirement Reserves, with respect to Class II shares only and with respect to Summit Cash Reserves with respect to Investor B Shares only) (each, a “Distribution Plan”) in compliance with Rule 12b-1 under the Investment Company Act. Each Fund other than Retirement Reserves and the BBIF Funds is authorized to pay the Distributor a fee at an annual rate based on the average daily net asset value of Fund accounts maintained through the Distributor. Retirement Reserves pays the Distributor a fee at an annual rate based on the average daily net assets attributable to Class II shares maintained through the Distributor. The Distribution Plan for each class of shares of the BBIF Funds provides that the Funds pay the Distributor a service fee relating to the shares of the relevant class, accrued daily and paid monthly, at an annual rate based on the average daily net assets of a BBIF Fund attributable to Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 and Class 4 shares. The service fee is not compensation for the administrative and operational services rendered to shareholders by affiliates of the Manager that are covered by any other agreement between each Fund and the Manager. Each class has exclusive voting rights with respect to the Distribution Plan adopted with respect to such class pursuant to which service and/or distribution fees are paid. The fee paid by each Fund other than Retirement Reserves and the BBIF Funds compensates the Distributor for providing, or arranging for the provision of, shareholder servicing and sales and promotional activities and services with respect to shares of each Fund. The Distributor then determines, based on a number of criteria, how to allocate such fee among financial advisors, selected dealers and affiliates of the Distributor. The fee paid by Retirement Reserves compensates the Distributor for the expenses associated with marketing activities and services related to Class II shares. The BBIF Distribution Plans for the Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 and Class 4 shares each provide that a Fund also pays the Distributor a distribution fee based

II-30

on the average daily net assets of the Fund attributable to the shares of the relevant class. These fees are set forth in the BBIF Fund Prospectus.

Each Fund’s Distribution Plans are subject to the provisions of Rule 12b-1 under the Investment Company Act. In their consideration of a Distribution Plan, the Trustees must consider all factors they deem relevant, including information as to the benefits of the Distribution Plan to the Fund and the related class of shareholders. In approving a Distribution Plan in accordance with Rule 12b-1, the non-interested Trustees concluded that there is reasonable likelihood that the Distribution Plan will benefit the Fund and its related class of shareholders.

Each Distribution Plan provides that, so long as the Distribution Plan remains in effect, the non-interested Trustees then in office will select and nominate other non-interested Trustees. Each Distribution Plan can be terminated at any time, without penalty, by the vote of a majority of the non-interested Trustees or by the vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding related class of voting securities of a Fund. A Distribution Plan cannot be amended to increase materially the amount to be spent by the Fund without the approval of the related class of shareholders. All material amendments are required to be approved by the vote of Trustees, including a majority of the non-interested Trustees who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the Distribution Plan, cast in person at a meeting called for that purpose. Rule 12b-1 further requires that each Fund preserve copies of each Distribution Plan and any report made pursuant to such plan for a period of not less than six years from the date of the Distribution Plan or such report, the first two years of which should be stored in an easily accessible place.

Among other things, each Distribution Plan provides that the Trustees will review quarterly reports of the shareholder servicing and/or distribution expenditures paid to the Distributor. With respect to each Fund other than Retirement Reserves, in the event that the aggregate payments received by the Distributor under the Distribution Plan in any year exceeds the amount of the distribution and shareholder servicing expenditures incurred by the Distributor, the Distributor is required to reimburse the Fund the amount of such excess. With respect to Retirement Reserves, payments under the Class II Distribution Plan are based on a percentage of average daily net assets attributable to Class II shares, regardless of the amount of expenses incurred. As a result, the distribution related revenues from the Distribution Plan with respect to Retirement Reserves may be more or less than distribution related expenses of the Class II shares. Information with respect to the distribution-related revenues and expenses is presented to the Trustees for their consideration on a quarterly basis. Distribution-related expenses consist of financial advisor compensation, branch office and regional operation center selling and transaction processing expenses, advertising, sales promotion and marketing expenses and interest expense. With respect to Retirement Reserves, the distribution-related revenues paid with respect to one class will not be used to finance the distribution expenditures of another class. Sales personnel may receive different compensation for selling different classes of shares.

See Part 1, Section V “Distribution Related Expenses” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information for information relating to the fees paid by your Fund to the Distributor under each Distribution Plan during the Fund’s most recent fiscal year.

Limitations on the Payment of Asset Based Sales Charges. The maximum sales charge rule in the Conduct Rules of the NASD imposes a limitation on certain asset-based sales charges such as the distribution fee borne by each class of shares in the case of the BBIF Funds, and Class II shares in the case of Retirement Reserves. The maximum sales charge rule limits the aggregate of distribution fee payments payable by a Fund to (i) 7.25% of eligible gross sales of the applicable shares (excluding shares issued pursuant to dividend reinvestments and exchanges), plus (ii) interest on the unpaid balance for the applicable shares at the prime rate plus 1% (the unpaid balance being the maximum amount payable minus amounts received from the payment of the distribution fee).

In the case of the BBIF Funds, the Distributor has voluntarily agreed to waive interest charges on the unpaid balance in excess of 0.50% of eligible gross sales. Consequently, the maximum amount payable to the Distributor (referred to as the “voluntary maximum”) is 7.75% of eligible gross sales. The Distributor retains the right to stop waiving the interest charges at any time. To the extent payments would exceed the voluntary maximum, a BBIF Fund will not make further payments of the distribution fee with respect to its shares; however, a BBIF Fund will continue to make payments of the service fee. In certain circumstances the amount payable pursuant to the voluntary maximum may exceed the amount payable under the NASD formula. In such circumstances, payment in excess of the amount payable under the NASD formula will not be made.

II-31

Other Compensation to Selling Dealers

Pursuant to each Fund’s Distribution Plans, each Fund may pay the Distributor and/or BlackRock or any other affiliate of BlackRock fees for distribution and sales support services. In addition, each Fund may pay to brokers, dealers, financial institutions and industry professionals (including BlackRock, PNC and its affiliates, Merrill Lynch and BAC and their affiliates and Barclays and its affiliates) (collectively, “Service Organizations”) fees for the provision of personal services to shareholders. From time to time the Distributor and/or BlackRock and their affiliates may voluntarily waive receipt of distribution fees under the Plans, which waivers may be terminated at any time.

The Plans permit the Distributor, BlackRock and their affiliates to make payments relating to distribution and sales support activities out of their past profits or other sources available to them (and not as an additional charge to a Fund). From time to time, the Distributor, BlackRock or their affiliates may compensate affiliated and unaffiliated Service Organizations for the sale and distribution of shares of a Fund or for services to a Fund and its shareholders. These non-Plan payments would be in addition to the Fund payments described in this Statement of Additional Information for distribution. These non-Plan payments may take the form of, among other things, “due diligence” payments for a dealer’s examination of a Fund and payments for providing extra employee training and information relating to a Fund; “listing” fees for the placement of the Funds on a dealer’s list of mutual funds available for purchase by its customers; “finders” or “referral” fees for directing investors to a Fund; “marketing support” fees for providing assistance in promoting the sale of the Fund shares; payments for the sale of shares and/or the maintenance of share balances; CUSIP fees; maintenance fees; and set-up fees regarding the establishment of new accounts. The payments made by the Distributor, BlackRock and their affiliates may be a fixed dollar amount or may be based on a percentage of the value of shares sold to, or held by, customers of the Service Organization involved, and may be different for different Service Organizations. The payments described above are made from the Distributor’s, BlackRock’s or their affiliates’ own assets pursuant to agreements with Service Organizations and do not change the price paid by investors for the purchase of a Fund’s shares or the amount a Fund will receive as proceeds from such sales.

The payments described above may be made, at the discretion of the Distributor, BlackRock or their affiliates, to Service Organizations in connection with the sale and distribution of Fund shares. Pursuant to applicable NASD regulations, the details of certain of these payments, including the Service Organizations receiving such payments in connection with the sale and distribution of Fund shares, are required to be disclosed. As of the date of this Statement of Additional Information, as amended or supplemented from time to time, the following Service Organizations are receiving such payments: Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc., AXA Advisors, LLC, Banc of America Investment Services, Inc., Citigroup, Commonwealth Equity Services, LLP (Commonwealth Financial Network), LPL Financial Corporation, Merrill Lynch, MetLife Securities, Inc., Morgan Stanley, New England Securities Corporation, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., RBC Capital Markets, Tower Square Securities Inc., UBS, Wachovia Securities, Walnut Street Securities Inc., Wells Fargo and/or broker-dealers and other financial services firms under common control with the above organizations (or their successors or assignees). The level of payments made to these Service Organizations in any year will vary.

In lieu of payments pursuant to the foregoing, the Distributor, BlackRock, PNC or their affiliates may make payments to the above-named Service Organizations of an agreed-upon amount which, subject to certain agreed-upon minimums, will generally not exceed the amount that would have been payable pursuant to the formula, and may also make similar payments to other Service Organizations.

If investment advisers, distributors or affiliates of mutual funds pay bonuses and incentives in differing amounts, financial firms and their financial consultants may have financial incentives for recommending a particular mutual fund over other mutual funds. In addition, depending on the arrangements in place at any particular time, a financial firm and its financial consultants may also have a financial incentive for recommending a particular share class over other share classes. You should consult your financial adviser and review carefully any disclosure by the financial firm as to compensation received by your financial adviser for more information about the payments described above.

Furthermore, the Distributor, BlackRock and their affiliates may contribute to various non-cash and cash incentive arrangements to promote the sale of shares, and may sponsor various contests and promotions subject to applicable FINRA regulations in which participants may receive prizes such as travel awards, merchandise and cash. Subject to applicable FINRA regulations, the Distributor, BlackRock and their affiliates may also: (i) pay for the travel expenses, meals, lodging and entertainment of

II-32

broker/dealers, financial institutions and their salespersons in connection with educational and sales promotional programs, (ii) sponsor speakers, educational seminars and charitable events and (iii) provide other sales and marketing conferences and other resources to broker-dealers, financial institutions and their salespersons.

BlackRock, Inc., the parent company of BlackRock, has agreed to pay PNC Bank and certain of its affiliates fees for administration and servicing with respect to assets of the Funds attributable to shares held by customers of such entities. These assets are predominantly in the Institutional Share Class of a Fund, with respect to which the Fund does not pay shareholder servicing fees under a Plan. The fees are paid according to the following schedule: certain money market funds: 0.15% of net assets; certain fixed income funds: 0.20% of net assets; and certain equity funds: 0.25% of net assets.

Service Organizations may charge their clients additional fees for account-related services. Service Organizations may charge their customers a service fee in connection with the purchase or redemption of Fund shares. The amount and applicability of such a fee is determined and disclosed to its customers by each individual Service Organization. Service fees typically are fixed, nominal dollar amounts and are in addition to the sales and other charges described in the Prospectuses and this Statement of Additional Information. Your Service Organization will provide you with specific information about any service fees you will be charged.

Pursuant to the Plans, each Fund enters into service arrangements with Service Organizations pursuant to which Service Organizations will render certain support services to their customers (“Customers”) who are the beneficial owners of Shares of each Fund. Such services will be provided to Customers who are the beneficial owners of Shares of such classes and are intended to supplement the services provided by the Fund’s Administrators and transfer agent to the Fund’s shareholders of record. In consideration for payment of the applicable service fee Service Organizations may provide general shareholder liaison services, including, but not limited to: (i) answering customer inquiries regarding account status and history, the manner in which purchases, exchanges and redemptions of shares may be effected and certain other matters pertaining to the Customers’ investments; and (ii) assisting Customers in designating and changing dividend options, account designations and addresses.

To the extent a shareholder is not associated with a Service Organization, the shareholder servicing fees will be paid to BlackRock, and BlackRock will provide services. In addition to, rather than in lieu of, distribution and shareholder servicing fees that a Fund may pay to a Service Organization pursuant to the Plan and fees the Fund pays to its transfer agent, the Fund may enter into non-Plan agreements with Service Organizations pursuant to which the Fund will pay a Service Organization for administrative, networking, recordkeeping, sub-transfer agency and shareholder services. These non-Plan payments are generally based on either: (1) a percentage of the average daily net assets of Fund shareholders serviced by a Service Organization or (2) a fixed dollar amount for each account serviced by a Service Organization. The aggregate amount of these payments may be substantial. From time to time, BlackRock, the Distributor or their affiliates also may pay a portion of the fees for administrative, networking, omnibus, operational and recordkeeping, sub-transfer agency and shareholder services described above at its or their own expense and out of its or their legitimate profits.

REDEMPTION OF SHARES

Each Fund will normally redeem shares for cash upon receipt of a request in proper form, although each Fund retains the right to redeem some or all of its shares in-kind under unusual circumstances, in order to protect the interests of remaining shareholders, or to accommodate a request by a particular shareholder that does not adversely affect the interest of the remaining shareholders, by delivery of securities selected from the Fund’s assets at its discretion. In-kind payment means payment will be made in portfolio securities rather than cash. If this occurs, the redeeming shareholder might incur brokerage or other transaction costs to convert the securities to cash. Each Fund has elected to be governed by Rule 18f-1 under the Investment Company Act so that the Fund is obligated to redeem its shares solely in cash up to the lesser of $250,000 or 1% of its net asset value during any 90-day period for any shareholder of the Fund. The redemption price is the net asset value per share next determined after the initial receipt of proper notice of redemption.

The value of the shareholder’s investment at the time of redemption may be more or less than his or her cost, depending on the market value of the securities held by the Fund at such time and income earned. In the case of Investor B Shares of Summit Cash Reserves, the redemption price will be reduced by any applicable CDSC.

If notice is received by the Transfer Agent or Merrill Lynch, as applicable, prior to the determination of net asset value on that day, the redemption will be effective on such day. If the notice is received after the determination of net asset value has been made, the

II-33

redemption will be effective on the next business day and payment will be made on the second business day after receipt of the notice.

Redemption of Shares by All Funds except the BIF Funds and the BBIF Funds

At various times, a Fund may be requested to redeem shares, in manual or automatic redemptions, with respect to which good payment has not yet been received by Merrill Lynch. A Fund may delay for up to 10 days the payment of redemption proceeds until good payment (that is, cash, Federal Funds or certified check drawn on a U.S. bank) has been collected for the purchase of Fund shares. In addition, each Fund reserves the right not to honor redemption checks or requests for Federal Funds redemptions where the shares to be redeemed have been purchased by check within 10 days prior to the date the redemption request is received by the Transfer Agent.

The right to redeem shares may be suspended for seven days only (i) for any period during which trading on the NYSE is restricted as determined by the Commission or during which the NYSE is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings), (ii) for any period during which an emergency exists, as defined by the Commission, as a result of which disposal of portfolio securities or determination of the net asset value of the Fund is not reasonably practicable, or (iii) for such other periods as the Commission may by order permit for the protection of shareholders of the Fund.

Methods of Redemption

All five methods set forth below apply to each Fund other than Retirement Reserves. Only the methods described under “Redemption by Check,” “Regular Redemption” and “Automatic Redemption” also apply to Retirement Reserves. In certain instances, the Transfer Agent may require additional documents in connection with redemptions.

Redemption by Check. You may redeem shares by check in an amount not less than $500. At your request, the Transfer Agent will provide you with checks drawn on the custody account. These checks can be made payable to the order of any person; however, these checks may not be used to purchase securities in transactions with Merrill Lynch. The payee of the check may cash or deposit it like any check drawn on a bank. When such a check is presented to the Transfer Agent for payment, the Transfer Agent will present the check to the Fund as authority to redeem a sufficient number of full and fractional shares in your account to cover the amount of the check. This enables you to continue earning daily dividends until the day prior to the day the check is cleared. Canceled checks will be returned to you by the Transfer Agent upon request.

You will be subject to the Transfer Agent’s rules and regulations governing such checking accounts, including the right of the Transfer Agent not to honor checks in amounts exceeding the value of your account at the time the check is presented for payment. A Fund or the Transfer Agent may modify or terminate the check redemption privilege at any time on 30 days’ notice. In order to be eligible for the privilege, you should check the box under the caption “Check Redemption Privilege” in the Purchase Application. The Transfer Agent will then send you checks. Retirement Reserves does not accept new applications for check writing privileges.

Federal Funds Redemption. If you maintain an account directly with the Transfer Agent, you may also arrange to have redemption proceeds of $5,000 or more wired in Federal Funds to a pre-designated bank account. In order to be eligible for Federal Funds redemption, you must designate on your Purchase Application the domestic commercial bank and account number to receive the proceeds of your redemption and must have your signature on the Purchase Application guaranteed. The request for Federal Funds redemption may be made by telephone, wire or letter (no signature guarantee required) to the Transfer Agent. If your request is received before the determination of net asset value of a Fund on any business day, the redemption proceeds will be wired to your pre-designated bank account on the next business day. You may request Federal Funds redemptions by calling the Transfer Agent toll-free at 1-800-221-7210. Each Fund will employ reasonable procedures to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine to prevent any losses from fraudulent or unauthorized instructions. Among other things, redemption proceeds may only be wired into the bank account designated on the Purchase Application. You must independently verify this information at the time the redemption request is made. If you do not maintain an account directly with the Transfer Agent, you should contact your financial advisor.

Repurchase Through Securities Dealers. Each Fund will repurchase shares through securities dealers. A Fund normally will accept orders to repurchase shares by wire or telephone from dealers for customers at the net asset value next computed after receipt of the

II-34

order from the dealer, provided that the request is received from the dealer prior to the determination of net asset value of the Fund, on any business day. These repurchase arrangements are for your convenience and do not involve a charge by the Fund; however, dealers may impose a charge for transmitting the notice of repurchase to a Fund. Each Fund reserves the right to reject any order for repurchase through a securities dealer, but it may not reject properly submitted requests for redemption as described below. A Fund will promptly notify you of any rejection of a repurchase with respect to your shares. If you effect a repurchase through your securities dealer, payment will be made by the Transfer Agent to the dealer.

Regular Redemption. If you hold shares with the Transfer Agent you may redeem by writing to the Transfer Agent, Financial Data Services, Inc., P.O. Box 45290, Jacksonville, Florida 32231-5290. Redemption requests that are sent by mail should be delivered to Financial Data Services, Inc., 4800 Deer Lake Drive East, Jacksonville, Florida 32246-6484. Redemption requests should not be sent to the Fund. A redemption request requires the signatures of all persons in whose name(s) the shares are registered, signed exactly as such name(s) appear on the Transfer Agent’s register. The signature(s) on the redemption request may require a guarantee by an “eligible guarantor institution” as defined in Rule 17Ad-15 under the Exchange Act, whose existence and validity may be verified by the Transfer Agent through the use of industry publications. In the event a signature guarantee is required, notarized signatures are not sufficient. In general, signature guarantees are waived on redemptions of less than $50,000 as long as the following requirements are met: (i) the request contains the signature(s) of all persons in whose name(s) shares are recorded on the Transfer Agent’s register; (ii) the check is mailed to the stencil address of record on the Transfer Agent’s register and (iii) the stencil address has not changed within 30 days. Certain rules may apply regarding certain types of accounts, including, but not limited to, UGMA/UTMA accounts, Joint Tenancies with Rights of Survivorship, contra broker transactions, and institutional accounts. In certain instances, the Transfer Agent may require additional documents such as, but not limited to, trust instruments, death certificates, appointments as executor or administrator, or certificates of corporate authority. Payments will be mailed within seven days of receipt by the Transfer Agent of a proper redemption request.

You may also redeem shares held with the Transfer Agent by calling 1-800-221-7210. You must be the shareholder of record and the request must be for an amount less than $50,000. Before telephone requests will be honored, signature approval from all shareholders of record on the account must be obtained. The shares being redeemed must have been held for at least 15 days. Telephone redemption requests will not be honored if: (i) the account holder is deceased, (ii) the proceeds are to be sent to someone other than the shareholder of record, (iii) funds are to be wired to the client’s bank account, (iv) a Systematic Withdrawal Plan is in effect, (v) the request is by an individual other than the account holder of record, (vi) the account is held by joint tenants who are divorced, (vii) the address on the account has changed within the last 30 days or share certificates have been issued on the account or (viii) to protect against fraud, if the caller is unable to provide the account number, the name and address registered on the account and the social security number registered on the account. The Funds or the Transfer Agent may temporarily suspend telephone transactions at any time.

Shareholders of Retirement Reserves and participants in Custodial Plans that invest in U.S.A. Government Money may redeem shares by writing directly to Merrill Lynch. Shareholders of Retirement Reserves and participants in Custodial Plans that invest in U.S.A. Government Money should not send redemption requests to the Fund or to its Transfer Agent. If you inadvertently send the redemption request to the Fund or the Transfer Agent, the request will be forwarded to Merrill Lynch. The notice must bear the signature of the person in whose name the Plan is maintained, signed exactly as his or her name appears on the Plan adoption agreement.

Automatic Redemption. Merrill Lynch has instituted an automatic redemption procedure, which applies to you if you maintain a securities account with Merrill Lynch. This procedure, which does not apply to margin accounts, may be used by Merrill Lynch to satisfy amounts you owe to Merrill Lynch or one of its affiliates as a result of account fees and expenses or as a result of purchases of securities or other transactions in your securities account. Under this procedure, unless you notify Merrill Lynch to the contrary, your Merrill Lynch securities account will be scanned each business day prior to the determination of net asset value of the Fund. After application of any cash balances in the account, a sufficient number of Fund shares may be redeemed at net asset value, as determined that day, to satisfy any amounts you owe to Merrill Lynch or one of its affiliates. Redemptions will be effected on the business day preceding the date you are obligated to make such payment, and Merrill Lynch or its affiliate will receive the redemption proceeds on the day following the redemption date. You will receive all dividends declared and reinvested through the date of redemption.

Unless otherwise requested, if you request transactions that settle on a “same-day” basis (such as Federal Funds wire redemptions, branch office checks, transfers to other Merrill Lynch accounts and certain securities transactions) the Fund shares necessary to

II-35

effect such transactions will be deemed to have been transferred to Merrill Lynch prior to the Fund’s declaration of dividends on that day. In such instances, you will receive all dividends declared and reinvested through the date immediately preceding the date of redemption.

If your account held directly with the Transfer Agent contains a fractional share balance, such fractional share balance will be automatically redeemed by a Fund. Because of the high cost of maintaining smaller accounts, a Fund may redeem shares in your account if the net asset value of your account falls below $500 due to redemptions you have made. You will be notified that the value of your account is less than $500 before the Fund makes an involuntary redemption. You will then have 60 days to make an additional investment to bring the value of your account to at least $500 before the Fund takes any action. This involuntary redemption does not apply to retirement plans or Uniform Gifts or Transfers to Minors Act accounts.

U.S.A. Government Money has instituted an automatic redemption procedure for participants in the Custodial Plans who have elected to have cash balances in their accounts automatically invested in shares of the Fund. In the case of such participants, unless directed otherwise, Merrill Lynch will redeem a sufficient number of shares of the Fund to purchase other securities (such as common stocks) that the participant has selected for investment in his or her Custodial Plan account.

BIF Funds — Redemption of Shares by CMA Service Subscribers

BIF Funds — Automatic Redemptions. Redemptions will be effected automatically by Merrill Lynch to satisfy debit balances in the CMA service or other Merrill Lynch central asset account program, or the WCMA service created by securities transaction activity within the account or to satisfy debit balances created by card purchases, cash advances or checks. Each account will be scanned automatically for debits each business day prior to 12:00 noon, Eastern time. After applying any free cash balances in the account to such debits, shares of the designated Fund will be redeemed at net asset value at the 12:00 noon pricing, and funds deposited pursuant to a bank deposit program will be withdrawn, to the extent necessary to satisfy any remaining debits in the account. Automatic redemptions or withdrawals will be made first from your Money Account. Unless otherwise requested, when you request a transaction that settles on a “same-day” basis (such as Federal funds wire redemptions, branch office checks, transfers to other Merrill Lynch accounts and certain securities transactions) the Fund shares necessary to effect such a transaction will be deemed to have been transferred to Merrill Lynch prior to the Fund’s declaration of dividends on that day. In such instances, you will receive all dividends declared and reinvested through the date immediately preceding the date of redemption. Margin loans through the Margin Lending Program will be used to satisfy debits remaining after the liquidation of all funds invested in or deposited through the Money Account CMA service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account). Shares of the BIF Funds may not be purchased, nor may deposits be made pursuant to a bank deposit program until all debits and margin loans in the account are satisfied.

Shares of each BIF Fund also may be automatically redeemed to satisfy debits or make investments in connection with special features offered to CMA service or other Merrill Lynch central asset account program subscribers. For more information regarding these features, you should consult the relevant program disclosure.

BIF Funds — Manual Redemptions. If you are a CMA service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account) subscriber or if you hold shares of a BIF Fund in a Merrill Lynch securities account, you may redeem shares of a BIF Fund directly by writing to Merrill Lynch, which will submit your request to the Transfer Agent. Cash proceeds from the manual redemption of Fund shares ordinarily will be mailed to you at your address of record or, on request, mailed or wired (if $10,000 or more) to your bank account. Redemption requests should not be sent to a Fund or the Transfer Agent. If you inadvertently send the request to a Fund or the Transfer Agent, the request will be forwarded to Merrill Lynch. The signature requirements of the redemption request are described above under “Redemption of Shares — Redemptions of Shares by All Funds except the BIF Funds and the BBIF Funds — Regular Redemption.” CMA service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account) subscribers desiring to effect manual redemptions should contact their Financial Advisors. All redemptions of Fund shares will be confirmed to service subscribers in the monthly transaction statement.

BBIF Funds — Redemption of Shares by WCMA Service Subscribers

BBIF Funds — Automatic Redemptions. Redemptions will be effected automatically by Merrill Lynch to satisfy debit balances in a WCMA service or other business account program account created by securities transactions therein or to satisfy debit balances created by credit card purchases, cash advances (which may be obtained through participating banks and automated teller

II-36

machines) or checks written against the credit card account or electronic fund transfers or other debits. Each WCMA service or other business account program account will be scanned automatically for debits each business day prior to 12 noon, Eastern time. After application of any free cash balances in the account to such debits, shares of the designated BBIF Fund will be redeemed at net asset value at the 12 noon pricing, and funds deposited pursuant to the Insured Savings Account will be withdrawn, to the extent necessary to satisfy any remaining debits in the account. Automatic redemptions or withdrawals will be made first from the subscriber’s Primary Money Account and then, to the extent necessary, from accounts not designated as the Primary Money Account. Unless otherwise requested, in those instances where shareholders request transactions that settle on a “same-day” basis (such as Federal funds wire redemptions, branch office checks, transfers to other Merrill Lynch accounts and certain securities transactions) the Fund shares necessary to effect such transactions will be deemed to have been transferred to Merrill Lynch prior to the Fund’s declaration of dividends on that day. In such instances, shareholders will receive all dividends declared and reinvested through the date immediately preceding the date of redemption. Unless otherwise requested by the subscriber, redemptions or withdrawals from non-Primary Money Accounts will be made in the order the non-Primary Money Accounts were established; thus, redemptions or withdrawals will first be made from the non-Primary Money Account that the subscriber first established. Margin loans through the Margin Lending Program service will be used to satisfy debits remaining after the liquidation of all funds invested in or deposited through non-Primary Money Accounts, and shares of the BBIF Funds may not be purchased, nor may deposits be made pursuant to the Insured Savings Account, until all debits and margin loans in the account are satisfied.

Shares of the BBIF Funds also may be automatically redeemed to satisfy debits or make investments in connection with special features offered to service subscribers. The redemption of shares of the BBIF Funds also may be modified for investors that participate in certain fee-based programs. For more information regarding these features, a WCMA service subscriber should consult the Business Investor Account^SM (BIA^SM) Financial Service and Working Capital Management Account ^® (WCMA^®) Financial Service Account Agreement Program Description Booklet.

From time to time, Merrill Lynch also may offer the BBIF Funds to subscribers in certain other programs sponsored by Merrill Lynch. Some or all of the features of the WCMA service may not be available in such programs and program participation and other fees may be higher. More information on the services and fees associated with such other programs is set forth in the Program Description Booklet that is furnished in connection with such other programs, which may be obtained by contacting a Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor.

BBIF Funds — Manual Redemptions. Merrill Lynch will satisfy requests for cash by wiring cash to the shareholder’s bank account or arranging for the shareholder’s Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor to provide the shareholder with a check. Redemption requests should not be sent to the BBIF Fund or its Transfer Agent. If inadvertently sent to the BBIF Fund or the Transfer Agent, redemption requests will be forwarded to Merrill Lynch. Any required shareholder signature(s) must be guaranteed by an “eligible guarantor institution” as such is defined in Rule 17Ad-15 under the Exchange Act, the existence and validity of which may be verified by the Transfer Agent through the use of industry publications. Notarized signatures are not sufficient. In certain instances, additional documents such as, but not limited to, trust instruments, death certificates, appointments as executor or administrator, or certificates of corporate authority may be required. Subscribers in the WCMA service or other business account program desiring to effect manual redemptions should contact their Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor.

All redemptions of BBIF Fund shares will be confirmed to WCMA service subscribers (rounded to the nearest share) in the monthly transaction statement.

BIF Funds — Redemption of Shares by Non-Service Subscribers

Shareholders who are not CMA service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account) subscribers may redeem shares of a BIF Fund held in a Merrill Lynch securities account directly as described above under “Redemption of Shares — Redemption of Shares by Service Subscribers — Manual Redemptions.”

Shareholders maintaining an account directly with the Transfer Agent, who are not CMA service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account) subscribers, may redeem shares of a BIF Fund by submitting a written notice by mail directly to the Transfer Agent, Financial Data Services, Inc., P.O. Box 45290, Jacksonville, Florida 32231-5290. Redemption requests that are sent by hand should be delivered to Financial Data Services, Inc., 4800 Deer Lake Drive East, Jacksonville, Florida 32246-6484. Cash proceeds from the manual redemption of Fund shares will be mailed to the shareholder at his or her address of record. Redemption requests should not be sent to a Fund or Merrill Lynch. If inadvertently sent to a Fund or Merrill Lynch such redemption requests will be forwarded

II-37

to the Transfer Agent. The notice requires the signatures of all persons in whose names the shares are registered, signed exactly as their names appear on their monthly statement. The signature(s) on the redemption request must be guaranteed by an “eligible guarantor institution” as such is defined in Rule 17Ad-15 under the Exchange Act, the existence and validity of which may be verified by the Transfer Agent through the use of industry publications. Notarized signatures are not sufficient. In certain instances, additional documents such as, but not limited to, trust instruments, death certificates, appointments as executor or administrator, or certificates of corporate authority may be required.

The right to receive payment with respect to any redemption of Fund shares may be suspended by each Fund for a period of up to seven days. Suspensions of more than seven days may not be made except (1) for any period (A) during which the NYSE is closed other than customary weekend and holiday closings or (B) during which trading on the NYSE is restricted; (2) for any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which (A) disposal by the Fund of securities owned by it is not reasonably practicable or (B) it is not reasonably practicable for the Fund fairly to determine the value of its net assets; or (3) for such other periods as the Commission may by order permit for the protection of shareholders of the Fund. The Commission shall by rules and regulations determine the conditions under which (i) trading shall be deemed to be restricted and (ii) an emergency shall be deemed to exist within the meaning of clause (2) above.

The value of a Fund’s shares at the time of redemption may be more or less than the shareholder’s cost, depending on the market value of the securities held by the Fund at such time.

Participants in the WCMA service or certain other business account programs may be able to manually invest funds in certain BIF Funds. Checks and other funds transmitted to a WCMA service or other business account program account generally will be applied first to the payment of pending securities transactions or other charges in the participant’s securities account, second to reduce outstanding balances in the lines of credit available through such program and, third, to purchase shares of the designated Fund. To the extent not otherwise applied, funds transmitted by Federal Funds wire or an automated clearinghouse service will be invested in shares of the designated Fund on the business day following receipt of such funds by Merrill Lynch. Funds received in a WCMA service or other business account program account from the sale of securities will be invested in the designated Fund as described above. The amount payable on a check received in a WCMA service or other business account program account prior to the cashiering deadline referred to above will be invested on the second business day following receipt of the check by Merrill Lynch. Redemptions of Fund shares will be effected as described above to satisfy debit balances, such as those created by purchases of securities or by checks written against a bank providing checking services to WCMA service or other business account program subscribers. Service subscribers that have a line of credit will, however, be permitted to maintain a minimum Fund balance; for subscribers who elect to maintain such a balance, debits from check usage will be satisfied through the line of credit so that such balance is maintained. However, if the full amount of available credit is not sufficient to satisfy the debit, it will be satisfied from the minimum balance.

From time to time, Merrill Lynch also may offer the Funds to participants in certain other programs sponsored by Merrill Lynch. Some or all of the features of the CMA service may not be available in such programs and program participation and other fees may be higher. More information on the services and fees associated with such programs, is set forth in the relevant program disclosures, which may be obtained by contacting a Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor.

SHAREHOLDER SERVICES

Shareholder Services for All Funds other than BIF Funds, BBIF Funds and Retirement Reserves

Each Fund offers one or more of the shareholder services described below that are designed to facilitate investment in its shares. Certain of these services are available only to U.S. investors. You can obtain more information about these services from each Fund by calling the telephone number on the cover page of the Part I of this Statement of Additional Information, or from the Distributor.

Investment Account

If your account is maintained at the Transfer Agent (an “Investment Account”) you will receive a monthly report showing the activity in your account for the month. You may make additions to your Investment Account at any time by purchasing shares at the applicable public offering price either through your securities dealer, by wire or by mail directly to the Transfer Agent. You may ascertain the number of shares in your Investment Account by calling the Transfer Agent toll-free at 1-800-221-7210. The

II-38

Transfer Agent will furnish this information only after you have specified the name, address, account number and social security number of the registered owner or owners. You may also maintain an account through Merrill Lynch. If you transfer shares out of a Merrill Lynch brokerage account, an Investment Account in your name may be opened at the Transfer Agent. If you are considering transferring a tax-deferred retirement account such as an IRA from Merrill Lynch to another brokerage firm or financial institution you should be aware that if the firm to which the retirement account is to be transferred will not take delivery of shares of a Fund, you must either redeem the shares so that the cash proceeds can be transferred to the account at the new firm, or you must continue to maintain a retirement account at Merrill Lynch for those shares.

In the interest of economy and convenience and because of the operating procedures of each Fund, share certificates will not be issued physically. Shares are maintained by each Fund on its register maintained by the Transfer Agent and the holders thereof will have the same rights and ownership with respect to such shares as if certificates had been issued.

Fee-Based Programs

Fund shares may be held in certain fee-based programs offered by the Manager or its affiliates, including pricing alternatives for securities transactions (each referred to in this paragraph as a “Program”). These Programs generally prohibit such shares from being transferred to another account at Merrill Lynch, to another broker-dealer or to the Transfer Agent. Except in limited circumstances, such shares must be redeemed and new shares purchased in order for the investment not to be subject to Program fees. Additional information regarding a specific Program (including charges and limitations on transferability applicable to shares that may be held in such Program) is available in such Program’s client agreement and from the Transfer Agent at 1-800-221-7210.

Automatic Investment Plans

If you maintain an account directly with the Transfer Agent, each Fund offers an Automatic Investment Plan whereby the Transfer Agent is authorized through preauthorized checks of $50 or more to charge your regular bank account on a regular basis to provide systematic additions to the Investment Account. Your Automatic Investment Plan may be terminated at any time without charge or penalty by you, the Fund, the Transfer Agent or the Distributor. If you do not maintain an account directly with the Transfer Agent, you should contact your financial professional.

Accrued Monthly Payout Plan

The dividends paid by each Fund are generally reinvested automatically in additional shares. If you maintain an account at the Transfer Agent and desire cash payments, you may enroll in the Accrued Monthly Payout Plan. Under this plan, shares equal in number to shares credited through the automatic reinvestment of dividends during each month are redeemed at net asset value on the last Friday of such month in order to meet the monthly distribution (provided that, in the event that a payment on an account maintained with the Transfer Agent would be $10.00 or less, the payment will be automatically reinvested in additional shares). You may open an Accrued Monthly Payout Plan by completing the appropriate portion of the Purchase Application. Your Accrued Monthly Payout Plan may be terminated at any time without charge or penalty by you, a Fund, the Transfer Agent or the Distributor. If you do not maintain an account directly with the Transfer Agent, you should contact your financial professional.

Systematic Withdrawal Plans

If you maintain an account with the Transfer Agent, you may elect to receive systematic withdrawals from your Investment Account by check or through automatic payment by direct deposit to your bank account on either a monthly or quarterly basis as provided below. Quarterly withdrawals are available if you have acquired shares of a Fund that have a value, based on cost or the current offering price, of $5,000 or more, and monthly withdrawals are available if your shares have a value of $10,000 or more.

At the time of each withdrawal payment, sufficient shares are redeemed from your Investment Account to provide the withdrawal payment specified by you, which may be a dollar amount or a percentage of the value of your shares. Redemptions will be made at net asset value as determined as of the close of business on the NYSE on the 24th day of each month or the 24th day of the last month of each quarter, whichever is applicable. If the NYSE is not open for business on such date, the shares will be redeemed at the net asset value determined as of the close of business on the NYSE on the following business day. The check for the withdrawal payment will be mailed or the direct deposit will be made, on the next business day following redemption. When you make systematic withdrawals, dividends and distributions on all shares in the Investment Account are reinvested automatically in Fund

II-39

shares. Your systematic withdrawal plan may be terminated at any time, without charge or penalty, by you, a Fund, the Transfer Agent or the Distributor. You may not elect to make systematic withdrawals while you are enrolled in the Accrued Monthly Payout Plan. A Fund is not responsible for any failure of delivery to the shareholder’s address of record and no interest will accrue on amounts represented by uncashed distribution or redemption checks.

Withdrawal payments should not be considered as dividends. Withdrawals generally are treated as sales of shares and may result in taxable gain or loss. If periodic withdrawals continuously exceed reinvested dividends, the original investment will be reduced correspondingly. You are cautioned not to designate withdrawal programs that result in an undue reduction of principal. There are no minimums on amounts that may be systematically withdrawn. Periodic investments may not be made into an Investment Account in which a shareholder has elected to make systematic withdrawals.

If your account is not maintained directly with the Transfer Agent, you should contact your financial professional. If your account is currently maintained at a branch office, redemptions via the Systematic Withdrawal Plan will be credited directly to your Investment Account. If you wish to receive a redemption by check, you should contact your financial professional.

Retirement and Education Accounts

Individual retirement accounts, Roth IRAs and other retirement plan accounts (together, “retirement accounts”) are available from your financial intermediary. Under these plans, investments may be made in a Fund and certain other mutual funds sponsored by the Manager or its affiliates as well as in other securities. There may be fees associated with investing through these accounts. Information with respect to these accounts is available on request from your financial intermediary.

Dividends received in each of the accounts referred to above are exempt from Federal taxation until distributed from the accounts and, in the case of Roth IRAs and education accounts, may be exempt from taxation when distributed as well. Investors considering participation in any retirement or education account should review specific tax laws relating to the account and should consult their attorneys or tax advisers with respect to the establishment and maintenance of any such account.

DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE

Each Fund seeks to maintain a net asset value of $1.00 per share for purposes of purchase and redemptions and values its portfolio securities on the basis of the amortized cost method of valuation.

Under this method portfolio securities are valued at cost when purchased and thereafter, a constant proportionate accretion of any discount or amortization of premium is recorded until the maturity of the security. The effect of changes in the market value of a security as a result of fluctuating interest rates is not taken into account.

As indicated, the amortized cost method of valuation may result in the value of a security being higher or lower than its market price, the price a Fund would receive if the security were sold prior to maturity. Each Fund’s Board has established procedures for the purpose of maintaining a constant net asset value of $1.00 per share for each Fund; however, there can be no assurance that a constant net asset value will be maintained for any Fund. Such procedures include a review of the extent of any deviation of net asset value per share, based on available market quotations, from the $1.00 amortized cost per share.

Should that deviation exceed ¹/2 of 1% for a Fund, the Fund’s Board will promptly consider whether any action should be initiated to eliminate or reduce material dilution or other adverse impact to shareholders. Such action may include redeeming shares in kind, selling portfolio securities prior to maturity, reducing or withholding dividends, shortening the average portfolio maturity, and utilizing a net asset value per share as determined by using available market quotations.

Each Fund will maintain a dollar-weighted average portfolio maturity of 60 days or less, a dollar-weighted average life of 120 days or less, will not purchase any instrument with a deemed maturity under Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act greater than 397 days, and will limit portfolio investments, including repurchase agreements, to those instruments that the adviser or sub-adviser determines present minimal credit risks pursuant to guidelines adopted by a Fund’s Board.

II-40

YIELD INFORMATION

Each Fund computes its annualized yield in accordance with regulations adopted by the Commission by determining the net changes in value, exclusive of capital changes and income other than investment income, for a seven-day base period for a hypothetical pre-existing account having a balance of one share at the beginning of the base period, subtracting a hypothetical shareholder account charge, and dividing the difference by the value of the account at the beginning of the base period to obtain the base period return, and then multiplying the result by 365 and then dividing by seven. This yield calculation does not take into consideration any realized or unrealized gains or losses on portfolio securities. The Commission also permits the calculation of a standardized effective or compounded yield. This is computed by compounding the unannualized base period return, which is done by adding one to the base period return, raising the sum to a power equal to 365 divided by seven, and subtracting one from the result. This compounded yield calculation also excludes realized and unrealized gains or losses on portfolio securities.

The tax equivalent yield of the shares of each of BIF Tax-Exempt, BBIF Tax-Exempt and the BIF State Funds is computed by dividing that portion of the yield of the Fund (computed as described above) that is tax-exempt by an amount equal to one minus the stated tax rate (normally assumed to be the maximum applicable marginal tax rate) and adding the result to that portion, if any, of the yield of the Fund that is not tax-exempt. The tax equivalent effective yield of the shares of each of BIF Tax-Exempt, BBIF Tax-Exempt and the BIF State Funds is computed in the same manner as the tax equivalent yield, except that the effective yield is substituted for yield in the calculation.

The yield on each Fund’s shares normally will fluctuate on a daily basis. Therefore, the yield for any given past period is not an indication or representation by a Fund of future yields or rates of return on its shares. The yield is affected by such factors as changes in interest rates on a Fund’s portfolio securities, average portfolio maturity, the types and quality of portfolio securities held and operating expenses. The yield on Fund shares for various reasons may not be comparable to the yield on bank deposits, shares of other money market funds or other investments.

See Part I, Section VI “Yield Information” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information for recent seven-day yield information relating to your Fund.

On occasion, each Fund may compare its yield to (1) an industry average compiled by Donoghue’s Money Fund Report, a widely recognized independent publication that monitors the performance of money market mutual funds, (2) the average yield reported by the Bank Rate Monitor National Index^TM for money market deposit accounts offered by the 100 leading banks and thrift institutions in the ten largest standard metropolitan statistical areas, (3) yield data published by industry publications, including Lipper Inc., Morningstar, Inc., Money Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, BusinessWeek, CDA Investment Technology, Inc., Forbes Magazine and Fortune Magazine, (4) the yield on an investment in 90-day Treasury bills on a rolling basis, assuming quarterly compounding, or (5) historical yield data relating to other central asset accounts similar to the CMA service, in the case of the BIF Funds. As with yield quotations, yield comparisons should not be considered indicative of a Fund’s yield or relative performance for any future period.

A Fund may provide information designed to help investors understand how the Fund is seeking to achieve its investment objective. This may include information about past, current or possible economic, market, political, or other conditions, descriptive information on general principles of investing such as asset allocation, diversification and risk tolerance; a discussion of a Fund’s portfolio composition, investment philosophy, strategy or investment techniques; comparisons of a Fund’s performance or portfolio composition to that of other funds or types of investments, to indices relevant to the comparison being made, or to a hypothetical or model portfolio. Each Fund may also quote various measures of volatility and benchmark correlation in advertising and other materials, and may compare these measures to those of other funds or types of investments.

PORTFOLIO TRANSACTIONS

Subject to policies established by the Board of each Fund, the Manager is primarily responsible for the execution of a Fund’s portfolio transactions. The Manager does not execute transactions through any particular broker or dealer, but seeks to obtain the best net results for the Fund, taking into account such factors as price (including the applicable dealer spread), size of order, difficulty of execution, operational facilities of the firm and the firm’s risk and skill in positioning blocks of securities. While the Manager generally seeks reasonable trade execution costs, a Fund does not necessarily pay the lowest spread or commission available. Each Fund’s policy of investing in securities with short maturities will result in high portfolio turnover.

II-41

Subject to obtaining the best net results, dealers who provide supplemental investment research (such as economic data and market forecasts) to the Manager may receive orders for transactions of the Fund. Information received will be in addition to and not in lieu of the services required to be performed by the Manager under each Management Agreement and the expenses of the Manager will not necessarily be reduced as a result of the receipt of such supplemental information.

The portfolio securities in which each Fund invests are traded primarily in the over-the-counter (“OTC”) market. Bonds and debentures usually are traded OTC, but may be traded on an exchange. Where possible, a Fund will deal directly with the dealers who make a market in the securities involved except in those circumstances where better prices and execution are available elsewhere. Such dealers usually are acting as principals for their own accounts. On occasion, securities may be purchased directly from the issuer. Money market securities are generally traded on a net basis and do not normally involve either brokerage commissions or transfer taxes. The cost of executing portfolio securities transactions of a Fund primarily will consist of dealer spreads. Under the Investment Company Act, persons affiliated with a Fund and persons who are affiliated with such affiliated persons are prohibited from dealing with the Fund as principals in the purchase and sale of securities unless an exemptive order allowing such transactions is obtained from the Commission. Since transactions in the OTC market usually involve transactions with the dealers acting as principals for their own accounts, the Funds will not deal with affiliated persons, including Merrill Lynch and its affiliates, in connection with such transactions, except pursuant to the exemptive order described below. However, an affiliated person of a Fund may serve as its broker in OTC transactions conducted on an agency basis.

The Manager does not consider sales of shares of the mutual funds it advises as a factor in the selection of brokers or dealers to execute portfolio transactions for a Fund; however, whether or not a particular broker or dealer sells shares of the mutual funds advised by the Manager neither qualifies nor disqualifies such broker or dealer to execute transactions for those mutual funds.

See Part I, Section VIII “Portfolio Transactions” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information for information relating to portfolio transactions engaged in by your Fund for its three most recently completed fiscal years or other relevant periods.

The Board of each Fund has considered the possibility of seeking to recapture for the benefit of the Fund expenses of possible portfolio transactions, such as dealer spreads and underwriting commissions, by conducting portfolio transactions through affiliated entities. After considering all factors deemed relevant, the Board of each Fund made a determination not to seek such recapture. The Board of each Fund will reconsider this matter from time to time.

Each Fund has received an exemptive order from the Commission permitting it to lend portfolio securities to its affiliates. Pursuant to that order, each Fund may retain an affiliated entity of the Manager (the “lending agent”) as the securities lending agent for a fee, including a fee based on a share of the returns on investment of cash collateral. The lending agent may, on behalf of a Fund, invest cash collateral received by the Fund for such loans, among other things, in a private investment company managed by the lending agent or in registered money market funds advised by the Manager or its affiliates. See Part I, Section VIII “Portfolio Transactions” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information for the securities lending agent fees, if any, paid by your Fund to the lending agent for the periods indicated.

Because of different objectives or other factors, a particular security may be bought for one or more funds or clients advised by the Manager or its affiliates (collectively, “clients”) when one or more clients of the Manager or its affiliates are selling the same security. If purchases or sales of securities arise for consideration at or about the same time that would involve a Fund or other clients or funds for which the Manager or an affiliate acts as investment manager, transactions in such securities will be made, insofar as feasible, for the respective funds and clients in a manner deemed equitable to all. To the extent that transactions on behalf of more than one client of the Manager or its affiliates during the same period may increase the demand for securities being purchased or the supply of securities being sold, there may be an adverse effect on price.

DIVIDENDS AND TAXES

Dividends

Each Fund declares dividends daily. Dividends of each Fund are reinvested daily in additional shares of that Fund at net asset value. Shares purchased will begin accruing dividends on the day following the date of purchase. Dividends that are declared but unpaid will remain in the gross assets of each Fund and will therefore continue to earn income for the Fund’s shareholders.

II-42

Shareholders will receive monthly statements as to such reinvestments. For shareholders of the BIF Funds and the BBIF Funds who request transactions that settle on a “same day” basis (such as Federal Funds wire redemptions, branch office checks, transfers to other Merrill Lynch accounts and certain securities transactions), the Fund shares necessary to effect such transactions will be deemed to have been transferred to Merrill Lynch prior to the Funds’ declaration of dividends on that day.

Net income (from the time of the immediately preceding determination thereof) consists of (i) interest accrued and/or discount earned (including both original issue and market discount), (ii) less amortization of premiums and the estimated expenses of a Fund applicable to that dividend period. Net realized capital gains (including net short-term capital gain), if any, will be distributed by the Funds at least annually.

Retirement Accounts.

Investment in certain Funds is offered to participants in retirement accounts for which Merrill Lynch acts as custodian, participants in Merrill Lynch Basic Plans and RSAs and certain independent qualified plans. Accordingly, the general description of the tax treatment of RICs and their shareholders set forth below is qualified for retirement accountholders with respect to the special tax treatment afforded such accounts under the Code. Under the Code, neither ordinary income dividends nor capital gain dividends represent current income to retirement accountholders.

Generally, distributions from a retirement account (other than certain distributions from a Roth IRA) will be taxable as ordinary income at the rate applicable to the participant at the time of the distribution. For most retirement accounts, such distributions would include (i) any pre-tax contributions to the retirement account (including pre-tax contributions that have been rolled over from another IRA or qualified retirement plan), and (ii) earnings (whether such earnings are classified as ordinary income or as capital gains). In addition to Federal income tax, participants may be subject to the imposition of a 10% (or, in the case of certain SRA distributions, 25%) additional tax on any amount withdrawn from a retirement account prior to the participant’s attainment of age 59 ¹/2 unless one of the exceptions listed below applies.

Depending on the type of retirement plan, the exceptions to the early withdrawal penalty may include: 1) distributions after the death of the shareholder; 2) distributions attributable to disability; 3) distributions used to pay certain medical expenses; 4) distributions that are part of a scheduled series of substantially equal periodic payments for the life (or life expectancy) of the shareholder or the joint lives (or joint life and last survivor expectancy) of the shareholder and the shareholder’s beneficiary; 5) withdrawals for medical insurance if the shareholder has received unemployment compensation for 12 weeks and the distribution is made in the year such unemployment compensation is received or the following year; 6) distributions to pay qualified higher education expenses of the shareholder or certain family members of the shareholder; and 7) distributions used to buy a first home (subject to a $10,000 lifetime limit).

For Roth IRA participants, distributions, including accumulated earnings on contributions, will not be includable in income if such distribution is made five or more years after the first tax year of contribution and the account holder either is age 59 ¹/2 or older, has become disabled, is purchasing a first home (subject to the $10,000 lifetime limit) or has died. As with other retirement accounts, a 10% excise tax applies to amounts withdrawn from the Roth IRA prior to reaching age 59 ¹/2 unless one of the exceptions applies. Such a withdrawal would also be included in income to the extent of earnings on contributions, with distributions treated as made first from contributions and then from earnings.

Under certain limited circumstances (for example, if an individual for whose benefit a retirement account is established engages in any transaction prohibited under Section 4975 of the Code with respect to such account), a retirement account could cease to qualify for the special treatment afforded certain retirement accounts under the Code as of the first day of the taxable year in which the transaction that caused the disqualification occurred. If a retirement account through which a shareholder holds Fund shares becomes ineligible for special tax treatment, the shareholder will be treated as having received a distribution on the first day of such taxable year from the retirement account in an amount equal to the fair market value of all assets in the account. Thus, a shareholder would be taxed currently on the amount of any pre-tax contributions and previously untaxed dividends held within the account, and would be taxed on the ordinary income and capital gain dividends paid by a Fund subsequent to the disqualification event, whether such dividends were received in cash or reinvested in additional shares. These ordinary income and capital gain dividends also might be subject to state and local taxes. In the event of retirement account disqualification, shareholders also could be subject to the early withdrawal excise tax described above. Additionally, retirement account disqualification may subject a

II-43

nonresident alien shareholder to a 30% United States withholding tax on ordinary income dividends paid by a Fund unless a reduced rate of withholding is provided under applicable treaty law or such dividends are designated as interest-related dividends or short-term capital gain dividends, as described in “Taxes — General Treatment of Fund Shareholders.”

In certain circumstances, account holders also may be able to make nondeductible contributions to their retirement accounts. As described above, ordinary income dividends and capital gain dividends received with respect to such contributions will not be taxed currently. Unlike the Roth IRA, described above, earnings with respect to these amounts will be taxed when distributed.

Qualified Tuition Program and ESAs.

Investment in Retirement Reserves is also offered to participants in Qualified Tuition Program accounts and ESAs (together, “education accounts”). The general description of the tax treatment of RICs and their shareholders as set forth below is qualified for education accountholders with respect to the special tax treatment afforded education accounts. Under the Code, neither ordinary income dividends nor capital gain dividends represent current income to shareholders holding shares through an education account.

Distributions from a Qualified Tuition Program account or ESA, including amounts representing earnings on amounts contributed, will not be included in income to the extent they do not exceed the beneficiary’s qualified education expenses, as defined in the Code for purposes of the particular type of account. Education account holders may be subject to a Federal penalty as well as ordinary income tax and any applicable state income tax on the portion of a distribution representing earnings on contributed amounts, if the distribution is not used for qualified education expenses, as defined in the Code for purposes of the particular type of account. Exceptions to the Federal penalty include distributions made on account of the death or disability of the beneficiary of the account and distributions made on account of a scholarship received by the beneficiary, provided the distributions do not exceed the amount of the scholarship. Numerous provisions affecting certain ESAs are scheduled to expire after December 31, 2010. Unless such provisions are extended, the tax treatment of such ESAs and their investors will be significantly altered.

If an education account becomes ineligible for the special tax treatment described above, the shareholder will be taxed currently on amounts representing accumulated earnings on contributions made to the account. Likewise, dividends paid by the Fund subsequently will be currently taxable, whether received in cash or reinvested, and could be subject to state and local taxes. It is possible that the Federal penalty applicable to withdrawals not used for qualified education expenses might also apply. Disqualification of an education account may subject a nonresident alien shareholder to a 30% United States withholding tax on ordinary income dividends paid by a Fund, unless a reduced rate of withholding is provided under applicable treaty law or such dividends are designated as interest-related dividends or short-term capital gain dividends, as described in “Taxes — General Treatment of Fund Shareholders.”

The foregoing is a general and abbreviated summary of the applicable provisions of the Code and Treasury regulations presently in effect, as applied to the particular types of Plans and accounts being described. For the complete provisions, reference should be made to the pertinent Code sections and the Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder. The Code and the Treasury regulations are subject to change by legislative, judicial or administrative action either prospectively or retroactively.

Shareholders are urged to consult their tax advisers regarding specific questions as to Federal, foreign, state or local taxes. Foreign investors should consider applicable foreign taxes in their evaluation of investment in each Fund. Shareholders investing through a retirement account or education account, likewise, should consult a tax advisor with respect to the tax consequences of investing through such an account.

Taxes

Each Fund intends to elect and to qualify or to continue to qualify, as appropriate, for the special tax treatment afforded RICs under the Code. As long as a Fund so qualifies, the Fund (but not its shareholders) will not be subject to Federal income tax on the part of its investment company taxable income and net capital gain that is distributed to shareholders. Each Fund intends to distribute substantially all of such income and gains. If, in any taxable year, a Fund fails to qualify as a RIC under the Code, such Fund would be taxed in the same manner as an ordinary corporation and all distributions from earnings and profits (as determined under Federal income tax principles) to its shareholders would be taxable as ordinary dividend income eligible for the maximum 15% tax rate for non-corporate shareholders (for taxable years beginning prior to January 1, 2011) and the dividends-received deduction for

II-44

corporate shareholders. However, distributions from a BIF Tax-Exempt Fund or from BBIF Tax-Exempt that are derived from income on tax-exempt obligations, as defined herein, would no longer qualify for treatment as exempt interest.

Each Fund that is a series of a RIC that consists of multiple series is treated as a separate corporation for Federal income tax purposes, and, therefore, is considered to be a separate entity in determining its treatment under the rules for RICs. Losses in one series of a RIC do not offset gains in another, and the requirements (other than certain organizational requirements) for qualifying for RIC status will be determined at the level of the individual series. In the following discussion, the term “Fund” means each individual series, if applicable.

The Code requires a RIC to pay a nondeductible 4% excise tax to the extent the RIC does not distribute, during each calendar year, 98% of its ordinary income, determined on a calendar year basis, and 98% of its capital gain net income, determined, in general, as if the RIC’s taxable year ended on October 31, plus certain undistributed amounts from the preceding year. While each Fund intends to distribute its income and capital gains in the manner necessary to minimize imposition of the 4% excise tax, there can be no assurance that sufficient amounts of a Fund’s taxable income and capital gains will be distributed to avoid entirely the imposition of the tax. In such event, a Fund will be liable for the tax only on the amount by which it does not meet the foregoing distribution requirements. The required distributions are based only on the taxable income of a RIC. The excise tax, therefore, generally will not apply to the tax-exempt income of RICs, such as the BIF Tax-Exempt Funds and BBIF Tax-Exempt, that pay exempt-interest dividends.

General Treatment of Fund Shareholders

Dividends paid by a Fund from its ordinary income or from an excess of net short-term capital gain over net long-term capital loss (together referred to hereafter as “ordinary income dividends”) are taxable to shareholders as ordinary income. Distributions made from an excess of net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss (“capital gain dividends”) are taxable to shareholders as long-term capital gain, regardless of the length of time the shareholder has owned Fund shares. Distributions paid by a Fund that are designated as exempt-interest dividends will not be subject to regular Federal income tax. The tax rate on certain dividend income and long term capital gain applicable to non-corporate shareholders has been reduced for taxable years beginning prior to January 1, 2011. Under these rules, the portion of ordinary income dividends constituting “qualified dividend income” when paid by a RIC to non-corporate shareholders may be taxable to such shareholders at long-term capital gain rates. However, to the extent a Fund’s distributions are derived from income on debt securities and short-term capital gains, such distributions will not constitute “qualified dividend income.” Thus, ordinary income dividends paid by the Funds generally will not be eligible for taxation at the reduced rate.

Any loss upon the sale or exchange of Fund shares held for six months or less will be treated as long-term capital loss to the extent of any capital gain dividends received with respect to the shares. Distributions in excess of a Fund’s earnings and profits will first reduce the shareholder’s adjusted tax basis in his shares and any amount in excess of such basis will constitute capital gains to such shareholder (assuming the shares are held as a capital asset). Long-term capital gains (i.e., gains from a sale or exchange of capital assets held for more than one year) are generally taxed at preferential rates to non-corporate taxpayers. Generally not later than 60 days after the close of its taxable year, each Fund will provide its shareholders with a written notice designating the amounts of its dividends paid during the year that qualify as capital gain dividends or exempt-interest dividends, as applicable, as well as the portion of an exempt-interest dividend that constitutes an item of tax preference, as discussed below.

Ordinary income and capital gain dividends are taxable to shareholders even if they are reinvested in additional shares of a Fund. Distributions by a Fund, whether from ordinary income or capital gains, generally will not be eligible for the dividends received deduction allowed to corporations under the Code. If a Fund pays a dividend in January that was declared in the previous October, November or December to shareholders of record on a specified date in one of such months, then such dividend will be treated for tax purposes as being paid by the Fund and received by its shareholders on December 31 of the year in which such dividend was declared.

If the value of assets held by a Fund declines, the Trustees of the Fund may authorize a reduction in the number of outstanding shares in shareholders’ accounts so as to preserve a net asset value of $1.00 per share. After such a reduction, the basis of eliminated shares would be added to the basis of shareholders’ remaining Fund shares, and any shareholders disposing of shares at that time may recognize a capital loss. Except for the exempt-interest dividends paid by BIF Tax-Exempt Funds and BBIF Tax-

II-45

Exempt, dividends, including dividends reinvested in additional shares of a Fund, will nonetheless be fully taxable, even if the number of shares in shareholders’ accounts has been reduced as described above.

A loss realized on a sale or exchange of shares of a Fund will be disallowed if other shares of the Fund are acquired (whether through the automatic reinvestment of dividends or otherwise) within a 61 day period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the date on which the shares are sold or exchanged. In such a case, the basis of the shares acquired will be adjusted to reflect the disallowed loss.

Under certain provisions of the Code, some shareholders may be subject to a withholding tax on ordinary income dividends and capital gain dividends (“backup withholding”). Backup withholding may also be required on distributions paid by BBIF Tax-Exempt or a BIF Tax-Exempt Fund, unless such Fund reasonably estimates that at least 95% of its distributions during the taxable year are comprised of exempt-interest dividends. Generally, shareholders subject to backup withholding will be non-corporate shareholders for whom no certified taxpayer identification number is on file with a Fund or who, to a Fund’s knowledge, have furnished an incorrect number. When establishing an account, an investor must certify under penalty of perjury that such number is correct and that the investor is not otherwise subject to backup withholding. Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amount withheld generally may be allowed as a refund or a credit against a shareholder’s Federal income tax liability provided that the required information is timely provided to the IRS.

If a shareholder recognizes a loss with respect to a Fund’s shares of $2 million or more for an individual shareholder or $10 million or more for a corporate shareholder in any single taxable year (or a greater amount in a combination of taxable years), the shareholder must file a disclosure statement on Form 8886 with the IRS. Direct shareholders of portfolio securities are in many cases exempted from this reporting requirement, but under current guidance, shareholders of a RIC are not exempted. That a loss is reportable under these regulations does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult their tax advisers to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances.

Recently enacted legislation will impose a 3.8% Medicare tax on the net investment income (which includes interest, dividends and capital gains) of U.S. individuals with income exceeding $200,000 or $250,000 if married filing jointly, and of trusts and estates, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012.

Other recently enacted legislation will impose a 30% withholding tax on dividends and redemption proceeds paid after December 31, 2012, to (i) certain foreign financial institutions and 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 unless they certify certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners. Under some circumstances, a foreign shareholder may be eligible for refunds or credits of such taxes.

Interest received by a Fund may give rise to withholding and other taxes imposed by foreign countries. Tax conventions between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate such taxes.

Ordinary income dividends paid to shareholders who are nonresident aliens or foreign entities will be subject to a 30% U.S. withholding tax under existing provisions of the Code applicable to foreign individuals and entities unless a reduced rate of withholding is provided under applicable treaty law. Nonresident shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisers concerning applicability of the United States withholding tax. Dividends derived by a RIC from short-term capital gains and qualified net interest income (including income from original issue discount and market discount) and paid to stockholders who are nonresident aliens and foreign entities, if and to the extent properly designated as “interest-related dividends” or “short-term capital gain dividends,” generally will not be subject to U.S. withholding tax. Where possible, each Fund intends to make such designations. However, depending on its circumstances, a Fund may designate all, some or none of its potentially eligible dividends as interest-related dividends or as short-term capital gain dividends, and/or treat such dividends, in whole or in part, as ineligible for this exemption from withholding. In order to qualify for this exemption from withholding, a non-U.S. shareholder must comply with applicable certification requirements relating to its non-U.S. status (including, in general, furnishing an IRS Form W-8BEN or substitute form). In the case of shares held through an intermediary, the intermediary may withhold even if the Fund designates the payment as an interest-related dividend or short term capital gain dividend. Non-U.S. shareholders should contact their

II-46

intermediaries with respect to the application of these rules to their accounts. It is not possible to predict what portion, if any, of a Fund’s distributions will be designated as consisting of qualified short term gain or qualified net interest income exempt from withholding in the hands of nonresident and foreign shareholders. Unless extended by Congress, this provision regarding interest-related dividends and short term capital gain dividends generally would apply to distributions with respect to only taxable years of a Fund beginning before January 1, 2010.

Ordinary income and capital gain dividends paid by the Funds may also be subject to state and local taxes. However, certain states exempt from state income taxation dividends paid by RICs that are derived from interest on United States Treasury obligations. State law varies as to whether dividend income attributable to United States Treasury obligations is exempt from state income tax.

BIF Tax-Exempt Funds, BBIF Tax-Exempt and Their Shareholders

The BIF Tax-Exempt Funds and BBIF Tax Exempt intend to qualify to pay “exempt-interest dividends” as defined in Section 852(b)(5) of the Code. Under such section if, at the close of each quarter of a Fund’s taxable year, at least 50% of the value of its total assets consists of obligations exempt from Federal income tax (“tax-exempt obligations”) under Section 103(a) of the Code (relating generally to obligations of a state or local governmental unit), the Fund will be qualified to pay exempt-interest dividends to its shareholders. Exempt-interest dividends are dividends or any part thereof paid by a Fund which are attributable to interest on tax-exempt obligations and designated as exempt-interest dividends in a written notice mailed to the Fund’s shareholders within 60 days after the close of the Fund’s taxable year.

Exempt-interest dividends will be excludable from a shareholder’s gross income for Federal income tax purposes. Exempt-interest dividends are included, however, in determining the portion, if any, of a shareholder’s social security benefits and railroad retirement benefits subject to Federal income taxes. Interest on indebtedness incurred or continued to purchase or carry shares of a RIC paying exempt-interest dividends, such as the BIF Tax-Exempt Funds and BBIF Tax Exempt, will not be deductible by a shareholder for Federal income tax purposes to the extent attributable to exempt-interest dividends. Shareholders are advised to consult their tax advisers with respect to whether exempt-interest dividends retain the exclusion under Code Section 103(a) if a shareholder would be treated as a “substantial user” or “related person” under Code Section 147(a) with respect to property financed with the proceeds of an issue of private activity bonds, if any, held by one of the BIF Tax-Exempt Funds and BBIF Tax Exempt.

All or a portion of the BIF Tax-Exempt Funds’ and BBIF Tax Exempt’s gain from the sale or redemption of tax-exempt obligations purchased at a market discount will be treated as ordinary income rather than capital gain. This rule may increase the amount of ordinary income dividends received by shareholders. Any loss upon the sale or exchange of Fund shares held for six months or less will be disallowed to the extent of any exempt-interest dividends received on such shares by a shareholder. In addition, any such loss that is not disallowed under the rule stated above will be treated as long-term capital loss to the extent of any capital gain dividends received on such shares by a shareholder.

The Code subjects interest received on certain otherwise tax-exempt securities to a Federal alternative minimum tax. The Federal alternative minimum tax applies to interest received on certain private activity bonds issued after August 7, 1986. Private activity bonds are bonds which, although tax-exempt, are used for purposes other than those generally performed by governmental units and which benefit non-governmental entities (e.g., bonds used for industrial development or housing purposes). Income received on such bonds is classified as an item of “tax preference,” which could subject certain investors in such bonds, including shareholders of a Fund, to a Federal alternative minimum tax. BBIF Tax Exempt and each BIF Tax-Exempt Fund will purchase such private activity bonds and will report to shareholders within 60 days after calendar year-end the portion of its dividends declared during the year which constitutes an item of tax preference for alternative minimum tax purposes. The Code further provides that corporations are subject to a Federal alternative minimum tax based, in part, on certain differences between taxable income as adjusted for other tax preferences and the corporation’s “adjusted current earnings,” which more closely reflect a corporation’s economic income. Because an exempt-interest dividend paid by BBIF Tax Exempt or a BIF Tax-Exempt Fund will be included in adjusted current earnings, a corporate shareholder may be required to pay alternative minimum tax on exempt-interest dividends paid by such a Fund.

II-47

BIF State Funds — State Taxes

Dividends paid by each BIF State Fund are subject to the tax laws of the specific state in which a shareholder resides. For a summary discussion of the state tax laws of the State in which the BIF State Fund invests, please see Part I, Section X “State Fund Tax Summaries” of the BIF State Funds’ Statement of Additional Information.

The Appendices to the BIF State Funds’ Statement of Additional Information contain a general and abbreviated summary of the state tax laws relevant to each BIF State Fund as presently in effect. For the complete provisions, reference should be made to the applicable state tax laws. The state tax laws described in the appendices are subject to change by legislative, judicial, or administrative action either prospectively or retroactively. Shareholders of each BIF State Fund should consult their tax advisers about other state and local tax consequences of investment in such BIF State Fund.

The Code provides that every person required to file a tax return must include for information purposes on such return the amount of exempt-interest dividends received from all sources (including BBIF Tax-Exempt or any of the BIF Tax-Exempt Funds) during the taxable year.

Master — Feeder Funds

In the case of a Feeder Fund, such Fund is entitled to look to the underlying assets of the Master Portfolio in which it has invested for purposes of satisfying various qualification requirements of the Code applicable to RICs. Each Master Portfolio is classified as a partnership for Federal income tax purposes. If applicable tax provisions should change, then the Board of a Feeder Fund will determine, in its discretion, the appropriate course of action for the Feeder Fund. One possible course of action would be to withdraw the Feeder Fund’s investments from the Master Portfolio and to retain an investment manager to manage the Feeder Fund’s assets in accordance with the investment policies applicable to the Feeder Fund.

PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

The Board of Trustees of each Fund has delegated the voting of proxies for the Funds’ securities to the Manager pursuant to the Manager’s proxy voting guidelines. Under these guidelines, the Manager will vote proxies related to Fund securities in the best interests of the Fund and its stockholders. From time to time, a vote may present a conflict between the interests of the Fund’s stockholders, on the one hand, and those of the Manager, or any affiliated person of the Fund or the Manager, on the other. In such event, provided that the Manager’s Equity Investment Policy Oversight Committee, or a sub-committee thereof (the “Committee”) is aware of a real or potential conflict or material non-routine matter and if the Committee does not reasonably believe it is able to follow its general voting guidelines (or if the particular proxy matter is not addressed in the guidelines) and vote impartially, the Committee may retain an independent fiduciary to advise the Committee on how to vote or to cast votes on behalf of the Manager’s clients. If the Manager determines not to retain an independent fiduciary, or does not desire to follow the advice of such independent fiduciary, the Committee shall determine how to vote the proxy after consulting with the Manager’s Portfolio Management Group and/or the Manager’s Legal and Compliance Department and concluding that the vote cast is in its client’s best interest notwithstanding the conflict. A copy of the Funds’ Proxy Voting Policy and Procedures is attached as Appendix B. Information on how each Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 is available without charge, (i) at www.blackrock.com and (ii) on the Commission’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Shareholders are entitled to one vote for each full share held and fractional votes for fractional shares held and vote in the election of Trustees and generally on other matters submitted to the vote of shareholders. In the case of Retirement Reserves and the BBIF Funds, each class represents an interest in the same assets of the respective Fund and are identical in all respects, except that each class of shares bears certain expenses related to the distribution of such shares and has exclusive voting rights with respect to matters relating to such distribution expenditures. Voting rights are not cumulative, so that the holders of more than 50% of the shares voting in the election of Trustees can, if they choose to do so, elect all Trustees of the Fund. No amendment may be made to the Declaration of Trust without the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of the Fund except under certain limited circumstances set forth in the Fund’s Declaration of Trust, as amended (the “Declaration”).

II-48

There normally will be no meeting of shareholders for the purpose of electing Trustees unless and until such time as less than a majority of the Trustees holding office have been elected by the shareholders, at which time the Trustees then in office will call a shareholders’ meeting for the election of Trustees. Shareholders may cause a meeting of shareholders to be held in accordance with the terms of the Fund’s Declaration or by-laws, as the case may be. Also, each Fund will be required to call a special meeting of shareholders in accordance with the requirements of the Investment Company Act to seek approval of new advisory arrangements, of a material increase in distribution fees or of a change in fundamental policies, objectives or restrictions. Except as set forth above, the Trustees shall continue to hold office from year to year and appoint successor Trustees. Each issued and outstanding share is entitled to participate equally in dividends and distributions declared and in net assets upon liquidation or dissolution remaining after satisfaction of outstanding liabilities except for any expenses which may be attributable to only one class, in the case of Retirement Reserves or the BBIF Funds. Shares issued are fully-paid and non-assessable by each Fund.

A copy of the Declaration establishing each Fund, together with all amendments thereto, is on file in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Declaration provides that the name of each Fund refers to the Trustees under the Declaration collectively as Trustees, but not as individuals or personally, and no Trustee, shareholder, officer, employee or agent of the Fund shall be held to any personal liability, nor shall resort be had to their property for the satisfaction of any obligation or claim of the Fund but the “Trust Property” (as defined in the Declaration) only shall be liable.

Additional Information

Under a separate agreement, BlackRock has granted the Funds, as applicable, the right to use the “BlackRock” name and has reserved the right to withdraw its consent to the use of such name by a Fund if the Fund ceases to retain BlackRock as investment adviser or to grant the use of such name to any other company.

See Part I, Section VIII “General Information” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information for other general information about your Fund.

II-49

APPENDIX A

DESCRIPTION OF DEBT RATINGS

Commercial Paper and Bank Money Instruments

Commercial paper with the greatest capacity for timely payment is rated A by Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”). Issues within this category are further redefined with designations 1, 2 and 3 to indicate the relative degree of safety; A-1 indicates the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial obligation is strong; issues that possess extremely strong safety characteristics will be given an A-1+ designation; A-2 indicates that the capacity for timely repayment is satisfactory; A-3 indicates that capacity for timely payment is adequate, however, they are more vulnerable to the adverse changes of circumstances than obligations rated A-1 or A-2.

Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”) employs the designations of Prime-1, Prime-2 and Prime-3 to indicate the relative capacity of the rated issuers to repay punctually. Prime-1 issues have a superior capacity for repayment. Prime-2 issues have a strong capacity for timely repayment, but to a lesser degree than Prime-1. Prime-3 issues have an acceptable capacity for repayment.

Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”) employs the rating F-1 or F-1+ to indicate issues regarded as having the strongest capacity for timely payment. The rating F-2 indicates a satisfactory capacity for timely payment. The rating F-3 indicates an adequate capacity for timely payment.

Corporate Bonds

Bonds rated AAA have the highest rating assigned by S&P to a debt obligation. Capacity to pay interest and repay principal is extremely strong. Bonds rated AA have a very strong capacity to pay interest and repay principal and differ from the highest rated issues only in a small degree.

Bonds rated Aaa by Moody’s are judged to be of the best quality. Bonds rated Aa are judged to be of high quality by all standards. They are rated lower than the best bonds because margins of protection may not be as large or fluctuation of protective elements may be of greater amplitude or there may be other elements present which make the long-term risks appear somewhat larger than in Aaa securities. Moody’s applies numerical modifiers, 1, 2 and 3 in each generic rating classification from Aa through Caa in its corporate bond rating system. The modifier 1 indicates that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; the modifier 2 indicates a mid-range ranking; and the modifier 3 indicates that the issue ranks in the lower end of its generic rating category.

Bonds rated AAA by Fitch are considered to be investment grade and of the highest credit quality. The obligor has an exceptionally strong ability to pay interest and repay principal, which is unlikely to be affected by reasonably foreseeable events. Bonds rated AA are considered to be investment grade and of very high credit quality. The obligor’s ability to pay interest and repay principal is very strong, although not quite as strong as bonds rated AAA.

Ratings of Municipal Notes and Short-term Tax-Exempt Commercial Paper

Commercial paper with the greatest capacity for timely payment is rated A by Standard & Poor’s. Issues within this category are further redefined with designations 1, 2 and 3 to indicate the relative degree of safety; A-1 indicates the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial obligation is strong; issues that possess extremely strong safety characteristics will be given an A-1+ designation; A-2 indicates that the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial obligation is satisfactory. A Standard & Poor’s rating with respect to certain municipal note issues with a maturity of less than three years reflects the liquidity factors and market access risks unique to notes. SP-1, the highest note rating, indicates a strong capacity to pay principal and interest. Issues that possess a very strong capacity to pay debt service will be given an “SP-1+” designation. SP-2, the second highest note rating, indicates a satisfactory capacity to pay principal and interest, with some vulnerability to adverse financial and economic changes over the term of the notes.

A-1

Moody’s employs the designations of Prime-1, Prime-2 and Prime-3 with respect to commercial paper to indicate the relative capacity of the rated issuers (or related supporting institutions) to repay punctually. Prime-l issues have a superior capacity for repayment. Prime-2 issues have a strong capacity for repayment, but to a lesser degree than Prime-1. Moody’s highest rating for short-term notes and VRDOs is MIG1/VMIG1; MIG-1/VMIG1 denotes “superior credit quality”, enjoying “highly reliable liquidity support” or “demonstrated broad-based access to the market for refinancing”; MIG2/VMIG2 denotes “strong credit quality” with margins of protection that are ample although not so large as MIG1/VMIG1.

Fitch employs the rating F-1+ to indicate short-term debt issues regarded as having the strongest degree of assurance determined by established cash flow for timely payment. The rating F-1 reflects an assurance of timely payment only slightly less in degree than issues rated F-1+. The rating F-2 indicates a satisfactory degree of assurance for timely payment, although the margin of safety is not as great as indicated by the F-1+ and F-1 categories.

Ratings of Municipal Bonds

Bonds rated AAA have the highest rating assigned by Standard & Poor’s to a debt obligation. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial obligation is extremely strong. Bonds rated AA differ from the highest rated obligations only in a small degree. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is very strong. A Standard & Poor’s municipal debt rating is a current assessment of the creditworthiness of an obligor with respect to a specific obligation. This assessment may take into consideration obligors such as guarantors and insurers of lessees.

Bonds rated Aaa by Moody’s are judged to be of the best quality. Interest payments are protected by a large or by an exceptionally stable margin and principal is secure. Bonds rated Aa are judged to be of high quality by all standards. They are rated lower than the best bonds because the margins of protection may not be as large or fluctuation of protective elements may be of greater amplitude or there may be other elements present which make the long-term risks appear somewhat larger than in Aaa securities. Moody’s applies the numerical modifier 1 to the classifications Aa through Caa to indicate that Moody’s believes the issue possesses the strongest investment attributes in its rating category. Bonds for which the security depends upon the completion of some act or the fulfillment of some condition are rated conditionally.

Bonds rated AAA by Fitch denote the lowest expectation of credit risk. Bonds rated AA denote a very low expectation of credit risk. Both ratings indicate very strong capacity for timely payment of financial commitments. This capacity is not significantly vulnerable to reasonably foreseeable events. The ratings take into consideration special features of the issue, its relationship to other obligations of the issuer, the current and prospective financial condition and operative performance of the issuer and of any guarantor, as well as the economic and political environment that might affect the issuer’s future financial strength and credit quality. Bonds that have the same rating are of similar but not necessarily identical credit quality since the rating categories do not fully reflect small differences in the degrees of credit risk.

A-2

APPENDIX B

Proxy Voting Policies

For The BlackRock-Advised Funds

December, 2009

B-1


Table of Contents			Page
I.	Introduction		B-3
II.	Proxy Voting Policies		B-3
	A.	Boards of Directors	B-3
	B.	Auditors	B-4
	C.	Compensation and Benefits	B-4
	D.	Capital Structure	B-4
	E.	Corporate Charter and By-Laws	B-4
	F.	Environmental and Social Issues	B-4
III.	Conflicts Management		B-4
IV.	Reports to the Board		B-5

B-2

Introduction

The Trustees/Directors (“Directors”) of the BlackRock-Advised Funds (the “Funds”) have the responsibility for voting proxies relating to portfolio securities of the Funds, and have determined that it is in the best interests of the Funds and their shareholders to delegate that responsibility to BlackRock Advisors, LLC and its affiliated U.S. registered investment advisers (“BlackRock”), the investment adviser to the Funds, as part of BlackRock’s authority to manage, acquire and dispose of account assets. The Directors hereby direct BlackRock to vote such proxies in accordance with this Policy, and any proxy voting guidelines that the Adviser determines are appropriate and in the best interests of the Funds’ shareholders and which are consistent with the principles outlined in this Policy. The Directors have authorized BlackRock to utilize an unaffiliated third-party as its agent to vote portfolio proxies in accordance with this Policy and to maintain records of such portfolio proxy voting.

Rule 206(4)-6 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 requires, among other things, that an investment adviser that exercises voting authority over clients’ proxy voting adopt policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that the adviser votes proxies in the best interests of clients, discloses to its clients information about those policies and procedures and also discloses to clients how they may obtain information on how the adviser has voted their proxies.

BlackRock has adopted separate but substantially similar guidelines and procedures that are consistent with the principles of this Policy. BlackRock’s Corporate Governance Committee (the “Committee”), addresses proxy voting issues on behalf of BlackRock and its clients, including the Funds. The Committee is comprised of senior members of BlackRock’s Portfolio Management and Administration Groups and is advised by BlackRock’s Legal and Compliance Department.

BlackRock votes (or refrains from voting) proxies for each Fund in a manner that BlackRock, in the exercise of its independent business judgment, concludes are in the best economic interests of such Fund. In some cases, BlackRock may determine that it is in the best economic interests of a Fund to refrain from exercising the Fund’s proxy voting rights (such as, for example, proxies on certain non-U.S. securities that might impose costly or time-consuming in-person voting requirements). With regard to the relationship between securities lending and proxy voting, BlackRock’s approach is also driven by our clients’ economic interests. The evaluation of the economic desirability of recalling loans involves balancing the revenue producing value of loans against the likely economic value of casting votes. Based on our evaluation of this relationship, BlackRock believes that the likely economic value of casting a vote generally is less than the securities lending income, either because the votes will not have significant economic consequences or because the outcome of the vote would not be affected by BlackRock recalling loaned securities in order to ensure they are voted. Periodically, BlackRock analyzes the process and benefits of voting proxies for securities on loan, and will consider whether any modification of its proxy voting policies or procedures are necessary in light of any regulatory changes.

BlackRock will normally vote on specific proxy issues in accordance with BlackRock’s proxy voting guidelines. BlackRock’s proxy voting guidelines provide detailed guidance as to how to vote proxies on certain important or commonly raised issues. BlackRock may, in the exercise of its business judgment, conclude that the proxy voting guidelines do not cover the specific matter upon which a proxy vote is requested, or that an exception to the proxy voting guidelines would be in the best economic interests of a Fund. BlackRock votes (or refrains from voting) proxies without regard to the relationship of the issuer of the proxy (or any shareholder of such issuer) to the Fund, the Fund’s affiliates (if any), BlackRock or BlackRock’s affiliates. When voting proxies, BlackRock attempts to encourage companies to follow practices that enhance shareholder value and increase transparency and allow the market to place a proper value on their assets.

II.

Proxy Voting Policies

A. Boards of Directors

The Funds generally support the board’s nominees in the election of directors and generally supports proposals that strengthen the independence of boards of directors. As a general matter, the Funds believe that a company’s board of directors (rather than shareholders) is most likely to have access to important, nonpublic information regarding a company’s business and prospects, and is therefore best-positioned to set corporate policy and oversee management. The

B-3

Funds therefore believe that the foundation of good corporate governance is the election of responsible, qualified, independent corporate directors who are likely to diligently represent the interests of shareholders and oversee management of the corporation in a manner that will seek to maximize shareholder value over time. In individual cases, consideration may be given to a director nominee’s history of representing shareholder interests as a director of the company issuing the proxy or other companies, or other factors to the extent deemed relevant by the Committee.

B. Auditors

These proposals concern those issues submitted to shareholders related to the selection of auditors. As a general matter, the Funds believe that corporate auditors have a responsibility to represent the interests of shareholders and provide an independent view on the propriety of financial reporting decisions of corporate management. While the Funds anticipate that BlackRock will generally defer to a corporation’s choice of auditor, in individual cases, consideration may be given to an auditors’ history of representing shareholder interests as auditor of the company issuing the proxy or other companies, to the extent deemed relevant.

C. Compensation and Benefits

These proposals concern those issues submitted to shareholders related to management compensation and employee benefits. As a general matter, the Funds favor disclosure of a company’s compensation and benefit policies and oppose excessive compensation, but believe that compensation matters are normally best determined by a corporation’s board of directors, rather than shareholders. Proposals to “micro-manage” a company’s compensation practices or to set arbitrary restrictions on compensation or benefits should therefore generally not be supported.

D. Capital Structure

These proposals relate to various requests, principally from management, for approval of amendments that would alter the capital structure of a company, such as an increase in authorized shares. As a general matter, the Funds expect that BlackRock will support requests that it believes enhance the rights of common shareholders and oppose requests that appear to be unreasonably dilutive.

E. Corporate Charter and By-Laws

These proposals relate to various requests for approval of amendments to a corporation’s charter or by-laws. As a general matter, the Funds generally vote against anti-takeover proposals and proposals that would create additional barriers or costs to corporate transactions that are likely to deliver a premium to shareholders.

F. Environmental and Social Issues

These are shareholder proposals addressing either corporate social and environmental policies or requesting specific reporting on these issues. The Funds generally do not support proposals on social issues that lack a demonstrable economic benefit to the issuer and the Fund investing in such issuer. BlackRock seeks to make proxy voting decisions in the manner most likely to protect and promote the long-term economic value of the securities held in client accounts. We intend to support economically advantageous corporate practices while leaving direct oversight of company management and strategy to boards of directors. We seek to avoid micromanagement of companies, as we believe that a company’s board of directors is best positioned to represent shareholders and oversee management on shareholders behalf. Issues of corporate social and environmental responsibility are evaluated on a case-by-case basis within this framework.

III.

CONFLICTS MANAGEMENT

BlackRock maintains policies and procedures that are designed to prevent any relationship between the issuer of the proxy (or any shareholder of the issuer) and a Fund, a Fund’s affiliates (if any), BlackRock or BlackRock’s affiliates, from having undue influence on BlackRock’s proxy voting activity. In certain instances, BlackRock may determine to engage an independent fiduciary to vote proxies as a further safeguard against potential conflicts of interest or as otherwise required by applicable law. The independent fiduciary may either vote such proxies or provide BlackRock with instructions as to how to vote such proxies. In the latter case, BlackRock votes the proxy in accordance with the independent fiduciary’s determination.

B-4

IV.

Reports to the Board

BlackRock will report to the Directors on proxy votes it has made on behalf of the Funds at least annually.

B-5